RUBBEROOM
NOTES FROM THE UNDERROUND
S
MASH YOUR FACE IS A
crazy screaming punk band
from Yokohama Rock City,
Japan. I saw 'em play at the
PCH club in Wilmington, CA
a couple months past now,
and they got me scared.
Thrashing, smashing, and oh
yes, rocking, is what this leather and
denim-clad pack of wolves is all about.
Let's just say that during the show that
night they busted up all their own instru-
ments and then proceeded to demolish
all those of the band they were touring
with. Essentially, these guys are the
Japanese Dwarves. There's a CD/LP
made up of four of their EPS called Fuck
You Three Four Plus More, and it's quite
swarthy and mean, but in order to under-
stand the violence that is Smash Your
Face, you just gotta see 'em live... Tucson,
Arizona is probably more known for gila
monsters and chile verde than it is for
punk rock, but the Weird Lovemakers
are out to change all that. The Flu Shot
CD/LP has been out for some time now,
but I'll be damned if I don't still find it in
my player at least once a week. Two dif-
ferent singers with two very different
styles, and a band just reeking of talent
kick out a sound reminiscent of the
Descendents at certain points and the
Angry Samoans at others, while at the
same time remaining totally original
through it all. If you're wondering how
the hell they do that, then you'll just have
to head on down to the local record shop
and find out for yourself. You won't be
disappointed...I'm sorry as shit to say
that I missed seeing the Panty Raid play
in my next door neighbor's bedroom
many weeks ago. But I got to work to pay
them bills, ya know. I do consider myself
sort of lucky, however, because I now
own my very own copy of the Panty Raid
demo tape called Erotic Drama, and let
me tell you, it blows all other band's
demo tapes to itsy-bitsy smithereens. I'm
listening to it right now, in fact, and I'm
reminded instantly of the Germs, the
Mummies, and old Redd Kross stuff
from when they were still called Red
Cross. All the songs make me want to go
out and steal stuff. Don't be a chump by
forgetting to write to Panty Raid (one of
'em's a girl!) and when you do finally get
around to it, send along two smackers in
the envelope and you'll get this great
stuff for your own listening enjoy-
ment... The Vice Dolls' demo CD, All This
And Nothing, has a sound to it that it very
distinctly hardcore in its foundation, but
singer Carrie Doll has such a wild and
screamy voice (à la Blitz) that the fin-
ished product is much more than your
average, everyday Youth Crew crunch
fest. The lyrics on this number definitely
lean toward more hardcore issues, with
songs about friends gone sour, posers in
the scene, and the
struggle that is every-
day life. To
me, this kind
of writing is
on the corny
side (I would
I have loved it
back when I
was sixteen), but
the overall rock-
ingness of the
music
Carrie's
and
voice
as the soundtrack. These songs are heavy
and dark, sort of mod-esque, like hellish
derivatives of the "Stray Cat Strut" on the
verge of mayhem. Truly sinister, and
truly threatening. This all is brought to
you by Cheetah's Records, headed up by
Jimi Cheetah of Screw 32/Tilt fame.
They've got other great vinyl from bands
like American Steel, End of the World
(a short-lived project headed up by
Andrew Champion), the Anti-
Domestix (a sometimes blitzspeed hard-
core group straight outta Stockton, CA),
and a co-release with 11345 records fea-
turing the Suicide Doors and 3 Years.
"Tucson, Arizona is
probably more known
for gila monsters and
"Learning to Scream," on Taang:
"Getting the Fear?" Jerry A is back
from "singing" and is yelling again
in the latest incarnation of the leg-
endary Portland heavyweights. Go
skate Burnside and then go see PI.
Mullens, Go Where the Action Is LP
on Get Hip: Vengeance is rock and
roll, and so is their second LP.
Could they top their first LP? No,
but this is still so much better than
100% of the crap you'll find in your
local mall's Record Mart. The
Deadly Snakes, "Love Undone"
on Sympathy: Filthy, filthy, dirty
feabitten apeshit; do not let the
record's title fool you. Dripping
with soul, harmonica, and garage
plomb Caution: may not be for
everyone (but it should be). The
Catheters, S/T on eMpTy: These
young guns from the home of the
hesher high school (which they still
chile verde than it is attend!) will poke out your eyeball
overwhelms anything she
has to say anyhow. For a
demo, this thing kicks ass...Big leather
shoes, Angus Young guitar licks, sweat,
and one grubby lookin' bass player. This,
perhaps, is the best way to describe the
Jag Offs. Monica, Jacob, Rawl, and
Tony show you how rock 'n' roll might
be a little retarded, but most definitely
not dead, on their side of the split
12"/CD with the Four Letter Words.
The Four Letter Words are even more
retarded on their side of the wax, with lit-
tle AJ and big ol' Kernal spitting out bit-
ing commentary on subjects ranging
from slimy horse penises to dating dead
girls. While this record is not out on the
stands as I write this, I can guarantee that
it will be available in time for Valentine's
Day, and who in their right mind would
turn down as great a gift of love as this
slick piece of vinyl? Also, look for the Jag
Offs as they tour the States this winter
with the Civic Minded Five. -Andy
Harris... The latest conglomerate of punk-
ish notables from the East Bay is Black
Cat Music. If someone were to remake
Kubrick's A Clockwork Orange, BCM's
This Is The New Romance EP would serve
for punk rock"
Down, the most underrated band in the
Bay Area. Jimi's even got a bunch of left-
over Screw 32 merch for all you nostalgic
types... We've always been able to count
on Re/Search Publications to keep us up-
to-date with all of the cutting-edge sub-
zine/sub-cultural literature, and they've
come through once again with a reprint
of James Stark's Punk '77. This
music/photo documentary examines the
underground music scene in San
Francisco throughout the late '70s, fea-
turing anecdotes and photos of Crime,
the Avengers, Nuns, and even some
Debbie Harry. I realize that most of us
were either sucking our thumbs or in dia-
pers when all of this was going down, but
we should know our roots and respect
our elders regardless. -Ryan
Henry...Fatal Flying Guilloteens, 7" on
Estrus: Man, this shit is fucked up. These
guys are definitely farther out than most,
spasmodically. Young Lions? Big Boy
Tim Kerr has his hands in it, and CJ
Drag, and it smokes. Poison Idea, 7",
and very much rock with a
Stooges kind of creepiness. Man,
are the Murder City Devils ready
for other people to make compar-
isons to them? This here's the can-
didate. That's good, right? The
Causey Way, With Loving and
Open Arms CD on Alternative
Tentacles: Early nineties Zorlac
vert pro and mutant Scott
Stanton is preaching to a new
flock with some sort of heavy bap-
tismal stuff and I'm bummed I
missed the show, but this CD is
freaking me out. He's definitely
gone Devo. Cheater Slicks,
Refried Dreams LP on In The Red:
How about some bummer rock?
Might that "harsh your mellow"?
Ha ha ha. How about "Think I'm
Coming Down?" You really want
some "heavy medicine"? Try
"Don't Poo Poo Me!" Double bum-
mer! Frigg A-Go-Go, "The
Winning Score" on Scooch Pooch:
These guys are not afraid of a
suit jacket, and sometimes not
even a tie. Texan organ-infused
garage punk, and once again
Tim Kerr's name comes up.
Paint peelers. OK, that's it for
now, kids. Wez Lundry
Tumber
Metamo
Tell me about your album. What's
the science behind it?
Words and photos by True 54
For beneath lower Wacker drive in the depths of Chicago's underbelly.
there is a vital hip-hop underground scene bubbling up and ready to
explode all over the industry. Lumber and Metamo of Rubberoom have
their hands on the lid ready to tear the roof off the mother.
Tell me the origins of the Rubberoom.
Metamo: More or less, it goes back to
1990 or so. We formulated in the Woods,
a burb in Chicago. We put out singles,
and then we put out an EP called Gothic
Architecture. That got a nice amount of
notoriety and write-ups in big mags, and
then after that we just kept building. We
hooked up with a label, 321, but it's in its
demise right now, so we kept moving.
We're here in New York.
Tell me about your Chicago origins,
like Lower Links.
M: Lower Links spawned MCs. It was
a hip-hop club in Chicago that origi-
nated in the early '90s, and a bunch of
groups spawned from there. Some of
those are defunct now, but the spirit is
still there. The underground current in
Chicago is ridiculous; it's off the meter.
But most cats don't see it; they're not
supposed to until it comes. And
Rubberoom capitalizes on this.
What sets Chicago MCs off from the
rest of the country?
M: For one, sometimes, when peo-
ple are freestyling, a brother from
Chicago will go off the top of his nog-
gin. And brothers from other places,
when you say freestyle, they'll some-
times kick lyrics they have written.
Chicago has been blasted and put to
the wall so hard that MCs there are
straight up sharks. Chicago has mad
history; on Michigan Ave there used
to be a whole row of labels. Curtis
Mayfield recorded "Superfly" there.
That soul is still there.
What sets Rubberoom MCs off from
the rest of Chicago?
M: What makes my style original is
that I'm me. I bring me to the table, and
no two people are exactly alike anyway.
M: The science is about construction.
It's about building, laying brick after brick.
Every step is like a staircase that elevates.
That's architechnology right there.
Lumber: Our music is to take you
into the new millennium, to 2000 and
beyond. It ain't a mission that's hard to
do, because Rubberoom is construction
from the blueprint. Our whole deal was
raw from the jump, and the main thing
is keeping it raw. Can you come out
onstage and keep it raw, and have
matèrial that makes people think?
That's the whole question.
What's the story behind the name
Rubberoom? Are ya'll crazy?
L: No. It's about the music, and being dif-
ferent. Anybody in society who's consid-
ered different is thrown into a rubber room,
with padded walls. And our approach to
music is what makes us different. If you
want to ask what separates that from other
hip-hop, it's a combination. It's actually
bouncing off padded walls-bouncing
ideas off each other and negotiating
amongst ourselves.
You just did a show in New York.
Tell me about rockin' New York.
M: We've been in New York about six
or seven times. And each time we've
come, we've rocked the show. At one
time we were selling much more in New
York, but then Chicago came back. The
thing is to get some more product out
there; we want the raw, killer, millennium
type stuff. But we don't want to come off
preachy-preachy. We know the evils that
men do; everybody walks that thin line.
We don't bring no bullshit over airwaves;
we don't talk about anything that doesn't
have relevance.
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