Tag Archives: Music

Sunday Afternoon Vinyl – Deftones – Around The Fur

Posted on by

Deftones - Around The Fur

Deftones

Around The Fur

Discogs: https://www.discogs.com/release/2904141-Deftones-Around-The-Fur

Year Of Release: 1997

Review

Deftones is one of those bands where I’ll happily buy multiple pressings of their albums and go searching the Internet for various mixes and live shows. I first heard them on the soundtrack for The Crow: City Of Angels and was mightily impressed. I had the opportunity to see them play in Brisbane in late 1998 (?) but couldn’t afford tickets. I didn’t own any of their albums until sometime in 2002 or 2003, when my wife bought me copies of Adrenaline, Around The Fur, and White Pony on CD for my birthday. I sat and listened to them all, back-to-back, and was rapt.

I don’t know exactly why Around The Fur is my favourite Deftones album. It’s maybe a little more raw than White Pony, a little less sophisticated. Chino seems to feel the same way, describing it as “something about catching lightning in a bottle with that record”. It’s a great album, and quite a demonstration of how far ahead Deftones were from their “nu metal peers” at the time.

This is an album that benefits from no skips. You can dip in and out, but it’s really at its strongest when you play it through from start to finish. If I had to pick out the standout tracks, I’d say My Own Summer (Shove It), Mascara, Around The Fur, Be Quiet And Drive (Far Away), and Headup. And make sure you check out the hidden tracks at the end of MX.

Rating: 9/10

Sunday Afternoon Vinyl – Ben Harper – Welcome To The Cruel World

Posted on by

Ben Harper - Welcome To The Cruel World

Ben Harper

Welcome To The Cruel World

Discogs: https://www.discogs.com/release/14347927-Ben-Harper-Welcome-To-The-Cruel-World

Year Of Release: 1994

Review

I discovered Ben Harper in mid 1995. I was living in France and spending almost as much time watching Boulevard des Clips on M6 as I used to spend watching Rage. I saw the clip for Whipping Boy and I was immediately hooked.

Ben Harper is an extremely accomplished musician (and a much better skateboarder than I will ever be). This is his first studio album and amply showcases his skills with the guitar and his storytelling ability. I was fortunate enough to see him play at The Zoo – I think it was the night before Good Friday – in 1996. If you’ve been to a gig at The Zoo in the nineties, you’ll know it wasn’t terribly well ventilated. I remember that I exited the venue feeling like a dehydrated potato chip and it was absolutely worth it. I believe from that point on he has regularly played the Byron Bay Bluesfest and he’s playing in Brisbane this weekend.

In any case, Ben Harper is an amazingly talented musician and songwriter – I can’t say that enough. If you haven’t had the chance to investigate his work, I recommend you start at the start and just keep going. It’s worth it. Standout tracks on this one are the aforementioned Whipping Boy, along with Mama’s Got A Girlfriend Now, How Many Miles Must We March, and Like A King.

Rating: 8/10

Sunday Afternoon Vinyl – fluf – Whitey On The Moon

Posted on by

Fluf - Whitey On The Moon

fluf

Whitey On The Moon

Discogs: https://www.discogs.com/release/1918669-Fluf-Whitey-On-The-Moon

Year Of Release: 1994

Review

Whitey On The Moon is the second studio album from San Diego punk band fluf. Interestingly, the CD version is titled Home Improvements, and the cassette release was called Stocking The Lake With Brown Trout. I’d seen NOFX do this with Frisbee / Coaster – I’m not sure if the idea came from fluf or if other bands have done it before them.

I’m writing about fluf not so much because it was a fun punk band to listen to, but rather to draw attention to the important role that skateboard videos have played in influencing my musical tastes over the years. I first saw O in a funny segment in Ban This in the late 80s (with Lance Mountain and Neil Blender), clowning around and having what looked like a tonne of fun. In those pre-Internet days I couldn’t really find out much more about him and didn’t think much more about it. Fast-forward to the mid 90s, and Ed Templeton’s segment on the Best of 411, Volume 2 video featured Rooked by fluf. An excellent track that stuck with me over the years.

The Bones Brigade videos were instrumental in introducing me to “skate punk”, exposing me to bands like McRad and The Faction and giving me a taste for music by skaters for skaters. Then 411 came along and I was able to discover more cool bands like MCM And The Monster and fluf.

It wasn’t until quite some years later that I was able to track down a copy of Home Improvements (and later a reissued version of Whitey On The Moon). This is a great album from start to finish. Standout tracks are the aforementioned Rooked, along with Page 3 + 1, Twister, and Broke. If you haven’t listened to fluf, they’re worth checking out.

Rating: 8/10

Sunday Afternoon Vinyl – Korn – Korn

Posted on by

Korn - Korn

Korn

Korn

Discogs: https://www.discogs.com/release/6033392-Korn-Korn

Year Of Release: 1994

Review

This one will be short, not because I don’t like the album, but I’d rather not take up your time gushing about an album in the same way that everyone who’s heard it before would also be gushing.

I think I first heard this album around 1996, possibly after seeing the band guest-host on Rage in support of Life Is Peachy. It was transformative. I thought I’d heard some pretty heavy music before. I thought I’d heard a fair range of emotions. But this album was intense. Brutal. There were bits of it that made me go wow – that’s a really funky piece of bass. And then there were other parts that had me wondering just how much abuse was behind the lyrics.

At the time I don’t think I appreciated just how important this album was, but it certainly became apparent over the next few years just how influential Korn would become. It’s a heavy, twisting journey through the band’s inner consciousness, dealing with a variety of issues – some of which you’d rather not think about.

Standout tracks on this one are Blind, Ball Tongue, Need To, Faget, and Clown. It’s one of those albums that has tracks on it that I revisit on a regular basis, and if you somehow haven’t had the Korn experience yet, this album is as good a place as any to get started. Metal and bagpipes? What is going on here?

Rating: 9/10

Sunday Afternoon Vinyl – Biohazard – Mata Leão

Posted on by

Biohazard - Mata Leão

Biohazard

Mata Leão

Discogs: https://www.discogs.com/release/32427309-Biohazard-Mata-Le%C3%A3o

Year Of Release: 1996

Review

In today’s tale of ignorance, let’s talk about Biohazard’s album Mata Leão. I bought this on CD after hearing Authority on one of the music video shows. The CD itself was another one of those weirdly mastered ones where tracks aren’t neatly cut where they should be, so it was always a pain to skip tracks. But this one goes pretty well without skipping in any case. I knew nothing about Biohazard at the time, and it took me some time to get to appreciating everything they’d put out. The band is still going, and released an album in late 2025. Evan Seinfeld is an interesting chap. Nowadays he’s heavily focussed on health, and previously he took some interesting acting roles in movies that don’t really get cinematic releases, as well as some decent stuff like Oz.

I was fortunate enough to see Biohazard live in September 1996, supporting Pantera. I don’t remember much of the gig, but I do recall being happy that I’d chosen seated rather than general admission. A little unusual for a young person in those days but whatever. I do remember that I enjoyed the Biohazard part of the concert more than Pantera, which made sense given how up and down Pantera could be depending on Anselmo and whatever was going on with him and the band.

Pantera / Biohazard / Shihad concert ticket - September 1996

The album itself is a nice mix of rap, metal, and hardcore punk. It’s one that I’ve never had a problem listening through, and standout tracks are the aforementioned Authority, along with Control, Better Days, Waiting To Die, Thorn, and In Vain. Looking back at these reviews, it seems like I was really, really into rap / rock bands in the mid-nineties.

Rating: 7.5/10

Sunday Afternoon Vinyl – CIV – Set Your Goals

Posted on by

CIV - Set Your Goals

CIV

Set Your Goals

Discogs: https://www.discogs.com/release/35922274-CIV-Set-Your-Goals

Year Of Release: 1995

Review

Regular readers will not be at all surprised to hear that I had no idea who Anthony Civorelli (Civ) was nor any idea that he was the frontman for Gorilla Biscuits long before he put together CIV. But that’s obviously something important that you should know. It’s the kind of ignorance I’ve been noted for my whole life.

Clocking in at 31:13, this is a super enjoyable hardcore album from start to finish, with a bunch of up-tempo tracks and terrifically positive lyrics. I was fortunate enough to see CIV play (supported, and somewhat overwhelmed by Fireballs and Regurgitator) in Byron Bay (I still have the shirt from that gig) and I always had high hopes that this band would be around for some time to come. But then they released Thirteen Day Getaway and it wasn’t to be.

CIV t-shirt 1996

Standout tracks on this one are Set Your Goals, So Far, So Good… So What, Can’t Wait One Minute More (RIP Lou), Choices Made, Soundtrack For Violence, and All Twisted. It’s hardcore and punk rawk from start to finish. You don’t need to be a Gorilla Biscuits fan to appreciate this album (although why aren’t you?). You don’t need to be straight edge. You just need a bit of a positive mental attitude and you’ll enjoy it.

It’s also worth checking out Civ’s book “A Roadie’s Tale” – a very entertaining read.

Rating: 8.5/10

Sunday Afternoon Vinyl – Rollins Band – Come In And Burn

Posted on by

Rollins Band – Come In And Burn

Rollins Band

Come In And Burn

Discogs: https://www.discogs.com/release/5270010-Rollins-Band-Come-In-And-Burn

Year Of Release: 1997

Review

I’ve been a staunch fan of whatever Henry Rollins produces since I first heard Low Self Opinion on Rage. But I seem to be an outlier when it comes to my thoughts on Come In And Burn, with several reviewers not taking well to it, and I get the impression that Rollins wasn’t over the moon with the album either. But I love it.

I bought this album on CD as soon as it came out, and happily went along to see Rollins Band perform at The Roxy in August 1997 in support of the album as well. I remember that the CD I purchased was an “enhanced” CD with some kind of multimedia component, and my PC was incapable of playing the most basic videos, including the content on this CD. I wasn’t able to see what they were for some years to come, and questioned whether this whole PC multimedia thing would ever really be ready for the mainstream. It’s funny when I think about the quality of video we can now stream in our web browsers.

This album isn’t perhaps as sonically “clean” as previous Rollins Band efforts, but I think it’s as strong as I’ve ever heard them (although sadly this incarnation of the band only put out two albums). Lyrically, it’s been described as “transcriptions from a therapy session“. I frequently think we’re asking of Rollins something that we don’t necessarily ask of other performers, but that’s in part something that he may have welcomed at times too.

The music video for Starve gets special mention, as I found it an entertaining representation of a song from inception, through to recording, and finally to live performance. And the puppet in The End Of Something is something else too. Standout tracks for me are all of them, but particularly the aforementioned singles from the album, along with Shame, During A City, Neon, and Saying Goodbye Again.

“I left town and heard that you did too / The difference is I can come back, I can come back!!”

Rating: 10/10

Sunday Afternoon Vinyl – Dead Kennedys – Frankenchrist

Posted on by

Dead Kennedys - Frankenchrist. 2xLP

Dead Kennedys

Frankenchrist

Discogs: https://www.discogs.com/release/9875228-Dead-Kennedys-Frankenchrist

Year Of Release: 1985

Review

Dead Kennedys was, and remains, one of my favourite bands. And Frankenchrist was my favourite album from them for most of my teens and twenties. It wasn’t until I got a working copy of Plastic Surgery Disasters that it slipped down to second on the list. Not that that really matters. Much was made of the inclusion of the Landscape #XX print by H. R. Giger. Interestingly, my CD copy includes a different insert.

Dead Kennedys - Frankenchrist CD insert

This is an accomplished album, and not necessarily something that you would have expected musically from the Dead Kennedys. It’s not your father’s hardcore album, as the old timers might say, and the songs are a little longer, a little more melodic, and ultimately much scarier from a lyrical perspective than some of the hardcore albums released around that time. I remember thinking that This Could Be Anywhere (This Could Be Everywhere) sounded like an absolute nightmare, but as I got older, I realised it was the reality for some Americans.

I remember thinking when I was a little older that it was funny how Jello would talk a bit about the same issues over and over as the years went on. Not that he was super repetitive, but sometimes there were things that I’d heard before. And then I realised that he had to repeat things, because people weren’t learning from past mistakes. And nothing seemed to be changing. And now here we are. Dead Kennedys, for someone growing up in regional Queensland in the eighties, was an eye-opening experience, and considered quite dangerous too! And I continue to be thankful that I discovered them, almost despite where and when I grew up.

Standout tracks are the aforementioned This Could Be Anywhere (This Could Be Everywhere), Hellnation, A Growing Boy Needs His Lunch, Macho-Rama (Invasion Of The Beef Patrol), and Stars And Stripes Of Corruption. At My Job irritated me then, and irritates me now, probably because it was a little too real.

Rating: 9/10

Sunday Afternoon Vinyl – Dub War – Pain

Posted on by

Dub War – Pain

Dub War

Pain

Discogs: https://www.discogs.com/release/401144-Dub-War-Pain

Year Of Release: 1994

Review

I remember seeing an ad for a concert by Dub War in one of the free music newspapers in September or October 1995. I hadn’t heard of them previously, but a young lady in my Elizabethan Lit (look, we’ve all got a past) class expressed an interest in going, so we made it a date. I remember being nervous beforehand, so much so that I forgot to take my passport to use as identification, and we pretended to the doorman at The Roxy that I was a French exchange student and didn’t understand the need for proof of age at licensed venues. In any case, it was an excellent gig, and I remember the support acts were Pangaea and Emporium – two very entertaining Brisbane-based outfits. The gig poster used the photo from the Strike It single. I wish I could find a copy of it, but here’s one I found on an eBay listing.

Ironically, I didn’t buy a copy of this album until maybe ten years later, when I’d started to earn enough of the folding stuff that buying CDs was something I could afford to do. It’s a great album from start to finish, one of those performances that has you wondering why these guys weren’t bigger too. I know I say that about several rap / rock and dub / rock bands, and then I guess people were a bit more ready for something like it in the new millennium.

Standout tracks on this one are Strike It, Why, Nar Say A Ting, and Spiritual Warfare. But I’ll happily bop along to anything Dub War is playing. If you haven’t heard of them, they’re definitely worth checking out.

Rating: 8/10

Sunday Afternoon Vinyl – Pearl Jam – Ten

Posted on by

Pearl Jam - Ten

Pearl Jam

Ten

Discogs: https://www.discogs.com/release/11116451-Pearl-Jam-Ten

Year Of Release: 1991

Review

Some of you might be surprised to learn that I enjoy the music of Pearl Jam, but it shouldn’t be that surprising. Grunge was a nice escape from country and western when I was growing up in a small town in the early nineties, and Pearl Jam and Nirvana were tremendously popular, with their music videos enjoying relatively frequent airplay. So popular in fact that for some reason I found the need to sell my Nirvana CDs in the late nineties to somehow rid myself of the popular grunge thing (I probably just needed beer money). So while I enjoy Pearl Jam, I don’t have many of the band’s studio albums, and I seem to prefer to pick up the various concert bootlegs on vinyl and CD. I don’t get it either, but I’m working on filling in the gaps as best I can.

When Alive was released I remember I bought the CD single (remember CD singles? Almost as weird as cassingles). For some reason I didn’t buy a copy of Ten for many years after that. I don’t know why. I really enjoyed Alive, and I figured I’d probably enjoy the rest of the album too, but for some reason I could never commit. I do remember one of my classmates at the time commenting on the titles of the album all being one word only and maybe that was something we should think was weird. That’s right, super insightful stuff from fifteen year olds there.

This is a great album from start to finish, and has become my favourite album to listen to on repeat when I’m on a long-haul flight across the Pacific. I don’t know how that tradition started, but I imagine it had something to do with the limited range of albums available on the in-flight entertainment during the strange ten years or so where I was travelling to the US four to six times a year. Nowadays I need to listen to it on my phone as the airline I use has removed it from the music catalogue.

Standout tracks are the aforementioned Alive, Once, Black, and Release. But as I said this is very much a no skips album.

Rating: 9/10