Ruin - Fiat Lux (Meta Meta Records) 1986. Probably the most ongoing request that I have seen over the years with Last Days is Fiat Lux by the Philly band Ruin. I wrote about them back in 2007. Few bands have inspired such rabid devotion amongst a fan-base as Ruin. Part of this is due to the fact that they were criminally overlooked. I mean, just a hundred miles over people were shitting themselves for a little Revolution Summer but Ruin who were doing the same damn thing at the same damn time, couldn’t get much love. They are not even on the Flex discography fer chrissakes (which by the way, looks super-good after the new makeover). Another reason why Ruin fans are super-fanatical is because Ruin were from Philly and Philly itself got no love. No local label like Dischord. No real national reputation despite its size and location and what was really annoying about this was that Philly had some amazing hardcore bands like YDI, FOD, McRad and Ruin. So you got this criminally under-rated band in this under-rated town. Finally, the third reason why Ruin fans are so rabid is because the band flat-out rocked. Their shows were transcendent experiences, they pushed the boundaries to the point where they were incorporating psychedelia, hard rock and raga while still maintaining the energy of the best hardcore punk. Fiat Lux was their masterpiece, the apex of what they were trying to do. Check it out in its entirety.
Raymilland - Recordings 79-81′ (BDR Records) 2010. Another amazing reissue, this one from my hometown. If you have never heard of Raymilland, that’s probably not too surprising. They were a short-lived Saint Louis post-punk act that existed roughly in the time period defined by the title of this release. Certain to be considered a footnote by globally renowned post-punk historians, Raymilland were remarkably prolific for Saint Louis standards. Case in point, they opened for Magazine and Ultravox locally and Adrian Belew, Chelsea and Tuxedomoon in Chicago. They were also slated to open for Joy Division on their first American tour but we all know how that turned out. They released a 7inch in 1980 and they were also on one of those super-cool Sub Pop cassettes that were released when Bruce Pavitt was still in Illinois. Like I said, remarkably prolific.
Ray Milland: Greg Black, Rick Buscher, Bob Trammel, David Sundberg
They were also ridiculously obscure. I know that sounds contradictory and I guess it is, but to really understand this paradox is to understand the weirdness that is St Louis. See, I grew up with the punk scene in St Louis. I got into it around 82-83 and by that point it was largely centered around local hardcore bands like Blind Idiot God, Drunks With Guns and White Suburban Youth/Ultraman. There were also some pretty mainstream sounding new wave acts like Be-Vision, The Langrehr Band and The Studebakers that I remember. I remember there being shows at Billy Goat Hill that I could not get into. I remember going to New Values a couple of times. I remember Vintage Vinyl when it was a little hole in the wall. I remember the Varsity Theater and the Rocky Horror Picture Show. I remember buying Jet Lag. You would think that I would have at least one memory of Raymilland.
I mentioned in my post about the Boston based band Christmas, that Boston suffers from collective amnesia largely due to a constantly new population of students. But St Louis’ population is relatively sedentary. So how could a band that almost opened for Joy Division have been so quickly forgotten here? Part of it rests on the fact that Raymilland only played eight shows, which I realize is insane when you consider who they played with and where they played. My old band played about 30 shows in the early 90s and we couldn’t even open for Pale frickin’ Divine. But the lack of live performances is only one contributor to Raymilland’s obscurity. I think to understand the rest of it is to understand the town itself. Books could be written on this, my friends. But not here and not now because this is a gaddurned’ record review not a cultural analysis.
“Talk” from the sole Raymilland release
While the music on Recordings 79-81′ is definitely post-punk, it is also pretty unique for its time. The songs from their Distant View / Talk 7inch are the most classically “post-punk” with screeching guitar and synth noise over a locked in bass/drum motorik groove. Rick Buscher sings immersed in echo and phase. Talk in particular is somewhat reminiscent of a band like Glaxo Babies or something. Very, very cool. A little more surprising are demo tracks like She’s Got Medals and Climate which expose an underlying glam influence on a band that at first pass seem very non-glam. In fact, when taken in this context, Buscher’s vocals are very similar to Brian Eno and you start to realize that Raymilland probably sounds post-punk because they were operating from the same set of influences as other post-punk bands not because they were trying to emulate anything in particular. The third component of the CD is the rehearsal material. Freed from standard song structure, Raymilland had a big jones for space-rock. This is most evident in David Sundberg’s guitar playing and Buscher’s synth noise. This is the weakest part of the CD from a musical perspective but from a historical perspective it sheds further light on the band.
To commemorate the release of this CD, Raymilland re-formed and played one show in St Louis. The label that released this (BDR) has plans to release a number of St Louis punk/wave/post-punk obscurities in the near future which is exciting. The opening act was a band called The Welders and they were a lot of fun. BDR has plans to release their sole 7inch later this year. After the Welders, Raymilland took the stage and proceeded to blow my fucking mind. Walking into the show I was expecting a nostalgic walk through Saint Louis’ punk rock past. Walking out, I was utterly convinced that Raymilland, if they were to start playing shows tomorrow regularly, would be a completely valid and vital art-rock band. There was no hint of nostalgia.
Reunion show (Stumble sighting 1:13-1:44)
When I listen to this great CD and the bridge hits on the track Overhead, I am instantly transported to hearing Raymilland play it live that night. I was standing right in front of the stage. It was a weird night. My head was all foggy from too many drinks and the huge wall of noise that was Raymilland just about knocked me over. I walked out of the club and looked over at the remains of the Lemp Brewery. It was freezing cold. I got in my car and drove home amazed that I was completely unaware of the existence of this band.
This CD and Raymilland in general is something that St Louisans’ should be very proud of . Everyone (St Louis or not), should buy a copy and enjoy a great example of prime Midwestern weirdness.
RayMilland - Recordings 79-81′
No Good Trying Climate She’s Got Medals
Lots / Losts Overhead
Talk
Distant View
Talk
High and Wide
Climate II
Unumbered
Tronada
Method Actors - This Is Still It (Acute Records) 2010. The folks at Acute Records have really outdone themselves this time. I think I say that every couple of years about Acute but this time I mean it. For realz. This Is Still It on Acute documents the first year of The Method Actors, a seminal drum and guitar duo from Athens, GA as they both laid the template down for all future drum/guitar combos and defined a sound that was completely unique. Driven by the twin propulsion engines of David Gamble on drums and Vic Varney on guitar and vocals, The Method Actors were a very compact and precise instrument designed solely for you, the listener, to have fun. It seems when listening to the band, that every single detail in every single song is in place just to propel the music forward. Varney’s guitar choogles through songs like Hi-Hi-Whoopie, E-Y-E or Do The Method like he is trying to fit every possible flourish he can come up with. He yelps and sputters vocals and Gamble just wont let him stop….the beat keeps going and going. Its pretty audacious stuff for its time and place. As Varney says in the liner notes, “It’s the Great Audacious Yawp of Youth”.
Speaking of the liner notes, the packaging on this (as with most Acute releases) is perfect. Lots of great photos of the duo who were as unique visibly as they were musically. I mean seriously, look at the photos of the band from their first 7inch, This Is It from 1980. David Gamble is the big guy. He must have just towered over those drums. In concert he probably looked like he was beating the shit out of them. Vic is the wiry, smaller guy in the “M” sweater. Have two band members ever visually represented how they sound better than this? I mean you look at them and you can already hear the music.
Accompanying the excellent photos is an intro by a guy named Peter Buck, who played in an even more obscure Athens-based band from the 80s (the name escapes me right now), and a great interview with Vic Varney from 2009. What did I learn from Vic? Well, I learned that Ricky Wilson of the B-52s is Vic’s all-time favorite guitar player. In an earlier review of Rythms of You, a jittery 10inch they released in 1981, I mentioned how similar at times Vic’s guitar playing is to Wilson’s. Listen to She by the Methods and then listen to Lava by the B-52s. You’ll hear the resemblance. This is important because, Vic’s strumming doesn’t resemble anyone else. Ricky Wilson is the only touchstone I have with The Method Actors and it’s relatively slight.
This Is Still It documents the early Method Actors recordings from 1980-81. It contains their first 2 7inches as well as the afformentioned Rythms of You EP in their entirety. These have been relatively obscure and difficult releases to find for some time. I mean, I never heard Do the Method before and now that I am listening to it, its probably one of my favorite songs by them. This Is Still It is not definitive by any means (large chunks of the Little Figures Double EP set from 1981 for instance, seem to be missing), but it is absolutely essential for anyone who likes to get crazy and have F-U-N.
For further evidence, check out a couple of songs.
UJ3RK5 - The Anglican, The Locator // Eisienhower and the Hippies, Booty Dread (Quintessence Records) 1980. A post-punk classic of dryly academic dadaism. UJ3RK5 (pronounced “You Jerks”) were a band of social misfits from Vancouver who released this wacky EP in 1980. Coming out of the ‘photoconceptualism’ or ‘post-conceptual photography’ art movement and launching the seminal career of Rodney Graham, UJ3RK5 recorded this EP and a couple other compilation tracks before calling it a day. The band was too tuneful and upbeat to really qualify as “no wave” but too fractured and ridiculous to simply be labelled “new wave”. So lets just consider them “Last Days Music” and be done with it. I’ve read that Eisienhower and the Hippies was their “hit” but that is kind of a ludicrous statement, no? Now what really strikes me as weird is if you juxtapose the cover of the UJ3RK5 EP with say, a photo of Arcade Fire or something, you may realize that trends come and go but Canadian Nerds making highly literate rock is constant. Luckily, in UJ3RK5 case, the tunes match the image.
Third edition of the Last Days of Man on Earth podcast. Still going strong. No signs of stopping. In fact, I think this may be the best one yet. And that’s not just hyperbole. That’s the real deal. One thing however. It may not be the best idea to record my narration after a night out socializing. That’s just my way of saying I am a tad bit schnockered on this here voiceover. I wouldn’t even disclose this, but there are a few big mistakes in my narration that I have neither the time nor inclination to fix. This podcast must make it to the presses. You gotta step away sometimes, y’know? So I will correct any of my errors here in the writeup. In other words, if you try to nail me on an error in the voiceover, you clearly didn’t read the instruction manual.
Edition Number Three starts off with the horror garage-punk sounds of the The Living Deadbeats out of Vancouver Canada with a great ode to paying bills entitled Rent. Fuck the man! The Backsliders, a great band outta Texas follow with Bitter Days a song that sounds a lot like another song but for the life of me I cannot place it. Has this ever happened to you? Every time I listen to it another song ends up on the tip of my tongue. Then I lose it. The whole Backsliders album is available free at their link. Don’t be a choad. Ch-Ch-Check it out. Speaking of checking shit out, look at this:
The Mean Jeans
Yes, that’s Oregon’s classic The Mean Jeans with a great high budget video. P-Diddy would be proud. Actually it reminds me a lot of the classic Meat Puppets video Get On Down which has been bizarrely removed from You Tube. Why the fuck would anybody do that? Who has anything to gain from a 25 year old Meat Puppets video shot on VHS? Well at least we got The Mean Jeans. And they were born on a Saturday night, at least that’s what they say in this podcast. The Mean Jeans are followed by a band called Prize Country who are really great but I just checked their myspace and their graphics are terrible! If I was a superficial person, their marketing materials would have scared me away. Luckily, Joe Stumble is all about substance. Still, you guys gotta nix the sub-screamo graphics. Fo realz.
this moment in black history
A band that does not fuck around with lame graphics is Build No System. Bad-ass hardcore from Cedar Falls, IA. This represents my first correction from my voiceover where I think I said Cedar Rapids. It’s hardcore. From Iowa. What else do you really need to know? On a totally different note, I followed Build No System with Canyons, a DJ combo from Australia doing their amazing song Dancing On Silk which sounds like some late 1970’s NYC no-wave goodness. When the sax came in I was hooked. After that, we have This Moment In Black History who are NOT from Detroit but instead Cleveland. My sincerest apologies.
Vancougar, Vancougar, Vancougar…what really can be said about them? Such a great band. I think they may also be from Vancouver. And what can be said about The Teeth? Four righteously cool dudes from Louisville, KY on the Noise Pollution label. The Generator is from their great new 7inch Clatter and Jive. Get you one. While you’re waiting for your Teeth record to arrive in the mail, maybe you could check out this great video by DDMMYYYY:
DDMMYYYY
Pretty great huh? The song on the podcast, entitled Simple Life is pretty great too. This is followed by the mysterious Squid In Squid Ink doing an instrumental synth number entitled Tiktaalik off of their cool online album Proun. I followed them with some additional analog synth goodness by way of DFA mainstay The Juan Maclean off of the amazing 2009 album The Future Will Come. This would have been a commercial release in 1982 I think. But now, it is relegated to the third edition of the Last Days of Man on Earth podcast, the deepest cul-de-sac of hipsterdom in the webosphere. Ah well….Who are The Family Curse and why do they scare the fuck out of me? Their album sounds like a trip to the emergency room on acid. What do you think?
The Family Curse
Who are The O-Voids and why the fuck are they so good? Go now and buy EVERYTHING this band has released. True minimalist punk. The Hibernauts on the other hand, are all sturm and drang. Know what I’m saying? Midwestern kids making the big pop noise in the void. The last album was really good but a tad bit too polished for my tastes. From what I can tell off of this new song, the new release may have a bit more grease on it. Now a sound with no grease on it would be The Hatcham Social Club who are eerily reminiscent of the mid-80’s alternative (wow, haven’t seen this word in a while) UK sound. Bands like The Smiths, The Shop Assistants, The Mighty Lemon Drops (mistakenly referred to in my narration as The Mighty Lemon Heads!). You get the picture. If you love the moody anglo sound as much as I do, fire up a clove cigarette and check out Crocodile:
Hatcham Social Club
The Sorely Trying Days are from Kokomo, Indiana. Yeah, like the Beach Boys song. I betcha if you mentioned the Beach Boys to them they would punch you in the face. Great tune and very similar to the Prize Country track from earlier. Except without the odious graphics. In a totally different vein, we have Pixeltan, a Brooklyn-based dance punk act with Scatter from their DFA release Yamarena-I. Do I need to even mention my undying love and appreciation for all things Child Bite? Didn’t think I did. But just in case you need a reminder, Child Bite are quite possibly my favorite current band. They are a completely current re-imagining of Pere Ubu midwestern skronk. With beards.
Who the fuck are Raw Nerve and how can we get more hardcore bands to sound like this? Total noise. Barely held together. Minute blasts of insanity. Their new 7inch is out and available at the link above. Cash For Your Stories are another band with a demo out right now and it is some amazing shit. Part post-hardcore, part UK punk, all pissed off….definitely one of the best UK bands I have heard in a long time. Would love to see a gig with them and Normal Man from Stumblemix #1. Speaking of normal men, Doug Maxson is anything but that. His latest band Hal Dolls is proof positive that he is one of Louisville’s greatest musical treasures. The most punk rock thing he’s done since The Dickbrains and that was 30 something years ago. What would mother say? I end the set with The Returnables, doing one of their classic melancholy midwestern numbers before their unplanned demise. A great band, from the same Dirtnap sampler that The Mean Jeans track is from.
And that’s it for this installment. Keep sending me your stuff. If I like it, I will put it on the next podcast.
The Living Deadbeats - Rent
The Backsliders - Bitter Days
Mean Jeans - Born On A Saturday Night
Prize No Country - Buy In
Build No System - Welcome To America
Canyons - Dancing On Silk
This Moment in Black History - Its Everything We Do
—————-
Vancougar - Naughty
The Teeth - The Generator
DDMMYYYY - Simple Life
Squid In Squid Ink - Tiktaalik
The Juan MaClean - A New Bot
The Family Curse - Laughing My Way
The O-Voids - Friction Strip
The Hibernauts - Intermurals (sic)
——————
The Hatcham Social - Crocodile
Sorely Trying Days - In Control
Pixeltan - Scatter
Child Bite - Gender Points
Raw Nerve - You Live
Cash For Your Stories - Girls and Prams
Hal Dolls - Barbie
The Returnables - What Would Mother Say?
Minimal Compact - Minimal Compact - Statik Dancin’, Creation Is Perfect (I Am A Camera), Ready-Made Diary // To Get Inside, Happy Babouge (Crammed Discs) 1981. The first Minimal Compact EP immediately maps out the two distinct personalities of the band. On one side, Minimal Compact were a classic European (by way of Israel) cold-wave band as represented by Creation is Perfect and To Get Inside. Both of these songs could easily be Joy Division outtakes or something. I would imagine for a lot of people these two songs are probably their favorites but cold-wave leaves me kinda, er….cold. So if Minimal Compact were just a cold-wave band I doubt they would be on Last Days. It’s the other personality of the band that impresses me a lot. The “No-Wave Euro-Funk with Middle Eastern overtones” side of the band is a hell of a lot more fascinating to me and the other three songs on this great EP point that direction. The most well-known song of the lot is Statik Dancin‘ which was a minor new wave club hit (somewhere in the world far removed from midwestern Missouri) but Happy Babouge is probably the most impressive in its meshing of all the different influences running through Minimal Compact’s music. It points to songs like Babylonian Tower on the subsequent One By One LP that rival early A Certain Ratio in their ability to be exotic, cold and funky; three traits that seem to contradict themselves. For a great overview of the band in general, I would look here.
Poptronix - TV Programmed TV Set // War of Crime (Klang!) 1981. I am working on the latest edition of the Last Days of Man on Earth Stumblemix but it is taking longer than I was expecting. So here is a good one to tide things over. You wouldn’t be wrong to assume, upon listening to the A-Side of this great single, that Poptronix was a UK band. The singer sounds like a peer of Howard Devoto or Johnny Rotten. Is he from London? Manchester? How about New Jersey. That’s right, Poptronix was from the Garden State of all places. Hackensack, to be precise. When I was a kid, fake British accents were synonymous with “poseur” for me. I had way too many rules when I was a kid about what was good and bad. With that said, faux-Brit vocals are kind of a novelty. A novelty Poptronix drop for the B-Side, War of Crime which is an even better song. Besides their New Jersey origins,very little is known about the band other than this. Who were these guys? What venues and shows did they play? Did they ever play a show with XeX for instance? When did Poptronix form? When did they break up? These are the questions that I need answered. So Poptronix People, if you’re reading this, please fill in the story.
Rowland S, Howard, the guitar player for the Birthday Party and Crime and the City Solution as well as numerous amazing collaborations, died of liver cancer yesterday at 50. He was a big influence on me. While growing up in the omnipotent shadow of a Midwestern Classic Rock Abomination, I naturally thought riffing and soloing were how one plays rock guitar. Then, at some point in my early 20s, I discovered Prayers on Fire and I very suddenly realized the infinite possibilities of exploring the space around where riffs and solos go. Not only did Nick Cave’s lyrics utterly blow my mind but Rowland’s guitar playing made me feel sinister and evil. Something I really like and kind of view as a certain prerequisite to good rock-n-roll music. So while we’ve lost one of my favorite guitar players ever, I can only hope he’s working on some tunes with Lux Interior, Sky Saxon and Tony Bailey in the great beyond somewhere. In fact, I hope Brendan Mullen opens a venue out there for them to play in.
Lovebug Starski & The Harlem World Crew - Positive Life (Vocal) // Positive Life (Instrumental) (Tayster Records) 1981. Another classic by the Little Starski, this is one of the last party records ever recorded and it definitely goes out with a bang. In fact, the backing track is so insanely tight and funky that I have included the instrumental flip for your listening enjoyment. It really stands on its own. But back to the vocal track which is kind of a weird one. Always one to experiment with different voices (he sounds like a different person on each one of his early recordings), Starski seems to be incorporating actual characters into his wordplay with this one. Two years before Rammelzee versus K-Rob do the Beat Bop, at that. With that said, nobody will ever mistake Positive Life for art-house rap. This is a party record pure and simple. The Lovebug was one of the great boasters in the early hip-hop game. It doesn’t exactly reach the heights of Dancin’ Party People, which I posted way back in 2006 (its been that long?!?!?) but it comes close. I love the breakdown around 5:28 when the excellent Tayster house band starts to noodle around in the groove. This whole thing is so loose and fun, I defy anyone not to enjoy this.
In lieu of another writeup, I decided to post a set of some of the best videos I’ve personally come across this year. Happy Holidays to everyone.
Madness - Bed and Breakfast Man: From Madness’ first album which is criminally underrated today. Yeah, yeah…I know that Our House was a huge (and somewhat oppressive) MTV hit back in the day and that Suggs went on to become some sort of UK media personality. But it does not change the fact that One Step Beyond was and is an amazing hybrid of two-tone ska and British Dance Hall / Vaudeville tradition.
The Gordons - Adults and Children: In which three New Zealand-based, pre-Bailter Space guys decide to recite the instructions on a medicine label for two minutes and simultaneously predict the entire late 1980’s US Midwest Noise Rock Scene. How is that for a weird turn of events? Completely crucial and a great video as well.
The Speedies - Let Me Take Your Photo:Brooklyn based power-poppers from 1979. This video is a fun reminder of what made new wave such a breath of fresh air in the late 1970s. It also captures one of the many reasons why New York must have been such a fun place to be at that moment in time. The twin towers, being prominently displayed in the background throughout the video, add an additional layer of melancholy to the proceedings. Also note the obligatory new wave hand clapping at 2:22.
Mission of Burma - This Is Not A Photograph: Repeat after me, “Roger Miller is a guitar god”, “Roger Miller is a guitar god”, “Roger Miller is a guitar god”, “Roger Miller is a guitar god”, “Roger Miller is a guitar god”, “Roger Miller is a guitar god”, “Roger Miller is a guitar god”, “Roger Miller is a guitar god”. The fact that he looks like a math teacher in this video just adds to the kick-ass irony of it all. We are not worthy. From 1980, no less.
The Scavengers - Mysterex: “Well you’re a bloody hypocrite, just a dirty social climber, aw yeah.” How is it that these NZ kids could express so perfectly exactly how I feel today in my late 30’s? One of the kids in this video is Brendan Perry who went on to form the much more prolific Dead Can Dance. Now ain’t that weird?
Sick Pleasure - Sick Pleasure: I know he was a controversial dude but lets thank our lucky stars for Joe Rees. If he hadn’t documented all of this ridiculously great music with Target Video back in the day, I wouldn’t be the same person I am. OK maybe I would. But I have to believe that my life has been at least a bit improved by finally getting to see some performance footage of the pre-Code of Honor, proto-hardcore noise of San Francisco’s Sick Pleasure. In great quality as well.
Simple Minds - Factory/Premonition: Its pretty clear that Jim Kerr was a bit of a tosser all along. All it took was for him to merge his innate pretentiousness with the U2-styled bombast of “Dont You Forget About Me” to permanently make me loathe the thought of Simple Minds. So imagine my surprise when I witnessed this early performance at Hurrah’s in New York and realized that in their early days, The Simple Minds were a pretty transcendent live act? Now of course, I need to pretend I knew this all along. Cuz I’m a trendy fuck.
New Order - Confusion: I never was much of a New Order fan. I like a few of their songs (like this one) but in general I just don’t get it. This video however, is another story. A great glimpse at New York City right when hip-hop, punk, new wave and club culture all merged into one unified and unbelievably unique artistic moment.
Cabaret Voltaire - Just Fascination: Cabaret Voltaire on the other hand, I have always appreciated. What impresses me about this video is how excellent it is to see them as a live band. I always thought of them as more of a studio act. Whether you are talking about the lo-fi experimentation of Nag, Nag or the dance club sounds of Yashar. What I never considered was that they were also a tight-as-fuck live band. Watching Stephen Mallinder ride the groove so effortlessly on the bass while Richard H. Kirk fills in space with guitar noise in a live setting was just an unexpected moment for me.
Styphnoids - Moms a Fake:Another unexpected moment for me would be seeing Portland obscuro-punks, The Styphnoids doing their kbd-classic Mom’s a Fake. They look like a bunch of heshers. They sound like a bunch of juvenile delinquents. “Just got out of juvenile hall, yeah. They slapped my hand and put me back on the street.” I just love how something this obscure and unknown is still better than 99 percent of rock music ever released. How is that possible?
Tina Peel - Blow Me A Kiss / Penis Between Us:Before Rudi Protrudi got all garage rocker sleazy in The Fuzztones, he was a dayglo bubblegum pop-punker in Tina Peel. Weird, huh? These two songs from 1979 showcase their early sound which was very twangy and farfisa-laden. Can anyone give me any info on this show NY Dancestand? It kinda reminds of Uncle Floyd a bit.
firehose - Choose Any Memory: For a small amount of us, the death of D. Boon was pretty devastating back in the 1980s. I literally remember coming home from school and finding out in Spin that the singer in one of my favorite bands was dead. Shortly after, the remaining two members got a new singer and released their first album as firehose. This was the first song I heard by them and I just remember being stricken by how powerful it was. Still is. Another public access gem on you tube.
The Kiwi Animal - Blue Morning: Winding down. Maybe its Christmas where you live? Maybe it’s snowing outside and the sun is starting to rise. You look out the window at the fresh snow and it seems almost blue. Its so quiet. Nobody has gotten up yet. Just you and the ice outside. How about putting on a pot of coffee and listening to this track by the obscure NZ freak folk act The Kiwi Animal? Then wake everybody up and open some presents dammit!
Regardless of what you’re celebrating, enjoy the holidays and don’t forget to stick it to the man…
Labels / Bands: If you want me to review your releases, I would be glad to. It's pretty easy to tell what kinda stuff I like, so if you're doing or have done things that I would consider "last days music" then please, by all means, drop me a line.
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Ruin - Fiat Lux (Meta Meta Records) 1986. Probably the most ongoing request that I have seen over the years with Last Days is Fiat Lux by the Philly band Ruin. I wrote about them back in 2007. Few bands have inspired such rabid devotion amongst a fan-base as Ruin. Part of this is due to the fact that they were criminally overlooked. I mean, just a hundred miles over people were shitting themselves for a little Revolution Summer but Ruin who were doing the same damn thing at the same damn time, couldn’t get much love. They are not even on the Flex discography fer chrissakes (which by the way, looks super-good after the new makeover). Another reason why Ruin fans are super-fanatical is because Ruin were from Philly and Philly itself got no love. No local label like Dischord. No real national reputation despite its size and location and what was really annoying about this was that Philly had some amazing hardcore bands like YDI, FOD, McRad and Ruin. So you got this criminally under-rated band in this under-rated town. Finally, the third reason why Ruin fans are so rabid is because the band flat-out rocked. Their shows were transcendent experiences, they pushed the boundaries to the point where they were incorporating psychedelia, hard rock and raga while still maintaining the energy of the best hardcore punk. Fiat Lux was their masterpiece, the apex of what they were trying to do. Check it out in its entirety.
