Layin' Up With Ledney

I'll be perfectly honest, I'm not a huge fan of GG's country stuff. It's not the production values or the fact that it's acoustic or anything that sadly specific; it's just... fucking... country. I'd rather it was goddamn folk like the shit Charlie Manson churns out on a regular basis (mental note... upcoming post...) Regardless, compared to most of the godawful shit out there today GG's outlaw C&W is still perfectly listenable and his lyrics easily transcend the genre he's slumming around in. Which brings me to his postumous 1993 single with the Carolina Shitkickers. Basically a one-off recording session (truthfully yet slyly advertized as his final original recorded work) with ANTiSEEN, GG does what he does with an arguably tired panache that was (to me) quickly becoming stale even back then. "Layin' Up With Linda" is the selling point - a black-humored ditty about a female who was around just a little too long. "I Wanna Fuck The Shit Out Of You" is a forgettable take on some David Allen Coe tripe. And the B-side is a passable (thanks to the breakdown in the chorus) acoustic "Outlaw Scumfuc" recorded the previous year. Interestingly, however, this 7" was released on 'Genocide fave TPOS Records and producer/bassist Malcolm Tent had plans to record a hardcore E.P. with the scumfuc upon his release from prison. Sadly "GG lost interest and then died" according to Malcolm. Pity too since Tent's band recorded the music and all the guy had to do was phone in a vocal track - it would be interesting to know if Allin had any finalized lyrics (they had song titles so who possibly?) Oh well, one can only guess. So Malcolm did what any record label with too much spare time would do and compiled all the stuff they recorded onto a limited 8-track with the original 7". The tunes would have really been a nice addition to the GG archives had they ever been completed - very Suicide Sessions feel to them. In a last coincidental note, drumming was performed by Connecticut black metal icon Paul Ledney of Profanatica and Havohej fame - his signature double bass is a dead giveaway. No pun intended. Tracks are from the original digital source so no vinyl skips or 8-track imperfections here. Check out some pics of the cassette here. Enjoy.

P.S. I just found out (June 2015!) that the name of the band was intended to be GG & The Connecticut Cocksuckers, 'natch.

I Eat Your Flesh

Allin Anecdotes

The one or two people who read this blog may remember my mention of legendary Connecticut record label TPOS and their affable owner Malcolm Tent. One of the few underground punk New Englandahs back in the 80's that willingly distributed GG Allin's über-rare shit, Malcolm got together with Swedish Scum Records in 2000 to document his dealings with GG and fellow punk poet Brian Douglas Clemons. For those who don't know, Malcolm was the gutsy soul who filmed the infamous 20$ Poem video featuring a young GG beating the shit out of Brian in the freezing upstate snow while the young scribe recites his strangely beatnik nihilism. The blood, urine and spit flow freely yet the drunken arm-in-arm hanging-out afterward session is the real hoot. Malcolm humorously reminisces about filming the whole thing from a safe distance and letting the "artists" drive the boat. He also shares some commentary on GG's stomp up to TPOS's hometown of Danbury, CT a year later as well as his take on Allin's cancelled 1991 NYU spoken word gig. Finally, there's a couple bootlegged (?) bonus tunes: "Dead Flowers" from the live Inside Outside 7" and "Layin' Up With Linda" from the TPOS 7" of the same name. For what it's worth there's a (defunct?) webpage from the Swedish Scum record label which has a few extra interviews and some links to similar material - enjoy the search...

Destroy All Mediocrity

 
Currently watching: Sharktopus

Currently listening to: Jedi Mind Tricks Violent By Design

Danbury, CT DIY

TPOS Records was started in 1984 by Floridian punkers Malcolm Tent and his buddy Santo in order to release their band, Broken Talent's first 7" (the name is an anagram for The Piece Of Shit - a self-published zine by the duo). The label eventually relocated to Connecticut and continues to this day to shine as a true diamond in the DIY music scene. For its 100th release in 1994, TPOS put together a giant tome entitled Destroy All Mediocrity which included a 12", 10", 7", cassette, zine, little poetry book and other assorted odds and ends. The Mop Tape is that cassette, a collection of tracks that never seemed to find the light of day. Per Malcolm's liner notes:

THE TALES BEHIND THE MUSIC:

"Cockroaches" is from the LETHAL YELLOW 7" that was originally slated for release as TPOS 009. The YELLOWS backed out, deciding to release the record on their own, short lived label.

"Hallowe'en" is the unmixed, unedited version that we toyed with as fodder for a 12" single.

"I Wanna Be Your Dog" probably would have been on TPOS 037, had any of the bands gotten around to submitting tracks. (UNYN became ONION, by the way.)

"Calf...Yeah" may or may not be on the Thom Mystery project someday.

"Dream" probably would have been on TPOS 051 had I not lost interest in the whole thing.

"Pulse" was originally going to be the A-side to TPOS 070.5, but the boys made a last minute decision to use "Vampires" instead.

This tape was originally going to be 60 minutes long. Maybe for TPOS 200 I'll include the mop material from The Mop Tape. Meanwhile, I hope you enjoy this really good stuff that fell out of the bucket.

There ya go, some great music from some great bands, every track oozes its own style and charm. The label is still around, so some of these tunes may have found themselves onto other releases - check 'em out and support independent!

Dream