Monster Magnet – Forget About Life, I'm High On Dope [Cass] (1989, Cool Beans)

New Jersey native Dave Wyndorf was already a rock & roll veteran by the time he formed Monster Magnet in 1989, having cut his teeth with little-known punk band Shrapnel (also featuring future punk producer Daniel Rey on guitars) in the late '70s before retiring from music altogether. But after teaching himself guitar, Wyndorf began assembling Monster Magnet with a handful of fellow New Jersey natives, vocalist Tim Cronin, guitarist John McBain, bassist Joe Calandra, and drummer Jon Kleiman. Fusing their metal, punk, space rock, and psychedelic influences, the band developed a sludgy, feedback-heavy hard rock sound that helped them stand out from the era's burgeoning retro-rock movement -also counting The Black Crowes, White Zombie, and many others.

 
This is Monster Magnet's very first release only available on cassette, that they released on their own label, Cool Beans, in 1989. Essentially it is a collection of 4 track demos, with several of the songs being re-recorded for later albums. For these recordings, Monster Magnet was a three piece consisting of Dave Wyndorf, John McBain, and Tim Cronin. Their debut owes a huge debt to Hawkwind, psychedelia and drugs. They even cover Hawkwind here ("Brainstorm"). It is a noisy stew of abrasive trippy rock. Some of the vocals are questionable but, altogether, this is quite a journey for psych lovers of all stripes. [SOURCE: RATE YOUR MUSIC]

 

 

Label: Cool Beans – none 

Format: Cassette, Limited Edition 

Country: US 

Released: 1989 

Style: Space Rock, Psychedelic Rock, Stoner Rock, Jam Band, Punk Rock, Noise Rock

 

Tracklist:

A1 Lizard Johnny 6:44 

A2 Black Wawa 3:14 

A3 Eight Ball 5:23 

A4 Brainstorm 5:24 

A5 Freak Shop USA 4:30 

B1 Tab 22:05 

 

Notes: 

This is the track listing and cover art for the second release of the tape, which includes "Freak Shop USA".

This was not on the original edition as it was recorded later for release on a Circuit 7" single. 

 

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Last Few Days – Pure Spirit And Saliva Live [LP] (1986, Dead Man's Curve)

To many the band Last Few Days is just a complete mystery or simply some group who toured with Laibach and then promptly disappeared soon afterwards. This is not particularly surprising for a band that consciously left little mark during their existence. They were a band that deliberately avoided releasing their material and kept a limit on their live performances, they also had a very low profile though it was increased briefly after the Laibach collaborations. Most people attending their concerts had little very idea who they were, simply enticed along by the ambiguous posters or simply a night out. The concerts themselves bizarrely lasting all through the night (with a mixture of music and movies), still going at 7AM and not quite easiest sort music to be listening too either. They made heavy use of megaphones, guitars often played with broken bottles, drum unrelenting and brutal, delivering rather harsh and bewildering but occasionally rhythmic apocalyptic music. The three main members of Last Few Days were Daniel Landin (aka D. Styme), Si Joyce (aka Si Gross) and Keir Wahid (aka K. Warhead and K. Fraser). They were regularly helped out by Fritz Haaman (aka Fritz Catlin) who also performed with Laibach during the joint tour, and occasionally by Sam Mills, both members of 23 Skidoo. Last Few Days returned as a pop outfit in 1990, with a core of Keir and Si. 

 
This album was recorded live throughout Europe during 1983 and 1984. Because of the interest in Last Few Days, they sat down and waded through 100 hours of tape slimming it down to around 24 hours. On a blisteringly hot day in June 1986, K. Warhead and S. Gross from Last Few Days sat in a small box with Dave Henderson, a pile of cassettes, an equalisation unit that no-one understood and a Revox…this is the result.

 

 

Label: Dead Man's Curve – DMC 002 

Format: Vinyl, LP 

Country: UK 

Released: 1986 

Style: Industrial, Experimental 

 

Tracklist:

A1 End It 7:29 

A2 F1 6:21 

A3 Pure Heart 5:59 

B1 Megaphobia 4:39 

B2 VVV 2:38 

B3 Ex 4:13 

B4 Soft And Sweet (Around The World) 7:05 

B5 Oh Lord! 4:08 

 

Notes: 

Tracks A1 and A3 recorded in Maastricht 

Track A2 recorded in Berlin 

Tracks on side B recorded in London

Side A is mono recordings. 

Side B is stereo recordings. 

 

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Kuruki – Action [12''] (1984, Zip Zap Records)

Kuruki was almost a solo project, by Ghent-based musician Gerry D'Haeyer. The single 'Crocodile Tears', printed in 1981, was fun and interesting, a one hit wonder. Then followed three 12" ('Such A Liar', 'Action' and 'Souvenir, Souvenir') and 'Just A Cat' in 1983, which was recorded with Alan Gevaert and Chris Whitley of A Noh Rodeo, and a full-length album in 1984, 'TV Scape'. Gerry D'Haeyer later went on to play drums with blues musician Roland Van Campenhout.

 

 

Label: Zip Zap Records – ZZ 5821 

Format: Vinyl, 12", 45 RPM 

Country: Belgium 

Released: 1984 

Style: Synth-pop, Minimal 

 

Tracklist:

A Action Part I 4:45 

B Action Part II 4:53

 

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Jools Holland And His Millionaires – Jools Holland And His Millionaires [LP] (1982, I.R.S. Records)

 

Expectations were high for Jools Holland's solo career when he first left Squeeze in 1980. Even though Holland was theoretically only a support player in the Difford & Tilbrook-fronted band, his flair for the spotlight was obvious in Squeeze's live shows, as well as on the occasional B-side or album track in which he was featured. Throw in the swinging 'Boogie Woogie 78' EP (Holland's solo debut, made while he was with Squeeze), and it seems that everything was leading up to 'Jools Holland and the Millionaires' being an accomplished and fun full-length debut from the U.K.'s favorite piano-pounding hepcat. Unfortunately, it didn't quite work out that way. For whatever reason, Holland chose to downplay his rock & roll and boogie-woogie strengths for large portions of this record, and instead focused on creating Squeeze-style new wave pop. Not that there's anything wrong with that in theory; the problem is that in actual practice, most of the songs on 'Jools Holland and the Millionaires' lack Squeeze's pop savvy and catchy hooks. (Not to mention musicianship; while the Millionaires' lineup is perfectly adequate, the guitars and drums of Squeeze stalwarts Glenn Tilbrook and Gilson Lavis aren't easily replaced.) Further undermining the already somewhat patchy material is an uncharacteristically thin production job by Glyn Johns; the one track produced by Pete Wingfield, a romp through "Bumble Boogie," absolutely sparkles in comparison to the rest of the record. Overall, while there are a few fun songs and performances dotted throughout the LP (especially "Bumble Boogie," "Dynaflow," and "One More Time"), 'Jools Holland and the Millionaires' ultimately has to be classified as a rather disappointing release that's recommended only to Squeeze and/or Holland completists. Luckily, Holland would rebound from this and go on to create work (both as a solo artist and with a re-formed Squeeze) of a much higher caliber. [SOURCE: ALLMUSIC]

 

 

Label: I.R.S. Records – SP 70602, I.R.S. Records – 70602 

Format: Vinyl, LP, Album, Stereo

Country: US 

Released: 1982 

Style: Blues Rock, Pop Rock, Ska, New Wave

 

Tracklist:

A1 Like I Do To You 3:00 

A2 Goodbye World 3:20 

A3 Dynaflow 2:12 

A4 Waiting Game 3:08 

A5 Let Me In 2:58 

A6 Driven To Drunk 4:14 

B1 Bumble Boogie 2:43 

B2 Pineapple Chunk 3:36 

B3 One More Time 2:59 

B4 Much More Hope Than Me 4:00 

B5 When I'm Through 3:20 

B6 Glad You've Gone 3:40 

B7 First Drink Of The Day 3:03 

 

Notes:  

UK version (A&M Records – AMLH 68534 - Released: 1981) does not contain the single "Bumble Boogie". 

 

Other Versions:

Netherlands version (A&M Records – AMLH 68534 - Released: 1981) contains the single "Bumble Boogie"

 

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