amphetamine reptile records Archives - Vinyl From The Vault

Cosmic Psychos “Blokes You Can Trust”

sfilzen — Thu, 12 Oct 2023 18:55:30 +0000

Cosmic Psychos “Blokes You Can Trust” 1991. Amphetamine Reptile Records. We got the chance to see these veteran Australian punks last night at the Rave in Milwaukee; they are touring with fellow (much younger) Aussies The Chats. What a show! Hilarious, energetic, totally rocking.

Blokes You Can Trust was their third release; it’s got some super-heavy production in the line of its contemporary grunge releases; it was recorded and mixed at Smart Studios in Madison, WI and Butch Vig is one of the producers so that sound makes total sense. (Also: another amazing recording done in Madison while I was living there and had absolutely no clue that was happening practically down the street!) My top tracks are “Loser,” a sort of classic punk theme and sound, the super-speed angry punk’d “Nightshift” that also has a ton of dark heavy metal elements, “Hooray Fuck” is a hilarious grungy punk anthem and another punk-meets-metal rager “Never Grow Old.” I’d say that this album sounds like a dead-ringer for Mudhoney but Cosmic Psychos, who first got together in ’85 but were playing in punk bands since the early 80’s, predates that whole grungy scene.

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Boss Hog “Action Box”

sfilzen — Tue, 25 May 2021 17:59:16 +0000

Boss Hog “Action Box” released 30-ish years ago (mid-1991). Double 7″ EP on Amphetamine Reptile Records. Punk blues Boss Hog is Jon Spencer Blues Explosion’s Jon Spencer (guitar, vocals) and Cristina Martinez (vocals) along with Jens Jurgensen (bass), Charlie Ondras (drums) and Kurt Wolf (guitar) on this recording. Guest starring on “Black Throat” is Bob Bert (Sonic Youth, Jon Spencer & the Hit Makers), Jim Thirlwell (Foetus) and DJ Cream O’Wheat. It’s such a wild track, originally the theme from a movie made by the Dark Brothers. Also on the EP is “Big Fish,” “Bunny Fly” and “Not Guilty.” The story on the name of the EP is awesome – this from the most excellent Pop-Catastrophe website: Charlie Ondras: “Ever since Cristina, Jon and I met Billy Idol at Jones Beach a couple of years ago, the phrase, ‘More, more, more’ really got into my mind.” Cristina: “We got to go to a Billy Idol photo shoot,” she continues, “and he kept going into the bathroom with his assistant. I wasn’t really paying attention, got bored after he started grabbing his crotch, and left. But I heard the next day that he’s infamous for going to do coke in the bathroom. And then we heard this story…” Jon: “…that he was in the toilet stall getting a blow job and he was yelling, ‘More, more, more!‘” Jon concludes with a flourish.” Charlie: “So after that I started referring to Billy Idol as ‘the action man,’” smirks Charlie. “And ‘action’ was one of the many catch phrases I popularized amongst me and my friends. We were on this tour in Germany, and on the first rest stop we were in, they had these condom machines, and there was this condom package which they sell, two pretty bad condoms, actually……and this mysterious creme in a tube,” Charlie continues enthusiastically, “packaged inside this box with this firework display and wild type on it and it was called the ‘Action Box.’” Cristina: “We tried to duplicate the cover,” explains Cristina, “and we were initially going to put in two condoms and a little tube of lubricant – stay hard creme – but it was way too expensive. It didn’t work. We wimped out.”

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Boss Hog “Cold Hands”

sfilzen — Mon, 16 Nov 2020 21:00:41 +0000

Boss Hog “Cold Hands” released 30 years ago today, November 16th, 1990. Amphetamine Reptile Records. Produced by Steve Albini. Punk blues/noise rock, Cold Hands is Boss Hog’s was the band’s first full length release (their EP Drinkin’, Lechin’ & Lyin’ came out in ‘89, also produced by Albini) with their original line-up: über-cool couple Jon Spencer and Cristina Martinez, along with noise rock notables – Kurt Wolf (guitar, also in Spencer’s band Pussy Galore), Charlie Ondras (drums, also in noise rockers Unsane; he died in ‘92) and Jerry Teel (guitar, also in Honeymoon Killers), and joined by new addition Pete Shore (bass, guitar). It’s loud, crazy, noisy, crazed and awesome. My top tracks are the opener “Gerard,” the malevolent “Eddy,” the industrial-noise “Red Bull,” the growling slink of “Go Wrong” and “Pop Catastrophe.” “Pop Catastrophe” is particularly great because its title spawned the name for Jon Spencer Blues Explosion’s archivist’s webpage: http://www.pop-catastrophe.co.uk.

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SubPop Singles Club “Smells Like Smoked Sausages”

sfilzen — Tue, 12 Apr 2016 21:45:48 +0000

SubPop Singles Club “Smells Like Smoked Sausages” 1992, double 7″ on pink vinyl: Tar “Deep Throw,” Cows “My Girl,” Helmet “Oven,” Surgery “Our Demise,” Boss Hog “Fire of Love,” God Bullies “Bullet,” Vertigo “Dynamite Cigar” and Helios Creed “Hideous Greed.” All the bands were “on loan” from Amphetamine Reptile Records.

Noisy, garagey early 90′s post-punk and hopelessly mislabelled, on the back cover and on the record label too. You really need to know the songs/bands or cross-reference to figure out what track is actually being played. Three of my favorites: the Cows “My Girl” is a heavy cover of the traditional folk lament “In the Pines” aka “Where Did You Sleep Last Night” (first made commercially popular by Bill Monroe, then Lead Belly and even more so by Nirvana with their performance in ‘94 on MTV Unplugged). As I love all things Jon Spencer, I especially enjoy Boss Hog’s “Fire of Love,” a cover of Jody Reynolds’ 1958 spooky rockabilly single that peaked at #66 (and was also later covered by MC5 and the Gun Club). Pulling away from the dirge-beat of those two tracks is Surgery’s almost danceable, hip-shaking mosh-pit ready song (with standard 90′s grunge guitar solos) “Our Demise.”

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