Young, Loud And Snotty

Fellow Cleveland types Pere Ubu may have won the artistic kudos for their adventurous, surprising work, but if the goal was just to rock and rock again, then Dead Boys had them totally trumped. Growing up in the Cleveland area, in Catholic schools, Dead Boys were typical punks, rebellious, disgruntled, and looking for a fight. As both title phrase and capsule description, Young, Loud & Snotty accurately defines the predominating aesthetic so well that one could just leave it at that, but there's a lot more going on here than on the face of it.

Originally named "Frankenstein", the Dead Boys were kicked out of their home town venue after playing and at the bequest of Joey Ramone, moved to New York City to join in a "scene" which they knew very little about. 1977 was the ultimate year for punk rock. Before the leather jacket, spiky haired uniforms, before "New Wave" became a recognized genre of music. 1977 was also the greatest year for any punk on the scene... And, sadly enough, many excellent records by great bands got lost or unrecognised in the greater scheme of things.
Needless to say, Dead Boys fitted right in with the rest of the bands that played at C.B.G.B.'s or Max's Kansas City. Fed up with the wimpy crap that was popular rock at that time, they, with the Ramones and many other bands, got up on stage with a mission to piss off and annoy. Eventually, they got the recognition they so deserved and thusly, this album was born. With perhaps surprisingly great production from demi-famous '70s rocket Genya Ravan, the five-some found something sonically smack in-between the US garage/punk heritage of the past and the more modern thrashings from overseas.

Stiv Bators sneers, gobs, gasps and whines with the best of them, but he knows his rock history, as do his band mates. Cheeta Chromee (Lead guitar), Jimmy Zero (Rhythm guitar), Jeff Magnum (Bass), and Johnny Blitz (Drums) are all excellent rock n' roll musicians, Stiv Bators is the star of the show. Mixing Iggy Pop type whoops with his own unique style, Stiv was probably one of the greatest live performers in the history of the genre. In fact, Iggy himself said that Stiv was the second best vocalist, next to Jim Morrison.
Stone cold rock classic "Sonic Reducer" starts things off (amusingly) with all sorts of phased drums and other fripperies that later generations wouldn't consider punk at all. That said, it's still blunt, brilliantly sung by Stiv and kicks out the jams with messy energy. Other all-time greats include the perfect bored-and-needing-kicks anthem "Ain't Nothin' to Do" and the thoroughly wrong "Caught With the Meat In Your Mouth." There's even a rock oldie -- a cover of "Hey Little Girl" live onstage at spiritual home CBGB's. And why not? With great punk rock and great rock, Young, Loud and Snotty perfectly describes the sound and essence of this record.