#338 with Russ Van Cleave: Razorcake Podcast
Oh, man. ADD/C was right. Busy days, indeed. I finally found enough spare minutes to crank out another podcast. No particular format or theme here – just another grouping of enjoyable tunes that have been floating their compressions and rarefractions across the air molecules in the vicinity of my stereo. I am struck – having now looked at this list – by the fact that the oldest song on here dates back to about 1981 and only one other song here was recorded in the ‘80s, i.e. this is a relatively recent collection of jams compared to what I usually whip together. Times are weird and gettin’ weirder.
–Russ Van Cleave
Tracklisting:
The Doughboys, “I Remember” from Whatever(MTL)
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Hard-Ons, “Throw It In” from Love Is a Battlefield of Wounded Hearts(Taang!)
Bombsite, “Planted Seeds” from V/A No Slow…All Go! (The Daggers / Half-Mast)
French Exit, “When There’s a Fork in the Road, Take It” from Guts & Black Stuff (It’s Alive)
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ADD/C, “Itch” from Busy Days (Mauled By Tigers / Plan-It-X South)
Pete Shelley, “Homosapien” from Homosapien(Uh-Wrist-Ah)
Small, “Toastmaster” from Chin Music(Alias)
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The Draft, “Wired” from In a Million Pieces (No Idea)
Action Patrol, “Tube” from 1993-96: On Patrol (Whirled)
Rivethead, “Thirty Miles Down” from City Sound Number Five (Blood Of The Young)
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Ye Olde Buttfuck, “Special News” from The Burden of the Southern Future(Raw Sugar)
The Y, “Rubik’s Dude” from Sooo… Intense(Soooo Intense)
Dark Rides, “Dance for Rain” from Dark Rides (Do Ya Hear We)
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Johnny Cash & Joe Strummer, “Redemption Song” from Unearthed(Universe Aluminum)
Doughboys: I know I started another recent podcast off with a Doughboys song awhile back, but I just couldn’t help it. While I would consider Home Again to be their best record, I felt that this song from their first LP would be a good opening rocker for this installment. I’ll try and bring everything full circle eventually in future podcasts with some Asexuals and All Systems Go!, but probably not before we branch off into some Big Drill Car and M.I.A.
Hard-Ons: This is one of the best songs from what I would consider to be the best Hard-Ons record. Whenever life has got you down, just remember that the most successful independent band ever to come out of Australia is named after a slang word for male erections.
Bombsite: I just saw a review of a release from this classic MPLS band in the last Razorcake. Apparently, Bombsite has just released a collection of sorts, so I had to pull this gem out of the archives. I first heard these guys on theNo Slow…All Go! Comp. I bought that comp at behest of the merch guy at the first D4 show I saw and it turned me on to a bunch of great MPLS bands: Man Afraid, Code 13, The Salteens, Dirt Poor and, of course, these guys.
French Exit: Continuing with the Razorcake theme, I decided to play a song from one of the featured bands from the last issue. Some kind soul at Razorcake HQ dropped this CD in with my subscription renewal and I’ve been rockin’ it ever since.
ADD/C: ChattanoogaRockCity! A cut from the highly recommended Busy Days LP.
Pete Shelley: I bought this record for $0.33 and I love it. It’s definitely a departure from what one might expect from Pete Shelley based on The Buzzcocks, but it’s catchy as hell. This song was banned by the BBC for “explicit reference to gay sex”.
Small: These guys are an old ‘90s band. I’m relatively new to them but I figured I would share.
The Draft: Chris Wollard tends to stay pretty busy. The Draft was relatively short lived compared to his other bands. I pulled this out of the archives not too long ago and had forgotten how much I like some of these songs.
Action Patrol: I didn’t get into these guys until a couple years after they were finished, but when I got this CD I used to listen to it all the time. An Action Patrol song popped on random the other day and I decided it would be good idea to play this song here.
Rivethead: Many years ago, Rivethead must have rolled through town and I must have seen them. I don’t really remember seeing them but I must have also liked them because I found the 7” in my car several days later. It survived several days of neglect in the FL heat to make it to my turntable and I’ve been fond of it ever since. I can’t keep any of the people from MPLS bands straight (sorry fellas – I’m an ass), but I do know that guys from this band ended up in Banner Pilot, Dear Landlord, Off With Their Heads and The Gateway District.
Ye Olde Buttfuck: Great band. Great name. The internet has sorta confirmed my claim that the singer is the dude from Chaos LR. Aside from that, we’ve got some Mike Pack, Buddha and Iggy Scams to round out this awesome outfit. Supposedly, they have one other EP that I will have to track down.
The Y: Freakin’ out squares back in the early days of the 21stcentury, The Y was so awesome that me and Mike Collins had to put out the record. You’re welcome.
Dark Rides: Another great Chattanooga band from Amy and Eric. Some of you lucky souls may be familiar with Amy from Forced Vengeance and Eric from Hidden Spots and JPB. I keep forgetting that I need to order a copy of the new LP for this band which is supposedly available through Do Ya Hear We Records. In the meantime, this EP still rocks me Amadeus.
Johnny Cash & Joe Strummer: Two of the greatest musical forces of all-time team up on this cover of a Bob Marley classic.