Process is Dead

Process is Dead - S/T [Bummed Out Records, 1998]

While this blog's devise seems more and more inevitable as my stack of unblogged personal supply of 90's regional punk vinyl gets smaller and smaller (only a few records and tapes left before I'm dry), recent excavations, contributions and discoveries are helping us cheat death more and more.

A recent trip to East Nashville's The Groove Record shop not only dug up yesterday's High Strung 7", but this self-titled gem from Nashville's Process is Dead. In an era when Victory Records was reigning supreme over an army of vegan straightedge "individuals" in matching cut-off camo shorts and beaded necklaces, Process is Dead seemed to be representing the Nashville's own version of that movement rather well. Dallas Thomas from Booby Hatch and High Strung was in this band at one point (though, not on this recording). Other members went on to play in Symptoms and Here We Go, Boys. If you don't remember these guys, you probably know what to expect: loud, heavy riffs of cacophony distortion, syncopated beats, and screams akin to a 10,000,000 dead animal souls crying out from the walk-in freezer at McDonald's. Enjoy!

High Strung - See You at the Bottom 7"

High Strung - See You at the Bottom [ Denied a Custom, 1998?]

If you're not familiar with High Strung, I blogged about them before. Didn't know this record existed until I found it at East Nashville's The Groove recently. Judging by the price, and the Japanese sticker/liner notes, this is perhaps an import or maybe just cleverly designed to look like one. Who knows. Who cares. It's got 7 cuts of anthemic politically-charged, live for the moment high speed punk rock on it from what were future members of Asschapel, Snakeskin Machinegun, Hans Condor, Pine Hill Haints, Natchez Shakers, etc etc With all the liner notes and handbills jammed into this thing, nowhere is there a year indicating when it was released. I'm pretty almost positively sure this band disbanded by 1999 or so, so I'm guessing around 1998?

Tres Kids - The Fast Food Haunted House Conspiracy

Tres Kids - The Fast Food Haunted House Conspiracy [Bear Records, 1996?]

Tres Kids are a pretty standard hardcore trio from Athens, GA. They played my town twice that I recall. I remember the first time liking them a lot. But the second time not so much, thinking they'd changed their sound considerably. I was also 18 and very drunk at both shows, so who knows. I do remember at the second show giving the singer a very hard time, pretending he was Rivers Cuomo (he did look a lot like Rivers Cuomo) and that I was his biggest fan (I was an extremely big Weezer fan). Dude was a little freaked out. But I was also convinced he was hitting on my girlfriend, so I felt justified at the time in not relenting.

Half these songs were recorded live on what I'm assuming is a college radio show. Not the best recording, but in terms of punk rock, it's as good a recording as any. The rest were apparently recorded at Rivers Cuomo's house. There's a cover of Subhuman's "Mickey Mouse is Dead", which i'm guessing no one ever bothered to license. Enjoy!

Alabama Mysteries pt. III: Decatur! - "City Limit"

Decatur! - "City Limt" [You Not Sneaky, 1995]

The third and final (for now) installment of my 'Bama mystery series comes in the form of a band called Decatur!

First, a little background for those not from Alabama:

Decatur is a neighboring city to my hometown of Huntsville, known (at least at the time) mostly, almost solely, for having a water park and an unclaimed baggage store and little else. From what I can glean from the sleeve, these kids hailed proudly from there and shortly before or after making this recording (judging by the mailing address provided) moved to Auburn, Al for school and released this on their own You Not Sneaky label.

The tunes are about what you'd expect from a small town pop-punk band in the post-Green Day era punk wave. Judging from the lyrics and liner notes, this is a record made for shits and gigs intended mostly just to amuse themselves and their friends. Which isn't to say it's bad. Shit is pretty catchy and worth a listen.

Alabama Mysteries pt. II: Hinge - "Offcenter"

Hinge - Offcenter [Rhetoric Records, 1995]

I don't remember exactly why I bought this record, but I'm guessing it was because it was released on what I thought at the time was the same Rhetoric Records label that released The Larry Brrrds, Teen Idols and the like (it isn't). I don't recall whether the fact the sleeve states clearly that this band is from Prattville, Alabama had anything to do with it or not.

Only upon listening to it now do I recall that I gave this a good many spins at one time. To look at the phoned-in cover art, you'd never guess this disc holds some pretty rockin'-ass ams. It reminds me a good bit of early Kill Rock Stars bands like Slant 6, Adickdid, Tribe 8, Versus, etc - crudely recorded, dissonant, jangled messes of guitars forging some angsty but catchy tunes.

But the mystery remains, who is Hinge? is this their only record? Are they still playing? Are they in different bands now? Have they grown up, started families, and put punk rock away all together? If you have any information on the history or whereabouts of this band or its members, comment below.

Alabama Mysteries pt. I: Bert - Ambient Doug

Bert - Ambient Doug [House O'Pain, 1996]

Here's a mysterious band called Bert. This record was given to me recently (and by recently, I mean a year ago and that I'm just now getting around to posting it) so I have no personal history with this band. But, from what I gather off the sleeve, they were from Montgomery, Alabama so they definitely qualify for this blog. The best story I can give you is on the back of their record sleeve:

The music on this piece of plastic was originally recorded back in 1992 for a twelve song cassette called SLOP... but we can't seem to remember who the hell recorded it or where any of it took place. The vocals back then were spewed from the mouth of Larry Terrell (who also co-wrote the lyrics), but the ones you'll hear on this record were re-recorded by Moamar at Derek Paletto's Glass Onion Studios, in Montgomery, Al on May 16, 1996. The muse was remixed a few days later.

Okay, that doesn't really tell you much at all. All you really need to know is that this record has some awesome noisy, jangled post-punk/grunge/hardcore rock that's not so much fast or heavy as it is noisy and abrasive – and still yet, kinda melodic?

[update]: Mystery Solved! from the comments:

bert was a band from Montgomery, Al that were around for five or so years. You can still buy some of their later works online from Chicken Ranch Records at http://www.chickenranchrecords.com. All of the previous members went on to form various other bands and just recently two of them started a band together called "No". Here is a link to their MySpace page: http://www.myspace.com/musicofno

Gimcrack / Candy Snatchers Split 7"

Gimcrack / Candy Snatchers Split 7" [Stiff Pole Records, 1995?]

I was fortunate enough to pick up this little gem during one night when Gimcrack played my town back in 1995. I remember popping a dubbed cassette of these two cathartically melodic jams every day into my tape deck when I was 17, on my way to my summer job (also bought a t shirt that was too big, and wound up cutting up and pinning it to the back of my jacket that fall). I understood at the time they were from Birmingham, Alabama, but fortunately for all of us, they've got a Myspace that clears up any speculation. Turns out they're from a tiny town called Atmore which I'd never heard of. The rest of the story, in their own words, is as follows:

Four kids, who grew up in the south, started kicking back at their one horse town. They formed Gimcrack in a rotten old shed in the country and pulled out the sounds that were beating around inside their heads. They played various places around the gulf coast, but gravitated towards Pensacola where they were able to share the stage with many cool local and touring bands. Gimcrack hit the highway two summers in a row to spread the infection and see the country. The band was alive from ’93 to ’96, had an album and an EP on Stiff Pole Records, another EP on Backspin Records, as well as songs on numerous compilations. Moving on as many bands do, Gimcrack was able to leave a deep impression in the thick mud of south Alabama and make many friends while doing so.

The Candy Snatchers also have a myspace, but their bio is way too long to post here. This was a substantially more popular band from Florida, but I never gave their side of this record much of a listen. Not sure why, because listening now, it's pretty damn good. If you want to know more about them, check them out here.

Torture Kitty - "The Kid with the Crazy Eyes + 5

Torture Kitty - The Kid with the Crazy Eyes + 5 [House O' Pain, 1996]

Though, I never owned this record before it was generously donated to the blog by House O' Pain Records, I remember this band well -- mostly because I hated them. However, I was one of the few who did, as they played Huntsville rather often to bigger and bigger crowds. Listening to this now, they weren't so bad. I think it's just the same haterade i'm spilling even today when everyone is gushing over a band I can't see the big deal in.

Anyways, what you got herea Knoxville, TN band playing the kind of mildly-threatening hardcore pop punk that was all the rage in the 90s a la The Queers, Screeching Weasel, and Squirtgun. Also of note is that this record was produced by none other than Mass Georgini who has produced and/or played in all those previous influences mentioned.

The Beautys - "Sweetheart! Sweetheart!" 7"

The Beautys - Sweetheart! Sweetheart! EP [House O' Pain, 1997]

Another, much appreciated donation from House O' Pain. These guys hailed from Ft. Wayne, IN, which may be slightly out of my jurisdiction, but since when is it punk rock to start following rules and shit? Once again, I'll use this rare opportunity to let the band's Myspace profile speak for itself:

1995-2003 The Beautys are a hot blooded trio of rockers that hail from the seemingly innocent city of Fort Wayne Indiana. They have toured the U.S. several times and have shared the stage with such rock-n-roll luminaries as: the New Bomb Turks, Electric Frankenstein, The Dwarves, The Donnas [the name dropping could go on and on]. The Beautys have also garnered good reviews for their independent releases, as well as their releases for labels such as: Hopeless/ Sub City, Mutant Pop, and House-o Pain records. The Beautys play a wicked combo of sleazy,high-energy punk rock. Whether singing songs about the blue collar angst of living in a soul sucking factory town, or ripping it up in the key of hangover flat, these freaks really mean it. So what if 1/3 of the band is a card carrying estrogen factory? This is no shy, retiring, girly-poo kind of set up going on here. Chica Baby swings from angel to demon as she sings and hammers away on her guitar while Erick and Salsa Dave lay down the beats the old fashioned way, fast and hard!

Stupid Americanz

Stupid Americanz - Lost Cause EP [House O' Pain, 1991]

Stupid Americanz were a hardcore punk band from Nashville, featuring a pre-Teen Idols' Phillip Hill on either guitar or bass. According to its catalog number (HOP-001), this is also legendary Music City punk label House O' Pain's first release.

Somehow this record found a great deal of popularity in my home town 4 years after its release, long after the band had dissolved, and understandably so. It's packing a dangerous combo of fury & melody in the vein of Bad Religion, but instead of politics, their songs are all about zombies, beer, and giving your friends a hard time for no reason. If I were in the habit of rating these records with a star system (and I've considered it), I'd give this thing 4 out of 5.

Pink Lincolns - Sumo Fumes 7"

Pink Lincolns - Sumo Fumes 7" [Stiff Pole Records, 1993]

I feel like I'm finally catching up on some Florida coverage lately. First with the Stun Guns, then Load, and now this 7" I picked up once upon a time by the Pink Lincolns. These guys were a very popular band in their day, and are apparently still rockin' it.

From Wikipedia:

The Pink Lincolns are a punk rock band formed in Tampa, Florida in 1986 by vocalist Chris Barrows and guitarist Dorsey Martin. The rest of the lineup has frequently changed and currently includes bassist Kevin Coss and drummer Jeff Fox. The band has released five studio albums and six EP's as well as splits with Screeching Weasel and The Queers.^[1][2] The cover for the bands album Suck and Bloat was drawn by Iggy Pop, and their album Pure Swank was produced by Bill Stevenson of The Descendents.^[3]

This single isn't very representative of the band. One side has a cover of X Ray Specs "Oh Bondage, Up Yours!", and an uncredited track I'm assuming is an original and possibly called "Monsters". The other side has a cover of "I Got You" by Split Enz.

Teen Idols / Mulligan Stu Split.

Teen Idols / Mulligan Stu Split 7" [Rhetoric Records, 1995?]

If you follow this blog at all, you've probably read enough about the Teen Idols to get an idea of who they are and what they sound like. Mulligan Stu is a little punk pop band from Rockford, Illinois who are apparently still playing. Teen Idols do the original "Peanut Butter Girl" and a cover of Lindsay Buckingham's "Holiday Road" from the Vacation movies. Mulligan Stu contribute the infectious "I Used to Love You" as well as a cover of "Crash" by the Primitives.

Load

Load
Lumberjack Death Luge [House O'Pain, 1994]
+
Sleestack [House O' Pain 1993]

Ladies and gentlemen, this is Load. Given these two gems were donated to us here by House O' Pain Records in the name of preserving their historic value -- and not to mention that it is absolutely impossible to Google a band with a name like "Load" -- I'm afraid I know absolutely nothing about this band. The main reason I'm posting it here regardless is that it's pretty fucking awesome.

What I can tell you about them is that they were a dirty southern rock band from Miami who played some noisy, heavy, reckless 90s style sludge rock in the vein of Jesus Lizard, TAD, The Cows and the like. [more insight provided in the comments courtesy of Donnie OldSchool].

Teen Idols - "Old Days, Old Ways" 7"

Teen Idols - Old Days, Old Ways [House O' Pain, 1993]

Teen Idols are easily one of Nashville's most successful punk bands, and maybe one of the only to actually outgrow this town. Of course, being a successful punk rock band really only amounts to so much, and pretty much no one I know around these parts now has no idea who they are/were. Still, this success is pretty well documented online. Much unlike 99% of the bands I feature on here, there’s no shortage of info on the Teen Idols. They even have their on Wikipedia page.

Musically, they played speedy, poppy punk rock that was heavy on harmonies and took strong influence the 1950’s both sonically and aesthetically, sporting leather jackets, pompadours, and vintage microphones during their shows.

The band had a ton of lineup changes in their time with the only constant being the group's mastermind, Phillip Hill. Hill is an extremely talented guy with a background in the technical side of things. He eventually found himself more useful and successful behind the scenes producing and playing with the likes of Anti-Flag, Rise Against, Screeching Weasel, The Independents, Common Rider, Even in Blackouts and The Queers.

Teen Idols went on to release stuff on Honest Don's and Fueled by Ramen (where fellow Nashvillian's Paramore would find success many years later), but this record here is their very first, released on Nashville's own House O'Pain Records.

According to their Wiki page, the band has gotten back together and signed with Fat Wreck Chords. Their Myspace page confirms at least a bit of this with quite a few shows booked around the Midwest and Northeast.

Stun Guns - "I Can't Believe It's Not Murder" 7"

Stun Guns - I Can't Believe It's Not Murder! [Star Crunch Records, 1993?]

I just realized last night, that although I ripped it more than a year ago, I've never posted this little gem from Miami's Stun Guns. Since my insight is limited to what little background info I've read online and the two times I saw them in their prime, I'll use the rare opportunity of letting their Myspace tell you their story..

They sure didn't feel like "glory days"... 1992. It was hot in Miami, and the city was wrecked from Hurricane Andrew. George Kelley and Mark Fehan from the Trash Monkeys got together with Paul Lecours of Lethal Yellow. Songs were written, beers were consumed, they soon enough hooked up with another once-Trash Monkey's little brother, Andrew Ross Powell, on drums, and started playing as the Stun Guns. A demo was recorded at Sync studios on Miami Beach, and word seemed to be getting around about the songs on the tape. Word also seemed to be getting around about the live shows, which were drunken blurs of flying bottles and chairs and endless guitar tuning, with a couple of songs in there somewhere. People liked this, it seemed. In 93 or 94 Mark had a good idea. He left the band and joined up with Harry Pussy, a band with yet another Trash Monkey, and did some real tours where they got paid and stuff. The Stun Guns went on a brief hiatus/drinking binge, and when the woke up they had Brian Bush from Chickenhead/Los Canadians on guitar. The people at the shows got drunk, a 7" was recorded and released by Miami's Starcrunch Records, a live song appeared on a comp from Space Caddette records, a small fortune was spent on beer at the store by George's house, AND a tour was planned. Two months with the Shaffers from Dalton,GA, Summer '95. The Shaffers, it turned out, were the coolest people on the planet, and this was probably the best time of our lives, except for that last week, but never mind that. While on the west coast we hooked up with the members of FYP who put us up in San Pedro for like a week, fed us, got us stoned, and eventually released our next 7" on their label, Recess Records. Well, 1996-97 on, some more touring was done, shows were played, and we even recorded again. But after a while things fell apart. I mean, we were a pretty volatile bunch. We even got together for a couple of shows after we all moved away from Miami. These shows were mostly in Chattanooga (the polar opposite of Miami), and ranged from great to so bad we didn't even make it through one song. Well, that's how we rolled.

You can find even more loud, mid-temp, tough-guy punk-n-roll from the Stun Guns over at Region Rock and More.

Fun Girls from Mt. Pilot: Discography

Fun Girls from Mt. Pilot - Complete Discography [House O' Pain, 1993 - 1995]

Oh my friends, how I wish I could whisk you away in a Delorean back to 1994 and allow you to witness the spectacle, the experience involved in seeing the Fun Girls from Mt. Pilot. Imagine, if you will, a stage full of grown men dressed in half-assed drag, one of them sometimes dressed as a Mexican wrestler, playing pulverizing punk rock while a roomful of teenage boys beat the shit out of their peers. It was almost as if this music was chemically engineered in a bathtub full of Sudafed to inspire pubescent males to take out their adolescent frustrations on each other.

I've already said about everything I can about this band in a post I made roughly around this time last year. What that post is missing, though, is two records to complete the total output this band had to offer in their short stay on Earth. Thanks entirely to the band's guitarist Don Kendall, I now possess the missing links in the Fun Girls evolution: their first 7", Hi Doll!, and their last, Diary of a Madwoman. I've posted them here in conjunction with the Lunch Box set and split with The Slackers in case you'd like to snag it all in one fell swoop. I've even tossed in a bonus track, "When I See You Again" from the Nashville Coming Fire compilation just a few posts down. To my knowledge this is more or less the whole of their discography. If there's other stuff out there, I don't know about it.

Rice Harvester

Rice Harvester - S/T 7" [Rice Harvester Records, 1997]

Greg moved to Huntsville by way of Birmingham in a Ford Festiva with little else aside from the clothes on his back. He made a lot of zines in his spare time and found himself in high demand as a drummer, beating the skins for The Grumpies and Joey Tampon and the Toxic Shocks.

Harry moved up from St. Mary's, GA. He had some serious bass chops and made excellent use for them in acts The Wops and The 3D's. He was often unwashed and smelly, but was simultaneously one of the nicest fellows ever to cross paths with most.

Both these guys joined forces with drummer Ben Rhyne (565 Burnouts, The Counterclockwise) to form Rice Harvester-- a scrappy, fierce, care-free and semi-melodic trio named after one of Greg's zines. They relocated to Chattanooga shortly before the new millennium and I personally never heard from any of them again.

Thanks to Region Rock and More for this one, and be sure to check that blog out for more regional Southern punk not represented here.

Booby Hatch

Booby Hatch - Hip Shaking Asscore [House O' Pain, 1997]

Much like in the 80s, many punks in the 90s turned their favor towards metal in the latter part of the decade. Craving something faster, harder, and more challenging to play, the musicians who had the chops were understandably in need of something just a little more.

Featuring members of then recently defunct bands Fun Girls from Mt. Pilot and Highstrung, came Nashville's Booby Hatch. Combining punk's simple fundamentals, the brute force of hardcore thrash and some choice licks from the intermediate guitar player's handbook, this band brought out a brash, bludgeoning style that makes you want to put on a leather jacket, grab a skateboard and brave a drained swimming pool -- all while swirling your hair in a windmill fashion. In all seriousness, this record isn't fucking around. It's not for the faint of heart. But if you think you can handle it, this is some very recommended listening.

Most of this band went on to form the even more metal Asschapel

Rise of the Nashville Compilatons pt. IV: Opry Outcasts

Various Artists - Opry Outcasts [Doug Moody Productions, 1989]

In this final installment in the Nashville compilation series, I bring you a gem excavated from way back in 1989. Now, back in '89, I was getting my school on in rural Alabama, pumpin' my fist to some Cinderella and Skid Row, trying to grow my hair long like Nikki Sixxx, and sewing KISS patches to the back of my denim jacket. Meanwhile, in Nashville, a mysterious mastermind by the name of Doug Moody was putting out slabs of vinyl full of what (at least he assumed) was some of the best rock n roll in town (on gorgeous purple vinyl no less). Half a dozen posts down, there's a Rednecks in Pain record also released by Moody. Like that one, this record has at least 7 record labels listed here: Superseven Records, Thrash Records, Bootleg Records, Ghetto-Way Records, and Mystic Records -- all under the blanket of Doug Moody Productions. Did he run all these labels? Is this the same Doug Moody Productions listed on the Great Balls of Fire OST?

The aformentioned Rednecks in Pain also appear on this comp with what may not be their best recording, but by far one of their best songs. You also get May-Day who contribute some psychedelic proto-grunge to the mix, Caustic Solutions who've laid down some decent thrashcore, and Word Uprising is a hard rockin' southern band who sounds about like their name would suggest. I recommend getting at least for the R.I.P. track.

And this concludes the Music City compage for now -- at least until I get some more.

Rise of the Nashville Compilatons pt.III: Nashville Coming-Fire

Various Artists - Nashville Coming Fire [Vorgo Pass, 1994]

Of all the comps in this series, this is by far my favorite. Upon listening to it, I realized I actually used to crank a cassette copy of this given to me by a friend -- not knowing exactly what it was. I estimate this was released sometime in 1994 -- most of these neglect to put the copyright date anywhere in the liner notes, as copyrights arent' very punk rock. It contains what may very well be Nashville's best known 90s punk bands: Fun Girls from Mt. Pilot, Teen Idols, and The Phanton 5ive. It's also an exponentially poppier record than that scary cover would let on.

I've written a great deal about the Fun Girls from Mt. Pilot before and will post more soon. All you need to know right here is that they were a cross-dressing, hardcore punk ensemble that fared well beyond their home base. Again, a more in depth look at Teen Idols is coming, but for now, just know they were a 50's inspired pop punk group, heavy on harmonies and easily the most successful of any out of this era. The Phantom 5ive are without a doubt the best known - if not only known - instrumental surf group from Music City.

The rest of the bands on this comp actually seem to be little known outside Nashville. I did see Ballpeen Hernia in Huntsville play at some point when I was 15. My memories in conjunction with their Myspace tell me they were kind of a traditional street punk outfit [click those links for more tunes and videos of them playing on the steps of the Nashville Parthenon]. Uncle Daddy is of the upbeat, poppy variety. Not only haven't I heard of Mount, their oblique name makes them impossible to Google. But going from this song alone, I can tell you they were an all-girl trio who played some down-n-dirty Seattle-stlye grunge rock.

As always, any comments you have to fill in the blanks are more than welcome.