Punk Was So Much Better In The 90's, er 80's

Squarehead - Squarehead (Self-Released, 1992/1993)

I got this album released. You're welcome!

So on a messageboard I frequent, someone posted an album on YouTube by a band called Squarehead. Apparently they had been looking for a different band with the same name and stumbled upon this iteration.

This Squarehead turned out to be a kindred spirit of bands like Leatherface, China Drum, Hooton 3 Car, etc. A few of us pop punk lovers on said board were obviously intrigued, and bewildered how we had never heard of them before. We then embarked on a mad internet dash to learn more about this mystery band.

Google turned up nothing. Faithful ol' Discogs turned up...20 bands with the same name. But I finally happened upon the right one, whose only entry was a cassette tape that made up the final 4 songs of the album on YouTube. Where did the other 4 songs come from (especially the first one)? Why isn't this on CD or vinyl or Soulseek???

Well, I then shared the YouTube find with the appropriate demographic, a music group dedicated to all things Leatherface. Surely they must know something.

Lo and behold, one of the members of Squarehead was either a fellow member or alerted to my post and gave us a little history on the band:

Some info on Squarehead… Based in and around Swindon we were going for a couple of years from '92 to 94. Line up was Dave Ganner - Vocals/Guitar, Fred - Drums, Nick Osman - Bass and myself on Guitar and occasional shouting. The album on youtube is the 2 demos we recorded in 92 and 93 . We didn't do a lot really, played about 30 gigs.. good uns with Rancid, Leatherface, and Guns n Wankers and some shit uns. Dave went on to play with Strain who were excellent and Fred is half of the brilliant 2 Sick Monkeys. I'll sort out a free download thingy for anyone who wants it. Thanks for all the nice words, I'm chuffed to fucking bits!

And as he promised, he shared the album on Bandcamp. Check out the first song and you Leatherface fans will be saying, "Come to papa!"

This entire tale also happened over the course of 4 days. My most satisfying Bandcamp experience since finding the Hunger Farm stuff.

6/24/2019: So the album is gone from Bandcamp for some reason. But here are the mp3s:

Squarehead - Squarehead (vbr 0)

The Faction - Discography Part 3

Yep, I've been away again. Obviously working on my Photoshop skills. Okay, MS Paint. But just like MS Paint, they can't keep me down! No matter how hard they try! ("They" being TV, beer and general slackitude.)

So, The Faction. Probably the most perfect Skate Rock band ever. When I think of skating in the 80's, this is the band I immediately associate it with. I was never a vert skater, but I did hang out at a ramp near my house where they would often listen to "No Hidden Messages." They provided the opening song to one of the first skate videos I ever watched, the first Powell Peralta video. And of course they featured Steve Caballero, who wasn't just some skater in a band; he was one of the best skaters in the world.

I don't think they quite get the recognition they deserve outside of the old guy skate community. Their early stuff fits right alongside the best SoCal bands like the Adolescents, Agent Orange and TSOL, but they developed an even harder edge that never went into metal territory. Maybe their lyrics were a little sillier, but they were still relatable.

Their original 80's output has been "collected" over the years, at first haphazardly on 2 CDs, and then re-released on vinyl recently on Beer City Records. But there's still a bunch missing. The Faction reunited a few times over the years and recorded a few demos. In the late 80's Jeff Kendall joined on 2nd guitar and they recorded at least 4 songs, a few featured in a skate video.

They broke up again, but reformed in the early 2000's and recorded a few more songs that I've collected here. I saw their reunion show in 2004 in San Jose and I seem to remember them selling a CDr with 4 new songs, but I held off because it was a CDr and I thought it would get a proper release eventually. I might be making that up. I think that the only post 2000 song I'm missing is "Who The Hell Do You Think You Are?" which:

1) Is a cover song from a fake band from the movie "Punk Rock Logo."
2) Was in a Thrasher video, but
3) Was never formally released.

Steve Caballero posted some artwork a few years ago that I thought was going to be part of a full Faction discography including everything they recorded and the live stuff from CBGB's at least. Perhaps I'm making that up as well. Oh well. For now, here are 6 more songs that are pretty much in the vein of their old stuff.

Va - A Reason For Living (Santa Cruz, 1990)
   01) Looking For You (transcode I cleaned up from mp3)
Va - Steve Caballero - Bandology Vol. 1 (Sessions, 2002) / Thrasher Skate Rock Vol. 10 - Parental Advisory Explicit Sk8rok (Thrasher, 1991)
   02) Accelerate
Va - Vans Off The Wall Volume V (Vans, 2002)
   03) Cut It Out
Va - Snoisses: The Skateboarder Sessions (Sessions, 2003)
   04) The Whister
Va - How's My Driving?? Volume 2 (SuperSpeedway Music, 2004)
   05) Aisle Seat
Va - All In! - A Tribute To Jfa (DC Jam, 2013)
   06) Out Of School (JFA)

The Faction - Discography Part 3 (vbr 0)

Ewok Together

Care of Justin Gray @Burntobuild on Twitter.

I Heard It Round And Round The Grapevine

One post a year. Not bad eh? Sorry for my abscess absence. I've been working on my New Year's resolution of playing more Mario Bros 1-3 and developing a marijuana habit. Somehow I'm still too lazy to become a stoner.

I promise some new uploads soon. In the meantime, feast your ears on one of the best mash-ups I've heard in a long time. Or maybe it's just my love of all things Ratt.