Started back in '83...

Lou posts the B-side of that tape he's been yammering on about.

After re-acquiring this compilation cassette I made in 1983 (pictured above), I posted the track-list to my socials. It then occurred to me that if I , me, myself, was to see a post like that I would find it extremely frustrating. When I see the title of a song, any song, I want to hear it -right away-. This is where we’re at: the age of immediate aural gratification. We expect to hear everything now and for free. When I made this cassette acquiring music needed money (a paper route in my case), magazines and fanzines that provided addresses to record labels, and a lot of patience. Lured by titles and reviews alone, I would send cash in the mail, and wait (and wait) for the records to arrive. It was random, sometimes disappointing, and always thrilling. But, enough of the ‘in my day..!’ bullshit, it’s today, we’re all spoiled and I’m here to provide.

  I uploaded the B-side of the cassette! If you like anything get on it! Research the bands and seek out their records! Let’s start a revival or two!

me- (yellow submarine+collage+hasenfeffer wave)

rudimentary peni- rotten to the core

savage republic- ivory coast

anthrax (UK) -they’ve got it all wrong

riistetyt- protest and survive

SPK - mekano

savage republic- film noir

rudimentary peni- vampire state building/blasphemy squad/slimy member

mood of defiance- ?

chaos uk- selfish few

mecht mensch-land of the brave

DOWNLOAD (good ‘til 9/24/23)

I subtracted the Cure’s Jumping Someone Else’s Train because you’ve heard it and it’s easily available. The side starts with my original dub of Yellow Submarine, which appeared, edited and 3rd generation, on Sebadoh’s first L.P. The Freed Man (1989). It was sung by my then 10 (or 11) year old sister Abby. From there it’s a tear through my favorite (mostly hardcore) songs of the time. Many of these aren’t recognized by current music-identifying apps, and if you were to hear these on Spotify etc. they wouldn’t sound like this. There’s nothing quite like vinyl recorded hot on to tape. Listening again it quickened my pulse and cleansed my blood. I woke up this morning and finally tested negative for Covid. I’m compelled to share it’s healing properties with y’all.

  One thing that I thought while listening: whoever engineered/produced Rudimentary Peni, Anthrax (U.K.) and Chaos U.K. were geniuses. The songs sound powerful and, at times, utterly psychotic. Turns out Rudimentary Peni was recorded by John Loder, the engineer behind Jesus and Marychain’s Psychocandy. Psychocandy remains one of my favorite records, and, in my opinion, singularly brought extreme noise pop to a larger audience. When I say ‘extreme noise’ , I mean storms of random, piercing, feedback. The Velvet Underground’s White Light White Heat set a precedent for it, but holy hell, Psychocandy brought melody and unpredictable noise together like nothing before or since (yes, this is open to debate, please comment if you wish to).

In the earlier 80’s John Loder brought that aesthetic to dozens of U.K. punk bands, namely Crass (a band I never investigated much).When I heard the Chaos U.K. song Chosen Few, I was curious, did Loder record that as well? They call it Crustpunk now and records from bands like Chaos U.K. and Disorder were even more cavernous and abrasive. Back when I first heard JAMC’s 7” Upside Down (in 1985), Chaos U.K.’s first L.P. sprang to mind. Well, it was recorded by Andy Allan from Bristol, England. He also recorded Disorder! He went on to do Portishead! This fascinates me. English engineers like Loder and Allan were older and probably developed their chops in the late 60s. I am so impressed that they took on these radical bands and, following the bands lead, made some truly arresting, explosive and catchy as-fuck records.

The side ends with one of my favorite pieces of U.S. first-wave hardcore: Land Of The Brave by Wisconsin’s Mecht Mensch. That record was recorded by Butch Vig! Y’all know he produced Nirvana! I love how this end-run hints at things to come. I hope you get the same charge out of it. Also notable is Savage Republic who were concurrent with early Sonic Youth, with a similarly exotic, experimental approach to the guitar. They, along with Mood Of Defiance (I can’t remember the name of their song and lost their sole L.P. ‘Now’ long ago), were from the L.A. area, and also, unfortunately, kind of forgotten.

  As I mentioned in my socials, this tape was the last tape I sent to Mark containing hardcore and my own songs. After that it was all Stooges, V.U., Neil Young and mid-tempo proto-indie rock like R.E.M. and The Dream Syndicate. As the song says “Started smokin’ pot, thought things sounded better slow..”.

Stay tuned for the unveiling of the original long-form collages I made for the A-side of this tape, precursors to Poledo (from the Dinosaur Jr’s You’re Living All Over Me L.P..