The Misfits - Horror Business EP (1979)

 

The Misfits - Horror Business EP (1979)

So here we are. Final Halloween post. I was hoping to be a bit more prolific, but what the hell.

Horror Business is simply one the the greatest songs ever written. Any other opinion is bullshit and you should feel bad for not agreeing with me.

On this legendary EP The Misfits rip through three tracks of pure punk rock glory. If Horror Business and Teenagers From Mars don't convince you that The Misfits were one of THE best bands to ever exist, then i have no idea whats wrong with you.

I suppose the only issue with this record is that the former tunes make the final cut Children In Heat seem insignificant. However, don't get me wrong. Children In Heat is a rad tune, it's just up against some hard competition!

The line-up on this masterpiece is the same as Night Of The Living Dead: Danzig, Only, Steele, and Image 

As we all know, The Misfits rotated guitarists frequently in their initial short life span, creating even more punk rock classics with every record they put out. And then Danzig left...we wont get into that here.

A fucking gem. Happy Halloween, you fiends!

Teenagers from mars and we don't care!

The Misfits - Night Of The Living Dead (1979)

 

The Misfits - Night Of The Living Dead (1979)

What would Halloween be without The Misfits. Undoubtably one of the greatest bands ever. Night of the Living Dead is one of the prime Misfits recordings from the classic, or one of the classic, line-ups. On this record Bobby Steele rocks the guitar, while mainstays Glenn Danzig and Jerry Only do their thang. On drums is Joey Image, of whom i have no knowledge of. Apparently he donned the sticks for less than a year in The Misfits and became active in recording in the 00s...as well as having a Youtube Podcast channel. It's true, look it up!

This particular record is pretty interesting in terms of the song choices. Obviosly we have the Romero homage Night of the Living Dead, as well a favourite of mine, Where Eagles Dare. The last cut, Rat Fink, is actually a cover by Allan Sherman who was dead well before the Misfits were on the scene.
 

A true fucking classic.

I ain't no goddamn son of a bitch, you better think about it baby!

GBH - Leather, Bristles, Studs and Acne (1981)

 

GBH - Leather, Bristles, Studs and Acne (1981)

Probably not the first band that comes to your mind in regards to Halloween or horror themed punk, but GBH had a fair share of Hammer Horror-esque lyrics in their earlier work. Especially here the dark humour shines through in tracks such as Lycanthropy, State Executioner, and my personal favourite,
Necrophilia.

For me, this and the debut LP, City Baby Attacked By Rats, show GBH at their best. Undoubtedly one of the forerunners of UK punk rock during the early eighties, GBH bring the bass heavy power of Motorhead and the senseless aggression of the Sex Pistols to create a unique style that has been much copied...but hardly ever surpassed!

Their later material isn't as potent when compared to the vitriolic power of Leather... and City Baby..., but GBH definitely deserve respect for their contribution to, not only punk, but music in general. And let's not forget to mention their defiant attitude to recording and touring throughout the eras, regardless of how popular (or unpopular) punk is at those specific times. 

Your hair is tied in a spiders web, you're dead!

LDS - On The Cross EP (1985)

LDS - On The Cross (1985) 

A punk record that starts with Toccata and Fugue in D Minor. Now what do we expect to follow?
LDS were a punk band that straddled the lines between 77 punk with creepy melodies and hardcore. These Utah miscreants put out this EP and an LP, Nightmare, in the space of two years (1985-1986). Like many, LDS never really developed a large following or cult status, and as such, have become long forgotten.

Maybe it's due to them being from the distant religious hub Utah, or maybe it's just that the songwriting wasn't the best, but LDS never caught on. Both of their records were given fairly negative reviews in Maximum Rock'n'Roll, essentially saying that they aren't anything special. To top it off, nothing much has sprung out of the band in terms of other projects. So LDS are a bit of a mystery band.

Although they were given a rough deal in their heyday, LDS were all very good at their instruments. The drummer in particular shines throughout this record. The vocals let them down slightly, they're not like Danzig, but they're also not nasty and virile like Fear Itself...they're just...standard hardcore yelling. With all this said, the guitars make up for it with some nice macabre melodies and relentless power-chords.

LDS aren't an essential band, but for connoisseurs of punk rock they are definitely worth looking up.

Breeders!

Fear Itself - Till Death Do Us Part (1987)

 

Fear Itself - Till Death Do Us Part 

Fear Itself are, yes, you guessed it...yet another horror themed punk band from the 80s. This time from the unlikely territory of South Carolina, USA. They put out a great demo in in 1986, featured on multiple comp tapes, and released this gem in 1987. Much like the other horror themed bands, Fear Itself were a bit too late to the punk rock picnic. However, their powerful, and sometimes frantic speeds akin to Septic Death, give them an edge over the crossover guck of the time. 

It's obvious that they were all pretty accomplished at their instruments. They swiftly change tempos with frantic grace, staying in time, and spicing up their guitar and drum parts. The guitars and drums are the definite highlights of this record. The drums absolutely blast like a mutha, while the guitars mix up between fastcore, heavy riffs, and slight metal damage! Respect has to be given to the vocal performance here as well. There's a nice snotty bite to the vocals, and some rad sneering, creepy lines to top it off!

This is some dead powerful stuff, and if that album art doesn't convince you to check this out, i don't know what will!

Pray For Death (link from the awesome Brave New World blog)

Tales of Terror LP (1984)

                                                                 Tales of Terror (1984)
One of the better known punk bands of the 80s to flirt with horror imagery was Sacramento's Tales of Terror. Much like 5051, Fear Itself, and the Skulldiggers, Tales stuck to playing punk fucking rock as opposed to crossover or Revolution Summer punk. Not so surprisingly, they were a big deal to the late 80s/early 90s Seattle punk scene. With Mark Arm and Kurt Cobian singing their praises, what more evidence could you want? Maybe the reason Tales resonated with Seattle was their fearless mixing of rockabilly, 70s rock, and macabre melodies into their punk rock frenzy. A sound the grunge bands exploited to much success.




If it wasn't for guitar maestro, Lyon Wong, being killed by a teenager, Tales could have made it big. Read more about that story as well as the history of the band HERE

In typical fashion, when the band split the members went on to other projects. None of which surpassed Tales of Terror in success or acclaim. Unfortunately the punk rock pension plan didn't work out for some of the members with Magner dying of a methadone overdose in 2004 and singer Rat's Ass suffering a series of debilitating strokes recently.

Where did you say you have an Elvis tattoo?

 Link from the great Dr. Drunk blog!

Skulldiggers - 1984 Promo/Demo

 

Skulldiggers - 1984 Promo/Demo 

Yet another horror influenced punk band of the 80s, the Skulldiggers were from Idaho, USA who were featured on the Hideous Headchop'n tape (1985) [Bodily Harm & Reality of a Nightmare] and the awesome War Between The States: North tape (1985) [Werewolf & Green Fleshed Zombies]

Apparently among their ranks were Paul and Onj from Septic Death, pretty nifty, huh?

Unfortunatly, they only released a single demo in 1984. The Skulldiggers have a unique sound. It's relentless punk rock, but it's not afraid to get weird, heavy, and chaotic. The obvious comparison is The Misfits, especially Earth A.D. on the heavier and thrashier moments. But the more abnormal cuts like Necromatia show a post-punk vibe with the effect-swishing guitars and tribal drums. Bodily Harm is probably the heaviest, and longest, track here.While Werewolf is a solid mix of weirdo-swishy guitars and punk rock thrashing.

Amongst the eclectic mix is a furious hardcore attack called Hungry, not dissimilar to The Misfits' Demonomania. Following in suit is Reality of a Nightmare which bridges the gap, going from fast-as-fuck hardcore to a slow, chilling dirge.

This is a definite highlight in 80s horror punk. Dig in!

I'm a werewolf on the prowl, all i wanna do is kill

Robbie The Werewolf - At The Waleback (1964)

 

Robbie The Werewolf - At The Waleback (1964)

In 1964, 'the year of The Beatles', Robbie "The Werewolf" Robison committed an act so preposterous that the recording of said act has gained somewhat of a cult following to this very day.

From the sounds of it, Robbie Robison was probably a comedian. He strings this live set fluidly, telling jokes and stories inbetween his comedy beatnik horror folk. There's some funny stuff here, all performed with a macabre wink. Some of the jokes don't translate too well, particularly the segue into Censored Man, in which the punchline is a guy slitting his wrists.... But on the other hand, most of the jokes work. Frankie-Stein being a particularly funny one

The first time I heard of this record was through an interview with Jello Biafra, and it's not too much of a stretch to believe that Jello may have been influenced by Robbie's twisted sense of humour and vocal manipulation.

Overall, Robbie created something really cool with this record. I can only guess that his show(s?) must have been a riot to go see. For fans of the dark, spooky, and retarded, this is a crucial record to listen to.

Too Much Horror Business:

https://mega.nz/#!VN5WWaQB!j5S8pHSNdyahTLNAxuEJRkHSaiM3xGW4e_p8Urhp_nU

Seditionaries - Wherewolf (1982)

 

Seditionaries - Wherewolf (1982) 

Much like 5150, not much is known about this horror fueled punk band. According to Discogs Shapes is a cover of the Yardbirds Shape of Things, not that i'd have any clue about that. From what i can tell the Seditionaries were from California, USA  and only released this sole record in 1982. They play a fairly typical Cali-punk style, some gang chants, melodic vocals, speedy riffs....you know the drill. I suppose the doo-wop-esque muted arpeggios during the bridge of Wherewolf are a unique touch.

Put out on Rabid records, which i assume is an independent made by the band, this is some cool horror punk. Not earthshattering, granted. But still a very cool document of macabre punk.

Too Much Horror Business!

https://mega.nz/#!hcx2ASwC!9uFncrTa0lkA8KbMWoJacu0bHosPTEEkIItwuRF3qkQ

5150 - Forever Night & Lil' Miss (80s Horror Punk)

 

5150 - Forever Night & Lil' Miss

5150 are a pretty obscure band from 1980s Las Vegas. According to Kill From The Heart they released their records Forever Night and Li'l Miss in 1986 and 1987 respectively. Both of which are on a label called Intoxicated Force Records.

The best way to describe them is like a hardcore Misfits...but not like The Misfits playing hardcore. Does that even make sense? It's not like Earth A.D., where the Misfits sacrificed a lot of their melody for sheer power and speed. 5150 merge the melody with the mach-speed punk rock assault. Reading this back, it sounds like I'm dissing Earth A.D. in a favour of 5150. This isn't really the case as Earth A.D. is a straight classic even if it isn't like the classic Misfits material. As for 5150, they're a really interesting band and it's a shame their not more well known.

However, if 5150 were active during the mid eighties, i can see how they were overlooked. In a time
where crossover and Rites Of Spring punk were becoming the in-things, the primal punk rock thrashings of 5150 were a bit too late for the party.

Which is a total shame as this is some quality horror punk. Definitely up there with The Misfits and Mourning Noise. 

Too Much Horror Business!

https://mega.nz/#!AQA3zYhJ!IwyEMVnRLX55fbe2VU_V9EwzHsDcu9xoqlILOujKPGA

It's beginning to look a lot like Halloween

 

It's that time of year again. Supermarkets stock cheap plastic jack-o-lanterns, spooky decorations, and costumes, shitty horror films flood the market, the wind starts developing a chilly bite, and twatlords plan out their Halloween parties.

In essence, Halloween is fucking bollocks. Just another materialistic holocaust of people well-earned cash.
But the fact that Halloween flirts with the dark side conflict me. I want to like it, and i do like it in a weird way. So while i don't really do much for the holiday i always feel obliged to acknowledge it. This is usually done by listening to horror themed music and watching dodgy horror/sci-fi movies....not too far from my day-to-day life really!

Much like last year, up until Halloween I'll be posting various horror themed music and films. So bust out your Misfits records, get your Friday the 13th movies off the shelf, and slob out with junk food. It's about to get messy...

Blog Update: I'm being lazy and listening to hip-hop

 

 Blog Update: I'm being lazy and listening to hip-hop

As the title suggests, I've been really lazy these past few weeks. It's all dat' schoolin'. Going back to uni put a dampener on my creativity, man. But seriously, I've been super lazy and the move back to uni has drained a lot of my drive to do anything creative. However, with that said-I'm getting into the swing of being more productive. 

What's not helping is that I've noticed that many of my old links have been taken down. So it's up to ya'll to tell me what's down and shit because i don't get updates when something like that happens. Alternatively, you can just send me a personal message and we'll sort something out.

So for the foreseeable future i may have to put 'burner' links up. And by that i mean Zippyshare links. The way Zippyshare works is: if a link doesn't get downloaded in a months time, the link becomes inactive. This is opposed to MEGA where links are active unless taken down by a higher authority. So high-profile, or closely watched, artists are more prone to have copyright knobbers on the loose.

Also delaying my contributions here is my reoccurring interest in hip-hop. I've been casually listening to this stuff for 5 years or so now. But it's only been fairly recently that I've been seriously binging on it.

So to summarise:

1. I'll be putting up temporary links for certain artists 

2. If you want an album and it's link is broke-contact me!

3. Hip-Hop is the shizznit, niggaz!