Selections from The Punk Vault [Ruin]
Ruin – Fiat Lux LP (1986 Meta Meta Records) In 1986 some friends and I took the train to the city to see a punk rock show at Cabaret Metro. The lineup was 7 Seconds, Verbal Assault, Ruin, and SS20. We went solely for the need to see 7 Seconds and never heard the other [...]
Dope Guns and Fucking Up Your Video Deck DVD
Back in the very early 1990′s, the Daves and I went to see the Melvins play at a little place called Edge of the Looking Glass and a then-unknown band named Helmet opened for them. I was so blown away by this band that I bought the records they were selling (the Helmet first 7″ [...]
Mr. Potato Head goes to The Big Easy
The next time I received a mystery envelope, the postmark read “New Orleans, LA” and the pictures inside contained Mr. P in places that looked somewhat familiar, as I’ve been to New Orleans twice. I received a couple envelopes from this same place and the first one had 3 pictures in it… A few days [...]
Selections from The Punk Vault [Ism]
Ism – Attack 7″ (1981 S.I.N. Records) Ism were pretty well covered here when I wrote about The Big Apple Rotten to the Core I’ll repost the full story that was sent to me “after the jump”. This was the first Ism single that came out in 1981. Apparently, the b-side, “Queen Jap” was a [...]
Another very special addition to The Punk Vault
Awhile back, you may recall my writing about the band Negative Element, that my friend Keith Lyons happened to play in. They were featured in a “Selection from the Punk Vault”. You may also recall my writing about finding the test pressing for that record as well and posting some pix of it. Well, there [...]
Because sometimes one reunion can cause another
Slint was not the only one having a reunion these past three days, it turned out, they spawned some reunions in my life. Thursday night while waiting outside the Metro for the doors to open for the first of the Slint shows, 3/4 of big’n suddenly walked up to Dark Dave and myself. It was [...]
Three nights of Slint in the Windy City
I got home a little bit ago from the third and final Slint show here in town. It is also their last show ever allegedly. I really enjoyed all three shows, with the second nite being the best of the bunch. One thing that really was odd, and not limited to their shows here from [...]
Adolescents – The Complete Demos limited vinyl
I just got a package in the mail from Lisa Fancher, owner of Frontier Records. Inside it contained this… This is a limited edition color vinyl pressing of the new Adolescents demos album that I reviewed last week. It comes on red vinyl and has a really nice full sized insert with lyrics and band [...]
Selections from The Punk Vault [Peer Pressure]
Peer Pressure – Sound of the ’80s 7″ (1980 Peer Pressure/Resistance Records) This is another one of those records that was so obscure that it wasn’t until it was put on one of those Killed By Death compilations (bootlegs) that anyone took notice. In fact, it was because of that leading Ryan Richardson to go [...]
Slint x3!
Tomorrow starts the first of 3 Slint reunion shows here in Chicago. I am super excited about them since I never got a chance to see the band play when they were together and thought I’d never get the chance in my lifetime to see them since they broke up in like 1991. My first [...]
Selections from The Punk Vault [Corpsicles]
Corpsicles – Now You’re Gonna Leave Me/Big Doings 7″ (1982 Arrow Records) I honestly can’t recall where I first heard of this band. I think I saw the name on someone’s trade or want list a bunch of years ago and thought it was a cool name for a band and wanted to check them [...]
Thanks a lot Yahoo…
It seems that for some unknown reason, yahoo mail flags anything sent form my spontaneous.com domain as spam and dumps it in a user’s bulk mail folder. If you have a yahoo email address and have been in contact with me, please check there for any mail I may have sent you. This especially applies [...]
Why NWA TNA will never take off
Well, there is a lot of reasons but the biggest reason why it will never be anything besides a second rate infomercial is simple… Jeff Jarett The guy is the least suited to be the world champion/main eventer in any federation. His finisher is the most retarded in the history of the business and no [...]
The many flavors of: The Sex Pistols – Submission/Anarchy in the UK 12″
The first two punk rock bands I ever heard were the Sex Pistols and 999. This was back when I was in 7th grade, which was a long time ago. Those two bands opened up a whole new world for me and forever changed my life. I was especially taken with the Sex Pistols, and [...]
Selections from The Punk Vault [Adrenalin OD]
Adrenalin OD – The Wacky Hi Jinks of Adrenalin OD LP (1984 Buy Our Records) The first thing I ever heard from this band was their cover of the Brady Bunch theme on the Flipside Vinyl Fanzine Volume 1 compilation. I thought that it not only kicked ass, but it was pretty funny to do [...]
Mr. Potato Head goes to Sin City part 2
Not too long after the first envelope arrived containing pictures of Mr P’s Vegas adventures, I received another one. This came about a week later and was postmarked from the same place. I guess Mr. P must have done pretty well on the gambling to stay for a full week. I guess that was the [...]
Selections from The Punk Vault [Pariah]
Pariah – Not Satisfied 7″ (1981 Disc Print Records) My first exposure to Pariah came from the Rodney on the ROQ Volume 3 compilation on Posh Boy Records. It was the third and final in the series of great compilations. That song, and my habit of collecting labels as a whole led me to their [...]
Adolescents: The Complete Demos 1980 – 1986
The Adolescents first, self-titled album (aka: the blue album) is among the all time hardcore greats. It came out over two decades ago, and is still as crucial a record as the day it was released. The band went on to record a few more records after it that were good, but they were never [...]
The many flavors of: Gang Green – Sold Out 7″
This record has the distinction of not only being Gang Green’s debut record, but also it was the first release on the now infamous Taang! Records. Taang was started by a fellow named Curtis, who was a big record collector back in the early days of punk. It was obvious that he was a vinyl [...]
The problem with wrestling today
While watching Raw this week I got to thinking about something that has been bothering me about the product for quite some time, something that I feel is partially responsible for the reason they don’t have as many bankable stars or even viewers as they have in the past. The reason is simple, with the [...]
R.I.P. Debra Hill
Debra Hill, co-creator of one of my all time favorite movies, Halloween, has died. She worked with John Carpenter on a lot of films, many of which rank among my favorites and she was in the process of working on the remake of the old John Carpenter film, The Fog. She died as a result [...]
Mr. Potato Head goes to Sin City
The next time I received one of the mystery envelopes in the mail, it contained the photographic document of Mr. P’s visit to Las Vegas. It would appear the little spud likes to gamble and see some shows. I wonder if he was at the show wear that tiger ate Roy. There was a second [...]
Selections from The Punk Vault [Black Randy and the Metrosquad]
Black Randy and the Metrosquad – Trouble at the Cup 7″ (1977 Dangerhouse Records) Black Randy, if any of the stories in We Got the Neutron Bomb are true, was perhaps the most wild and crazy of all the punks from the early Los Angeles scene. He lived fast and died young and left a [...]
