ARCTIC FLOWERS - Demo - Tape - 2009

   I knew ARCTIC FLOWERS would rule before I ever heard them because my friend (Spiky) Mikey (Napkin) played drums for them and he doesn't fuck around when it comes to playing music (unless, of course, he is fucking around). It seemed like most other people at the time were really excited that a guy from SIGNAL LOST was in the band (full disclosure: I didn't hear SIGNAL LOST until this year).
   ARCTIC FLOWERS started practicing sometime in 2009 without a singer, writing songs and trying to figure out who could front their band. I think I remember them telling me that they asked Alex to sing for their band after seeing her front an AVENGERS cover band at a house show in Portland. They clicked and threw out this demo pretty soon afterwards. This demo is strong, well-produced (the joys of having your own studio) and sounds like a band that has already been playing together for years. Their take on UK anarcho-punk sounds fresh and precise. "Technicolor Haze" sounds bleak and goth in a way that makes me want to pull out my nonexistent BAUHAUS and JOY DIVISION records. These four songs aren't much different from the recordings that later appeared on their self-released 7" and their LP, but I find myself coming back to listen to this demo over and over. Highly recommended!

Download AF
Re-uploaded 2013

ALL IS LOST - Tape - 1997

   It's tapes like these that made me start this blog in the first place. This one was already falling apart and the sound quality was already shit when I bought it from the band in 1997. I set up a show for ALL IS LOST when they came to Alabama with SHARKS KILL and I remember that I set up the show because the latter band was former members of a band that I loved called PUNKY ROCKIT (we will cover this band in the near future). Both bands were from Portland, OR and I remember being mostly excited about SHARKS KILL, but at the end of the night, I was more sold on ALL IS LOST. At the time, I would've called them "emo", but now I know that they were just playing something closer to melodic indie punk. My friend, Harry was pretty excited that half of the band used to be in FIFTEEN (on the albums "Buzz" and "Surprise", I believe, for those of you who care). I was surprised and delighted to find that they sounded absolutely nothing like FIFTEEN and that they incorporated non-cheesy synchronized band moves to entertain the 15 or so people in attendance at their show. Plus they were really nice, even though they seemed genuinely weirded out and scared about being in the state of Alabama.
   I was bummed out to get this tape home and find that it was so poorly dubbed that I had to turn it up all the way just to enjoy it. BUT, the songs were really fucking good and I still listen to it on road trips sometimes when I'm alone, so I don't have to subject people to the tinny sound and tape hiss. "Nothin' But Taillights" has a lazy day feel to it and has hooks galore! Their cover of the old-ass song "Buttercup" by THE FOUNDATIONS is seriously, without a doubt, one of my most favorite punk cover songs of all time by anyone ever in the goddamn history of music. This crappy little tape has seen a long life and I plan on giving it many more listens until it breaks in half.
   Whenever I ask long term Portland residents about this band, no one seems to know about them or what happened to them. My only contact with them was this one dinky show back in the '90's and then they disappeared from my radar. If you know anything more about them, feel free to share some info. If you happen to have better copies of these recordings, please give them to me!

Download ALL IS LOST and turn it all the way up!!
Link updated Sept 2018

WADE BOGGS - LP - 2011

  Photo by Patrick Houdek

   So, this is different. Instead of trotting out a long forgotten tape or singing the praises of yet another Region Rock classic, I bring you the brand new album by Athens, GA's own WADE BOGGS! It just came out this week and I am excited to be bringing it to your ears. The band decided to do an experiment and not fuck around with record labels, pressings, even artwork....so I bring you just the music.

    After the demise of CARRIE NATIONS, Ian (one singer/guitarist) forged ahead with the band PILLOWFORT, which morphed into SHITTY DARKNESS, which sort-of morphed into WADE BOGGS....or something like that..I can't keep up. What I'm trying to say is that Ian's got a bunch of music oozing out of his pores and he has been trying to find ways to give it all to the world in the forms mentioned above, as well as with HOT NEW MEXICANS and WELCOME HOME NEMO.

   (Sidenote: I hate it when people write about bands and only discuss the people in the band who have visibly made the most obvious musical accomplishments. That being said, I don't really know the other guys in WADE BOGGS and I don't know what bands they have been in. I can say that I have seen this band and they rock the fuck out in a way that lets me know that they each put their hearts into what they do, which is way more important than the resume one has built up over the years.)

    These fifteen songs are excellent and filled with pop hooks. I'm still letting it settle and I'm still forming my thoughts about it, but I can tell you that songs like "The New Catch" and "Sailor's Lament" instantly made me want to listen to this album all day. Stop reading this and just download it right now! Produced by lil' Patrick Jennings.

Download WADE BOGGS!

Thanks to WADE BOGGS for letting me put this on here.

BLACK FORK - "Here's a Little Wedding Present...Some AIDS!!!" - 1st Demo - Tape - 1994

   Before I start talking about the content of this tape, let me tell you how this piece of plastic came into my possession. I was talking to my friend, Erick  on the phone one night and I just knew that he had some good , old tapes somewhere in hiding. I asked him to send me a selection from the vaults...errrr.....boxes of tapes. He was hesitant at first (I know I would feel nervous about sending away a box of prized possessions), but a large box of tapes showed up at my p.o. box a couple of weeks later and I'm pretty fuckin' stoked about it. I could post one of his tapes every day for a month and still have some left over. So, for the next couple of months (or more), I will be posting a selection from his collection every few days and include notes from him about the tapes, if they seem to provide some sort of insight into the music. This is the first one, chosen at semi-random from the box.
    BLACK FORK was an East Bay punk band formed in 1994 by four fuckin' bright-haired weirdos. They were known for a totally ruling, harsh guitar sound, energetic live shows that actually sorta scared me as a teenager and Robin's insane, screamy-but-tuneful vocals. A little known thing about BLACK FORK is that Jim Nastic was not always their drummer. My friend, Ivy Jeanne was their original drummer and played on this demo. Erick had this to say, "Jim Nastic is one of the best hardcore drummers in our lifetime, but I always loved Ivy's lurchy, dirty beats on this and how the FORK was more punk than hardcore in this period."
    This demo was originally a split with an Emeryville rapper named MCG, but his music has unfortunately been lost to the ages. The track listing and cover have suffered the same fate, so you just get 12 ripping, vicious, yet title-less punk songs by the one and only BLACK FORK. Enjoy and check back for more old shit from the box.

Download BLACK FORK'S First Demo
Updated Sept 2014
Happy 20th anniversary BLACK FORK!

IRON LUNG // HATRED SURGE - Collaboration - 7" - 2008

   If you pay even a cursory glance to the music that I share on here, this record will seem out of place next to the region rock, pop-punk and scrappy gems that usually populate this page. You may think, "Hmm, ...Is this a manic power-violence band that has songs about medical equipment and surgical procedures?" Yes, it is. I love the shit out of IRON LUNG and I listen to a lot of their records on a pretty regular basis. They have been churning out completely brilliant, precise, insane hardcore/power-violence for over 10 years with no end in sight, which must be difficult since one of these dudes lives in Washington and the other lives 3 blocks away from me here in California.

    On this record, IRON LUNG teamed up with HATRED SURGE (who, at this time, was a one man grind project) and wrote eight crushing songs together rather than doing a split 7". The result is phenomenal. HATRED SURGE adds a crazy fucked bass sound to IRON LUNG'S already stellar, distorted onslaught and the result is some over-the-top, next-level shitz. Songs like "Eraser" and "Cold Ward" make me feel like riding my bike downtown and cutting the heads off of cops with a sword. 

   About the cover: It's crazy. It's 3 layers of covers and the outlying ones are made of a thinner paper so that you can see the layer underneath. The top layer is a clear-ish paper that looks like vellum. I asked my partner, Anandi if she thought it was vellum. She replied "Are you asking me if I think IRON LUNG used the skin of a baby lamb to produce a record cover? No, I don't think they did." The second layer is a slightly thicker layer and all of them work together to make some beautiful art. Get into it.

Download IRON LUNG // HATRED SURGE Collaboration

VARIOUS ARTISTS - "Fuck the East Bay, This is N.O.K." - CD - 1997

   I helped to put out this CD in 1997 on the Nation Of Kids (hence "N.O.K.") label out of Huntsville,AL. It started off as a split CD between the band I was in, JOEY TAMPON AND THE TOXIC SHOCKS, and our friends, PINK COLLAR JOBS, from North Carolina. CD's were still a new novelty to us at the time and we weren't used to having so much time to work with, so there was a lot of it left over after our collection of songs. So, we decided to fill up the extra space with a sampler of current punk bands from the Huntsville area so that they could get more exposure when we took the CD on tour with us.

TOXIC SHOCKS playing an 8 year old's birthday party in St Mary's GA. 1995. No shit! Picture by Harry.

   JOEY TAMPON AND THE TOXIC SHOCKS was a horribly moniker-ed band that I played in for 2-3 years with my friends Joey and Neil (both formerly of CHEESE ASS CHRIST). We had put out one 7" and toured extensively around the southeastern US at this point. Joey was getting kinda bored with the band at this time and it really shows on the recording. I mean, he wasn't a good guitarist or singer by any stretch of the imagination, but he usually made up for his lack of talent with an extra helping of vitriol, charisma, sarcasm and for lack of a better word, oomph. On this recording, it just wasn't really there. The first eight songs were recorded in a small little box of a studio, 20 miles from the town where we lived. (as a sidenote, I think this was the time that I was driving out to the studio to record and my car broke down, so I ditched it and hitchhiked the rest of the way...still made it on time.) The guy recording us did a really good job of making my bass drum sound like a cardboard box. The last three songs by us were recorded on a reel-to-reel four track in my bedroom on the corner of Dement and Ward in Huntsville. I guess it's easy for one to get upset or embarrassed about their old band, so just take a listen and judge for yourself. I still think our 7" is better. Soon after this CD came out, Joey told me "I don't have anything important to say anymore. I'm just gonna start a surf band." Then, we broke up.

TOXIC SHOCKS playing a generator show on a boat launch in the Everglades. 1995. Photo by Kristiana.

PINK COLLAR JOBS at the Jesus Saves Space in Boone NC. 1996. Photo by me.

   PINK COLLAR JOBS, on the other hand, was on top of their game and kind of the polar opposite of us. Their songs covered political issues, feminism and monetary excess. They were our favorite band at that time and we were completely honored to put something out with them. They re-recorded most of the songs from their demo tape for this release and included a newer song as well, called "Society's Disease or Yours?". Joey was bummed that they didn't re-record the other remaining songs from their demo, so he included them on the CD. I'm not even sure if he asked them if it was okay.Oh well, they're great songs and this is the only more widely available stuff they put out besides their split 7" with RUSTWEILER. You should track that down as well so that you can see why PCJ was one of the best underrated bands of the 90's.

PCJ playing at Gorin's in Huntsville. 1997. Photo by Ramesh.

   The compilation part of the CD starts off with a ridiculous intro by Joey and then kicks into two great songs by 565 BURNOUTS, who were also one of my favorites at that time. The songs were taken straight from their demo tape, which you can find right here, along with more info about them.
  Next up is THE PEEPS, Huntsville's most loved (but unfortunately, not only) ska-punk band. They were around for a good number of years, but I only ever really liked their demo tape (which I don't have...if anyone wants to donate that for download, it would be appreciated). A LOT of people in Huntsville liked this band a whole bunch. If you don't believe me, someone actually made a full length documentary about them, which I have never seen and have no links for, Even though, I didn't like them much, they were always a fun live band and I played drums for them at two shows. Members went on to be in PROPERTY (see below), PINE HILL HAINTS, AGAINST ME! and ,uh, SOUL CRACKERS.
   Following THE PEEPS is PROPERTY, who might have been the towns longest running punk band at the time besides RANDOM CONFLICT (see below). I think PROPERTY formed when most of the members were in high school and one of them was still in middle school. They always told me that they were just about to put out a record, but they never did. Besides this CD, they only appeared on some tapes and a comp 7". I think they were probably too busy chain-smoking and skating to get it together to release a record of their own. I loved them when they were around.
   I've already told you about SHITBOY FROM OUTERSPACE before. This recording is from after their singer Joey (Tampon) either quit or got kicked out of the band and Jason (guitarist) became the sole songwriter. At this point, it seemed like he was just trying to push people's buttons with "edgy" topics. Thus, you get songs like "I Wanna Be Japanese" and "Brooke's Got DSL", which is not about the internet...and that' all I'm gonna say about that.
   Next up is THE JAWAS with a song off of their 2nd 7". I'm not really sure what else I could possibly tell you about this band, since I already wrote a whole entry about them..I can tell you that even though we were putting together this CD at the same studio where they recorded their record, we still got their song for this comp straight off of their record instead of using their master tapes. Why? I don't fuckin' know. You can even hear that someone bumped into the record player within the first 30 seconds of the song. A huge disservice to a great band.
  Following them is THE SLACKERS, who were defunct by this time, but these two songs were still laying around. THE SLACKERS were punk as fuck and one of my favorite live bands when they were having a good night. Both of these songs are great and you should expect to hear more about them on this blog in the near future.
   RANDOM CONFLICT closes out the comp with their song "10%". They were actually the longest running band in town at this point. They started in 1987 as a crossover metal band (If anyone doesn't want their first 7" from '87, I will give it a good home) and went through a lot of different phases, but kept their boots firmly planted in hardcore punk the whole time. This song catches them in a pretty solid hardcore/street punk phase and they usually put on a good live show. The crazy thing is that they ARE STILL A BAND and play shows all the time. Just for fun, here is a video of them playing their hit "Cyanide Nazi Race" at an insane gig at the Armory in Huntsville in 1990.

Download This Fuckin' Comp
Updated March 2014

FULL SUN - "High Ceiling" - Tape - 2011

   I totally "got" FULL SUN when I was sitting on top of Bernal Hill overlooking the city of SF and I was blasting this tape out of my boom box the day after my birthday while eating a burrito and drinking a tall can. Meanwhile, at that very moment on the other side of the country, Jeff Grant (the songwriter and instrumentalist behind these songs) was getting married to his longtime sweetheart in a barn (I think) in Indiana. I raised a toast to them and the city and flipped this tape over for the fifth time in a row.
  FULL SUN started out as a three piece band, but never recorded anything to my knowledge before they broke up. Jeff (their guitarist/singer and formerly of PINK RAZORS) kept the band name and pushed onward. He wrote and recorded these six songs at home, playing all the instruments himself and it came out amazingly. While it has an undeniable late-era POTENTIAL JOHNS feel to me, Jeff pulls out some tricks that make the sound all his own...like throwing in a dub song. He has a knack for ear-grabbing pop hooks and the recording has a thin, treble-y (but high quality and clear) sound that reminds me of AM radio, which I fuckin' love. It's flawless.

   Download FULL SUN

   If you would like to buy your own copy of this tape, act fast because he only pressed 100. You can get it from Houseplant Records. While you're there, go ahead and order the LP by FAT SHADOW; the band he plays drums for. Jeff is reportedly hard at work on new FULL SUN recordings and I can't wait to hear them.

CRUDE HILL - "On Stiltz" - Tape - 2007

   I saw CRUDE HILL play a cramped basement in Indiana back in 2007 and I remember thinking that they sorta sounded like "Noise Cumbia" or "Experimental World Music". Once I got this tape into the player, I realized that I was wrong and there was something else going on entirely. This 40-something minute tape (split into 6 sections) explores improvisation, noise landscapes, experimentation and droning bliss.

Download CRUDE HILL

Features members of  TEENAGE WAISTBAND, FORCE FIELD and URDOG.

SMUT - CDR - 2003

   SMUT consists of two friends who met and started playing music together years ago in middle school when living right outside of Flint,MI. Their live set was lightning fast. Like, if they said "Hey, we're playing at 7 pm", you better get there at 7 instead of 7:10, because it would be over by then. They eventually moved to Indiana and blast-beated the fuck out of some basements, parks, all ages spaces and hallways with their hyper-fast, insanely brief, super-low budget, manic, noisy thrash. I miss being able to see this band, because if I had other things to do, I could be in and out of a punk show in 10 minutes.

SMUT in Indiana. 2006. Photo by either Kelsi or Michael

Download SMUT! 10 songs in 3 1/2 minutes.

IGGY SCAM - "79th Street Radio" - Tape - 1998

    Iggy Scam has been self-publishing his zine, SCAM since 1991. It tends to focus on the underbelly of society: the underprivileged, the downtrodden, the folks sleeping in the doorways, the freaks and the punks...and it treats them with dignity and respect. It has consistently been one of my favorite zines since I first encountered SCAM #2, which was bigger than the telephone directory of the town where I grew up.
    Iggy appeared on NPR's "This American Life" on Lil' Bobby Hutton Day in 1998, reading his story "79th Street Radio". It chronicles the mystery and wonder of stumbling across a pirate radio station in North Miami and trying to figure out its origins; trying to find the story behind the story. It conjures up images of lonely boulevards at 3am, old rusting cars, and a time in Miami that may be nonexistent in the near future. It's good listening and helps me to remember why I love radio...not the pop stations, but the crackly AM country, the Coast To Coast weirdness, the things you stumble across in the middle of Wyoming and of course, pirate radio.

Download 79th Street Radio

   In the mid-00's, Iggy Scam changed his name back to Erick Lyle and continues to write SCAM. In addition to this, he has contributed articles to SF's Bay Guardian, written articles for many zines and authored the book On The Lower Frequencies, which chronicles years of activism and struggle in SF during the dot-com boom and the ensuing era of living in a world that does not want poor people to exist. He is currently working on a new book and a collaborative art show in SF that is sure to blow some minds.