LA FEMME - Chelsea Kids 7'' 1979

Now the last damn highlight of coldy February and I have to say, this month was extremely full with beautiful and interesting records. But that only happened because of my broken toe, which left me immobile and locked up at home, good for the blog, good for you! Let’s beam ourselves 16.500 kilometers east and visit Melbourne and we meet this four piece called La Femme and they were formed 1978 and they made three 7Inches and one album in their relatively short active life-span. Their influences came from Punk/New Wave/Glam & Hardrock and this is their first vinyl output on Missing Link Records with two great tunes. Led by a charismatic frontman in Chane Chane, a flashy guitarist in Brett Walker, and supported by the thuggish rhythm section of Peter Kidd and Graham Schiavello, the band earned themselves a reputation for being confident, showy and popular in certain circles. Both goodies impress with their brilliant mid-tempo beat with sawing punky guitars and even though the length is well over three minutes, it isn't boring at all, it brings every sluggish mind out of the darkness and everyone who can feel is immediately infected, the flip is an interesting cover of a band I have never heard before. Very cool music and suitable for any warm togetherness, provided you are open to it! Just try it out. The band broke up at the end of 1983.

here

THE GENTS - School Kids 7'' 1980

Here's another band I know nothing about and there is surprisingly a lof of infos about the three piece from South Africa. This is partly because not many records from this part of the world made it to Europe or the USA and partly because of course the editions were very small and the bands were rather short-lived. In this case the band is called The Gents and they consisted of Kevin (vocals/guitars), Tim (bass) & Sydne B (drums) and they made one 7Inch (this one) in 1980 and an eponymous Album in 1982. Aside from this there is precious little information about this late 70's early 80's New Wave band from Durban. There are two nice songs for your ears and I think every PowerPop fan will love them. They were not invited to any comps, for whatever reason, it is probably due to the length of their songs which are way over three minutes, but that's okay. The song School Kids somehow touches me, it was a long time ago and not always pleasant. The flip is also very nice, what happened in 1917? I don't know, whatever, check out the three, they're worth it!

- Great Thx to Nolti -

here

SAMIAM - Live Germany! EP 1992

Last but not least, a bit live stuff from one of my favorite bands from California. Samiam stand for fantastic songs with more personal lyrics, I won't call them Emopunk, this isn't true... No No No, they create great songs with an intense deep emotional feeling, you know what I mean, and I like this combination of personal lyrics paired with aggressive sound that is never over the top. The mix has to be right and in my opinion the Sunny California Boys celebrate that amazingly well. And this EP is a brilliant example how it sounds live. This goodie was released as part of the Your Choice Live Series and is not compatible with their album from the same series, these three songs were recorded live in the "Oberhaus" in Alzey on March 31, 1992 and the 7Inch is limited to 2000 copies. Three songs from their magnificent third album Billy can be heard and I can warmly recommend you to buy their records.

here

V/A - Bullshit Detector 1980

An important series that was born in the early Eighties is called Bullshit Detector and it's a collection of Compilations featuring demos which sent to Crass by a variety of bands and were then released on Crass Records and I only know the first three and all came with a cool fold-out poster containing a collage of information, lyrics and artwork to all the bands, and all for a litte bunch of gravel. The sound quality was mixed and often basic, or even poor, as Crass would master the tapes directly to record without any additional production or enhancement. For Crass, the expectation of a polished performance was missing the point. But that's exactly what makes these songs/records worth listening to: Authentic, raw and unpolished, they convey the rebellious, anti-attitude of the Punk spirit and when I listen to these gems today, after more than forty years, I know I did a lot of things right and you won't be able to get rid of this feeling, it will always stay inside of you. Love passes, but Punk never. And the message is still the same as it was then, get off your ass and don't accept everything that stupid society or TV shows you. With this in mind, my friends, I wish you a nostalgic listening pleasure.

1.Jazz On A Summers Day - ANDY T

2.Don't Wanna Fight For You - COUNTER ATTACK

3.Change It - THE ALTERNATIVE

4.We Are You - CLOCKWORK CRIMINALS

5.Girls Love Popstars - REPUTATIONS IN JEOPARDY

6.Do They Owe Us A Living? - CRASS

7.University Challenged - AMEBIX

8.Local Chaos - SCEPTICS

9.Mark Of The Beast - THE SINYX

10.Thalidomide - FRENZY BATTALION

11.Cancer - ICON

12.Why? - THE SPEAKERS

13.Anarchist Attack - A.P.F. BRIGADE

14.Right Or Wrong - FUCK THE C.I.A.

15.Morning Star - CAINE MUTINY & THE KALLISTI APPLES OF NONSENSE

16.'3' - THE SUCKS

17.Khaki Doesn't Go With My Eyes - PORNO SQUAD

18.Soldiers - S.P.G. MURDERS

19.National Service - ERATICS

20.Who Needs Society? - RED ALERT

21.War Song - THE SNIPERS

22.Power - ARMCHAIR POWER

23.Napalm - DISRUPTERS

24.Nagasaki Mon Amour - ANDY T

25.Drumming Up Hope (Ferret Skank) - ACTION FROGS

here

CHARLYS SLAVAR - Fångar EP 1984

Rare piece by this Swedish Heroes called Charlys Slavar and they formed 1981 by JB (vocals), Schiz (guitars), Liljan (bass), Mattias (drums). The Drummer was replaced in 1982 by Örni and they played on the local Punk scene for a couple of years before releasing their lone Fångar EP (1000 copies should exist) via Massproduktion in 1984. A year later  they had changed their name to Charly & & Slaves and appeared on the En Samling Rock Från Sundsvall Compilation anno 1985. In the same year Örni left the band and was replaced by Kjell-Åke. In 1986 they released the single 'Rotten Love' which was a mixture of Punk & Hardrock. In 1987 Schiz left the band and was replaced by Curt and finally Christian joined on keyboards in 1988. The musical style changed radically from Hardrock influenced Punk to Deathrock, inspired by the 80s Goth scene. The band fell asleep without drama in 1989. In 2009 they reunited with another line-up for a performance at Massproduktion's 30th anniversary. In 2019 Massproduktion began digitizing recorded material with the band. What remains are three decent Eighties goodies and there's nothing more to say from my side.

here

HOTEL KEMPAUSKI - Sternzeichen Kartoffel - Aszendent Sauerkraut EP 2022

It's been a while since I presented you a new, promising band from Schleswig-Holstein, Hotel Kempauski, and back then I was still working with a band member who unfortunately changed his employer, since then there's Funkstille, but that doesn't stop me from wishing his band continued positive vibes. This little EP is their latest vinyl release to my knowledge and in advance, with which I can only agree, a little official info: The self-proclaimed building society Punks from Kiel are taking HardcorePunk into its long overdue midlife crisis. Live, they offer speed, cynicism, lengthy announcements and Hotel Kempauski deliver solid melodies to combat the tristesse and let off steam and they made it cool, because they're good at it. It's rough, it's loud, it's splendid. Six decent banger with the typically North German confusing lyrics, but very clear (it's really interesting how they went from the potato harvest to democracy, + other cool associations... simply delicious), and after nine minutes you're back in reality. Six songs, limited edtion of 250 copies, self-released and it's worth to visit their homebase for more releases. 

here

THE VICTIMS - Girls Don't Go For Punks 7'' 2023

Now a damn cool 7Inch and I think it's a record with the shortest playing time, two smashers under two minutes, and this interests me immediately. In advance, this little beauty was sold exclusively at their last show @ the Rosemount Hotel/Perth on the 10th of June 2023. Legendary Perth Punk combo the Victims (active from 1977-1979 and best known for their classic ‘Television Addict’) regrouped in 2019 to play a handful of gigs and re-record a few of their old tunes. I guess, I don't need to write any more words, there's a lot to read about the band on the www and I think it's just fantastic that the guys haven't lost any of their power and enthusiasm for playing, they sound a little bit better with the new studio recording options, the record is fun and belongs in every record collection, but that will be difficult, because it is limited to 150 copies: 75 on orange, 75 on green vinyl and was released via In The Red Recordings. You can find more splendid recordings on the compilation All Loud On The Western Front from 1989, which includes their two 7Inches from their active life-span. I think, I have piqued your interest & I am grateful for such great input.

 - Great Thx to Fredrik -

here

THE GRAPPLERS - Live! 7'' 1980

 

Next rare piece is the sole 7Inch by the Grapplers and the band consisted of Steve & Brian (vocals/guitars), Paul (bass), Ed (drums) and this dittie was released via Sonic and it's called 'Live!' and was recorded Live In a Studio in New York. and that's all information I could get about these gentlemen. Both songs have a nice drive and the guitars sound decently dirty, the tempo is pleasant and the other instruments are carefully used, they can do something and that's all it takes to write an interesting piece, and with a length of two and a half minutes each, it fits excellently. A rare little entertaining listening pleasure and definitely worth to invite them on a Compilation.

- Great Thx to Nolti -

here

V/A - Novi Punk Val 78-80 1981

A quick jump back in the past, when birds were still singing, there weren't 1000 TV channels and children were still playing outside and not getting fat, Novi Punk Val (New Punk Wave), a cult Compilation from the former Yugoslavia, was born and took the opportunity to get a little attention among all the American & English Punk bands that were making one record after another in the early Eighties, and like a sea of ​​roses in spring, it managed to become a sought-after rarity today. This gem was released in collaboration with the two Ljubljana labels ZKP RTVL/ŠKUC and features eight bands that had already released a few records at the time and some that were just starting out. Musically I would classify them as very diverse, hardly any Hardcore stuff to be heard but solid mid-tempo numbers plus some electronic noises that are largely acceptable and don't cause confusion, the bands there were just different & special, and that is exactly why we love them. An excellent introduction for anyone who wants to get into Yugoslavian Punkrock.

1.Anarhist - PANKRTI

2.Tovar'ši Jest Vam Ne Verjamem - PANKRTI

3.Lublana Je Bulana - PANKRTI

4.Moj Je Otac Bio U Ratu - PRLJAVO KAZALIŠTE

5.Narodna Pjesma - PARAF

6.Sranje - PROBLEMI

7.Grad Izobilja - PROBLEMI

8.Mozgani Na Asfaltu - BERLINSKI ZID

9.Po Cestah Mesta - BERLINSKI ZID

10.Vidjeti Jih - 92

11.Kontroliram Misli - 92

12.To Ni Balet - BULDOGI

13.Vjeran Pas - TERMITI

14.Mama, S Razlogom Se Brineš - TERMITI

15.Vremenska Prognoza - TERMITI

here

THE NIKOTEENS - Slamdance Party Vol.3 1986

When we talk about Ingolstadt, only one band immediately comes to my mind: The Nikoteens. I'm sure fans of quality German HardcorePunk will know straight away that the guys have released their first album via the Cologne Malermeister, which doesn't sound bad at all. Circa two years later a tape was recorded named Hardcore Holocaust (1985), which can be read on the front cover, and thirteen of the eighteen songs were finally immortalized on this fucking vinyl, brought us by Starving Missile. And the fact that Americans also like fast, aggressive sounds from overseas is proven by a short and snappy review: Divided into a “Romantic” side and a “Realistic” side, this band pulls off an out-of-the-ordinary LP. Their punk is not generic usually, but doesn’t really drift into experimentation or post-punk to pull it off. Can’t really say what it is, but it’s a tad different. Worth checking out. (Tim Yohannan, MRR #38 • July 1986) The postman was just here with new material and I will get to it immediately to repay the donor who lent me the record. That means I'll be away for a while. Enjoy this brilliant album with a cold beer. I say Cheers, Baby!

- Great Thx to iNgo -

here