The Gories - Give Me Some Money

Ah, Black Friday. The day when retail America gets down on their knees, cups their hands, and extends them, beggar-like, toward the American public, hoping and praying that the people of this nation will press enough of their hard-earned money into those cupped hands to pay the bills.

In that spirit, I've dispensed with randomness, and chosen "Give Me Some Money" by The Gories. This is another Sub Pop Singles Club offering, from October of 1991. The song, of course, is a cover of the fictitious 1965 British Invasion classic, originally performed by Spinal Tap.

The Gories were a true DIY garage band out of Detroit, they learned to play together just a few years earlier. They went on to record a couple of fun albums around the time of this release. I've got "I Know You Be Houserockin'" which is a compilation of their first two LPs. They definitely stuck to lo-fi bluesy 60's-sounding garage rock. They disbanded in 1993. Mick Collins is still out there, playing in The Dirtbombs.

You can hear them trying to figure out parts of the song by trial and error with the tape rolling before they get started. It's pretty obvious that they just came up with the idea of doing this song and went for it in one take. There's even a note to Sub Pop printed on the back of the single, explaining that none of them own a copy of the soundtrack, so they don't even know who to ask for permission to release this.You also know they don't have a soundtrack, because they get the title wrong, it's really "Gimme Some Money", (And yes, I do own the soundtrack...) but that's just being nitpicky.

It's a fun listen, because it's a really fun song to begin with, probably my favorite one that Guest, Shearer and Co. wrote for the film. It gets that early Kinks/Stones sound just right. You have to give the Gories some credit to think of doing this. Not enough bands are covering songs that appeared in fake documentaries. They may well be the first. The B-side is a rollicking, heavily distorted, feedback laden Bo Diddley cover.

A: Give Me Some Money
B: You Don't Love Me
Enjoy!
Looks like this link was messed up. Fixed it 12/2.

Rocket From the Crypt - Normal Carpet Ride

A Sub Pop Singles Club issue from June 1992. I remember opening this one up. I had just moved to Amherst, presumably for good, and was turning 21 within days. Unfortunately, I had no turntable, having left my mom's behind. And I had no job or money. So this single had to wait a while. I moved in with a roommate who had a turntable that fall.

This is one of many early singles for RFTC, arriving before their first full-length release. These guys were smart, and used the quick-turnaround nature of the 7" to constantly get new material out and build a fan base before they recorded a full-length album. They went on to have a solid career, and were known for great, energetic live performances. They still have a loyal following, and a live album of their final show was released just a couple of years ago. John Reis is still pretty active, now playing in Hot Snakes.

I never really got into them. Having to shelve this until I got access to a turntable probably killed some enthusiasm, (come to think of it, that's probably true of the Codeine single as well) and by the time I got one, I had a backlog of other stuff to listen to. I don't think they caught on as much on the east coast, either. Listening to it again, I can see why people were fans. Normal Carpet Ride is just a kick-ass rock song. Slumber Queen and Where Are the Fuckers are solid, too. Flip The Bird ventures into screechy noise rock territory, but it's the last song on a 3-song B-side. Anything goes at that point. Another band in this series with a one-man horn section, though they put it to good use, and it doesn't seem so out of place.

A: Normal Carpet Ride
B: Where Are The Fuckers, Slumber Queen, Flip The Bird
Enjoy!