L.A. by way of D.C. this band was basically a continuation of Scream with the Stahl brothers joined here by Pete Moffett (late period Government Issue) on drums and Al Bloch on bass. I believe this Little darlin/Medication 7″ (Fuck You records) is the band’s first release and was recorded by Scott Reeder (Kyuss) in 1991.  To be quite honest I do prefer Wool to Scream, the rock is more solid and honed. Even raw like these tracks you can tell there is something going on. After Moffett’s departure Chris Bratton (Drive Like Jehu, Inside Out, Chain Of Strength) played drums. Don’t know when that guy played in Jehu… maybe right at the start. Anyhow he’s good, like this:   

 FLUF a band that unfortunately faded into obscurity… they blended a good few styles which was maybe their downfall. Too heavy to be pop punk, too tuneful to be metal, too melodic to be grunge, you get the idea. Their sound is best described as a San Diego punk take on Sugar, Dinosaur Jr, Paw & Tad. ‘Waikiki’ was the Fluf major label outing and was recorded at Big Fish in late 1996 by Mark Trombino. I had owned a few Fluf records but sold them all a while back keeping only this one. From what I remember ’Waikiki’ stood head and shoulders above the others for its above par songwriting and allround powerful delivery. It’s a very direct album and full of massive hooks, see ‘Pushing back days’ for example.  From what I can gather this album was reissued as a ‘bonus track’ on a more recent Fluf EP although the original shouldn’t be hard to find cheaply. Check it out:

 aMinature, perhaps the most overlooked of all San Diego punk… unjustly so because these jams are absolutely solid. If (like me) you assumed groups such as Tanner or No Knife just fell out of the sky then you’ve never heard aMinature. Nothing much by way of information (a running theme with this blog) bar this myspace page which has the basic history but no discography info. ‘Murk Time Cruiser’ features the propulsive drumming talent of Mark Trombino, and appears to be the last thing he ever played on (this album is from 1995). It’s a really great record and mandatory listening for fans of the ‘San Diego style’, although I’d say previous album ‘Depth five Rate six’ tops this (doesn’t feature Trombino).  EDIT: saying that I think both are great, they rock equally.

This is the last posting for 2009, see you next decade for more of the same… Thanks for stopping by

 I only recently heard ‘Garden of Delights’ this year when I eventually decided to pick it up out of interest. The future Drive Like Jehu rhythm section of Mike Kennedy and Mark Trombino play on this record, making it something of a curiosity piece. Released on Vinyl Communications in 1989 it’s hard exactly to see where this kind of prog-punk fitted at the time. It’s not the easiest of listens, taking the lurching off kilter Honor Role sound and combining it with bizarre female vocals. Obviously the barrage provided the rhythm section is present but with a not so great production, luckily 2 years later we have the monumental Jehu LP to fulfil any shortcomings:

  THREE MILE PILOT  a band I’ve never been paticularly familiar with are back on the scene after a decade with an album forthcoming. The ‘Piano plus/Piano minus’ 7″ (Pennyfarthing records)  is the only thing I actually own by them & was purchased some time in 1997 (it was recorded late 1996). One thing rather striking about this record is the 3 colour letterpress sleeve which looks quite beautiful. Aside from that we get two rather melancholic tracks which feature some piano (hence titles). Hearing this now it’s easy to see how the Black Heart Procession was soon to happen. As I don’t really have much to say here I found a 3MP interview from Dogprint zine #5 circa 1996. While you’re reading that, listen to this:

  In relation to the 3 Studies post there is even less information here for SSW… They released a 7″ in 93 & a 12″ in 94, both for Gravity Records. They were also the post Heroin band for bass player Ron Johnson. I wasn’t that hot on this record in the past but hearing it now I like it, it’s something of the Gravity ’missing link’. The songs are short with a chaotic urgency but well played and in a punk style very similar to Spacehorse. At the time I imagine they drew a few Fugazi comparisons (how reviewing has changed) as many things outside the conventions of ‘punk’ did back then. The vocals are heavy on the Rites of Spring influence but in the same way Torches to Rome took inspiration. For ease the cover image was scanned from the photo in the DIY Album Art book that came oput this year. If you have not seen the book yet I highly recommend checking it out. The only other bit of reliable knowledge I have is that Ron tried out as bassist for Cars Get Crushed. Paging Jeff Winterberg, please report!

 Following on from the last post I figured it may be beneficial if somehow people can get more info on certain bands. In particular there are barely any traces of Three Studies for a Crucifixion, none that I can find anyway. This is as much as I know: the band was from Columbus, OH and existed between 94-99. They seemed to only release split records (Coleman, Harriet the Spy & Melt Banana) and this demo from 1994? There were a few comp tracks, most notably the Amnesia compilation on Ebullition. The style was very in keeping with the ‘modern hardcore’ sound of the mid 90’s. Queues here taken from labels like Gravity, Gern Blandsten, Vermin Scum, Old Glory etc. Anyhow, check out this 5 track demo (no titles) and see what you make of it:

THREE STUDIES FOR A CRUCIFIXION – Demo 1994

 Just a quick blast here… This split 7″ between Harriet the Spy and Three Studies for a Crucifixion was released in 1997 on Donut Friends. Harriet the Spy came from Kent, OH and made something of an arty post hardcore racket. In fact this recording sounds like something Vermin Scum would’ve released around that time, and probably would’ve if they were a Baltimore band. Three Studies for a Crucifixion were from Columbus, OH and I always thought they had an excellent choice of bandname. Three Studies sound like they would’ve fitted in well on Gravity, and probably would have if they were from Southern California. 

 I just checked out what members of each band were doing now. One guy (guitarist) from 3 Studies plays in a band called Dead Sea who I have never heard of before now but shall be checking out further. Teeth of the Hydra I have heard before, they feature Jamie Stillman on drums and I think the vocalist from 3 Studies. Post Party of Helicopters Stillman plays with new band Drummer. This split 7″ is packaged in a screened manilla envelope with glued picture on the back, something of the ‘emo’ prerequisite at the time. Although this record can be pinpointed of the era it comes across as uncontrived and is an honest statement for both bands. Records like this just never happen anymore, so have a quick reminder of twelve years ago hardcore.

  I’m not going to say much here… The Party of Helicopters have always been a great favourite of mine. This excerpt from a press release helps give a good idea:  ’a big tangle of knotted up guitar riffs, thundering percussion, saw toothed fuzz bass, and vocal melodies that dart and dive and wander like a hobo.’ Or ’an insanely good rock band’ which hits the nail on the head plainly speaking. ’Fairy God Fighters’ was the band’s first 7″ released on Donut Friends in 1996:

 GOLDEN, a name seldom heard since the 1990’s. I lost off after ’Super Original Movement’ some 10 years ago now. It would appear they did another two records before changing their name to Extra Golden and playing a very different style altogether. It was easy to see early on that they had a hybrid sound that put them somewhere between The Fucking Champs, Trans Am & Don Caballero.

 According to ‘the internet’ they released an album ‘ Here comes the Golden fuzz” in 1997 on Slowdime, I’m not inclined to believe this even exists for a number of reasons… If anyone can clear this matter up, or either upload it? that would be fantastic. Golden’s s/t on Transsolar was probably most people’s intro to the band, it was something of an ear opener at the time. I’m tempted to upload more stuff but you can still buy a lot of it here, everything I have heard I can recommend highly.

 As far as I know there were only two 7″s, the first with large foldout Derek Hess artwork features two tracks recorded by Bob Weston in 1995. The second released in 1999 is a bit more obscure with what was to become a new direction with ‘Deep Skills’. In many ways similar to The Sorts but with additional dirty funk. B-side is ‘Violator’ a ZZ top tribute recorded on what sounds like a 4 track. This is a brilliant lofi tribute, with accurate solo-ing. Both weird and catchy like Trans Am.

GOLDEN 7″s

 T Tauri existed between 1993 and 1999 in two cities, starting out in Colorado and then moving  to L.A.  ‘Infinite Motion’  was recorded before the band split and remained unmixed until 2004.  I was watching the film Moon the other day and this would be an ideal soundtrack for losing your shit in deep space. Imagine Unwound in their bleaker moments mixed with a fuzzed out Godheadsilo dirge and that will put you in mind for some T Tauri. The arrangements are often very dense with two basses being utilised and pained yelping over the top. If you like this then please support and buy this CD for only $3  HERE