Author: Henry Owings

1. My condolences as King Khan and BBQ got busted with narcotics in some shitsplat city in the South. My deeper sympathies to their tour manager who took the fall.
2. Being amazed by the indie-rock news cycle’s over-reaching attempts to keep Jay Reatard in the news who openly "fights" with his "fans" and journos regarding that as "news". Of course, when he urinates on one of his bandmates at Gonerfest, nobody notices. Come to think of it, I guess that’s pretty common…
3. REM’s newest double CD/DVD live release sold less than 2000 its first week while U2’s newest sold over one million. Ouch. That’s gotta suck.
4. The Beatles punishing fans by not selling the mono mixes of their records individually. Pricks.
5. Receiving a box of crazy CRAZY DC relics from Chris Thomson (CIrcus Lupus, Monorchid, Ignition, etc.) that I was neither expecting nor prepared for. Two unreleased sessions by Cupid Car Club? ‘Nuff sed.
6. I announced that I’d fight Manny Theiner for charity in his hometown for Pittsburgh. Obviously no response.
7. I also was willing to publicly debate Paste Magazine over their merit (versus Chunklet’s) and whether they deserve to have fundraiser benefits. Again, no response.
8. Record Store Day exclusive releases! LOVE!!!!!
9. Receiving a call from Corey Rusk asking to sell over 1500 records for him on eBay. I’m two months into it and I’ve barely made a dent!
10. Receiving a cease and desist email from Jenny Lens after posting a prank call that Black Randy (of his Metrosquad) made to her regarding her illicit activities in the late 70’s/early 80’s.

11. Spending 3 hours chatting at NXNE in Toronto with John Brannon (Easy Action, Laughing Hyenas, Negative Approach) and having him close the discussion with "You’re my hero!".
12. The continued rise in popularity of Mississippi Records which, at least to my feeble noggin, seems like nothing more than a glorified bootleg label. By comparison, Numero Group is continually marginalized.
13. The Fugazi stage banter tape on chunklet.com. The only thing that can rival that is a sequel featuring all the Q&A’s from Bob Weston during Shellac gigs. Chance of that happening with their permission? Nil.
14. The Monsters of Folk. No mention of Pete Seeger anywhere and he could both play circles around them and actually be worthy of the moniker Monster of Folk unlike these young, white rich kids.
15. Watching Black Lips fans in Atlanta continue to morph into this mega-douchebag that I can’t even tolerate. And the Black Lips? They haven’t changed that much.
16. Preparing for the inevitable backlash against the Dum Dum Girls. Still anticipating same said backlash for Vivian Girls.
17. Being blown away (yet again) by Thirsty Moon Records in San Diego who cart INCREDIBLE vanity pressings of psych/garage records directly over from Tijuana and sell them for $17.99. GOD BLESS AMERICA!
18. Watching the cringeworthy decline of the once mighty Trail of Dead.
19. Buying the first two Monster Magnet singles from Mike Lavella who, ironically, was the person who first introduced me to them in the pages of MRR so many years ago.
20. Being allowed to introduce Fucked Up at ATP and then having three Irish jag bags ask me what my point was in singling out the Horrors for being less tolerable than having your nuts in a vice. Such is life.

Y’know, it’s funny. Around 1990, I was convinced that there were no better live bands on the planet than Fugazi and The Jesus Lizard. And here it is almost 20 years later and I spent many a night following the latter across the planet (just like the ol’ days) and I got to have my post-teenager sentiments reinforced as I watched four men all hovering around fifty years old fucking sweep the floor with their younger counterparts asses on a nightly basis. No question about it.

One thing I didn’t particularly enjoy at these shows were the jag bags that were crowd surfing. I know, I know. I’m a fucking drag for saying that, but when Yow does it, he’s a professional. When some yahoo with lumberjack boots does it, people get clobbered in the noggin. Sorry, it’s the truth and it’s lame. But man, I remember Fugazi. I remember Fugazi telling people not to do it. And looking back on it, I think what a loving request it was. Even when I was 19 or 20, I’d deal with the jocks being violent, but Fugazi stood their ground and defended the majority of a crowd that wanted to enjoy themselves and not get injured in the process.

So it was with great pleasure when James Burns contacted me to tell me he had assembled a 40+ minute montage of Fugazi stage banter. And is it sad that I could name which shows some of the banter came from? That’s sad, right? Anyway….

Please enjoy and (if you’re old enough) remember how blissfully intense their shows were. God, when will ATP get FUGAZI to reunite?! I’ll be there, front and center.

Fugazi – Having Fun On Stage With Fugazi
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When I moved to Athens, Porn Orchard cast a pretty big shadow. At least to my 22 year old self they did. They had records out on a national label (although C/Z’s legacy is now mightily tarnished) and toured. Hell, even in Pennsylvania I had heard of them playing around! To me, they were the upper classmen. And damn talented ones at that.

I got to see Porn Orchard play a handful of times in the fall of 1992. I was still staying in the background and not really meeting people, so it’d be long after PO fell apart that I got to meet all the guys in the band and all of their lovely friends (many of whom still return my calls!).

I really don’t feel like there’s much to say about Porn Orchard that you can’t read in this "Where Are They Now?" feature in Flagpole from a number of years ago, but there you go.

As everybody knows by now, Ted died a little over a couple years ago and it was shortly thereafter that digital versions of both of PO’s demo tapes surfaced and just so they don’t disappear, I’m having them be part of the permanent Chunklet archive for people to check out.

And what kickstarted my interest in posting this stuff? Well, Curtis Pernice emailed me a couple days ago to let me know that footage from the final Porn Orchard show has finally been posted on-line. I’ve included one clip here that might not start the best (nor be the most representative of the band), but you get to see a glimpse of downtown Athens in ’92 as they’re "backstage" out on the Washington Ave. I just find it funny to look in the front row and see all the jokers that are still close friends of mine to this day. So awesome.

Porn Orchard – Sunday Sounds Good (KTPS demo)
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Porn Orchard – Devil Door (KTPS demo)
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Porn Orchard – Don’t Change The Sheets (KTPS demo)
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Porn Orchard – Desperate Formula (KTPS demo)
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Porn Orchard – Sledgehammer (HTRPH demo)
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Porn Orchard – This Reflex (HTRPH demo)
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Porn Orchard – Circles (HTRPH demo)
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Porn Orchard – Make Yourself Ugly (HTRPH demo)
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Porn Orchard – Blindly (HTRPH demo)
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Porn Orchard – Barbie (HTRPH demo)
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Getting phone calls at three in the morning on a Saturday night are never a good sign, and the one I got last night is no exception. Fred Weaver called and left a message on my voice mail which I immediately returned to get some of the most grim news of my life.

Jerry Fuchs, drummer extraordinaire, illustrator par excellence, Chunklet contributor and rock solid friend, died last night. I’m still awaiting to get more news, but here’s what I know: Jerry was at a party in Brooklyn and fell down an elevator shaft. He was immediately rushed to the hospital where he was admitted in critical condition. Shortly after, he died in the early hours of Sunday, November 8 while an entire waiting room of friends were there for him.

I originally met Jerry when he was a newly enrolled student at UGA in 1993 at the University of Georgia. He and I met at Frijoleros on Lumpkin in downtown Athens while I was on assignment to write a feature about his band The Martians for The Flagpole. Thanks to our mutual adoration of Bitch Magnet and Bastro, it took but a few minutes for us to become quick friends. Even in his teens, Jerry was a spectacular drummer, but you could tell he was just starting to grow into his talents.

We’d routinely drive into the big city of Atlanta to go record shopping and see his family up in Marietta. Upon meeting his family, I could see why Jerry was as irrepressibly sweet, cordial and kind as he was. His younger brother, Adam, was still a little kid when I met him and he would always worship the ground his older brother walked on. His mutual interest in illustrating took him to work at Adult Swim for the past several years, but has always been his brother’s biggest cheerleader. He did the illustrations for a Maserati video a few years back and has always been in the front row of his older brother’s gigs. Adam’s twin sister was always around and although she had special needs, you would never know it by being around the Fuchs family. I never met Jerry’s elder sister, but I knew enough of her to know that they were all very tight and loved each other very much. And of course, Jerry’s parents were overwhelmingly supportive and loving of their son Jerry’s undeniable talents. They cooked dinner for me a number of times and would show me embarrassing photos of a younger Jerry with dreadlocks and then take me around to the room where Jerry’d practice his drums. I always felt that they were unbelievably proud of their four children.

As Jerry’s time in Athens wore on, our friendship blossomed. The band he was in, The Martians, was a temporary situation. Once he was out of the band, he started performing with a number of musicians in town. Most notably, he played with Space Cookie and Nuçi Phillips in an as of yet untitled project (which’d eventually be called Koncak).

To me, Jerry seemed frustrated in Athens, and that’s when fate stepped in. One day, while I was goofing off at my job at the University of Georgia, I was trawling the usenet newsgroups when I saw Jon Fine (formerly of Bitch Magnet) soliciting for a new drummer for his band Vineland. I reached out to Jon and told him of the best under-utilized drummer in Athens named Jerry Fuchs. Not knowing how Jerry would react to me doing this on his behalf, I went to Jerry and told him I involuntarily threw his name into the ring for drummer of Vineland.

Soon thereafter, Jon and Jerry were routinely chatting on the phone, and shortly after that Jerry took a school break to go up to New York. What the hell? It couldn’t hurt to try something new, right? Of course, almost immediately, Mr. Fine enlisted Jerry to his band. Jerry wrapped up his semester and then quickly moved to New York. Through Vineland, I became pals with Jon (who interviewed Roger Miller for Chunklet) and Fred Weaver (who wrote the brilliant Don Cab tour diary in issue 16) and those friendships still resonate today. I helped put on Vineland’s gig at the Landfill (at 660 Reese Street) in the spring of ’96 which was the first time I saw the newly minted NYC Jerry in action…and it was oh-so-sweet. Jerry worked on the stock exchange floor during those years and he seemed happy.

Shortly after that gig in ’96, Jerry started jamming with Scott and Justin from Pitchblende in a band that would eventually become Turing Machine. During his tenure in Turing Machine, he came back to Athens to finish his design degree and we spent time together when we could fit in each other’s schedule. In total, Jerry contributed his unique and hysterical illustrations to seven issues of Chunklet.

By this point, watching Jerry play drums was like eating cupcakes while getting a deep back massage. His moves were getting more and more powerful while looking more and more effortless. One time Turing Machine played in Atlanta in 2000, Jerry got in a fender bender using his parent’s minivan as the rest of his band and I were more quickly saying "Jerry… Jerry?!? JERRY?! JERRY!!!!!" in the backseat as he zoomed closer to a car in front of him. It’s random moments like that which are popping up as I type this quasi-obituary for one of my closest friends.

As the new millennium started gearing up, there was a obvious reason why Jerry started playing with all the DFA-affiliated bands (The Juan Maclean, !!!, etc.) as time went on: He was an invaluable monster on the drums that could recreate those motorik-like disco beats and make it sound human. Goddamn, the hair on the back of my neck stands on end when I think about it. Recent years saw him reaffirm his roots in Athens as he became the incredibly propulsive backbone to Maserati after they gave their original drummer the boot. And man, again, watching Jerry perform was always a treat. ALWAYS.

The last time I saw Jerry was in the early morning hours in Toronto at NXNE a few months ago. We were staying at the same hotel and bumped into each other in the lobby. He was just coming back from a gig with The Juan Maclean and I was coming back from a show I had curated elsewhere in town. We had a frazzled and hasty, yet friendly, late night chat concluded with Jerry saying "I’ll call you soon." And that was that.

Which brings me to the early hours of this lovely Sunday morning in Georgia when Jerry’s family, bandmates, loved ones and friends had the floor yanked out from underneath us. Jerry Fuchs (aka Gerhardt, Gerard, Jerry J. Jeromey, Jerome, et. al.) is dead. The vague details of how he died in the first paragraph is all I know right now. But what will I remember about Jerry? There’s so much that I don’t even know where to start. I’d have to start with his kind-hearted nature. He was a sweet man. Thoughtful. Generous. To add to that, he was easy to make laugh and laugh at. A robust sense of humor punctuated with genuine bouts of derisive laughter. Jerry was prematurely grey even when I knew him in the mid-90s which I always found entertaining. He was modest while being self-effacing and incredibly accommodating. His illustration and design work was strong and unique. The drawings he did in Chunklet always made me laugh because Jerry "got it" so quickly (unlike many illustrators that have come and gone). And his drumming? I’d confidently put Jerry in the pantheon of stellar drummers and I don’t know anybody who even casually knew or saw perform Jerry who would disagree with me.

Jerry Fuchs is survived by his parents, an older sister, a younger brother and sister along with nephews and nieces. Additionally, Jerry is survived by an impressive canon of records on which he’s performed, countless mouth-agape audiences in awe of his work, dozens of heart-crushed former bandmates, and an endless parade of true friends around the world. Jerry, your influence was profound and far-reaching.

Goodbye, Jerry.

UPDATE: Gothamist report.

OBITS: New York Times, ABC News, Philly Burbs, AJC, WNYC, Rolling Stone, Brooklyn Vegan, Village Voice.

VIEWING (NYC): November 11 from 6 to 8PM at Senko Funeral Home, 213 Bedford Ave, Brooklyn, New York 11211, Tel: 718-388-4416.

MEMORIAL SERVICE (NYC): Friends of Jerry are gathering at Enids in Brooklyn this Thursday November 12 at 7PM.

MEMORIAL SERVICE (ATLANTA): Services for Jerry will be Tuesday, Nov. 17th at 7:30pm, St. Anns Catholic Church in East Cobb, Marietta, Ga.

MEMORIAL (ATHENS): 40 Watt Club following the service in Marietta.

CONDOLENCES TO THE FUCHS’ FAMILY: Please contact me directly (henry at chunklet dot com) and I’ll give you pertinent info. Out of respect to the family and their privacy, I will not be posting it on the site.

POSTSCRIPT: As news develops about Jerry’s funeral arrangements, you can come visit this site for up-to-date information. My sincerest condolences go out to Jerry’s family.

So as you know, I’m not one to make this site a platform for charity, but when it’s somebody near and dear to me like Jason Noble, I throw caution to the wind and go for it.

I met Jason in 1994 when Rodan performed in Georgia and we all became quick pals. The band stayed at my house and on the drive down to Atlanta, Jason was told of the "Henry Dance" which was composed by Chunklet contrib (and all around drumming bad ass) Jerry Fuchs. So, of course, during Rodan’s set that night, they asked for me to come up and dance the dance during one of their songs. As years have gone by, Jason never fails to bring that stupid dance up. And yes, that’s just the tip of the iceberg. Apart from being an incredibly talented musician and artist, he’s been a guiding force in Rachels, Shipping News, RMSN and, of course, Rodan. Jason’s a fucking stand-up guy and it’s a crying shame that we live in a country that’s so bogged down with shit that we all have to band together to take care of our own, but I guess that’s what we have to do.

With that out of the way, Chad Castetter got in touch and wanted to see if we could help and of course, I’m more than happy to oblige for such an awesomely awesome fella like Jason.

From Chad: "I’m not sure if you knew, but Jason Noble (Rodan, Rachel’s, and all-around great guy) was diagnosed with cancer a couple of months ago. He had part of a lung removed and started chemo about a week and a half ago.  His hospital bills are piling up as the days go by.  We’re having a benefit show here in Louisville this month to try and put a small dent in his astronomical bills.  It’ll be a great show for a good cause.  The line-up is The Web (a reunion show for these local legends), Shannon Wright, and Shellac.  It’s on Saturday, November 21st, 8:00 pm at the 930 listening room.  The address is 930 Mary Street, Louisville.  Tickets are $17 in advance and $20 day of show.  People can also hit their website for info, as well."

So obviously, to see such a group of people come together to help Jason is touching, but he needs REAL help, oh readers of Chunklet. If you live close, go support. If you don’t, get in touch about where to send money. Suffering through cancer is horrible enough without having to bother your friends to flip the bill, but if you can kick in some bucks, it’d go a long way to helping Jason.

OH! And if you want up to the minute updates as to how Jason’s doing, click here.

Seriously, give. That is all.

So over the past couple weeks, I’ve been talking with a one Teddy Leo about a Misfits cover band that he’s participating in tonight at Johnny Brendas called (wait for it)….TV Casualty.

Without question, The Misfits are inextricably tied to Hallowe’en. Additionally, this past week, I have seen all my Chicago friends photographed inside Corey Rusk’s Misfits coffin as T&G moves? Anyway, I digress.

I seem to listen to this EP every three or four months just outta shock value and thought I’d share it: The Misfats. Yes, you heard it right. The world’s biggest Misfits cover band. I think their site does a better job of explaining their position than I ever could. Just brace yourself.

The Misfats called it quits last year and so now I feel completely comfortable in posting their entire EP seeing as how they’re not selling it any more. Enjoy!

The Misfats – Hungry Moments
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The Misfats – Don’t Open That Mayonnaise
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The Misfats – Last CarButterCass
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The Misfats – Mommy, Can I Go Out And Grill Tonight?
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The Misfats – Private Bidness
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The Misfats – Butter
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The Misfats – Last Carcass
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Now, I’d be lying if I didn’t already think that The Jesus Lizard were one of the best (if not thee best) live bands of the 90’s. So yes, I’ve already seen five of the reunion gigs, so you could say I’m mildly gaytarded for them. And you know what? I’m fine with that.

I was able to convince my pal Adam to fly out from Chicago and meet me in San Diego to see what is, without a doubt, the smallest venue that the Lizard are playing on these reunion dates. I mean, the Casbah? It’s teeny! Like what? 250 on a good day? So yes, it was a no-brainer that I went.

I ran into the legendary (and very enigmatic) Greg Webb whose video makes up the lion’s share on the Harvey Milk "Anthem" DVD. Got to see Model/Actress (featuring Juan from Brainiac) who opened the gig, but really, I mean, it was The Lizard’s night.

Full throttle. That’s all I can say. The staff at the Casbah did a superior job of keeping the douchenozzles who were randomly clobbering people in the head to a minimum. How they can do that in such a small club is beyond me. Yow walked on the ceiling (which I hadn’t seen since Baltimore ’92), lost his mic and had the crowd sing "Puss" and bounced his microphone off the heads of everybody in the front row during the encore.

But yeah, click on the video I’ve attached for the first song to see how insane it was. Then again, the video this guy shot was mostly worthless but still fun to watch merely from an "I was there" kind of angle.

Adam and I stayed with Pall Jenkins from Black Heart Procession and I was able to buy a piece of art directly from the man the next morning which was a pleasant score from the trip! And man, Pall was en fuego the night of the Casbah gig. Hilarious, but totally en fuego.

The next day was much more hurried for me as I dropped Adam off at the San Diego airport and then made my way up the 5 to LA. That was where it went shitty. It took ages to get into LA, but I immediately went to the Hydrahead offices to visit with Mr. Thompson who runs the label and then went to their record emporium called Vacation in Los Feliz. If you’ve not been to Vacation and you live in LA, you really should go. Totally dug it. Went to the killer taqueria across the street from Vacation and then immediately went to the Fonda Theater. Ran into Tom Zaluckyj from Tar within minutes of arriving and then met long-time colleage Jason Pettigrew for the first time face-to-face.

I wasn’t comparing notes, but it seemed like the Lizard’s set was almost identical to the Casbah gig (a very minor disappointment) but still absolutely fantastic. I had to drive back to San Diego after the gig, so I just started drinking coffee the second I got on the 5 and got to the hotel around 4 (7EST!).

So I recorded both gigs, but really, the San Diego gig is so much more fun thanks to the small room that I thought I’d include it here. Click here and enjoy.

OH! And I’m off to Mexico for vacation with the wife for the rest of the week. Be sure to check out some of the crazy stuff I’m selling this week on eBay.

So BJ at the absolutely fantastic Pukekos blog has given me a platform (yet again) to wax rhapsodic about criminally forgotten music from my younger days in Pennsylvania. Or at least it seems right NOW it’s all about Pennsylvania.

Slag were a band that pre-dated Mike Banfield’s days in Don Caballero and was a 4-piece in State College for a couple years. I mean, Mike had dreads, so of COURSE it was college!

Anyway, they released one single, were on one comp and then "poof!" just disappeared. Then again, we got the mighty Don Cab afterwards so who’s to complain, right?

Anyway, go check the rather exhaustive entry out, and if it floats your boat, let me know. I sometimes feel that these sorta things are more for myself than anybody out on the internet, but positive reinforcement always helps.

Also check out the video!

Yeah, I know. Holy fucking shit.

This, of course, is another entry in the now legendary "Chris Thomson Tape Dump of 2009" which just happened to show up in my mail box one day last month. Obviously I’ve been a massive fan of Chris’s work for over 20 years now and to get a rare glimpse into what he was doing after Circus Lupus and before Monorchid’s first full length is a fucking TRIP!

All that I know about this demo is that it’s from 1996 and predates versions of these songs on singles and the first full length. Early vocal takes. Some lyrics that don’t match up. Just a great listen altogether. Oh, and completely with the permission of the band to those that are pissing all over these otherwise great finds.

Regrettably, this is the only Monorchid tape that’s worth hearing from the box. There’s a boombox recording of them performing at the Black Cat in ’97, but I really am sparing you. It’s unlistenable.

Oh! And the only track I didn’t include on this posting is an alternate take of "Poison Test" which, if you email me, I’d be happy to send you. I can only post a max of ten items on the site, so sue me that I only give you TEN PREVIOUSLY UNHEARD MONORCHID DEMOS instead of eleven, you thankless bastards!

"The Monorchid should be credited with totally revitalizing the weak and diseased DC music community, and as we pull ourselves to the top of the heap we are going to bring every other DC band with us and that’s a promise."

Sincerely, The Monorchid (1997)

Monorchid – Poison Test (’96 demo)
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Monorchid – Who Put Out the Fire (’96 demo)
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Monorchid – Midget Housing (’96 demo)
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Monorchid – Distortion (’96 demo)
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Monorchid – Dead Signal (’96 demo)
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Monorchid – Curse Of The Potty Trained Children (’96 demo)
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Monorchid – Controversial Trousers (’96 demo)
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Monorchid – Chompers (’96 demo)
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Monorchid – Bitch Test (’96 demo)
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Monorchid – Babies (’96 demo)
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So the smoke has settled from 14 boxes coming in the front door and so now I can actually let the cat out of the bag. For at least the next few months, I’ll be selling approximately 1,500 records for Corey Rusk.

Check ’em out here.

Just to nip gossip in the bud, Corey’s selling these records thru me because he simply doesn’t have the time and he knows that I’m an eBay seller with a lot of experience. Additionally, he’s not doing this for any other reason than to free up space because, well, he’s moving from the T&G building and will not have a warehouse to just leave these nuggets to collect dust. Here’s the boiler plate provenance that’s included with each listing:

"My friend Corey Rusk, who runs Touch and Go Records, has been cleaning out his storage space and has realized that he really doesn’t have any more room for the all doubles and triples of many of the rare records in his collection.  He’s busy running Touch and Go and doesn’t have the time to deal with selling his extras… but they do need to go.  So he asked me to help him sell them off.  And of course, as a long time friend of Corey and and fan of Touch and Go Records (along with being a 10+ year eBay seller with a perfect feedback rating of 1600+), I jumped at the chance.  So that is the origin of  the record in this auction."

There’s absolutely ZERO shortage of incredible records in these boxes. Tons of hardcore, postpunk and noise rarities. Oh, and test pressings and rare editions of Touch & Go releases, too. As a fan of Corey’s last 25 years of work, it’s a true pleasure to sift through everything. Now the work can begin.

Click here and shop away. Oh, and feel free to pass this along. These auctions aren’t s’posed to be a secret. I’ll be posting new items every Sunday unless I’m out of town.

So it’s 5:30 in the morning and I can’t sleep because I have two labradoodles pinning my feet. I’m too much of a pushover to tell them to get on the floor. So how do I make up for this shortcoming in my slumber? Post a prank call!

This is a pretty self explanatory one, but one that only recently has been uncovered. It’s Albini and the guys from Nirvana pretending to be Madonna’s manager trying to get Evan Dando on the phone with Madonna for five minutes. Go and do your laundry and then come back and continue listening to Dando on hold. It just keeps going.

I’m sure Evan Dando is a nice guy (then again, I doubt it), but man, you talk about a guy that had everything presented to him on a gilded silver plate and blew it in the early 90’s, well, he sure did.

I also uncovered a particularly entertaining diary-esque rant that Kathleen Hanna wrote about Dando as well. Worth a quick read.

Enjoy!

ADDENDUM: To those that discredit that this recording IS NOT Dando, behold. (Big ups to Sowley for this.)

Albini/Nirvana – Evan Dando/Madonna prank call
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Okay, now it’s time for take two of the great "Thomson Tape Haul of ’09".

This time it’s Minor Threat at Irving Plaza in New York, 1982. This isn’t necessarily a rare recording, but this version is pretty low generation and not hissy or garbly like other ones I’ve seen on line.

There’s absolutely nothing I need to say about Minor Threat, but I do feel that the in-between chatter from Ian to a clearly belligerent crowd is quite entertaining. I mean, come on, he was what? Nineteen? Maybe twenty?

Enjoy. I’m thinking between Getaway Car (Mike Fellows (ROS), Kim Thompson (CCC, D72) and Guy Picciotto (Fugazi)) and some Monorchid demos next.

Minor Threat – Irving Plaza pt 1
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Minor Threat – Irving Plaza pt 2
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It’s hard to believe that 2002 was seven freakin’ years ago, but I clearly remember an entire summer of driving around the South just BLASTING the self titled album by Floor. As a fan of their singles up to that point, I knew what to expect from their first full length, but man, I didn’t know how much they improved.

In a nutshell, I’ve always said that Floor album was a perfectly psychedelic My Bloody Valentine/Black Sabbath hybrid with 10 times the hooks. Listen to "Kallisti" and "Lolita" if you don’t believe me. And I’m listening to the album now as I’m typing this up, and I still think I’m pretty right.

Floor crumbled away in 2004, but I was fortunate enough to see them a number of times (often in a room of 10 or 20 people) and was always blown away.  Always. Towards the end of the band, they’d play songs that’d become the early material for Steve Brooks’s next band, Torche.

Fortunately, Torche hasn’t fallen upon the same level of under-appreciation. And because the songs are just so, well, um, perfect, there’s a reason that Torche often does entire strings of Floor songs during their set. Just absolutely brilliant.

The mightily ambitious nutballs at Robotic Empire are doing what any label that just damns to the torpedoes would do in 2009: release a box set by Floor!

Below and Beyond is a box set worthy of Floor’s mighty influence. Ten 12" records, a 7" EP, eight CDs, a 32 page book and a freakin’ t-shirt in a cloth bound box! Good christ, I’m gonna have to move some stuff around when it arrives just so it has the room!

There’s only 300 or so being made and as a friend and fan of the band, I’m going to push this impending masterpiece on the readers of this site. Furthermore, in typical Chunklet fashion, we’re giving you some bonuses! Below you’ll find downloads of two songs from the box. Yes, you’re welcome. And you have Robotic Empire to thank.

Also, just because I’d love more people to hear them, I’m including a link to download two entire shows by the band. One in Philly and one at the Caledonia in Athens back in ’03. Their overly dense sound is truly majestic live, but can be hard to replicate in a live recording, but these do the job pretty well.

Enjoy. And seriously, go pre-order the box set. It’s worth it. Trust me.

Floor – Xtian
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Floor – The Pulse
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So why don’t we start the "Chris Thomson 2009 Tape Dump" out with a bang? Here’s the first of two demo tapes that were in the box of the Cupid Car Club. Yes, there’s two.

Cupid Car Club has become one of those bands whose influence far surpasses their one meager single, and this tape proves it. Seven songs, decent fidelity. Bang. Genius.

There’s really little to nothing known about CCC so do a brief scuttling about the interwebs and see that I ain’t joking. All you need to know is 3/4 of Nation of Ulysses and Kim Thompson. Seventeen years later and people are still trying to steal their moves.

Enjoy.

Cupid Car Club – MP Skulkers_Cool Mother Star
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Cupid Car Club – Grapejuice Plus (demo)
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Cupid Car Club – Child Custody Command (demo)
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Cupid Car Club – We’re The Hurtin’ Kind
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Cupid Car Club – Vapor Rub Out
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Cupid Car Club – 2 Stroke Motobecan
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By this point in my life, I’ve become accustomed to a certain level of bizarre (yet welcome) events happening. I could go on forever on this subject. I think it should be a book, actually.

But in the mail this past week was an unexpected box of tapes from Chris Thomson. For those who don’t know, Chris Thomson was in the band Lunch Meat (which went on to be Soulside and then GVSB), Ignition, Fury, Red Eye Legends, and then the series of bands he’s best known for: Circus Lupus, The Monorchid and Skull Kontrol.

Here’s Chris’ note:

In this box was a jaw-dropping collection of goodies that I’m still trying to wrap my head around. Live Monorchid, Nation of Ulysses, Lunchmeat, Universal Order of Armageddon. Two radio sessions by Rites of Spring and Marginal Man. Ignition demos. Two demo tapes by Rites of Spring. A tape simply called "Gangster Chronicles" which, I’m guessing, is a pre-Make*Up session.

The two most astounding finds deserve their own paragraph. First, two (yes, two) demo tapes by Cupid Car Club along with a live gig from Minneapolis in ’93. Second, three tapes of Getaway Car. Getaway Car was Mike Fellows (Rites of Spring, Happy Go Licky), Kim Thompson (CCC, Delta 72) and Guy from Fugazi. Did I know they existed? No. Did I lose my mind when this stuff arrived? Uh, yeah.

So this next month or two will be seeing these recordings proliferating themselves on the Chunklet site. I’ve already encoded the Cupid Car stuff and it’s fan-freakin-tastic. Be patient.

ALSO! Anybody reading this that has a neglected box of awesomeness in their house, I will take fantastic care of it. First Peter Prescott’s collection of tapes and now this? Unreal.

The goombahs from Manowar don their fur lined codpieces, perform "Gloves of Metal" and then do a Q&A with 13 year olds and their parents?!

Wait, are you fucking kidding me?!

Nope. This was the same show that had R.E.M. do a similar dog and pony show the same year so maybe their talent buyer was out of his/her mind.

I was admittedly indoctrinated into the Black Randy cult in a pretty awesome fashion. In 1991, I was stuck for an afternoon at a friend’s house in Chicago. "Pass The Dust" was quickly pulled out and, well, the rest is history.

Hearing of Black Randy’s exploits in 2009 seems like you’re hearing about a crazed, drugged out pirate on the high seas. Sort of like knowing that Bluto from Animal House was real and crawling around LA in the late 70’s.

Part comic. Part musician. Part jackass. Part sociopath. Part druggie. And another part comic.

Yep. That was Black Randy.

Black Randy and the Metrosquad put out a handful of singles and a masterful LP in the late 70’s and then that was it. All of them were affiliated with the absolutely flawless label Dangerhouse which, not surprisingly, Black Randy was part of. The only video that exists of Black Randy and the Metrosquad is from the horrible movie "The Fabulous Stains" in which they have a brief cameo.

As is often the case, not much documentation of Black Randy’s exploits exist other than the records and a few anecdotes that are easily Googled. (Try it.) However, recently the masterful More Than A Witness blog uncovered a couple hysterical phone calls that Black Randy recorded in the late 70’s.

Firstly, there’s a call with (now legendary) photographer (and then drug dealer) Jenny Lens. You can read about the provenance of the call at MTAW. They deserve the credit. Not me.

Secondly is a call between Black Randy and a San Francisco promoter discussing their upcoming show where BR insists that the Mentors get on the bill and the Go-Go’s are bumped off. Again, read about it here.

I’ve tacked on a few live tracks from the "Live At The Masque" 3-CD series that came out (with little to no fanfare) about ten years ago. The more I can find out about him, I’ll be happy to listen.

Black Randy died from AIDS related symptoms in 1988 due to years of hardcore drug use. In a just world, Black Randy will get a biopic about him, but in the meantime, we’ll just have the legend and lore of this completely drugged out nutball that was roaming the Sunset Strip in the late 70’s and early 80’s.

Black Randy vs. Jenny Lens
Black Randy vs. Paul Rat
Black Randy/Metrosquad-Idi Amin (live)
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Black Randy/Metrosquad-Loner With A Boner (live)
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Black Randy/Metrosquad-Trouble At The Cup (live)
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Thanks to Jon Wurster for the photo and the title. Wow. Just WOW.

I can’t believe I’ve been dragging so much ass at posting stuff on this site. So I apologize for that. However, I’ve been sitting on recordings I made of Sleep at ATP for going on four months and it’s finally dawned on me that I should put something up from it.

So there’s no question that Sleep are awesome. But like so many bands that ATP gets to reunite, they weren’t that widely appreciated while they were around. So, as ATP is wont to do, they got them to reconvene for two shows over a weekend back in May.

So I think it might’ve been that I was just overly amped to see The Jesus Lizard (who played directly before Sleep) but I wasn’t overwhelmed with Sleep. Just "whelmed" I guess. For both nights.

However, judging by the swarthy stoner rock dudes that dominated the front of the stage, I was clearly in the minority. There were a ton of video cameras parked all around the ballroom of guys filming Sleep’s performance, but I am never impressed by "tape trader" mentality that keeps things like this in the hands of the few. So, I’m offering up the first night of Sleep. Live.

However! I’m also offering up a recording of my dear buddy Pete performing an acapella rendition of Sleep’s "Dragonaut" which, I believe, might be one of the most memorable things of that weekend at Minehead (outside of The Jesus Lizard).

Note: I’m offering this for a limited time so get on it now. And, if anybody from Sleep or ATP would like to get high quality copies of either night, please contact me directly.

So I’ve delved into my collection of Pennsylvania ephemera to dig up another moldy oldie. This time? It’s State College’s T4.

I can promise you that I’ll be doing non-Pennsylvania releases soon enough for BJ. It’s funny though, I only lived up there for a little over five years and I still reach back to them there folks routinely. Enjoy!