The Bags - L. Frank Baum

Local legends. I got into these guys in the late 80's, by the mid 90's they had fizzled out. Which is too bad, had they been from Seattle or something, they might have made it big. I've heard that their career has been resuscitated by Guitar Hero, which is pretty cool, and they have released a few new albums in last four years or so.

This single isn't exactly their usual fare, which is sludgy rock stuff. This is some sort of send-up of metal acts at the time, turning The Wizard of Oz into a heavy metal rock-opera. It's genius.

"Max Roach" is an instrumental that's bit more in their style. It's not like it's a long drum solo or something you might expect from the title. My guess is that it was a play on Mission of Burma's instrumental B-side "Max Ernst" but who knows.

I managed to track down a copy of their Swamp Oaf album, and have ripped it, but haven't cut up the tracks. I'll get that up here sooner or later. It's worth a listen.

A: L. Frank Baum
B: Max Roach

Enjoy!