Archive for January, 2007

Dissonance - Box Set
Wyatt Earp Records

My introduction to the Flint, MI band Dissonance came in the form of a sticker I got back in the 1980s. I don’t know where I got it or who even gave it to me but I had it and I knew they were a band from MI and that was all I knew about them at the time. Soon after, a compilation came out called Another Shot for Bracken on Kevin Seconds’ Positive Force label and it had a song from Dissonance on it. Their song, “Cruise Control”, was the best song on that record and to this day it goes on pretty much any mix tape/CD I make of old punk and hardcore. At the time and ever since, I wanted to hear more from the band. I knew they had a demo tape but I was never able to find someone with a copy and back then I never was able to locate any contact information to get in touch with the band. My quest to hear more of Dissonance’s music seemed like it would never come to an end.

And then something changed!

Turned out the band themselves also felt that it was a crime that their music wasn’t properly documented somewhere and decided to take the task of remedying that into their own hands in true DIY spirit and release this collection of pretty much everything they ever did and then some in a really cool little package.

Over their career of a few years, Dissonance had quite a few lineup changes including replacing their singer about half way through their lifespan. It was the second singer, Andy, who was featured on their one and only vinyl appearance back then. Listening to the two different singers, I feel Andy was much better thand the first guy, Mike. That could be in part to the fact that it was the singer I was familiar with but its safe to say Dissonance were one of the few bands that was able to pull off changing vocalists successfully.

Musically Dissonance were your typical 1980s hardcore band. They never “went metal” which was rare considering their later (and better) recordings were done at a time when the crossover sound was really starting to take off. The songs are all just a couple minutes long each, fast, and powerful which was the perfect fuel for my teenage punk rock years. Twenty years later and this stuff still is more interesting sounding to me than any current hardcore band playing this same style of music. There is just something pure about the bands from back then that doesn’t come across in current bands with the same sound that I can’t describe, its just a feeling I have but I know I’m not alone in this thinking else there wouldn’t be a market for such a collection two decades after these songs were recorded.

There is two flavors of this box set; a vinyl one and a CD one. I was sent the vinyl one which of course is the superior version. As this is a complete DIY production, the packaging adequately reflects this. The box that everything is housed in is a pizza box with some Dissonance stickers slapped on it. Inside instead of a pizza, you will find a double LP. This 2 record set comes in a cover that is recycled from some old LP. Mine was some sort of classical thing with a gatefold sleeve with a Dissonance sticker adhered to it. The vinyl and labels themselves are not recycled, they simply have the name of the band and a one skull for every number of the side of the LP (one skull for side one, two skulls for two, etc). Thre is a two sided insert with the full track list for each side and the lineup and origin of the recordings. There is also a Dissonance flyer, some stickers, a nice two-sided t-shirt, a postcard and a DVD. Between the two LPs is every demo the band ever did (there were three) , the full recording session that “Cruise Control” was taken from for the aforementioned compilation. There is also a few live tracks on here as well as one song recorded summer of 2006 when the band reunited. The sound quality varies with the first demo having the worst sound quality (still very listenable) and the “Bracken” sessions sounding the best.

The included DVD starts off with a live clip of “Mis-cut Beef” recorded recently during a reunion show featuring the later lineup of the band. The quality of it is very good. It then goes into live footage of the band 20 years earlier! The quality of this is about what you’d expect from a 20 year old video tape shot on a hand-cam. The sound is a bit hissy but you can make everything out and it’s pretty cool that they even had footage that old. From there it cuts to some recent interview footage dealing with the band and punk rock in Flint, MI alternating with more live footage from the reunion show. It is a nicely done little documentary companion to go with the double LP.

For being a handmade item from a band most people probably haven’t heard of before, this package rivals most reissues just on the sheer completion aspect alone. You will have and know everything you need from Dissonance in this package and then some. I for one am ecstatic that their music is finally available for the first time, even though it took two decades for it to happen. I can’t recommend this enough!

Related links:

Dissonance on Myspace

Wyatt Earp Records on Myspace

As you probably noticed, I changed the appearance of this site. The old one may make a comeback from time to time as well, you never know. I’m still working out the kinks with this new theme and making it work how I want it to but I have most if it in as of this writing.

Also new, and long overdue, is a new episode of LFCM. Yeah, it has been ages since we posted a show, and it was even more ages since this un-aired one was recorded but it doesn’t make it any less enjoyable. One of my vows for 2007 is to get all of us back on track and doing regular shows and getting them up more frequently. Currently everyone’s schedules haven’t been in sync so it has been hard to accomplish this, but we have made some concrete plans in how we can improve the shows and I’m really looking forward to getting back to them. It will be some much needed fun.

Anway, you can download the newest episode over at the LFCM site. You can also subscribe to the podcast feed here.

I’m probably long overdue for a MXV update, but that will wait for a future post when I have a better handle on some things.

I’m going to be doing some updates to this site that hopefully you won’t notice. If the site starts looking weird or is not here for a short spell, don’t be alarmed, I’m not going anywhere. I’m not closing up shop and despite last week starting off incredibly bad but ending up better and more promising, I’m not packing it in and stopping. I’m long overdue to update the back-end for this site and I chose now to finally get started.

The punk rock, reviews and maybe even some personal stories will resume shortly.

Thee Undertakers - L.A. Muerte 7″
Artifix Records

Thee Undertakers were an East Los Angeles punk rock band that existed between 1977 - 1982. In their few years together they recorded a demo and then a full-length LP that was never released (it was scheduled to come out on Tito Larriva’s label at the time, Fatima, but for some reason it never did) and then called it quits, but not before recording a couple songs with a new singer.

The A-side of this single features two songs from their 1982 demo with their new singer. The first track, “Register to Die” is a minimalist lo-fi punk number that certainly seems a little inspired by the Urinals. The song would have fit in nicely on the Keats Rides a Harley compilation as it has a similar sound to the style of punk represented on that record. The second song, “Electric Eye” sounds like a precursor to the OC style of punk rock that bands like Social Distortion, Agent Orange and the Adolescents would make famous. Its a bit harder yet melodic at the same time. Had they put out a record at the time with these songs, I think a lot of punks would have started to take notice of them and their records would likely be exchanging hands for large sums of money these days.

The flipside features two songs recorded live at the Hong Kong Cafe with the original lineup in 1980. The songs are rawer and more 70s punk sounding and the recording quality is pretty average but certainly listenable. It was neat to hear the contrast in the sound of the band that happened in that two year span and with the lineup change. I actually preferred the demo tracks, but that could have more to do with the sound quality than the actual quality of the music.

The black vinyl record comes in a black and white fold-over picture sleeve. It contains a two-sided insert with one side telling a nice little history of the band that was a good education for someone like me who never heard of the band before or even was aware of their existence until receiving this record, and the other side containing some pictures of the band. It’s a nice package overall and it is great to once again see this label dust off some old and very obscure punk rock and preserving it for us old timers and future generations of punk fans to enjoy. I give it a full thumbs up and along with the other single I reviewed on Artifix recently, it will enjoy a lifetime of containment in The Punk Vault.

Related links:

Artifix Records website.

The Matchheads - Cadillac 7″ (1981 Artiste Records)

My first exposure to The Matchheads didn’t happen until about 20 years after this record was released. In fact if it wasn’t for a couple of songs from this single being included on a compilation, you wouldn’t be reading this right now and I could possibly have missed out on this great single. A couple years ago I received a compilation in the mail from former White Pig, Keith Grave. Keith in his spare time puts together compilations of old punk for various labels and this one was called Meet Me in the Time Tunnel and it was on the Wizzard in Vinyl label out of Japan. The compilation itself was quite good but the real standout for me was this band, The Matchheads. There was a tiny bit of information in the CD booklet and a contact email address, but sadly when I wrote to the address, I never received a response. I was hoping that a former band member might have had a stash of the original 7″ and would be willing to part with one.

Fast forward to a couple weeks ago and the subject of that 7″ came up on the KBD mailing list. Someone posted a link to a website put together by one of the original members and wouldn’t you know it, he had some copies available for sale! I got in touch and ended my search for a copy of this record which now has a happy place inside The Vault. I asked the band member in question, Dan Garcia, if he was cool with my doing one of these features and if he’d share some history for it and he gave me the green light and said to lift the history off his website, which is what you are about to read.

The Matchheads originally came together in the late 1970’s. Patrick Wickler, lead singer and main writer of the songs was an avid fan of punk music. Dan and Pat met in the fall of 1977 and they, along with a few others, were the only people at school that liked punk music. They were excited by the new sounds of the Sex Pistols, Ramones, Clash, Buzzcocks, Jam, etc. and often raced to the local music stores to buy expensive import records of these and many other bands of this era.

Pat and Dan decided to put together a band of their own in 1980. Dan played guitar and wrote some songs. Pat and Dan were joined by Steve Johnson on lead guitar, Ross Wilson on bass and Mansfield on drums. Ross had never played before but was drafted in the same manner that Paul Simeon was brought into the Clash. Ross was a friend who was interested in the music. Mansfield lived down in San Mateo, was married for the second time, a little bit older, and was looking for some action. Mansfield was a big fan of new wave, power pop and mid-60’s British Invasion music. He was brought in by Steve who had jammed with him at a party. Steve was a talented guitarist and was working towards his Broadcast Arts Degree at SF State. Later, Steve worked as a sound man at the On-Broadway Club in San Francisco.

This lineup put together a set of songs, recorded some demos and the single, and played at places like Mabuhay Gardens, Sound Of Music and other venues. The single was recorded in late 1980 at John Altman Studios and was released in the spring of 1981 on the local (SF) Artiste (Sky-Fi) label. The owner of the label, Gordon Whitting currently lives in Oakland, California and is working on a solo album. The single contained the tasty “Cadillac”, a slow moody number and two fast songs, “Pearl Harbor” and “Fat Bitch”. The record got some airplay on the SF State radio station and made number one on its playlist in 1981. Two pressings were made of this single. The first featured a colored picture sleeve on photograph quality paper and was released to many record stores. Copies were found as far away as Santa Fe, New Mexico. Much later, the single made Goldmine Magazine’s New Wave Records book and commands as much as $90 a copy (if one can find a copy with the original picture sleeve). A second pressing was done later that year and copies are still available without the glossy original picture sleeve. Cuts from the single also appeared on the bootleg compilation “Killed by Death”.

Pat was chiefly responsible for penning the songs on the record and had some help from Jan Gyn, a brilliant guitarist and friend who now plays in a SF band called Peddle. Jan briefly played in the Matchheads from late 1981 through the end of the band (August, 1982). Pat dictated what sounds he wanted and Jan transposed them. Pat didn’t know how to play an instrument but was savvy enough to know what sounds he wanted. It was a matter of searching for the right chords, getting approval from Pat and completing the songs. Pat wrote other brilliant songs during this period including “Wanted Man”, “Top of the Slide”, “Perfect Guy”, “Young Capitalist”, “Standtime”. Jan, Steve and Dan would help out with the transposing/interpreting the desired chord changes. Dan brought in “Who Am I”, “I’m Dragged”, “Broken In Half”, “Modern Way”, and “Inside/Outside”. Pat wrote a lot of the lyrics to “If They Unionize”, “Broken In Half”, “Modern Way” and a verse in “Inside/Outside”. Covers included The Byrds “Why” and the Stooges “Beyond the Law”. The band was confident and cocky but soon found it tough to navigate the very competitive local music scene.

The punk scene changed into speedcore and The Matchheads didn’t fit in musically nor with their image. The Matchheads image was similar to Oasis’; sort of a casual mod look. They thought the “punk look” was lame and generally considered people like that to be “posers”; not really in it for the music or the “cause” (i.e. rock rebellion). The music business being very competitive in nature, was not kind to the band as little interest was generated outside of the band.

The band also suffered through personal changes. Steve and Ross left in late 1981 followed soon after by Mansfield. The band recorded a four-song demo tape with Jeff Rees on bass, Jan on guitar and Lenny Albert on drums. This version of the band never gigged, quickly became demoralized, and was ready to pack it in.

Jeff left to join Fade to Black, an early Goth band. Lenny left to join Silhouette, led by current Guitar Player magazine Editor-in-Chief Mike Molenda. Ross and Mansfield rejoined the band and the band cut a fine demo tape including the following songs: “The Underside”, written by Dan, Jan and Pat, “Ceremony”, written by Dan and Pat, “Japanese Mothers” written by Jan, Pat and Dan, and “Young Capitalist”, written by Pat with some help from Steve. The band played two gigs, a fiasco at The Stone, and a gig at the On Broadway. In August, 1982, The Matchheads broke up due to flagging interest within and without the band. The band’s final gig was recorded (and is now available on CD) and featured many of the previously written songs as well as “East Berlin” written by Pat and Dan. Some of the band members carried on after the break-up. Ross left the music scene and works as a high-tech consultant in the S.F. Bay Area. Steve joined the army, got married, moved to St. Paul, Minneapolis, and fathered two sons. He put out his own CD of Christmas songs in a rockin’ vein in 2000. Tragically, he was struck by cancer and passed away in August, 2001. His passing is still felt deeply by all those who knew and loved him.

Like I mentioned, Dan has set up a Matchheads website and he still has a few copies of the original 7″ for sale as well as a couple of Matchheads CDs. Thanks a lot to Dan for the help and of course for helping create some great music.

Listen to “Pear Harbor” from the record.

I just learned that Bam Bam Bigelow, the famous pro wrestler passed away. No information on what happened has been released at the moment. I once met Bam Bam when I worked at Midway Games and we had him at a distributor function put on to promote the Wrestlemania arcade game. He seemed like a nice guy in the few minutes I got to spend with him at the event and I certainly enjoyed watching him wrestle. He was one of the most agile big men in the business and worked his ass off in the ring. He will be missed.