RAMONES - @ Sporthalle/Böblingen, Germany 20.11.1989

October starts with an excellent live Bootleg from the no less excellent Ramones. A while ago the record was mentioned in the comments as one of the best live recordings by the four and so I went looking for it. And I found it and can absolutely confirm these words. Top quality for a recording from the end of the eighties and the track list on the cover is not complete, there are a total of twenty-five songs that I filtered out and the rip took almost three hours (cutting, converting, adjusting the sound, etc.) but live slabs are always a challenge that I'm happy to accept. And the result is a perfect rip with the quality I want. I'm really grateful that you continue to provide me with first-class information or recommendations which lead me to discovering new stuff. Please keep it up and don't get tired of it, I thank you with this post, which I know many will enjoy, because a Ramones record, in this case, is always a good reason to get back to yourself... and Life.

Have fun with this Blast, and welcome fall!

I Wanna Live/Bonzo Goes To Bitburg/Raining/Sheena Is A Punkrocker/Rockaway Beach/Pet Sementary/Seeking High/She Is The One/Mamma's Boy/Animal Boy/Wart Hog/Surfin' Bird/Cretin Hop/I Don't Wanna Walk Around With You/Today Your Love Tomorrow The World/Pinhead/Chinese Rock/Somebody Put Something In My Drink/Let's Dance/Do You Wanna Dance?/Havana Affair/We're A Happy Family/I Just Want To Have Something To Do/Indian Giver/California Sun

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THE GEARS - Rockin' At Ground Zero 1980

Yesterday I was listening to some old 7Inches and got stuck on the first one by The Gears, Let's Go To The Beach from 1979 and thought, oh yeah, do I still have more of them and if so, in the blog right now, and I found one. The Gears were a four piece from Los Angeles and consisted of Axxel (vocals), Kidd (guitars), Brian (bass), Dave (drums) and this is their debut album on Playgems Records. 

Info: "Kidd Spike was a guitarist with one of L.A.'s first punk rock outfits, the Controllers, but by 1980 he was eager to do something a little more eclectic, and he joined forces with vocalist Axxel G. Reese to form the Gears. They enthusiastically embraced the fast and loud part of punk, but they also threw in dashes of surf music, garage rock, blues, and cool sounds of the '50s, and their first album, Rockin' at Ground Zero, is a killer blend of punk speed and fury tempered with greaser cool. Reese is a solid vocalist with plenty of swagger in his voice but no wasted affectations, while Spike's thick, gutsy guitar work and the crash-boom-bang rhythm work of bassist Brian Redz and drummer Dave Drive keep these songs in forward momentum at all times. The Gears could sing about cars, girls, and good times with tongue just slightly in cheek on tunes like "Let's Go to the Beach" and "Darlin' Baby," but "High School Girls" and "I Smoke Dope" show they weren't afraid of more dangerous pleasures. "Don't Be Afraid to Pogo" is a great (and only slightly ridiculous) Punk anthem, and they chronicle one of the most infamous real-life moments in the war between L.A. Punks and cops in "Elks Lodge Blues." "Teenage Brain" is angst at its most enjoyable, and "The Last Chord" and the title cut both manage to make the end of the world sound cool. Rockin' at Ground Zero is good, raucous fun from an unjustly overlooked band; the rise of Hardcore made bands like this seem obsolete at the dawn of the '80s, but history and this album prove these guys truly had the goods." (Mark Deming)

This record is pure energy and Californian Punkrock at its best and one of the interesting D.I.Y. releases of the Eighties and numerous re-releases confirm this and for me a real highlight. Briliant American sound, fifteen times highest quality. Don't miss that!

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Impressions XXXI

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V/A - Oi! In Head Punk In Heart 2017

First of all, this is a re-post that I took from Wolti's Provinzkacke blog, and since it ended up in my top ten, it's a pleasure to post this record again and this following Compilation is a collaboration between Gremlins Records/Crom Records/Tough Ain't Enough/Nation On Fire Records and featured eleven spanish Oi! bands playing Iberian classic songs and was limited to 500 copies. Each song a highlight and all excellent played. If you don't know the originals, you should take your time to look around this theater and find them out, and with a cold drink in your hand and the sound in the ears, this fucking Monday is much more bearable. Fantástico!

1.Odio A Mi Patria - ARKADA SOCIAL

2.Destruye - FRED & THE PERRYS

3.Botes De Humo - INSTINTO AGRESIVO

4.Y Ahora Que? - THE CRUSADERS

5.Envenenado - AGAINST YOU

6.Historia Triste - RUDE PRIDE

7.Todo Por Nada - UP YOURS

8.Cuando Yo Reviente - KNOCK OUT

9.Hotel Monbar - SHOCK WAVES

10.Ke Buen Dios - BOGAVANTES CON TIRANTES

11.Luna Sobre Marin - KELTOI!

12.If The Kids Are United - VARIOUS

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NOMEANSNO - Wrong 1989

It's time for a classic by a band that started in 1979 and thrilled me live several times with their sometimes jazzy and highly explosive sound. Wrong is the fourth album by NoMeansNo and was released through Alternative Tentacles. A bit info: Critic Martin Popoff described their music as "the mightiest merger between the hateful aggression of Punk and the discipline of Heavy Metal. Nomeansno's distinct hardcore punk sound, complex instrumentation, and dark, "savagely intelligent" lyrics inspired subsequent musicians. They are often considered foundational in the Punk Jazz and Post-Hardcore movements, and have been cited as a formative influence on the math rock and emo genres. This album is a blast from the first to the last note, powerful, dynamic, refreshing and hearty and shows the band in top form. Drummer John described it as the band's "most popular album by a country mile". When asked to speculate as to the reasons why Wrong enjoyed such relative success, John attributed it to the mainstream success of Nirvana and the rising popularity of alternative music:

"The kind of music we were playing, and then Nirvana before they got popular, and that kind of alternative...Punkrock was getting to that point where a lot of bands were just starting to get into that commercial breakthrough, and when Nirvana did, well of course that spelled the end of it all. But it sort of simmered to that point, and then people wanted to hear bands like Nirvana, which weren't Hardcore, not pop or rock, it was sort of more heartfelt music, and we were sort of caught up in that... In Europe especially, the music scene was just exploding. We completely attribute all of our success to going and playing in Europe. That's where all the buzz about us came from. We were touring throughout the States in the mid-80s, and we'd get a little bit of audience here and there, but after a couple of years in Europe, we started doing some big shows there, and all of a sudden, people in the States were coming out to our shows. And we went from getting paid $200 to getting paid $1000. It was just like that. You had to have the buzz, and then it all just kind of blew up. Every major label tried to sign every band, and then it became no longer an alternative, it sort of became co-opted by the mainstream and people moved on to hip hop and dub step and then everyone got sick of rock and roll and went to raves."

They released ten albums by 2016, I only know their first five, but NoMenasNo were one of the most extraordinary combos I was able to experience and are still worth listening to and always a good reason to buy a record. 👍

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WISHMOPPER - 9mm Vor Dem Abgrund 1997

I'm back again, dear friends, and I hope you had a great time and what I did will follow shortly. But let me tell you, I'm not amused to be back home and I could leave again in a heartbeat. Well, I continue with a completely underrated four-piece that formed in Braunschweig in the early Nineties and Wishmopper consisted of Hoschi (vocals), Dagwood (guitar), Claus (bass), Ravi (drums) and this is their only album on Harmony Records which came in green vinyl in an edition of 500 copies and the cover here is from the CD version, but this the vinyl rip which unfortunately my old record player only played with a few jumpers. Normally I wouldn't offer such a shitty one and the scratches are annoying and extremely hinder the listening pleasure, but that's the way it is, and this record deserves attention. Musically, melodic, dark, catchy songs with a slightly metallic touch with hearty lyrics (without any I hate Cops or drinking beer attitudes, so there's a certain appeal in putting this record out a second time), usually over three minutes long, but in this case that doesn't hurt. In 1995 they released their first tape 1000 Eyes (Live) plus a 7Inch, and five years later another split EP with Verbrannte Erde, and a few Compilation appearances and then it was over. Wishmopper is solid Punkrock with a strong statement!

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ANTI... & SOCIAL WASTE - Split LP 1990

Last post and then is wdthtc closed for fourteen days but I leave with an amazing record (1000 copies) from Wipe Out! Records with two great greek bands. Short Info: "Coming from the ashes of PPF, a group formed at the end of 1981 and with only one concert to its credit (Ilioupoli, 1982), ANTI... presented their work for the first time in 1985 at music club Pigasos. The group consisted of Kostas (vocals/keyboards), Mimis (bass), Kostas (keyboards) and a drum machine (which the band named Manolis). They took their name when Agelidis tried to write the name of Anti-Nowhere League in the back of his jacket, but he left no space for the other words except ANTI." The four impress with their electronically driving sound and are definitely in the upper league and can confidently keep up with the English and French Synth-Punk challenge, and the bar is already high there. No cheap copies, five authentic goodies with power and passion! The other side is occupied by Κοινωνικά Απόβλητα (Social Waste), a short-lived Hardcore quartet from Athens, founded 1988 by Dina (vocals), Antonis (guitars), Yiannis (bass), Yiannis K. (drums). The other vinyl appearance was 1989 at the Retous Metamodernus! EP Compilation where they three songs contributed. Musically, they are at home with ponderous, guitar-heavy sounds; in my opinion, their sound accompanies a slightly melancholic mood, which is unexpectedly wiped away by short, excellent Hardcore attacks. Amazingly awesome stuff! They create effortlessly walking the fine line between the two emotions, and guiding you through the vale of tears to kick your ass the next time. They disbanded in 1990. - Unfortunately, both haven't released many records, which I think is a shame because both are Erste Sahne.

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MÄDELS NO MÄDELS - Doggie Style 1992

The long wait is over today, here it is finally: the debut album by the Sindelfingen Mädels No Mädels on Bellaforte Records with seventeen variable songs. You immediately notice the carefree nature of the three, because the good mood and humor that they convey in their songs is extremely contagious. In addition, the fantastic artwork means the record won't stay on the shelf for long. Drummer Johnny describes their music: "Our unmistakable Punkrock sounds as casual as a spaceship falling into a lipstick factory." Sounds interesting? Then convince yourself and listen to it and if you like, check their other stuff in this theatre. So, the vacation is slowly approaching and I still have a few things to do. Have a good weekend with the Mädels and do something nice. Cheers!

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CONFLICT - The Ungovernable Force 1986

Holy Shit!, a real shame no album by the great Anarcho Punks called Conflict from London (formed 1981 by Colin (vocals), Steve (guitar), John (bass), Pauline (vocals), Francisco (drums) has appeared on this blog yet, and I know, I've had their first three albums but they're all gone. I'm a real Idiot to have sold them all, but times were bad back then and I had to make sacrifices accordingly. - One of the most intense and passionate bands on the scene, Conflict played brutalist, no-frills Punkrock with a tough, aggressive edge while their lyrics were furious broadsides against war and class division, and in support of anarchist principles and animal rights. All their records were released on their own label Mortarhate Records. The Ungovernable Force is the fifth album and is a dynamic and powerful explosion. "They take on familiar subjects, from environmental degradation to police brutality, only the music is more tuneful than usual, while still brutal sounding when it needs to be, while the lyrics are insightful on a variety of topics." (Adam Bregman) Conflict is pure emotion that recognizes the signs of the times and impressively expresses them in words and music, and anyone who hears and understands this band is guaranteed to turn their lives upside down, unless you're living under a stone.

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NORMAHL - Harte Nächte 1985

Lunch was liquid and new rips are done, and since I still have a bit of desire to post, we are getting closer to the wishes that I still have to fulfill, but for now one of the last good records by one of the important German label Mülleimer Records and in my early days as outsider I couldn't ignore this band: Normahl from Winnenden were something like the house band of the label. They released their debut EP plus five albums there, and in my opinion, these releases were their best! Hard Nights is a great album title, reminds me of my youth and I had a lot of them. The cover underscores this even more: Reeperbahn, Große Freiheit, Hamburg, I enjoyed all that during my civil service in the early nineties... uuhhhh... But don't think that their fourth album indulges in the temptations of Hamburg, no no, eighteen fast and punchy songs with a lot of political as well as personal content and kept at my favorite length of two and a half minutes. Many Compilation invitations, including internationally, prove that they are popular in this country, and Normahl are still active and play gigs when time allows. Now the beer is drunk and I'm leaving.

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