Life Is Beautiful

One of the most interesting things about this early Southern California punk comp is that extremely strange (even for him) Pettibon cover depicting some burnt out hippy couple getting ready for a Jonestown styled Kool-Aid and LSD-lased sugar cube and watermelon party. The addition of a particularly moronic Jim Morrison quote drives the point home that hippies were, as a whole, out of touch assholes that deserve the derision and scorn form punkers everywhere. The bands include some better known acts like The Germs, MIA, The Bags, and The Minutemen, and some that have been obscured by history such as B People, China White, Ill Will and Zurich 1916. Life is beautiful, and so is this record. Groovy.

Here

Cracks

Cracks In The Sidewalk was an early New Alliance Records compilation released as a 12" EP in 1980. I guess the idea was to have the punker stuff on side A and the more artsy stuff on side B.

The tracklist:

1. Minutemen - 9:30 May 2

2. Black Flag - Clocked In

3. Saccharine Trust - Hearts & Barbarians

4. Kindled Imagination - Cowboy & Indian Scene

5. Artless Entanglements - How's The Blood Taste pt.2

6. Sharp Corners - Me Too

Here

The Blasting Concept

Man, I have really been enjoying Donut Duck's great blog of all things SST Records, so in tribute, I bring you SST's 1983 mission statement of a compilation, The Blasting Concept. This was my introduction to Saccharine Trust, The Minutemen, and Hüsker Dü, all of which blasted my teenage mind right out my fucking earholes. The concept wasn't wasted on me. Oh the onrush of memories brought on by simply hearing these songs in this particular order. Perfect. The tracklist.

Minutemen - Paranoid Chant

Minutemen - The Maze

Minutemen - Boiling

Minutemen - Games

Meat Puppets - Tumblin' Tumbleweeds

Meat Puppets - Meat Puppets

Saccharine Trust - A Human Certainty

Black Flag - Nervous Breakdown

Black Flag - Jealous Again

Black Flag - I've Heard It Before

Overkill - Hell's Getting Hotter

Stains - Get Revenge

Würm - I'm Dead

Hüsker Dü - Real World

Blast Off!