Part-Time Christians - Rock and Roll is Disco

Continuing on with our journey through Taang! week, we find this delicious, belly-satisfying smorgasbord of back-in-the-da,y East Bay pun- thrash courtesy of the Part-Time Christians.

Fast and furious?  Check.  Anger spat out in a spleen venting eruption?  Yep.  Gut-wrenching, grinding guitar riffs?  Oh, yes.  An absolutely bizarre fixation with . . . bowling?  Uh, yeah.  We got that too.  Forget skate punk.  The Part-Time Christians may just be the world's founders (if not the only members) of the Bowling Punk genre.  Yeah, maybe you hadn't heard of it before now.  But you should, because the P.T.C.'s are killer at what they do.

I gotta admit, I took to this CD a bit more rapidly than I may have otherwise once I read the liner notes where bassist-cum-lead screamer Cosmo lays out a tale that hit real close to home.  And I mean that literally.  While I'd never heard these guys before, it seems they formed back in my days, right in my backyard.  In those notes Cosmo reveals how he left his evil step-dad's home in Iowa and moved west to Modesto and then Concord, California.  Knowing that Concord was just a stone's throw from SF and having just seen his first Dead Kennedys show, he envisioned himself knee-deep in an alternative culture where punk kids ruled society, hardcore was the national anthem, and piercings and punk attire was the Gucci couture.  Big mistake.  Back in the early '80's, as Cosmo soon discovered, Concord, California was "quite possibly the most outwardly racist, heavy metal hell" he'd ever set foot in.  And it was.  I know this.  I nearly got my ass kicked several times growing up outside of Concord.  And I was a metal head!  But the difference was I didn't wear my AC/DC allegiance on my sleeve, drive a pick-up, and spout out like a lunk-headed, jock jackass.  I was into Maiden and Saxon and Motorhead back when Concord didn't know they existed.   In their one-neuron-shared mind, I was just as weird as the punks were.  So I got on well with the punk kids.  I wasn't one of them, but I was just as much an outsider by musical proxy as they were.  The enemy of my enemy is my friend and all that rubbish.

Despite this wall of hatred around them, Cosmo managed to field together a band, get East Bay Ray from The Dead Kennedys to listen, produce their initial stuff and release some 7"'s on Alternative Tentacles Records.  After a blitzkrieg career that found the East Bay band playing alongside such acts as the Dead Kennedy's, Suicidal Tendencies, T.S.O.L., Exodus, Social Distortion, Butthole Surfers, Faith No More, Death Angel, and the Lords of the New Church, the band broke up.  Now, 22 years later, P.T.C. has reformed and this Taang! release compiles 21 songs into a must have retrospective and current snapshot of the underground legends.

First up, we get the whole 8 song Rock and Roll is Disco EP originally released in 1984 and appearing here on CD for the first time.  And there it is. Everything that made the band tick.  A vicious low rumble of bass, a maniacal smashing of cymbals and drum, a larynx shredding vocal attack of pure, unadulterated punk.  "Religion on a Stick" just attacks out of the speakers with a huge middle finger raised to the religious hypocrites who "church on Sunday, sin on Monday."  Probably just as powerful now as it was back in the day.  But the boys don't just vent.  There's a pounding to the guitars and bass that captivates.  There's some chord progressions that definitely take this out of the ordinary.  Dynamic changes.  Structure.  Nearly a singable chorus.  It's pure hardcore of the first order, and possesses that little something extra.  "Bonique" follows and again it become apparent that these guys may have been full-on punk, but that doesn't mean they were instrument bashers.  They knew how to play, how to write some songs, mash in some heavy metal elements to the punk assault.  Truly, they were a hybrid crossover between punk and metal long before that term ever existed.  And suddenly, the times they played with Faith No More, Exodus and Death Angel begin to make sense.

Then there's that other thing.  The bowling obsession.  And when I say obsession, I mean OBSESSION.  How do the song titles "Strength Through Bowling", " Bowling Pin Massacre," "Orthopedic Bowling Shoes"," and "Gutterball" grab you?  But don't worry, these weren't novelty attacks by the band.  "Strength" is a hardcore frenzy of staccato vocals and buzzsaw guitars.  "Bowling Pin Massacre" is a very early punk/funk/rap fusion that actually is more fun (and more funky) than you might expect.   "Orthopedic" almost qualifies as post-punk with it's chiming guitar lines, while "Gutterball" is anger and venom, just as it should be when your "life is a gutterball."

But one thing that makes this release so cool is the hint of what the future holds for PTC.  From their 2008 reunion we get four songs in the form of the P.T.C. Lives EP.  With a revamped, but familiar line-up P.T.C. come raging back sounding just a vital as ever.  "Chrome (Got What it Takes)" is pure hardcore/metal melding energy.  Rampant bass and roughshod guitars buzz under Cosmo's barely contained vocals.  This is seriously heavy, seriously intense, and seriously good.  It reminds me of the latest Leatherface offering, and if that band hit's your musical G-spot then you really should check P.T.C. out.   Compared to back-in-the-day,  the songs may be a touch slower, but if anything, they're a bit meaner.  A more metallic edge has been ramrodded into the mix.  "Electric Fence" almost sounds like a cross between Sabbath and the DK's.  Which, if you think about it, is pretty f-ing cool.  "Bionic Cop," keeps the crossover heat rising with pure thrash riffery and hardcore gang-vocal choruses.  Finally, "One Dead Bee" expands the metal-punk reformation to the epic with its 6:44 assault to the frontal lobe.

Adding to the cool factor of the whole thing is the final section.  8 song demo versions recorded in 1983.  Raw, crude.  An attitude more than an actual band here, the song's are fun for filling in the history line of the band. But truthfully, with the rough sound quality, these are probably more of interest to committed P.T.C. fans rather than new acquaintances.   Still, some of the cuts that never made it onto the Rock and Roll is Disco EP are pretty fricking fun, like "Sex in a Sub-Compact" and the gothic/punk horrorscapade of "Cemetery" leading the pack.

Funny, how I had to wait 27 years and needed the assistance of a Boston-formed punk rock label to introduce me to guys that fought the same battles I fought back in high school, right in my own backyard.  But there it is.  I'll be looking for the next P.T.C show in the Concord area and be sure to be there moshing to welcome back the boys. 


--Racer

Buy here: Rock And Roll Is Disco

Everybody Out! – S/T

As I continue down this path of punk rock discovery, one thing that is readily apparent is that, like most if not all other musical genres, there is wide range of styles. We have all this great crossover stuff, the early British punk, the New York hardcore, the O.C. stuff, and then there’s this Boston punk scene that I’ve always known about, but never paid much attention to. That is, until Racer turned me on to Street Dogs and then it was like someone turned on a light in very dark and cluttered room. I could suddenly see the brilliance of said cluttered room, and I now had the opportunity to really dissect the intricacies of the pieces of clutter littering the room.

Part of the now infamous Pope and Racer Taang! trip, is a band called Everybody Out! They’re a Boston punk outfit made up of Rick Barton, who played guitar in Dropkick Murphy’s, and The Dead Pets/Lost City Angels frontman, Sweeney Todd, and these guys play a most captivating brand of hardcore that I’ve never experienced anything quite like it. Sure . . . there are probably a ton of folks sitting around who know their Boston scene, and that’s fine, I’m not necessarily talking to you. I don’t need to . . . you’re already in the know! I’m trying to reach out to the masses of folk who are stuck in some underground bunker or  . . . Alaska . . . those folks who are unknowingly screaming for a style of music that will have them bouncing around their domiciles, bobbing their heads in time with upbeat swagger, and ultimately singing along as if their voices belonged in some choir for the ages. These are the people who need to be spinning Everybody Out!’s self-titled debut record . . .yes, record. Sure, the CD is fine, but there are tracks on the LP that don’t make it on the CD and they are must have’s!

Everybody Out! is one of those records that you can’t listen to just once . . . it won’t let you. It’s too powerful of a force, and way too compelling and fun to go on to anything else. Opening with “Wide Awake”, the quick count off and the eruption of Sex Pistols-esque punk rock overwhelms the senses. Upbeat and sung with a defiant sneer, and then suddenly launches to a stratospheric raucous tirade, and man! I love every second of this! The chorus, the backing vocals, the immediacy of the face paced tempo, and in classic punk rock fashion, the breakdown with gang vocals sells me on this one way ticket to the Boston underground. Without a pause between tracks, “Everybody Out!” drops in and the living room bounce-a-thon continues. Another up tempo rocker and I dare you to knock sing at the top of your lungs . . . “Everybody out! Everybody out!” . . . it’s simply the most contagious song on the album. The best part for me is when the guys break the song down and hand clap the rhythm while chanting the chorus. The timing of the break is perfect . . . it could have come across as cheesy, but in this case, simply perfect. It totally captures the essence of this recording.

The sing-a-longs continue through “Ghettoblaster” and by the time we get to “Jack The Lad”, filled with its Mighty Mighty Bosstone ska inflections, our singing voices should be in top form to accompany the boys through the back half of the first side of this platter. This song caught me off guard a bit because I wasn’t expecting the horn section, especially the jazz tinged mid portion, but I’ll be damned if this isn’t one of the coolest songs on the record. Seriously . . . this album is getting better and better as it goes along! Everybody Out! shows a great amount of musical diversity throughout, incorporating horns in one song, pianos on the next, straight up guitar, bass, and drums on the next . . . just keep me guessing, lads!

Putting the wraps on side 1 is the song that forced me and Racer to pick this beast up. “Billy Cole” was playing over the P.A. system at Taang! and there was nothing more we could do. We simply had to purchase the record. Without question, one of the finest purchases of the day! Sung with a very Irish cadence, almost in poetic form, “Billy Cole” is the punk rock equivalent of folk music. The boys tell a tale of a couple of people, one being a cat named Billy Cole, who lead completely different lives and probably die completely different deaths, but ultimately are just two people trying to eke their ways through life. Acoustic guitars strum a heavy rhythm and the vocals convey the lyric message that pulls on the heart strings. Then when they introduce Mike, the music turns darker and heavier, more imposing, and fuck! Just buy the record and spin this song over and over again . . . it’s that fucking awesome!

If you still have the energy to flip the platter over and attack side 2, go on ya’! You’ll find yourself bouncing along with more of that upbeat Boston punk sound, complete with even more sing-alongs. But what you’ll get with the vinyl edition that you won’t get from the CD edition is songs like “Boy” and the show stopper, “Home”. “Boy” is another acoustic guitar strummin’ folk-y epic that injects a ton of distorted heaviness and maybe even more raw emotion. “Home” is one of those songs that Racer and would categorize as a patriotic song calling for our troops to get home to the families that love them. Perfectly penned in a lyrical fashion and the music conveys the immediacy for action. It’s enough to make the strongest punker get a little weepy. And, my God . . . the chorus is one that will have you standing on your rooftops, leaning out your high rise windows, shaking your fist and singing along!

If I had heard this album back in 2008 when it was originally released, it would have been sitting comfortably at the top of that year’s Best of List. Truth is, it’s probably even better than I think it is. Everybody Out!’s self-titled album is one of those albums that I don’t want to stop listening to. I’ll be cruising around doing my day to day activities and I’ll be thinking about listening to this record. I’ve actually listened to a couple of other records and couldn’t wait for them to end so I could put this one back on. Upbeat, positive, emotionally raw, solid song craft, good story telling . . . all elements that are included in this album, and it downright rocks! This one is highly recommended regardless of what style of music you gravitate towards. This is a genre crosser and it needs to be on your playlist.

--Pope

Buy here: www.taang.com

http://www.myspace.com/everybodyoutboston

Poison Idea - Kings of Punk

After our whole Taang! experience, and listening to the Attitude Adjustment CD, The Collection, I got to thinking . . . and mind you, it wasn’t the type of stop everything, I need to sequester myself to an abandoned shed for forty days and forty nights type of thinking. This was more of the casual thinking as I sit in a drive-thru waiting for my latest order of gut bomb in a bag to be handed to me. The thought racing around my noodle (mmm, noodles) was, what makes good punk rock? I’m sure everybody reading this will have their opinion as to what makes good punk rock, and it was more of a rhetorical thought than an actual forum question anyway.

After listening to Poison Idea’s Kings of Punk, I feel that I’m that much closer to satisfying a portion of that burning drive-thru question. Kings of Punk is a blistering anti-everything tirade that got me blood boiling, my fists pumping, and my body shaking. The album is high intensity, fast paced, and irreverent as all good punk, in my mind, should be. But here’s the wrinkle, folks . . . and yes, it gets better . . . these guys don’t seemingly just bash their instruments into submission and scream nonsensical obscenities, they create massively moving punk rock epics filled with dynamic shifts in tempo and mood. I would hate to insult the Poison Idea guys by calling this progressive punk, because there isn’t that flighty, soaring silliness that inherent in a lot of prog. But what these do bring is a sense of song craft that’s more challenging that the standard fair of punk rock. I’ve always wondered why if punk rock is supposed to be so intelligent in subject matter that it had to be so 4/4 and standardized to the point that it takes absolutely no conscious effort to listen to it. Poison Idea, thankfully, solved this conundrum for me.

“Lifestyles” kicks off the album in full on classic punk rock fashion. High speed drumming and a wall of distorted guitar chaos, all given an exclamation point with the snotty sneering vocal attack of Jerry A, this is an attention getter from the opening minute. That primal assault on the senses does the job for certain, appealing to that dark and despondent streak that can run through me on the best and worst of days, but then . . . then, these guys pull the figurative E-brake and skid this bitch around a corner so fast that if you were in a pursuit car, you’d be shredding your tires trying to break yourself. Just a hair over a minute into the song, they drop the tempo way down, play distorted arpeggios and give the notes space to breath a bit. Powerful shit! There’s a great deal of stellar musicianship in this track, from the out-of-the-box bass lines to the mournful guitar passages, this song is a spotlight on headiness that hardcore can have.

“Ugly American” is a more mid-tempo crusher and the song is packed with more musical moments of brilliance. Again, great bass licks, heavy guitar riffs, but tastefully played, and the vocals are impassioned and venomous. And, it features one of the elements that’s always made punk rock so cool to me, a strong lyrical message. In the case of “Ugly American” the band launches an all out assault on the neo-Nazi movement and their views of racial inequality. A song with focused rage, though maybe not the most politically correct or tactfully diplomatic, it doesn’t need to be. The point is made that injustice won’t be tolerated and those who have intolerant viewpoints will be looked down upon. All of three minutes long and I feel like I’ve been rocked for an hour.

   

Throughout Kings of Punk, I’ve found myself gravitating towards the songs that have the richest dynamics, such as “Lifestyles”, ”Death Wish Kids”, and “Tormented Imp”.  I dig the change of pace . . . there’s only so much of the hopped up rock n’ roll and massive volume and insane speed that I can handle, so the tempo changes that Poison Idea inject into their songs is welcomed with open ears. “Made To Be Broken” is one of my favorites with its quai-Boston punk intro and bombastic assault on the senses . . . I mean, this screams punk rock in every classic sense of the word. Then as I found myself just about to collapse into a ball of battered flesh and bones, the band changes things up . . . slows the tempo down a bit, but without losing any of the earlier power from the song, and they return to the opening guitar line with punk-y melodic Celtic thing going on. That, my friends, is simply bitchin’ work!

“Tormented Imp” is a cataclysmic grinder full of subtle nuance that took me by complete surprise. Mostly performed in mid-tempo, the intensity on this track is damn near overwhelming. I love the vocal approach, building with intensity and rage from the first to the second . . . and then as we swing from the left to the right, fuck! And the slight breaks that the band place in this one makes the song one of the most compelling and interesting moments on the disc. The metalhead in me is disappointed that the song doesn’t continue longer while the punk rock in me thinks it over stays its welcome. I love it. Excuse me a sec . . . I need to play it again.

Originally released in 1986, while I was jerkin’ myself wild over the musical spectacle that was Metallica’s Master of Puppets, Kings of Punk could easily have been the most important punk rock/hardcore album of the time. It has everything one could want from a punk rock disc . . . high energy, uncompromising, intelligent, and completely unique from any other hardcore from this era. Recommended by the good folks at Taang! Records, I’m thrilled stupid that I paid enough attention and had the good sense to listen to someone other than the voices in my head. I grew up hearing the name Poison Idea in my various circles of friends, but no one ever had the balls to enlighten me to their sound. Now I’ve heard them and now I love them. I suspect my bank account will become more and more empty due to Poison Idea. I suppose I could do worse. A lot worse.

--Pope

Buy here:  www.taang.com

http://homepages.nyu.edu/~cch223/usa/poisonidea_main.html

The Ripple Effect Visits Taang! and Gets an Attitude Adjustment

When Racer makes his way down to San Diego, there’s one thing that inevitably happens . . . wait. Make that two things that inevitably happen. First, we stop at a hole in the wall Mexican restaurant and load up on gut bombs in the form of carne asada burritos. The second is that we take our new found stink and astounding rotund-ness to one of several record stores in the greater San Diego area. Tuesday, March 29^th was no different. After filling ourselves with the delectable flavors of savory beef served up in a zesty salsa and guacamole, all wrapped up neat in its flour tortilla skin, we were a misstep away from literally rolling into Taang! Records on 5^th Street located in the heart of the Hillcrest area.

To walk into this store is like walking into a museum of not just punk rock greatness, but rock n’ roll greatness in all of its various forms. Plastering every vacant inch of wall space, one will find first print editions of Bad Brains, TSOL, Metallica, Sabbath, Dead Kennedys, Sticky Little Fingers, and on and on and on . . . every time that I turned around something new and exciting caught my eye, and then captivated my attention, which then led to long drawn out conversation of said item. Taang! Records isn’t merely a record store for the vinyl collector in your life . . . the place houses tons of CD’s from various genres, though punk and hardcore are the more popular genres littering the bins.

But coolest of all, this store is also the home of Taang! Records the label . . . home of such artists as Gang Green, Dropkick Murphys, Street Dogs, The Mighty Mighty Bosstones, Slapshot, Street Dogs, and the band that caught our ears as the tight riffing dissonance blasted from the stores PA system, Attitude Adjustment.

Folks, it’s rare that Racer and I will lift our heads from the random bins of music when we hear music playing over a sound system, but there was something different going on here. The music had such an immediacy to it that we both looked up from our Deep Purple, Black Flag, and CSN(Y) LP’s with wide eyes of amazement, mouthing the words, “Who the fuck is this?” So, not being shy . . . we asked, and found out that we were listening to the brand new recordings from Attitude Adjustment. The band was in Denmark recording their new, as of yet titled album during a few days of down time on their latest European tour.  Mark it down as just one more of those super cool moments in our rock n’ roll lives . . . here we were looking for a Sub Society 7” from 1990 and instead were the first witnesses to brand new Attitude Adjustment songs. We are blessed. You should really get to know us better.

So, upon finding out that this crossover tinged hardcore audio assault was Attitude Adjustment, we figured we had to get our hands on some of their back catalog and get to know them a little better. What I found, with some regret, is that these guys have been around since the late 80’s and sound like the music I should have been listening to instead of a lot of the crap I had on my turntable at the time. 1989 . . . 1990 . . . those were the years when I was stupid crazy about the crossover hardcore soundings of Excel, D.R.I., Suicidal Tendencies, The Accused, Cryptic Slaughter, and somehow or another Attitude Adjustment never registered on my radar. After the racking torments of guilt washed over me, I again recognized that I am indeed human and prone to make mistakes . . . and have subsequently forgiven myself. Now . . . onto Attitude Adjustment.

The disc I picked up is actually their first three efforts compiled onto one release entitled The Collection. The disc features American Paranoia, No More Mr. Nice Guy, and Out of Hand and having the three albums running in chronological order gives me, the new listener, a greater understanding of the bands growth. The 16 tracks that make up American Paranoia are the thrashing tracks of my youth! The songs are short, but filled with the dynamics that characterized the genre . . . fast and up tempo passages that dissolve to mid tempo, riff-tastic portions packed with so much power that one can’t possibly sit still. So jarring in transition, these songs have the ability to lift the listener from the comfort of their chairs and hurl them into a high stepping mosh across the living room. Par for course in this era is the subject matter of the songs . . . ranging for social despondency, suicide, ravages of war, drug abuse, etc. and all of it sung to  soundtrack of aggression that melded the worlds of punk rock and heavy metal. “Grey World”, “Dead Serious”, “Johnny”, “Attitude Adjustment”, and “Bombs” should have been the staples of my adolescent diet as they reflect the ideology of my youth.

Suddenly, No More Mr. Nice Guy explodes from the speakers and the first thing that becomes readily apparent is the production value has completely changed. This latest recording is jam packed with low end that wasn’t there for the first record, and though the overall sound is muddier, it’s no less intense. “To Be Different” is a blast from the darkest regions of the pit and the double bass drum flourishes are an unsuspected elbow into the temple. Count the birdies, kiddies! The musicianship is definitely tighter on this album, as well. Where American Paranoia was loose and full of youthful exuberance, No More Mr. Nice Guy is a tighter fair and focused to a razor sharpness, however, it never loses that punk rock haphazardness. Along with “To Be Different”, “No Explanation” (fuck . . . intense break on this one!), “Born To Lose”, and “Satan Is God” are the stunning achievements from this album. All have that absolute musical power, that classic mix of puck rock irreverence and radical idealism, while simply pummeling anyone in the way with a heavier metallic groove.

Finally, Out of Hand is the natural progression of the previous two albums combined. The oppressive low end of No More Mr. Nice Guy has been evened out and the mid range is more vibrant, yet the songs retain that tight metallic punch while walking hand in hand with the American Paranoia musical chaos. The songs have become longer, the structure a little more complex, the musicianship a step higher . . . like I said, a natural progression of musical growth. “Power of Control” captures all of these elements, even including a pretty impressive guitar solo, which I always thought was cool in hardcore. I never quite understood why it was frowned on by the hardcore scenes to play to one’s talents. “I Can’t Forgive”,  the droning throb of “Sab Song”, “Bed of Nails”, and “Scarred For Life” are greater representatives of the, at the time, newer, more mature Attitude Adjustment.

If, like me, you are unfamiliar with Attitude Adjustment, then The Collection is the hands down best and most economical way of getting to know this stand out group of happy thrashers. The songs, all 41 of them are a snapshot of the crossover hardcore scene of the late 80’s/early 90’s and each album when played sequentially, shows a remarkable musical growth. Now, I sit waiting with baited breath for this brand new album and subsequent tour of the States so I turn the dial back to my more youthful self. Come to think of it . . . I might want to hit the gym a few more times to get into pit shape. Twenty plus years of hardcore thrashing debauchery for Attitude Adjustment? Wow . . . that was a lot of burritos ago.

--Pope

http://www.taang.com/indexmain.html