What I Want for Christmas: The Deviants’ Ptoof! on Vinyl (along with many other records....)

When the mode of music changes, the walls of the city shake!!!

The Deviants, first known as “the Social Deviants,” were an English psychedelic Proto-Punk group that were active from 1967-1970.  Their frontman was countercultural icon, Mick Farren, who went on to be a prolific writer and journalist, publishing over 20 novels, several biographies, and articles for publications such as NME.  Along with the Pink Fairies, the Deviants were the UK’s most “punk rock” band of the 60s/early 70s. In fact the Pink Fairies were born out of the ashes of the Deviants’ first formation; both anarchic proto-punk projects were from the same UK Underground scene of bohemians and psychedelic rockers.  It was this scene that also produced the famous counter-cultural newspaper, The International Times, which served as Mick Farren’s first major outlet for journalistic expression.  John Peel, a big fan of the Deviants, once interviewed Mick Farren about the publication and the greater Underground scene:

While the Pink Fairies played a more frenzied form of fast blues rock ‘n roll, the Deviants explored more psychedelic soundscapes. If the early John Cale-produced Stooges hung out with Syd Barrett or Rocky Erikson for a weekend jam session, they might produce something akin to the Deviants’ debut full length, Ptoof! (1967 Impressario/Decca), hands down their best record.  

Before the era of McLaren and the Sex Pistols, the Deviants were the first D-I-Y artists of the rock world.  The first album,  with the help of a wealthy friend, was self-released by the band on their label, Impressario.  The album is one of my favorite British rock records of the 60s, and that’s a provocative thing to say when one thinks about all the masterpieces of the era.  Here’s the awesome opening track, “I’m Coming Home”:

Mick Farren has that all-to-familiar punk rock tone of snide despondency down to perfection.  I love the vocals, but I also love the song’s gradual, instrumental escalation into sonic chaos.  The band can also tone it down, however.  The album, for instance, immediately goes from dissonant chaos to subdued folk-like melodies with the 2nd song, “Child of the Sky”:

The album is obviously very dynamic, more so than anything by their successors, the Pink Fairies.  Here’s one more track, the more experimental conclusion to the debut album, “Deviation Street”:

Wouldn't mind having this one too!

That’s a pretty weird collage of noise and melody.... The Deviants recorded two more albums, Disposable (1968 Stable Records) and The Deviants 3 (1969 Transatlantic), but by 1970, the group disbanded with Farren pursuing writing and the other members joining famous psyche drummer, Twink, to form the band, Pink Fairies.  Mick Farren did release one solo album, Mona - The Carnivorous Circus (1970 Transatlantic), and in recent decades, Farren has released some records under the Deviants name - none of it, however, compares to the early days of recklessness that are so well captured on the original three Lps, and Ptoof! definitely blows them all away. It’s an essential for all rock collections, and for this reason, I desperately want a vinyl copy for Xmas.... Not gonna happen, but one can still dream...

I’ll now leave you with some live footage.  These guys are so punk rock, just watch, and you gotta love the hippie dancers....

Enjoy the tunes and feel free to comment!

Ptoof! - http://www.mediafire.com/?r286d48guwc9e26

Disposable - http://www.mediafire.com/?xmr37v6b726alp6

Deviants 3 - http://www.mediafire.com/?2owvxo4tzxm

A Different Side of 90s Emo Rock: the Noise Experiments of Arizona's Half Visconte

Half Visconte was a mid 90s Emo/Math Rock band from Arizona that played and released music between 1996-2000. They released one self-titled studio Ep (1999 Sentry Press) and one full length Was It Fear (2002 Sunset Alliance; recorded in 2000, however...) during their short musical run. Half Visconte was more experimental than the other projects labeled Emo during their time. Their music was spacey and jazzy, at other moments loud, angular, and dissonant; I think of Rockets Red Glare, for instance. One could easily label this Math Rock or Post Rock; it’s noisy and melodic and defies any singular label, for sure. There is a lot of improvisation in their music, their greatest example of this being their 24 minute track “Thug Baldwin” on their self-titled Ep. That’s a must listen; in fact, their Ep is my favorite release, but the album, Was It Fear, is great as well. Here’s the track, “Money Shot,” from the debut full length:

The album is much more polished and melodic than the Ep. The self-titled release explores more improvisational noise-making and downplays melody. Here’s the monumental 24 minute, “Thug Baldwin”; give it a listen if you have the time:

Ok, so I just noticed that my link is off; that was another great track off their Ep: "The Do Nothing."  BandCamp doesn't seem to allow me to link the conclusive magnum opus, so if interested, listen to the rest of the Ep at the following link:

http://halfvisconte.bandcamp.com/album/half-visconte

They can definitely take it out there, but they can write some really great 4 minute rock tunes as well. Definitely check them out.

self-titled: http://www.mediafire.com/?thdg2m2immy

was it fear: http://www.mediafire.com/?tjhztnnjjwy

Emo Diaries - Entry 4: More Essentials of the 90s Emo Renaissance - The Jazz June, Texas is the Reason, Piebald, & Kid Kilowatt

I want to do some more entries on the 90s phase of Emo rock; call it my attempt at intervention for lost souls such as these:

Or maybe I'm trying to reach out to this guy:

All I know is it probably won't work, but that doesn't stop me from trying... So let's approach this according to region, and we'll start with the Northeast.

Northeastern 90s Emo Rock -

1st Stop: Kutztown, PA's The Jazz June:

The Jazz June was an Emo band that formed in 1996 in Kutztown, PA; they released several albums and Eps before disbanding by 2002. The group has reunited for the occasional show, most notably a benefit tour in 2007 for a friend that fell victim to Cancer.  I’m guessing the band is named after the famous Gwendolyn Brooks poem, “We Real Cool,” a work that is nicely concise and worth quoting:

We real cool. We

Left school. We

Lurk late. We

Strike straight. We

Sing sin. We

Thin gin. We

Jazz June. We

Die soon.

-Gwendolyn Brooks 1959

From 1997 to 2002, the band released 4 studio albums, as well some 7"s, and my favorite of the four is their third, The Medicine (2000 Initial Records; I know! It’s not technically 90s.... so what!).  The only studio-version track I could find from the record on YouTube was the song, “Death from Above”:

Great Song with some real mathy guitar riffs.  Personally, I love the opening track of the album, "Viva la Speed Metal"; here's a live video of the song:

Jazz June’s a great band.  Honestly, I’m largely ignorant of any activity of the members after Jazz June’s run.  If anyone knows of later projects involving the members, please drop me a line.  I would be very interested to hear their musical development thereafter. 

The Medicine

NY's Texas is the Reason

An unfortunately short-lived 90s Emo project that proved giants in terms of influence was the band Texas is the Reason.  They were active from 1991 to 1996, and like many Emo groups of the 90s, they came together in the local hardcore scene; one member was formerly a part of the legendary NYHC band 108.  I believe members were all part of the obnoxious macho, Hare Krishna hardcore scene, which is interesting because TitR are not macho at all; their music is sensitive Emo rock at its best.  The band released 1 Ep, 2 splits, and only 1 full length, Do You Know Who You Are? (1996 Revelation Records); the album is probably my favorite release in the Revelation Records catalogue, produced by Jawbox’s J. Robbins and hailed by countless rock groups as a defining influence.  Here’s the excellent opening track, “Johnny on the Spot,” from their sole full length:

That’s quintessential 90s Emo Pop.  Another favorite of most Emo enthusiasts is the song, “Back and to the Left”:

The group disbanded while on a European tour, but members moved on to other equally significant projects, most notably the supergroup Jets to Brazil (members of Jawbreaker and Helmet as well...).

http://www.mediafire.com/?84b47ifdttn

Boston, MA's Piebald

Piebald was an Emo Rock/Pop Punk band that actually formed in Andover, Mass. in 1994 and later moved to Boston.  The group remained active until as recently as 2008 (I believe they played a reunion show in 2010...).  The band came out of the same scene as Converge, Cave In, and others, and naturally, their early sound leaned more towards hardcore than rock.  As the band matured, however, they became more melodic and more clever in their writing. Over the years, they released several Eps, splits, and full lengths that showcase a career of significant growth and transformation. Their breakthrough album, however, was most definitely If It Weren’t For Venetian Blinds, It Would Be Curtains For Us All (1999 Big Wheel Recreation). 

Here’s a video of the song “We Believe in Karma”:

That’s a great tune; it could be just as easily classified as quality Pop Punk.  Their song structures and time signatures, however, are way too complex to be described simply as  a derivative of punk.  The band really became a mainstream hit with their 2002 release, We Are the Only Friends We Have (Big Wheel Recreation/Defiance Records).  

Their biggest hit off the release is most definitely their classic song of solidarity, “American Hearts”:

“Hey, You’re Part of It!!”  Piebald was a great rock band; definitely check them out.

If It Weren't For Venetian Blinds

We Are the Only Friends We Have

Another MA Classic: Kid Kilowatt

I mentioned the group, Cave In, earlier, one of the legends of MA music scene. In the mid-late 90s, members Stephen Brodsky and Adam McGrath joined Converge member, Kurt Ballou, and Aaron Stuart from the just mentioned Piebald to form the late 90s supergroup, Kid Kilowatt.  They released only one album, Guitar Method, on Second Nature Recordings, and although the band played from ’96 to ’97, the album was not released until 2003.  The album was a “softer outlet” for Cave In, says Steve Brodsky, which obviously did not fill the void, for Cave In soon cashed in its metal licks for progressive, art rock antics that made me yearn for the days of Beyond Hypothermia & Until Your Heart Stops.  Kid Kilowatt is great late 90s Emo Rock done by seasoned veterans of the various post-hardcore traditions.  Unfortunately, being the supergroup they were, the band had little time to play shows and develop their sound, and the band quickly disintegrated.  Here’s the track, “7th Inning Song Formation”:

A short-lived supergroup that’s definitely worth checking out....

Guitar Method

There's more "Emo" postings to come; I have many more bands to share from the Northeast region as well as from the Midwest and South.  Enjoy those for now; I know these two will...

Best Punk Record Ever: Wire’s Pink Flag, No Question About It!!

Punk Rock is an overwhelming genre; it’s difficult to navigate around all the hackneyed cliches that pass off as Punk acts. I feel sorry for the recent teenager that's just discovered the stripped-down, 3 power chord phenomenon that first shocked the music world in the late 70s; there’s just too much junk to wade through these days in this digital information age. A student asked me recently for a list of punk rock essentials; I’m not sure I ever answered that daunting question, but here’s an attempt to begin an answer.

The first on my list, without a doubt, would be England’s more artsy punk rockers, Wire. Members, Colin Newman and Graham Lewis, formed the band in London in 1976. They released 3 seminal full lengths in the late 70s, disbanded in the 80s, and reunited in the 90s to record several more albums, the most recent being released in Dec. 2010. Most critics and musical enthusiasts celebrate the first three albums (of the late 70s) as their most important material. Their debut Pink Flag (1977 Harvest/EMI) is by far the best album of the 1st wave Punk movement; the next two releases, Chairs Missing (1978 Harvest) and 154 (1979 Harvest), moved more towards Post-Punk/Art Punk sounds and away from the minimalism that distinctly defines 1st album's style. They’re great albums as well, but Pink Flag is a dead serious essential for all rock collections! Here’s the opening track “Reuters”:

What an awesome opening to an album that continues to be good the whole way through! Here’s the song that cost the 90s Britpop band, Elastica, a lawsuit (see Elastica’s strikingly similar song “Connection” - a big radio hit in the mid to late 90s...); Wire’s song is called “Three Girl Rhumba”:

And now Elastica:

Hmmmm. That guitar rift is almost exactly the same, for sure, but I don’t know if I would sue Elastica over it....

In the song, “Mannequin,” one can clearly hear their nascent movement towards Post-Punk sensibilities. Here’s the track:

That’s a good song. Wire has obviously had a major, widespread impact on many musicians over the years. R.E.M., for instance, has covered the song, “Strange,” from the Pink Flag Lp on their album, Document (1987 I.R.S.). Here’s the Wire version:

That song almost reminds me of early Velvet Underground or early Stooges; it's good stuff... Also, Dischord Records enthusiasts may notice that Minor Threat, at one point, covered the Post-Punky track, “12xU,” from the Wire debut:

Minor Threat really plays that song hard and fast. Definitely check it out as well. 4 Men With Beards rereleased the Vinyl version of Wire’s debut album in 2006; it sounds really good! I cannot recommend it enough. This is the best punk album ever! Enjoy!

http://www.mediafire.com/?arkzmtcllli

Now, before we depart, I must leave you with this:

Ahhhh, American hardcore...