Here Come the Bastard Suns

From the dirty south (Atlanta, GA) comes the Bastard Suns with their 2nd full length release, Here Come the Suns. The geography is worth highlighting again because the hybrid punk sound that roils from this record isn’t what one usually expects from the south: punk rock injected with irish-folk, ska & dub reggae. It’s definitely an approach to music one would expect of a Boston area punk job. Although put forth as a second full-length, the album contains three stellar repeats—“Irish Drinking Song,” “RIP,” & “Away Away Away.” The band reportedly felt unsatisfied with the original production of these tunes. The old versions weren’t that bad, but these new releases are polished and sound thicker and are better timed than the originals, so in turn, the listener just isn’t getting some repeat album fillers with a sonic facelift.

What really rings out on this album is how the band organically blends the three disparate modes of music . In other words, the songs aren’t just punk anthems with folk, ska & reggae sprinkled over it to make the band standout in the crowd. “We’d Go For Broke,” one of the tightest tracks on the album, exemplifies this relationship completely. The punk style itself is dynamic, ranging from a traditional gallop-style punk with backup vocalists accenting the singer to a smooth technical sound that is between skate-punk & metal. While that forms the baseline, the song has abrupt shifts to ska & reggae and then huge chorus explosions that escalate into an almost Pantera-like drum frenzy. On top of this, the singer doesn’t remain neutral either, becoming an important instrument himself. The singer can range from an Irish flare to a row of articulate rocksteady. While some songs favor a folk feel—“Never Say Die,” “Oh, Celina,” “Pirates of the Whiskey Sea,” & “Irish Drinking Song”—and others have ska-reggae as the prominent mode—“Hold Fast,” “SBMT,” & “Who the Fuck”—the fusing & explosive transitions are a salient quality of the album as a whole. In the end, this effect makes the album unpredictable & surprising, especially on the first few listens.

The album also contains two covers that are done well, going beyond a jazzed up version of the original that many bands deliver. One of them is a ska-rendition of “Walk of Life” and the other is a hidden cover of Queen’s “Fat Bottomed Girls.” What really rings clear when listening to the Suns is a band that works hard at a collaborative effort. No instrument player is forgettable or bound to one specific method. All of them bring several styles to each song and each are able to carve out space here & there to demonstrate their musicmanship.

Not from this album, but a good glimpse of what you would find inside.

Koffin Kats are Forever For Hire

Just in time for last year’s Halloween, gear-headed punkabilly band, The Koffin Kats ,released Forever for Hire, their 5th full length album in roughly 6 years. (wow). KK is heralded in psychobilly circles but seemed to step more towards the horrorpunk realm on their previous release, Drunk In Daylight. For Forever for Hire, that progression seems to continue even further. Twangy, rockabilly guitar is ornamental at best and Tommy Koffin’s guitar is a little more dominate, incredibly overdriven riffs and cuts with some well timed chorus effects. But even with the metallic punk guitar more prominent, Vic Victor still dominates with his upright and a level of bass thrashing that would make speed metal bassist blush.

With the punk sensibilities of the band, anthems are expected but Forever for Hire is almost one continuous anthem. Named perfectly, the album opener is “How it Starts,” an instrumental that begins with a gothic organ and then explodes into KK’s familiar wall of sound style that’s so thick your ears can hardly process what is unfolding. “How it Starts” is actually a remake of “March of the Waynos” from a prior album. Content wise, KK doesn’t stray from its horror base— see "Nostrovia", "Saw My Friend Explode Today", "Asylum"—and another installment in the Graveyard Tree series. KK also go a little political with "Heading Off To Battle," a slightly softer tune about a soldier's anxiety of going to war. The use of horror continues to be a strong aspect of KK, especially because they actually make more of it than most modern horrorpunk bands, bands that tend to just pick a horror movie and merely spit back some plot highlights set to lyrics. "Small Block and Flathead," one of the best anthems on the album, exemplifies KK's quality use of the stereotypical horror landscape to implicate stronger meaning beyond the literal. On the surface, the song comes across as another hotrod, psychobilly tune, but simultaneously uses the content—greaser undeads reviving cars at the “boneyard” on the outskirts of some “weird town”—as a general metaphor of punk culture and the hard perception of society’s normal vs. weird overgeneralizations. It’s not poetry prize material but easily trumps the upchucked, formulaic songs of so, so many modern horrorpunk bands.

Probably the most provoking aspect of the album is the distinct self-realization of the album as a whole. The album closes with “Forever for Hire,” a total call-to-arms for the band that does some interesting stuff with overdubbed chorus on top a long, galloping psychobilly shred. “We are always forever for hire,” really captures the ethos of the band. KK puts out quality full length CDs…often. They do this while also boasting one of the more rigorous, non-stop tour schedules you will find. The band has one goal in mind and that’s to play loud & hard, anywhere, at any time.

The Have Nots: Serf City USA

Although already a week into 2010, I wanted to blog some on what I felt were some notable punk & punkish albums I ran across this year. I regret that I don’t have the time to jot down something sweeping but with the Bouncing Souls, Bad Religion & Pour Habit to cut new albums this year, I wanted to make sure I made nods on these before I selflessly indulged on their albums.

If I had to decide on the punk CD of the year at gun point, Serf City USA by the Have Nots would be the one. The Boston based band is a mixture of two other talented bands that made some nice noise a few years ago, the Stray Bullets & Chicago Typewriter. First & foremost, the band quickly reminds us how potentially sound the marriage of punk, reggae & ska can be when heart and conviction is poured into it rather than a trendy surf on the ska-punk watershed ala late 90s. The Have Nots’ prescription of punk-ska revives the worker class of Oi! mode punk more in line with The Clash & Operation Ivy. In short, Joe Strummer would have this vinyl rotating in an upstate apartment while tapping on the window as he stared into the streets below.

Besides being chockfull of middle-class anthems, the Have Nots bring to bare a refined ska-punk that has one foot in tradition and one modernized enough to clearly separate them from those bands of earlier decades. The bassist & drummer do the major legwork on laying down the ska framework of the songs but also drop in the technical & polished machine gun musicmanship that borrows from metal in many ways. In a competition with this component comes Pruitt & Cauztik, dueling vocalists that both hard strum (especially the upstroke) on semi-hollows. Vocally, one singer brings the hyper, frenetic edge of melodic hardcore where the other remains the rude boy equivalent in punk rock. The rhythms remain your typical power & barre cord punk rock orientation and the other vocalist lays down the reggae-edged guitar. The latter guitar is somewhat dulled from usual ska-punk giving the totality of the sound a deep, grinding tone. In the end, my faith that ska-punk is more than just novelty has been restored with The Have Nots.

Video of 1 in 4:

Land of the Dead

Disorganized listening habits & life with twin newborns totally put the brakes on my planned Misfit tour de force. With the release of the Land of the Dead , a two song LP just in time for Halloween, I felt some off the cusp commentary was needed. The songs “The Land of the Dead” and “Twilight of the Dead” mark not only the first release since Famous Monsters, but the first original release by what has become the Misfit, Jerry Only. Par for the course, another monster movie was chosen as the canvas, this time paying homage to the Romero films. The artwork comes across as a movie poster, continuing the sort of image the Graves-era Misfits had implemented. Jerry also continues his punk rock sensiblility by having the physical release on vinyl only. That’s as far as the punking went before Jerry’s commercial sensibility kicked in: iTunes exclusive mp3 releases & 1000 limited orange vinyls sold exclusively at shows. It’s easy to poke fun but the reality is that even these stripped down aged Misfits are going to garner more attention than any other horrorpunk bands with this release.

On to the LP.

First: Jerry Only is a better vocalist than expected. He didn’t try to tie on the dark Elvis that has been heard at concerts nor did it have the tomcat mewl of Project 1950. Jerry is clean and surprisingly polished on the album. It is rumored that JO spent a lot of time with vocal lessons once his little brother left the band and it really shows on these two tracks. That’s believable and in turn, causes one of the rubs with the vocals. They sound too polished, too trying. Another major problem with JO fronting the vocals is that one of the best components of the Misfits gets sacrificed. That component is the back-up vocal and call & response chorus JO was so good at performing.

Second: Doyle’s absence really hurts. When the vocals were lacking like on some of the Famous Monsters tracks, Doyle was always there to carry things along with his chainsaw overdriven riffs. The riff composition isn’t anything lesser than Doyle’s nor is it about a loss of speed. Dez brings a flatter, warmer, distorted guitar. It’s somewhere between less energetic older metal and fuzzed-up 80s hardcore. Part of me believes the sound was altered in post-studio recording. It sounds like the guitar was blended out to make Jerry’s voice more prominent.

Third: It’s hard to call it the Misfits. The argument here isn’t based upon the personnel at all. It is based on what we expect from the Misfits. Without anthem type choruses or backing vocals, prominent guitar riffs or lyrics that are both shocking & surprising, it’s hard to differentiate this LP from the plethora of horrorpunk bands out today. While competent, it doesn’t distinguish itself enough. The LP overall play it safe. Spits back images of movies instead of reforming them into something fresh. It’s catchy in a Misfits manner but leans more toward something poppy.This also isn't a plea for them to reach back into the vault & make new songs in old Misfit ways, but you would expect some progression or refinement in some areas.

The Misfit Code

Around the millennium the Misfit epidemic was gaining major momentum in the West. Over the next decade, scores of monstered-up bands rose all over Europe, Australia and then around again to Asia & South America. The advent of social-networking, specifically MySpace, has made the tracing of this widespread phenomenon quite easy. MySpace has finally found some legitimate use besides a virtual space where lonely people scour the internet for html codes that will generate flashy graphics they feel will describe them as a person or the one they want to be. Bands have found MySpace to be an excellent, low cost, DIY way for garnering exposure. Besides having the ability to post mp3 recordings, tour dates & news, bands have also made use of the Pics page for close-ups & artwork. While flipping through some of these pages, a discovery has been made about Horrorpunk bands & fans alike. At first, it seemed to be scattered, isolated incidents. After enough ambles across these pages, there is no doubting the code that has emerged. The signifier of this code is never subtle or ambiguous. The code has been coined as, “The White Shroud of Jerry.”

The “White Shroud of Jerry” is the horrorpunk stamp of approval, the rite of passage, the coup de grace for an argument over legitimacy. Does this mean that if a band doesn’t have the White Shroud of Jerry jewel then they are merely posers? No. It only means they haven’t gotten it yet. After all, Jerry is a busy man. He’s got about 1 year left to give us those “4-5 albums of new material” he promised. So without further ado, here is an example of the code:

JO gives the Order of the Fly the stamp of approval. Double points for them as the sharpie is also brandished.

Jerry Only with Horror Story. Bonus points for also having a picture of Dez Cadena (former Black Flag vocalist & guitarist) ghouled up as a Misfit.

Only with Calabrese but not wearing the Shroud. Tough moment for the self-proclaimed "world's best horrorpunk band."

And then with one of the most dedicated fans of seemingly everyone

Jerry Only with Richard Sammarco of Another Pick In the Wall

Walk Among Us

I never understood why Walk Among Us was slathered with that awful pink-fluorescent color. It didn’t go with horror or leather or skeletons. For a long time I thought the Misfits just chose the hue to blend in with the gutter & anarcho punk of the time. The 2nd or 3rd production of the album is green & purple, one of the most recognizable horror color schemes. That bothersome problem of the first release was solved today when I came across an interview with Danzig about the production. Red, black & orange were the intentions, a more ruddy hue more congruent with 50s & 60s film promos. The interview shed light on things more important too. 1) Danzig played guitars on many of the tracks, unsatisfied by the early abilities of Doyle, it seems. Danzig also dropped “Die Die My Darling” & “American Nightmare” because Doyle “couldn’t play” them. Although Doyle was just beginning, I question whether he couldn’t play them or couldn’t play them like Danzig wanted them to play, giving Danzig’s history of being agreeable. 2) How the hell this first release actually sounds unified is amazing, considering it was recorded all over the place with different studios, different equipment, and different opinions & wants between band members.

By 82’ the band was apparently brimming with songs (7 singles releases already). Only “Night of The Living Dead” was a repeat for WAU. With songs like “Ghouls Night Out,” “Teenagers From Mars,” and “Where Eagles Dare” already public, WAU wasn’t necessarily an eruption into the scene, but more of crystallization for the band’s sound. The bat-rat-spider-lobster from the 1960 film, The Angry Red Planet (yes, the movie where palm trees grow on Mars) on the background of the album is a boss preview of what was found inside—it is a rock-n-roll monster.

Not much of WAU should have been surprising to their listeners. Breaking it down to elements: aggressive, distorted, guitar orientated hardcore wasn’t new, nor doo-whop, nor rockabilly, nor the bluesy Elvis-style vocals. Even injecting mainstream horror imagery & content wasn’t breaking the mold—The Cramps & Adicts had toyed with the idea in some ways. It was how these elements were unified & modernized that was so unique. On top of that, the music was apolitical in a time where almost all the punk rock was political and continues to be today. By no means is there anything wrong with punk rock bathed in politics, the Misfits were just showing it didn’t have to be overtly political, a way to philosophize with a hammer. For this reason, it may be why people argue the Misfits influenced more metal bands than punk rock bands.

WAU was also scattered out between both of the “collection” posthumous albums, but the versions on this album are dramatically stronger and more vivacious. Side note: the song, “Devil’s Whorehouse,” on WAU is the one that contains the ass-slapping sound at the end of each lyric line. The version that appears later in the Box Set or Collection is without. Some Misfit lore is that they brought in the proper female instrument into the recording booth to gain the effect. It may not be true, but it really makes the song pop even more. “20 Eyes” comes right at you to open the album, cymbals crashing and Danzig’s signature vocal range. The album ends with a quasi-Oi sounding song, “Braineaters.” Jerry Only has often expressed his affinity for The Ramones and the way this album is stacked seems organized in the Ramones spirit: “1-2-3-4” explosions into songs & abrupt endings, each song a sort of variation on another. The campy quality is brilliant. Not many bands can have you singing “Hack the heads off little girls, and hang on my walls” (“Skulls”) in such a happy, detached, dancing way. As much as I would like to point out the gems, the entire album is a gem, from start to finish. If I had to pick a favorite it would be “Hatebreeders.” If you haven’t ever heard the Misfits or horrorpunk at all, I think this album stands as the school textbook.

A Knife In the Tubes

Google an image search on The Misfits and the rendered results are a horrific soup, literally & figuratively. Offhand, you’re not going to find Gable & Monroe images for the 61’ film, but a litany of bare-chested, black-leathered, make-upped rock stars. The members shuffle through the images and only the trained eye will really notice this. The untrained eye may also think they are looking at film posters for B-horror movies or a professional wrestling team. Wade through the images long enough and you will encounter fandom face tattoos of the Crimson Ghost (1946 serial film villain appropriated in a logo form by the band), sneakers, action figures, skateboards, and even Misfit logoed Permax insulated gloves for snowy conditions. The band images won’t initially evoke punk rock, but more early 80s “eeeevil” glam that begs the Osborne devil-horn sign. The curious part is that the band remains staunchly owned by punk and you’ll find those “eeeevil” images tagged with dates ranging from 1977 to present. For the record, the thirty-year punk band has only been noticeably active for maybe half that time, and that’s being generous. IT has become something of legend, a persistent idea & ethos that parts of society never see but recognize.

I’m a schooled literature dork and have embarrassingly spent hours discussing the nuance of a sentence to argue about a possible threshold between one idea of art into another. The question in these often boring circles is always about persistence as a true litmus test on a legitimate art form. Will this thing persist? There is no denying the persistence of The Misfits. They are known deep in the underground as well as pop culture circles. To my interest, there are about 70 punk bands I can name almost offhand that have clear, traceable meat hooks into the corpse of The Misfits. I have about another 20-30 listed as possible accessories. Ultimately, this vein is called Horrorpunk, and rarely do you encounter a type of music so clearly defined, so clearly that “it started right here, with this band.” And I’ll argue why…

Glenn Danzig is known for his voice primarily. His dark ethos is recognizable, but it’s the “black” Elvis that sells in my opinion. The Elvis/Danzig line is an easy trace but way too broad. It’s too much of a jump from “Hound Dog” into something like “Mommy Can I Go Out And Kill Tonight?” However, Horrorpunk points to The Misfits as a clear line in the sand, and that’s why The Misfits are one of the rare anomalies that happen in music, a band where you can sense “tradition” in the obvious way, but then one with an emergent whole that is distinctive than what surrounds. Everyone will argue that no music is original, that no artist is without the shackles of influence. Then who are the tide-turners? There is no doubt they exist. For me, I agree with an old wise man that “tradition” for the artist doesn’t mean blind adherence and timidity to those before, but it as laborious task for the artist, one that requires a full emersion and encompassing of the old, and then a break into the new. The simple recording evolution from The Misfits first single vinyl to the next exemplifies this strange “missing link” phenomenon—where you can clearly see the past & present but with sense of disjointedness.

The first Misfit release was “Cough/Cool” in 1977, several months after Jerry Only started playing bass. I won’t go into the chicken/egg argument of whether Only or Danzig were the band founder. Simple truth was Glenn had a vision, Jerry had a sound. Strangely, the Misfits are often recognized by “sound,” and mainly by the punishing riffs of Doyle. “Cough/Cool” (and the flip side “She”) were guitar-less. Cough/Cool is a reverbed “warm” tone, mainly through Glenn’s keyboard buzzed through those primitive 70s waves of distortion. Only provides the deeper, spitty line. Glenn’s voice is the main “striking” feature of the release. Although it was my birthyear, an easy connection between him and the late Elvis is there. It also had the catchy, cool tone of Continental Crawler, and arguable contemporary. The lyrics were strikingly hardlined: “She walked out with empty arms, machine gun in her hand. She is good and she is bad; no one understands.” But overall, these lyrics, are nothing outside anything the Doors had done, and especially some of the British anarcho-punk that was starting to boil. Then in 78,’ the Bullet release came (I’m aware of the recording discrepancies here, but Bullet seems to be the clear successor. Email me if I’m wrong). Bullet comes with guitars and an intensity that was simply bushwhacking. The Elvis style of Danzig had simply died and went to Hell, only then to return. (I find it always a striking coincidence that Elvis died in late 77’ and then Bullet ripped out in 78’). Today it seems a Horrorpunk revival is spreading insanely across Europe (chiefly Sweden & Germany). Midwest America is also putting out ear-catching Horrorpunk. With the voracious leap between 1977 “Cough/Cool” & 1978 “Bullet,” the Misfits burned the simultaneous coherence with the past, (killed it really,) and then the dead, no holes-barred corpse rose that even the best new Horrorpunk bands have a hard time out-running. It’s campy, kitschy, and I’m starting to think it’s timeless, albeit 30 years of history is sadly early. The myth of The Misfits’ early sound is that they faced the guitar & bass amps together and cut the speakers to get more fuzz and distortion from the speakers. It’s a believable image, and worthwhile, considering the act—somebody taking a hard knife to the bored sound of Rock-n-Roll…