Of all the Nardcore bands, Dr Know were my favorite. They managed something that most other bands mining the crossover sound were unable to accomplish. By looking backwards to Black Sabbath for inspiration instead of to current (for the day) acts like Slayer or Metallica, Dr Know created a metal punk sound that was unique and different from bands like DRI.
Instead of double bass drum and hammer down guitar theatrics, you got guitars tuned wicked low and a looser more open feel. Coupled with Kyle’s evil sounding vocals, Dr Know sounded truly HEAVY and on certain songs like Circle of Fear and Mr Freeze, they were pretty fuckin’ untouchable.
Just listen to the opening of Mr Freeze. The first thing that grabs you is the heaviness of the riff. Then Kyle starts to sing. By the time he gets to “horror waits for those who remain” there really is only one logical reaction….you gotta throw up the devil horns and go “FUCK YEAHHHHHHHH!”
Plug-In Jesus has a similar aesthetic to the first Saint Vitus LP, the first Drunks With Guns LP and Gluey Porch Treatments by The Melvins. Throw in a little Fang as well. They suffered, I believe, from being on Mystic, which was sort of the Wal Mart of punk labels at the time. The LP was packaged very cheaply and even included a free 7 inch offer on the cover as part of Doug Moody’s Supersaver Series. It was unfortunate because, along with RKL, Dr Know represented the cream of the crop of what the Mystic label had to offer.
It’s also worth mentioning that both Dressed for the H-Bomb and Vinyl Mine have done write-ups on this LP. I took my images from Vinyl Mine. The mp3 links are all gone on both though. It’s cool to know I was not the only one that was impressed by this LP. Dr Know are still around without Kyle who now works in the TV biz. Myspace is here.
Plug In Jesus
god told me
mr freeze
the intruder
circle of fear
citizens of the world
life returns
crucified
fistfun
Burn 7inch EP
deprogram
stop the machine
ice house
these pressures
watch it burn
Joe, I agree that Dr. Know was the best thing on Mystic, perhaps ever. Nice write-up.
‘Il Duce, he’s my fuckin’ hero…’
This baby was in heavy rotation on the mid-80s college radio show I co-hosted. Not a weak cut on ‘Plug In Jesus’… ‘Life Returns’ is a personal fave.
Was never a huge fan of the crossover sound, but this record, DRI’s ‘Dealing With It’ and COC’s ferocious masterpiece ‘Animosity’ were and remain favorites.
Jim — RKL “Keep Laughing” was a pretty great Mystic LP. I remember Dead Teds being a constant mix-tape fave for me. That was about it. There were some other good bands on Mystic (Batallion of Saints and The Mentors come immediately to mind) but thier best releases were not on Mystic. Tons of bad releases on that label and I find it funny that now Mystic has a good reputation bc it was considered the WORST back in the day.
Otto – Thats funny, I would consider DRI, COC and Dr Know the best “crossover” bands as well. Never a big fan of crossover either but those records were all monsters.
I just couldn’t get into this stuff. I think I’m more a fan of their early stuff with Brandon Cruz.
My favourite bands on Mystic are probably ILL REPUTE & PTL KLUB. Two seriously under-rated bands…
By far Plug In Jesus was one of Mystics better releases. I also loved Ill Repute and False Confession. Another great band was SVDB which if I recall correctly Brandon Cruz was in as well. They were on some Mystic comps and a split with Battalion of Saints. I still haven’t been able to get a hold of that 7″.
I was out for the day with my lady and all my car has is a cassette deck so the car is full of crappy old tapes. I was digging around and was excited to find the Plug In Jesus tape and threw it in. Right when Mr. Freeze started I told my wife I was going to have to crank it up ’cause it was nice and evil. I then told her that this record was one of the few that got the hc/metal thing right. And now here’s this post that is spot on. Coincidence? Well, yeah it is ’cause I don’t believe in that destiny hooey but still nice to see this when I got home. My three favorite Mystic’s are 1) Plug In Jesus 2) The Killroy 7” 3) The BOS Second Coming 7”.
I never herad the Killroy 7incher (hint, hint Malfeitor). I love Batallion of Saints but I was always a fan of the Second Coming LP more. The production on the Mystic stuff was too flat (as on a lot of Mystic releases). Ill Repute, Stalag 13 and those bands were cool but my fave Mystic releases were 1. Dr Know – Plug in Jesus, 2. Mentors – Get Up & Die 3. RKL – Keep Laughing. Nobody is showing RKL any love on here…wassup with that?
I posted the Killroy 7″ on my now defunct site which generated some interesting feedback including the revelation that one of the members is now a mega-prolific porn director with some ridiculous amount of movies to his credit. It’s just straight up good midtempo punk, with an Oi tinge perhaps.
Great great great! The “Plug in Jesus” record is by far the best Mystic ever put, in my books. Fucking crazy record and of the few truely “evil” sounding records. Didn’t SLAYER cover something from it on their covers double-10″?
“Burn” would be as aaaaalllllmmmoooossstt great if it weren’t for the sound. “Ice House” and especially the apocalyptic “Stop the Machine” are fantastic! The singer once told me in an interview that “These Pressures” was about “the scene”, with its set of rules and all and how DR.KNOW didn’t wanna be associated with it no longer. Guess the change in sound reflected that as well.
Thanks for posting, it’s been ages since I’ve listened to any Dr. Know. Had the opportunity to see that band twice live (at a couple of the Crescent Ballroom extravaganza shows up in Tacoma, WA back in Sept. ’86 and the Spring of ’87) and they were an intregal part of my crossover from metal to hardcore along with Battalion of Saints, Beyond Possession, RKL, DRI, COC, etc.
What a great lp. I was lucky enough
to see them at the Farm (SF) around
’86-’87(?)with the Drunk Injuns/Los
Olvidados (reunion gig) and Condemned Attitude (Half Attitude Adjustment and half Condemned to Death). When “This Island Earth” came out the band split up before the tour and Kyle got some guys to fill in. They reunited(Toucher,
Hernandez,Heller,Mattaquin)for a short time after and played some
shows and that was one of ‘em. Needless to say they fucking
ruled.
There’s a lot of good stuff on Mystic
if you’re not overly concerned with
your punk having great production.
The GRIM, RKL, Scared Straight, PTL
Klub, False Confessions, Agression,
NOFX, DON’T NO, all have good, albeit raw, material on Mystic. This release
could definitely be considered top of
the heap of Mystic vinyl though.
Any chance you can put an mp3 of “in that house” up? Its my favorite song by Dr. Know and i can’t find it anywhere on the damn internet! Thanks.
To me Kyle was Dr.Know.His vocal style flowed with the metal edge of the music.Dr. Know was one of my favorite bands to see.The power and drive always got you moving.
Brandon Cruz is an asshole. sorry it’s true. i like this record but i like the double kick thing. that was a letdown on this record. i love the crossover sound. d.r.i’s full speed ahead is in my top five albums. this is good though. thanks for this.