lee ving Archives - Vinyl From The Vault

Fear “Nice Boys (Don’t Play Rock n’Roll)”

sfilzen — Mon, 03 Jun 2024 18:07:11 +0000

Fear “Nice Boys (Don’t Play Rock n’Roll)” 2023. Fear Records/Atom Age Industries. Limited edition (tour only) blue vinyl. I’ve been sitting on this 7″ EP since last year when my friend Chuck picked it up for me at Punk Rock Bowling in ’23 in hopes that I’d get to see Fear. Those hopes came true last weekend when we caught Fear at a ridiculously late Club Show at PRB ’24 (like 1:00 am late). Last time we saw Lee Ving/Fear was sometime in the mid-90’s at the Rave, so around 30 years ago. He’s aged (as have we) – I know his health isn’t great but his voice is still powerful, his attitude just as “fuck you” as it’s always been, and he started literally every song with “1234, 1234!” which made me stupidly happy. We’re pretty sure only his drummer was part of the lineup we saw 30 years ago, the rest of the guys in his band were probably in diapers, if even born.

Fear at Punk Rock Bowling ’24

The 2023 3-song EP features that same drummer, Spit Stix, as well as a couple of heavy hitters: Slash on slide guitar and Duff McKagan on bass (those two were most definitely not at the PRB club show) on side A’s hard-rocking, metal-inspired “Nice Boys (Don’t Play Rock n’Roll).” It’s a cover of Australian metal band Rose Tattoo’s original from 1978 (Rose Tattoo was a huge influence on Guns N’ Roses and they also covered “Nice Boys” in ’86 on a live album). Side B has the menacing “I am an Engineer” and the short, whip-speed punk’d out “She’s a Leech.” Because this is Fear, the lyrics to all three songs are not….deep. At all (if you can remember the name of the titles you’re 90% there for remembering all of the song lyrics for each track). But it’s a fun little EP and I’m thrilled we got to see Lee Ving again as there’s no way we’ll be seeing him again in another 30.

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Fear “*uck Christmas”

sfilzen — Thu, 21 Dec 2017 20:00:19 +0000

Fear “*uck Christmas” b/w “(Bleep) Christmas” 1982. Slash Records. Yesterday’s holiday vinyl spin was the coolest from the Vault collection (Jon Spencer), today’s is the shortest (and most provocative). “Fuck Christmas” clocks in at 44 seconds, the B-side is the same, just with lots of harsh electronic BEEPS instead of fucks. Fear recorded the track during the session for their first album The Record and it was added years later as a bonus track to the CD reissue. Phil Cramer, Fear’s lead guitarist at the time, wrote the song and Lee Ving stamps his berating drill-sergeantish and often offensive vocals onto the holiday classic.

Don’t despair,
just because it’s Christmas.
Children, they’re
all so gay at Christmas.

All the children on the street
hope they get something good to eat.

But for me it’s not so great.

Fuck Christmas! [x10]

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Fear “The Record”

sfilzen — Thu, 12 Mar 2015 15:09:06 +0000

Fear “The Record” 1982, Slash Records. Classic American hardcore punk perfection. “Let’s Have a War” is one of the best punk singles, ever. “I Don’t Care About You” is a close second, and perfectly sums up the punk ethos with the lyrics “I don’t care about you – fuck you!” Most of the songs are offensive (”New York’s Alright if You Like Saxophones”), actually, but that is kind of the schtick and the point.

We saw Fear play a show sometime in the mid-90′s at the Rave in Milwaukee and Lee Ving and the crew were just as swaggering and in-your-face as on this record. And seeing aging punks mosh is always a hilarious treat.

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