Author Archives: dan

Sunday Afternoon Vinyl – Sonic Youth – Dirty

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Sonic Youth - Dirty

Sonic Youth

Dirty

Discogs: https://www.discogs.com/release/7800891-Sonic-Youth-Dirty

Year Of Release: 1992

Review

I own quite a few albums from Sonic Youth, but Dirty is by far my favourite album from them. I bought this on CD when it first came out in 1992 on the advice of one of the guys a year ahead of me in school. Something about a “dirty” picture on the CD tray liner. It wasn’t exactly dirty, but it was certainly a little risqué.

I’d discovered Sonic Youth via Rage (do you get it yet? Rage is one of the only ways I was able to access new and interesting music in my godforsaken hometown – I owe that programme so much). I saw the clip for Dirty Boots and I was all in, subsequently buying the Goo album and wondering where these people had been all my life. So I was excited, and I think justifiably so, to unwrap the Dirty CD and take it for a spin. What a cool album! I love 100%, and it didn’t hurt that my favourite skater, Jason Lee, featured heavily in the video clip. It wasn’t until quite a few years that I learnt that the song was about the death of Joe Cole. Other standout tracks on this one are Theresa’s Sound-world (it calms me down when work gets stressful), Wish Fulfillment, Youth Against Fascism, and Chapel Hill.

I like distorted guitar almost as much as I enjoy gangsta rap and Herb Alpert, so over the years I’ve bought many Sonic Youth albums. I even got to see them play once at Big Day Out (the magical Summer of 1995/96 when I went to three music festivals). I was sad when they split up, but it seems like it was inevitable. If you haven’t read Kim Gordon’s memoir, Girl in a Band, I heartily recommend it. It delivers an intriguing insight into the band, the music, and the relationships between the various characters.

Rating: 9/10

Sunday Afternoon Vinyl – Fugazi – Steady Diet Of Nothing

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Fugazi - Steady Diet Of Nothing

Fugazi

Steady Diet Of Nothing

Discogs: https://www.discogs.com/release/3890670-Fugazi-Steady-Diet-Of-Nothing

Year Of Release: 1991

Review

I was entirely unaware of Fugazi when a classmate in France started telling me about this album “Steady Diet Of Nothing” in 1995. He also talked a lot about NOFX but I didn’t really pay attention to them until I’d moved back to Brisbane. In any case, he gave me a copy of the album on cassette and I was hooked. As I’ve posited previously, the first album you listen to from an artist invariably becomes your favourite album from that artist. Yes, I know that’s not always the case but just go with it for now.

Fugazi was my first exposure to real independent, post-punk music that sounded gritty and real and … authentic. Which sounds a bit wanky but it’s how I’ve thought of them for so long. In the mid-nineties I was going to see them play at The Roxy in Brisbane, but Ian MacKaye had come down with pneumonia and was unable to play. So I’ve never seen them live but by all accounts it’s something else.

Standout tracks for me are Exit Only, Reclamation, Long Division, and KYEO. KYEO is one of those tracks that lyrically really sticks with you (“silence is a dangerous sound”). I say standout tracks, but this another one of those albums that plays through effortlessly. This is a compelling album from a truly independent, innovative band that has influenced so many other artists. If you don’t have some Fugazi in your collection, you need to get some.

Rating: 8.5/10

Sunday Afternoon Vinyl – Capital – Homefront

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Capital - Homefront

Capital

Homefront

Discogs: https://www.discogs.com/release/2710802-Capital-Homefront

Year Of Release: 2007

Review

I’d never heard of Capital before I listened to this album, and it’s possible you’ve never heard of them either. It’s not exactly a household name in the punk world, and to this day I’m not sure why that is. According to Discogs, they released 3 full-length albums and a live cassette. You can find them on Bandcamp as well.

I happened across this album entirely by accident. The CD was included in a record order I received in the mail in the early 2010s, and I guess the store had to get rid of some copies. The price was right and I was intrigued. What a fucking great album! I initially fell in love with Rubberface and Dead Children, but standout tracks after many more listening sessions are On A Mission (including the callout to The Way It Is from Revelation Records), Disclaimer, and Gold Coast. On A Mission is a particularly entertaining, and somewhat relatable, tale of discovering different music for the first time.

I don’t know anything about the band, but I’ve listened to this album numerous times and can confidently say that this a mighty fine hardcore album. If you’re in any way that way inclined (and if you’re reading my stuff you just might be), head over to Bandcamp and check these folks out.

Rating: 9/10

Sunday Afternoon Vinyl – Sick Of It All – Scratch The Surface

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Sick Of It All - Scratch The Surface

Sick Of It All

Scratch The Surface

Discogs: https://www.discogs.com/release/5416809-Sick-Of-It-All-Scratch-The-Surface

Year Of Release: 1994

Review

Sick Of It All is one of my favourite bands, and Scratch The Surface is one of my favourite albums. I remember seeing a full-page advertisement in Thrasher Magazine in the late eighties for the Blood, Sweat And No Tears album, but I had no real way to access anything by Sick Of It All. I just figured that if they had an ad in Thrasher they must be pretty cool. Turns out I was right, but I only found out accidentally when, thanks to another late-night Rage session in 1995, I saw the video clip for Step Down. It’s funny that this was my real introduction to Sick Of It All as, according to the band, this was meant to be a “fun little fool-around song”. It’s remained a mainstay of the setlist since the nineties, and it sounds absolutely amazing live.

I recall liking the song so much when I heard it that I scrimped together enough cash to buy a CD copy of the full album. I didn’t have access to a CD player, so I convinced my friend to let me listen to a few tracks while sitting in his car, parked in the driveway. I loved the album and couldn’t understand why no one else was hanging around to listen to it with me. Standout tracks from this album are the aforementioned Step Down, No Cure, Goatless, Scratch The Surface (amazing when performed live, as most of their tracks are), and Free Spirit. But this is by all objective measures the perfect hardcore album, so all of the songs are great. If you haven’t listened to it, go and do that now.

Rating: 10/10

Sunday Afternoon Vinyl – Black Flag – Slip It In

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Black Flag - Slip It In

Black Flag

Slip It In

Discogs: https://www.discogs.com/release/2927322-Black-Flag-Slip-It-In

Year Of Release: 1984

Review

People have all kinds of opinions about Black Flag. “Rollins was the worst frontman”, “My War was the best album”, “Greg Ginn needs to stop it now” (that last opinion is mine). It was always a somewhat divisive band, as was the history of the band and its retelling, primarily because plenty of people were there and have opinions on what did and didn’t happen. All that aside, I think this might be one of Black Flag’s best albums, and I say that because of three standout tracks: Black Coffee, Wound Up, and The Bars. Those three tracks alone more than make up for the problematic (by any standards, not just today’s) Slip It In, and the hard to hear You’re Not Evil. The Bars, in particular, is a haunting track, with some chilling lyrics about people who are really going through it, and not always getting out the other side. Toe To Toe, incidentally, does a brilliant cover of the song on the Slave EP. If you’ve not listened to Toe To Toe that needs to change.

Okay, so it might not be the band’s best album – that’s probably Damaged. But it’s a close second, with Who’s Got The 10½? coming in a close third. Just look at the cover art. And I stand by that opinion, as much as everyone loves My War. Speaking of opinion, here are a few articles from reviewers with more musical chops than me – one loves the album, one hates it. As you can see, with Black Flag you’re always somehow either for or against, but you’re rarely ever in the middle.

Rating: 7/10

Sunday Afternoon Vinyl – House Of Pain – House Of Pain (Fine Malt Lyrics)

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House Of Pain - House Of Pain (Fine Malt Lyrics)

House Of Pain

House Of Pain (Fine Malt Lyrics)

Discogs: https://www.discogs.com/release/4743949-House-Of-Pain-House-Of-Pain-Fine-Malt-Lyrics

Year Of Release: 1992

Review

I still smile when I hear the start of Jump Around over the PA when there’s a jump ball at an NBA game. It reminds me of how my friends and I would jump around to this song and how we played it repeatedly at a party one night, trying to sing along (and getting a good amount of the lyrics wrong, I imagine). I had the CD single of Jump Around in 1992 but didn’t get my hands on this album until at least 5 years later, after listening to Same As It Ever Was on a travelling companion’s Discman on the long flight back from London to Brisbane (I warned you these posts weren’t going to be particularly insightful). The video clip for Jump Around is still enjoyable, and worth checking out if you somehow missed it. I was young at the time and didn’t really understand the Boston – Ireland connection so this clip was all kinds of confusing for a time there.

For the most part this is just a fun album, and it seemed to me to be the band was more focussed on having a good time rather than making people feel uneasy. Well, except for some parts that are quite threatening. I only know about frat houses from American movies, but this might be what they sound like. Okay, fine, there’s an undercurrent of toxic masculinity throughout the album, but the band covers it a little better than most rap albums of the era. Standout tracks on this one include the aforementioned Jump Around, Top O’ The Morning To Ya, and Danny Boy, Danny Boy (no prizes for guessing why). It’s solid and mostly fun (I keep saying that, I know). Everlast went on to do some really cool stuff post House Of Pain, and DJ Lethal had quite an impact with Limp Bizkit.

Rating: 7/10

Sunday Afternoon Vinyl – Rancid – …And Out Come The Wolves

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Rancid - ...And Out Come The Wolves

Rancid

…And Out Come The Wolves

Discogs: https://www.discogs.com/release/465965-Rancid-And-Out-Come-The-Wolves

Year Of Release: 1995

Review

I’d never heard of Rancid before I heard …And Out Come The Wolves, but I knew I’d be a fan for life once I heard that album. When it came out in 1995, I’d just returned from living in France, and felt a bit disconnected from what was happening with punk music at the time. I was fortunate to have some friends who were into Operation Ivy and Rancid and introduced me to this album. I also remember being lucky enough to see them play at both Summersault and Big Day Out on the Gold Coast in early 1996. At Big Day Out, Tim Armstrong jumped on stage with Billy Bragg during his set and showed off his Billy Bragg tattoo. I remember the energy was great and started to really understood what all of the fuss about. I’ve managed to see them once in concert since then, and it was just as good as those early gigs I saw.

Rancid’s music is sometimes referred to as revival punk, a tag that kind of fits but also doesn’t. If you like ska, and you like fast paced, high-energy punk – these guys are for you. Armstrong has a really quite distinctive vocal style, Lars Frederiksen is a punk rock icon, Matt Freeman is a bass god, and the whole album is held together by Brett Reed’s relentless pounding on drums. Standout tracks for me are Daly City Train, Maxwell Murder, and Roots Radicals. Interestingly, this picture disc pressing is apparently an unauthorised one (according to Discogs). The rest of the Rancid picture discs I have seem to be legitimate. Most of my knowledge of Bay Area geography comes from listening to Rancid.

Rating: 9/10

Sunday Afternoon Vinyl – downset. – downset.

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Downset. - Downset.

downset.

downset.

Discogs: https://www.discogs.com/release/10690277-Downset-Downset

Year Of Release: 1994

Review

I was living in France in 1994 when downset.’s first album was released. It wasn’t until March 1995 that I first got to see the band live, at (what was then called) Le Théâtre Barbey in Bordeaux. The opening acts were Phobimaniacs and Shootyz Groove (I still have their earlier stuff on high rotation). It was a great gig, and my real first exposure to a band that was a level above the ones playing pub gigs on the weekend. I also remember spending some time chatting to the lady selling merch. She was from the UK, and I was starved for someone English-speaking to talk to. At the end of the gig, I convinced her that it would be great if we could go backstage and meet the band. So, four of my friends and I got to go back and meet them. I think we spent at least an hour talking to them, possibly longer. It was mainly with Rey Oropeza (in a mix of English and Spanish), although I remember James Morris telling me about the German audiences being particularly crazy and breaking 6 guitars during that part of the tour. They were so nice to us, and I was so naïve and asking so many questions about which bands they knew (not realising some of the feelings about Rage Against The Machine), what various songs were about, and so on. I’ve never had that kind of access to a musician I’ve liked since. And there are no photos, because it wasn’t really something you took a camera to. Just a mind-blowing night.

downset. concert ticket - 1995.03.28

 

In any case, if you like rap-rock that’s authentic – these guys are for you. Standout tracks are Anger!, My American Prayer, and Holding Hands. But really the album stands up as a playthrough experience. Funnily enough, even though I’d been listening to the album for many years after that concert, it wasn’t until I picked up a copy of the CD in the early 2000s that I was able to get more familiar with Dying Of Thirst – as the dubbed cassette I had didn’t have enough room for that track. This album is nothing but good memories.

Rating: 10/10

Sunday Afternoon Vinyl – Rage Against The Machine – Rage Against The Machine XX

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Rage Against The Machine - Rage Against The Machine XX

Rage Against The Machine

Rage Against The Machine XX

Discogs: https://www.discogs.com/release/4093460-Rage-Against-The-Machine-Rage-Against-The-Machine-XX

Year Of Release: 1992

Review

This is the twentieth anniversary picture-disc pressing of Rage Against The Machine’s debut album. I remember when this album first came out, a friend gave me a tape with the uncensored version of Killing In The Name on it, sourced from a late-night Rage session. I remember being amazed by the (new to me) combination of rap and rock, along with what I understood to be super political lyrics. I had no idea about what most of the songs were really about, and it wasn’t until much later that I started to understand just what the band was talking about with its music.

This album remains a compelling listen, with De La Rocha’s powerful lyrical delivery combined with Morello’s amazing guitar work, ably supported by the pounding drums of Brad Wilk and some impressive bass work from Tim Commerford. I remember discussing this album at a party late in 1993. I was in disbelief that all the sounds on the album were made just with instruments, assuming that some kind of electronic music or at least record scratching was involved. I was young and extremely ignorant. Now I’m older and not quite as ignorant.

Standout tracks on this album for me were Killing In The Name, Bullet In The Head, and Wake Up. There are no skips on this album. If you can get your hands on it, the Australian CD single version of Killing In The Name also has the most excellent tracks Darkness Of Greed and Clear The Lane – worth checking out.

Rating: 9/10

Sunday Afternoon Vinyl – Rollins Band – Weight

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Rollins Band - Weight

Rollins Band

Weight

Discogs: https://www.discogs.com/release/1013918-Rollins-Band-Weight

Year Of Release: 1994

Review

I was eager to hear Weight after falling head over heels for The End Of Silence (the first Rollins Band album I owned). It wasn’t until a few years after it was released that I finally got my hands on the album though, as I was living in France for some of the time, and didn’t have access to a CD player when I returned to Australia. Weight is a powerhouse album – taking the listener through rock, blues, and spoken word, while dishing out some absolutely punishing tracks. It’s the kind of album that plays through well, but you can also take what you need from it without having to take on the entire load. I’m guessing it’s a result of my advancing years, but my favourite tracks on this album are now Volume 4 and Shine. When I first heard the album though, Liar and Disconnect were my go-to tracks, and I loved the message behind Civilized. The video clip for Liar and subsequent live performance of the song at the Grammy Awards in 1995 put Rollins Band on the map for some people (and absolutely freaked some other people out), but for Rollins Band fans, this was situation normal. This was one of my favourite Rollins Band line-ups, and I thought (and still think) that Melvin Gibbs was an absolute beast on bass.

I don’t know if this pressing is official or not, but they seem to be a lot harder to come by now than when I randomly stumbled across this one on eBay years ago. That’s thanks to the record label. If you can, check out Weighting as well – some brilliant tracks on there that didn’t make the cut but popped up elsewhere. Right Here Too Much was on the Disconnect single and it is an excellent non-album track. 

Rating: 8/10