Notes From The Underground
"T
vox.
weeks when they were with the A-
go-go label. They've also played in
Washington and Denver and have a
half-dozen 45 rpm singles out and a
new album and CD called Five Weeks
Ahead Of My Time on the Estrus
label. The other members of the
band are Kyle G Otis on guitar,
Mark Lockridge on
Stephanie Page Friedman on
skins, and Andy Wright on guitar.
The band live is quite tight and a
sight to see; they're frenzied like a
scene right out of a late '60s teenage
psychedelic B flick, they bop and
grind to a fuzztone beat prepared like
a great Texas bar-b-que with one part
garage rock, a dash of R & B, a pinch
of punk's snottiness, a smidge of
instrumental madness, and a great
big helping of Texas' fine tradition of
producing some of the grungiest,
most muddiest '60s trashcan
ever heard. When I think of Sugar
Shack I imagine myself driving along
the open Texas highway in a black
Continental as the sun is setting
blood red, fleeing a scene straight
outta Love and a 45. Or better yet
Texas Chainsaw-the music is pump-
ing out of the car stereo from the
trashcan speaker set-up, loud fren-
zied and primitive like Dallas in '64,
almost hypnotic in its concrete jun-
gle beat...and the stripper chick ya
just hooked up with is on your arm
boppin' to the souped-up sound.
fuzzin' around yer head as your heart
starts beating faster thinking about
THE RECORDING TOOK US 12
hours. It's loud and raw and just
simple, as opposed to the more
technical style of metal and hardcore.
or the youth crew stuff," said Jason
Lederman after showing off his
chops as drummer for the Miami out-
fit Where Fear and Weapons Meet
at a show in Washington, DC.
Avoiding "the technical stuff,"
Lederman and his bandmates-for-
mer Morning Again guitarist John
Wylie, bassist Ryan Primack and
singer Alex Roundhouse-special-
ize in the ultra-tight, straight ahead
hardcore that made Sick Of It All, 7
Seconds, and those youth crew
bands great in the first place. "We
aren't like a youth crew band, we're
not preaching a message. It's a posi-
tive message. Fuckin', if your friend
falls down in the pit, fuckin' pick him
up. And if your friend runs out of gel
for his mohawk, then go get him
some more. It's pretty fuckin' clear,"
says Lederman with a laugh. Where
Fear and Weapons Meet just finished
touring the East Coast with
Floorpunch and Vision, and plans
to go back into the studio this spring.
On tap for the band is a split with
Path of Resistance (featuring the
guys from Earth Crisis), a track for
Victory Records' upcoming Only the
Strong 99 project, two songs (includ-
ing 7 Seconds" "Still Believe") for Ray
Cappo's Hardcore 1999 compilation,
and new full-length. -Joseph
Epstein...If ya skate and conjure up
images of the great Lone Star
State, ya gotta be familiar with one
John "Tex" Gibson, the first
Texas pro I remember who rode
for Caster back in the day when he
was something like 13 years old.
Like any skater of now or then, Tex
has an apparent mastery of skills
other than the patented urethane
drying techinque: silk screening,
artistry, photography, and especial-
ly the playing of the bass, a musi-
cal instrument that fishermen all
over the world enjoy the most.
John has been a practicing 4-string
gunslinger for some time now and
has been in and out of bands for as
long as I have known him. But it is
the newest venture that John has
joined a group named Sugar
Shack that has a nine-year history
themselves-that has brought
together mere casual aquaintances
and friends into a tight cohesive unit
that resembles more of a family than
a band. Though John has only been
in the band three years, it was during
this time that Sugar Shack toured
down under in Australia for three
112 THRASHER
rock
Sugar Shack
what you're gonna do in that hotel
room as soon as you get there. That's
what I think about when I hear Sugar
Shack. Go out and get some. -
Salba... Teenage Shutdown has just
released a heaping handful of '60s
garage comps. If you want some Wa
Wa
Tearjerker
Candysniffer, well, that's your busi-
ness, but some in the series are top-
notch '60s era garage punk at its fiery
and fiercest best. I don't know how
many records are in the complete
set, but there are at least four worth
mentioning: Things Been Bad, The
World Ain't Round, It's Square!, Get A
Move On!!!, and Teen Jangler Blowout.
Well, at least those are the ones that
I've been able to listen to so far, and
not a disappointment in the bunch.
Extensive liner notes accompany
current...Dead Beat has put
out a third Viva La Vinyl
comp, again featuring
songs you won't hear else-
where (especially CD) by
bands who want it that way (Dirtys,
B-Movie Rats, The Slobs, TV
Killers). Different styles, from hard-
core to trashed up, it's all punk...On
the 7" front, do not miss the two by
the RC5. Featuring Zipgun's former
singer Robb Clarke, the shit is punk
rock, straight up, and fuckin' killer.
Watch for "In The Bottle/My Fat
Ass" and "You're Gonna Pay/Small
Town"...An interesting split 7" just
came out on Lookout!, featuring.
potentially extremely perverted
"THE STRIPPER CHICK
YA JUST HOOKED UP
WITH IS ON YOUR ARM
BOPPIN' TO THE
SOUPED-UP SOUND"
each record if you want to get nerdy
and read for an hour...Speaking of
teen trash garage punk, Montreal's
Spaceshits just put out a killer LP
entitled Misbehavin'. One or two
tunes border on sappiness, but
throughout the record rocks... Fellow
Canadian trashmeisters The Von
Zippers have released an Estrus LP
entitled Bad Generation. Although
they hail from Calgary, they share the
same Canadian badass attitude,
albeit expressed in a fuzzier form
than the 'Shits... The Budget Girls
are in the same vein as Thee
Headcoatees: lo-fi, simple, British,
with a backing band yet somehow
stuck in the "Come Into My Mouth"
style of Headcoatees tunes, not a
bad thing as all their songs are
naughty and receive the parental nod
of disapproval...And speaking of
parental nods, The Electrocutes
(The Donnas' alter egos) were just
16 or 17 when they recorded "Steal
Yer Lunch Money." Yeah, it's not that
great, but it does show their hessian.
roots enough to warrant some atten-
tion, and the photos of the girls pos-
ing sultrily and at what appears to be
a high school talent show may just be
worth the price of admission
alone...On the tougher and manlier
side arrives Human Zoo, the dy-no-
mite second LP of East Coasters.
The Candy Snatchers. Unmatched
fury. Please buy their records and see
their shows before they self-destruct
and you find yourself laughed at for
not checkin' 'em out while they were
me
Toilet Boys on one side and the
hessian side of The Donnas on the
other, who wrote a killer line into
their song "Get You Alone": "I'm
on you like a shark on meat."
Yeah!... What the fuck? No one
mentioned to
I that the
Laughing Hyenas' singer is in a
new band, much less that they
fucking rule. A little more uptempo
and less dirgy than the Hyenas,
Easy Action smokes. Look for
"Do It 'Cuz I Can" on
Reptilian...Finally, a compilation 7"
that requires attention: "East
Timor: A Nation Betrayed." East
Timor is a nation that was taken
over by Indonesia in 1975 and
resulted in the deaths of 1/3 of the
people of East Timor, the worst.
genocide proportionately since the
Holocaust. The US, Great Britain,
Australia, and others supplied the
arms and played their roles in
keeping the conflict quiet in order
to ensure a piece of the vast oil
resources and to preserve close
relations with Jakarta. The crisis
that has hit Indonesia has stunned
its government, which has made
concessions to the Timorese,
including the possibility for their
freedom, but it all hinges on June
elections. This comp is a benefit.
for the people of East Timor and
features Australian hardcore
bands. Although James Brooks is
the only one who actually wrote a
song about East Timor, it's a seri-
ously good cause. -Wez Lundry
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