The Bronx - VI (2021)

 Are The Bronx the best band working in the US (or world) today? I'm not sure if they are the best, but one definitely has to add them into the discussion. 

Few bands can continually release albums that one thinks is their best, and then they follow it up with something equally as good as the predecessor. The Bronx accomplish this not by regurgitating the same material over and over, but continually mining from the same inspirations, and continually evolving their sound, and tweaking it each time, creating riffs that outshine the previous. All the while they are being propelled forward by the brilliant Matt Caughthran. I, personally, can't think of another vocalist who can scream as harsh as he can, yet still shine through that scream with an infectious melody that nestles itself into your brain. 

On top of all this, we have to pay attention to the lively and intense drumming. I was a little worried about the loss of original drummer Jorma Vik, but The Bronx have continued to prove that they know how important the drums have been to their sound. We aren't talking about groundbreaking drumming, but rather drumming that hits with fills at the perfect spots, while being incredibly flashy and tasty, and exactly what is needed. The drumming makes its presence, but never tries to over shadow anything else. 

Songs like "White Shadow" and "Superbloom" are classic Bronx style tracks. While a song like "Watering the Well" gives us just a straight-up good time rock and roll tune. The Bronx never forgets they are here to rock the hell out of the room, and they do this almost non-stop.

They do step out a little bit with the song "Mexican Summer," almost to remind us of the bands alter-ego, Mariachi El Bronx. But we follow up this track with "New Lows" that quickly throws up back to The Bronx that we bought the album by. 

"Breaking News" made me suddenly realize how much Matt can sound like Keith Morris (Circle Jerks, early Black Flag) at times. The song itself is pretty much straight forward hardcore, so this leads to his voice and that similarity very easy to make and connect. 

"Jack of All Trades" is the type of thing that The Bronx do so well. A perfect mix of punk, new wave of British Heavy Metal, 70s hard rock, everything all mashed into one track. The riff is almost "Green Manalishi," but I am betting they first heard the Corrosion of Conformity version, then the Judas Priest, then eventually moved to Fleetwood Mac (yes, that was my original listening order, so what). 

The final song, "Participation Trophy," isn't quite the punch I would hope them to end on, but the songwriting and riffing and switching is incredibly cool. I'm thinking this was the ending choice because they wanted to show off the writing and the killer groove. We aren't ending with a bang, but rather a "Yeah, watch what we can do here, and where we might be heading!"

As I said, are they the best current band? Not sure, but they deserve to be in the argument, and they definitely are one of the best current bands, and without a doubt one of the most consistent. 

Edit: Yes, I stepped away from the other albums that were recently purchased. A favorite record store announced that they are shutting down business, and they are having a massive sale. So, I had to run up there and grab a few things I was hoping they still had. This is one of those purchases. 

Various Artists - Mystic Radio Presents Covers (1985)

I'll be honest, in 1985 or 1986 I would have loved this thing. I never owned this one back in the day, and I acquired it from my friend Colleen. I decided it needed a safe home, so I bought it off of her. Back in the day, I would have loved it. 

Today?

Oof. There is some decent stuff on here. Scared Straight's "Born to be Wild" works well enough. The two covers of "Cherry Bomb" and "Born to Lose" are also worthy covers. 

Some tracks like "Super Freak" (Membranes) and "Tight Pants (El Nirvana) are not great but they are still pretty fun. The musicianship is pretty good, and it is just the lack of production that hurts these two, and with a little guidance, they probably could have pulled them off. 

Slaughterhouse Five does a pretty killer version of "O Baby" by the mighty Status Quo. This one will get future listens. Great driving energy, and I would bet even Quo might have enjoyed this. Granted, there is that typical drum fill, probably stolen from Scott of Agent Orange. 

But, then there is stuff like the absolutely horrific cover of "Back In The Saddle" by Sado Nation. Seriously, this is exactly what people who hate punk hate about punk. Absolute shit production, worse musicianship, and vocals that are nails on a chalkboard.

The version of "Taking Care of Business" is brilliant in its over-the-top early/mid-80s punk mentality of "speed over everything else." It definitely got a big smile out of me. I know 16 year old me would have been calling for this one from the pit. Up to this point, this one is my favorite on the album. One of those great punk bands that hide their true skill, but are insanely tight and tear the place apart.

I am not a fan of "Sunshine of Your Love," but Party Doll does a pretty cool cover. Nice drumming for sure! I can only imagine this one killed live. Great early Goth. 

Hats off to V.O.A. for a decent turn on "Suffragette City." I expect some Bowie fans would hate this, but these guys find a groove in the song that I really haven't heard exploited before, and it really swings. Best way to describe it there, it swings. 

So far, yeah, side two is a damn fine batch of songs. 

Oh, next is Government Issue, so we know this will be solid. Then after that is No FX. 

Hmmm, "Wild Blood" by Government isn't really working for me. Not bad, but the song itself is just OK. 

How will No FX fair with "Iron Man," a song I am not a huge fan of? Well, they seem to be sticking pretty faithful. Even trying to hit the guitar tone, it seems. The drumming and vocals are pretty rough. I'll pass on this one. It gains a little steam as it goes, but not a whole lot. It is just making the wait for the next song that much worse.

Next up, however, is the very reason I grabbed this thing. 

The Flower Leperds hand in their cover of "Jumping Jack Flash." I have their version on their LP, but since this is about 5 years prior, I am hoping it is a different version. The version on their LP is one of the single greatest covers ever recorded. Total attitude and fitting in perfect with the original song. 

Yeah, still incredible amounts of "bad ass" for this version! Best song on this damn record. Pure punk meets trash bliss! Nice split channels for the guitars, and Marc Olson sounds wonderful. Jeff Wolfe is his typical cool ass self. 

Plainwrap wins the album!!! Their cover of "It's A Small World" is absolutely brilliant! Absolutely brilliant in all regards! The drummer kills on this song!

So, yeah, a bit of a mixed bag. Only one absolutely horrid piece of music, the rest goes between good to almost great, with the Flower Leperds being the Flower Leperds. 

Agent Orange - When You Least Expect It . . . (1983)

"O.K. so Scott learned a new fancy drum fill and is determined to show us all that damn fill."

The whole band had to be thinking that during the recording of "Its Up To Me and You," because Scott plays the hell out of that one fill. It is a great song, and the fill is lovely the first time, but Neil Peart needed to have a chat with Scott about overkilling a fill. 

When I think of Agent Orange I think of skaters, Flipside magazine, and my continually goofing them up with The Effigies, for some reason. I think I had a comp. cassette back in the day that had both Agent Effigies on it, back to back, and I just always goofed them up. 

Their cover of "Somebody To Love" is pretty great, no doubt about that. I am betting most people who bought this were buying it for that cover. But, I did check out the live album they did, with the live cover of this. The live version is actually better, and a little more intense on the vocal. This is still a fantastic version, and a great example of what was so great about the punk scene of this era. When you saw that a band in the scene was doing a cover, you knew it was going to be pretty solid. The punks in the 80s knew how to stay true, but also how to totally make a song their own. 

In case you were wondering, Agent Orange does an admirable job of moving the music from their area (surf and psychedelic) and mixing it in with the 80s punk scene of the California area. There are also only four songs here, so there isn't a whole lot to say about it as far as depth. In fact, one song is a cover, two are instrumentals, and the first song is the lone original with vocals, but it has Scott and that damned drum fill. But, that is a good song, and the cover is killer.

They're from Placentia, California. Folks who are from California, is that in Orange County?

Thanks to Colleen for the tunes!

Black Flag - Everything Went Black (1982)

Black Flag, one of those bands I always had seriously mixed emotions about, but also a band that my own guitar playing was compared to more than once. That last fact always irked me, as they were definitely never an influence, but somehow I came across sounding like Ginn. 

I should probably restate all of that. I was never a fan of Black Flag, until I found The First Four Years, which is all of the pre-Henry Rollins material. With that I got to hear the Keith Morris material, and that stuff I was a big fan of for sure. The band had a different approach at that point, a little more straight-forward and a little less of the noise style that guitarist Ginn would eventually create. 

The song "Nervous Breakdown" (which is not on this release I am currently listening to) became one of the only cover songs I would attempt with a band. We had the verses down pretty good, but the chorus bit was a mess. I wonder if doing that one song would eventually influence more of my playing? 

I haven't made an effort to listen to Flag in years. My cassette deck hasn't been set-up for a few years. I am planning to get a new deck sooner than later, but it has to match the rest of my gear, and be a toerable price. So, listening to this and hearing these songs again after many years, Morris is still my favorite of the Flag vocalists. Chavo (Ron Reyes) and Dez point the direction to Rollins. Is it safe (or foolish) to say that when Rollins joined the band Ginn told him to do what Chavo and Dez were doing?

I have always liked Flag, I think my issue was I always felt they were overrated, and Rollins always bugged me. It didn't help that I went to see Dag Nasty when they opened for The Rollins Band at the Cubby Bear in Chicago one night. This was the first round of the Rollins Band. At this time they were a slow, prodding, horrible experiment gone horribly wrong. I remember the entire audience deciding to sit down, with some actually lying down on the floor. My memory one song was more or less one chord, slowly played, for about 20 minutes, all while Henry stood on stage yelling about something. 

I remember being excited to see Rollins. He had kind of been out for a little time, I think. I know it was the first proper chance I had of seeing the legend that was Henry Rollins. It was a pretty massive letdown and kind of helped to ruin all of my thoughts of Rollins, and turned him into a joke for me. So much so that when he came back with a revamped Rollins Band, to massive critical praise, I still just rolled my eyes and laughed at the guy. 

"Louie, Louie" just came on . . . crap . . . I just realized it was the Flag version that made me learn how to play the song and start doing it with a band . . . maybe I was a bigger fan than I thought I was .

My Greg Ginn comparisons would eventually fade once I stopped trying to create the ultimate punk band, something I never even got close to doing.

"Damaged II" is still such a killer song. That one I seriously love a whole bunch. It's that part when it kicks in, that bit is so great and helps cover up the "start-stop" main verses. 

So, yeah, Flag is still cool. Still overrated, in my opinion, but cool stuff. Keith Morris era is still my favorite, and I still will take the Circle Jerks over Flag. 

Off! VS Black Flag? That's a tough call. I think I have a little problem with Off! in that Morris is kind of doing a post-Morris Flag. They have more in common with Chavo/Dez/Rollins sounding Flag than they do Morris era Flag. Yes?

Thanks to Colleen for the tunes!

Dead Kennedys - In God We Trust, Inc. (1981)

 

I'll be honest, I didn't listen to this one much back in the day. I had the cassette, and it was the least listened to of the Kennedys material. I did have them all, but this one just never clicked for me. 

To be fair, it is probably the most "punk" and "hardcore" of them all. Pretty much a full speed ahead assault on the senses. But, it lacks the hooks of the rest of their material. For me it does, at least. 

I also have to say, this one really is a great example of what I was talking about in the Frankenchrist post, in regards to the sound quality. Granted, I am spinning a very old pressing of the record, and it has been loved, but it is still without a doubt a rough recording. Purchasing this on a 2000 gram, limited edition slab of wax that was overseen by Jello himself is kind of pointless. A remix might be an interesting concept, but it would also ruin the charm of the album. Obviously made for nothing, and it benefits from that in regards to what this stuff is supposed to be. 

You know, when I think about it, that is kind of the problem with a lot of punk these days. Or, with what passes for punk to the masses. It is too produced, too polished. It lacks the heart of the immediacy of something like this. This is really what punk was supposed to be about. 

Dammit. I think I talked myself into liking this one a whole lot more all of a sudden. I'm going to start it over again. I'll be back. 

Yeah, it might be my favorite of theirs after this listen. This is why I fell in love with Punk back around 1983 - 1984. 

Thanks to Colleen for the tunes. 

Dead Kennedys - Frankenchrist (1985)

 Dead Kennedys - Frankenchrist (1985)

So many things to say about this album. We can talk about the band and what they meant (mean) to the U.S. hardcore and punk scene. We can talk about the figure known as Jello Biafra. We can talk about how wrong people are when they talk about punk being a talentless form of music, and completey missing the intricacy that does exist in music such as what DK did. We can also talk about petty bickering and how money can ruin great things too. 

We can obviously also talk about censorship and banned albums and images. 

Yes, this is the album that took Dead Kennedys from being one of the most important underground bands, to actually being a household name that even grandparents knew about (and were horrified by the name). All thanks to a poster of a bunch of willies painted by a man best known for creating an alien that gave people the willies. 

I remember the controversy quite well. Of course, I was one of those punks who was already a fan of the band. I can't remember if I bought the cassette before or after the controversy, but I know my thought process was at some point "yeah, I don't need that poster," completely oblivious to the future collectability of the album. Seriously, nobody ever thought about the "future value" of this stuff. Most of us were made fun of for liking this "garbage." Who would have think that this stuff would some day be the most sought after form of music on the planet?

At the time, I liked the album. But, my cassette was good enough. I grabbed cassettes mainly due to the ease of transport and car use. Plus, they were much easier to get out of the record stores with nobody noticing. 

This copy here is a re-homed copy. It belonged to an old friend from high school who is clearing out parts of her collection. So, it only made sense to keep it in a part of the friend group. If she ever needs to visit, she knows where to find it for visitations. I

This copy is lacking the liner notes and aforementioned poster. The record looks like a punk album that came out in the 80s. I question any punk releases from the era that are in mint condition. We were punks, it wasn't about being anal with our records. I took care of them, but all my records and cassettes definitely looked like they were used. 

Listening to it again, after many years without listening, I am actually very much enjoying this one. It isn't as blazing as Fresh Fruit, but the songs are definitely infective little creatures, with some killer hooks and grooves.

"Jock-O-Rama" is making me realize I think I stole the concept for a song I wrote way back in the day. I guess I forgot about that little bit. Good thing I never made it. Pretty sure Mr. Biafra would have been knocking at my door.

As I sit here listening to this, I am also struck by the old thought I always had when people spoke about "great sound quality" with CDs and whatnot. I was one who always said "Pfft, I am listening to music recorded in basements for budgets of pennies." Basically stating that what I was listening to really didn't require the finest sound systems and high-end equipment, or the best of the recorded formats. The bands didn't rely on expensive production budgets or the highest of quality instruments. Hell, some bands recorded using borrowed instruments. 

I now to have a pretty good quality system. But, I can also say that the static and slight issues of the age of the records is adding to the listening experience. This isn't meant as a knock of the music. In fact, to the contrary, this is a case of the music is "salt of the earth," it is real, it is raw. High sheen and polish just won't work for this. 

Good stuff here. A classic album that I am actually enjoying a whole lot more now than I did in 1985 when I first bought the dang thing. 

Thanks to Colleen for the tunes.

The Demons - S/T

edit: If you are just reading this for the first time, please take the time to visit the comments section. Guitarist Martin John Butler has been chiming in with some wonderful details about the history of the band. His input is priceless!

The Demons - S/T
Released 1977 on Mercury SRM-1-1164
Promo copy without inserts

For a few years now I have really wondered how many times bands that are credited with a certain sound are truly the creators of the sounds, and how many times they are just a product of the environment. We all know that AC/DC spawned thousands of imitators. We can figure this because after the enormous success of Back In Black we were suddenly faced with bands from the US and the UK that sounded very similar. In that case those bands were taking what made them a hit and using it to their own advantage.

But was the sound something they created? We can go back to Australia around the same time and find bands such as Rose Tattoo and The Angels. Both of these bands had similar sounds to AC/DC. So was it AC/DC or just the environment and trends in Australia during this time period that created more than a few bands with the same sound? AC/DC obviously being the most successful, due to management, song quality, or maybe pure determination (or all of the above), but bands like the aforementioned Rose Tattoo and Angels not being copy-cats, but actual peers running down the same roads.

One can even go back into the mid 60s, just as The Beatles were blowing up. The sound and style was not exclusive to them. They were a part of a scene. But when people look back now they tend to give The Beatles credit for what happened in music.

This brings us to The Demons. A band that is so set in their scene that without any form of knowledge of the band I knew exactly where they hailed from by the time the first chorus hit. For many people it might be thought that they are a copycat band, but a little research shows that they are very much a product of a time period in a location and a part of their scene.

Before we get too much further, and before people started getting ready to type in the comments that I am an idiot. Yes, The New York Dolls are without a doubt a cornerstone of that scene. It is hard to argue that they were not the catalyst for the underground scene in New York, and that spawned the Ramones. But there was shortly after a definite Rock and Roll sound that came about, with a lot of bands popping up doing almost the same thing. Whereas the Ramones had that 50s things going, they were relying on power chords. Bands like The Heartbreakers, however, were using full chords. A pretty big difference in the sound and impact.

So here we meet The Demons. The Demons were very much a part of the scene. Founding member of the aforementioned Heartbreakers Walter Lure was an early member (according to lead guitarist Martin John Butler's website). Vocalist Eliot Kidd was close friends with Johnny Thunders and Jerry Nolan (in his own words as can be read in the Legs McNeil book Please Kill Me). Kidd recounts many stories between himself and Thunders in the pages of Please Kill Me. This only helps add to it that this was not a copy of style, but rather contemporaries experiencing the same world.

The Demons were a five piece early Punk act out of New York in 1977. By my typing that sentence, if you know your music scenes you know exactly what The Demons sound like. The sound is text book on how to be a New York Punk/RnR band from the formative years of the mid to late 70s. Light on distortion, heavy on attitude, with a touch of the 50s and early 60s AM Rock and Roll founders added into the mix. The type of band that will sing a heartbreaking song about missing somebody ("What a Shame"), but then deliver a song about how much hate they have for somebody, with some pretty brutal lyrics. In fact, in Please Kill Me Kidd speaks about how the big difference between the 50s songs they loved and punk is in the lyrics (p. 260). He mentions that their material takes the songs to areas that were never approached before. In Eliot Kidd's own words ". . . basically punk rock was just rock and roll. We weren't taking music anywhere new . . . we were all at the age where we had grown up with pop radio: Buddy Holly, The Everly Brothers, Little Richard and Chuck Berry." (McNeil, p. 263)

So remember, we are talking about 1977 here. Don't think Punk of the hardcore variety that is now associated with the word "Punk." This is Rock and Roll with extra danger and attitude added. There is nothing here that couldn't be played on that radio. It is all just Rock and Roll. It doesn't even have the bite that would show up that same year from The Dead Boys or the Sex Pistols. The guitars are light on distortion, but just as dangerous.

The debut album, and only album, from The Demons, is a wonderful addition to the New York Punk / Glam scene. An album that should be in the collection of almost anybody who has an interest in 70s Glam or 70s Punk. Songs like "It'll Be Alright" and "She's So Tuf" are brilliant tracks that should be considered classics. "She's So Tuf" is textbook New York Rock and Roll. The dang thing should be one of those songs that everybody has covered.

The album features two cover tunes, one being a version of Gene Pitney's "She's a Rebel." The other being the band beating The Clash to the punch by delivering a blistering cover of "I Fought The Law" of its own. A notch down from the intensity of The Clash version, but still a wonderful version of the song.

The cover of the album is what caught my eye. It was actually Martin John Butler and Robbie Twyford that sold me on the album. Then the song titles. But in all honesty, I still am a little surprised by the sound every time I look at Robbie Twyford. He looks more like he should have fallen out of a British band circa 1967. The styles are a little mixed on the cover, but the dang guys still look incredibly cool.

The Demons were through and through Rock and Roll, and they were through and through New York. Musically they featured solid guitar work with those trademark flourishes from the area. Solid drumming and vocals that could have fit right in with The Dictators (Shernoff and Teeter).
A band that seriously needs to be preserved, and luckily one that at this moment in time can still be had from the used stores for a good price. But if the world begins to catch on, this thing is going to skyrocket in price. I think I paid around $5.00 for it, which is a steal.

So what became of The Demons? It seems that they met with some rather terrible fate. According to the website for Martin John Butler (lead guitar), the band was enjoying the success for this album, selling 250,000 copies even! But then tragedy struck and drummer Mike Rappoport was killed in a car accident. I don't know the details, and even that knowledge comes from a post on his guest book. He mentions the loss of Rappoport, but a friend chimes in mentioning the car accident aspect.

Eliot Kidd, the brains and voice behind the band, had also met with tragedy. This is according to the website Dead Punk Stars. According to them Eliot had done time due to dealing and eventually passed away in 1998.

Thankfully Martin John Butler has created a Facebook page for The Demons. It appears that Bob Jones, the other guitarist, is doing well and is still involved with music. Obviously his name would be a little bit harder to search on the internet, so as of this writing this is as far as I went in my research.

Mr. Butler's personal site seems to be a little out of date, but he appears to still be active. As I mention though he is running the Demons Facebook page, which can be found by searching Demons/NYC or by clicking https://www.facebook.com/The-DemonsNYC-101777063232690/. His personal site, with some newer music, can be found here: http://www.martinbutlermusic.com/home.html

As for Robbie Twyford, I have not been able to find anything. A search for Robbie turned up nothing. Scanning the Demons Facebook site also didn't show me anything. But who know, maybe one of the Demons will see this and give a little information.

sources:
McNeil, Legs. McCain, Gillian. Please Kill Me. Penguin, 1997.
Dead Punk Stars website - http://www.deadpunkstars.com/browse/153/eliot_kidd.html