Slammin' Watusis - ST (Epic, 1988)

This band is something of an enigma. I've never really heard anyone else talk about them. And despite living close to their hometown of Chicago, I don't remember them playing Milwaukee. But I was a little clueless about a lot of shows back then.

I discovered the Slammin' Watusis through Thrasher magazine. I think they offered one of their albums free with a subscription. But there was also some other strange Thrasher contest that either involved a Slammin' Watusis deck, a live appearance or meeting the band. I'm a little fuzzy on the details.

Besides their song "Skt, Skt, Skt," I'm not really sure how they fit in with "skate rock," but the term/genre had expanded considerably in the late 80's to include bands like Odd Man Out and the Tar Babies. Basically, if it was played in a skate video, it was skate rock. I'm not sure if the Watusis had a hardcore background like the aforementioned bands though. They had a punk element, and sentiment, as displayed on the opening track "Won't Sell Out." But they had a very blues rock influenced sound, complete with harmonica and saxophone accompaniment. Imagine a mix of Strawberries era Damned and maybe a little Faster Pussycat. Although you'd never hear a Sunset Strip band espousing safe sex (perhaps a little awkwardly) on a song like "Some Sex":

You can reduce your risk of AIDS

If you limit the number of sexual partners

Some sex is possibly safe

Some sex is safe

Not exactly groupie fodder.

But they were an interesting band and it's been fun revisiting their albums. There's a really great song on their 2nd album called "Everytown" that I'm glad to have back in the rotation.

Slammin' Watusis - Slammin' Watusis (R) (vbr 0)

Check Out: Control

Here's a cool new band from the UK that I just heard about. I was initially interested because I read a description of Sugar/Husker Du/Dag Nasty type guitars. There's that, but I also hear some 90's radio alternative in there. I'm reminded of the Goo Goo Dolls, the Gin Blossoms, that Sponge song, "Plowed" and the 3 Doors Down song, "Kryptonite" when listening to this ep. I apologize to the band if those are horrible comparisons and I hope that doesn't scare anyone off from giving this band a listen.

For a first ep, this is incredibly slick, professional and catchy. Apparently they have a demo as well that I'd love to hear. 

All - Scott Reynolds B-Sides

Except for a handful of songs, I can't say (har) that I listen to much All anymore. Those handful are great, but they're scattered throughout their albums alongside a lot of mediocre or weird proggy stuff. And although All laid the groundwork for a lot of pop punk that came soon after, I think the new crop of bands focused on songwriting more than musicianship, producing catchier albums than their mentor. Some heavily influenced bands like Gameface, Alligator Gun or Big Drill Car released much more solid albums than anything All ever did, in my opinion.

Not to dismiss All. I still own almost all of their albums and b-sides. They were definitely an important band to a lot of people like me who grew up on the Descendents and/or early pop punk. Ex Descendents AND Dag Nasty? Sign me up!

But the All era that I always enjoyed most was when Scott Reynolds sang. Although I loved Smalley in Dag Nasty, at the time I didn't think he suited the more sugary pop songs. And Chad is a fine singer, but after Breaking Things, I lost interest. Allroy's Revenge and Percolator remain my favorite All albums and seem the most representative of the band. There are the classic songs like "She's My Ex," "Scary Sad" and "Dot," the more melancholy stuff like "Mary" and "Breathe" and of course the weird instrumentals.

Scott's voice and style seemed to match All's brand of quirkiness the best. He could scat, hit the high notes or just speak the words and it sounded cool. And he made covers like "Boy Named Sue" sound like his own. He went onto Goodbye Harry after All and then the Pavers, which is where he perfected his style, I think. The Pavers discography contains such a wide mix of styles, but everything is so catchy and interesting.

So here I've collected all the Scott b-sides that don't appear on their albums. The TonyALL album was Descendents alumnus/friend Tony Lombardo adding his songs and bass playing to the Scott lineup of All. I've only included the songs that Scott sang on (and that's really all you need). Their "Christine 16" cover is from the Kiss covers album, made rare by the appearance of a young Nirvana. And "Can't Say" is my favorite All song. I've remastered the songs a bit to get them at a similar volume.

Enjoy.

She's My Ex ep (1989)
   01) Crazy?
VA - Hard To Believe - A Kiss Covers Compilation (1990)
   02) Christine 16 (Kiss)
TonyALL - New Girl, Old Story (1991)
   03) Telltale Signs
   04) This Is Not A Dream
   05) Casual Girl
   06) New Girl, Old Story
   07) At The Party
Dot ep (1992)
   08) Boy Named Sue (Johnny Cash)
   09) Can't Say

All - Scott (R) (vbr 0)

On Vacation

Sorry for my absence, folks. I've been on vacation back in Wisconsin for the month. More tunes shortly.

Until then, enjoy my favorite Tongan Mormon family 80's band from Minnesota:

The Jets - Crush On You

The Stampeders - Wild Eyes

One time I was in a small town in Canada for work, listening to the classic rock station in the car, and this song came on. I couldn't believe that I'd never heard it before, but i think a Canadian friend also told me that Canadian radio stations were required to play a certain amount of Canadian artists in their programming. Probably explains why I also heard Saga's "Tonight We're On The Loose" a comical amount of times while being there as well. Not that I'm complaining, that's a jam too. Just funny to hear it piped over the speakers at some kind of production plant multiple times in a day, when it's criminally never played on US classic rock stations.

But anyway, The Stampeders. I guess they were a little overlooked in most of the world, even to the neighboring United States. Although they did have a big hit that some might remember, "Sweet City Woman." That song is nothing like this one though. "Wild Eyes" is a boogie rock stomper with some cool violin (?) accompaniment that sounds like a carryover from the disco days.

Reverse - Seven Inches

I first heard these guys from their split with the excellent Exit Condition. I was on a manic hunt for all the Exit Condition stuff at one point (and of course Boss Tuneage went and re-released everything) and wasn't really expecting "some other band on their split" to be that good, but they were. While Exit Condition were a little more on the melodic hardcore side, Reverse were poppier, sounding similar to bands like Mega City 4, China Drum, Hooton 3 Car and Senseless Things. And like those bands, they had a slightly bigger, slicker sound that was almost less like punk and more like straight up catchy rock.

I eventually tracked down all their 7"s, but I was stoked to find out that they were releasing a compilation of all their 7"s and demos. That release, called Glance Sideways - The Complete Reverse, is well worth your money, with 23 tracks that should have seen a wide release when they were recorded. As a fan of English melodic punk, that release was an unearthed treasure and I can still listen to the whole CD without getting bored or skipping tracks.

In 2011, SP Records out of Japan also released another CD from Reverse called Chasing Ghosts. I believe it was supposed to be released as an album in the 90's, but never saw the light of day. At 17 songs, it's also quite worth it. You can pick them both up via Interpunk in the U.S., or listen to tracks here on bandcamp.

So what I've put together here is their actual released output, only 4 7"s and a compilation track, taken from the Glance Sideways CD. The song "Clawfoot" is from the Snuffy Smiles compilation The Best Punk Rock In England, Son, which also featured bands like China Drum, Exit Condition, Pope (featuring Frankie Stubbs), Rugrat (ex Leatherface members), Guns N Wankers (ex Snuff) and Your Mum (ex Snuff). Quite a righteous compilation. Oddly, the Reverse song isn't available on either of the CDs I mentioned, so this (or the out of print compilation CD) is the only place you can get it. I've also included one other song from the Glance Sideways CD, "Jaded," because it's sooo good. My favorite song by them and one of their few (their only?) songs to feature some awesome Hammond keyboard a la Visions Of Change or Snuff.

Sample these songs and pick up the CDs if you don't have them.

Exit Condition split 7" (Vitamin Z, 1993)

   01) Not That Bad

   02) Bird Of Prey

VA - The Best Punk Rock In England, Son (Snuffy Smiles, 1994)

   03) Clawfoot

Stem The Slide 7" (Damaged Goods, 1995)

   04) Stem The Slide

   05) Filter

Lock 7"  (Damaged Goods, 1995)

   06) Lock

   07) Wrong For Me

Stagnant 7" (Damaged Goods, 1996)

   08) Stagnant

   09) Fuelled

Glance Sidways - The Complete Reverse (Damaged Goods / SP, 2009)

   10) Jaded

Reverse - Seven Inches (vbr 0)

And after I take my time machine to early 80's San Francisco

I'm going to this club: