Forgotten Gems-The Brainz-Elementary Monster/Terra

Self produced
1979

Back around 1988 I was ordering JFA albums from Placebo records. I saw this 7" from some band called The Brainz in their short catalog. I ordered a copy with the motivating factor being that in only cost like a buck or two. I got my package of stuff and I remember this was the last album I played from that package, but it ended up being my favorite. This 7" was recorded in 1979 and it's pretty wild. Frequently lumped in with the punk scene, but it's more than that. There's a definite early Sabbath influence, but both songs are just frantic mixes of early
70's fuzz rock and punk attitude. Yet even that description doesn't completely do these songs justice. Unfortunately this was the total recorded output from The Brainz. They released it themselves but Placebo Records would end up selling it into the mid-80s. The band consisted of Wayne Frost, Doug Clark, Clark Stokes, Joe Albanese, and John Stewart. Wayne, Doug and Joe would all later end up in Mighty Sphincter. Although that band had a far more theatrical image, their music wasn't nearly as interesting as this album.

Touch and Go:The complete hardcore punk zine '79-83

Bazillion Points
2010



Back in the days before the Internet the fanzines were a great outlet for fans to spread their love for whatever their passion was. Back in 1979 Meatmen frontman Tesco Vee of the and Dave Stimson were huge punk rock fans and record junkies. So they decided to put together their own fanzine about punk rock. Touch and Go ran from Fall of 1979 until the spring of 1983. All of the issues have been copied and bound into this collection for your reading and browsing pleasure. Now this was indeed a very rough DIY type of zine with sometimes blurry pics, not always the greatest amount of order and frequently you have to search to see where one segment ends and another begins. Above all else these guys were honest and that shines through. They were honest about their views and said so straight out in their album reviews, live reviews and other articles. Today we are use to very orderly websites updated frequently with news. Before the Internet you had to wait a relatively long time to find out news about bands that you liked. If you liked more underground bands then you may have an even tougher time finding news and reviews. Tesco and Stimson give a fans view of a fairly exciting and busy period for punk rock. In reading interviews and reviews of and about the likes of Minor Threat, the Misfits, Discharge and many others in these pages you can feel the energy and excitement that the authors had towards these bands. Fans of this genre and the attitude and fire that accompanied this time in punk rock are going to find much to enjoy about this book. Highly recommended.

Top five albums of 1979

Here you go.

1-Van Halen-Van Halen 2
2-Motorhead-Overkill
3-AC/DC-Highway to hell
4-Scorpions-Loverdrive
5-Motorhead-Bomber

Metal was heating up in the UK as the NWOBHM was soon going to explode. Some veteran acts on both sides of the Atlantic had seen their better days. KISS were mellowing out, Aerosmith were sounding tired and Rainbow went against the sound they had established on their previous albums. Black Sabbath and Led Zeppelin were touring, but they had both seen their better days. Hard rock and metal were in there trying to fight against other popular styles of music, but it was still a battle at this point.

I'll have my top five for 1978 up next week.

TKO-Let it roll

Divebomb
1979/2008 Re-issue



I heard TKO's efforts from the 1980's which fell very much in the category of the style of hard rock that was popular in that decade. I never heard their debut back then though largely because it just didn't seem to be easy to find. Now I get to hear the re-issue and it's quite a different sound and vocalist Brad Sinsel is the only member from this line-up who was still with them in the 80's. The sounds here is very much entrenched in 1970's hard rock sound and even what we now refer to as classic rock because I hear parts of the Who, the Stones, early Boston and maybe even some mid-70's Alice Cooper. The keyboards actually make it sound maybe slightly older than it's release year of 1979. It's a slightly stripped appraoch, but by and large most of the songs work due to some solid vocals and steady if not overwhelming approach to their music. I was shocked by this sound because it has arena rock written all over it. When I first heard it wasn't at all what I was expecting from a band whose other albums were far more along the lines of a hair metal sound. However after this release their label ran into troubles, members left and vocalist Sinsel ended up recruiting a new line-up with new ideas for the next album. Despite the obvious differences in style between this and the sophomore album "In your face" I can still honestly say that the band sounds comfortable with both sounds. I suppose was just due to the members playing off their influences and the two different line-ups followed some different bands. TKO did get to tour the Kinks, Cheap Trick and Heart back around this album came out, but their prospects were soon going to change due to label problems. "Let it roll" was a fine debut even though the band would eventually follow a different avenue. The re-issue includes nine bonus tracks recorded at a radio session in 1978 plus a booklet with lyrics and some history on the band.