This tape was put out by Big Shank (Jeremy "Big Shank the Bandit" Johnson) and Little Shank {Josh Mayfield) in 2001 and acted as the third installment of the Region Rock cassette comps (links for the first two comps and a slew of other related demo tapes are linked at the end of this post). Region Rock (a term coined by Cinque from the Spawn Sacs, as the story goes) refers to a loose geographical triangle with points in Little Rock, Chattanooga and Miami and does not dictate a certain sound, but rather is a catch-all term for a group of friends playing punk under their own terms. It has been widely defined by people outside of these loose barriers (I say loose because this line has definitely looped up around Asheville, NC from time to time) as something like "bouncy, jangly pop-punk" but I'm certain that these people have never huffed gold spraypaint out of a paper bag while sweating on a porch at 4am with less than 27 cents to their name. Region Rock bands like BRIS, QUEERWULF, SUCKERPUNCH and SPAWN SACS will have anyone throwing those definitions off of the train bridge over the toxic waters of Chattanooga Creek in less time than it takes Ed to shotgun a beer. Onto the tape.
The reason that this tape wasn't previously given it's place among all of these other tapes on the blog is this: Josh gave me a copy of this tape when it was released in 2001. When I got it home, I listened to the first couple of JOE SMITH songs before that abruptly ended and I discovered that the rest of the tape was a dubbed copy of the MOTORHEAD album "Rock 'N' Roll", which is a great album. I'm listening to the tape right now. I never got a replacement tape with the proper songs on it, but Orange-SLS Records out of NY was nice enough to send the mp3's over to me to share with you. Better late than never.
The main difference between this comp and the earlier ones is that, with the exception of LES TURDS and JOE SMITH, the scope does not venture more than 100 miles out of the city limits of Chattanooga. The tape starts off with JOE SMITH, BRIS, THE MORONS and CAPITAL SICKNESS, who have all been written about extensively on here and you can find links to them below. THE TEENY FLOPPERS were slightly before my time in Chattanooga and I don't know shit about them, but I would see their singer / drummer Carey playing in other bands in Chattanooga and it always blew my mind that he could sing so well while pounding the shit out of the drums. Within 6 songs on this tape, they go through 3 bass players.
You will find more info about ADD/C linked below.
THE SOCIAL LIES were from Huntsville and Triana, AL and played sloppy, tuneful, screamy, teen punk. They sounded like a tug-of-war between singer / guitarist Brontez's love of riot grrrrl and east bay punk and drummer / singer Tameka's more straight-ahead hardcore approach, Their shows could be intense or just fun, depending on the mood. I saw both. One where they made it through the set with all of us pogoing along with them and another where the two members started yelling at each other and stormed out in front of a stunned audience. Either way, their song "Fuck The Scene" has always stuck with me and they were an important part of this era. The Chattanooga punks basically adopted the band into their town before Brontez moved there. You can find a video of them playing in Chattanooga at Rear Entry (a punk-ran show space) right here.
COCAINE SUMMER SPLASH was a real rock n roll nightmare fronted by Big Shank, who sadly passed away in 2013. He has so many unbelievable and maniacal stories about him that I couldn't even begin to scratch the surface here. CCS recorded these songs in Chattanooga and the band never had a proper release until 2020 when Josh Mayfield put out a discography tape on his label WereOpossum Records. CCS was all about drugs, partying and crime, but like, in a real way. I feel like there's STILL things I can't talk about, but I can tell you that the band had to unofficially change their name on flyers to THE PARTY AIN'T EASY because the cops were looking for them. I know that our house was not the only one visited by the Chattanooga pigs...where we were forced to keep a straight face while they asked us if we knew anything about the 7 foot tall graffiti all over town that stated in big bold letters, "COCAINE SUMMER SPLASH." RIP Shank. He was one of a kind.
I don't know shit about THE COMPLAINTS either and that sucks. They were from North Georgia and featured wildman Allen with his truly deranged vocals. Sorry I don't know more.
You can and should read more about QUEERWULF and THE SHAFFERS in the links below. I think the tracks on this tape are from each of their first demos. If you've heard the lightning-fast live sets from THE SHAFFERS in the past, this slower version will throw you for a loop.
THE SPAWN SACS are also written about in the links below, but I don't think most of these songs appear anywhere else and, like just about every other SPAWN SACS song, they are SO. FUCKING. GOOD. Embrace the tape deterioration.
JACK PALANCE BAND offers up two songs from their demo (and a re-recorded demo track) as well as one of their shortest, most vicious songs of all time that doesn't appear anywhere else, "Goddamn the Holocaust".
There are two tracks from Dalton's most valuable asset (and I know it's the carpet capital of the world), PETER STUBB. The second track "Evil" literally stopped me in my tracks. If you're not familiar with STUBB's long-running musical career, please follow the link below and seek out the short documentary "I'm Like This Everyday", made by Mitchell Powers and Josh Mayfield.
LES TURDS, like COCAINE SUMMER SPLASH, were an unstoppable force of drunken depravity led by a very tall, now deceased wild man known as Brian Turd. I don't feel like I can honestly do them justice and they are one of the few bands on here who have a little more of an internet presence outside of this blog.
You can and should find more info and an unreleased LP by Alabama's Suckerpunch in the links below. Their two songs on this comp are from their amazing demo tape.
F.D.I.A. is another one of those bands from the north Georgia region that I can't remember much about, but their songs on here are awesome. I can't remember everything! Give me a break!
All three region demos come from a place of low standards and even lower budgets, so you will have to learn to enjoy the tape hiss and the shitty recordings. But that's why you're here, right?
This is awesome.
ReplyDeleteFinding a ton of cool stuff on here TY for sharing. Who was the bad that did 'secret song'
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