I can't stop listening to Gastunk.

 It's been a long time since I've jumped into blogland. in the past 3 1/2 years since my last post, I did try my hand at doing a very similar podcast, utilizing some of the content I've touched on in my writing, but after three episodes deleted the whole thing. Let's consider it a pandemic dream that is best left to the black void of the ether.

How cool

Something has happened to me over the past 5 or 6 years and it's probably been a long time coming: I got into Japanese metal and hardcore, mostly from the mid 80's to late 90's. I think this comes from the fact that many current American and European bands aren't speaking to me creatively (or musically!) and that I have gotten full-bore back into record collecting. Thumbing through the crates and rarity walls on the left coast has had me fumble into many an insanely rare Japanese record, temporarily satiating my desire to have the coolest record collection in my wine country suburb. 

Gastunk 1986

Jurassic Jade, Doom, X (Japan), Ghoul, Aion, Gauze, Death Side, Poison (Arts), Judgement, Shell Shock, Paintbox, Crow, Gudon, The Execute, Gism... The list goes on and on, but my current fascination is with GASTUNK. I know I am WAY behind the curve on this one particularly, but I think this journey makes sense. 

I first became aware of Gastunk as many in the US "of a certain age" did: through Pushead and the masters of making bands relevant through t shirt wearing; Metallica. Kirk and Lars wore their shirts in photo shoots and Pushead not only painted an incredible portrait of  frontman Baki, but also used it on the Gastunk LP he himself released on Pusmort Records "Under the Sun" in 1987. 

Those of us who read Thrasher magazine in the late 80's couldn't help but trip over something Pushead related- either writing, art or  Zorlac Skateboard ads with his signature skulls puking or bleeding all over it. Pushead's style appealed to aggro adolescents everywhere. Let's face it, across the board, his shit rocked. He even interviewed Glenn Danzig for christ's sake. He did the art not just for Metallica's shirts, but also their SKATEBOARD. Pushead was achieving the things a landlocked 14 year old could only dream of. Top all that off, he had an AWESOME band (Septic Death) and an incredible record label (Pusmort).

Metallica liked Gastunk, Pushead liked Gastunk, looking at pictures in metal magazines and skatezines- it seemed like everyone liked Gastunk, but I didn't. I heard about 45 seconds of "Under the Sun" and wrote them off forever. Later Skater. 

Metallica, T Shirt Champions

Two years ago (nearly exactly), however, that all changed. I had come across a test press of the INCREDIBLE 1986 "A Farewell to Arms" LP compilation featuring Lip Cream, Outto, Ghoul, The Execute, Gauze and you guessed it... Gastunk. When the record arrived, I put it on and went about my business in my living room. At the end of side A, something magical happened: I heard an absolutely perfect song. A seamless blend of metal and punk that at the same time was neither, yet BOTH. That song was The Eye's by none other than Gastunk... Perhaps further research WAS actually needed.

Thanks to all things digital I was able to find many of their releases on Archive.org to  explore and got right into re-evaluating all things Gastunk.  Holy shit were they a great band. Their first self-titled EP and "Dead Song," their first LP (both from 1985) are incredible! "Vanishing Signs" and the "To Fans" EP (1986) are right in that pocket as well, but the other singles and EPs from that year start to slide a bit. Then I got to my former nemesis, "Under the Sun," and it was like wrecking a "new-to-you" car. It sounded less confident and cheesy. The material after was practically indigestible. But MAN, that stuff from 85-86 kept me engaged, I listened to it over and over and over. I read every scrap about the band I could online and procured physical copies of "Dead Song," "Vanishing Signs" and "To Fans." I then found that there were two versions of "Under the Sun" released- the original Japanese version on Vice records released in June of 1987 and the US version on Pusmort in November 1987- this version had the vocals redone in English and a different mix. I sought out the original and boy oh boy, it is 100, if not 1000, times better and I now consider myself a fan. Gastunk is all I want to listen to, all the time. Maybe I'll give that last LP another shot too but let me revel in this small victory first. 

Unfortunately, Gastunk barely made it out of Japan before breaking up in December 1988. Though, in early 1988, they DID play two US shows: one In Long Beach at Fender's Ballroom in February with Nuclear Assault and another, 36 years ago today, at The Whiskey A Go Go in Hollywood. Video shows it's a far cry from what was going on in '85, but they were a band that continued to play their classic with the new/ current stuff their entire career... Oh to be a fly on the wall on 3/14/88.

Feeling sad but I can't fight it- Home (Naked Raygun)

EDIT: boy do I have egg on my face. I sent this entry to the best friend mentioned in the story and he let me know I had confused two Thanksgiving movie treks into one. The discovery of Naked Raygun, for me, actually took place on November 26th, 1988 when he and I went to see They Live, a movie we both LOVED, I got the NR record and he got Death's Leprosy on cassette. We all went and saw Predator 2 as as a big group, with more friends (as we had actually made some by that point in High School) he also says he doesn't look at P2 is as harsh of a light as the rest of us... ANYWAY, enjoy this MOSTLY true story:

On November 23^rd, 1990 my best friend and I ventured to the Boulevard Mall in Amherst NY to see the sequel to one of our most revered films, Predator. Ultimately, it was the hard sell to our 16 year old  brains, old man Danny Glover (though, at the time, he was 2 years younger than I am currently) goes toe- to- toe with the predator and wins. We HATED it. It was akin to the transition from …And Justice for All to The Black album or Technocracy to Blind, total disappointment.

While we were walking through the mail picking apart what we had just seen, we went over to regional record store chain Cavages to see what gems we could find. When I looked in my pocket to see what degree of funds I was working with, I had around $8, and lamented the fact that I had way overspent on theater snacks and food court delicacies. Thankfully, in the import section I saw an LP marked “Import- $6.99” on Homestead Records.  The layout looked strange, and I mistook Homestead for New Renaissance Records (of which, I had the Speed Metal Hell compilations) and plunked down $7 and some change for the kind of punk looking record Throb Throb by Naked Raygun.

When I put the record on, I was blown away. The power and speed of hardcore were there, but with huge melodic hooks- I was instantly a fan. Shortly thereafter, I got a copy of their second full-length All Rise on cassette from my cousin, who had it stowed in a box of stuff he didn’t like. Again, All Rise was yet another tasty bite for my ever increasing teenage musical appetite.

I already loved Raygun when I got a copy of Understand In early 1990, but that record, and more specifically the song Treason, galvanized that loved to near obsession.  I picked up their current record Raygun… Naked Raygun and aside from the opening track, which thankfully I also got as a standalone 7” single, I don’t think I ever listened to again for a decade, choosing to stick the parts I loved and leaving out the ugly bits of a band on its way out.

In the fall of 1991, I was hanging out with my friend Scott and he asked me if I had heard “the guys from Naked Raygun’s new band” he handed me an LP which I assumed was to borrow, but he told me I could keep it. That record was Strong Reaction by Pegboy and every song was somehow BETTER than Naked Raygun. I wanted to go see Pegboy with Social Distortion during the spring on 1992, but tickets were $20 and that seemed like A LOT of money for a show,  and seeing as I had seen the Bad Brains and other huge shows for $10 and under, I passed, which I regret; I have not come across the opportunity to see Pegboy since.

On Thanksgiving Day 1997, I found out in an AOL chatroom that Raygun was doing two reunion shows that coming weekend. It seemed impossible to make it happen and although I started sorting out the logistics, I decided not to take the risk of driving 550 miles with the hopes of getting into one of two sold out gigs with little money and a more unreliable vehicle. I decided that I would never see them and would have to just dig in to the recordings. My band at the time, No Reason, was asked by  Dyslexic Records (who had just released The Last of the Demohicans by Naked Raygun) and although we started working on the song Rat Patrol, and although we did play it live for fun ones, we never recorded it and the band, and Dyslexic Records both folded.

In the fall of 2006, my ex-wife and I learned that Raygun was playing a reunion gig at the Metro in Chicago that coming November.  We both decided we had to go, as one of our first conversations ever revolved around a Throb Throb shirt I was wearing.  On a hunch I Myspace messaged drummer Eric Spicer if they were doing any smaller warm up gigs and he pointed me in the direction of a Holyy Lazarski Nahane gig with The Bomb (Singer Jeff Pizzatti’s newer band) at Subterranean, a MUCH smaller club, the night before the Metro show.  This was the better of the two nights and the night where I enjoyed myself a lot more, the set list and show was more my style than the vastness of the Metro.  The Strip/ Vanilla Blue/ Dog at Large/ Entrapment/ Roller Queen/ Surf Combat/ Knock Me Down/ Rat Patrol/ Walk in Cold/ I Don't Know/ I Lie/ New Dreams.

The Metro show was one of the first iterations of “Riot Fest,” which has grown to a US Festival of massive proportions, but this was a relatively small at around 1,500 people.  I remember being mostly bored during the opening bands (even the Effigies were less than exciting), with 7 Seconds, who can get along at any show on their back catalogue of songs alone being an exception, and actually leaving the show at some point to have dinner at a sit down Mexican restaurant. Raygun were better the night before and the start stop of their first song really kind of detracted from the set’s take off.  Home Of The Brave/ Metastasis/ Hips Swingin'/ Coldbringer/ Dog At Large/ Surf Combat/ Treason/ Gear/ Suspect Device/ The Strip/ Managua/ I Don't Know/ Rat Patrol. After the set, I won an autographed Naked Raygun skateboard, which was awesome, HOWEVER, they had sold so many decks, they had none with and album art left, so they had to sign one of the company’s standard board. Jeff wrote “The Lame Eagle Board” on it and it still hangs on my wall to this day.

I was extremely saddened this morning when I awoke to a message from my friend Bill informing me that Pierre Kezdy, the bassist for Naked Raygun and later Pegboy had lost his long battle with cancer. I felt the need to write something, but couldn’t really put it into words the way I wanted to.  Raygun was the first band I 100% discovered myself, with no outside influence whatsoever, so it hits hard- they were mine and even though I didn’t know Pierre, it still hits like I’ve lost a friend of the past three decades.

“We can look back and say, ‘We were the guys out there with machetes, blazing a path through the jungle, while other people were able to follow and bring their weapons through easily. And what did we get out of it? Sore arms.”- Pierre Kezdy 2015

Black Flag Part Deux.

Remember this post from 3 years ago? 

https://ilikemusicsometimes.blogspot.com/2017/04/i-never-saw-black-flagor-rather-ode-to.html

Well, I saw Black Flag over the weekend and it was extremely underwhelming.  I intended to write a long, play by play style post about the how's and why's and that Excel is the best live band in the world(they also played) but I'm gonna just leave at this; if you have ANY inkling of going to see the current incarnation of Black Flag, SAVE YOUR MONEY. Watch a recent set on youtube. It's like ordering a pizza and being served store brand Spaghettios. It's not worth it. Seriously, DON'T. 

My on again, off again with The Misfits Part 3

I never expected to write a part 3, but here we are... (part 1, part 2)

Maybe something bad, maybe something good

4 years ago this month, I ventured with some friends to the annual "This is Hardcore" fest in surly, yet wonderful Philadelphia, PA, I went for the camaraderie and not to really see a specific band per se. The Jerry Only fronted version of the "Misfits" were headlining Saturday night, which had the most bands playing that I was interested in (Killing Time, Cro-Mags, and after the fact, surprisingly, Biohazard were a highlight) so I was kinda looking forward to that, especially when I saw they were going to play Earth AD in it's entirety.  Alex, Milford and I had traveled to "Natefest" earlier in the year and it was a solid crew to be travelling with.

Alex, Milford and the Author.

The shows were what festivals always are: fun at times, but arduous at best. The Misfits came on late on Saturday and the Crowd was initially amped, but without a front man, the 39 song set just seemed to drag after like the 8th or 9th song. As the set steamed a long, Milford turned to me and said "I'd never thought I'd be so bored hearing these songs." I agreed. This line up was not BAD they played just fine and was certainly better than some of the late 90's and early 2000's shows I had seen, but it was unbelievably NOT captivating.  If you watch the video of the set, it seems like they lose the crowd pretty fast.

After that, I pretty much thought I was done seeing the Misfits (again), why would I want to watch songs I absolutely love be so absolutely mundane? Not to mention, but I had seen the whole "Danzig and Doyle" thing twice and they absolutely crushed the 8 or 9 Misfits songs they did for those shows, plus they were sandwiched in between absolute classic Danzig material. On that 2005 tour, Danzig had his best post-John Christ era guitarist, Joe Fraulob, on guitar. Sad that he didn't make it longer, he could actually play the leads with the skill and feel they require. On the 2006 tour he had Kenny Hickey, another totally legit stand in for John Christ. Those dudes, plus Doyle, put the 2015 Jerry trio to shame. Not to mention in 2006, they did a bunch of Samhain songs too, apparently at Kenny's behest.

Joe Fraulob and the 'Zig 2005, by Maurice Nunez

Kenny Hickey, lifted from a Myspace fan page (lol)

Listen, I love Danzig... Misfits, Samhain and the eponymous band, it just strikes a chord with me. But this love comes with conditions. Danzig's last two records, Skeletons and Black Laden Crown were bargain bin fodder and the Misfits without him is so fucking spotty, it's really not worth the effort. But two weeks ago, tickets for the June 29th "Original Misfits" show in LA practically fell in my lap and I made plans to go and I am so glad I did.

Werewolf bar mitzvah, spooky, scary 

I gave my spare ticket to Adrian, who plays guitar in Tuning on the condition that we take his car. It also worked out that we could stay at his brother's place in Ventura. The trip was planned and actualized fairly quickly and soon enough we were at the Banc of California stadium. We ran into, and then hung out with, Andy Coretex (who was responsible for the Tuning record even happening) and his family the whole day. The thing is, although we checked out where our far-away-from-the-stage seats were, we never actually sat in them, as there was a snack area, with a much closer view of the stage had a railing you could watch the show and eat at- and that's where we stayed for the whole show.

I'm having the time of my life here.

The Cro-Mags set was hit and miss, I'm not sold on this latest Harley incarnation, the Age of Quarrel songs sounded terrible, but the Best Wishes songs ruled. Anti-Nowhere League sucked, flat out and The Distillers were terribly uninteresting in this setting. Rise Against were pretty good, I really like their first few records and don't terribly mind the radio rock hits, plus Dead Hearts played with they when they were on the way up and they were really fucking cool. The crowd started to fill out 1/2 way through their set- by the time the Misfits took the stage, there were A LOT of people in that stadium.

The Misfits raged through 30 songs, all played with intensity and with 100% devastating effectiveness. I've gone over the set a hundred times in my head the past three day and it's been tough to really find the words to describe it aside from the typical- AWESOME! AMAZING! INCREDIBLE! But that's exactly what it was, awesome, amazing and incredible. I highly doubt the Misfits reunion shows that came before or that will come after will be as good. I think this is the prefect show to finally put the Danzig baby to rest, end on a high note. Especially considering there will be no higher note than the HILARIOUS $10 parking lot bootleg I got with a terribly drawn likeness of the current band on the front and the MICHAEL GRAVES era on the back! Bravo!

The Front

The Back

The Author Enojoying

Music Festivals: A Personal and Truncated Memoir.

Not me, but really a festival "everyman"

As a whole, I am not fond of music festivals. Particularly big (or small) open air stages filled with overpriced food and beverages and sound akin to a loud tin can falling into a puddle. That’s not to say I haven’t had positive experiences attending one, it’s just that, as a whole, at some point you realize you’re standing in a field, or a parking lot; baking in the hot sun, or having rain pissed on you. I often think, “Have conditions ever been 100% exactly perfect for a festival in North America?” After going to Punk Rock Bowling in 2016 to see Dag Nasty, I SWORE I’d never go to another outdoor gig. Yet since, I’ve still found myself at them, either wishing I had a jacket, or a bag to put stuff in, or maybe something I would actually want to eat while I’m fucking locked inside the fences; is that too much to ask?             

 The first outdoor “music festival” I attended was Lollapaloza in Barrie, Ontario in July of 1993. I went with a group of friends who I had graduated with a year earlier. It was really the last “big thing” we did before two of them decided to head off to the army. It was a hot day, you weren’t allowed to bring anything in and food and water was pretty expensive. Then again, alternative rock was pretty big business by the point, with bands and labels making money hand over fist. I went wearing an Inside Out long sleeve shirt and HUGE ‘X’s” on my hand, with the intention of getting on top of the crowd during Rage Against the Machine and giving the middle finger to Zack de la Rocha for “selling out” straight edge. I made my way to the front, near the barrier and waited… The opening bass line to “Bombtrack” started and when the drums kicked in with “UHH!” I was lifted from my feet by the surging crowd and toppled over.  I have been in fights at shows, foolishly dived off stages, but in that instance, I truly feared for my safety; I had no control as to where I could move to as more and more people fell on top of me. After what seemed like an eternity, I pulled myself up and fought my way out of the densely packed crowd. I walked far up on the lawn and watched RATM level the place. I saw a lot of bands that day, even fell asleep on said lawn during Dinosaur Jr. but that Rage set was something so great that (last minute) I went to see the same show 2 weeks later in PA. I honestly don’t remember RATM’s set from the second show, just falling asleep on the lawn (again) to Dino Jr. I also bought a copy of the Bhagavad Gita and a Youth of Today “Youth Crew 88” shirt (right off the back) from a Hare Krishna guy in the parking lot.

Lifted from a google search

A couple of weekends ago, I’m hoping that I went to what will be my last outdoor festival, not that it was terrible, I just don’t like experiencing music this way.  Anyway, I took a chance on something called “Burger Boogaloo” in Oakland. Mostly, the lineup consisted of bands that seem far too “hip,” or something, than my “I grew up in the suburbs in the 80’s” taste. It seemed like it was mostly stuff for people who live in gentrified areas of a city and stay out late drinking Pabst Blue Ribbon on a weeknight.  I arrived in the early afternoon, waited an hour in line and pleasantly ran into my friend Mike, whom Dead Hearts (my old band; Mike happens to be an uncle of another member, but is my age) had stayed with a bunch on tour. Mike drove a long way (Olympia, WA) to get to the show. We caught up and tried to watch Mudhoney but they were as boring as I’d remembered.  I was never much of a “college rock” or “grunge" guy, so no surprise there. Some other bands played, but I barely watched any, until The Mummies came out and wrecked the place. Now, seeing a band in broad day light in not optimal and I think most people can agree that seeing a band in a dark, packed club is always the ideal. I saw Dimmu Borgir once in the middle of the day at an outdoor gig in 90 degree heat and high humidity: it did NOT work on any level. I actually felt bad for those guys having to do their evil black metal shtick while slowly melting on stage.  Anyway, the Mummies came out and after one of the greatest introductions I have ever seen, ROCKED. Their gimmick works at 6:45pm as well at it would at 11, so I was pretty into it.

The Mummies, photo by the author

I had made my way upfront long before The Mummies in order to secure a spot for the reason I came: DEVO. A band I had discovered/ liked in 1981, fell in love with in 87 and never looked back. I wasn’t a completest, but I had the Freedom of Choice and Are We Not Men? LPs and Greatest Hits on cassette, which I listened to on my Walkman riding the bus to and from high school in between blasts of thrash metal and hardcore. At the time, I didn’t have a copy of Duty Now For The Future, so on the extra blank space on side two of said cassette, I dubbed “The Day My Baby Gave Me  a Surprise,” my favorite song, off of the We’re All Devo Vhs tape I had. I wasn’t cool, and even though they acted like they weren’t, Devo certainly was.

John Waters came out and did a stumbly, odd-paced introduction and then we were off to the races. Devo sounded EXCELLENT and exceeded all of my expectations: Girl U Want/ Whip It/ (I Can't Get No) Satisfaction/ Secret Agent Man/ Uncontrollable Urge/ Mongoloid/ Jocko Homo/ Smart Patrol/Mr. DNA/ Gates of Steel/ DEVO Corporate Anthem/ Gut Feeling (Slap Your Mammy)/ Beautiful World/ The Girl Can't Help It/ Come Back Jonee. It was really incredible, with the only song TRULY missing from the set was Freedom of Choice and seemed to be the only complaints fans had while I was leaving. It only took me like 37 years from when I first heard “Through Being Cool” to finally see them, I had been kicking myself for the many times I missed them over the years, but now that box is checked and I’m REALLY hoping that this is the last time I have to go to another outdoor festival gig, unless of course, I can sleep on the lawn during Dinosaur Jr.

photo by the author

Photo by the author

Martyrs and Motherfuckers, my old 'zine

17 years ago (the year 2000!) I did a 'zine called Martyrs and Motherfuckers. My friend Mark was kind enough to scan in the first issue for me, as I never kept one. I did three 'zines total; Blood on the Floor, Prick and the one you'll find below for your reading pleasure (I was also a regular contributor to Mark's 'zine Hello My Name Is) I cringe at some of it, but overall, I think it was a good 'zine. 

(PDF link at the bottom of the page)

If you'd like to download a pdf of this illustrious piece of JDS history, you can do so HERE.