Cheap And Nasty #11 Lost Punk Rock Hits 77/82

  Here's another edition of Cheap And Nasty, our ongoing series devoted to old, obscure and semi-forgotten punk rock from the years 1977 to 1983.

  We kick things off with two tracks by Cinecyde, a Detroit band formed in 1976 and widely regarded as one of the city's true punk pioneers. Built around a fiercely DIY ethic, they represented a new generation that followed in the wake of MC5 and The Stooges. While those earlier bands helped lay the foundations of proto-punk, Cinecyde emerged as one of the first groups to embody punk in its purest form within the Detroit scene.

  As an industrial city, Detroit provided the perfect backdrop for this new wave of bands, whose music reflected frustration, independence and a strong anti-establishment attitude. Cinecyde became an integral part of that environment, contributing to the city's thriving underground counterculture. The two tracks featured here come from their third EP, Positive Action, released in 1979.

  Next up are The Sound in their earliest and rawest incarnation with the opening track from their debut EP, Physical World.

  The Sound were a British post-punk band led by Adrian Borland, formed in 1979 following the breakup of his previous group, The Outsiders. This debut release captures the band at their most direct and experimental, blending post-punk, new wave and subtle touches of art rock. At the same time, the strong melodic instinct that had characterised The Outsiders was already firmly in place, offering an early glimpse of the sound that would define the band's later work.

  And of course, it's only right that we follow with The Outsiders, the pre-Sound band we were just talking about, and one of my personal favourites.

  Formed in Wimbledon, England, in 1975, The Outsiders featured Adrian Borland on vocals and guitar, Bob Lawrence on bass and Adrian "Jan" Janes on drums. Although their career was frustratingly brief, they still managed to release two outstanding LPs and an EP, all issued in 1977 on their own Raw Edge Records label. We're featuring two tracks from that EP here.

  After The Outsiders came to an end, Adrian Borland went on to form The Sound and later Second Layer, another remarkable project that we'll save for a future edition of Cheap And Nasty.

  "I Like Drugs" is one of The Simpletones' best-known recordings, originally appearing in 1978 on a rare acetate paired with "Cardboard Crotch." The following year it received its first proper release as the B-side of "California," issued by Posh Boy Records.

  Hailing from Southern California, The Simpletones played a melodic, hook-filled brand of punk that was lighter and more playful than much of the harder-edged East Coast scene. Their songs combined catchy tunes with ironic, provocative lyrics, perfectly capturing the carefree humour and irreverent spirit that ran through late seventies California punk.

                                                      

   Next up are Chuzpe, one of Austria's earliest punk bands, with "Beislanarchie," a track released in 1979.

  The title is a typically Austrian play on words, combining Beisl, the local term for a pub or tavern, with Anarchie ("anarchy"), giving us something along the lines of "Pub Anarchy." It perfectly reflects the band's irreverent sense of humour and rebellious spirit.

  The song originally appeared on the influential compilation Wiener Blutrausch, a fascinating snapshot of Vienna's late seventies underground, bringing together punk, new wave and even a few progressive rock acts.

   Next we have Chinas Comidas, a Seattle band active during the late seventies and early eighties that, despite never achieving widespread recognition, carved out a distinctive place in the city's underground.

Their music blended punk, new wave and spoken word with a strongly experimental edge. Fronted by the remarkable Cynthia Genser, whose unique style combined singing with poetic recitation, the band developed a far more art-oriented sound than much of the raw punk being made at the time. Their thoughtful, often poetic lyrics set them apart from many of their contemporaries, giving Chinas Comidas a personality all their own.

And one more thing: the image on this session's cover comes from an original Chinas Comidas concert poster.

                                            

  Yes, "Complicated Fun" may be credited here to The Commandos, but it's actually the Suicide Commandos under a shortened name.

  The band adopted the abbreviated credit for their appearance on the compilation Big Hits of Mid-America Volume Three (1979), most likely for commercial reasons, as the original name may have been considered too provocative in certain contexts. Coming just a year after their outstanding debut LP, Make a Record, the compilation featured three new tracks from the band.

  We'll be saving more Suicide Commandos for a future edition of Cheap And Nasty.

  I've gone with Flesh Eaters' "Pony Dress," but not the better-known album version. This is the original recording that first appeared on the now-classic compilation Tooth and Nail (1979), before being re-recorded for No Questions Asked (1980).

  Compared with the later LP version, this take is rougher, dirtier and considerably more aggressive, capturing the band's chaotic energy in its rawest form.

  "Black and Red," a fierce, dark slice of punk rock with a far more sinister and nihilistic edge than much of its California contemporaries, first appeared on the landmark compilation Beach Blvd (1979), released by Posh Boy Records.

  Rik L Rik was a key figure on the Los Angeles punk scene. He first came to prominence with F-Word, one of California's earliest punk bands, before spending time with Negative Trend and later The Crowd. Strongly influenced by proto-punk, his music always carried a darker, more confrontational attitude than the more youthful, melodic sound often associated with Southern California punk.

  An earlier version of "Black and Red" had already been recorded by Negative Trend, making this later performance an interesting glimpse into the song's evolution.

  Next up are Jayne Doe, another little-known band from California's West Coast. Their entire recorded legacy amounts to this lone 7-inch single, released by B-Square Records in 1980.

  "As the World Turns" is driven by a sharp sense of irony, its title playing on the long-running American soap opera of the same name while delivering a sarcastic take on everyday life. Like so many great punk obscurities, the record disappeared almost without a trace before eventually resurfacing on the Killed By Death #18 compilation, which is where I first came across it.

  Next up is "T.V. Static" by The Nervous, a track taken from the compilation Damn Straight: Phoenix's Best New Rock '80.

  Released in 1980, the album offered a snapshot of the emerging underground scene in Phoenix, Arizona, bringing together some of the city's most promising new bands at the dawn of the new decade. Like many regional compilations of the period, it has since become a valuable document of a local punk scene that remained largely unknown outside its home state.

  There are no official Silencers releases from the band's original years. Their recordings only surfaced later on retrospective compilations, making them one of the many lost chapters of the Los Angeles punk underground.

  Formed by Steve Reiner following the breakup of The Shock, The Silencers were active from roughly 1977 to 1980. Although their career was short-lived and they never released a record at the time, the surviving recordings reveal another strong example of the remarkably fertile Los Angeles punk scene of the late seventies.

  Legal Weapon was formed in 1980 by vocalist Kat Arthur and guitarist Brian Hansen from the ashes of The Silencers. The band's early line-up also featured Patricia Morrison, following her time with The Bags and before she went on to join The Gun Club.

  The track featured here, "No One Listens," comes from the band's debut EP, released in 1981, and captures Legal Weapon at the beginning of a career that would make them one of the key names on the early Los Angeles punk scene.

  Originally known as The K-Tels, the band was forced to shorten its name to The-Tels because of legal objections from K-Tel. Hailing from Vancouver, Canada, they formed in 1978 before reinventing themselves as Young Canadians the following year, remaining active until their breakup in 1980.

  Led by Art Bergmann, they were true pioneers of the Vancouver punk scene. They were among the first local punk bands to play clubs such as Gambado's and The Smilin' Buddha, the first to release a 12-inch EP on Quintessence Records, among the first to perform live on radio and television in Vancouver, one of the first to secure a national support slot for a major touring act, opening for The Boomtown Rats, and one of the earliest Vancouver punk bands to tour the United States.

  Although their original career was brief, Young Canadians remain one of the defining bands of the first wave of Canadian punk.

  Next up are The Accused, a post-punk, psychedelic and new wave band from Baltimore whose entire recorded output consists of a single EP, released in 1980.

  The standout track is undoubtedly "Time Out," a superb example of the band's punchy blend of post-punk, new wave and psychedelic influences. Like so many bands of the period, The Accused disappeared almost as quickly as they arrived, leaving behind just one record and another small but memorable chapter in punk's hidden history.

  Next up are Mentally Ill, one of the earliest and most enigmatic punk bands to emerge from the Chicago area.

  Formed by four teenagers in Chicago's North Shore suburbs, the band released their debut 7-inch EP, Gacy's Place, in 1979, its title a provocative reference to the notorious local serial killer John Wayne Gacy. University plans soon brought the original line-up to an early end and, apart from a handful of house parties, the band never really performed live.

  In 1982, a different line-up returned with a second 7-inch, Sex Cells. We've chosen the B-side from that record, another perfect example of the band's bizarre and uncompromising take on early American punk.

                                                      

  We close the session with what I consider one of the finest American hardcore punk singles of the eighties: Code of Honor's "What Are We Gonna Do?"

  Formed in San Francisco in the early eighties, Code of Honor stood apart from many of their contemporaries by combining the speed and intensity of hardcore with touches of post-punk and, at times, even hard rock. Their politically charged lyrics took aim not only at the establishment but also at the hypocrisy and lack of authenticity they saw creeping into parts of the punk scene.

  A fitting way to bring this edition of Cheap And Nasty to an end: fast, uncompromising and still every bit as powerful today.

                                                        

   

Trashlist:
01. Cinecyde – Radiation Sickness (Tremor Records, 1979)
02. Cinecyde – Phosphorous and Napalm (Tremor Records, 1979)
03. The Sound - Cold Beat (Tortch Records, 1979)
04. The Outsiders - New Uniform (Raw Edge Records, 1977)
05. The Outsiders - Consequences (Raw Edge Records, 1977)
06. Simpletones – I Like Drugs (Posh Boy, 1978)
07. Chuzpe - Beislanarchie (Schnazz Produktion, 1979)
08. Chinas Comidas - Sweeter Than Ever (1979)
09. Chinas Comidas - Criminal Cop (1979)
10. The Commandos – Complicated Fun (Twin/Tone Records, 1980)
11. Flesh Eaters – Pony Dress (Upsetter Records, 1979)
12. Rik L Rik – Black And Red (Posh Boy, 1979)
13. Jayne Doe - As The World Turns (B-Square Records, 1980)
14. The Nervous – T.V. Static (Nanxiety,1980)
15. The Silencers - Listen to Me
16. The Silencers - Boyfriends And Girlfriends
17. Legal Weapon – No One Listens (Arsenal Records, 1981)
18. Tels - Automan (Quintessence Records, 1979)
19. The Accused - Time Out (Frantic Records, 1980)
20. Mentally Ill - Soldier 19 (Autistic Records, 1982)
21. Code Of Honor - What Price Would You Pay? (Subterranean Records, 1982)
22. Code Of Honor - What Are We Gonna Do? (Subterranean Records, 1982)

Unearthed by Tony Rivers

   I'll leave you with a passage taken from the pages of Search & Destroy, the legendary punk fanzine published between 1977 and 1979. Founded in San Francisco by Jay L. Adams and V. Vale, it became one of the defining voices of the American punk underground and played a crucial role in documenting and promoting the emerging West Coast scene.

  "Among the walking dreams and smouldering ruins of 45s, a song occasionally ignites my aural imagination, and confirms a total commitment to ecstatic expression without which my will to live might diminish. What is at stake at such moments is my own authenticity.

  I'm grateful for the existence of the 45. What is it about its form that makes it so personal? And in a jukebox, so affecting? ..."

  V. Vale, Search & Destroy (1977)

  This is Cheap And Nasty.

  Lost Punk Rock Hits.

The cover photo was taken from this original Chinas Comidas gig poster, advertising one of the band's shows at the legendary Hong Kong Cafe in Los Angeles.