Archive for January, 2006

Today something great happened. There was a knock at the door and I answered it. It was the DHL man with a package for me. Normally I do not get packages from DHL so I had to think what it could be. Then I had a guess. I opened up the package and to say I became instantly aroused might be an understatement.

In the box was a tshirt…

wrapped around my free IPOD!!!!!!!!

That’s right, the free Ipod gimmick is not only legit, but it works! That is a white, 60gb Ipod w/video! Thanks to those who participated in the gimmick and helped me out! If any of you have your referral links, send them to me so I can pass them along to return the favor.

Want one of your own? You can go for the Nano, or one of these video Ipods.

Oh man, what a day! Now to spend the countless hours loading it up! For once, not having a job is going to be an asset for the next few days at least!

Many of you may be aware that a year ago I released an official reissue of The Cheifs 7″ on my label. Well, its been out of print for some time now yet people from time to time still ask me about it. Around xmas time I talked to Bob from The Cheifs and told him I had some sleeves leftover and labels and asked if he would be alright with my pressing up enough records to use them up. He gave me the green light so I am pleased to announce that in a couple weeks, the record will be available again for a very limited time. There will be 100 of them made on blue vinyl and they will likely be hand numbered. I’ll post here when they are in and available for order up on the Spontaneous Combustion site. I also hope to have a bunch of restocks of Mystic Records CDs as well as some old vinyl gems from the label as well.

DYS - Brotherhood LP (1983 XClaim! Records)

I can’t recall how I first heard of DYS (short for Department of Youth Services). I imagine it was either through reading about them in a fanzine, or it was the simple fact that they had a record out on XClaim! and being a fan of The F.U.’s, that was all it took for me to want everything on the label that put out their records. Though I was a straight-edge kid back in my teenage years, I never felt like I was part of that SE movement, it was more that I was SE by default of not having any interest in drugs or booze when I was a teen, I just wanted to skateboard, play video games and spend every dollar I had on punk rock records. I liked a lot of that early SE music, but by the time all that youth crew nonsense got all huge at the end of the 1980s and all those jocks were into that stuff, I wanted nothing to do with it and started listening to industrial records. Regardless of what it inspired years later, this DYS record was, and still is, a classic slab of hardcore vinyl that has now etched its place into history.

Seeing as how I didn’t know much about DYS other than them being from Boston and eventually “going metal then breaking up”, I figured I ought to go to the source for some history. Enter Dave Smalley, punk rock singer extraordinaire and genuinely nice guy. Dave was kind enough to share some DYS history with me for this feature.

The first thing I did was ask Dave how he got into punk rock in the first place (as it is something I’m always fascinated by) and how he met the people who would become his band mates.

One of my best friends from as far back as elementary school had an older brother. When I was in high school, his older brother was on the cusp of what music was doing — he was more into more art bands like the Feelies and the Talking Heads, but he kept telling Erik and I about punk. Erik got me to listen to his brother’s Sex Pistols album, and essentially that and especially the first Clash record (the clash) changed everything. Every single light bulb I ever had in my head went on when I heard early songs by them. Clash City Rockers, Jail Guitar Doors, White Man in Hammersmith Palais…for that band, it never changed. The Clash never failed us. In those early days — at that point it was early for me, but those groups had all been around for a while — it was also the Ramones that blew me away, both the first two records, the first DKs record, and believe it or not the very early Cars and Plastique Bertrand “ca plane pour moi” — I still have memories of being downstairs in the rec room in our house in Arlington, at the record player, listening to all that. The Specials and the English Beat, Elvis Costello and the Attractions also pretty much imprinted themselves in my heart. The great thing about all those bands is that they’re all still so inspirational decades later — and the Undertones, and the Jam. Generation X. All stunning and life- changing.

When I got to Boston, I wanted to form a true hardcore band. I’d been singing my whole life, in choirs, musicals, school acapella schola cantorums, and whatever else, and I just felt like something was calling me to channel that into punk and hardcore. By that time I was heavily into DC hardcore bands, like Teen Idles, SOA, MT, GI…so many great ones; but then I moved to Boston for school. I put up a notice at the original Newbury Comics — then a tiny little store — saying something like “Singer with lots of experience and equipment looking for players for a punk band” or something like that. Jon Anastas answered the ad with promises of equipment and a guitar player friend who was really into it. He didn’t own any equipment at all, and I wasn’t experienced — and his guitar friend was a Hessian who basically thought punk sucked — so we were off to a great start.

This of course led me to inquire as to the how and when DYS started.

1981, maybe September? Can’t remember exactly. Practiced some at the Media Workshop, and eventually found a spot at JD Furst practice spaces, near Fenway Park and Kenmore Square, beneath a piano warehouse. It was a great place except when it’s 1982 and you’re a punk in a leather jacket, torn jeans, spiky hair and combat boots (or white Adidas or Nike leather high tops), everyone thinks punks are freaks, and you’re walking back from practice as the Red Sox game is getting out at Fenway and there’s hundreds of drunk jocks spilling out looking for blood, many of whom have little souvenir baseball bats perfect for swinging down on someone’s head. At those moments, it was…less good as a practice location. We survived, although there were the occasional Monty Python-worthy “run away!” moments.

On writing the songs…

Well, it was very egalitarian, no one wanted to be the boss, not to mention we didn’t have the slightest idea of what we were doing. As you can see from those early pics, we were all really young. So if anyone had an idea for a song structure change, we’d try to throw it into the mix, whether or not it was going to benefit the song. I wrote most of the lyrics, and Jonathan and I wrote the majority of the music, as I recall. Wolfpack I wrote all of, actually plucking out the notes on Jonathan’s bass in our apartment. After a couple of guitar player changes, we hooked up with Andy Strachan, and Dave Collins on drums, and that’s when the songs really began to hum.

I asked him how they came to do a record with XClaim! and how it all worked.

XClaim!, the thing is, it was a label name more than a traditional label, something that SSD started and sort of “let” different groups in the Boston Crew use. Not just anyone could make a record on XClaim!; you had to get permission, in a way. Once you got the green light, which really was a great idea from Al, because it gave our scene and our city its own distinct identity the band normally had to pay for it themselves. But there was such a vibrant energy to that era, in that city, it was a sense of possibility. Really, straight edge had a huge advantage in Boston, because we were all such a team, or at least, even for those of us who didn’t get on with another, everyone was charged with the same conscious or unconscious awareness that all of this was something special and crazy good, that most of us didn’t need drugs; it was a constant energy, a charge, a high if you like. Incredible karma during that time; spray painting walls with the band names, fighting (or running), definitely running from cops, putting fliers everywhere, walking around in a big gang… I understand why kids join gangs, because that feeling of brotherhood, of protection, is something unique.

Anyone who has heard the second DYS album knows it showed a huge change in sound for the band, in other words, they “went metal”. I asked Dave about this.

Most of DYS, along with most of the guys in SSD, Jerry’s Kids, the F.U.’s, and Gang Green, were all really into rock and metal. Those were the days of early Metallica, which still can’t be touched, and of course AC/DC, Iron Maiden, Judas Priest, Ozzy with Randy, Van Halen with David Lee Roth at the top of their game, just insanely great, heavy stuff. And you have to remember that Boston was a very physical punk crew; we worked out (well, a lot of us), we weren’t shy about fights, and basically just that metal and rock, we’d play it right alongside early Discharge and the first Fear and Germs records, whatever. It was all great, and there weren’t the distinctions now that some people make where they listen only to hardcore, or only to punk, or only to rock, etc. if it was great music, and heavy, it was great. So as we got more and more into that stuff, really a bunch of us at the same time started to let more and more of it seep into the music we played. It was only natural, and we liked it. Our second record, just called DYS, I believe it has the distinction, dubious though it is, of being the first hardcore record with a long, proper rock ballad on it, “Closer Still.” We were all in the crew at that time still quite punk in one sense: it was all done because it’s what we liked, and what we wanted to play. I think DYS, SSD, F.U.’s, those bands didn’t care if anyone else liked it one bit. So that’s sort of why when you listen to any xclaim or Boston crew band from 1984-1986 era, it shares a similar approach. We were also better musicians, able to now do stuff like play a lead or structure a longer song.

It wasn’t long after that second record that the band broke up, and I asked Dave the story on that.

It’s hard to be in a band at any time, and esp. when you’re in a genre that, in 1985, was just hitting musical adolescence. I graduated in may of ‘85, and wanted to go back to Virginia. We’d toured, we’d put out two albums, and basically that was more than any of us had ever expected. I think musically our focus was starting to dissipate. The crew bands and people were all growing up, and beginning to drift. You know, it was impossible for that early dizzying constant adrenalin to keep going for everyone. I always say that if you look at marriage statistics, only 1 out of 2 marriages in America lasts, or at least that used to be the stat. And that is such a tragic thing, of course — and that’s only with two people; imagine four or five kids, or young adults, all still growing up, all changing, all dealing with a thousand different emotions all the time…it’s normal, I think, for bands to break up. It doesn’t mean you don’t love each other like brothers, but maybe it’s just time. So for me, it just seemed like it was time. Everyone agreed. We met at a diner near Kenmore Square that was sort of our home stomping grounds, talked about it, were sad, but no one was angry. And then we ate cheeseburgers together and went our sep. ways at the end of the meal. I still love them, and will always cherish our era and what we did. Jon Anastas and I will always be brothers — got tattooed together, got in fights together, made records together, made fools of ourselves at regular intervals together…I love those guys forever, and they are all a part of who I am and everything that came after. Even remembering it now brings back a lot of great memories, and smiles — and very few tears.
In hindsight, it truly was a unique moment and place in time.

In the 1990s, Taang! Records put out a collection of DYS songs called Wolfpack on LP and CD and just very recently as reissued Brotherhood on a CD.

I’d like to thank Dave for taking the time to share some DYS history with me specifically for this feature.

Listen to “Brotherhood” from the record.

Buzzcocks - Live At Shepherds Bush Empire 2003 DVD
Music Video Distributors

In 2003 I saw the Buzzcocks play while I had just started getting the flu. Despite the fact that as the night progressed, I was getting sicker, they put on one hell of a great show and it was worth being laid up for the next week or two feeling like I was dying. I had missed them a few times before but always heard what a great live act they were, and I was glad I finally got to experience it first hand. I vowed that if they ever come back to town again, that no matter what I wouldn’t miss it.

This DVD is a live concert from the same year I got to see them, recorded in their home country of England in front of what appeared to be a pretty big crowd. They played around 90 minutes, with a total of 32 songs covering their whole career, with a huge emphasis on the older songs. Basically any song you’d likely want to hear was played at this show, it was a really solid set list. Nearly 30 years since they played their first show and the Buzzcocks still deliver the goods and leave you completely satisfied, and much like the show I saw, this one was no exception.

The video was digitally recorded on multiple cameras and looks very good. Occasionally, I noticed some weird lines in the images though that perhaps came from transferring the video if it was originally recorded on PAL? It wasn’t constant and wasn’t very distracting as it only happened in certain scenes for a brief time. The camera angles were nice and the edits were clean. The fact that this was shot at only one show is a plus, as I never much cared for live videos where the video is taken from different shows because it ends up not feeling like a real live show. The audio has only one option; 5.1 surround and sounds very good.

There are a few bonus features on this DVD as well. There is a 47 minute interview with Pete Shelley and Steve Diggle where they do a great job covering the history of the band, focusing mostly on the first few years of their career, but also delving into the breakup and reformation of the band. It was a great way to learn some Buzzcocks history and it was evident that they really seem to still enjoy playing together. The soundcheck to the live show is another bonus feature and is something you usually don’t get to see when attending a concert. They play a couple songs and it is around 15 minutes long. A photo gallery, poster gallery, clips from a music video shoot and band bio (all text) round out the rest of the features. It’ll take you a good few hours to get through everything the disc has to offer.

As a long time Buzzcocks fan, I would say this is pretty essential viewing. I had a particular interest in it as it was recorded the year I got to see them. Any long time fan of the band would do well to add this to their Buzzcocks collection as it is the next best thing to getting to go see them play on any particular afternoon.

Related links:

Buzzcocks official website

Buzzcocks on myspace

Order the DVD from Amazon.com

MVD website

I just posted the newest episode of “Live From Combustion Manor” up on our radio site. This is the first episode from the November recording session and I truly feel it is our best one so far. There is quite a diverse selection of tunes and entertaining stories.

You can download the episode right here.

By all means visit the forum on the LFCM site and let us know what you think or just ramble on about whatever you feel like talking about.

British Invasion 2K4 DVD
SOS Records

British Invasion 2k4 was a huge punk rock show that happened in November of 2004 in front of a packed crowd of 4000 people somewhere out in California. The main draw of course was the handful of old UK punk bands from the early days that are still playing in some form or another. Having some of these bands together on the same bill must have been a young punk kid’s dream come true.

The DVD is split into two discs. The first one is the main event, and has all big name UK bands. You get The Adicts, The Exploited, UK Subs, Cockney Rejects and Discharge. The second disc has some new and a couple older bands mostly from the USA and features CH3, Total Chaos, Resilience, NY Relx, Cheap Sex, The Voids, and Rotting Stiffs. Each band feature has somewhere between three and seven songs from the show, plus some interview footage where you get to learn about the band, or just hear what was on their mind at the particular moment. The live/interview footage was woven together quite well and gives the disc more of a documentary feel as opposed to just a live concert DVD.

On disc one you have The Adicts, which are not only easily the biggest draw on here, but the best band of the bunch. This gives you a great taste of their most excellent live show that really shouldn’t be missed. Having recently witnessed their live show a few months ago, it was cool to see some footage to remind me just how much fun they are live. The Exploited deliver five live songs and I always felt they were pretty much the worst UK punk band of all time, and seeing them on here only seemed to reinforce that opinion. There is some interview footage with Wattie as well and you’d be hard pressed to decipher what he is mumbling about. They should have included subtitles so you could make out what he was saying! UK Subs performance was quite entertaining, and I saw them that same year and it was pretty close to what I saw, which was a good time. Discharge deliver seven songs and you might want to note that it is not the entire original band. They had a different singer among other members, only two being original. I saw them that year too and they weren’t bad. Last but not least, Cockney Rejects, who I never heard much by over the years but it was pretty good.

Disc two has CH3, who I was very glad to see given some exposure as they are a long time band from the early days, and one that has gone sadly under-appreciated by many of today’s young punks. Total Chaos are the next in line in terms of how long they’ve been a band and they were entertaining. The rest of the bands was pretty much the first I’ve heard of any of them and most of them were pretty entertaining and a rather diverse lineup of musical styles.

The whole thing was shot on seven cameras and the audio was a 24 track digital recording. It looks and sounds great. The editing was pretty good, giving you a nice glimpse of all the action and was surprisingly lean on crowd shots. The video was full frame and the sound was straight stereo. The menus were pretty clever; it is an item of clothing with patches on it representing each band that you can choose to watch individually, or there is a “play all” choice to see the entire thing. The one major fault I found in the packaging and presentation is that while there is a track list for disc one on the back of the keepcase, there isn’t one for disc two anywhere! Unless you are familiar with the bands material, you are not going to know the names of the songs, so if you liked a song and fancied buying one of the band’s records, you are out of luck as to knowing what the song is. It would have been a wise investment of someone’s time to have put the song titles on screen during the performances.

As a bonus on the second disc, there is an interview with CH3, some of which was used in their portion of the disc. It was very interesting and again, I was quite happy to see them get some well-deserved exposure on here that the other bands on disc two didn’t get. The total time for both discs is about 195 minutes, so there is definitely enough to keep you busy for the better part of an afternoon. With the upstanding visual/audio quality and pretty good lineup, I’ll say that this gets a thumbs up and is worth a view or two.

Related links:
SOS Records website

Order the DVD from Amazon.com