Playa Hated to the Fullest is the band’s second (and final) LP and their first (and only) album release on a “big name” label (their 2001 EP Personal Space Invader was also on Estrus). I love this record so much and while my memories of the early 2000’s are super-hazy, I recall their shows being absolutely wild (the guys have all calmed down a lot since). The record is buzzy and dense, loud as fuck and FUN. My top track is the ass-shaking “Juan Burguesa.” Also excellent are the album opener “The Other Man” plus the angular, JSBX-esque songs “Stranded” and “Dude Squad.” The songs are all original except for two covers: the creepy “She’s My Witch” originally by Kip Tyler (1958) that features Deanne Iovan on vocals and Jim Diamond on sax (Diamond also recorded the album at his Detroit Ghetto Recorders studio) and “Good Thing” by Pearl Dowdell (1970). Also notable is the record’s closer “Ol’ Sugarfoot” which caps off the LP with a wall of crashing noise from the “guitar army” courtesy of The Dirtbombs: Diamond, Ben Blackwell and Tom Potter, plus Baseball Furies’ “Styles” (Aaron Orlowski). You can listen to the entire record here.

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A sad/hilarious tale from the now-defunct The Mistreaters (I wrote about their first release Grab Them Cakes back in January 2015)

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The Mistreaters “Grab Them Cakes” 2000. Big Neck Records.The first release from local Milwaukee power-grunge-punk-rock band. Very local: the guys still live in my neighborhood (hi Kevin and David!). Sooooo good and absolutely blistering live performances: we saw them play often at the Cactus Club – sadly I missed the show when the Mistreaters appeared with the White Stripes.

I interviewed the band for The Shepherd Express in 2000 when they told me the story behind recording this album. In order to capture the raw intensity of their live performances, they recorded “Grab Them Cakes” during a couple of afternoons in a friend’s living room (with the help of several cases of beer.)

The Mistreaters went on to release “Playa Hated to the Fullest” in 2003 on Estrus Records and a self-titled album in 2012 on Dusty Medical Records (guitarist Kevin Meyer’s label) after playing their last show at the Cactus Club in December 2011.

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