BEN'S BEST OF 2005
Hey again from the Terminal Boredom art fag
department. I’m not a writer, I told you all about it
last year…in fact, I don’t even write on the board all
that much. I don’t think I’m too eloquent with my
writing, so I pretty much keep quiet. But what the
hell, it’s that time once again, and sometimes it’s
fun to play act…here goes nothing, again…
TOP TEN 7”s…
-Carbonas “Blackout” 7” – Let me start by saying that
this is, in my opinion, the best 7 inch record to come
out in 2005. I saw these guys for the 2nd time at
Corner Bar in Kalamazoo, MI and bought this record on
sight. When I got home, it spent literally 2 weeks on
my turntable. Months later and I’m still playing it
almost once a day (today I listened to the A side 3
times). “Blackout” is the winner. A bouncy little
saccharine punk rock gem, every bit as good as
anything by greats like the Zeros (who have the song
after “Blackout” on a mix tape I recently made of my
favorite songs). “Inside Out” sounds like the Clorox
Girls if the Clorox Girls were perfect. “Nostalgia
Buff” isn’t as good as the other two songs, and it’s
still fantastic. I also really like the cover artwork
a lot...Best sleeve of 05?
-The Original Three “New Orleans Born” 7” – I saw OG3
and Die Rotzz in Kalamazoo shortly after the Katrina
disaster displaced them. They had 2 singles for sale,
and I only had cash for one single by each band. So I
eeny meeny miney moe-ed this one. “Unplug” plods
along at a medium pace and sounds like a long
forgotten Killed by Death song. “Been There” is the
winner. It plays through my head when I’m drunk. “I
put the crack in the Liberty Bell”. It’s got that
weird dark vibe. That haunting, tired, and reckless
whiskey swagger. The Black Lips have it, so does
“Exile On Main Street”.
-The Functional Blackouts “Raw Dawg, Raw Deal” 7”
– “Raw Dawg…” is one of my favorite songs the Blackouts
play live, so it’s great to finally hear it on a
record. It’s loud, raw, and obnoxious, just like the
band is live. This record captures them better than
anything they’ve put out thus far. “In My Vacuum”
sounds like the Blackouts as filtered through the
Spits’ Halloween 7”. “Chemical Bath” is what they
closed their set with the first time I saw them when
they opened for the Weirdos along with the Black Lips.
They trashed their equipment and kept playing. The
song was longer and weirder than the whole rest of
their set and it was awesome. I thought that it was
great live, but wouldn’t come across well on a record.
I was wrong. Parts of it have a weird, almost Geza X
quality. It’s defiantly as damaged and as good as the
best Human Eye has to offer.
-Jeffrey Novak One Man Band “Fire In The Hole” 7”
– Recorded live with no overdubs, and it’s stuff most
bands with multiple members can’t pull off in a studio
with overdubs. That shit takes a bucket of talent,
and guts to match. I’ve never ever seen a bad one man
band, and Jeff Novak is one of the best on that list.
“Static Nightmare” is reatarded and makes my ears
bleed in a good way. It reminded me of the filling I
had to get at the dentist last week, but enjoyable.
“Fayette County Blues” is a near perfect blues rocker.
“Fire In The Hole” is a 50’s-come-Oblivians exercise
in awesome-ness.
-Dutch Masters “Radioactive” 7” – To me, this sounds
like a band doing a really good cover of a 70’s song
for some reason. Or maybe it’s more like the Testors
with a bit of Stooges and some hard rock thrown in. I
dunno, and if I think too hard, it hurts my brain.
It’s good…Of course it’s good, I’ve gone on record as
saying that an Oblivian can do no wrong. “Pleasure" is
standard KBD-style fare with an unholy wad of
catchyness rammed up it’s ass. “It’s Not Obvious”
sounds like the Oblivians in parts, not that’s a
crime. Though CCR did sue John Fogerty for sounding
like himself. Weird world we live in.
-The Black Lips’ Slovenly 7”s – I dunno anyone who
didn’t buy these both together, so I’m counting them
as one 7” because I can. I’ve already mentioned these
guys in a couple reviews above…needless to say; they
are one of my most favorite bands. “In & Out” is the
least 60’s song on here, and it’s pretty fucking 60’s
sounding. A little more punk than the other 3 songs.
“Stuck In My Mind” is my favorite of the 4 songs.
It’s straight up 1966-style garbage with some
ultra-snotty vocals. Better than pretty much
everything they’ve done, and that’s saying a fucking
lot! “Does She Want” sounds exactly like their first
album (duh, it’s culled from the same recording
sessions), and is nothing new…but it’s still great. I
like the “aah ah ah-a-ahhh’s” lifted from “Steppin’
Stone”.
-Evolutions/Fatals split 7” – Great trash you’ve come
to expect from both of these bands. This and the
Hospitals are what I put on when I REALLY wanna clear
the room at a party or piss off my girlfriend. I
fucking love it.
-The Horribly Wrong “Bleeding For You” 7” – I knew
little of these guys when I bought this from my
friend, Kurt (Useless Eater for you interweb Goner
board folks). “Aiming For You” sounds like 90’s
Lookout! Records stuff filtered through the Shattered
Records roster. “Do The Move” sounds like early Rip
Off Records stuff put through the same filter. “2nd
P.A.” is like 12 seconds long, but no less great. The
Chorus to “Blood Up To My Waist” oddly similar to
“Simply Having A Wonderful Christmas Time”, or
whatever that song’s called. “Living Nightmare” is
the longest, least catchy song on the 7”, and it’s
short and totally catchy. This band is almost Spits
catchy (almost), but sadly, Horribly Wrong is no more.
Let’s all tip out 40s in tribute.
-Catholic Boys “Hurt To Hate” 7” – Best Catholic Boys
release yet! Best Bancroft release yet! “Temper
Tantrum” is the clear winner here. More herky jerky
Midwest madness. “Frigid 5” is where the Jay and
Alicja production shows up most prominently, to spazzy
fun results. I really like the 3d-looking sleeve.
-Reatards “Plastic Surgery” 7” – It’s the fucking
Reatards. They’re fucking back and I’m fucking stoked!
Fuck! “Plastic Surgery” rules the a side, and is the
most akin to older Reatards releases. “PS” and “Just
Too Much” seem a little Final Solutions-damaged, but
I’m not complaining. “Human Race” is simple and a
little Blank-It’s-ish, but it’s better than the
Blank-It’s. “Left For Dead” is the king of the
bee-side…A raked-out southern trash blast that sounds
like it came from the lab-o-Louie. This could so
totally be a Kajun SS song.
FULL LENGTHS...
I didn’t buy a lot of new full lengths in 2005. I
mean I bought a lot of LP’s, but not too many 2005
LP’s, ya dig? In June, I found out that my favorite
record store (and closest at just an hour drive away)
was going out of business…so needless to say, I got an
ass-ton of records, but most of it was playing catch
up with great old stuff I still didn’t have on vinyl,
like the Electric Eels and Thee Headcoats and Shangri
Las. Not much new stuff. Music Express, R.I.P. Some
new records I did really enjoy in 2005 were “Chinese
Crawfish” by King Louie One Man Band, BBQ’s second LP,
The Krunchies, Human Eye (though I’d had a bootleg in
2004), A-Lines, Aluminum Knot Eye, and the Hot
Pockets.
BIGGEST DISAPPOINTMENT OF 2005...
Demon’s Claws. I didn’t think they were too bad live,
but boy does this slab stink!
BEST LIVE SHOWS...
Blacksnake and BBQ/Black Lips/River City Tanlines at
Kraftbrau Brewery in Kalamazoo, MI. What a fucking
killer time, I don’t remember much of it. Oh, and the
Blackout was pretty good, save for the Fevers and
Blank It’s. Human Eye/Terrible Twos/RedRedRed/Tyrades
at Holy Shit Fest in Detroit was pretty tits too.
Records I’m most looking forward to...
Last year I mentioned Throbbin’ Urges, and now they
got one out with Glorified Trash. It’s fucking
fantastic trashy angry punk rock, and I suggest you
find a copy. I’d like Metal Teeth and X-Offender,
both of Kalamazoo, to make records this year. Hell, I’d
like ‘em to make records this week.
Well, there you have it. The opinion on some records
you probably already have by a guy you don’t know.
Until next year...
~Ben, Resident Art Fag.
Contact:
hotbeefinjectionrocks-at-yahoo-dot-com
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