When I first heard of Raging Slab they were being described as a combination of Motorhead and Lynyrd Skynyrd. That’s a dream music combo to me, but probably a nightmare to some. Some version of that description was frequently used by magazines for a number of years. When you consider that the band started in NYC and that Assmaster (1987) was put out by a punk rock label you can probably guess that the description was at best simplistic, and probably misleading. This music is weird, and truly unique. The founding band members may have had a love of boogie rock but after it filtered through their contemporary punk and noise influences the output was something completely new.
The original release of Assmaster came with a fantastic comic book produced by two artists from Marvel Comics. (Click image for larger version.) The comic book and cartoon album cover art may lead the uninitiated to dismiss Raging Slab as some stoner rock clowns, but that would be a mistake. Front man Greg Strzempka’s (a.k.a. Jagory Slab) lyrics are always interesting, often brilliant, and occasionally poignant. There have been periods where the music was more mainstream, but it was always good.
This is a very interesting band, and a favorite of mine since this first record. Raging Slab have had a long rollercoaster career of indie label obscurity and major label mainstream success. And then there’s the period where they moved into a farm house in rural PA and started a rock commune… Read all about Raging Slab at Wikipedia.
I am the master of my… aaaaass
I’m no one’s prince, and no one’s… baaaaaastard
I am the master of my ass
Assmaster — Raging Slab
Long time no listen. “Good Times Bad Times,” the first song on the first Led Zeppelin album, is probably my favorite of all their music. When I see how young the guys look on the back it’s even more impressive how out there this record is. Another favorite is “Communication Breakdown.” It’s more punk than the punk music that would come along almost a decade later. I liked it so much as a punk rock teenager that I recorded my own cover of it on my Tascam Porta One cassette four track. I played all the tracks and did a good job on drums and bass. My guitar work was not uh… scintillating. And I’m pretty sure the vocals were an octave lower out of genetic necessity.
Note on the back cover:
This is a stereo recording. For best results observe the R.I.A.A. high frequency roll-off characteristic with a 500 cycle crossover.
But of course.
More about Led Zeppelin at Wikipedia
A package this big needs at least two pics…
My personal rule for all the music I’m posting is that I have to listen to the entire thing and decide whether to keep it. I’m not going to pretend that I’ve consumed the entirety of Metallica’s over-the-top-box-set Live Shit: Binge and Purge (1993), again. It’s almost nine hours of live music! There are three VHS tapes and three CDs. I don’t even have a VCR any more. They released it later with DVDs but I couldn’t wait for that. Actually, this was a birthday present, I believe, and it was stupid spendy. But worth every penny!
That package is the coolest. It even has little metal hinges on the back. In addition to the audio and video stuff there is a small stencil, a moss pit pass from the tour, and a great book. The book has tons of photos and photocopies of set lists, and some serious, but humorous, memos about what the band can and can’t do on stage in various countries, and much more.
I got to see them play at least once on this mega-tour, but I can’t find the ticket stub. This package is an even better memento. Happy birthday to me, and as they say the introduction in the book, “Happy Overdose”!
You can read all about Metallica’s Live Shit: Binge and Purge at Wikipedia.
I don’t know where I got T.V. Sky (1992) by The Young Gods, but it’s always been a favorite. These guys can be called “industrial” but the sound on this record is really more hard rock or metal with plenty of sampling, loops and tricky time signatures. I love the whole thing, even the 20 minute Doors-y “Summer Eyes.” My favorite is the album opener, “Our House.” The lyrics sound like something from Sesame Street, maybe because these guys are ESL. But they’re perfect juxtaposed with the minimal and ultra-heavy jackhammer riff that finally kicks in for the last minute of the song, after two minutes of almost ambient loops, with when singer Franz Treichler yells “Hey Friends!”
Another great song is “The Night Dance.” Listen for the deft sampling and looping of Guns and Roses’ “Welcome to the Jungle” guitar riff.
Fans include The Edge (U2) and David Bowie.(?) Those geezers are cooler than I thought.
From the looks of it they’ve gone acoustic more recently. You can check the acoustic version of “Our House” at the Young Gods’ MySpace page.
YoungGods.com
Young Gods at Wikipedia
Our house… is a house… that moves…
Just like the ocean, just like the ocean, just like the ocean
Hey friends!
If you wanna come by
It’s easy to find, it’s easy to find
Hey friends!
It’s front of the sky, it’s in front of the sky
The article on Wikipedia about White Zombie lists Soul Crusher (1987) as their first full length record, but there were a few EPs before this. I had one with a black and white cover, but I think I sold it when I had my own record store. I had read about them in Maximum Rock and Roll and decided to buy it when I saw the record at a store in NYC. Even though I knew better I decided to buy another White Zombie record, today’s offering.
This stuff is nothing like the stomping-metal-disco-monster-movie-rock that made the band famous. Their early work is more noise art than metal, although Soul Crusher did begin to introduce something akin to riffs. Still, it can be hard to listen to. I used to enjoy extreme music just because it was extreme, new, different. Nowadays I need something else, or more. The psychedelic album cover might make you think “stoner metal,” but don’t be fooled. This music is closer to Pussy Galore or the most irritating Sonic Youth than Black Sabbath. Rob Straker’s vocals (he wasn’t calling himself Rob Zombie yet) sound like a more angry and annoying version of Mark Arm (Green River, Mudhoney).
I’m not likely to ever play this again, but I might keep it as part of the White Zombie collection.
The original release of Assmaster came with a fantastic comic book produced by two artists from Marvel Comics. (Click image for larger version.) The comic book and cartoon album cover art may lead the uninitiated to dismiss Raging Slab as some stoner rock clowns, but that would be a mistake. Front man Greg Strzempka’s (a.k.a. Jagory Slab) lyrics are always interesting, often brilliant, and occasionally poignant. There have been periods where the music was more mainstream, but it was always good.