SCAVENGERS - Born To Bullshit 7'' 2002

This record is a fuckin' must have! Both tracks rip your heart off and it takes over 20 years the small label Raw Power Records released this superb single in an edition of only 200 copies. No idea why it took so long. Both tracks are real killer and I can promise you will be blast. Here's some info from wikipedia:

The Scavengers were a New Zealand punk band, formed in 1977. In 1979 they moved to Melbourne/Australia and became The Marching Girls in 1980. Formed at Auckland Technical Institute by Graphic Design students, Ken Cooke, Simon Monroe, Mike Simons and Marlon Hart as "The 1B Darlings" in 1976, the band was heavily influenced by British R&B, Glam Rock and '60s US Garage Rock. In 1977 they renamed themselves The Scavengers, gave themselves punk stage names (Cooke as Johnny Volume, Monroe as Des Truction, Simons as Mike Lezbian and Hart as Mal Icious), and their style mutated in the direction of the US Punk rock and pre-Punk Rock acts. Through much of 1977 they were, with The Suburban Reptiles, the only Punk bands in Auckland.

In June 1977, with The Suburban Reptiles and The Masochists, they played New Zealand's first major punk gig at Auckland University. During this time their repertoire was mostly covers but by early 1978 they had written a set of original tunes. In late 1977 bassist Hart left to be replaced by Brendan Perry, who performed under the stage name "Ronnie Recent". He later reappeared in The Stimulators. In March 1978 they began a residency at new Auckland Punk Club, Zwines. Soon after Simons left (inspiring their signature song "Mysterex"), and Perry moved to vocals. Two Scavengers tracks appear on the Ripper compilation AK79 and a posthumous album was released in 2003. Perry later formed Dead Can Dance and Monroe (aka Des Hefner) played briefly for The Birthday Party during the band's final tour of Australia and New Zealand. Monroe went on to play in a series of Melbourne-based acts including The Slaughtermen and Maurice Frawley. Both Cooke (Go Public and Daisy West) and Monroe are still working musicians in Melbourne.

The Scavengers were hugely influential in Auckland in the late seventies, inspiring a whole generation of young bands and their importance goes far beyond their few releases. They reformed in 2004 for a one off show in Auckland without Perry, and again at the AK79 reunion in 2008.

Both tracks were recorded 1978 and you can really feel the anger and the spirit of the early days of punk life and proves this feeling was not only in Europe or the USA alive. Get this!

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V/A - Hate Your Neighbours #1 1997

The last weekend before my vacation and let's ring this in with an unofficial compilation by Pussy Muncher and first the question: is there a sequel? As far as I know: No! It doesn't matter either... Eighteen rare New Zealand punk smasher from 1978 to 1983 convince even the deepest forest dwellers, muesli eaters and felt heads, with top insert, band-notes and other useful infos (more background a click away on audioculture), exactly my cup of tea. What more can I say? You Can't Kick Our Arse But You Can Lick It! In this sense, enjoy the nuggets with a cold drink and don't go to bed late.

1.I Am A Rabbit - PROUD SCUM

2.Suicide - PROUD SCUM

3.True Love - THE SCAVENGERS

4.Mysterex - THE SCAVENGERS

5.Suicide 2 - PROUD SCUM

6.Saturday Night Stay At Home - SUBURBAN REPTILES

7.We Got A Stage - SUPERETTES

8.Love Sprouts - THE PRIMMERS

9.Police Wheels - FEATURES

10.My Neighbours - NOCTURNAL PROJECTIONS

11.Marlene's Fish Shop - NOCTURNAL PROJECTIONS

12.Hate Me Hate Me - SPELLING MISTAKES

13.Sheep - TOY LOVE

14.Routine - THE SCAVENGERS

15.T.V. - SMASHED EXECUTIVE

16.Out Of Control - THE STEROIDS

17.Let There Be Noise - DUM DUM BOYS

18.Bitch Goddess - THE HENCHMEN

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V/A - AK•79 1979

This little masterpiece was released by Ripper Records and has six bands, each with two pieces, from lovely New Zealand in the luggage and brings us the early underground of the late 70s closer. Not easy to get nowadays some slabs from there in Europe and the original 7Inches are as rare as a polar bear at the South Pole. Hence that is important there are records like this that shine at least with a little bit of the sound otherwise not reachable. Hugh, I spoke!

1.Mysterex - SCAVENGERS

2.Never Been To Borstal - TERRORWAYS

3.I Am A Rabbit - PROUD SCUM

4.True Love - SCAVENGERS

5.Suicide - PROUD SCUM

6.She's A Mod - TERRORWAYS

7.Certain Sound - SWINGERS

8.Funny Stories - PRIMMERS

9.Squeeze - TOY LOVE

10.Baby - SWINGERS

11.You're Gonna Get Done - PRIMMERS

12.Toy Love Song - TOY LOVE

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V/A - Kiwi By Death (NZ Punk Rarities 1977-1983) 2010

Hello March and we stay in Oceania and come to new old stuff from an pseudo "label" which made limited CD-R compilations in very small editions (mostly 50 copies & with a small but useful booklet) with rare Punk classics worldwide. As you can easily see, this edition is dedicated to the musical orgasms of New Zealand, and most of the songs are almost all represented on other relevant compis and you can ask, who needs that? I would say why not. Since most of the slabs are no longer accessible (as a side note, many records are offline, at least in my blog) and the selcetion is different as well and I can promise you, this one is high explosive! I like the music from there and the scene was pretty broad with good bands and I recommend you visit audioculture for more infos about New Zealand's subculture.

1.Let There Be Noise - DUM DUM BOYS

2.1978 - THE ENEMY

3.Money In The Bank - SCAVENGERS

4.Suicide - PROUD SCUM

5.Non-Event - NOCTURNAL PROJECTIONS

6.Out Of Control - THE STEROIDS

7.Metro Blues - THE HENCHMEN

8.Police Wheels - THE PRIMMERS

9.Ergophobia - SPELLING MISTAKES

10.Joe 90 - BORED GAMES

11.Sheep - TOY LOVE

12.Mistaken Identity - NO TAG

13.Never Been To Borstal - TERRORWAYS

14.Supported By The State - SCAVENGERS

15.You Were The One - CHANNEL 4

16.Pull Down The Shades - THE ENEMY

17.Dead Inside - DUM DUM BOYS

18.Everybody's Got The Answers - MARCHING GIRLS

19.Rabbit - PROUD SCUM

20.Auckland Tonight - THE ANDROIDSS

21.That Girl - NOCTURNAL PROJECTIONS

22.Funny Stories - THE PRIMMERS

23.Police Wheels - FEATURES

24.Let's Go To Australia - VIVID MILITIA

25.Death Machine - THE HENCHMEN

26.Who Killed Johnny? - THE JOHNNIES

27.T.V. - SMASHED EXECUTIVE

28.Hate Me, Hate Me - SPELLING MISTAKES

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V/A - Killed By Death #15 2018

After a long break there is a new compilation of this cheap series out: #15 with rare New Zealand punk 1977-1982. Well, I think a bit superfluous because most of the songs can be heard on other good compis and really 'new' stuff is not present. I don't want complain and of course it's good that someone puts its 7Inches together and it is important but a little more unknown from countries that are extremely difficult to get would not be wrong, right? Anyway, for all newcomers recommended.

1.Megaton - SUBURBAN REPTILES
2.Born To Bullshit - SCAVENGERS
3.Suicide II - PROUD SCUM
4.Short Haird Rock & Roll - TERRORWAYS
5.Stage - SUPERETTES
6.Police Wheels - FEATURES
7.True Love - MARCHING GIRLS
8.I Don't Mind - TOY LOVE
9.Hate Me, Hate Me - SPELLING MISTAKES
10.Auckland Tonight - THE ANDROIDSS
11.1981 - RIOT 111
12.Escape From Hell - DUM DUM BOYS
13.1984 - DESPERATE MEASURES

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DEAD CAN DANCE - s/t LP 1984

Today to a band that I appreciate very much and always enjoy playing: Dead Can Dance, formed 1981 in Melbourne by Brendan Perry (The Scavengers/The Marching Girls) & Lisa Gerrard. Excllent info from their 4AD label for you: "Their music began as collages made from musical lineages, lost tribes and cultures long since forgotten - and by giving new life to so much from the past, they created a genuinely timeless body of work. They shared vocal responsibilities, and while Perry was certainly capable of haunting subtleties and real sonority as a singer, it was more often Gerrard's rhapsodic vocalising that drew the attention of critics and fans. In a sense, Gerrard didn't simply sing for Dead Can Dance: she made sounds with her voice, and turned that experience into something much larger and more far-ranging than mere singing. Perry's soundscapes blur distinctions between organic and sampled, old and new, drawing on disparate traditions (neo–classical, choral, baroque, troubadour) and weaving together influences from Eastern Europe, the Middle East, Asia, North Africa, the Mediterranean and beyond..." I was lucky to see this fantastic band live in the old opera house in Frankfurt and the almost three-hour performance is one of the best I've ever seen live. With around twenty artists on stage and the appropriate equipment, they filled the hall with their spherical music and sent you into other worlds, far away from reality and I can tell you, my pearl and I are went home very impressed & flashed. "...having finally secured their contract in 1983, it wasn't until March the following year that 4AD released their eponymous first album, a collection of the songs they had written over the previous four years. Also 1984 they released a 12'' "Garden Of The Arcane Delights" which is included here as bonus." Though the band split in 1998, they reformed briefly for a world tour in 2005. In winter 2011, they reunited once again to record a new album and completed a world tour promoting its release in 2012 and they're still alive. I recommend you get to know this band, no matter what album you start with, there is no bad one.

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WILD YOUTH - Afrika 1979-1982 [2019]

There are bands whose music immediately infects me and Wild Youth is exactly such one. Arguably the first punk combo in South Africa and founded out of boredom in March 1978 by Michael (vocals/guitars), Skid (bass), Mark (drums) and they grew up in the culturally spiritually devoid and morally corrupt wasteland of Apartheid South Africa. Mark was replaced by Rubin and a single, Radio Youth, was released by their own in 1979 in an edition of 300 copies. It was to be their only slab of their short-lived history (they broke up 1980). But fortunately the three recorded more songs which are available posthumously as singles or compilations, and that was a wise decision. This fuckin' great nugget of eleven blasts came out via Patron Of The Arts in a limited edition of 188 copies, two of them in clear vinyl. Their music is raw, wild, short, dynamic and catchy. This sound is what I call punkrock, and I have to think immediately of the divine Scavengers, whose music thrills me as well and is irreplaceable for my existance. I tell you, these songs let tufts grow out of your ears and you press the repeat knob more than once and I guarantee: if you feel down, choose Wild Youth and you give a shit about the fucking gray world!

- Great Thx to Fredrik -

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