THE STRANGER STEALS - Demo - Tape - 2000

   I don't really know too much about this Little Rock band of train hoppers and hard rockers, but I do know that they're great. I used to wake up and blast their song "Insectiuroid Inspector" in the morning while cooking breakfast. It's actually possible that I was rocking the very tape that this was ripped from, since my memories are from the time Erick lived with me in Chattanooga (it's his tape). Speaking of Erick, here is what he has to say about THE STRANGER STEALS...

   "Holy shit! Alan Disaster (CHAOS L.R.), Louisa (FOXY EMMA) Lloyd and Jeremy join up with Little Rock's wildest frontman, Victor Wiley for this shreddin' rock.Victor was in countless Little Rock bands, most notably UPTOWN PROPHETS OF THE ARMAGEDDON and sadly died way too fuckin' young of a heart condition in 2007. I saw them with JACK PALANCE BAND at the Dustbin in Portland and it blew all of our minds. We had glitter stuck on everything for weeks too."

   My friend and breathtaking comic book artist, Nate Powell put out a CD of the band in 2001 which may or may not be available (my suspicion is the latter) from his now-defunct record label, Harlan Records. Turn this up and let their fucking huge guitar riffs melt your mind.

Download THE STRANGER STEALS

This tape is from the collection of Erick Lyle.

You can find a very touching write-up about Victor right here.

R.I.P.

CHAOS L.R. - "Vacation Urination" - Tape - 1998

   CHAOS L.R. started, fittingly, in Little Rock, AR in the mid-90's. Their singer was a very tall, mean-looking, drunken beast named Mitchell. At least, that was my first impression of him, but after getting to know him, I found out he was a very tender, well-read, Merle Haggard-loving gentleman who is diligent about calling his mom whenever he gets a chance. For the sake of this though, let's imagine that he is a wild-ass who can't get through a song without shitting his pants...he sure sounds like it.
   I believe this is the band's second demo; the first one being put out a couple of years earlier and you can hear a few of those songs on "Technical Difficulties From Day One." By the time of this demo, their guitarist, Matt Limo had moved across the country to Portland and their drummer, Iggy Scam was living in San Francisco, so they decided to hang out on the West Coast, record these songs and do a tour. Mitchell, I believe, was already on the west coast, but they didn't have a bass player at the time. They enlisted their friend, Alan Disaster to play bass. Unfortunately, he was in Little Rock. Undeterred, Alan picked up his bass off of his (presumably) piss-soaked mattress, walked out the door and hitch-hiked all the way to SF to meet up with the band for tour.

Photo by Anandi

   This tape was recorded by Jeff Jank (aka Capt Funkaho) at the M&A Laundromat at 54th and MLK in Oakland, when a few punks were actually living inside the laundromat. It starts off with "Orange Jumpsuit", one of my personal favorites, which didn't make it onto their later 7" EP. It's followed by the now-classic "Self-Respect is Priceless (But Schlitz is Cheap)", a punk ode to lost love and getting wasted. "We're Not Here To Buy, We're Here To Die" has one of my favorite song concepts ever: It's about some people going to test drive a car, so that they can commit suicide in it..."Checkin' out the classifieds, Lookin' for our final ride..Need a car that you can die in, lookin' for a car for a coffin! We're not here to buy, we're here to diiieeee!" All 8 songs on this tape are great. Mitchell's voice is total gravel-gargling, but in that good, punk way that makes you want to smash your face through a window while screaming along to the songs. Matt's guitar is rough and fucked. Iggy and Alan are holding it down the rhythm section. It's fuckin' good. Just download it.

Really, download it here.

   Iggy and Mitchell went on to form YE OLDE BUTTFUCK out of the ashes of this band, who are nothing short of amazing. If you ever see their records anywhere (two different EP's), don't hesitate to pick them up. Matt, I believe, became a pilot? Someone back me up on this one. Alan, much to everyone's surprise, became an actor and has appeared in some semi-major motion pictures, as well as continuing to play in bands in Little Rock...I can't remember which movie he was in, but I'm sure someone out there in the internet world can let us know. Erick Lyle gave me this info years ago. I would just look it up on IMDB, but I really don't think his acting name is "Alan Disaster".

This tape is from the mixed up files of Anandi Wonder. Thanks to her and Erick for info.There is more info about them in back issues of SCAM zine.

TECHNICAL DIFFICULTIES FROM DAY ONE - Tape - 1997

   Iggy Scam put out this tape in 1997 and it brought to life a ton of bands that I had only read about (mostly in SCAM, the zine) or heard about by word of mouth. It was a revelation to hear real, live songs by bands with names like DARVIS BROWN AND THE SMOKE ASSES, VANBUILDERASS, LES TURDZ, and KREAMY LECTRIC SANTA. It was more than that. It was fucking exciting and it changed my life. It helped to open up my life to a whole world of complete and utter badasses who mostly have remained that way through the years. This is where I first heard "Revolution Sound" by THE STUN GUNS, where I first heard THE DRILLER KILLERS (who inspired me to make my own shirt with a Sharpie), where I was introduced to the genius of "Can't Take It Away" by THE MORONS and so, so much more. "Stupid Fresh" by KLS still sends chills down my spine every time I hear it. This is also where I first heard THE FUNYONS, a band powered mostly by one man named Steve who plays his simple-yet-insanely-catchy songs only on the streets, which I've always respected immensely. You may also know Steve as the principal songwriter behind ONION FLAVORED RINGS, who have been also churning out quality pop-punk for 10 years, even though they have slowed down in recent years. The cool thing is that Steve still plays FUNYONS songs unannounced on the streets of San Francisco all the time.
   This tape proclaimed "30 bands! 51 songs from The Region!" and that term (the region) has stuck around for all these years and has evolved into "region rock". But what the fuck is "region rock" and why should you care? I can't answer the latter, but I can tell you that the term "The Region" was coined by Cinque Adams. It  is loosely defined as an area in the southeastern US that is shaped like a triangle with points in Dogtown, AR, Tom Foote;s house in Chattanooga, TN and the ruins of an old hotel called "The Mutiny" in Coconut Grove in Miami. Bands from The Region mostly shared (and continue to share) ideologies, band members and much more. I don't want to define it too much because it's not mine to define. It's ever-shifting and belongs to the punks of the southeast. Don't think about it too much. Just close your mind.
   The songs were compiled by Iggy using (I'm sure) the cheapest of equipment and the barest of essentials. The same could be said for many of the bands recording their songs. The music was dubbed onto tapes stolen from chain stores and distributed through the US by touring bands, traveling kids, punk post, and a couple of small distributors. I remember getting 10 of these in the mail from Iggy and they were all snatched up by the punks in my town within a couple of hours. I don't even have a copy of this anymore.

   I did a sequel to this comp three years later, which you can find right here. This comp was originally posted on Region Rock and More, (so you can ask him why all the songs are weirdly numbered and out of order) but is no longer available there since Megaupload was shut down by the feds. I wanted to keep it around and easy to access, in case people want to hear it. It's an important document in the history of southeastern punk rock. This is for Forrest Haye, Andrew Ross Powell, Chris Cottie, Brian Turd, Victor Wiley, Mike O'Brien and any other winners we've lost along the way.

DOWNLOAD///Updated July 2013

 





MAGIC CROPDUSTERS - Demo and "Trust Fund Babies" - Tape - 1995

   My only real knowledge of this band came from the 90's tape compilation "Technical Difficulties From Day One", which featured their awesome song "Sarah and her Stuck Up Friends". I loved its lo-fi indie rock charm and the loose, open jangly feel of that song. Besides that info, I am at a loss.
    My friend, Erick put out the aforementioned comp, briefly lived in the same town as this band and loaned this tape to me for digitization, so here is what he had to say about it: "David Jukes was and is a legendary figure in Little Rock indie music. Word was that he was in a new wave band that had made MTV in the 80's. Here, he is joined by Little Rock's MTV band of the 90's, HO-HUM for demos of his sweet, understated, idiosyncratic, personal and catchy-as-hell songs. MAGIC CROPDUSTERS went on to make a couple of slicker, but still upbeat and catchy indie-rock CD's a'la PAVEMENT in the early 00's, but I'll always love this best."

MAGIC CROPDUSTERS

FUCK THE CURSE - Compilation Tape - 2000

   FUCK THE CURSE is a compilation tape I put out in 2000 that served as a follow-up to Iggy Scam's "Technical Difficulties From Day One" tape from 1997. Both tapes chronicle punk bands that reside in a loosely defined part of the Southeastern US commonly known as "The Region". A lot of these bands shared members, tour vans, houses, romantic partners, diseases, and more. I'm happy to say that I put out this tape 11 years ago and I am still good friends with a large amount of the people who played (or still do play) in these bands.
   Most of these songs were not featured on any records and were never on anything else besides this tape. They were recorded in houses, storefronts, warehouses and in some cases, a real studio. The recording quality is all over the place, but that's punk, right?
  The title comes from a JARVIS practice tape where they were talking about how all our friends' bands could not afford to get decent recordings. It just seemed like we were all cursed to have these fucked up recordings and toil in obscurity for the rest of our lives, which is fine.
  That's all....you can read the inserts (included in the download) for more information. Here's all the bands and songs on here...

DOWNLOAD. Updated Aug 2013

TEM EYOS KI - 7" - 2000

    I went to a show in Asheville in 1999, not knowing that the bands playing would destroy my mind forever. The bands were SUBMISSION HOLD, ANTI-PRODUCT, THEUSAISAMONSTER, MARGARET MOTHER OF THIEVES and the unfuckwithable TEM EYOS KI. It was kind of a dream show and sometimes I even believe it was too good to be true that all of these bands would converge on this one slimy basement  with a creek running through it all on the same night....but I have the poster to prove it and I'm sure someone somewhere has the pictures.
   For me, TEM EYOS KI destroyed the show and every band after them (which was every band besides MMOT) did their best to top them, but just couldn't do it. TEM EYOS KI had raw power, beauty and so much fucking energy. Their songs sped from raging thrash/metal to utterly triumphant, soaring melodies that get stuck in your head for years.
  Unfortunately, their full LP's power didn't match that of the live show. Their 7"s and their tour CDR got really, really close (by the way, if you have a copy of that, CDR please, please send it to me). Maybe it was economics. Maybe it was the mastering process. Maybe it was a bad day, but I really wish that LP was better.
  This 7" contains my favorite song by them, "Aluminalkalyde" and 3 others that show the range of this band and hints at the utter bonkers-ness of their live show. My friend, Nate Powell, has a VHS tape of them playing at a gazebo in Little Rock that is amazing. I lived with him for a month and seriously watched parts of it almost daily and I'm not really the kind of person who likes to sit around and watch live videos of bands.   Here is one clip from the world wide web:

Play this loud and please go start a band that is just as good or better.

                            Photo by Natalja Kent.
                           Download Tem Eyos Ki 7"