Sunday, December 11, 2011

Pinebender - The High Price Of Living Too Long With A Single Dream




Ahhh Sunday morning. The aroma of coffee. The crispness of cool morning air. The slightness of a hangover and the aversion to anything overly extreme or unmelodic. That's not to say this Chicago three piece can't crank it out. Oh they do. Plenty of amp worship going on here. Plenty of dynamics too which is what makes this a perfect Sunday choice. All the melody and melodrama with none of the guilt of feeling like a complete pansy.

Starting in 1997, these guys definitely pick up the torch dropped by their fellow home staters HUM. A good marriage of emotional indie (soo nerdy...they use words like hypoxia and photosynthetic), 90's alternative (though this album didn't come out til 2003) and crushing guitars amidst lumbering, almost lazy rhythms. Vocals at times remind me of later day Small Brown Bike. The song "For The Love Of Everything" reminds me of Dinosaur Jr. and some of the more somber moments bring to mind Chokebore and slowcore legends Codeine. If none of those name drops grab ya...well, I just don't know about ya then.

You can buy this album for $3 from Lovitt Records here as well as their most recent full length "Working Nine To Wolf" which I believe I originally found out about here.



Sunday, October 23, 2011

9-volt Tongue video megapost!!!

I'm gonna take it easy on myself for my first real post back and just make it all videos. Cop out? Yep! Whatthefuckever. As I've stated both here and here, this band was a staple of my youth. I never got to see them a shit load but their style shaped both my future tastes in music and style of playing. And the New Years Eve show I talk about here... the first couple of videos are from that... I think...maybe not... Anyway, I don't wanna toot my own horn but I like to think that I lit the fire under this bands ass just a little to start making some of this shit available.

















ENJOY!

Saturday, October 22, 2011

Life happens...

And sometimes it's not always fun. I won't bore you with details but the events over the last year and how many ever months have made me abandon this blog for awhile. Well, that and not having a computer. That said, I'm up and running again and should have my opinionated ass showing up around here a little more often than once a year.

Friday, April 16, 2010

Kittens - Doberman (re-mastered....sorta)



Well, it goes like this... My iPod has died from "complications" after a long, troubled battle with Garbageitus (ie: iPod cancer). Needless to say, I'm back to burning cds for my listening pleasure for the time being. I've been on an Kittens kick again lately so it was time to get tah burnin'.

Now, this cd has been posted various times on the internet at higher traffic sites (namely here and here) but if you've "checked out" those versions you've noticed something. It was either a bad dub or the recording was pretty rough and slightly unmastered (at least by todays volume levels). Since the speakers in my car suck I decided to be proactive and do something to the copy I found on the net. More or less, I just took the individual tracks and "mastered" them (using the term loosely, of course) in Garageband, recompiled them and *voila* here ya go! A louder, sorta remastered version of "Doberman"!

If you don't know about Kittens first off, I'm sorry and secondly, you are missing the fuck out! Kittens were a three piece noise rock band from Winnipeg, Manitoba that owned and were fairly unknown in the States up until what seems more recently. An amazing mix of the Melvins, Jesus Lizard, Unsane, and Fudge Tunnel that actually aged very well and virtually sounds better with time. They fit nicely in the confines of the style while carving their own sound and niche. Later they would come to incorporate some elements of country music that would further define their unique take on what AmRep was known for. Speaking of...how AmRep never released an album by these guys is weird to me. Strange given the fact that Winnipeg and Minneapolis are less than 8 hours apart.

Any way, some of these tracks show up via different versions on "Lo-fi Classics and Other Rarities" though I think I prefer these ones. Stand out track here is definitely "Jack Knife" though they all completely satisfy. I included two versions of "Hocus Pocus", one being the original I downloaded just so you could run a comparison if you were curious. There was talks of actual remastered, reissued cds and possibly a dvd release on Cursed singer Chris Colohan's label High Anxiety though now little info can be found on the matter. There is a Kittens Myspace page with a bunch of video that looks like it gets checked once in a while.

Here's a video for before mentioned "Jack Knife":


"Gotta face, gotta face, gotta face like a.... gotta face like a jack knife."

Thursday, February 25, 2010

Mog Stunt Team - 555 and King of the Retards





Shit! Almost a month has gone by with out some much as a squeak around here. Better make it a tasty ass post then...

"Enigmatic Detroit, Michigan based trio, which was formed in the winter of 1995. They released two full-lengths – 1996 “555″ on Small Stone Records and “King Of The Retards” on AmRep in 1997.

Nothing was heard from them since, with some reports suggesting that the band died in a van crash and other reports suggesting that they simply changed their name to El Guapo Stuntteam." -As lifted from our friends over at "I Heart Noise"

I think this sums it up nicely (though I'm not so sure about that El Guapo Stuntteam or died in a van crash part). As you can see this band wasn't around too long but they seem to make a name for themselves within that amount of time. Especially with the whole "John Tesh is an alien" thing. I never had the chance to catch these guys live but from what I've seen through Youtube, they looked like they put on a rolickin' good time! Their song titled "Boredoms vs. Sabbath" fits as a nice description of their sound. That coupled with the covers of Kiss and Motorhead (featured in these two releases) and a heavy handed dose of Detroit influence via the Stooges and MC5.

Did I mention they dressed in homemade stuntman/astronaut costumes? It fit right along with their irreverent lyrical content. Not nearly as angular, Mog is more straight up punk rock n' roll with out being completely outta place with the rest of the AmRep fair. Still noisy, still fun. These albums have definitely aged nicely and are well worth a first or re-visit.

Here's the vid for "Boredoms vs. Sabbath":


And here's a vid for "King of the Retards":


Here's one for "Avenger":


Here's a video showing some of the "hub bub" they got from the "john Tesh is an alien" stuff:


Here's a trailer for a documentary about the "demise" of the band that will hopefully see more light of day with a dvd release:


Another, slightly different trailer can be found here: http://www.imgonnadoituntilthedayidie.com/


ENJOY!

Monday, January 25, 2010

MixedWithLove

Just a quick note to plug my dear friend Chantal's new blog MixedWithLove. You may remember her from the Morsel post a couple posts ago. She's also a designer extraordinaire, an amazing song writer, a great mother, a Jill of all trades and my all around ace in the hole. (Not to mention one of my nearest and dearest friends.) On top of all that, like it wasn't enough, she is a mighty fine crafter of mix tapes. Her new blog is dedicated to some she's made in the past (a couple of which posted were for me) and I'm sure will be updated with newer ones frequently. I haven't asked her yet but maybe (just maybe) she'll let me throw my hat in the ring with her as well and post some of my comp concoctions.

Any way, pop over there and get yo mix on!

Monday, January 18, 2010

9-Volt Tongue - It's Lonely at the Top

YYYEEEEEEEEESSSSSSSSSS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Fuck yes!!! I'm so stoked! If there was anything I could've hoped to gain from doing this blog it would've been one thing...and it's happened! Did you see the post I made a while ago? The 7" by a band called 9-Volt Tongue? The one in which I begged and pleaded for a copy of their demo tape I lost some 10 to 12 years earlier? Well, some how 9-Volts drummer (referring to himself as Navin) stumbled upon and left a comment on that post. A couple of emails back and forth later and *voila* here ya go!

"Satan Drives a T-Bird" starts with one of the best sound bites ever! It's also one of 9-Volt's catchiest and heaviest due to dynamics. A straight up heavy as hell, mid tempo rocker! Next, "Get Down and Choke on Me" brings a heavy dose of their down-tuned, swaggering punk RAWWK boogie! (as well as another classic song title!) "I Left My Jimmy Hat in Yo Butt" follows and damn it, this was the song that stuck with me the most from this for all these years. It was just so heavy and fucking raw! I remember this song always killed live! This song is pretty appropriately named I suppose... Rounding things out, "Breathing Heavy for the Wong Girls" is another perfect example of 9-Volt's signature four bar sludge punk which starts with a very Entombed "Wolverine Blues" sounding riff. Did I mention the killer fuck solo? So good!

Have you noticed how many times the word heavy was used in that last paragraph? Hmmm...

The sound quality is pretty lo-fi and the files are small but fuck it! I'll take what I can get! Besides, it punk rock at heart anyway. I'd like to thank Navin so much for checking out the blog but most of all for hooking me up with one of my favorite recordings ever! It brought back an ass load of memories and, right behind the two Jesus Lizard reunion shows I went to, made my year! Like I said before Navin, if you have any more 9-Volt Tongue recordings you'd like share we'll be here waiting...rather impatiently.

"That shit ain't mine... Don't know how it got there."

Sunday, January 17, 2010

Morsel: Raise the Noise Floor

Howdy, readers of First and Foremost.

Usually, I’m reading this blog…or working on the graphic end of things. So just a quick word on me: I’m Chantal, an old friend and fellow musician of this awesome blog’s author; Ben. As a fellow guitarists and music junkies, we’ve shared about a billion cups of coffee and even more opinions on bands—local, global, imaginary, whatever.

In fact, Ben asked me to write about a band that I saw about 15 years ago in Ann Arbor, Michigan…and the funny part is, after relentlessly searching for the album for a year or so (remember, folks, these are the good old days of poring over REAL records in a store—you know, the ones you can touch), he was the first one to find and give me their CD! Wonder if he knew how long winded I'd be? Haha. Without further ado, the tale of the band in question…


_________________________________________________


In 1996 I traveled to Ann Arbor to a little club downtown. I’m pretty sure it was called “The Basement” (didn’t every town have one?). It was the basement/parking garage for a series of buildings downtown and had sort of a maze-like quality to it. Walking through the corridors and around the beams you were never sure if you would find indie kids sharing liquor or transients. I mingled with both for plenty of shows there.

Anyhow, I had never heard of any of the bands before and wasn’t incredibly interested in too much of what I saw, so I had wandered down some corridors and was hanging with some kids, smoking cigs, chatting. The next bad started sound checking and I was pretty damn sure that I heard a flute. Being a flautist myself I was immediately interested. Ten seconds later I heard a buzz saw. Aha. Attention grabbing. I wandered back in and what I had heard was the 4-piece band Morsel preparing for their show, which was 30 minutes of somewhat mathy, grungy, post-punk/prog juiciness that included super flangy vocals, guitar, flute with distortion and…yes, bandsaw solos. Beats a pentatonic scale any day of the week, my friends!
Vocals were fantastic; the perfect mix of female-led (Miriam Cabrera) screaming, breathy, minor-melodic and screaming. I was immediately hooked. As a woman and a musician I am actually ALOT more critical of females in music; so a love-at-first-listen connection was quite rare for me.

Turned out they had recently signed to Choke Records (Chicago). Already a fan of the label (Ben is as well—in fact, the player this month is sporting other Choke gems like Jaks and Phil Beddow), I thought it was a perfect fit for them. They released the album Noise Floor which was super tasty. A few years later, the label crumbled (boo-hoo) and they released an EP with Small Stone records out of Detroit. Didn’t dig that record as much, though it had a few decent tracks.Other releases followed, but none that intrigued me much.

I still rock Noise Floor all the time though…and it turns out that no matter how many years pass, when I put it in…I listen to the whole CD all the way through. Somehow it is like Thai food to me…the perfect combination of every flavor. Power tools included. It is heavy, minor-melodic and even has a few sweet instrumentals with trumpet, flute and interesting twists.

Here’s a track from Noise Floor for anyone interested. Know that it kills me to choose one, but I'm too lazy to include more. I’ve also added more links at the bottom.


MORSEL
Noise Floor
"Motorcaid

Choke Records, 1994

Morsel on Myspace
Wiki On Morsel


Link removed per band request. You can now purchase a digital copy w/ a bonus track at their new Bandcamp site here.

Wednesday, December 2, 2009

Deadclownpile - S/T



Do you like Unsane? Of course you do and so do these guys. Once again, another band that I don't know and can't find much information about. The members names aren't even listed in the credits for fucksake. Ahh well, what I have determined is that they were from Lansing, MI (maybe?) and were on the genre spanning Detroit label, Overture Records.

Like I said, Unsane-ish. Most cetainly in the way of carnival barker, bullhorn vocals and moments of plodding, cheese grater groove. Where they mainly stray is in the drum department. Where Unsane is more tribal, DCP is more straight forward and punk. I guess the same could be said for the guitars...less blues, more punk. These guys would've fit perfectly on a bill between aforementioned Unsane and maybe Drive Like Jehu.

Anyway, this cd rips and still holds up almost 15 years later. Stand out tracks are "Snap Crackle Pop", "By Design", "More", and the closer "Choke". Sure it's sort of a one trick pony but with half the songs being less than 2 minutes long, none seem to wear out their welcome really. I'm seriously amazed they didn't get more renown.

Monday, November 16, 2009

Pride Parade - Dose



First off let me give credit where credit is due. Shiny Grey Monotone turned me on to these guys awhile back and have just posted the same album I'm about to a week ago. If you haven't checked out that blog yet, do so as they are my favorite blog of that style on the net.

On to Pride Parade... as I said, I downloaded this last week over at SGM and love it. Pride Parade is a band from Athens, GA and from my best descriptive assessment have a Mule meets Red Red Meat by way of Young Widows sound. In other words, Mule's country noise rock vibe mixed with Young Widows modern take on noise rock. The Red Red Meat comes in via the vocals and more of the indie rock/Sub Pop moments. Over all, a good, well rounded rocking band with some earnest, well written songs.

As a bonus, this is also a "guilt free" download and by that I mean the link I'm providing will take you to the bands website where they themselves are offering this album up for free download. They also have a "Donate" button as well as a vinyl pressing available to those that can spare a dime.

So go on... take a chance and download it. The band want you to. If you don't like it, nothing lost but who knows, you may just discover your favorite new band.




Wednesday, November 11, 2009

Cromwell - 7" tracks




Here I go talking about shit I don't know about again. Well, in all fairness there is not much info on this band that I can find via thee ol' inter-web. I do know they came from Detroit, had only a hand full of releases (only 7" I believe) and that there are a boat load of bands that aren't them named Cromwell. I also know I saw them once amongst a swarm of old drunken polocks and really liked them. It could of been one of their last show for all I know because I don't remember getting another chance to see them again.

Cromwell started off , from what I gather, sometime in the mid-90's and kinda had a noise rock meets hardcore thing going on. Think maybe Deadguy-ish but less metal. There might be an affiliation to the Detroit band Bog Blast (maybe none more than by label). By the time I saw them with my own eyes they had a different singer/guitar player (Vince Williams of The Christpunchers and currently of Year Of The Pig). It was also this line up of the band that can be found on the split 7" with Detroit legend heavyweights Thoughts of Ionesco.

So what I present you is three 7" and, to the best of my knowledge, the extent of the bands released material. First off is their debut 7" on Anti-Music followed by their split w/ the Atlanta band Scout. Lastly is Cromwell's contribution to the above mentioned split with Thoughts of Ionesco. Overall a cool old band that, from what I can tell, never got much due beyond the confines of Detroit.

Wednesday, October 21, 2009

New layout, new leaf!

Hey there! If you're reading this it means you haven't erased me from your bookmarks yet due to infrequent posting. It also means that your enjoying (and you know you are) the new layout donated by my dear old friend (and hopefully future contributer...hint hint) Chantal! Hopefully this new layout will breathe a little new life into this blog (ie: make me get off my ass and post more frequently).

I do have some post coming. Honest! It just becomes such a process to transfer vinyl to cd that I get to lazy to do it. Some are not on record, so for those I have no excuse. That being said, I'll quit being a lazy ass and get some stuff up soon. I have some nice unsung, MI jems in the the works too that should please...someone anyway. I know I enjoy 'em!

Also note the player at the top right hand side. I'll try keeping some of the things I post on there for your previewing pleasure.

So...once again, if you follow this blog even a little, thanks for coming back. If you're new here, stick around because more is on it's way.

Fall is here... a leaf will turn.

Tuesday, August 4, 2009

Tad - Oppenheimer's Pretty Nightmare b/w Accident On the Way to Church



Inspired by the Brothers of the Sonic Cloth post over at Mindgrinder (which also included some Tad b-sides I didn't have) I'm finally get this up here. TAD...you should know him, you should love him. This ->HERE<- is their final release musically as TAD the band and a fine one at that. As I stated in my previous Tad post, there were talks of releasing a discs worth of some unreleased, post-"Infrared Riding Hood" jams (like maybe "Mummified Cop" from the Tad myspace?) but with BotSC in what seems to be full swing who knows how long that could take to see the light of day. Hopefully this is just a teaser of what that disc could have in store. This is a vinyl rip I did so it does have some scratches and pops but it's cool, right? We'll just call those "character noises".

Screw it! For the hell of it I'll throw in the two songs from "Live Alien Broadcast" that to the best of my knowledge have never been on a proper studio release as well.

Wednesday, July 15, 2009

the Jesus Lizard - Peel

If you know anything about a Jesus Lizard show you know this, it's sweaty and drunken. Believe me, there were plenty in Nashville last night filling this criteria. Drunk bumps into me, I in turn bump into girl next to me. Whoops! NO big deal. She than has the nerve to turn to me and say, "Your arm is sweeaty!"

Well, excuse-fucking-me princess! Do you have any fucking clue at all as to where the fuck you are?! You should've felt the dude that bummed me!

I just calmly turned to her however and replied, "No, I think it's you."

Zing bitch!

Just be luck then you weren't this guy...



Last night I felt 16 all over again.

Today however, I feel twice that and in pain.

The show last night at the Exit/In was phenomenal further sealing the fact that they were the best live band of the 90's! Dare I say Dave Yow may very well be...fuck that...IS the best frontman since Iggy Pop and a band that original and tight (and shiny) has been sorely, SORELY missed for the last decade and change. I was lucky enough to see them a hand full of times in the mid-nineties and they always left me standing with my mouth agape. The closest it got to a religious experience for me was going to a JL show. Last night was no exception. It's no wonder these guys seem to be just as influential now as they were two decades ago when they first came out.

So here are some John Peel sessions dating back to their original hey day of '91 and '92 in honor of last night. Not sure how terribly hard to find these are but I'm pretty sure they've never found their way onto a proper release. I can't even remember where I got them anymore to be honest.

In true Jesus Lizard "one word title" form, we'll refer to this simply as "Peel".

Here's video of their set opener "Puss" last night. Oh Mr. Yow, yer such a cut up with yer jokes and yer antics!

Thursday, July 2, 2009

9-Volt Tongue - I Eat Evil (Like A Shovel Full of Shit) b/w Foaming Anal Cleanser





Here's the 9-Volt Tongue 7" I talked about in the Jaks post. God I loved this fucking band! They were down tuned, heavy as hell, loud as fuck and, as you can tell from the titles of this 7", totally obnoxious. What every good rock band should be!

Growing up an hour and a half north of Grand Rapids didn't really make me a local so my knowledge about this band is limited. Attending shows there happened sporadically due to the long-enough drive and the memories are hazy at best due to the amount of pot smoked on the way. What I do remember (I think) is that they opened for the Jesus Lizard in Detroit once and did shows in some sketchy ass buildings and basements over by the Reptile House (as well as IN the Reptile House). Two of 9-Volts' members were from the GR punk band Wheelchair Motherfuckers as I learned here. I remember their singer, Hans, being some what small guy and best described as "wiley". I think I remember he had some weird patch of hair on his shoulder that he would expose and the bass player would lick and...umm I dunno... Must've been good pot!

Anyway, after this 7" they released an awesome 5 or 6 song cassette that I almost played til it broke and now can't find anywhere. I heard they record a full CD after that (maybe with a different singer) that went unreleased.

As always, info on this band via the internet is limited (non existent). Though a Myspace search did reveal some dumbfuck band from Battle Creek, MI that has compromised the moniker. Artist Direct had a little blurb but that was it. If you have anything to add, please leave a comment. As I stated before IF YOU CAN GET ME A COPY OF THEIR CASSETTE OR ANY OTHER RECORDED MATERIAL PLEASE CONTACT ME.

...damn I miss that tape.

Did I mention this 7" is on translucent brown vinyl with red streaks in it? If only they some how could've added corn...

...like a shovel full of shit.

Thursday, June 25, 2009

Twitch - Medicine Ball



Ahhh...where to begin.

At the tender age of 13 this was easily one of my top 3 favorite bands. Right behind Nirvana and Tool I suppose. (Hey, cut some slack, I was 13 after all.) At the time Kalamazoo's Twitch was easily the most promising band playing in west Michigan, if not all of MI.

What really set Twitch apart from their proggy, art-metal leaning K-zoo brethren was their more rock based verse chorus verse song structures and the amazingly unique croon of vocalist Chris Bryers. It was heavy and original enough for the metal guys and musicians, noisy and simple enough for the grunge kids, and yet still accessible enough for the college rock crowd. I'm sure Bryers' vocals helped with the later as well. There was a warm honesty in his almost "Peter Gabriel via Satan" voice that I'm sure wet a panty or two. (If I remember correctly, the one and only time I got to see them he got hit in the face by the bra of an over enthusiastic female.)

Based on the strength of their self released "Homewrecker" EP they got signed to Grass Records. Based on the strength of that Grass release "Beaten Senseless and Giddy With Love" they got signed to RCA. What happened from there remains a mystery to most. I remember reading a review of the advanced copy of "Medicine Ball" in a local music rag. I think it even showed some art work (be it small) that I never saw again. Rumor had it that RCA could only keep one of their MI signings (the other being the one hit blunder Verve Pipe. Fucking "Freshmen"!). Subsequently, Twitch was dropped and this EP went unreleased. From the sounds of it there was a whole other albums worth of material recorded that got shit canned as well. As it seems to happen too often in situations like this, this prematurely ended a band that had yet to peak in popularity or potential.

I got this on cassette tape at one of thier (last?) shows in K-zoo. I'm not sure if it followed being dropped or if it was during them floating in label limbo. It did seem like they were selling these out of spite either way. Just a hand dubbed 90 minute tape with a Xeroxed lime green sleeve that simply read "TWITCH - Medicine Ball".

I'm throwing in their contribution to the Grass Records tribute to Frank Sinatra ("Pretty Colors") and the b-side to the Jedi 7" ("Wick") just to fatten to zip and sweeten the deal. More info on Twitch can be found here and here. "Homewrecker" and "Beaten Senseless..." are available on iTunes. I suggest you get them both. They are phenomenal. Chances are good though that if you're here getting this from me, you own both and already know that.

Thursday, June 11, 2009

Philo Beddow - S/T EP




I mentioned this band a while back in the Jaks post and I'm finally getting around to posting it. Like I said in that post, I think they played that same Grand Rapids show as Jaks if I remember right. Regardless, Philo Beddow was yet another great and "unknown outside of MI" band. I remember seeing them another time at an in-store performance during one of Ann Arbor's notorious Hash Bash weekends. They had Craw stickers all over there stuff which made perfect sense. I believe they played together quite a bit. Philo Beddow definitely rock in a very similar way. Imagine Craw mixed with Quicksand maybe? Weird, right? I know but it worked well. I think they had more hooks and were overall more accessible than Craw.

Pop-Craw?!

Anyway, finding info on this band anymore is not easy. No Myspace and as you can see I had to take a picture of the cover just to present it here. I believe they had a 7" out before this that I don't have and it appears they put an album out a bunch of years later that really sounds nothing like this.

Here ya go "Knucklehead"!

My next couple of posts are gonna shed some light on some MI bands that I feel have been long over looked. I'm not sure what it is but it seems that there are so many great bands there that, for some reason, go virtually unnoticed outside that region. Lack of touring? Maybe. Lack of giving a shit? More likely. Lack of quality? No. I don't think so anyway...

Tuesday, June 9, 2009

KENmode - Extending Common Courtesy Throughout The Evening



This band rules! The album ("Mennonite") this song is from was one of my favorite releases last year! It's more than post-worthy but I'm pretty sure the band self-released it so you should buy it from them here.

Friday, May 8, 2009

Non Compos - The Rats Know Him & Smile When You Hate




Recently, a friend of mine emailed me asking about a band he was sure he heard from me and that he hadn't heard in a long time. Great...this ought to be fun. Let the guessing game begin! He then said the only thing he could remember was a line that repeated over and over... "I see the stars in your eyes...I see the stars in your eyes".

Easy! Non Compos!

I knew nothing of this band when I bought "The Rats Know Him" except it was on Tortuga Records and was some how affiliated with Hydra Head. At the time that was a stamp of approval in my realm and I was left with my jaw dropped. Shit...left with my jaw ripped straight off my face lying on the floor! Ahhh...the satisfying sound of hate. Noisy, heavy, sick and unforgiving...in-fucking-tense. Kind of like the most demented aspects of Today is the Day; the honed, chaotic perfection of Deadguy; and the filthy, sludgy goodness of Cattlepress all rolled into one. This makes "broootal" hardcore metal bands these days look like uninspired pansy assed chumps. (I know, I know, that's not saying all that much anymore.)

It's hard to find much info about this band via the ol' inter-web. They were from Burlington, Vermont and I guess they used to wear orange prison jumpsuits and black masks when they played live. (Easy up, this is before those d-bag Slip-Not turds!) After taking in the greatness of "The Rats..." I discovered their earlier album "Smile When You Hate" on Wonderdrug (when they still had the "Mentis" attached to their name) which is also great, though not the classic I feel that "The Rats..." is. I talked to some of the Tortuga guys at a Krazyfest a long time ago about them and they said they we're trying to talk them into doing another album. More recently I heard rumors of a reunion and new album via their Myspace. Yet, even that was a while ago now and seems unlikely to happen.

"Thank you and die slowly."

Here's a video for the song "58", the opening track from "The Rats Know Him".