Author: Henry Owings

For a while in the 90’s, Jim O’Rourke was around Georgia a lot. He did a number of live performances and more than a couple radio sessions in Athens. One in particular I remember is when he mic’d up a refrigerator up at the WUOG station and that was his "performance" for an hour.

It wasn’t until I met Jim at a chance encounter at Albini’s house in ’94 that I realized what a joker he was. We were talking about pranks that we’ve pulled (by that time, I was knee deep in my prankster phase) and he told me of how to kill a fax machine’s toner by sending a taped up loop of black paper to somebody. Ah, the good ol’ days.

A couple years later, 1997 to be exact, I found myself at the first Terrastock in Providence. It was a great weekend. A ton of friends from all over the world. My Athens buddies in Neutral Milk and the Olivias were finally being fawned over and playing out to a huge group of fans. I got to see the first Major Stars performance (!!!!) and the final Magic Hour one as well. I put out a recording (called "Providence" fittingly enough) which was a one-time drone out with the Gibbons brothers from Bardo Pond, the two Jasons from The Azusa Plane, Carl Hultgren from Windy & Carl and Dave Pearce from Flying Saucer Attack.

Speaking of Flying Saucer Attack, Terrastock was the only time I ever got to see him/them perform. And who was playing guitar along with Dave? The joker, Jim O’Rourke.

Any time I ever bring up this "routine" that Jim did that weekend, I’m surprised more people don’t know about it which is why I’m posting it here 12 years later. I apologize for the fidelity, but Jim was speaking into a mic that wasn’t particularly loud in the mix. However, it does improve. Just bear with it for a while.

Jim O’Rourke – Fuck You Clown
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Chunklet is putting on an art show at Bearded Lady in Austin through April!

Yours truly, Mr. Chris Bilheimer and Aye Jay! will be part of a gallery show!

Thanks to Josh & JD.

And hey, who knows? Maybe next year I’ll do a show!

If I were to assemble my dream team this year? It’d be super easy. The reunited Six Finger Satellite, Major Stars, Los Llamarada, Gentleman Jesse & His Men and Mayyors. I mean, duh!

Eventually, that is. I mean, he’s being released from prison after killing in cold blood.

If he’s not picked up within minutes by Vice, I’d guess he’d either kill within the year or be killed by a mega-fan/stalker type.

If you’ve not read about Count Grishnackh and Burzum in the book Lords of Chaos, I strongly recommend it. The first 40 pages and last 20 pages are absolutely essential. The rest trudges along, but overall, it’s a great read.

1991 was a very good year. I’d just graduated (and moved away) from the University of Pittsburgh with my MBA, I was obsessive about music from the confines of my mom’s house in York, Pennsylvania (months before I left for Georgia) and I became friends with the guys in Gumball.

York was as jerkwater as cities in central PA came, but there were a few enclaves of people with their heads screwed on straight. One guy, Rick, ran a local record label called Bona Fide. Released some killer releases by The Left, Antiseen and a Pagans side-project band, The High Rollers. Another perfect release he did was by a band from DC called The Velvet Monkeys.

Through Rick, I met semi-gonzo, yet lovable Jay Spiegel (known to everybody as "Rummager" or just "Rummy," "Rum Man" etc. etc.) who was the drummer for the Monkeys, later of BALL and then of Gumball. Rummy was living in Harrisburg at the time and touring like a bastard all around the world. When he’d be home, I remember going to play golf with him, trading tapes and hearing stories from him about doing pre-production work for Teenage Fanclub’s high point, "Bandwagonesque" in Glasgow. Not only was Jay a funny guy to be around, but he was a fantastic drummer. Jay was kind enough to allow me to make copies of countless VM, Ball and Gumball live/demo tapes which, sadly, have mostly disappeared through my various moves. Pity.

Gumball’s first record, "Special Kiss", had been released and was, in many ways, as close to an extension of early Velvet Monkeys as you’d ever get. Don Fleming’s fuzzed out guitar, Eric Vermillion (formerly of The Steel Miners) equally fuzzed out bass and Jay’s sloppy, yet powerful, shuffle on the skins.

I got to see the three-piece line up perform at the Chameleon Club in Lancaster on a Sunday with about 60 other people. Jay opened the show with a 3 minute drum solo as the other two came out on stage. It was super noisy and fucking fantastic.

Shortly thereafter, I moved to Georgia and soon to be a writer for the Flagpole. In the meantime, Gumball took on a fourth member (Malcolm Riviera, also of the Velvet Monkeys) signed to Sony and had a spectacular cover EP called "Wisconsin Hayride" come out and a subsequent full length called "Super Tasty." Other than the god-awful cover art, the records still hold up remarkably well. And hey, at the time, every half decent indie band was signing to the majors and Gumball was no exception.

Early on, I asked the Flagpole editors if I could go and travel with Gumball who were opening for Dinosaur Jr. with then-unknowns Mercury Rev in the first-of-three slot. With little more than a tenuous agreement that they’d pay for some black and white film, I hopped in the car with fellow Flagpole (and future Oakenthrone publisher) John Mincemoyer as we followed the band from Norfolk, down to Chapel Hill and then to Atlanta.

Every Gumball show on that tour started the same way. Don would come on stage and point to somebody in the crowd asking "Is she really going out with him?" and then kicking right into "New Rose" by The Damned. I could never quite ascertain what the crowd thought of Gumball as I spent most of their sets on the side of the stage and, I mean really, who wasn’t completely obsessed with headliners Dinosaur Jr. in 1993?

Getting to know the band was really a treat. Except for Eric who was roughly my age, the Gumball guys were about ten years older than me and were a bit more wise to the ways of the road and how to have a good time. Although I recall this with fondness, I remember being sort of shocked backstage when I saw a shoebox of weed pulled out and joints rolled with a speed and aplomb that I’d never really seen. Remember, I wasn’t really a weed guy at the time. But with that said, of course I was a bit curious.

The final show in Atlanta was a bit of a clusterfuck. J Mascis went MIA and Don Fleming proceeded to go find him somewhere up on North Avenue. I guess the only reason I remember that is because SO MANY PEOPLE seem to remind me that Dino didn’t go on for something like an hour after Gumball left the stage.

I never saw Gumball perform again after that due in large part to the band’s schedule keeping them in Europe and Japan. The band’s next album wasn’t something I particularly liked. Overproduced, songs seemed not nearly as well written, but the band came back full circle with a live "fanclub" release called "Tokyo Encore" which was more of what I learned to love about Gumball. Sloppy. Covers. Trashy. Hazy. Awesome.

My contact with the band has all but disappeared, but I still really enjoy listening to the first two records (and that covers EP) and feel that the dollar bins have done a great disservice to those releases. Their latter stuff? Well, let’s keep this on the up and up, shall we? Since the early 90’s, keyboard/guitarist Malcolm Riviera has written often for Chunklet, helms "8 Track Heaven" and is holed up at some higher education facility in North Carolina. Don still lives in New York, Eric lives back in Pittsburgh (I think?) and Rummager is back at his mom’s old house in Harrisburg.

In the spirit of exposing fans and new listeners to something they’ve probably not heard before, I’m including Gumball’s two Peel sessions from 1990 and 1991. Funny enough, Ringo Starr’s "Back Off Boogaloo" was a song that was played non-stop one summer at the Olivia Tremor Control house back in ’95. Any time I hear that song, it makes me think of Will and Bill and that hot summer. Additionally, the song "39 Lashes" (from "Jesus Christ Superstar") that Gumball cover in their ’91 session was a song that Pegboy would also cover on their "Fore" EP in the mid-90’s but fail to credit. I wonder why?

Anyway, enjoy and I apologize for the Peel session’s fidelity. I attribute that largely to the fact that I played these tapes repeatedly and just wore the tape down.

Oh well, enjoy!

Gumball – This Town (Peel Session 1990)
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Gumball – All The Time (Peel Session 1990)
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Gumball – I Want You (Peel Session 1990)
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Gumball – Vietnam (Peel Session 1990)
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Gumball – 39 Lashes (Peel Session 1991)
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Gumball – Back Off Boogaloo (Peel Session 1991)
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Gumball – High or Low (Peel Session 1991)
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Gumball – Light Shines Through (Peel Session 1991)
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Gumball – Marilyn (Peel Session 1991)
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Gumball – John Peel talking (Peel Session 1991)
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This is how bad it is in 2009.

The radio in my hometown of Atlanta is so horrible, my wife bought me Sirius radio last year for Christmas. Gone are the hours of listening to horrible DJs who play equally horrible music. The choked-with-shit NPR station in town is a thing of the past. Of course, I’m sure part of the reason my wife bought me Sirius is so I’d stop complaining, and for the most part, I have.

But with that said, almost 20 years after first hearing them, WFMU is still the only radio station I listen to religiously. And unlike then, I listen on their streaming audio channel instead of when I’m in the area. The station has served as an invaluable link to what’s going on up in the New York area, and more importantly, it has a more accurate reflection of what’s going on in the underground.

WFMU is entirely listener supported, and that’s become more important for me to understand the older I get. I put my money where my mouth is and I give freely to those things that I love. And WFMU is one of those things.

Chunklet has many, many good friends that staff the radio station, but Tom Scharpling’s in particular has got a pledge drive incentive that’s nothing short of jaw-dropping. Read about the whole thing here.

Along with a special Scharpling & Wurster CD recorded just for the pledge drive, and a Dogmo tote bag, there’s a slew of FOTs (including Death Cab for Cutie, Teddy Leo, Danielson and more, more, more!) that have recorded a tribute album to Paul McCartney’s album "Ram".

I really don’t like telling you to donate your time or your money to anybody or anything, but WFMU is an unbelievably important resource to (what I’m guessing is) 99.9% of the Chunklet readership.

Chunklet hearts WFMU and so should you. Show it by donating money all this week and especially on Tom’s show on Tuesday night. It’s absolutely worth it. Seriously.

(And as a special treat, I’m including Paul McCartney’s radio spots he recorded to promote "RAM")

Paul McCartney – Ram radio spots
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Paul McCartney – Hi Hi HI radio spots
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So I’m getting another batch of Chunklet hoodies made. So far there’s about 20 being made. Each already has a home, so this won’t be sold on the site.

For a limited time (I’m guessing a week or so), if you email me or leave a way to get in touch with you in the comments, I’ll help arrange you to get one.

Unlike the one modeled (by none other than Dave Doughman from Swearing at Motorists), these will be dark heather grey with dark green type. Just to change it up.

They’ll run $45 or so with shipping. American Apparel hoodies. And yes, that’s my cost.

Oh, and check out this gnarly Laughing Hyenas recording from ’89 in Birmingham, England!

It’s been rough hearing so much bad news recently. Read about Pylon here. Read about what happened to Randy here.

Our thoughts go out to Randy‘s kids, his bandmates, his girlfriend Hannah, and everybody around him and his life.

The second I know funeral arrangements, I’ll leave it in the comments.

Thinking back on their career, Unrest were a band that couldn’t be categorically written off. By the time the 90’s hit, Unrest was already a band for over five years and had already gone from being an angular, harsh(ish) noisy project to a delicate, shimmering pop band. And these were musicians that were my age in the DC area that were proto-indie rock. Or maybe it’s "meta." All I know is that by 1990 hit, Unrest was two guys and a girl who banged out some of the most minimal, simple pop hits of the era.

My original introduction to the band was "Kustom Karnal Blackxploitation" which, still to this day, I consider to have one of the most bad-ass A-sides from 1989. "Invoking the Godhead" was more Bastro than Brit Pop and "Teenage Suicide" was a glimmer of what Unrest were to become sooner rather than later.

Sadly, I never got to witness the angsty Unrest, but I collected all the self-released Teen Beat cassettes and singles of the era in no time thanks due in large part to my vicinity to Yesterday & Today. I got to see Unrest play the Lotsa Pop Losers fest at the shoebox known as DC Space in late 1991 with a soon to be legendary line-up including Velocity Girl, Small Factory, Tsunami and Versus. Good god, and that was at DC Space?! Christ. That was 18 years ago! Time flies.

Once I left for Georgia, Unrest really hit their stride. "Yes She Is My Skinhead Girl" was out in 1991 on K Records and is still one song I consider to be absolutely, 100% flawless. I’ll fight anybody that disagrees. "Imperial FFRR" was released in ’92 with the "Perfect Teeth" box set coming out later that same year. By this time, it was pretty hard not to admire Mark Robinson’s obsession with Factory Records. Giving catalog numbers to visits to amusement parks, an unbreakable comb, a sticker or his station wagon!? I mean, come on! At least Factory had the, uh, Haçienda! Anyway, it was all brilliant. Yes, brilliant.

Unrest seemed to come through Georgia quite a bit in ’93. They opened for Superchunk and Th’ Faith Healers at the Masquerade, had a slot at Lolapalooza at Lakewood and opened Fugazi and Superchunk at the 40 Watt. And yes, I was at all of them. Unrest even did one of those "you had to be there" in-stores at Criminal Records back when they were over on Euclid Avenue. I say that "you had to be there" because I wasn’t. My friend Travis and I got lost on the way from Athens and arrived just as the band was packing up their gear. I clearly remember Criminal owner Eric and employee Lillian scoffing at me for missing their performance. I should add, that I’ve since found both of them to be anything but a typical (read: condescending) record store employees. Just to clear the air. I think I just got them on a bad day. But damn, I’m still bummed I missed them.

The final time I got to see Unrest was at the Somber Reptile when Bryan Poole (then of Basement Saint, later of Elf Power and now in Of Montreal) and I carpooled down. It was Stereolab’s first tour of the US and I still think they never were to be nearly as good live as they were that night. It really was a perfect night.

I saw Air Miami, Mark’s first post-Unrest band, debut at the Merge Records 5th Anniversary weekend in ’94 and I subsequently interviewed him for Chunklet on the curb out in front of the Cat’s Cradle later that night (I was drunk). They were okay. As was his subsequent band Flin Flon. But I don’t know what it was, but Unrest were, and continue to be, his master stroke.

As a final note, Teen Beat has been releasing countless "hand made" archival-quality CD-R releases though their website. Not only can you (finally) get early Unrest tapes on a digital release, but the packaging is sort of ridiculous. Strongly recommended. Mark’s a consumate obsessive and it reeks off him. And I love that about him.

While I’m on the subject of their hand made releases, you should pick up The Rondelles pair of CD-Rs that bookcase their very first and very last recordings. There’s plenty more to check out. Go there now.

And before I forget, does anybody have any old Unrest t-shirts or records to trade?

In closing, in honor of this post, I’m including an entire set of Unrest that I recorded at the 40 Watt in Athens ’93 along with a prime video that Greg Webb shot of Unrest at Criminal Records later that year. You know, the "good ‘ol days." I sure hope Mark’s okay with this because I absolutely adore everything Unrest did and most everything else he’s ever done.

Unrest – Bavarian Mods – Athens 1993
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Unrest – Christina – Athens 1993
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Unrest – Suki – Athens 1993
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Unrest – Blushing – Athens 1993
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Unrest – International Nautical Miles – Athens 1993
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Unrest – Skinhead Girl – Athens 1993
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Unrest – Love To Know – Athens 1993
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Unrest – Cherry – Athens 1993
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Unrest – June – Athens 1993
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Unrest – Nation Writer – Athens 1993
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…and form a fucking band called TINTED WINDOWS?!?!

A record’s already in the can and they’re debuting at SXSW.

I knew there was a reason I was ducking out this year….

UPDATE: Now with a television appearance!

You know, it’s funny. I was recently reminded of an incident involving The Replacements when I first moved to Atlanta. My office was part of a print shop just north of Buckhead and the two fellas who owned the shop were from the band Fiddlehead. They’d often bristle at jams I’d play. Joy Division, The Plugz, Rezillos, Neutral Milk Hotel, Wire. The list of bands that annoyed them was staggeringly long considering they were both musicians and people that considered themselves music fans.

However, I remember playing "Let It Be" by the Replacements and getting the repeated jabs of "Why are you playing this bar band shit?" and "Can these hacks learn to play?" I guess you had to know these guys, but they would’ve never grown tired of Drive Like Jehu playing 24/7. Not that I mind Jehu, but that’s not the point. Math rock dominated Atlanta back then. Or at least it did in the group of people I first encountered.

That was 1997, but in 2009, I’ll be goddamned if I’ll endure listening to somebody spout off about how much they hate the Replacements. Ironically, I’ve heard that repeated attempts to get the band to reunite have been halted due to Tommy Stinson’s involvement with Guns’N’Roses which has to be the worst fucking bit of pathos I’ve ever heard.

Back in the late 80’s, though, finding out anything about the Replacements in southcentral Pennsylvania was next to impossible. Zines never showed up. College radio was pathetic. No venues. Nothing. So it always ended up with me going to Philly, DC, NYC or Baltimore to find anything that couldn’t be purchased at Tower Records.

I had heard of a tape-only release called "Shit Hits The Fans" that piqued my interest. The tapes origin were especially dubious. Taken (as in SEIZED!) from a concert goer at a show in Oklahoma, the tape was immediately released by Twin/Tone in an edition of 10,000. This release is more infamous than famous, and is claimed to be a snapshot of prime-train-wreck-era Replacements on tour in ’84. See the set list here.

I remember when I finally found my copy very well. In 1988, I’d driven to the Allentown/Bethlehem area to see The Ramones and went to the only decent record store in the vicinity. As I often did, I went looking through the cassette tapes to see if they had a copy of "Shit Hits The Fans." And as luck had it, I found a copy for $8!

I think I made it 20 minutes into the drive home before I took the tape out of the car stereo…

Until I discovered my copy (I’m guessing it was at the store Brian Turner worked at), I thought the tape was a red herring. And when I finally discovered it, I was massively disappointed.

Since then, I’ve uncovered a handful of STELLAR Replacements bootlegs. I think my favorite is from them performing at Club Lingerie in Los Angeles on, what I’m guessing, was the same tour that "Fans" was recorded. Now THAT was a recording worthy of being officially released.

A vinyl transfer of the tape is included with this posting. I’ve gotta say, though, I enjoy this recording a helluva lot more now than I did back in the late 80’s. I think I was expecting more showmanship, but at the time, I didn’t realize that wasn’t the band’s strong suit.

The Replacements – The Shit Hits The Fans (side A)
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The Replacements – The Shit Hits The Fans (side B)
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Antony and the Johnsons sold out the local theater in town last week. It drives me insane.

Bon Iver and Joanna Newsom and all these watered down Van Dyke Parks aspiring  hippies can fuck off.

It’s 2009, and truly damaged and out there music is in danger of being extinct.

Fortunately, I picked up the Megan LOLZ single by Mayyors recently and it gave me hope.

This live video of them blew my mind.

Oh, and I also love that they don’t have a website. Fuckin’ A.

I’ll be goddamned if there’s one person reading this blog who doesn’t realize what a profound and singular voice of rock we lost yesterday.

I met Lux very briefly when Man…or Astro-Man? opened for them back in the mid-90’s. As is often the case with people who are larger than life ON stage, he couldn’t have been more personable and charming off stage.

I really don’t feel like I have anything to add to the mourning (as it seems to have hit everybody as hard as the recent Ron Asheton death), but I’ll include an absolutely stellar recording simply called "The Ohio Demo" that I think few people have actually heard.

The Cramps – Twist & Shout (Ohio Demos)
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The Cramps – All Tore Up (Ohio Demos)
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The Cramps – Mystery Plane (Ohio Demos)
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The Cramps – TV Set (Ohio Demos)
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The Cramps – Teenage Werewolf (Ohio Demos)
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The Cramps – Sunglasses After Dark (Ohio Demos)
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The Cramps – Mad Daddy (Ohio Demos)
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Earlier this week I got an email via Gavin at Stickfigure asking for my assistance on a book being released about seven inch record design. After inquiring if I could cast a wider net via the chunklet.com freaks, they agreed. Here’s their spiel:

"Soundscreen Design is currently finishing a book, tentatively titled Touchable Sound: Twenty Years of 7” Record Design.

For our research, we’re trying to compile lists of people’s suggestions of the best DIY 7"s, in terms of design and packaging, as this is NOT about music or nostalgia. We’re looking for lists of people’s twenty (or more) best 7"s from roughly 1986 through 2006. Records where either the packaging is handmade or you can see the hand of the creators in the work (even in something that wasn’t handmade, but extra work was put into its creation—like, say, the Black Dice 7"/book on 31G). We’re very interested in the role local communities and record collecting had on the design, and therefore are interested in hearing about stuff that would definitely be off our radar—examples of local records that never really got much distribution, tour version records, non-hardcore/punk/indie records (we do not want to limit ourselves by genre), foreign releases, etc. It doesn’t have to be a super formal list, we just want to make sure that we’ve got all the really good stuff covered, and you all know more than we could possibly research on our own.

Please send lists (with photos, if possible), noting: band, label, city or region label is from, and details you think we need to know about the design here.

Thank you very much, your help is invaluable, and we hope you’ll enjoy digging in your crates as much as we’re going to enjoy seeing what you’ve got."

Here’s what I sent back. Please bear in mind that this was a quickly assembled list (Billy doesn’t believe me that I did this in 30 minutes) and can easily be improved upon. Please also note that I threw in a couple graphic designer notes keeping in mind that this was intended for a fellow designer…….

Shadowy Men On A Shadowy Planet "Wedding Single" (released by Albini)- The sleeve was a wedding napkin for the marriage between John Mohr (TAR) and Beck Dudley (MOTO) and was recorded by Albini and given out by him for guests at the event.

Shellac – Uranus/Rude Gesture (Touch & Go) – Probably a bit of a no brainer. The die was made and thousands upon thousands were made. The word "SHELLAC" was printed with a spot varnish so when it was brushed over with root beer extract, it acted as a resist. I know of at least ten bands that paid off debts at Electrical (and/or Steve) by assembling these in his living room and/or studio.

Tsunami – Matchbook 7" (Simple Machines) – Sleeve is oversized and looks like a matchbook. The records didn’t hold up very well (either physically or musically) due to no real inner sleeve, but it stands out nonetheless.

Revo 7" (Pop Bus) – Record in a bag with a retail-like hanger on the top. The hanger is letter pressed. Clever design.

Strangulated Beatoffs – 2×7" (Skin Graft) – A comic book with an outside clear plastic overprint in green that lays on top of the artwork. Really clever for 1993 or whatever year it came out.

Rapeman – Hated Chinee (Touch & Go) – The printing is rather simple 2/c with a blind emboss, but the bass player used the insides of the sleeves to do his calculus homework.

Jessamine – Houdini (Thingmakers) – Hands down one of the most insane packages I’ve ever seen. Cardboard with glued on paper (4/c with 2 spot varnishes and two foil stamps!) and the whole thing is locked in with a real FUCKING LOCK! The key is inside the sleeve. You just have to see it, but good christ, it’s retarded. Thingmakers did incredible stuff, but were/are insanely flaky. Additionally, the Sub Pop single (screwed in place) and the self released 7"s (with foil paper, blind embossing, etc etc) are also tits. (Postscript: This single is still available for SIX FREAKING DOLLARS at the Barsuk site!)

Bruce Lee, Heroin & The Punk Scene – 3×7" comp – Kinda hard to describe. In a box. a bunch of esoteric shit thrown in. Genius.

Wingtip Sloat – I have four different singles by them and I know people who have the same ones and none look the same. Individually assembled and packaged with tons of weird shit (one of mine has 5 feet of chopped up audio tape). Brilliant.

Various Artists – Jabberjaw 4×7" – The second comp series that came in a gorgeous oversized cigarette box.

Lake of Dracula/Monitor Radio split (Carcrashh) – Each copy came with a dental x-ray that was individually glued in there.

Karl Hendricks Trio/Mothra split (Egg Yolk) – Beautifully assembled. Very handmade. The sleeves were flocked so they have a very tactile feel. The sleeve is to look like a shirt being unbuttoned.

Various Artists – Neo Metro 3×7" comp (Simple Machines) – 3 singles featuring artists from each city (Bmore, Richmond, DC) and designed to look like Neopolitan ice cream. Even came with an ice cream spoon!

Various Artists – Working Holiday box set (Simple Machines) – kinda way ahead of the curve. Taking a page from Sub Pop, you got 2×7"s every other month celebrating each month with special songs by Codeine, Tsunami, Crackerbash……A LOT OF BANDS. After all was said and done, you got a special super sturdy box to put them all in and a special bonus 7", a letter pressed calendar and a specially written Duplex Planet. Genius.

Aerial M/Azusa Plane split  (Monstertruck) – split single housed with duct tape inside two pieces of particle board and held together with velcro. Personalized pictures on the cover of each and all info hand placed with clear labels.

Unrest – Pretty much anything they did before 1991 or so. Especially the Catchpellet 7".

Von Hemmling (Elephant Six) – Individually constructed sleeves made out of construction paper. Hand stamped and written on.

Tar – Play To Win (No Blow) – Individually hand stamped records on a custom made bingo card. Die cut and glued. Fancy shit for ’89.

Various Artists– Earworm Soup (Earworm) – End of the record label. Each record comes with pieces of the stampers for previous releases.

Cop Shoot Cop – Piece Man (Vertical) – each sleeve was splattered with pig’s blood. No two the same.

Floor – Goddard (Rhetoric) – Interesting packaging for such a simple design. Innovative die cut.

Fugazi – Sub Pop single – Velum. metallic inks. Very unlike any other Fugazi release.

Candy Machine (DeSoto) – Encased in Carboard. Hard to describe, but the sleeve had to be destroyed to open.

Die Slaughterhaus Box set – 3×7" by Black Lips, Tabitha and the Lids. Boxes spray painted and stenciled by hand. Tons of homemade-ness in this.

Melvins – Tora Tora Tora tour 3×7" set – Sturdy. Bolted together. A sight to behold.

MOTO – Where The Love Lives (Hi-Ball) put out by the Coctails kids. Gorgeous.

Obvious stuff:
The entire Pushead singles club. I know a couple people with those collections (I sold mine years ago) and the printing/packaging is fucking retarded.
Halo of Flies – Tom was a completely self taught designer who did shit working at the copy shop in Seattle while he was still a marine. So much of it looks incredible for the time and just seems confounding to take into a print shop in (say) 1988. Overprints and crude trapping abound. I should also mention that he was extraordinarily instrumental in the larger implementation of 7" as art/official release than he’s ever given credit.
Les Savy Fav – 9×7" series where all the sleeves were assembled to create a larger piece.
The Locust – Puzzle 7"
Polvo – Celebrate the New Dark Age 3×7" – Really gorgeous letter pressed job from Merge.
Piper Cub – 7" on Sub Pop. Unreal packaging ala the Revo 7".
All the singles by mid-90’s hipster band Fuck. Every single was very personal, very hand made.

Personally released singles worth mentioning:
The Olivia Tremor Control "Giant Day" (Drug Racer) – Every copy was hand colored BY THE BAND. Hand stamped. The sleeves were letter pressed. Came with two enormous posters as well.
Man or Astroman? "UFOs and the Men Who Fly Them" (Drug Racer) – The sleeve turned into (no shit) a flying saucer.
Servotron "Servotron 9000" (Drug Racer) – Yet another idea I’d never seen before. You have to destroy the sleeve to get to the record which is inside a die cut, blind embossed 2/0 piece of art. Honestly. YOU HAVE TO SEE THIS.

There’s one other singles series that I did that’s a bit more complex. I have done three singles that have served as TICKETS for shows I’ve done in town. All exclusive tracks. Available only at the local record store. THAT’S IT. Exclusive tks by Diplo, Black Lips (which I recorded actually), Deerhunter, Carbonas, Dark Meat and many others…. The ticket was perforated along the top side and served for entry into the show featuring the bands on the single.

So…..with all of that spiel outta the way, get in touch with them! I’d also be thrilled to hear what everybody else would recommend. You know where to put ’em (in the comments section, duh…)

So Fucked Up came back to Georgia (finally) last Sunday night. And yes, they destroyed.

As far as hardcore Sunday night bills go, it was pretty damned top notch. American Cheeseburger from Athens, The Bukkake Boys (who have the best t-shirt design in the history of anything, hands fucking down) and one of those supposed "last" Carbonas shows.

Fucked Up played all the jams off the new Matador release and even closed with a Chain Gang song!

Fucked Up spent the next two nights at the house, and since I didn’t take any pictures of them while they were performing on stage……I’m giving you photos of them in my living room checking their email, having a band meeting and/or cuddling my dogs.

I really hope Fucked Up comes back soon. Absolutely brilliant show.

And so you know, this recording was done by Mr. Curt Wells and is put up on the site completely with their permission. Thanks you kooky Canucks (and Curt too).

Oh! And be sure to check out Damian (Pink Eye)’s blog where all he does is smack talk 10000 Marbles, one of three guitarists in the band…..

NOTE: Yes, all the eye-chart posters are long gone. Sorry, I wish I could help you….

Fucked Up – Atlanta January 2009
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So after five years of lurking at big fancy festivals and becoming more popular than they ever did when they actually DID tour, Les Savy Fav came back to a hero’s welcome at the EARL and Whirlyball Atlanta this past weekend.

Of course, the shows were spectacular, but the real excitement was left for when Team Chunklet (consisting of myself, Marc C., Patrick S., Armando C. and Teasley) had the whirlyball rematch with Les Savy Fav. And yes, the Favs opted for skins (as you’ll see in the photos).

I gotta say, the band put up quite a struggle. The first game was a bit of a routing 20-4), but the second game had the band reconfigure their defense which worked significantly better (12-8). All in all, a valiant effort.

Oh, and did I mention that the Fav fucking brought it on stage?! Good god, the five piece line up has done wonders for them.

I should also add that the special "Whirlyball Version" of "Let’s Stay Friends" all but disappeared. I have ten copies left for sale in the store for super fans who couldn’t attend.

Local rock-athletes The Liverhearts opened the Whirlyball gig and were a fantastic addition to the night’s festivities. And yes, we decimated them as well (18-0).

Fucked Up were to go up against us on Monday, but they flaked out. Pussies.

Special thanks to Daryl, Luke, Caroline and everybody at Whirlyball Atlanta, Marc Crifasi (for working the door), Curt Wells (for running sound), Papa Johns (for the four large pizzas), The Liverhearts (for being so goddamned rad) and everybody that came out. It really was a gas.

I’m not one to spout politics, but to think that issues from habeas to torture will change starting today makes me proud (for the first time in years) to be an American. To all non-Americans reading this, just know that all Americans didn’t vote for the last eight years to happen.

I like a bit of airplane reading as much as the next guy. And some of the 33 1/3 books are somewhat decent. The MC5’s "Kick Out The Jams". Bowie’s "Low".

But getting the dude from the Decemberists to talk about his bed-wetting days listening to "Let It Be" by The Replacements?! Holy christ, kill me now. It’s fucking unbearable.

Pray tell, what’s the criteria for who gets to write a book? It’s fishy if you ask me.

I was recently directed to 33 1/3’s list of proposed titles for 2009. I mean, I totally get their direction, but the fact that writers would even submit Vampire Weekend or Animal Collective? Jesus, has the ink on the covers even properly dried yet?!

My own personal desire would be to write books about either Helmet’s "Meantime" or The Jesus Lizard’s "Goat." But hey, I’m a softie. I’d suggest "Positraction" by Live Skull or "Conquest For Death" by The Necros, but I guess those fall outside the realm of 33 1/3’s suggested short-ranged demographic. But hey, what do I know?

When I moved to Atlanta from Athens in ’97, I wasn’t too thrilled about the music scene here. The one band that stood out (most specifically after opening the final Harvey Milk show in ’98) were The Rock*A*Teens. Of course, it doesn’t hurt that it signaled the first time that good buddy and former Flagpole colleague Ballard Lesemann played drums for the band. It was that night I finally "got" the Rock*A*Teens.

Not to sound mushy, but I still feel like The Rock*A*Teens were the embodiment of everything I loved (and still love) about Cabbagetown. And the thought of having the band be from anywhere but Atlanta is completely foreign. I also have many fond memories of going to their shows that bring back thoughts of many people who’ve since left the city.

As a booking agent for a local rock establishment at the time, I put on quite a few shows with them. Always well attended (unlike their shows elsewhere in the country, sadly) and filled with a vibrant air in the room. Absolutely joyful. Those were good times.

I ran into my buddy Adam Renshaw yesterday and he told me of a documentary on YouTube about them which jogged my memory of when this was all shot. It was filmed and edited by Jef from Clemente. It still brings back a lot of good thoughts.

I’ve been discussing Atlanta’s music scene a lot recently and thinking of how many newer acts will be thought of in five or ten years. Of course, it’s not for me to decide, but I gotta tell you, I absolutely STILL love this band. STILL!

In ’98 or so, The Rock*A*Teens had performed a lot at the Star Bar in Little Five Points as they were writing and recording one of their true masterpieces, Golden Time. In the days before the Star Bar was overrun by macho cokeheads, those were good times, I gotta tell ya.

Fortunately, pal and (then) Star Bar soundguy Curt Wells was recording all their shows onto DAT. Anxious to hear them, I duped them to CD and then made an edited compilation CD-R (high tech for ’99!) for friends called "A Major Motion Picture". I remember when I gave Lopez a copy (at a show they were performing with Superchunk that night at the club I booked), he went quiet, paused, looked at me and said "Henry, I’m speechless." Conversely, Justin from the R*A*Ts wasn’t thrilled with how "clean" it sounded which prevented it seeing wide release, but for hardcore fans, it’s absolutely perfect.

Included in this post are seven of the tracks from this release. Additionally (and hopefully with the band’s consent), for the truly devoted, I will offer copies of this release for a few dollars (just to cover expenses) to anybody that wants it. Just email me and thy shall be done.

Note: Chris Lopez’s earlier band Seersucker (with Stephen Tanner from Harvey Milk on bass) will be getting their own post here shortly. I just came across some VHS tapes of them performing in ’92 at the 40 Watt and it reminded me how fucking incredible they were too.

Second note: Buy the Eddy Current Suprresion Ring record right now.

Download the entirety of "A Major Motion Picture" here.

The Rock*A*Teens – Don’t Destroy This Night (Live Atlanta ’98)
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The Rock*A*Teens – Freedom Puff (Live Atlanta ’98)
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The Rock*A*Teens – Little Caesar On A Bicycle (Live Atlanta ’98)
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The Rock*A*Teens – Leave What’s Left of Me (Live Atlanta ’98)
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The Rock*A*Teens – Cry Crybaby (Live Atlanta ’98)
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The Rock*A*Teens – I Could’ve Just Died (Live Atlanta ’98)
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The Rock*A*Teens – Stand Talll (Live Atlanta ’98)
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To say that Crime were a band ahead of their time would make you think that music has actually caught up to them by now. A scattered discography has never given the band their due, but you can find bits and pieces out there in either semi-legit or semi-bootleg form. A stellar "where are they now" interview is over at Perfect Sound Forever.

In the late 70’s or early 80’s, Crime performed at San Quentin and it was filmed for Target Video. Then, as legend has it, the video was released and then almost immediately, there was a fire at the Target Video warehouse and the Crime video was never seen again. I’ve been looking for a VHS or DVD version of this for YEARS, but now this has crept up on YouTube.

I’ve included a couple mp3s of the band’s "hits" from their late 70’s singles. Billy, you got any copies to trade or sell or give away?

Crime – Murder By Guitar
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Crime – Hotwire My Heart
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Crime – Baby You’re So Repulsive
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I was recently directed to Mr. Sims’ blog and it’s a real treat. Check it out here.

What I’ve found most entertaining is the entry about Scratch Acid’s breakdown as to where and when they played along with how much they were paid per show. And the final page is a break down of how much each member made per year? Jesus, it’s like Sims should’ve become an accountant. Oh wait, he did!

Word has it that The Jesus Lizard has already started rehearsing this last week in Nashville which is fitting seeing as how I’ll be there next week to record Brian Posehn’s new album. Check it out!

And as a special treat, here’s one of two Peel Sessions The Jesus Lizard did. This one’s from 1991 and is, in a word, stellar.

Have I told everybody here yet how excited I am about this reunion?

The Jesus Lizard – Wheelchair Epidemic (Peel Session 2/91)
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The Jesus Lizard – Bloody Mary (Peel Session 2/91)
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The Jesus Lizard – Seasick (Peel Session 2/91)
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The Jesus Lizard – Monkey Trick (Peel Session 2/91)
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