NOTES FROM THE
UNDERGROUND
I
SLUGWORTH
n a shocking move that has aspiring punk rocker kiddies and 27-
year-old pizza delivery drivers sobbing in their sleep, FYP has de-
cided to call its banner tenth year its last. The band, which over
the last decade released a lion's share of material on singer/guitarist
Todd Congelliere's Recess Records, has recently finished recording
their latest and final LP, Toys That Kill. This album has something for
everyone: screaming little kid backup vocals, mummy organ segues,
Miller High Life basslines, campy guitar licks, and ex-Disneyland em-
ployee Josh Freeze on the drums for all the tracks. Now, you might re-
member Josh from his more recent digs as drummer for the SoCal band
the Vandals, or maybe his stint as studio drummer on the new Guns
'N' Roses techno
album caught your
eye, but this drum-
ming superhero got
his first break over
there in Anaheim,
bashing on the
sonic drums in the
Disney Fantasyland
Band. I'm not sure
how the boys in
FYP got ahold of
this guy or how
they managed to
pay for his services
('cause word has it
Mr Freeze charges
a cool 300 smack-
ers per track!), but
I'd place my bet
that Toys That Kill
producer/tall guy
Blag Dahlia was
the mastermind of
that whole spiel.
Toys That Kill is
also the working
title of the new
band/project that
Todd C and FYP
bassist/master-chef Sean Cole are presently immersed in. Look for great
and stinky things from these fellas in the near future...And speaking of
greatness and stinkyness, both of those attributes are also to be found
within the tracks of a new comp put out by some losers in Berkeley calling
themselves the Super 8 Underground. The CD is called New Wave Explosion
and it contains some of the best shit I've listened to in a very long while, along
with a couple of songs that might better have just stayed in the minds of who-
ever thought them up. Don't get me wrong, though, because out of 16
bands and 16 songs, I think all but about two or three (depending on the
time of day) are way bitchin' to the max bro! The Leeches, Panty Raid,
Scared of Chaka (their song on this CD is the best thing they have ever
done, hands down), the Weird Lovemakers, the Rondelles, and the
Bananas are just a little pinch of the high-quality bullshit to be rocked out
to on this comp. To pick one up (and believe me, you really need to), all ya
gotta do is contact the Super 8 Underground (send about eight bucks too)
at PO Box 12125, Berkeley, CA 94712, or online at www. THESUPER8.com.
-Andy Harris...This month's saviors of rock 'n' roll are the Streetwalkin'
Cheetahs and the Bellrays. Their split is called Punk, Rock and Soul and it is.
The Cheetahs put the guitar up front and my guess is play their goddamn guts
out when they put on a show. Maybe I'll be lucky enough to find out, but if their
half of this is any indication, there is little room for disappointment. The other
half, the Bellrays, inject the soul into the rock and roll with high-school-drop-
pin'-out, rockin'-the-nation action. These two bands put it together for this one,
and Coldfront put it out...The Bellrays also have a split single out with Adam
West that is more of the same, high quality shit (though a pricey import)...
Somebody reissued the Jam's In The City LP. This is/was a killer record that
put the Jam right into the thick of the British punk/new wave stuff that was
finding its way across the ocean in 1977. Not really tough, more "ruffian," but
mod as hell, and Paul Weller wrote some (decreasingly) good stuff up to
the Style Council (ouch!) and then the occasional good one after that.
However, this LP is an expensive import and those records can still be found
in a few used bins in the $5-10 range... Another reissue worth paying at-
tention to is the Flamin' Groovies Sixteen Tunes: The Goldstar Tapes & More
on Munster. Recorded between 1971-3 as demos with their second singer
(after Roy Loney quit), this collection is about half well-chosen covers and
half originals. The Flamin' Groovies are not some hippie band, as the name
and time period would make you think, but they were not really punk ei-
ther. Rather, they took a garagified rock approach, and in so doing influ-
enced a lot of punk bands from the late seventies until today. This double
LP is a Spanish import, with super-thick vinyl, and it too is a little on the
"A SINGER WHO RIPS
expensive side. Still, you
I won't find this shit any-
where else... Is scary
o metal back? The
POOLS, PARKS, RAMPS, WHATEVER."
are
Hookers' second LP, II:
Black Visions of Crimson
Wisdom (Scooch Pooch)
has that sort of perplexing
heavy metal ring to it, and
inside
some
vengeance-laden heavy
metal lyrics (not really
your Dungeons & Dragons
style, although he does talk
about a "Black Magic
Stallion from the Night,"
and "Ride the Dragon into
the
is the
Crimson
Light" is the
name of a song). Still, you
won't get made fun of for
not being manly if you lis-
ten to this at your next social occasion...The Onyas are an Australian
punk band who, by the looks of it, like their women and their beer. Pick
this one up just for the cover, although it might take you a little while be-
fore you actually get around to playing it. Inside are three gems of yobbo
punk, done right. It's Three More Hits from the Onyas on Junk Records...The
Trust Fund Babies have a single out on rapid pulse that is a genuine
smoker of trashy snot punk, in the vein of the Rip Offs....And if you like
trash, the Cheapshots will blast you a new asshole with their debut 7" (only
200 pressed?). Grab this gem if you run across it...Now that everyone is
done shitting their pants over the recent Meters reissues (an under-
standable reaction), along comes another stain-inducing blast of funk, from
even further back. The Bar-Kays Soul Finger (recorded in '65!) is some
tight, funky soul instrumentals. Just check the psy-cho-delic Sgt. Pepper's-
style artwork on the cover if you needed any further convincing...Zeke's
got a new one out: Dirty Sanchez on Epitaph. Have you ever gotten a Dirty
Sanchez? Have you ever given one? Do you know what a Dirty Sanchez
is? Zeke is not afraid to give you a Dirty Sanchez. Do you expect Zeke
to change what they do anytime soon? Because they: A) do it damn well;
B) only know how to do it that way; C) don't care what you think; D) all
of the above. If you saw the photo of Donny flipping off the crowd for
the umpteenth time on the inside cover, you know smart money's on
D... Slugworth is a Phoenix-area punk band with a singer who
rips...pools, parks, ramps, whatever. They recently had a CD-release
party and the shit was for the show. Giveaways and beer-soaked fun 'til
closing time... Another Phoenix band to watch for: Unruh. They just put
out a CD on Pessimiser that is some pretty brutal hardcore and worth
paying attention to.
-Wez Lundry
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