The Flesh Eaters-A Minute To Pray A Second To Die (2014 Re-Issue)

Superior Viaduct
2014

Re-issued last month by Superior Viaduct, which means this one is fresh off the presses and probably still hot to the touch(!), "A Minute To Pray A Second To Die" is the second studio album from California's legendary (experimental) punk rock band The Flesh Eaters. The product of Slash magazine writer/punk poet Chris D.(aka Chris Desjardins) this oft-times macabre/downright moody band, which was fittingly enough named after a cult horror film from the sixties, was formed in L.A. in 1977 before making it's official debut one year later with the 7-inch EP "Flesh Eaters" (aka Disintegration Nation). Three years later the punk "group" issued it's first full-length album, "No Questions Asked", and with it's dark, near-death rock take on garage rock and roll the stage was set for The Flesh Eaters (with it's goth rock mentality) to do something truly magical. Cue 1981's "A Minute To Pray A Second". More experimental and (in a way) breath-taking then "No Questions Asked" (an album that is also consider to landmark achievement in the field of punk rock) The Flesh Eater's (bizarrely beautiful) second full-length album benefited from having a star-studded backing band featuring a real who's who from the then ever-expanding L.A. punk scene. Besides having Chris D. on lead vocals/shrieks and maracas the one-time line-up included Dave Alvin (Blasters) on guitar, John Doe (X) on bass, Steve Berlin (Los Lobos) on sax, Bill Batemen (Blasters) on drums and DJ Bonebrake (X) on maracas, snare and marimbas. With it's darker hues and morbid, horror-themed lyrics the ghoulish "A Minute To Pray A Second To Die" had the impact of a speeding hearse slamming straight into punk's underground rock scene and (influentially) it would go on to inspire bands for years and years to come! By bringing together roots rock, country, rockabilly, goth rock, jazzy garage rock, death rock and the blues the album took a stab at what punk rock was supposed to sound like and turned it into something radically different and gloriously original. Much like The Gun Club this L.A. band marched to it's own beat as evident by the oddball nature of this landmark recording. As a re-issue it sounds as wonderfully madcap as ever making it all the more deserving of a spot in everyone's essential punk rock collection!

The Gun Club-Fire Of Love (Re-Release)

Superior Viaduct
2014

Long out of print and demanding a high dollar amount on the secondary market, "Fire of Love" is the 1981 debut from The Gun Club. It was only last month that this smashing 11-track album was re-issued in a CD-only version by Superior Viaduct and for those of us who had long ago given up any hope of owning a physical copy of this blues-punk masterpiece that is one dream that has now become a reality! Elegantly produced by The Flesh Eaters' Chris Desjardins and The Plugz' Tito Larriva the amazing thing about "Fire Of Love" is how well it has weathered the changing times. As someone who only discovered the music of this L.A. band as an adult (and only by the good fortune of having once worked with an older gentleman whose wide-ranging taste in music reviled my own!) I'll admit that it gave me a greater perspective on the importance of this early "alternative" band. First formed in 1979 by singer, songwriter and guitarist Jeffrey Lee Pierce*, with guitarist Ward Dotson, bassist Rob Ritter and drummer Terry Graham rounding out the crew responsible for this great LP(!), the band managed to release seven full-length albums, one EP and countless singles during it's existence. Not one of the follow-up release would match the near perfection of "Fire Of Love" though and once opener "Sex Beat" rocks and rattles it's way into your nervous system you'll start to understand why this album is so hard to put down! "Sex Beat" is a tribal number that comes across as solo Lou Reed gearing up some garage rock and roll for all the crazy natives whereas the cover of Robert Johnson's "Preaching The Blues" offers up the first clue that The Gun Club were as knowledgeable about the Delta blues scene as they were about New York punk and 60's rock! The biggest clue though would be the band's choice cover of "Cool Drink Of Water" which comes much later on. This Tommy Johnson traditional is as authentic as one can get and it shows how comfortable Jeffrey Lee Pierce was no matter the environment. As far as The Gun Club's original material was concerned "Sex Beat" (as good as it is) wasn't this album's real highlight. Arguably that distinction would fall on track number four. Much ink has been spilled in regards to the haunting beauty that is "She's Like Heroin To Me". Another love-lorn track that kindles the spirit of a young, lost and lonely Lou Reed (as well as the Velvet Underground), "She's Like Heroin To Me" definite deserves it's revered place in the halls of rock and roll's greatest singles of all time. The problem with "She's Like Heroin To Me" is (at times) it overshadows other strong numbers like "For The Love Of Ivy" (a five minute plus moment of pure punk rockabilly wonderment!), the chaotic (yet strangely alluring) "Promise Me" and "Fire Spirit", a 60s/70s-infused number where the passion of Jeffrey Lee Pierce is highlighted in furious fashion! The colorful "Ghost Of The Highway" is another punk rockabilly song and if there is one thing to be said about "Fire Of Love" it's that not matter how stripped it might get the music packed within The Gun Club's debut album never falls short of brilliant! Caution is throw to the wind on "Jack On Fire" (a bare-naked rocker where primitive sex is presented raw and uncut!) and yet even during it's most twisted moments it never fails that I stare there in utter disbelief at just how far ahead of their time The Gun Club were! Long before rock music would be unclothed by the bands like The White Strips here was this L.A. outfit taking the best of what real rock and roll had to offer and, after cutting away all of it's fat and gristle, giving it back to listeners in such a simplistic manor that it was a feast for the senses! Even at 41 moments like "Sex Beat", "She's Like Heroin To Me", "Fire Spirit" and "Jack On Fire" find me standing with wide-eyed wonder while "Black Train", "Cool Drink Of Water" ( and "Goodbye Johnny" make me believe that the magic of "Fire Of Love" should be shared with our younger generation! This re-release sounds amazing and from "Sex Beat" to "Goodbye Johnny" there isn't a single moment where your ears start to wander. Even if I've had the pleasure of hearing this album before these past few days that I've spent with "Fire Of Love" have found me falling in love with this album all over again. This is one re-release I'll be sharing with family and friends young and old alike!


* A theatrical lead vocalist and guitarist, Jeffrey Lee Pierce was a founding member of The Red Lights and once served as the head honcho for Blondie's U.S. fan club!

Pagan Altar-The time lord

Cruz Del Sur/Shadow Kingdom
2012

This is a re-issue of a release that originally came out in 2004, but the material goes back much further than that as two of these songs were recorded in 1978 and the other three were done in late 1980 or early 1981. This band gets thrown in with the NWOBHM scene. That's well enough due to the time and place they came from, but Pagan Altar were initially into early 70's proto-metal and then early doom. "Highway Cavalier" has a massive yet amazingly simple approach as it launches on sounding like Steppenwolf colliding with very early Motorhead. "The time lord" has the band following more of a winding path not far off from early Judas Priest as they stretch out the passages and the punchy rhythm section sets the pace. The sound still reflects a style that was done a number of years before this was recorded. However they do it justice and serve it up fresh. After this the next three tracks have the band settling into the doom sound that they were most known for. "Judgement of the dead" is a dark march that stays along one main tempo but the thumping bass and swirling guitar notes add depth to it. "The black mass" takes a few pages from early Black Sabbath's playbook, but Pagan Altar take it, twist and make it theirs. This song has a spontaneous feel to it like they were knocking out for the first time. Closing out the album is "Reincarnation" which is the longest most complex track offered up here. They step up the pace a notch and ride with it. Again they stick with a raw feel and excel at it. Pagan Altar created a powerful chapter in the book of doom metal, but they don't always get the notice they deserved. This re-issue has a different cover from the previous release. Even though I have heard some of these tracks before I was again in awe at how good this band could be.

Forgotten Gems-Dragster-Ambitions

Here's another NWOBHM single. We have a band with a silly moniker and equally silly cover art. Let's check out the music from this 1981 release. Side A is ambitions and musically it's kind of like early Saxon meets early KISS. The song never really explodes, but glides along with some solid licks keeping it going. This song definitely has some 70's hard rock mixed with their metal. The results are fairly sharp although not totally original. Side B is "Won't bring you back" which is slow winding song with even more 1970's influences drenching their sound as well as some blue rock to boot. They really build this track up to a good strong peak. This band could have tightened up  here and there, but this was a nice start unfortunately it was kind of the end too as they had no other releases during their run. In 1999 N.W.O.B.H.M revisited-the very best of Dragster was released and unveiled even more tracks from this band. Like many other bands Dragster were kind of a second tier act that has been forgotten over time. They had their own take on metal and some real solid ideas on these two tracks.

Forgotten Gems-Bollweevil-Rock solid

 
The NWOBHM scene of the late 70's and early 80's saw so many bands coming out everywhere that it was hard for every act to get somewhere. So some bands didn't get very far and that certainly wasn't always due to lack of talent. Such is the case with Bollweevil. This band knocked out just one recording during their run. It's this 1981 seven inch. This isn't your typical denim and leather, ultra serious NWOBHM act. In fact is certainly a bit different. "Rock solid" comes on and the first thought that hits me isn't metal it's "early Misfits" due to raw hum of the guitar. Now, metal fans don't flee just yet. The songs quickly turns a bit more metal but holds onto a slightly punk edge too. That last part is what makes this song so interesting. The second side has "Sands of time" which begins really slow sounding it was made about a decade before it was actually recorded. It quickly steps up and we get some more fuzzed up riffs. The vocals are a bit more typical on this one, but they fit well. I love the solo and the rhythms that follow it towards the end of the track. Since it's just two tracks it's all over and just as I really get into. It's a shame this band didn't hang around long enough to do more because it would have been very interesting to hear what they came up with for a full length effort. At least they left this single for us.

Forgotten Gems-Sacred Alien-Spiritual Planet

 

Formed in 1980 in Manchester this band offered up a seven inch in 1981 and a split album with Virgin in 1983.This is the seven inch which includes two tracks. Side one is the title track which opens with some simple drums before picking up into a heavy galloping style. The vocals come soaring on slightly below the music. This song begins simply but really gets going about mid-way through and just takes off after that. Side B is "Energy" which at first revolves a around a rough riff before the slightly offbeat vocals kick in. After that the pace is semi-chaotic and they just do what they want throwing in different beats and not worrying about whether everything fits perfectly. The sound isn't exactly that of your typical NWOBHM band like Maiden, Diamond Head or Saxon. It's somewhere between metal and hard rock plus the slightly off key vocals and pace changes actually help to set them apart a little. A shame these guys didn't get to do more because I enjoyed their slightly off-kilter style.

Dark night of the scarecrow

One Saturday night in the fall of 1981 I was watching TV with my family and a made for TV film called "Dark night of the scarecrow" came on. The plot involved Bubba (Larry Drake of Darkman and Dr. Giggles) being accused of hurting a young girl. A group of good ol' boys lead by Otis Hazelrig (Charles Durning) quickly grab up their guns and hunting dogs and head off in hot pursuit after Bubba. They eventually chase him to a field where they realize he is hiding in the scarecrow's clothes. Birds fly up suddenly and shots ring out as the four "hunters" let loose over twenty bullets into Bubba in their form of mob justice. Only minutes later they are informed that it was actually a dog that hurt the girl and Bubba actually saved her. Quick thinking Hazelrig plants a pitchfork in Bubba's dead hands and the four men are found innocent as they claim self defense. Bubba's mother and the prosecuting attorney both have words with the four killers, but Hazelrig and his friends shrug it off and go on to celebrate at the local bar. The mood changes when a scarecrow begins to appear in the fields of the four men and one by one they meet sticky ends in "farm accidents" until leading to a final chase with Hazelrig in a pumpkin littered corn field. It's unclear who is getting revenge until the very end of the film. This film made a huge impression on me back then. It's a film that revolves around suspense and is actually scare without much good. All of the acting is strong with Charles Durning's despicable Hazelrig being the top stand-out. I remember the next Monday in school that the main topic of discussion amongst sixth grade boys was "did you see that horror movie with the scarecrow?". It was probably another 15 years until I saw it again in the 90's on cable and again it was just as good as I remembered it. In recent years bootlegged DVD copies made the go around and rumors of an official DVD release came and went with no results until this year. In September the kind people at VCI finally put this film out on DVD complete with an audio commentary with the makers of the films and the original TV commercial. Definitely the most anticipated horror DVD release of 2010 for me and it's just as good as I remember it being almost thirty years ago.

Mass-Swiss Connection

SPV

1981/2010

What a difference a year made. I don't what the guys in Mass did in between 1980's "Angel Power", but it sure made a difference. They not only bought a clue, but they figured out their musical direction, how to create strong grooves, how to very styles and their production values inproved by about 60%. Plus they were going to get even a little better after this album. Still I cannot get over the leap they made on this album. It's not great as they still could use some breaks in the repetition and few more hard hitting moments. Still they figured out so many things and turned out albums where every song is at least decent. That is indeed reason for some sort of celebration considering I could barely struggle through "Angel Power" and it's almost complete lack of anything to latch onto. Still this German band were somewhat behind the times compared to what was going on with the top NWOBHM acts. In fact the music here has a little more in common with late 70's hard rock than with other early 80's acts. The most important facts are that Mass managed to improve drastically and lay down some catchy hard rock tracks. If you are interested in checking this band out then I would definitely skip Angel Power and go to this release instead.

Top ten albums of 1981

Here are my top ten albums for 1981.

1)Van Halen - Fair Warning
2)Iron Maiden- Killers
3)Ozzy- Diary of a madman
4)Black Sabbath- The Mob Rules
5)Motley Crue-Too fast for love
6)Def Leppard-High and dry
7)Rush-Moving Pictures
8)Hanoi Rocks-Bangkok Shocks, Saigon Shakes, Hanoi Rocks
9)Cirith Ungol-Frost and fire
10)Tie: Raven- Rock 'till you drop and Venom- Welcome to hell

In 1981 the NWOBHM was still going strong. Iron Maiden started to develop the style that would serve them so well for most of the decade. Several albums on my list are debuts so a good year for new bands indeed.