As Promised

UPDATE: This post was re-uploaded 08/07/2014.
Enjoy, NØ.

Nathan Nothin' here with...

Henrietta Collins: Snuggle Notes

We were in the studio cutting
'Animal'. We heard that
Henrietta Collins & his band
were on the island also, doing
some dates as well as
interviews & a broadcast for PCP 1.

Henry is a Collins fanatic from a long way back.
When he found out that maybe he could actually meet "The Man" (? -ed.) in person, he went nuts. We could hardly contain him. I got on the phone with Henrietta's people & set up a meeting.

The meeting took place at the Leeds Hilton. Poolside. It was October, it was cold, it was insane. Well, the two of them hit it off like they had been friends for ages. Henrietta suggested that Henry drop by the studio where Henrietta & the Wifebeating Childhaters were cutting some tracks. Henry was thrilled.

He went down to the studio & didn't come back for a few days. We didn't worry too much about him, to tell you the truth, we were glad to have him off our hands for a while.

The sessions came out better than they thought they would. Rollins & Collins really hit it off, as you'll hear on these hot tracks. The A-side is live from the PCP 1 broadcast. The B-side is pure studio magic. There's two duets on the B-side, you'll hear Henry & Henrietta trade riffs on "Hey Henry" & the poignant "I Have Come to Kill You"

This is a crucial record. I think Henrietta said it best as he saw us off at the airport. He looked up at the sky for about two minutes & then looked at us & said, "There's a lot of people thinking a lot about a lot of things going on in the world today & I think that this is gonna say something to a lot of the people that are thinking about those things."

What it boils down to is this: When you're talking Henrietta Collins & the Wifebeating Childhaters, you're talking rock & roll.

Louis M Face
Bakersfield, CA 1987

Henrietta Collins: A Tribute

I walk these mean streets, I look around & I see that I'm surrounded by utter bogosity. (Prime, high-grade bogusness -ed.) I say to myself, where can I go, who can I turn to to tell me the righteous word? I looked high, I looked low. I looked in between. All was dark. From the urban glade steps a man, a real man. A man who walks with conviction, a man who looks upon the world with an intense gaze usually reserved for gods & maniacs. A man who wears a dress, a man named...Henrietta Collins.

Sure, just a name, a face, a nice set of legs, a tremendous jaw line, a quick wit, a hearty laugh, a broad & accepting smile, a wig, why Henrietta? Why was he designated to speak for a generation? The winds of destiny? The sands of fate? The long stringy things at the bottom of a Coke bottle? I don't know. I think it's big, I think it's real big, bigger than you & me.

All I can say is I worked with the man on the now legendary "Drive By Shooting" ep. I felt honored to be in the presence of such a powerful vision & body odor.

I'm going to leave you to Henrietta now. I hope he gives you half of what he gave me. (I'm still getting shots, but it's starting to dry up"

Henry Rollins
Malibu Beach,CA 1987

Henrietta Collins & the Wifebeating Childhaters - Drive By Shooting, Texas Hotel 3, 1986.

Side 1 -
Drive By Shooting (Watch Out for That Pig)
Ex-Lion Tamer

Side Two -
Hey Henrietta
Can You Speak This?
I Have Come to Kill You
Men Are Pigs

Drive by shooting. Now this is something special:
around the time Rollins recorded Hot Animal Machine with Haskett, Wandel & Green, they also did a bunch of novelty songs which would make up this EP, which has absolutely nothing in common with anything he did before or ever since.

Credited to Henrietta Collins & the Wifebeating Childhaters, this EP contains a variety of stuff, none of which you would expect from Rollins, certainly not after his career in Black Flag (where things were usually kept serious - it’s only during the past few years that he’s been making “fun” on his non-spoken word releases). For that reason alone, this is a document worth having, but fortunately the actual stuff is often also weirdly funny & so deliciously un-correct it’s almost incredible this was really released at the time.

The first side immediately starts off with some great stuff: the opening song recycles some ‘50’s surf/instrumental riff (something like “Hawaii 5-0”?), while the bubblegum lyrics you would expect are replaced by a hilarious celebration of urban violence (“We’re gonna get in our car, we’re gonna go, go, go, gonna drive to a neighborhood, kill someone we don’t know”).

Next up, a surprising highlight on the album is a faithful take on Wire’s “Ex-Lion Tamer” (from the seminal Pink Flag (1977)) that sounds a bit less “mechanical” than the original & stretches the ending a bit longer. An unexpected choice, but therefore twice as interesting.

The second side of the EP contained the true novelty stuff, because none of the songs is an actual song, they’re more like bits of spoken word fulminations during which Rollins is backed by a dragging racket in the background or a repeated riff. “Hey Henrietta” is a fucked up dialogue between Henrietta and Henry with supercharged & violent lyrics (“Henry, what would you do if I told you I raped a police woman?”).

Equally disturbing & perverse – but in a sick way also hilarious as hell – is “Men Are Pigs,” in which Rollins offers a nice solution for women who are all too often obligated to perform oral sex (key words are “knife” & “envelope,” you can figure out the rest).

“Can You Speak This?” sounds like an absurd short story (about murder by decapitation & other joyful subject matter) backed by a repetitive sludgy riff, while the lengthy “I Have Come to Kill You” steals the drum pattern of Queen’s “We Will Rock You” & replaces those lyrics with “I Have Come to Kill You.”

Like on the other three songs, Rollins provides some semi-rapped lyrics about domestic violence, but in this case the joke goes on for a bit too long. One of the most unlikely releases, Drive By Shooting is an anomaly in Rollins’ catalogue & an anomaly in modern rock music. Although Rollins would contribute to some more hard to find material (like a cover of AC/DC’s “Let There Be Rock” with Australian punk band The Hard-Ons), this is the first one to check out, & since it’s included on the reissue of Hot Animal Machine,
…. what’s keeping you?
Go, go, go!

Enjoy
NØ

Get Uber It

Nathan Nothin' here!

These tracks go out to a dear friend. He's setting
out once again to damage some eardrums
& I can only wish him the greatest!
So for some truly classic eardrum damage
from some of Minneapolis' finest, by request
(& with two bonus tracks courtesy your truly).

HEADBURN - HALO OF FLIES - Headburn ep.1988

Halo Of Flies was a 1986-1991 Minneapolis trio comprised
for most of its history by
guitarist/vocalist/AmRep Records founder Tom 'Haze' Hazelmyer,
bassist/vocalist/AmRep Records producer Tim 'Mac' McLaughlin,
& drummer John 'Presumably Ang, Though I've Never Heard
Him Referred To As Such' Anglim.

They took their name from an Alice Cooper song.

Their finest work mixed hoarse shouted vocals, trebly
yet innovative guitar abuse, and insanely busy, roll-happy
& creative drumming (like Keith Moon on speed!).
Unfortunately, it took them a couple years to reach this peak,
& then they got bored & broke up "like eight times in a row".

Bonus track:
DDT BEAT 69 - HALO OF FLIES -Garbage Rock ep.1987

###############################################

3-WAY LISA - COWS -Peaceticka 1991

The Cows formed in Minneapolis in 1985. They were one
of their home town's favorite punk/noise-rock bands.
On record & live, the group was primitive, loud, exciting,
& enthusiastic. The original lineup consisted of:
lead singer Shannon Selberg, who later took up the bugle,
guitarist Thor Eisentrager,
bass guitarist Kevin Rutmanis,
& drummer Norm Rogers.

Like another local outfit, the now-legendary Hüsker Dü, the Cows
had a hardcore sound characterized by blurred guitars.
However, the Cows took the chaos a step further. Stripping away
anything that remotely resembled pop--including melody
& catchy hooks and riffs--the Cows offered punk rock in its
crudest form. There music has been described as
"a feral racket that sounded as is if the guitars were
being played with metal files."

Lyrically, their songs dealt with just about anything,
from losers in life to sex & bodily fluids.

Selberg's shrieking vocal style & general lunacy on stage
provided the Cows with a bizarre, yet often engaging focus.
Live, the band's presence created a sort of uncomfortable anxiety.
Selberg's antics ranged from robotic movements & mocking the crowd
to cavorting with an array of sometimes obscene objects.

Bonus track:
CAMOUFLAGE MONKEY - COWS -daddy has a tail lp. 1989

Enjoy
NØ

Harass Mike S.

Nathan Nothin' here with a song, a sentiment to
my heart of hearts...

In keeping with the Marsugis theme & the Gary Singh
connection, heres a little ditty called Harass Mike S.
by The Gas Chamber Orchestra. I had the pleasure of
being present at numerous Gas Chamber Orchestra
performances at San Jose State & other various venues.

All I can say is that if you never witnessed their
evil genius, these recording only scratch the surface
of this great art/music/noise collective.
This track is taken from the It's All a Blur cassette.

The Gas Chamber Orchestra here is:
Mike Andrade
Mark Grey
Gary Singh
Ryan H. Torchia

About Harass Mike S. - for those of you just visiting
here & not familiar with Marsugis or the InSane Jose
music scene Mike S. was the illustrious band booker &
door nazi (I was just informed by anonymous commenter
that Mike was never door nazi...I stand corrected)
at Marsugis for a time. This song is about
him.

From the tapes liner notes:
Harass Mike S.
"Originally recorded in November of 1992, this studio
piece was revived a few months later to coincide
with the closing of Marsugis. Voice courtesy of
John Walton."

& at the time we thought it might be our last chance to
harass Mike Sullivan. Thankfully NO!
Enjoy
NØ

Vinyl Room II...

Nathan Nothin' here!

Since I started this blog, I've been going
through my records, seeing what all gems
might be found. I realized I should have some
cataloging of what I have, but where & how to
begin?

My collection is in what most others have called
random order or 'a mess'. I've always tried to group
my records by style or genre rather than alphabetically
by title or artist. This leads to some randomness, I'll admit, especially
when I don't always put the records back that I happen to be listening
to until some time later, & my genre designations tend toward the flexible.

There seemed no real way to compile a list of vinyl without
resorting to the old alpha beta, so this weekend I'm attempting
just that. I started through the punk stuff first, but haven't
got very far. I keep finding something else I need to hear.

This is what I've been playing today...

TRACKS:
Global Mockery - Acme,Inc. - Bonded by Rage 7" 1994
L.A. Girl - Adolescents - Adolescents 1981
Bite the Hand that Feeds - Agent Orange - When You Least Expect It...1983
Rat Race - Agression - Bootleg (Live at CBGB's) 1985
Falling Out - Rikk Agnew - All by Myself 1982
Crawlpappy - Alice Donut - Mule 1990
Garbage Pit - Angry Samoans - STP not LSD 1988
Turn Away - Angst - Lite Life 1985
Long Live the Jihad - Assassins of God - Black Tongue Speaks, Vol. I 1991
Is Love Just Jive Turkey - Assfactor 4 - Sometimes I Suck 1993
Working Class Pride - Attitude Adjustment - American Paranoia 1986

Enjoy
NØ

Black Boots & Bikes

Nathan Nothin' here with some kick-ass hill-climbing
instrumentals & vocals featuring The Kickstands!

Black boots...fast bikes...a big beat
in great vocal & instrumental performances
from the sensational new group:
THE KICKSTANDS - 1964.


"Black boots & bikes will be the first album in your
Kickstands collection. But you'll be hearing a lot
more from this group, with the best of the great new
cycle songs, & just the right rockin' beat to back
them up. Here in their debut album, they present a
collection of numbers that capture all the adventurous
mood of bikes on the road, cross-country, & up the
hillside. The titles alone tell the story, in songs such
as Death Valley Run, Devil on Wheels, & Mean
Streak. & The Kickstands make them all as memorable
as the first tune you ever danced to. Black boots, bikes,
& The Kickstands are here to stay."

Needless to say, the above cover notes seem quite humorous
seeing how this was a one-off by The Kickstands, legends in
their own minds.

The Kickstands were one of writer and producer Gary Usher's
studio projects. Gary Usher and Roger Christian, who wrote
material for the Beach Boys and other notable early-'60s Southern
Californian surf and hot rod acts, penned most of the tracks.
The Kickstands made use of veteran L.A. session players.
With players from the so-called Wrecking Crew,
including guitarist Jerry Cole, drummer Earl Palmer,
saxophonist Steve Douglas, & Chuck Girard handling
most of the vocals,along with the likes of Leon Russell
& Glen Campbell. Despite utilizing top Hollywood sessionmen,
this was a hot rod exploitation album, hurriedly recorded while
the fad was still on track. The album did have, however,
a somewhat darker hue than most of Usher's sunshine & surf
productions. There's some good growling guitar playing,
particularly on the closing instrumental Scrambler.

TRACKS:

Side One:
Death Valley Run
Hill Climb
Mean Streak
Side Car
Two Wheel Show Stopper
Haulin' Honda

Side Two:
Devil on Wheels
Ridin' Trails
Slow Ride South
Johnny Take Care
Scrambler

Enjoy
NØ

Beef

Nathan Nothin' here!

Some more ByProducts for your musical edification.
These four songs are from a 4-song cassette recorded
& engineered by Bart Thurber at House of Faith May
1990.
This was the original line-up of the ByProducts
(Doug Gwosdz - guitar,
Billy Ko - drums & vocals,
Craig Parrotte - bass & vocals).
These are song of the bands most righteous tunes,
before the evil influence of Otto Destruct.
I remember seeing The ByProducts do these songs
at the roof-top stage at Dinuba Embassy
before I became an Ambassador-at-Large.
They were playing with the Fuckboyz
& that was the night Matty Luv was wearing
only a rubber chicken on his schlong.
Great musical moments that no words can
truly convey, so listen & enjoy.

Tracks:
Fat
Santa Cruz
Suicide
Waste

NØ

The Third Secret

UPDATE: 
This Post was re-uploaded 01/07/2014. 
Enjoy, NØ.





Nathan Nothin' here!

Was posting all the many connections to House of Faith & Bart Thurber so I decided I would put up some music that Bart played on. I picked three tracks from Whipping Boy's third album  The Third Secret of Fatima.

Whipping Boy was a punk band from Palo Alto, California. The band formed in 1982, made up of students from Stanford University. Their first release was The Sound of No Hand Clapping. Their sound featured lightning-fast melodies, tight, chunky rhythms, & violently incoherent vocals. They espoused a radically
anti-government view. The band enjoyed moderate success, & a national tour in 1983 was capped by the release of the psychedelic MuruMuru. This abrupt change in style was not welcomed by Whipping Boy's fanbase. After several personnel changes & the release of another record, The Third Secret of Fatima,
the band broke up in 1986.

Over the course of their last two albums, WHIPPING BOY had moved from straight-forward punk into something a little less defined. The Third Secret of Fatima still has an air of mystery about it. The vocals have a number of influences, inlcuding BIRTHDAY PARTY, VIRGIN PRUNES, & PSYCHIC TV, but these don't get in the way of the band's changing progressions.

Incendiary front man Eugene Robinson went on to front the avant-garde noise-rock band OXBOW.

Whipping Boy - The Third Secret of Fatima, CFY Record CFY003, 1985.

decryption code in comments

Five Song Side -

Lavender Girl

Daddy's Gone

Smokey

Enemy

Rain Dance

Six Song Side -

The Third Secret

Shade of Grey

Remember

Something Wrong

Talk to Me

Wisalia 

hidden track - untitled

Enjoy,

NØ

Sunday misses...

Nathan Nothin' kinda here!


103.2 F. temperature, freezin' & burnin' at
the same time. Coughin' up huge gobs
of lungbutter.

From Lungbutter '92 cassette.


Tracks:
Reveal
These Days
Opus 23
Stuck in a Rut
Brain Buckit
Power Worm
Mucilage
P.G.I.O.E.

&

From Stay Home lp. by Snair 1990

This three song chunk of crunch follows
the title track to open up this gourmet platter
of licorice pizza. These three song touch on
some of the immense musical range that was:

The Snair Bros.

Ernie - Vocals
Michael - Guitars
Bo - Bass
&
Gary Bartlett - Drums

Tracks:
Lose It
Love Train
State of Confusion

Enjoy,
NØ

The Spit Muffins were integral members of the burgeoning DIY music scene centered around the SOFA district (South First) in San Jose. They played Marsugis many times. The band consisted of Kimbel on vocals, Herbie Gray & Carl Sinkula on guitars, Loren Ozaki on bass, & for this recording Scott Cofer filling in on bass for regular bassist Rico Walker, furthering the tight knit connections between bands within the scene. These songs were recorded at House of Faith by Bart 'you're rollin' Thurber.

Tracks:
Kit Pickles - The Spit Muffins
Big Big Ending - The Spit Muffins

The Suckdolls

UPDATE: This post was re-uploaded 12/22/2013. Enjoy, NØ.

The Suckdolls consisted of Kathy on drums, Krista on bass, & Brian on guitar. They were a short lived band but everyone who witnessed their shows or tasted their tunes loved them. Pay close attention to Krista's vocals for a glimpse into their true greatness. Brian & Kathy went on to play in The Retardos along with Dug from the ByProducts. The Suckdolls 45 (recorded by Bart) is some of the only music by this lively trio to make it to the listening public (they were also captured live at the notorious Punchupaloser festival).

After The Retardos, Brian & Kathy both did various musical projects. I have added more with The Retardos update.

The Suckdolls - You Say b/w Red Meat Myth self-released 7"
decryption code in comments

Tracks -
You Say - The Suckdolls
Red Meat Myth - The Suckdolls

Enjoy,
NØ

Tally Ho by Drippy Drawers. Another great 7", this one 33rpm on blood red vinyl. These Sunnyvale punks were a sloppy riot of sound. Their philosophy as simply stated on this disc kinda sums up their sound. "We have found that when playing music it is best to mostly have lots of fun & not worry too much about playing music." Recorded & mixed October 1991 at House of Faith by Bart Thurber. There's even a song about EATING POOP!

Tracks :
Norm - Drippy Drawers
Drainin' the Main Vein on the Subway Train - Drippy Drawers
Steamy Loaf - Drippy Drawers

By the time the ByProducts recorded this 7" (March 1992) at House of Faith with Bart on board, they had gone from the original trio of Doug Gwosdz on Guitar, Craig Parrotte on bass & vocals, & Billy Ko on drums & vocals to the fearless foursome of Otto Destruct (Frank Sheridan) on verbal assault, Dug Six-Pack (Doug Gwosdz) on six-strung, Food King (Craig Parrotte) on bass in your face, & Fudgie D. Clown (Phil Christ) as beatmeister. The disc is orange transparent vinyl & the package includes cover art & six page comic by noted cartoonist & poster artist Mark Ritch (another EAT POOP! alum).

Tracks:
If I Could Just Remember - The ByProducts
It's a Good Thing - The ByProducts
Rock with a Glock - The ByProducts
True Love - The ByProducts

With the 4/20 (Hitler's Birthday) disappearance of Otto Destruct, the ByProducts were no more. Craig morphed into Jud Pud, singer & guitarist for the inbred mountain band the Puds, teaming up with his brother Stu Pud (Warren Waldorf) on bass & Sister Rose Pud (Kat Hill) on drums. Kat would soon find that her gender confused the mountain boys & Fudgie D. (still a Clown, but always a Pud) took up pounding the skins.

Tracks:
Josephine - The Puds
It Ain't Lovin' - The Puds
American Farmer - The Puds

The Retardos & beyond

UPDATE: This post was re-uploaded 12/22/2013. I have also added a great deal of additional output from members of The Retardos. Enjoy, NØ.

Finishing up this post with two 45s from The Retardos, who somehow tie this whole mess together. Meanwhile, Dug Six-pack (Doug Gwosdz) teamed up with Brian (Hermosillo) & Kathy (Walker) from The Suckdolls & Dave Masung, the keyboardist/singer to form The Retardos, a faux-60s power pop-rock band. What incestuous times.

The Retardos - Don't Want the...7",Super*Teem! SUP4504, 1995.

all decryption codes in comments

Side 1 -

I Can Only Dream (Protex cover)
Girl Like You (The Explosions cover)

Side 2 -
Quit This Town (Eddie & the Hot Rods cover)

The Retardos - Come on Back b/w Shame 7", Super*Teem! 4506, 1995.

Side 1 -

Come on Back

Side 2 -

Shame

Big Dave M moved from San Jose to Durham, NC & re-invented himself as Viva Cohen, the over-the-top lead singer for Jett Rink, an energetic disco-influenced pop-glam-surf-new wave-punk band. They released one self-titled EP. Here's a song from that...

Jett Rink - The Sweet, self-released, 2003.

Brian & Kathy went on to form the band Donny Denim with Darin Raffaelli of the band Supercharger & the Super*Teem! Record label.

Donny Denim - Hey You 7", radio X RX11, 1999.

Side A -
Hey You

Side B -
Rock 'n' Roll Love Affair

There were several further iterations of Donny Denim with Brian & Darin with various others. They had however parted ways with Kathy. Brian has gone on to have a productive & promising career. He provided 12-string guitar work for Nikki Corvette...

Nikki Corvette - Love Me 7", Rapid Pulse Records rp AtAll24, 2003.

Side A -

Love Me

Side B -

What's on My Mind

Brian then formed the band The Fevers. They have recorded several LPs & this 7".

The Fevers - Get on Again b/w Can't Be True 7", Plastic Idols Records PIR018, 2006.

Side A -
Get on Again

Side B -
Can't Be True

As a side project from The Fevers, he recorded some things with Sweet Faces.

Sweet Faces - Four Song 7", Douchemaster Records DMR019, 2008.

Side A -
On Top of That Girl
Here Comes the Nice Boys

Side B -
Leslie is a Noise Band
Cool Kids (Don't Wanna Listen)

Now I believe Brian is living in St. Paul, Minnesota. He is currently fronting Skipper, a Minneapolis band. Brian Hermosillo is playing guitar & handling lead vocals, with Briana Jeanne on bass & Crystal on drums, both covering backing vocal duties. Back to the same format that he began in Suckdolls (except there is no vocalist I know on par with Krista). So far, they’ve put out a self released live split 7” with Thee Makeout Party!!, a 7” on Chocolate Covered & a live 10” called In Italy on Bachelor.

Skipper - Cold Pizza 'n' Pop, Chocolate Covered Records, 2009.

Side A -
Hangin' on the Telephone
Just Miles Away

Side B -
You're so Charming
'Til She Comes Around

Enjoy,
NØ

Maybe I'm Just Trippin'

Nathan Nothin here! Started celebrating Octoberfest this weekend - kept things fluid 'til I couldn't see straight... decided I'd switch to solid fuel. Now I can't do anything... well, you know... straight. Maybe I'm just trippin'... Tracks: The Trip - B'N'B Gris Gris Gumbo Ya Ya - Dr. John, the Night Tripper Spooky (Night Tripper mix) - New Order Night Tripper - Marc Cianciola Night Tripper - Sandman Future Trippers - Abandon Ship Spaceship Trippers - Nomad The Zone - The Cow Trippers Psychedelic (Tripper remix) - Lunchbox Trip Like I Do - The Crystal Method Trip to the Nitrous Oasis - Hyaline Anamdamide - Bardo Pond Night Tripperz - Felix Da Housecat Enjoy the trip, NØ Chocolate contains about 400 different compounds that can affect mood and anxiety. These molecules selectively cause the release of chemicals, such as serotonin, endorphins, and phenylethylamine. Chocolate is often said to be the most commonly craved food in the world. Several bioactive compounds in chocolate can theoretically contribute to feelings of wellbeing. These include the stimulants theobromine and caffeine; tyramine and phenyletylamine, which are similar to amphetamine; and anamdamide, which mimics a cannabinoid.