The Unband - Chung Wayne Lo Mein

I had always intended for this to be a vinyl-only enterprise. But something very unexpected made me change my mind. While I was away, it seems that Anthony Bourdain did a "No Reservations" show about the grittier, working class side of Boston, which we DVR'd while we were away and just got around to watching last night. Tony ate and drank his way through Southie with Mike Ruffino. "Who is Mike Ruffino?" you're probably asking. In fact my wife asked me. And I knew I that I knew that name from somewhere...

He played bass in The Unband, and wrote a book about their wild, excessive, yet low-rent not-quite-rock-star life. These guys were huge in Northampton when I was there in the early 90's, famous for playing (and trashing) the Bay State regularly. I caught them playing at a party in some apartment above Main St. once. Great show. Of course, the cops came and ended it. I think that's how a lot of their shows ended.

Anyway, I picked this up when it appeared in local shops in 1994. The internet will tell you it came out in 1996, but the internet is wrong. It came out on some tiny NoHo label in 1994 before a moderately larger indie label from W. Mass picked it up later. It's incredibly obscure, long out of print and hard to find, and it's one hell of a fun CD. Full of mindless loud fun like "Drop Out!" and "ABCDEFUCK" and of course, their mantra,  "We Like to Drink and We Like to Play Rock n' Roll". So, inspired by that show, and remembering what a little gem this CD is, I figured I'd break my vinyl only rule, and make sure a few more people know who Mike Ruffino is and who the Unband were.

Enjoy!

Alice Donut - Nadine

Another 90's band that I never got too much into back then (hard to find their stuff where I was for some reason), but after re-discovering them, I find I like them. This seems to go against the grain, as a lot of people think they haven't aged well. I find them to be a bit in the Butthole Surfers vein of throwing some odd stuff into their songs, or writing about some strange things, but they were a bit more mainstream about it. Nothing wrong with that.

A: Nadine
B: The Chicken Door, Empty Streets

Enjoy!

Queer - David Soul

Pretty sure I bought this after seeing these guys open for someone. A fairly intense Post-Hardcore act out of Cambridge MA, they released two other singles and disappeared. Their name probably didn't help them too much. I can't even find any sign of this single anywhere on line, not even on the label's crappy little website, which seems strange.

A: David Soul, Benign
B: Transplant, Malevolent
Enjoy!

Sebadoh - Skull

Well, if I've learned one thing so far, it's that I bought a lot of Sebadoh stuff way back when. Excited to see them in a few weeks. The last time I saw them was on their Harmacy tour.

Unlike yesterday's pick, which had a band on the decline, this is a band at it's peak. Or at least one of two peaks during their lineup shuffles. "Skull" was a single off of Bakesale, which, to me anyway, holds up as one of the best albums of the era.

Everyone's heard "Skull". No big deal. Not their best song on the album, (or even close, there's a handful I like more) but probably the most accessible, so I can see why this was put out as a single. The B-sides are good. "Punching Myself" is a solid, shuffling Jason Lowenstein song. "Sing Something/Plate O' Hatred" is filled with clever wordplay, and is a throwback into some earlier Barlow Lo-Fi stuff, only far less crappy sounding. It's still clearly lo-fi, but it just sounds a million times better than the earlier stuff. Audiophile quality lo-fi?

A: Skull
B: Punching Myself, Sing Something/Plate O' Hatred
Enjoy!

Folk Implosion - Take A Look Inside

I figured I should just get this one done, given all the Lou stuff that's been floating around. Folk Implosion's first album. 14 songs in 22 minutes, recorded in a living room.

A: Blossom, Sputnik's Down, Slap Me, Chciken Squawk, Spiderweb-Butterfly, Had To Find Out, Better Than Allrite

B: Why Do They Hide?, Winter's Day, Boyfriend, Girlfriend, Shake A Little Heaven, Waltzin' With Your Ego, Take A Look Inside, Start Again

Enjoy!

Steve Westfield & The Slow Band/Scud Mountain Boys Split 7"

A Northampton split single full of slightly twangy slow stuff. Steve Westfield seemed to play the Baystate Hotel regularly. He recruited an all-star band for this single, with Murph from Dinosaur Jr, Lou Barlow, and some guy named Jim Joe Greedy. It's OK, but my hopes were set a bit higher than this.

The B-side features The Scud Mountain Boys, a band that went on to much bigger and better things. Signed by Sub Pop a year or so after this, they released Massachusetts, a brilliant alt-country album that was at least near the forefront of that whole movement. Joe Pernice is still recording with the Pernice Brothers.

There's a personal connection as well. I got to know Scud Mountain Boy Stephen Desaulniers a little bit during my time out there, as he was a housemate of a co-worker of mine, and he lived right down the road. He's the guy in the pine box on the album of that name. I have fond memories of drinking whiskey, playing cribbage and listening to Bill Monroe with him. A lot of what I know about early country music came from him and his housemate, whose name suddenly escapes me.

A: Steve Westfield & the Slow Band, "Sittin' On The Bottom Of The World"
B: Scud Mountain Boys, "Television"
Enjoy!

The Breeders - Head To Toe

Here we go, something a little less Seattle.I liked the Breeders. They were a pretty cool side-project turned big time act for Kim Deal and Tanya Donelly (who was gone by the time this came out). I saw them open for Nirvana.

Anyway, this came out after their big breakthrough hit "Cannonball" but never got the same recognition. Solid single, but not as catchy as that one.

This was produced (technically "recorded with" on the notes) by J Mascis. The Breeders either were picking sides, or having a sense of humor about things (not sure which) as they covered Sebadoh's "The Freed Pig" which is Lou Barlow's musical middle finger to Mascis for kicking him out of Dinosaur Jr.

I picked this up at Main St. Records. The price tag is still on it, $2.99.

A: Head To Toe, Shocker In Gloomtown
B: The Freed Pig
Enjoy!

Butthole Surfers - Good King Wenceslaus

Oh God. I mean...Jesus.

There's a straight up version of the traditional Christmas carol going on in the background on this track. It's the story of the Bohemian King Wenceslaus, who went out of his way through the heavy snow to give a peasant food and wood during the feast of Stephen (December 26). While out in the snow, his page was miraculously able to stay warm by walking in the king's footsteps in the snow. Anyway, that's what's in the background. As for the foreground...well, it seems that it's all about the Surfers inviting a homeless drunk to record this lovely Christmas song with them. I can't do it justice with words. You'll just have to listen.

The B-side is also quite sacrilegious. "The Lord Is a Monkey" says it all. It's also about as close to straight up, normal song as these guys played, though with drugs and castration featured prominently in the lyrics.

The pricetag is still on this. Seems I got it at Mystery Train in Amherst for $6.50. Pricey for a 7" back in those days, but the art (those pictures are scans of the actual vinyl)  was way too cool not to do it. Plus, maybe I figured it would get me into the Christmas spirit, though if that was my motivation, this would have failed miserably.

A: Good King Wenceslaus
B: The Lord Is a Monkey
Enjoy!

Slint

No time for LP Sunday, so I'm compromising, doing one of those weird 10" records instead.

This showed up in stores long after Slint was dead, as these tracks, recorded before the amazing Spiderland, were left unreleased by their previous label when they signed to Touch & Go. T&G got their hands on these and shipped this out in 1994, some three years after they had all gone their separate ways. I'm pretty sure I spotted this at Main St. and bought it immediately.

Slint's landmark Spiderland album is moody and sparse, and it takes you on a winding journey. Each song itself has a series of highs and lows. The ending is well worth the trip. It's perfect to listen to at 3:00 AM. If you've never heard it, go find it. As for this recording, the band is in transition from being the Big Black wannabe band they were on their debut album Tweez, to finding some kind of collective brilliance that created Spiderland (their second and final album, at least until this showed up), and you can tell. These are both 6 minute long instrumentals. "Glenn" has Spiderland's dark, empty, spacious quality to it. "Rhoda" has their sound from Tweez, but with some of the complex song structure you'll find on Spiderland.

Octopus side: Glenn
Triangle side: Rhoda
Enjoy!