Selections from The Punk Vault – White Flag
The first place that I ever heard of White Flag was in one of two places: the We Got Power compilation or Flipside Vinyl Fanzine Volume One. A much younger me would have been able to tell you which of the two it was but the current me isn’t as sharp as he once was. [...]
Dazzling Killmen live at Lounge Ax
I was digging through the Spontaneous Combustion office last night and pulled out my boxes of DATs of shows I recorded. In the early 1990s I used to go to a ton of shows and I used to audio record them. I first had a Sony Professional Walkman D3 but one year after a big [...]
Selections from The Punk Vault – Dazzling Killmen
Back in the early 1990s, I spent a hell of a lot of time going to shows at Lounge Ax in Chicago. That place was one of the best clubs ever in the world and at that time they were getting the coolest bands. During the late 1980s/early 1990s I was splitting time between listening [...]
Selections from The Punk Vault [Peace Corpse]
This particular feature has been a long time coming. When I was a freshman in high school I heard a Peace Corpse song on Kathy and Shrub’s radio show on our high school radio station. The song was called “Jocko Macho” and I was an instant fan. I used to record their shows because my [...]
Selections from The Punk Vault [Toothpaste]
Toothpaste – EP (1983 Schwa Records) Toothpaste were a band from my own city that I really didn’t know anything about until recently. I had heard the name mentioned a couple of times over the years but never gave it much thought. It wasn’t until the end of last year when the band along with [...]
Selections from The Punk Vault [Seattle Syndrome]
Various Artists – Seattle Syndrome Volume One (1981 Engram Records) It has been ages since I’ve done one of these and of course when inspiration strikes, it ends up being a record on a label that I know very little about and was unable to find much information on, let alone the person behind it, [...]
Selections from The Punk Vault [The Matchheads]
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 [...]
Selections from The Punk Vault [Pleased Youth]
Pleased Youth – Dangerous Choo-Choo LP (1986 Buy Our Records) Yes I know, it has been far too long since I’ve done one of these. I always like to try and get some band member involvement in these things and lately band members have been quite sparse. As luck would have it, a former band [...]
Selections from The Punk Vault [Rosemary's Babies]
Rosemary’s Babies – Bloodlust 7″ (1983 Ghastly Records) In the mid 1980′s, my obsession with The Misfits and Samhain led me to hear of this rather obscure hardcore band from New Jersey called Rosemary’s Babies. It turned out that it was Eerie Von’s band before he joined Samhain. They put one just one 7″ and [...]
Selections from The Punk Vault [My 3 Sons]
My 3 Sons – 7″ (1984 Buy Our Records) I first heard My 3 Sons on the New Jersey’s Got It compilation on the long defunct, Buy Our Records. I had a big thing for New Jersey punk back then so I bought everything I could find on that label and then some. If it [...]
Selections from The Punk Vault [Subculture]
Subculture – I Heard a Scream LP (1985 Fartblossom Records) I can’t remember where I heard of Subculture from, it was either a fanzine or I simply bought their record because it was on Fartblossom Records (same label that Justice League were on). I actually had nearly forgotten I even owned this record until someone [...]
Selections from The Punk Vault [Love Canal]
Love Canal – It’s a Dogs Life so Blow it Out Yer Ass LP (1985 National Trust Records) I forget which compilation appearance it was that I first heard Love Canal on. It was either Clockwork Orange County, Covers, or the Half Skull (Insane Industries) compilation, regardless of which it was, I thought they were [...]
Selections from The Punk Vault [Pillsbury Hardcore]
Pillsbury Hardcore – In a Straight Edge Limbo 7″EP (1985 Fartblossom Records) I can’t recall how I came to hear of Pillsbury Hardcore, it was either from a compilation or it was just by reading the Toxic Shock Records catalog and checking them out just for their name. Either way, I do remember buying my [...]
Selections from The Punk Vault [Neon Christ]
Neon Christ – EP (1984 Social Crisis Records) Like many bands on the monster-sized list of ones I like, my first introduction to Neon Christ came from a compilation. I had to be maybe 15 years old when the P.E.A.C.E. compilation was released on R Radical Records. This double LP was chock full of more [...]
Selections from The Punk Vault [F-Word]
F-Word – Shut Down 7″ (1978 Posh Boy Records) Note: Since this originally “aired”, F-Word founding member, Dim Wanker, contacted me and wanted to share his story of the F-Word history, as it is much different than the Posh Boy version. I being the one of the belief everyone should have their say, I was [...]
Selections from The Punk Vault [DYS]
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, [...]
Selections from The Punk Vault [Motorola Cloudburst]
Motorola Cloudburst – 7″ (1987 The Pope fanzine) The minute I heard the Squirrel Bait song, “Kid Dynamite” I fell in love with it, and that band. I bought both of their albums when I was in high school and I used to read about them in fanzines, hoping someday I’d get to see them [...]
Selections from The Punk Vault [Xmas 2005]
SSD – Jolly Old Saint Nicholas 7″ (1992 Taang! Records) Since I’m pretty sure I didn’t do a Xmas themed selection last year, I wanted to do one for this xmas. It came to me the other night what to pick and here you go. I’m not going to do a full blown history on [...]
Selections from The Punk Vault [999]
999 – Wild Sun 7″ (1982 Albion Records) 999 was one of the first two punk bands I ever heard (the other being the Sex Pistols) and started me on a path that forever changed my life. It is safe to say that without 999, you wouldn’t be visiting this site today as who knew [...]
Selections from The Punk Vault [The Catatonics]
The Catatonics – Hunted Down 7″ EP (1984 Anorexic Nympho Records) The Catatonics were among the many standouts on the Flipside Vinyl Fanzine Volume Two compilation. Their song, “Descending in E” went on more mix tapes of mine than I could possibly remember. I liked it so much that I wanted to hear more from [...]
Selections from The Punk Vault [Ottos Chemical Lounge]
Otto’s Chemical Lounge – 7″EP (1983 Reflex Records) I first heard about Otto’s Chemical Lounge from an ad or a review in an issue of Raveup Fanzine, which was a fanzine Anthony Illarde of Rights of the Accused put out back when I was a young lad just discovering punk and hardcore music. It would [...]
Selections from The Punk Vault [I Braineater]
I Braineater – Artist Poet Thief LP (1985 More Records) Being more than a huge Skinny Puppy fan, I would take notice of such things as the people who were doing their artwork and all kinds of other things related to the band. One such person who did the covers to Too Dark Park and [...]
Selections from The Punk Vault [Monitor]
Monitor – Beak/Pet Wedding 7″ (1979 World Imitation Records) My introduction to Monitor happened in a rather odd way. I was at a record convention and this one dealer I was regularly buying a ton of records from pulls out this album from a band called Monitor and said, “hey, I know you like the [...]
