Quality.

Crunt
Pretty great only album by an early-90s super-dupergroup consisting of Stu Spasm from Lubricated Goat, Babes in Toyland's Kat Bjelland, and Russel Simmins of the Fonz Spencer Blues Explosion. The tunes here lean heavy on catchy grooves over hooks, and they play faster and leaner than any of their better-known main bands. From what I can gather, they never toured - I can't even find any evidence of a single live show - and they broke up right away. They were all living in Seattle and at least one of them was way into the bad brown sticky stuff.

The Screamers - Demos 1977-78

Constantly heralded as the first (and most significant) "synth punk" band. This is some seriously vintage, angry punk rock performed with no guitars. They remain obscure mainly because they never officially released anything (their music can only be obtained on bootlegs), save for a live DVD that was put out a few years ago. First heard about them from a hardcore punker dude at my school who used to eat out of the garbage and got me kicked out of history one day because I kept laughing at the dicks that he was drawing all over his legs. Later, they reappeared in my life when I heard them name-checked by musical idols Weasel Walter and Jay Reatard (huge influence on Lost Sounds, Terror Visions, etc. This and early Devo collectively make up the force behind Jay's synth fetish.) This collection contains many of their best songs and is downright fucking essential for any fan of idiosyncratic punk rock. Burzum, Mouth Breather, etc... get this shit.

The Screamers - Demos 1977-78

Constantly heralded as the first (and most significant) "synth punk" band. This is some seriously vintage, angry punk rock performed with no guitars. They remain obscure mainly because they never officially released anything (their music can only be obtained on bootlegs), save for a live DVD that was put out a few years ago. First heard about them from a hardcore punker dude at my school who used to eat out of the garbage and got me kicked out of history one day because I kept laughing at the dicks that he was drawing all over his legs. Later, they reappeared in my life when I heard them name-checked by musical idols Weasel Walter and Jay Reatard (huge influence on Lost Sounds, Terror Visions, etc. This and early Devo collectively make up the force behind Jay's synth fetish.) This collection contains many of their best songs and is downright fucking essential for any fan of idiosyncratic punk rock. Burzum, Mouth Breather, etc... get this shit.

Blank Dogs

I first checked into this mysterious band-like entity after reading the Reader's write-up on Hozac Records a few months ago. Purportedly from Madagascar - though according to the Reader article, the guy or guys behind these records route the master tapes through Atlanta - Blank Dogs make dense, droney 4-track hiss-fests that are simultaneously wild and stoic. Fans of lo-lo-fi madness, oddly catchy melodicism, fake British accents, limited vinyl runs should find much to like about this band. I detect similarities to oddball punk like Trio and Times New Viking, and probably new-wave, goth and shoegaze, but I don't think I've ever heard anything that sounds quite like this before.
More pertinent web action may be accessed here.
Here are five of their singles / eps:

Hey now now: this is pretty excellent. Thanks. Especially loving "Diana (The Herald)"

Are these Comus covers?!

The Screamers - Demos 1977-78

Constantly heralded as the first (and most significant) "synth punk" band. This is some seriously vintage, angry punk rock performed with no guitars. They remain obscure mainly because they never officially released anything (their music can only be obtained on bootlegs), save for a live DVD that was put out a few years ago. First heard about them from a hardcore punker dude at my school who used to eat out of the garbage and got me kicked out of history one day because I kept laughing at the dicks that he was drawing all over his legs. Later, they reappeared in my life when I heard them name-checked by musical idols Weasel Walter and Jay Reatard (huge influence on Lost Sounds, Terror Visions, etc. This and early Devo collectively make up the force behind Jay's synth fetish.) This collection contains many of their best songs and is downright fucking essential for any fan of idiosyncratic punk rock. Burzum, Mouth Breather, etc... get this shit.

Old Time Relijun - Catharsis in Crisis



I'm not 100% sure this goes here, but I think everyone in this thread will like it. It definitely has psych and garage elements, and it's pretty fucked up. Strongly recommended if you like Beefheart and Sun City Girls, especially their more accessible sides - thinking Safe as Milk and Torch of the Mystics.

Tex Perkins is such a busy man, you wonder how he found time to bring the Beasts Of Bourbon back for another album after ten years. Well, one way to do it is to bash it out in a mere three days, which is what they did here (and may also explain why it’s only 34 minutes long). Yet, for all the apparent haste, the ten cuts here capture the essence of this band – raw underbelly rock where sinister slither and greasy grumble get transformed into guitar glory. From the guttural gutter crawl of opener I Don’t Care About Nothing Anymore to the closing (presumably) tongue-in-cheek drugs-are-great checklist of Thanks, this is stagger-swagger rock that sounds messy and seedy. But it can only work if the band is totally in sync, and there’s no faulting the Beasts on that score. From the spiteful Stooges surge of The Beast I Came To Be to the mutant blues of Sleepwalker to the deceptively sedate title track (but check the sting in the song’s tail), it’s often prickly and pugnacious but never less than imposing. It’s a thrill indeed to see that the Beasts’ supremely scuzzy buzz is still so visceral and vital after such a long lay-off.

jesus christo, man!!!

it says right in the thread title, "no ear plugs allowed"

Hmmm. That guy must be a rock critic. Or a narc.
Oh well, that doesn't bother me nearly as much as misspelling "Psyche" in the thread title.

anyone know where this pic was taken, i see a friend of mine in the crowd.

There's like eight great albums up above this post, people.

So, the new Hanoi Rocks album is pretty decent. Do I put it here or in the metal thread?

Whatever you want, as long as I can find it.

Hanoi Rocks - Street Poetry
When I do the math, these guys might actually be my all-time favorite band. I've liked them longer than just about any other band I'd put in my top ten. So my perspective on this may be a bit skewed but I've listened to this a half dozen times already, and I think it's the best of the three revival-era albums (I assume most everyone is familiar with the basic storyline, if not, read here). Overall, it's probably as good as Oriental Beat or Back to Mystery City, but nowhere near Bangkok Shocks or Self Destruction Blues. Nothing mind-blowing or revolutionary - there's still no attempt to update their sound past 1985 glam rock - but a fun listen, for me at least.

"We are a fucking cult and will cause you harm and ill will."
The 9 Principles of AIDS Wolf

1: Maintain a Daily Ritual. Music is like breathing, eating, walking, sleeping, drinking, pissing, and, with any luck, fucking. One must have something to play, create, and examine everyday; there are simply no vacations. Music must be a physical need and a mental compulsion in each moment of existence.

2: Live Aesthetic Immersion. One's aesthetic inclinations regarding sound should bleed over into and flow from all artistic disciplines as easily as they do from daily experience. There is no reason a sonic composition cannot be inspired by or contribute to a drawing, a tasty curry, or one's choice of socks.

3. When in Doubt, Bum Them Out. If you can't convert 'em, make 'em run crying and holding their ears. There is no shame in being a bummer. To elicit a reaction - positive or negative - is a valueless proposition and a noble pursuit in its own right.

4. Get in the Van. This is self-explanatory. Read the book, live the life.

5. Seek Strength Through Strength. Gear's gotta be carried, sleep must be forsaken, and long tours have to be survived, knowing all the while that ideas flow best when one has the stamina to let them out. Through proper consumption of wholesome fresh foods, daily strength training and sports, and copious amounts of fresh air, one can foster personal fortitude and allow room for creativity to flower.

6. Join the Family. AIDS Wolf is a nuclear family, from which flows an ever-expanding extended family network. Artistic collaborations, shared travels, exchanged stories, and general camaraderie with other bands and artists are not only motivating and inspiring but also serve as a vital metrics by which to measure one's own perceived worth.

7. Allow for Sonic Fields of Nothing. The use of negative space in music and design creates new dynamics, abstracts the obvious, and challenges both the creator and the audience.

8. Lift Anchor and Set Sail. De-anchoring compositions by dispensing with a bass guitar allows AIDS Wolf to make rhythm, often muddled, confused, and obscured with polyrhythmicality, the central feature of its performances. Lacking a "mama heartbeat", in this way, pushes the band out of predictability and puts atonality on a pedestal.

9. Become the Weird Punks. Remember when punk was weird and when weird was punk Destroy genre straight jackets and move out of the comfortable. Confrontation with norms and expectations is where the AIDS Wolf family is most at home.

Now that you have studied and committed the 9 Principles of AIDS Wolf to memory, you are ready to carry them into your daily life. Find failure and misery as you are guided by these tenets and bring them with you into the wider world. For more information about AIDS Wolf, visit aidswolf.net or see them on tour in a city near you.

AIDS Wolf HISTORY:

If you hear a nasty rumbling, a sound that compels you to fear for your very sanity, seek out the nearest art space, club, or rock mecca. It is AIDS Wolf you hear. There is nothing wrong.

AIDS Wolf is four people, all with long histories in the noise/punk fold, who play harmoniously grating noise. Their sound is agitated, driving, and filled with twitchy energy.

Their name came to them when they spotted it scrawled as graffiti. The odd combination of words seemed weirdly discordant, the word equivalent of their own sound. TheyÕve continued to use strange word juxtapositions, making reference to diseases, medieval creatures, and nonsensical languages in their lyrics and titles.

In January 2006, AIDS Wolf released The Lovvers LP, their first full-length with the CD on Lovepump United, the 12" on Skin Graft. They've also released splits, mini-CDs, and improv freakouts on tape. Their upcoming releases for late 2006 include a four-band split (on two 7") with Dmonstrations, Pre, and Crack Und Ultra Excema on Lovepump United.
In early 2007, AIDS Wolf released a collaborative album with Providence's ATHLETIC AUTOMATON under the moniker AIDS WOLF VERSUS ATHLETIC AUTOMATON titled "Clash Of The Life-Force Warriors".

AIDS WOLF's latest release is a bootleg split 7" with London's PRE titled "Live Dates". Illegally pressed by SINRAFT Records and containing a calendar sleeve of compromising band photos, the 7" has been seized by Skin Graft Records for lawful distribution.

They are currently recording their next album "Cities of Glass" for release on Skin Graft Records in 2008.

Follow the volume to a show near you.

Paul McCartney - "Angry"

fairly irrelevant, but the cover reminds me of

good song. make that fucking mix already.

too bad it's got that gay 80's production fugging all over it.

BTW I love that Akron Fam record. Andrew Weiss produced it, too. Did not know that. He does a damn fine job, man. Listen to the track "all the colors" or something, you can hear every vocal in the choir. It's a very pure sound he's got going for him.