90's punk Archives - Vinyl From The Vault

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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Thorazine “Vicious Cycle”

sfilzen — Wed, 29 Dec 2021 19:25:37 +0000

Thorazine “Vicious Cycle” 1998. Hell Yeah Records. Wicked-fast punk out of Philadelphia (they got sued by pharma-giant Smith-Kline-Beecham for their band’s name). Vicious Cycle is Thorazine’s second (of two) albums – they were pretty active in the 90’s, disbanded for a bit in 2003 and reunited in 2014 for a couple of singles and, according to their Bandcamp page, planned a new album in 2017 but I’m pretty sure that didn’t happen. I believe we saw them in ’98 at the Cactus Club while they were on tour for Vicious Cycle and I absolutely loved them – we picked up this record as well as their first, Crazy Uncle Paul’s Dead Squirrel Wedding (1996), at the show. It’s probably been since the late 90’s that I’ve listened to Vicious Cycle and…it’s still great!!! Frontwoman Jo-Ann Rogan is an absolute powerhouse punk singer with the perfect balance of a crystal clear voice and a wicked scream (I remember having a tiny girl-crush on her and chatting a bit after that Cactus Club show – she was lovely!). The rest of the band is super-tight with great thrash and melodies. So so many great songs on this LP but my top picks are the opener “I’m Happy,” the brutal and growling “Dirty Nasty Sex,” the thrash-punk that goes abruptly mellowish-melodic “Jacob” and the excellent “Don’t Need None of Your Shit.” Even the hilarious 60’s girl-group/Sha-na-na inspired “Food” (“fooo-oo-ood, I want my food”) is fantastic. The only track I don’t care for is “Better Than Here” which is not sung by Rogan; it’s a pretty bland 90’s punklette that lacks the punch that characterizes the rest of the LP. There’s not much out there on the web about Thorazine, but I did find this low quality video of a show from ’97:

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The Murder City Devils “Three Natural Sixes”

sfilzen — Mon, 16 Jul 2018 18:01:46 +0000

The Murder City Devils “Three Natural Sixes” 1997. Hopscotch Records, red vinyl (and most definitely NOT at 45 rpm even though the label clearly – and largely – proclaims that speed…I got some seriously startling chipmunk action for a few seconds when I threw it on the turntable). Four tracks from one of the best garage punk bands to emerge in the 1990′s (and one of the best shows ever: July ‘99 at O’Cayz in Madison when it was about 100 degrees outside and about 130 inside the over-capacity bar). Side A’s two tracks appear on Murder City Devil’s self-titled debut LP (also from ‘97): “Murder City Riot” and the Iggy Pop tribute “Broken Glass.” The B-side has “Officer”** and “Halfman” – the former fast, loud and angry garage punk and the latter a slowed-down grungy growler.

Run Out Grooves:

Side A “RAiSE ThE ROCK n’ Roll JOLLY ROGER”

Side B “Rock n’ Roll = Self Destruction”

**The link to “Officer” is to the recording by The Hookers, a band that MCD’s Derek Fudesco (bass) was in prior to MCD’s formation.

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The Slobs “Down the Tubes”

sfilzen — Thu, 14 Jun 2018 21:26:12 +0000

The Slobs “Down the Tubes” 1996. Centsless Productions. Snotty 90′s punk rock via Cincinnati and a pull from our “should it stay or should it go?” pile. It’s fitting I grabbed this today because tomorrow we are heading up to middle-of-nowhere Horicon, WI for Jersey St. Music Fest to see two Cincinnati bands who are most definitely NOT snotty 90′s punk rock: Suck the Honey and Lemon Sky. Anyway, Down the Tubes is the only full-length from The Slobs (there is a somewhat mysterious non-label cassette and a couple of singles and EP’s). The band members did the cliched Ramones thing by taking their surnames from the band’s name: i.e. Pat Slob on guitar, John Slob on vocals, Chip Slob on drums and Andy Slob on bass, Andy also ran Centsless Productions who put out a few releases in the 90′s and some a bit more recently, the only notable one a Candy Snatchers 7″ from 1997. The music on Down the Tubes is pretty standard punk stuff, fast-n-loud, sneering, adolescent. The track “Goin’ Downtown” is about going downtown, seeing cops, etc., “Public Nuisance” about being an outcast, “Six Pack” is about beer (duh), “Tired of Fuckin’ You” is pretty self-explanatory…you get the idea. Not particularly clever, even when they are trying to be. On the album insert they have this “This is the spot where most bands put a thanks list. Since we are normally out of our minds and our memories regularly fail us, we have decided to not waste our barely precious time by laboring at such a mindless task. If you are one those [sic] people that get some kind of queer satisfaction out of appearing in such a list, you’re shit out of luck!” So poor copy editing as well as rude! This album is going to go.

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The Candy Snatchers “Bum Me Out”

sfilzen — Wed, 30 May 2018 00:38:36 +0000

The Candy Snatchers “Bum Me Out” b/w “Lost and Found” 1996. American Punk Records. 90′s high-energy punk, catchy as hell. Weirdly the A-side, “Bum Me Out” isn’t available to link but “Lost and Found” is, via a comp of The Candy Snatchers early years (they formed in ‘92) aptly titled Pissed Off, Ripped Off, Screwed: The First Two Years from 1997 on Go-Kart Records. Back in the day, their shows were legendary: “the band’s tried-and-true array of destructive gimmicks kept the bookers guessing. Depending on mood, singer Larry May or axer Matt Odietus would sometimes cut their own scalp, ‘70s pro-wrestler style up by the hairline or wherever the blood would flow most effusively. Once, at CBGB, Matt bled out so much he almost fainted, and eventually had to be carted off to the ER with a t-shirt turban wrapped around his noggin. Larry would smash glass bottles at random. Willy used lighter fluid to set his bass on fire, with the aid of excited audience members would often get outta hand with the flammables and torch Willy himself. Drums were routinely collided with and obliterated.“ Founder/guitarist Matt Odietus died in 2008 and drummer Barry Johnson died in 2000 but the band is still playing shows, from what I can mostly around their hometown of Virginia Beach, VA.

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The Weaklings “Just The Way We Like It”

sfilzen — Wed, 02 May 2018 20:38:16 +0000

The Weaklings “Just The Way We Like It” 1999. Junk Records. Another pull from the should it stay or should it go? pile. The Weaklings are 1990′s irreverent garage punk and I’ve been trying to put my finger on who else they sound like and then I looked at the Junk Records mailorder insert and realized that they sound pretty much like all of the other 90′s garage punks on the label (Electric Frankenstein, The La Donnas, The Candy Snatchers and Zeke).

Loud, rude and raunchy at pogo speeds, The Weaklings’ sound is one that I like (hence the familiarity with other 90′s garage punks) but that sound gets redundant during the course of a full album spin. Each song starts with almost the exact same blistering guitar riff followed by the drummer setting a blazing-speed beat (for comparison listen to “All the Way, Evernight All Day,” “It’s So Criminal” and “Could’ve Told Ya”). My verdict: if these guys were to open up for Electric Frankenstein or similar, I’d get there early enough to check them out but probably wouldn’t throw down my cash for a headline show (I think the band ceased in the early 2000′s; their last release was in 2004). I think this record might need to go.

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