45rpm Archives - Vinyl From The Vault

Honeymoon Killers “Live”

sfilzen — Wed, 04 May 2022 17:56:25 +0000

Honeymoon Killers “Live” 1991. Munster Records. Three live noise rock tracks (one from O’Cayz Corral in Madison!) featuring all three of the members of the soon-to-be Jon Spencer Blues Explosion: Jon Spencer, Judah Bauer and Russell Simins. Also listed are founders Jerry Teel and Lisa Wells are on guitar/vocals and bass/vocals, of course, as is Marce on guitar. (I believe Marce is Marcellus Hall, also from Railroad Jerk.) I’m pretty sure not all of those credited played on all of the tracks but maybe? Side A is “Who’s Driving Your Plane,” a Rolling Stones cover, that was recorded at CBGB’s in NYC. It’s fucked up blues, with squealing harmonica and trashy guitars and vocals. Side B has “Training Wheels,” which is the track from O’Cayz. I was living in Madison in ’91 but I definitely did not go to this show. From the sound of the audience at the end of the song, I don’t think many other people did either. “Training Wheels” is distorted heavy punk blues and sounds the most like the future JSBX of the three songs so I’m guessing Spencer, Judah and Russell may be playing. The last track, “Madwoman Blues,” from The Old Miami in Detroit, sounds exactly like its title: totally insane noise rock with Lisa Wells likely on vocals. The recording quality is shitty but with noise rock, it really doesn’t matter. I’m so happy to have found this limited edition gem.

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Spitboy “The Threat/Sexism Impressed”

sfilzen — Wed, 27 Apr 2022 17:27:43 +0000

Spitboy “The Threat/Sexism Impressed” b/w “Ultimate Violations” 1991. Lookout! Records. Today, the last Wednesday in April, is “Denim Day,” which began in the late 90’s after a convicted rapist’s sentenced was overturned when the Italian court agreed with the insane argument that the victim was wearing tight jeans so the sexual encounter had to be consensual. The wearing of denim on this day is now an international protest against sexual violence. Anarcho-hardcore punks Spitboy was an all-women band in the early-to-mid 90’s; this 7″ was their first release and the three tracks are 100% anti-rape, anti-violence against women.

The A-side has the super-angry, super-catchy “The Threat” with the lyrics “Do you know what it is like to walk down the street at night. Do you know what it is like to feel the threat…It’s finally time to stop all the violence Time for us to take back the night.” (The first “Take Back the Night” marches started back in the early 70’s. I’m not sure how active they are today but they were a pretty big deal in the early 90’s and I went to a couple of them while in college.) Also on Side A is “Sexism Impressed,” a dark, mid-tempo growler calls out compliance to the patriarchy: “We sit idle and submissively accept. By not confronting we aquiesce to the situation. The way you facilitate the promotion of bullshit. The way you unquestioningly proceed with the image.” On Side B (or the “Nipple Side”) is “Ultimate Violations” a hardcore rager which begins with recorded man/woman on the street quotes “We have to support women who are raped. We have to empower them to stand up and fight,” “No means no,” “Rape is rape. Rape means if the girl doesn’t want to have sex, the bottom line is it’s rape,” and then Spitboy launches into a heart-ripping description of sexual violation aftermath. It’s a tough 45 to listen to but the message is clear, and important.

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David Bowie & Morrissey “Cosmic Dancer”

sfilzen — Tue, 02 Mar 2021 21:33:54 +0000

David Bowie & Morrissey “Cosmic Dancer” 2021/1991. Parlophone Records. 7″ single, originally recorded on February 6th, 1991 in concert at the Inglewood Forum in Los Angeles. This track was available only as a bootleg up until last year when Morrissey officially released it as a digital download; the 45 rpm single just released last week on vinyl. “Cosmic Dancer” is, of course, a cover of the fabulous T. Rex song written by Marc Bolan. I love that the acoustic guitar in the performance sounds almost exactly like the intro to “Space Oddity.” Side B is Morrissey only covering The Jam’s “That’s Entertainment” re-recorded in 2020; he originally recorded “That’s Entertainment” in 1991 as the b-side to “Sing Your Life” (also on Kill Uncle). The ‘91 version of “That’s Entertainment” features Carl Smyth from Madness.

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The Clash “London Calling”

sfilzen — Fri, 05 Feb 2021 19:44:40 +0000

The Clash “London Calling” 1979. It’s February 5th and International Clash Day! “London Calling” was the title track and lead single from The Clash’s third LP; one of the best anthems of the era, the single went to #11 in the UK and #30 in the US. A urgently stomping anti-nuclear weapon/energy, anti-police brutality, anti-corporate capitalism and pro-environmental awareness song, its themes still, unfortunately, are more than relevant 42 years later. And the band’s ethos, as espoused by Joe Strummer, is something he’d still likely be fighting for as well: “We’re anti-fascist, we’re anti-violence, we’re anti-racist, and we’re pro-creative. We’re against ignorance.” Oof, he’d have his work cut out for himself, for sure.

The B-side to “London Calling” is a cover of the 1978 song by Willie Williams “Armagdieon Time,” a reggae tune that also appears on The Clash’s Black Market Clash (1980), a collection of “b-sides and rarities”).

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JD McPherson “Holly, Carol, Candy & Joy”

sfilzen — Thu, 24 Dec 2020 14:26:05 +0000

JD McPherson “Holly, Carol, Candy & Joy” 2019. New West Records on “Snow Globe” limited edition 7″ vinyl. A delightful modern rockabilly Christmas tune that bounces with vintage Beatlesque pop rhythm and melody that takes traditional Christmas imagery and translates it to name a list of lovely ladies. “Holly, Carol, Candy & Joy” appears on McPherson’s full-length Christmas album Socks. The b-side is another neo-rockabilly original Christmas tune, “Red Bows (For a Blue Girl),” which is more rockin’ rhythm-and-blues, complete with horns and a Bo Diddley beat. Both tracks are boppingly upbeat and catchy, perfect for the joy and anticipation of Christmas.

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Death Valley Girls “Breakthrough”

sfilzen — Tue, 23 Jun 2020 19:49:21 +0000

Death Valley Girls “Breakthrough” b/w “Rock ‘N’ Roll/EGA” 2020. Suicide Squeeze Records, limited edition black and purple split vinyl. The latest release from the “California doom boogie” garage rock band who blew us away last summer when we saw them at Romanus Fest in Indianapolis. Death Valley Girls are a group of hard-rocking women (and one dude) with punk/grudge cred (founder/drummer Patty Schemel was in Hole; the dude is her brother Larry on guitar) that play with 60′s pop, proto-punk, metal and gothy horror vibes to make some killer music (their 2018 LP Darkness Rains was one of my favorite albums of the year). “Breakthrough” is a funky track with a 70′s hard rock vibe; it is a cover of Atomic Rooster (1971), though the band discovered the track through a rendition by Nigerian outfit The Funkees (info via Suicide Squeeze). “Rock ‘N’ Roll/EGA” is another cover (by Daniel Johnston, 1994, who Death Valley Girls briefly backed) that brings the grungy loud-quiet-loud structure to a whole other level: 60′s harmony stark n’ sweet punctuated by crashing guitar and drum metal density.

Here’s a photo from the show we saw at Square Cat Vinyl in August ‘19: vocalist/organist Bonnie Bloomgarden, bassist Rachel Orosco and drummer Patty Schemel.

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Amyl and the Sniffers “Live at the Croxton”

sfilzen — Wed, 20 May 2020 19:05:42 +0000

Amyl and the Sniffers “Live at the Croxton” 2020. ATO Records. 3-song 7″ recorded at The Croxton Bandroom in Melbourne, Australia on August 30th, 2019 by one of the most exciting new punk bands around. We saw Amyl and the Sniffers perform these three tracks from their 2019 s/t LP – “Control,” “Gacked on Anger,” and “Shake Ya” – a month earlier in late July 2019 at the Cactus Club in Milwaukee. I still can’t believe they played such a small club in our neighborhood (they are TOTAL rock stars; I think their glorious mullets might even have their own fan pages) – I have no idea what the capacity of Melbourne’s Croxton is but I’m guessing it’s a few hundred more at minimum than the Cactus Club’s and there certainly were zero beefy security guys up front, just my tiny friend Claire and her buddies using their bodies as shields from the whirling pit of bodies moshing and stage diving behind and over them. The Sniffers’ live shows are out of control – I haven’t experienced energy like that at a punk show since the 80′s – and I can’t wait to see them again. They were supposed to play earlier this month but of course, like everything, it was cancelled. We’ve got tickets to see them in Chicago in October (I think) and I’m hoping hoping hoping this show happens.

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Big Black “The Model”

sfilzen — Thu, 07 May 2020 16:28:33 +0000

Big Black “The Model” 1987. I’m spinning this cover of Kraftwerk’s “Das Model” (from their 1978 LP Die Mensch-Maschine) in honor of Kraftwerk co-founder Florian Schneider, who died April 30th (that news released yesterday). “Das Model” is an infectiously boppy synthpop track that hit #1 in the UK and #7 in Germany (in ‘82) and went to #39 on the US dance charts (in ‘78). Big Black’s version of “The Model” is just as infectious but super-harsh, noisy industrial and awesome. It appeared on Big Black’s 1987 album Songs About Fucking. The flip side of this double A-side 7″ appeared on Songs About Fucking as a bonus track: a cover of Cheap Trick’s “He’s a Whore” from their 1977 debut Cheap Trick, a punky aggressive song (for Cheap Trick, anyway). Big Black’s version of “He’s a Whore” is of course way more aggressive and I like it a lot more than the original, especially the dark and growling vocals.

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James Leg “All But Gone/Tell Me More”

sfilzen — Fri, 01 May 2020 21:51:20 +0000

James Leg “All But Gone/Tell Me More” 2020. Romanus Records, super-limited edition 7″ single (45 copies), sand and gold-flake filled variant. James Leg aka Rev. James Leg (b. John Wesley Meyers) is AMAZING. Heaviest of heavy blues piano/organ and a voice that growls so low it rattles your bones (in the best way). Leg was the lead singer/keyboardist for the Black Diamond Heavies and back in the earlier 2000′s part of the punk-blues band The Immortal Lee County Killers before they disbanded in 2007. He’s also a complete and mesmerizing beast live: we saw him perform a couple of years ago in Indianapolis at Romanus Fest (and got a chance to talk with him at that intimate setting: a record shop!) and more recently online for a couple of his quarantine Facebook Live sets. “All But Gone” and “Tell Me More” are both dark and super-heavy, lo-fi and I guess what I would describe as psychedelic punk blues. Completely original.

James Leg performing at Square Cat Vinyl, August 2018, Romanus Records Fest.

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Pearl Jam “Who Killed Rudolph?”

sfilzen — Mon, 23 Dec 2019 18:07:41 +0000

Pearl Jam “Who Killed Rudolph?” 1992. It’s Festivus and also Eddie Vedder’s 55th birthday (b. Edward Louis Severson III, 1964) so I’m spinning Pearl Jam’s limited edition promo ‘Christmas’ single – but it’s not really a holiday song at all. Rather, Side A is a fairly faithful cover, Vedder’d up, of Dead Boys’ “Sonic Reducer” (from the 1977 LP Young, Loud and Snotty though originally written during the Rocket From the Tombs days). Side B is “Ramblings Continued” (the first “Ramblings” from which these are “continued” appears as the flip side to their 1991 limited edition promo single “Let Me Sleep,” also a Christmas release), about 4 minutes of sound clips that include stuff from TV and movies snippets of Christmas carols, and badly recorded conversations.

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