Wednesday, February 17, 2010

Papsmear- Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas 86 Demo


        Keeping that same theme of stupid fucking band names, aside from Dwarf Bitch can you get any stupider than this?  Summer's Eve? Also pretty stupid.  Once again some good thrash from dudes who know don't know shit about P.R. or maybe they just don't give a shit.  I'm inclined to believe the latter.


        I was a stuck up punk rocker when these guys were at their peak and I specifically remember not liking these guys only because they weren't punk enough in my book.  They're blatant thrash metal.  I couldn't be bothered with that hesher shit.   I wasn't stoner.  I wasn't into breakdancing or hip hop.  I was into something all together different. That's what it is to be young.  And hip. 

        I was standing in front of the club Soundstage and someone had spray painted on the wall facing the club entrance "Papqueers Suck."  I thought that was really funny standing in line wearing my punk clothes with all these other punk nobodys.  Metal was for losers, I thought as I stood united with the "crew" none of whom I really knew.  We sure looked the part standing in line to go see TSOL on their "Revenge" tour!  If you've heard that album then you'd understand how funny that last sentence was.        

        Now that I'm an old man I gotta say Punk sucks.  Metal forever!  Hey now I'm an elitist guy for metal!  That's what it is to be an aging hipster.  Pretty ugly.  And so tonight this album fits my mood.   


        They were a good band.  Maybe they're still around?  You do the research.  I'm not sure if I like them as much as Pestilence but in some ways I like em more.  The reverb drenched 80's production is the best!  I love that shitty sound.  To me it's pure evil!  Drums were recorded in a pit in hell.  Even though Papsmear don't appear to be influenced by his Satanic majesty.  I don't have the lyrics but looking at the song titles you can tell it doesn't make a whole lot of difference.  

       They're definitely in the same league as other cool thrash metal from that era like Prime Evil, Whiplash, Pestilence, or At War. If you know of any other bands that are in this league post them in the comment section.  I'm only discovering all these bands retroactively since the internet got me hooked.

       I'm only including the first demo here because it's been re-released and if you want to hear more you should be a good citizen and buy the whole thing.  You know how these disclaimers go.  Thanks again to Jeff Murphy for hooking us up.  
Love the half shirt dude.

3 comments:

  1. Nobody rocks the half-shirt like Steve Bray.

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  2. Lethal Injection is like a million times better. These guys are horrible

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  3. Holy shit, I had always thought (retroactively) that I saw Jeff Hanneman's band Pap Smear in Vegas, 86.

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