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    • August 13, 2010 2:13 AM CDT
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    • yeah i have been think about buying a new guitar to the jagmaster sounds like a awsome idea yeah dose any one know any good cheap guitars that sound good for heavy punk and garage punk

    • August 12, 2010 11:18 PM CDT
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    •  A version of this was published in The Santa Fe New Mexican
      August 13, 2010

      Here’s a music movement/era/subgenre/subculture you’ve likely never heard about: gunk punk.

      Don’t feel too shamefully unhip if you haven’t heard of gunk punk. Nobody else had either before Eric Davidson made up the term to describe bands that, as he puts it, “unknowingly reestablished punk rock as — surprise, surprise — fast, funny and furiously fucked-up rock ’n’ roll.”.

      Davidson was the singer of a Columbus, Ohio, band called New Bomb Turks, which roamed the Earth between the early ’90s and early ’00s. Davidson, now an editor at the music-business magazine CMJ, recently published his first book,We Never Learn: The Gunk Punk Undergut, 1988-2001 (Backbeat Books).

      So what is this gunk? Davidson explains in the introduction:
      “In the early ’90s, where it’s generally assumed that Nirvana, R.E.M., Marilyn Manson, and The Offspring brought ‘edgy’ to the mainstream, there was a fringe on the fringe, an exponentially growing gaggle of low-rent rockers who, owing to their innate retrograde preferences, were never fashioned into a marketable moment by a Spin article or an Entertainment Weekly sidebar. And even if some critics lazily tagged these bands as ‘just’ more punk, that helped little since by the early ’90s ‘punk’ mostly meant leftover, unsmiling, hardcore, or candy-coated skate-punk. ... It seemed that ass-shaking rock ’n’ roll was about to be washed into history’s moldy basement — which, of course, is as good a place as any to start a party.”
      Davidson documents this party by interviewing fellow musicians from perpetually below-the-radar bands like The Lazy Cowgirls, Pussy Galore, Dead Moon, The Supersuckers, The Oblivians, the Candy Snatchers (who did a song that provided the title for this book), and dozens more plus folks from labels that purveyed the gunk — Crypt, Norton, Sympathy for the Record Industry, In the Red, Epitaph (which was better known for its skate-punkers but was also home for a while to New Bomb Turks).

      Often the music Davidson writes about is classified as “garage” or “garage punk.” Many of these musicians admired what came to be known as garage bands of the mid-’60s. But Davidson turns up his nose at retro “Beatles boot” bands. “Bands like The Fuzztones, Chesterfield Kings, and others were practically devolving into nostalgic tribute acts,” he writes.

      Like the book’s subtitle suggests, the glory days of gunk were done shortly after the turn of the century. Many of the bands had broken up, and many others were on the verge.

      And yet this was about the time the mainstream press started yakking about the “garage revival,” thanks mainly to groups like The Strokes, The Hives, and The White Stripes. “The Strokes were being described as ‘raw’ based on the fact that you could hear a guitar,” Davidson wryly observes. “It was neato in a way to see big mags like Rolling Stone, Spin, etc., mentioning bands like The Sonics and The Stooges in articles about the trend. But once the wave really crested around late 2001, a natural knee-jerk response among gutter-rock fans was to feel exasperated. Rarely was there a mention of all the previous bands and scenes that these hyped acts came from.”

      Jack White of The White Stripes declined to be interviewed for the book, instead sending a cryptic email about Edgar Allan Poe, Davidson said.

      Though the book has a tendency to get rather inside baseball-ish, there are plenty of great stories, funny characters, and wish-I’d-been-there moments. And while most of these groups aren’t full-time endeavors anymore, We Never Learn gives you the feeling that as long as young rockers are willing to go out and on the road and play in weird little clubs or moldy basements for very little cash, the spirit of gunk will live forever.

      Put down the book. Let’s rock! Davidson has a bonus for those who purchase We Never Learn. It’s a 20-track download of MP3s from the bands he writes about in the book: The Devil Dogs, Clone Defects, The Cynics, The A-Bones, Death of Samantha, The Digits, Archie & The Pukes, and of course New Bomb Turks.

      Most of the selections are obscurities: demos, live recordings, alternate takes, cuts from compilation albums, and so on. As a collection, the downloads provide a reader with a good idea of the basic sound Davidson is writing about — fast, furious, sloppy, primitive, lo-fi, and lots of fun.

      Among my favorites here is “Your Fat Friend” by The Raunch Hands. It’s a hyper boogie — Canned Heat succumbing to “Amphetamine Annie” — with a wailing sax solo.

      THE MUMMIES!
      From The Oblivians there’s “Memphis Creep,” a pounding put-down of a would-be scenester from the group’s hometown who has “a creepy pony tail” and will “get you high and steal your wife.”

      You can almost smell The Mummies’ sweaty gauze costumes on the lo-fi, Farfisa-heavy instrumental “Mashi.”

      The Dwarves show why Davidson loves them so much with an explosive version of “Throw That Girl Away.” The guitarist, known as “He Who Cannot Be Named,” sounds like he’s on fire.

      “There but for the Grace of God Go I” is from The Gories’ final album Outta Here (1992). It shows the trio was pretty much at its peak of primitive glory when it disbanded, though when I saw the reunited Gories recently in New York, they proved they’ve still got that flame.

      THE GORIES RISE AGAIN “Girl from ’62” by Thee Headcoats is a classic slab from British poet/painter/garage-rock priest Billy Childish. Fans frequently argue over which of that eccentric genius’s bands were the best. I’ll vote for Thee Headcoats, which was his primary outlet during the late ’80s and the ’90s.

      Davidson, in compiling this collection, made sure his own band didn’t get shortchanged. In fact, New Bomb Turks’ “Slut,” a live version of a tune written by fellow Ohio band Scrawl, might just be the strongest one here. It’s a four-minute burst of raw energy that starts out with someone giving Davidson a flower onstage. I’m not really sure why he’s screaming “Sympathy for the devil” by the end of the song, but it works.

      Gunk online: For an interview of Davidson by the goons at Real Punk Radio, CLICK HERE.

    • August 12, 2010 7:50 PM CDT
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    • Saw that show in Seattle. The Supersuckers and the New York Dolls were OK, but the Chesterfield Kings were really something. There was a pole/post on the stage that basically was there to hold up the roof, but Greg Prevost kept trying to break it with his microphone stand. The bottom of the stand would have broke first before the support beam. Milton Tucker said:

      Saw them in Portland with the SuperSuckers opening for what's left of the New York Dolls that to was a Little Steven Production. Solid live act the Chesterfield kings that is not the New York Dolls

    • August 12, 2010 7:44 PM CDT
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    • Saw them in Portland with the SuperSuckers opening for what's left of the New York Dolls that to was a Little Steven Production. Solid live act the Chesterfield kings that is not the New York Dolls

    • August 12, 2010 7:36 PM CDT
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    • No, waitaminnit. This is my least favorite Chesterfield Kings album. The Ultimatemost High said:

      The album THE BERLIN WALL OF SOUND is a killer

    • August 12, 2010 10:41 AM CDT
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    • The album THE BERLIN WALL OF SOUND is a killer

    • August 11, 2010 10:14 PM CDT
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    • I don't know. That's my least favorite record of theirs I think. For me, it's the first three(if you can find them) and the last three studio recordings. Where the Action Is was for me the best follow up to Don't Open Til Doomsday.

    • August 12, 2010 7:32 PM CDT
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    • I'm not on any mailing lists anymore and I hardly look at myspace bulletins since all I can think is "there's another thing I can't afford to buy". There's really not a lot of newer Cynics songs on their myspace page.

    • August 12, 2010 7:48 AM CDT
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    • Aren't you on the Get Hip mailing list? I'm surprised you didn't hear about the release of "Here We Are."

    • August 11, 2010 10:34 PM CDT
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    • I saw Hedwig and the Angry Inch. I thought it was a really good movie, but I wish there'd been an extra half hour to it making it a little clearer.

      I really need to catch up on the 2000's it looks like. I didn't even know about the Cynics album you mentioned.

    • August 12, 2010 7:28 PM CDT
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    • It was kind of belated. I didn't look at new posts at all last week.

    • August 12, 2010 7:47 AM CDT
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    • Thanks for your response, Rod:) Rockin Rod Strychnine said:

      Living Is the Best Revenge was a definite favorite of mine and 61/49 was quite a surprise for me as it was one for the best Romantics albums since the early 80s.

    • August 11, 2010 10:38 PM CDT
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    • Living Is the Best Revenge was a definite favorite of mine and 61/49 was quite a surprise for me as it was one for the best Romantics albums since the early 80s.

    • August 12, 2010 5:52 PM CDT
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    • In no order - and from what I thought at the time...

      Crass - Stations of the Crass
      The Fall - Live at the Witch Trials
      Gang of Four - Entertainment!
      Ramones - Ramones
      Sex Pistols - Never Mind The Bollocks
      Moterhead - Motorhead


      Yeah - Motorhead... well my mates and I thought it was punk: so much faster, rougher, more aggressive and generally noisy than metal at the time...

      Devo - Are We Not Men?
      The Slits - Cut
      PIL - Metal Box

      And yeah some are post-punk, but that sort of came as a retrospective tag for me.

      And what was all the fuss about the Clash?

    • August 12, 2010 11:38 AM CDT
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    • Angry Samoans - Inside My Brain
      The Cramps - Songs the Lord Taught Us
      Dead Boys - Young Loud & Snotty
      The Germs - G.I.
      Ramones

    • August 12, 2010 3:25 AM CDT
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    • aye aye sir... Andy Climax said:

      i think it was 'Clockwork orange' haha

    • August 12, 2010 3:19 AM CDT
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    • Oi! Punk etc. All the same moniker really. Just a reaction to the shit that was happening in Britain at the time. I believe the same shit was happening in New York and Detroit at the same time. Oi! was born of the skinhead/suedehead movement, and was more racially motivated. The skinheads came directly from the old punks who were totally disillusioned with the commercial crap that the clash and the pistols etc were eventually comin out with. So its all punk really. Like the hippy thing in the 50's and 60's, punk was'nt and is'nt a fashion thing, its a way of life and thinking

    • August 12, 2010 3:09 AM CDT
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    • i think it was 'Clockwork orange' haha

    • August 12, 2010 2:29 AM CDT
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    • what movie was that? Andy Climax said:

      'A funny thing happened to me on the way to the forum', as the old movie title once said. This is a great wee place as we are all here not by accident but because of our love for all things punk, past and future. Facebook et al are worldwide platforms for the wonderful and the sad, this site i think is a wee bit more sublime than that. Theres no one-upmanship or point gaining, and yes i think we are all a bit 'Anorak', but only because we have a real passion for this kinda thing, to the extent that it transcends the music and art and then becomes a lifestyle choice. 'Art for Arts Sake' as one shitty Brittish band once lauded. Like the Muppets, we welcome all people here coz we know you live and love the same air we do. Zoe yer an absolute star. As King Jello Biafra once said, 'Keep it real, and be prepared!!!

    • August 12, 2010 5:36 PM CDT
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    • Here's an interesting new fuzz.

    • August 12, 2010 5:24 PM CDT
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    • A dull movie about a self obsorbed and uninteresting person.

      What Joe Strummer film are you talking about?

    • August 12, 2010 7:41 AM CDT
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    • Hi Peter,

      glad to hear that, even if some fans out there now are unhappy ;-)! Have fun with all the nostaglia!

      @ Mike: Well said! It felt like that to me.

      Cheers, Doc

    • August 11, 2010 10:12 PM CDT
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    • Yeah they can be hard to find in stores. If anybody is interested, you can get them here: http://www.deltamedia.com/pg_blank_audio_cassettes_new.html?id=vc448Hcz You can get different colors and whatever time you want, really cheap too. No this isn't an ad! Rockin Rod Strychnine said:

      Unless I want to record over old cassettes, I can't even find tapes to record onto. The last two I have were bought three years ago and I'm using them for demos when I finally get around to it.

    • August 11, 2010 10:08 PM CDT
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    • Unless I want to record over old cassettes, I can't even find tapes to record onto. The last two I have were bought three years ago and I'm using them for demos when I finally get around to it.

    • August 11, 2010 7:49 PM CDT
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    • So it's basically a podcast then. Cool. Alex said:

      Obviously not literal mixtapes. MP3 mixes. He's taken mixtapes into the 21st century. Anyway, any punk that doesn't know about his "Lux and Ivy's Favorites" series is really missing out. Go get all 14 volumes.

      TeenFink said:
      how does one 'download' a cassette tape?

      Alex said:
      You should start by downloading anything by Kogar the Swinging Ape. He makes a ton of great tapes. Best known are the Lux & Ivy's Favorites series.