post #14

Milwaukee Conntinental Youth Band & Reddi-Kilowatt Ensemble – Salute To Milwaukee March bw Continentals on Parade 1966

This is a great 45 I found in some dusty old pile.  The Salute to Milwaukee March is a great, catchy tune that I’m sure all Milwaukeeans can appreciate!  It’s a live recording of a full marching Band and they really play the track spot on.  The B-side is a decent song, but the A-side is great!

http://www.mediafire.com/?7tbv2y5aut26vsb

post #18

Loxiran EP – 199?

This EP really grabbed me.  This is some absolutely raging modern hardcore from Germany.  I can only describe this sound as modern, even though this record is pretty old now. This band was definitely way ahead of their time.  There is no date on this 7″, but I’m guessing that it was released in 1996, or ’97 at the latest (no website listed, all cut and paste, no pixelated images).

When I say that this band was ahead of their time, I mean that the music is, in certain aspects, very similar to the good parts from some of the modern metal-core stuff that is so popular with the kids these days.  Now hold on,  wait a second! Before you surf away in disgust, let me assure you that this is indeed 100% hardcore punk!  There are no confusing guitar solos, no nauseating melodic vocals, no salon-styled hairdos.  As I said before, just absolutely fucking raging hardcore. But it is played in a very unconventional way, and I’ve literally never heard this style done any earlier than this. Not that no one has, I’ve just never heard it.

The lyrics are certainly punk, too.  Although they are all in German, the graphics and key words make it pretty clear what these six songs are about: the environment, work, war, punk rock, vegetarianism, etc.  All pretty standard stuff, to be sure.  While I don’t fully understand what these guys are carrying on about, I can certainly tell that they are filled with anger and passion for what they are singing about.  So much so in fact, that I cannot resist hollering along with the chorus ”Mord ist Mord und Leben ist Leben!”, the battlecry at the end of the song which is surely their anthem, ‘Wa(h)re Wessen’.

Oh yeah, did I mention that the music rips?  It’s hard for me to describe it, except to say that listening to it invariably induces in me fits of involuntary head banging, air drumming and other strange, spasmodic gestures. 

I remember that one time I asked myself “why haven’t I heard many great punk bands from Germany?”  Well, if you have ever wondered that yourself, here is the remedy. So put on your Baseballcappies, lace up your Skateschuhen and pull on your Kapuzenpullies and listen to LOXIRAN, Assface!

post #13

Damitol EP 1993

This is another cool old Milwaukee hardcore 7″ I fished out of ye olde bargain bin.  Four tunes of fairly straightforward early 90′s style hardcore.  The songs are a sort of midwestern melange of the prominent American styles of the time.  Definately some east coast hardcore chug and straight edge style mixed with some west coast influenced thrashy parts and attempts at melodic singing and some flashy bass lines and groovy riffs, all swirled in with a hefty dose of early Wisconsin emo.  We also get a lot of samples which are played over the music, some spoken parts (total Milwaukee/Chicago accent), and some nice shots at switching up the vocal styles. I like the drawing on the cover.

I’m sure these guys were pretty young when they put this out… I really like the raw recording and slightly loose playing. The sometimes out of tune vocals are a little off-putting at first, but like most idiosyncracies of punk music they quickly grow on you and become essential to the sound.  The bass stands out as the most entertaining instrument on the record, partly because some of the more interesting guitar parts are rather difficult to hear.  The band as a whole has a real cohesive sound with some really cool songwriting. 

I like this record a lot. It has kind of a dark, slightly depressed sound. Lyrics are vague, but interesting, about stuff like masculinity, church, punk and friendships. The sleeve has some pictures and a brief essay from each band member… The sound of this record is very reminiscent of early Jawbreaker and Hickey, and some other bands I can’t think of now.

Bangity-Bangity-Bang

post # 17

Firehouse Five plus Two – Alabama Jubilee bw Tuck Me To Sleep In My Old Kentucky Home

When I was a kid I would watch a show on television called ‘You Can’t Do That On Television’.  I still think that was a cool show (much better than most of the stuff my kid has to choose from these days), but one of my absolute favorite things about it was the whacky, frenetic instrumental music of the theme song.  Many years later I learned that the interesting style of music is called Dixieland Jazz. Much more recently, I’ve learned that Dixieland is actually just the modern name for the original form of Jazz music from New Orleans; Dixieland was used to differentiate that original style from later versions of Jazz.  I’ve found in the last couple of years that Dixieland Jazz records can be some of the best music available for dirt cheap from thrift shops and record stores.  The music is often loud and obnoxious, fast paced, and played with phenominal musicianship while not being overly pompous like a lot of Big Band Jazz, nor is it gag-inducingly sappy or cheesey like orchestral music from the 20′s through the 60′s often is. 

On the A-side of this record, we have The Alabama Jubilee, which is just such a great tune. It’s one of those songs that makes me buy any record I can find that has a version of it.  The best part about it is that I’ve yet to hear two versions of the song that sound the same – it seems to be a tune that bands love to embellish and put their personal twist upon.  This version by the Firehouse Five plus Two is one of my favorites.  Every stanza is different than the last; at least one instrument is soloing throughout most of the song; it’s filled to the brim with foot stomping, hand clapping and caterwauling, it’s played fast and tight and is uplifting and funny and infectious and I just fucking love it already!

The This mid-tempo song has a great old-timey feel and is just fantastic to bop along and whistle along to.  I had never heard of this group before I found this record, but since I recently found their 20th anniversary LP and this webpage I’ve learned the following interesting factoids: these guys were in fact a group of Walt Disney animators who, in the late 40′s, started playing old time Jazz for fun.  Eventually, they rode around to their many gigs in an old fire engine and wore fire fighting outfits, and according to their multi-talented leader, Ward Kimball, they “spearheaded” the Dixieland Jazz revival of the 50′s.

Goood Time Jazz was apparantly an important and influential independent Jazz label during the 50′s and 60′s, and The Firehouse 5 where their flagship group.  It is certainly very rare for all of the players to be listed by name on the label of a 45, so that’s pretty cool.

Have a Good Time!

post #2

Eat Cheese or Die

post #12

Happy Notes Orchestra – I Love You Waltz b/w Drinking Man’s Polka

Here’s a fantastic slice of Wisconsin polka that I dug up from a dusty old bin at the thrift store. The Happy Notes were a good times styled party band who might still be playing even today.  According to this short history, founding member Norm was a drummer who was influenced by Rock n’ Roll and Li’l Wally to start a rowdy, upbeat party polka band. 

 The I love You Waltz is ribald and funny and completely catchy.  You will surely sing it to the one that you love! Best of all, it’s:

A Drinking Man’s Polka seems to be the musical lament of a group of cuckolded men, “We left our Wives at home. We left our Skirts with 6 other Jerks, that’s why we’re drinking alone.”  Nice straight ahead Polish style Polka, with a verse in Polish.

Get drunk and listen to this.

post #16

Garlic Boys EP 1990 (Japan)

Ahhhh. The sweet, sweet sounds of Japanese Hardcore.  Is there any better music in the known universe? None that I am aware of…  I have never seen any mention of this band anywhere before, but as soon as I saw this record in the bargain bin my heart leapt and I knew I had found something good.  Apparently this band is still around, and has been for a quarter of a century, but I have never ever heard anything about them.   It’s very strange, because this record is amazing! I can’t attest to any of their other material, because I have not heard it, but if these four tracks of thrashy, melodic hardcore are any indication of the rest of their work, this band rules!  Priding themselves on being fat and smelly (just like me!), Garlic Boys apparently takes a humorous approach to their music.  They seem to me like something like Japan’s answer to NOFX.

This is an american repress of what was probably several different records originally, and unfortunately the sound sucks.  The volume fades in and out, all of the tracks have different volumes, and most of the record just sounds like shit.  Despite all of that, the music shines through as some great, rip-roarin’ punk rock and roll.  These are the kind of songs that are so good that I find myself literally craving the sound of them! I will never be able to see sumo wrestling again without chanting “YOKOZUNA – Yokozuna” in my head and hearing the sweet guitar lead that distinguishes that song (all in my head, of course).

Interestingly enough, this record was released by a label out of Madison, Wisconsin.  Also, in the picture on the back cover (shown above) it appears as though all of the guys in the band are wearing Harley Davidson t-shirts, which is of course a Wisconsin company… and an obsession among local dummies.  They look like they could be hanging out in the alley behind my house here in Milwaukee, getting drunk on cans of Miller Light, listening to “Classic Rock” radio and repeatedly revving their motorcycle engines until they collapse. Excepting their Nipponese countenances, that is. 

Rock on.   http://www.mediafire.com/?vzeb6ig7rcxeiac

post # 11

Asinine Solution – Cause Effect EP 1998

Raging Wisconsin hardcore from Chippewa Falls; Asinine Solution.  I remember seeing their ’My Dad’s A Goat’ EP in record bins in the mid 90′s, but I never decided to buy it (mostly because of the hideous cover art). I first heard this particular 7 inch a couple of years ago, when I first moved to Milwaukee.  I had just seen a show at a local scum pit basement, and was too fucked up to drive back home, so I was hangin’ out and Scott put this record on the turntable. I flipped out over the thrashin’ tunes and was determined to find a copy of this record for myself.  It didn’t take long before I had discovered all three of Asinine Solution’s 7 inches, all in different bargain bins, all for a grand total of less than $2.50.

This is their third, and I’m pretty sure their last, record.  The seven tunes here all follow the same pattern of simplistic hardcore played as loud and fast as possible. I like it! Sure, the songs mostly sound the same, but so what? This ain’t Jazz, it’s punk!

Most of the songs on this disc are about “The Punk Rock Scene”.  It’s interesting to think about how much was going on within this obscure musical cult in these small towns out in the country. There is even a full page essay about The Punk Rock Scene included in this record!  It certainly made a huge impact on these people’s lives.  Here’s an interesting write up of how to put out a punk record, from an insert:

Also some more info about what these dudes where doing back then.  I’ve found copies of the other records he mentions, so be on the look out.  The first Asinine Solution record is awesome, by the way.  Totally retarded teen-punk; it’s great.

Anyway, this is a classic Wisconsin hardcore record, so don’t miss it!

post # 10

URBN DK + Bitchslap – split EP 1996

This post goes out to Curious Guy for posting the 10-96 + Standoff split.  This is Bitchslap from Kenosha, Wisconsin and URBN DK from northern Illinois. Bitchslap give us two new punk blasts that sound like they are from the same recording session as their EP. They also include an identical copy of their song Last Fat Shit from the EP, which is great because that song rules.  The first song, Magnavox Lobotomy, is a nice sarcastic anti-TV rant, overall more great punk rock shit from Bitchslap. Did they ever release anything else??

The URBN DK side is fuckin’ great, this was released during their best and most prolific period, during the mid-nineties. Three raging hardcore songs, with Politically KKKorrect being the best song on this record.  It’s a song about PC fascists! I saw URBN DK play in Chicago a few times during that period, and I thought that they were great.  I remember very clearly though that most people were very down on them and didn’t like them because they were old and played the wrong type of hardcore.  That’s a real shame because they really were a great DIY band and they could fuckin shred with the best of them.  I think URBN DK never really got much respect in their home state of Illinois, and that’s why they were really more of a part of the Kenosha punk scene than the Chicago scene. Or, maybe it was because of their strong association with 10-96, Bitchslap, Beautiful Bert and other Wisconsin bands that the Illinois snobs turned their noses up at them! Either way, you should dig their tunes. I’ve got several of their records, so I’m sure I will post more someday.

The ugly cover on this record sticks out like a sore thumb, not only because it’s so bad, but because it is cut to 8 inches, not 7.  I wonder if this record was originally meant to be an 8″?  That would have been cool.  This is Shitpile Records #2, I’m pretty sure that’s someone from Bitchslap’s label, because their EP was #1.

Enjoy the punk rock music!

post #15

Mystic Charm – Lost Empire EP 1993

I’ll admit that I selected this record from the bargain bin thinking that the unintentional humor humour of this release would be greater than the force of the Heavy Metal music contained within the grooves. Well…. I was wrong!  This is actually pretty fucking good!  It’s female-fronted, stoned as fuck Doom Metal from the Netherlands!  Although I usually prefer my tunes to be played as fast as possible, I can still get down with some slow-assed gloomy shit every now and again, and this is about as good as I’ve heard so far as that all goes.  Don’t get me wrong, they can pound out the thrashy riffs and double bass kicks when necessary, but mostly Mystic Charm keeps it creepy and dire as they slog through the mire. The mire of spooky darkness… and stuff.

While it certainly would be in poor taste to make fun of the members of Mystic Charm’s funny sounding Dutch names (like Gerard van Assen, tee hee), I suppose that it is fair game to admit that my wife and I had some debate as to the sex of Rini, the singer.  I wasn’t sure, based on the ambiguous picture and decidedly sick vocals, so I asked my wife, and she was sure that Rini was a man. A man who wore leopard skin tights and big girly boots? It turns out Rini is in fact a woman, and certainly one of the earlier women to sing in this style of metal, so hats off to her. So check it out, this is some great heavy shit! Also listen to more songs from Mystic Charm here.

Link to hq rips & scans…

post #14

The Derelicts – Time To Fuck Up EP 1990

Pretty much the same story, and pretty much the same band as Zip Gun. You might recognize one of the dirtbags on the back cover as being one of the dirtbags from the back cover of the Zip Gun EP. The music is similar, but this record actually has the Derelicts sounding a little wussier than Zip Gun, but I guess that is excusable because this record was released earlier? Maybe they hadn’t released the grunge pedal yet… (that’s a joke, son).  This is simple, mid-tempo heavy punk rock, kind of proto-grunge I guess, because it has snarly, nasal punk vocals and doesn’t have any of that grunge-groove thing goin’ on. The A-side is rather melodic, while the B-side is pretty dark.  This record is cooler than the Zip Gun EP though, if only because of the un-listed 3rd song, which is actually the title track, oddly enough. Time to Fuck Up is a 10 second long thrashing hardcore song with a 4 second intro. Sweet! That was an awesome bonus to hear after I bought this record, because I collect short songs, and it’s a pretty good one. “Assholes Unite!”

Check out the same links form the Zip Gun post for more info and tunes… You can type about how much you love these guys over here.

And, here’s a video I made:

Listen to this record here!