HEX - Demo - Tape - 2007

Today's post is brought to you by Erik Ruin, who previously contributed a top ten list to the blog a few years ago. I think this tape is incredible, but wanted a different perspective on it, so I asked Erik for his take. Many, many thanks to the members of HEX for sending over the digital files when my machinery was having issues. 

   Heavy music on non-traditional instruments has a seriously mixed track record. It can tend toward simple novelty- (think APOCALYPTICA or even worse) but it can also lay bare nuanced dynamics and complex compositional structures that are often obscured to those- like me- who have trouble looking beyond the standard genre tropes (wailing guitars,machismo, long hair, etc.). It’s into this latter camp I’d put viola/tuba/drums trio HEX, alongside luminaries like Portland’s DISEMBALLERINA and Providence’s BELLOWS.

  According to violist Jackie Beckey- “Andie, Aaron and I were all hanging out around this time and interested in creating heavy music on nontraditional instruments. I'd been experimenting with this for awhile and was hoping to start a project with someone who shared this vision. Aaron--a fellow classically trained orchy dork punk on tuba--was the obvious choice for a bandmate. We were both interested in creating heavy music influenced by non-western music, such as African drumming. Aaron and I were also into geeking out about poly-rhythms, exploring tonality by amplifying acoustic instruments and using instruments with incredible amounts of sustain to play heavy music.”

   The first and last songs of this tape begin with lengthy tuba drones rich in texture and atmosphere. From there it gets more rocking, with Jackie alternating between heavily reverbed pizzicato plucking (kind of a trademark of hers) and sawing riffs. At times, it reminds me of stoner rock transcendalists like SLEEP or even 70’s Swedes PARSON SOUND (a direction Jackie and Andie would take further with their project MYRRH) but it also breaks out into galloping sections that are not too dissimilar to their Minneapolis contemporaries COUNTY Z (ed. note: there is so much CZ on this blog and you should definitely seek it out) and ROTTEN LIVING. The cover sports paper-cut artwork by “Dragon-face” Dan Nelson, virtually de rigeurin the scene at the time (see also DOGS, THIEVES, DANGER BOY & THE ROAD VULTURES, etcetcetc….)

   HEX was relatively short-lived, beginning and ending in 2007. As far as I know, this is their only recording. They did go on a two-month tour, which Jackie remembers as “the best tour I've ever been on. Luke Holden toured with us the entire way and performed at every show as the hilarious "Body McFartin" human fart machine opening act. Because we kind of didn't fit into any specific musical genre, we played a lot of weird shows--opened up for a D-beat band in Dallas, performed with the art-punk band TEENAGE WAISTBAND in Providence, and performing during an intermission for a psychedelic play in Kansas City.”

    They so impressed my friend Dan Schleifer at their Providence show that he formed his own tuba-drone metal band, the aforementioned BELLOWS (who also ruled and are also sadly broken up)

    All the members of HEX have gone on to do a bunch of stuff– Jackie formed the more melodic yet still driving BRUTE HEART and is now mainly focused on soundtrack work. Tuba player Aaron moved to Pittsburgh where he’s playing in two great bands- tuba with brassy LUNGS FACE FEET  and bass with heavy weirdos COME HOLY SPIRIT(alongside Gina Favano of the much-missed JOHN DENVER'S AIRPLANE). Andie went on to play drums in the brilliant MOTHER OF FIRE, then in a variety of scrappy punk bands and is a brilliant painter.

DOWNLOAD HEX

VX GAS ATTACK - Tape - 2014

   For the last week or two, I've been combing through stacks of tapes to digitize for the blog and coming up with stuff that I'm not particularly excited about. What I've noticed though is that almost every time I've been looking, this tape has actually been the one playing on the tape deck. In fact, it hasn't been more than one foot away from my stereo since their singer August placed it in my hands on a 2 AM 24th street a few months ago.
    I previously saw August singing for WALLS a few years ago and I honestly thought he was singing about different kinds of knots. More recently, I saw him losing his shit as he co-fronted PIG HEART TRANSPLANT to a largely vacant room. VX GAS ATTACK is a different beast altogether. Throughout the ten songs on this tape, the band is unrelenting. No breakdowns. No "mosh parts". Plenty of nearly cheesy divebombs and guitar solos that cross the border of ridiculous (note: I'm 100% fully in support of this). August is completely unhinged in a way that actually sounds dangerous. You know how there's those people who say that if they didn't find music, they might've just killed people instead? That's what this sounds like to me. Plus, it sticks in my head.

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I picture this band using BC Rich guitars exclusively.

Members of  PHT, WALLS, PLEASURE CROSS, LORDS OF LIGHT and more. 

THE WHIP - Live - Tape - 2002

Today's post is brought to you by Alex Turner

   THE WHIP was a band from Olympia. It's what happened after KARP. Joe Preston, Jared Warren and Scott Jernigan. They didn't play that many shows, but they did put out a 7", which is great and K Records might still have a few copies of it (?) (ed note - Wantage has copies of it here). These two shows have only 5 songs. I think the ReBar show was their first show? I recorded both of these on a handheld tape recorder and don't even remember being at the Backstage show. Whatever. Enjoy. 

DOWNLOAD  THE WHIP LIVE AT THE CAPITOL THEATER BACKSTAGE AND AT REBAR.

RANDOM CONFLICT - "Defying the Megadread" - Tape - 1988

   If you've lived in Alabama (or the southeast) in the last 25 years, you've undoubtedly heard of RANDOM CONFLICT. Bill Reeves has been fronting these guys since they first stormed into the armories and shitty bars of northern Alabama, playing hardcore, crossover, and straight-up punk the whole time. They played their first show on August 12, 1988 (that's 25 years ago TODAY) at the Dance Not Destroy fest in Nashville, TN. They suffered through multiple line-up changes throughout the late 80's and early 90's before abandoning their crossover/metal roots and calling it quits.
   They reformed in the 90's with Brian on bass (and he's still with them to this day) and DJ on drums (anonymous reports say he is now in jail). I put them on a lot of shows that I set up throughout the late 90's with BLACK FORK, SHITBOY FROM OUTERSPACE and others. At this point, they vehemently denied that they were ever a metal/crossover band, even though you could still buy their 1991 EP for proof at the local record store. (funny/not funny side story: Sunburst, the record store in Huntsville, always had copies of their first 7" on the shelves and the owner, Jay would complain that no one was buying them. One day, the record store burned down and it sucked, obviously. Still, Jay rebuilt and re-opened. On the first day, I walked in and donated a bunch of records to the store. I said "Hey Jay, look on the bright side. At least those Random Conflict records are finally gone." It was the first time I saw him smile in a while.)
  I moved away from Alabama and RANDOM CONFLICT kept moving forward. The last time I saw them, they were playing a coffeeshop right by my house in Chattanooga in 2001 (there were no flyers. I just happened to see Bill in the parking lot.). They played an excellent set to almost no one. I told Bill I would happily set up a show for them at our all ages punk space where they could play to a room full of appreciative people. Bill said that they didn't believe in cliques or scenes. I asked if they believed in playing shows to people who wanted to see them but Bill maintained that they didn't need any help. So, I never did set up that show for them. A couple of years ago, I stumbled into a show just as Bill yelled "We're RANDOM CONFLICT! Thank you and good fuckin' night!" I turned around and walked right back out the door. They were the only reason I even showed up.
   25 years is a long fuckin time to be in a band, especially on an independent level, but RANDOM CONFLICT is still chugging along. They even put out a new LP that is, in my opinion, one of the best things they've ever put out (along with that first demo). I put the record on, expecting it to be a rehash of their earlier material, but it was all new and fresh. (You can order it from No Profit). If these guys keep moving in the direction that they're going, then I'm really looking forward to the next 25 years. Keep it up!!

DOWNLOAD RANDOM CONFLICT's 1st Tape

Download complete recordings 1988-1992

OUR LADY OF NAPALM - Tape - 1999

   I don't know too much about the history of this SF band because I never saw them and I wasn't around during their short existence. This band teamed the punk upbringing of Ivy (drums....also in LOS CANADIANS, MIAMI and many more) with the stoner rock / metal stylings of Janis (guitar) and Erika (bass)(also in HAMMERS OF MISFORTUNE and LOST GOAT respectively) and they made music that fell somewhere between those styles. They recorded these ten songs, which I think were intended for an LP, but it never saw the light of day...probably because everyone had so many other projects going on. I don't even know the song titles. Song #4 is a great Ivy-fronted song that ALLERGIC TO BULLSHIT (Ivy's later band) tried to work into their repertoire, but it didn't really pan out. There's also some great stoner-style jams, full-on rockers and a DEAD BOYS cover. Get into it.

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This tape is from the shelves of Ivy Jeanne.

   Ivy went on to sing for ALLERGIC TO BULLSHIT, BLACK RAINBOW and MIAMI. Just like every other drummer who has ever lived in the Mission, she once played drums for SHOTWELL. Erica also played in LOST GOAT and AMBER ASYLUM. Janis has played in PAGAN BABIES (with Courtney Love and Kat from BABES IN TOYLAND), HAMMERS OF MISFORTUNE, STONE FOX, L7 and in PINK's (yes, that PINK) backing band. She also has one million hilarious stories that I cannot repeat here. 

TOMMY LASORDA - "Live At The End of the World" - 2002

   Yesterday, I probably told you everything I know about TOMMY LASORDA, so today is devoted to things I don't know about them. As mentioned previously, Mike from TOMMY LASORDA got in touch and sent over a live set that was intended for an album, but never saw the light of day. So, I'm featuring it here for the first time. Here's what Mike has to say about it....

 The show on this album was the first day of what turned out to be Tommy's longest tour, five weeks all over the country. We set off in a minivan with tons of oatmeal and spaghetti which we made anywhere we could along the way. I'm pretty sure that was all we ate the entire trip. Going into the Frontier restaurant in Albuquerque to get hot water for the oats, we saw Billy Gibbons from ZZ Top getting into a limousine. (Coincidentally we would skip our show with Fleshies and Sexy in Albuquerque on a later tour to see the Top at the local amphitheater.) Later on this tour we played for a room full of neo-Nazis in St. Louis who were really, really into us. We ended up canceling our last show in northern Montana after spinning out on a snow-covered mountain pass en route. We were so freaked out that we turned right around and drove all the way back to SF in time to see the Melvins at Slim's. They were awesome.

TL in Tulsa, OK with Hammy from FLESHIES on 2nd drums. Photo provided by the band.

   This show was at a teen center called The Don in Visalia, CA on 4 April, 2002. Despite our frequent onstage pleas for a place to crash, we ended up sleeping in the van, but the guy that recorded this did give us a Danelectro distortion pedal after watching us pause in the middle of all of our songs to manually push the button on Adam's Sunn bass head. That amp was really loud but a huge pain in the butt, as evidenced by our broken amp song on here, played by Adam while I changed a fuse. We were constantly having to change fuses and the tubes were shot like, once a month it seemed. Most of the songs on here that aren't on the tape or the 7" were going to be on our LP which only ever got halfway recorded. The exception is "Lloyd", which was going to be on a split 10" with the Ovens, which also never came out.

    Five or six years ago, I started a label called Swiss Army Records just because I wanted to release a 7" from San Pedro's Can of Beans. I later ended up putting out a 7" by my instrumental band Chinese and a full-length by my quieter pop band Sorry Safari. The label unceremoniously folded before I could release the Lasorda live album (as well as Sorry Safari's second album). Adam and I created some album art for this live joint, Adam did the cover on glossy silver paper and mixed it with glitter and construction paper. The insert was going to be pictures of kids slam dancing at small town shows we had played on tour. I've been able to track down the photos of the punks but the cover art is nowhere to be found. 

Thanks to Mike and Adam for everything and without further ado....

Download Live At The End of the World. updated aug 2013


(not the same show)

SUNSET BEACH - "Long Walks, Short Piers" + Cassingle - Tape - 2002

Think of this as "Part 2" of  the post about Matty Luv and Sarah T.

   Matty Luv was gone and the next day we still went ahead with the already-planned 5 year anniversary of Mission Records, even though it seemed like the hardest thing in the world to do. To date, it is still the saddest show I have ever been to in my life. Even though the show was set to start at 5 pm, people were already hanging out in the store, lighting candles, crying in corners and telling stories over beers when I woke up that morning. It felt natural for people to come there to grieve and be with friends. I'm glad that the space was there for them.

   When the bands started up, it just felt awful and counterintuitive. We were trying to celebrate this place and time, even though an integral piece of its entire day-to-day operation was missing forever. I felt crazy depressed and I'm sure everyone else did too...possibly more so. I barely remember anything about the show besides three things: 1.When my band, ALLERGIC TO BULLSHIT played, we were out of tune since Matty always tuned Iggy's guitar. 2. We gave Aesop (one of Matty's oldest friends and bandmate in HICKEY) a mic for the whole show so that he could loudly heckle every band. 3. When THIS IS MY FIST was playing, I was crying my eyes out. I looked around and everyone else was too, including the band.

    The next week was filled with a lot of sadness, some group hangouts, countless homemade tattoos and much more. When the funeral happened the next week, I didn't want to go (who really wants to go to a funeral?), but I borrowed a black button-down and did it anyway. After paying my respects, I was headed out the door to unlock my bike and saw a kid sitting in the funeral home who looked like the spitting image of a young Matty, which threw me for a loop. There were friends and family hanging out on the street, but I needed to get back to Mission Records to help out with the last punk show that Matty set up.
    In the days of HICKEY, it seemed like no town appreciated the band better than Tulsa, Oklahoma. From the stories I heard, it seemed like every time they came through town, they were met by an army of cult devotees who's fervor was unmatched by the rest of the country. I remember going there one time and stumbling upon a crew of drunk dudes in a parking lot, blasting MANOWAR. They happened to be listening to the only song I knew by them at the time, which led me to join them, singing loudly. They spotted the HICKEY patch on my jacket, which sent them into drunken hysterics, numerous accolades, and praises of that fine band. I swear that by the time I walked away from them, they would have loaned me rent money and  killed any of my enemies...and that was just for being a fan of the band. Sooner or later, it was inevitable that some of these fervent followers would start a band, but I was never aware of how good that band would be.
    So, here I was back at the record store with a bunch of sad, post-funeral punks awaiting the start of the show. It turns out that the guy who looked like Matty played in the touring band from Tulsa (his name is Aaron and he no longer looks anything like Matty) alongside Jon Paul, who is still one of the best punk drummers I've ever seen. When SUNSET BEACH took to the rickety, sagging stage, they thanked Matty for setting up the show and raged through a relentless set. Some of the songs seemed like total HICKEY-worship while others felt mired in insane metal riffs. By the end of the set, they were pulling out alcohol and a torch. I remember exchanging worried glances with some other denizens of the store as the fire was lit and then trying to scramble up to the stage as visions of the dust-trap of a store going up in flames danced through my head. It was too late. Aaron started breathing fire as they played their last song and I helplessly watched 10 foot flames flow across people's heads and lick the cracks in the ceiling. When I saw that we were not gonna die in the next 5 minutes, I finally exhaled and smiled for the first time all day. It was a great show.
   I ended up getting both of their tapes out of the free box at the store a few weeks later. For a long time, I thought that some fool had thrown them in there, but now I think Jon Paul put them there as a way to distribute them. The first side of "Long Walks, Short Piers" is total HICKEY-worship, but in the best way possible. I remember when I first heard it, I thought "Damn, do you guys only listen to one band?" and being a little annoyed, but over time, it's really grown on me and has become indispensable to my life. In the intervening years, I grew to appreciate them in their own right. If a band is gonna be influenced by someone, I'd rather that it be HICKEY instead of THE QUEERS, GHOST MICE or CREED. Side two starts off with "Napkin" and the first time I heard it, I seriously thought the band had accidentally dubbed a different band onto their tapes. It starts off with a  straight up metal riff and dives into fucking awesome thrash. The entirety of side two stays in that vein and it totally rules. The closer, "In The Name of Justice" delves into some dual guitar riffage that sounds like what might have happened if IRON MAIDEN had grown up on DIY punk and bathtub crank. This tape is pretty ambitious for a demo at a time when not many people cared about tapes at all. I started off casually listening to this band, but this tape soon became fused with the boombox at my shitty kitchen job and provided the soundtrack to many fucked up nights. I love it.
   Also included in the download is their two song cassette single where they sound like another entirely different band..maybe one that is influenced by early 80's radio, THIN LIZZY and good, good indie-pop. Still so good. 

  Enjoy that shit and go start a band that is at least half as good as this.

Download SUNSET BEACH - Updated Sept 2018

DRAW THE LINES - Olympia Music Compilation - Tape - 2011

   I was tricked into buying this tape, but that's okay because it's really good. You see, I ran into the band DOGJAW a couple of times and our bands even played together in Seattle last year. I like them a lot. They play slow, driving, droning music with two intertwining female voices that are both haunting and commanding. I saw them play at a great house show in SF and wanted to buy something by them. I bought this tape without looking at the track listing and then later realized that it was a compilation of bands from their hometown of Olympia, Washington. Their guitarist, Meg offered my money back when I said something about it, but I decided to keep it because DOGJAW are quality folks and I would expect them to have some quality shit with them on their tour. I was right.
   DOGJAW opens up this tape with two sprawling, beautiful, epic songs that break the ten minute mark (combined). They are followed by CRUDE THOUGHT who blast through 3 fast, driving punk songs. Bay Area locals may be happy to know that CRUDE THOUGHT will be in the area at the end of February with the ultra-hyped (all deserved) HYSTERICS. (also, DOGJAW will be here again in March). Next up is ANASTATICA, who I initially wrote off as being kinda dramatic and hokey, but then they grew on me immediately and became one of my favorite songs on this comp. It's super stripped down, DIY, feminist black metal. Unfortunately, they broke up, so my hopes of headbanging to these songs live, ever so slowly and forcefully are now dashed. They remind me of the best parts (read: all of it) of the acoustic songs by DOOMSDAY CAULDRON. Next up, I feel like DOGJAW (the organizers of this comp, I believe) is trying to pull one over on me by throwing in a French band called BIT PART. They're from France, right? Is there an Olympian BIT PART? I don't know, but whatever nationality they choose, they are fast, punk and great. Side two starts of with HARK HOW THE BELLS, which takes a few songs from their demo, which you can find by clicking on that link. PITTED YOUTH follows it up with a dirge-y, screamy approach that rules. I regret not watching them when my band played with them, but I was just too sweaty and tired to deal with anything (because I'm old). MARGY PEPPER is kinda minimalist and reminds me of early K Records stuff. BROKEN WATER closes out the tape with a ruling song that sounds like it could have been out an outtake from "Daydream Nation" with elements of MY BLOODY VALENTINE, which I'm sure they're not too happy to hear, but that's what it sounds like to me. Deal with it.

Download DRAW THE LINES

If you'd like to get your own copy of this tape, don't hesitate to write to dogjawolympia@gmail.com and they will hook you up.

TESSERACT - Demo - Tape - 2010

   MEN'S RECOVERY PROJECT once sang that "Email is A Men's Room". In this day and age, it can also feel like music blogs are exactly the same thing. The bandwidth is littered with dudes discussing other dude's accomplishments endlessly and bragging about that $500 7" that they snagged for the steal of $150 (I'm not implying that women can't also be sniveling record collectors who drool over first pressings of rare shit....I'm just trying to make a point here). I'm not pointing fingers. I am also guilty of filling up a whole week of material on my blog with bands that only feature men - men whose accomplishments are both inspirational and worth talking about to me. For the next week though, I am only going to post bands that are made up entirely of women whose music has been both inspirational and fucking amazing.
    TESSERACT was a way-too-short lived Bay Area band that growled out vicious, angry, plodding, beautiful DIY crust / metal in the basements of West Oakland back in 2010. They put out this tape just before  embarking on a short tour up to the Pacific Northwest, which included a stop at the beautiful and amazing Black Butte Center for Railroad Culture (If you ever get a chance to go here, do it!). I only saw them play twice (in West AND East Oakland) and both times, they were nothing short of awe-inspiring. Anyone can blast out some noise and call it music, but it takes a special band to create a mood and actually make you feel something real in this dead, cold world.
   TESSERACT dissolved after their guitarist, Savanna was whisked away to the wilds of Olympia, WA. Their drummer, Carey plays in the unfuckwithable SONGS FOR MOMS and does some amazing work with Girl's Rock Camp. Bassist, Kyle plays with East Bay rulers, DISPLEASURE and you should go ahead and get their brand new tape. I don't know what singer/guitarist Darci is up to these days, but to keep it interesting, let's just say that she's doing some insanely illegal shit that I can't even tell you about.

Download TESSERACT
Updated Jan 2016

VOMIT SPOTS - "I Want To Bowl" - Tape - 1989

    One of the first punk bands that I ever saw was THE CRAMPS, but one of the first totally DIY punk bands that I saw was THE VOMIT SPOTS. They started around 1986 in Mobile,AL and were sorta skate/thrash, sorta crossover punk. They kinda remind me of a more tame DRI or COC.  They put out a 5 song 7" in 1987 (coming to this blog one day soon) and then put out this tape in 1989. I played this tape numerous times throughout my middle school and junior high school years. It's totally the kind of thing that would appeal to a teenager growing up in Alabama in the late 80's/early 90's.: dumb lyrics, partying in Hell, thrashy shit, guitar solos and more. The best song, obviously, is "I Want to Bowl" which is catchy, fun and has a crazy drumbeat carrying the song that still confounds me to this day. THE VOMIT SPOTS brand of humorous, infantile punk is such a product of the 80's dumb thrash scene...so what I really find the most confounding about this whole thing is that they are still playing shows 2-3 times a year!! No shit! Take a trip down to Pensacola, Florida or south Alabama if you want to hear these songs live and in person by the actual human beings who wrote them.

   In the early '90's, Birmingham had a huge contingent of racist skinheads who generally sat around in the forest shooting guns, recruiting impressionable kids and talking to each other about their stupid racist bullshit. They didn't really go to punk shows too much. For some reason, in 1993 HBO took notice of their leader Bill Riccio and decided to make a documentary about him and his followers called "Skinhead USA: Soldiers of the Race War". Throughout the documentary, some of the kids mentioned punk or listened to it, so HBO decided that they should film these bald wastes of flesh at a punk show. At the same time, I decided that I should go see THE VOMIT SPOTS at the all ages space, Frankie's Down Under on the south side of Birmingham. Guess who was there?! Lots of skinheads! HBO film crews! I think HBO paid THE VOMIT SPOTS for appearing in the documentary with a huge bag of french fries (side note: my 14 year old self took one of the fries and said "I'll cherish this moment forever" a'la Riff Randall from Rock N Roll High School, but no one really got it and no one gave me that classic look that Dee Dee gives her in the movie. I had that french fry until 3 years ago.) Now, THE VOMIT SPOTS are many things: childish, sort of sexist, and insensitive, but they are neither racists nor nazi sympathizers. They protested the filming at their show and insisted that they be filmed denouncing the beliefs of the white power boneheads in attendance. HBO agreed but the band's tyrade was left on the cutting room floor. The SPOTS reputation was tarnished and they were kicked off of shows and labeled as racist sympathizers for years to come. It's not an easy thing to shake off when you're born and raised in Alabama, since people outside of the south already assume that you're a racist just because you grew up there. I should know. Whenever I tell people that I grew up there, it's usually followed by the other person saying "Oh....weird...." and then they either change the subject or ask me if it was really racist (and in extreme circumstances, they ask if we had paved roads there...seriously.).

(Go to 4:50 to see the clip from the show. I'm somewhere in there getting bashed around by some huge fuckhead with an SS tattoo.)

   Unfortunately, that documentary wasn't the VOMIT SPOTS only stumble. Not long after the movie, they released a cd that showed them going in a more (gasp) funk-rock direction, but listening to "Plain White Wrapper" on this tape let you know that this was in the future for them anyway. Just listen to this tape and act like the 90's never happened.

THE VOMIT SPOTS during happier times on cable access television, when they had an extra percussionist.

                          DOWNLOAD REMOVED BY MEDIAFIRE DUE TO COPYRIGHT VIOLATION

(inflammatory statement about wishing harm upon the life of someone who calls for the death of other races removed by Blogspot)

THE JAWAS - Discography - 1994-1995

    THE JAWAS came into my life to spit out 2 7"s and a compilation track. Then, they quietly vanished from the Huntsville punk scene. Besides being a great teenage punk band, the members of the JAWAS really helped me out a lot when I was 18 and living in a car. Their drummer Matt, let me sometimes sleep in the barn behind his parents house, which is also where they practiced (and is also where I photographed them for the cover of their 2nd 7"). Their bass player Andrew, would give me food at his parent's house when I ran out of money. I briefly played bass for their jokey metal band CRACKSAW at one show at the Tip-Top Cafe. Enough about me though. This is about them.
   My old buddy Seth wrote this about their first 7" on his blog and I don't think I could do a better job...so here is what he said along with the cover art, drawn by Matt's brother (1st grade).

"The Jawas were very much an anomaly in Huntsville at the time. While everyone else stuck with 3 chord punk rock, The Jawas were sporting heavy metal influences, playing jangly weird chords and in retrospect were even a bit experimental considering the Huntsville scene was hardly one enriched with a great deal of variety. Oh, and people loved the shit out of them. A Jawas show was always packed. Drummer Matt Bakula (The Peeps, 3D's) was prone to wearing a giant bull skull with horns over his head while playing drums, shirtless, with a pentagram painted on his chest. The kids ate it up. This seems like it was one of the first releases on Huntsville's Nation of Kids! label in what I'm thinking was probably 1994. I was in the 11th grade, and it seemed like every punk inclined teenager I knew was rocking this shit in their car on the way to school. Bakula's little brother Patrick did the cover art who was then like 5 or something. He's all grown up now, had a band called Circuit Pop (who is brother drummed for), now plays in the Dastardly Do-Nothings, and makes me feel pretty fucking old.

As far as the tunes themselves, listening now, it's a little hard to describe. These guys were blending thrash metal ("Bionic Bitch") with hardcore punk ("Mocking U") and smoothing it all out with some catchy hooks that had everyone singing along. It's a little punk, a little metal, but definitely not punk-metal. But then, when I think of punk-metal, I think of like early Goo Goo Dolls and all that awful shit Roadrunner records was putting out in the late 80's. Some of the quieter, janglier moments have always reminded me of Sonic Youth or early Nirvana. Most of all, I think this record is a shining example of what can happen when a bunch of kids haven't yet learned the "rules" about playing music and writing songs yet - henceforth, they've got no blueprint to follow, nor do they have to try to hard to venture into left field. A lot of the ideas on here still sound brilliant to me. For example the extended drum stick interludes between parts in "Master Plan." It's great for the same reason a lot of these old punk records are great: It's unreasonably angry, paranoid and overtly nihilistic in that blissfully sheltered way that only high schoolers can be, but also pretty goofy at times and never forgets to be fun."
         Thanks Seth...I just want to add that "Master Plan" is the perfect song that I wish I wrote as a teenager and "Mocking U" shows a maturity beyond their 16 years of age.

   After that first 7", they appeared on the Nation Of Kids 7" compilation, which compiled the best Huntsville punk bands of that era (you can also find that comp on Seth's blog). Their song "Pointless" picks up where the first 7" left off and it made me think that the JAWAS were well on their way to becoming the best punk band in North Alabama (i know that seems laughably easy to an outsider, but Alabama had some majorly great shit going on in the mid-90's.

    For their 2nd and final record, the boys took a serious turn in their songwriting direction and seemed to favor playing faster, sloppier punk. I still loved it, but it kinda seemed like they weren't even trying that hard. "Guy Cut in Half" and "Express Lane" are both solid as fuck, but the other two songs either seem like they were written on the spot (and the band hadn't really learned how to play it) or they are so mired in misogyny that it's ridiculous (which I chalk up to them being teenage boys and growing up in the south...that is not to excuse it).

   Pretty soon after that record, the JAWAS called it a day and sailed on towards their 20th birthdays. Nowadays, Matt is playing in a few different musical projects like PINE HILL HAINTS, THE COUNTER CLOCKWISE and more. I believe their guitarist Mark is playing in a musical project with Matt. A quick internet search leads me to believe that singer/guitarist Donnie is happily married with kids. Andrew is still out there touring and recording, trying to top his teenage accomplishments with some band called AGAINST ME!

                          

DOWNLOAD JAWAS

UPDATED 2021

  Download includes all of the record covers, inserts and even an interview with the band from the Virgil Grissom High School newspaper. Why do I have this?! I didn't go to their high school!!

VENOM - Stage Banter - 1986

   Okay, so this has been passed around all over the world since before the internet ever existed...Thurston Moore even put this out as a single on his Ecstatic Peace label back at the beginning of the 90's....but I like this alot and I like you a lot and I want you to have this. Plus, it's almost Halloween and this recording seems fitting.
   The world was weird back during the 80's. To prove that, the universe put VENOM and BLACK FLAG on the same bill in New Jersey. When VENOM was doing their thing, BLACK FLAG'S roadie, Joe Cole decided to document it on his tape recorder. Later, I'm guessing that he realized that Cronos' stage banter was the real gem here and Mr. Cole cut out all of their music from the set. The end result is hilarious, memorable and highly fucking quotable. Happy Halloween!
   YOU WANNA HEAR SOMETHING REALLY HEAVY??!!

TEM EYOS KI - 7" - 2000

    I went to a show in Asheville in 1999, not knowing that the bands playing would destroy my mind forever. The bands were SUBMISSION HOLD, ANTI-PRODUCT, THEUSAISAMONSTER, MARGARET MOTHER OF THIEVES and the unfuckwithable TEM EYOS KI. It was kind of a dream show and sometimes I even believe it was too good to be true that all of these bands would converge on this one slimy basement  with a creek running through it all on the same night....but I have the poster to prove it and I'm sure someone somewhere has the pictures.
   For me, TEM EYOS KI destroyed the show and every band after them (which was every band besides MMOT) did their best to top them, but just couldn't do it. TEM EYOS KI had raw power, beauty and so much fucking energy. Their songs sped from raging thrash/metal to utterly triumphant, soaring melodies that get stuck in your head for years.
  Unfortunately, their full LP's power didn't match that of the live show. Their 7"s and their tour CDR got really, really close (by the way, if you have a copy of that, CDR please, please send it to me). Maybe it was economics. Maybe it was the mastering process. Maybe it was a bad day, but I really wish that LP was better.
  This 7" contains my favorite song by them, "Aluminalkalyde" and 3 others that show the range of this band and hints at the utter bonkers-ness of their live show. My friend, Nate Powell, has a VHS tape of them playing at a gazebo in Little Rock that is amazing. I lived with him for a month and seriously watched parts of it almost daily and I'm not really the kind of person who likes to sit around and watch live videos of bands.   Here is one clip from the world wide web:

Play this loud and please go start a band that is just as good or better.

                            Photo by Natalja Kent.
                           Download Tem Eyos Ki 7"

RESURRECTUM - CDR - 2002

   RESURRECTUM was around for a little while in the early '00's, growling their metallic, bullet-belted asses off about topics such as consent, fucked up wars and , you know, Satan. I think I remember them referring to themselves as a metal band, but they weren't afraid to jump headlong into fast-as-shit-double-bass thrash every once in a while. They drew their influences from IRON MAIDEN and possibly TEM EYOS KI. I'm not the kind of person who would normally play air guitar to a band, but I have been known to dabble a little with RESURRECTUM if that tells you anything. I always liked their live show more than this CD, but can i bring back their maniac sneers and glares? Can I bring back the piercing, live dual guitar solos? Can I bring back the warehouses full of drunk, dread-mulletted crusties waving around 40's while pumping their fists and headbanging? No, I can't...but I can share this Cd with you and you can get the idea.
                  download RESURRECTUM