In 1982 there was a flurry of audio activity and like a giant super highway you could go anywhere. No longer strapped to the rock radio or top 40 sounds, college radio and silly underground fanzines were in abundance. I've written of my Journey loving, Doors and Van Halen loving peers and how I decided to take another route numerous times.
Without electricity and creature comforts this past week (due to storm damage) my mind jetted back to the discomfort of visiting the cool kids in NY city squats back in the day. Perfectly sane clean kids who opted to live in abandoned buildings and alleys with holes in the floors so big you could dive through them, and stairs more dangerous from decay and strewn junkies then any war zone.
But the music that filth created and encouraged will be forever in a secret compartment in my brain. I cant let it out often, like a junkie it becomes so addictive and all encompassing that it could well cause me to shrug the normalcy maturity has offered me and have me traipsing in danger with the drop of a bass line.
Case in point is an amazing album from that early 80s on the Alternative Tentacle label. Let me start by saying it was reissued in 1999 and is freely streaming on Spotify. This album was played so often that I am convinced it took me from the Bowie loving, Buzzcock girl to the filthy hardcore girl I turned in to. A celebration of the Northern California punk scene "Not So Quiet On The Western Front", included a fanzine that I studied like a scholar. Some people go to Bible study, I went to Maximum Rock and Roll Study. Armed with this sound, that rag and a pair of oxblood Doc Martens, I put on the X of NY HC (New York Hardcore), and hit the streets with a scowl.
Listening to songs like "Dead Porker", By Nazi Bitch and The Jews, now.. its rather funny. But at age 16 this was a one way ticket to mind control world loathing. There are no happy dittys here, this is suburban white boy anger. Self imposed 'outcasts' who used their Dads Buick to haul their gear to the VFW hall to be in punk shows and then went home to their pickets fences. This also brought on the East Coast vs West Coast rivalry. I can tell you first hand it was real, cuz when I sported that NY/HC trench in San Francisco, I wasn't well received at the I-Beam, anyone remember the I Beam? It was on Haight (I think), buty GBH and Kiling Joke (I think!) both played there and quiet damn well.
So, anyway about 'Not So Quiet", sometime it's ok to venture back in time. There were some fab times (once when flying to SF with a group of friends we started a massive 'hot towel' war.. those were the days you could smoke on a plane and use the arm rest as an ashtray, thus burning off the arm of your seat mate) there were lots of bad times like watching a friend die by their own hand but they were times that had a soundtrack.
"Not So Quiet On The Western Front" didnt ruin my life, but it did aim me in a path of destruction. See as a kid its hard to diferentiate between 'cool' and 'fool', and its easy to take things too seriously. This albums brute strength and such convincing negativity lured me in like a pedo with ice cream. I am so so happy it did, This album is a masterpiece, and although sounding somewhat dated still as charismatic as it was oh so many years ago. Theres some great stuff "Praise The Lord, Pass The Ammunition" by Impatient Youth, Section 8 doing "Fat Drunk and Stupid", dont miss out on "The Oven Is My Friend", which is so fucking silly (now) that its almost Devo dork style. "System Suck", by Dead Reighn, is really awesome cuz at that age I didnt even know that 'the system' was- but it sucked. "Punk is An Attitude", by the Wrecks reinforced my hatred of chicks in rock 'trendiies suuuuck', and so did The Wrecks. Best track? "SLT" by Urban Assault. GREAT song right there. (fake accent? hmmm)
I clearly see many nights with this on repeat constant restart, while teasing hair and drawing cat eyes before hitting the street or on those nights with nothing better to do that don the huge ass headphones (that look like air traffic controlers gear) and blasting this fucker louder than bloodletting. Such good, such bad. I'm so happy to rediscover this gem )
Find it.
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