Atomic Gods- Critical Mass Demo

    I guess this is Atomic Gods month.  Here is the first Atomic Gods demo "Critical Mass" sent to me already digitized from AG singer Richard Gibson.  Much thanks to him for sharing.  

     I guess this completes the Atomic Gods tape-ography as far as I know.  

     More metal tinged hardcore without the crossover attempts you hear on the second demo.   I guess I never picked up on the classic rock influence these guys had.  It comes across pretty strong in some of the traditional sounding solos here as well as the way most of these songs are structured.  This was even more pronounced on the 2nd demo.  Don't read me wrong.  This ain't the fucking Eagles or Boston it's hardcore but I hear some classic elements anyway.   

     Even though the second demo had the bad hip hop stuff on it I think it has more personality than this demo.  This demo's got some serious power.  Wreck on the 55 has me thinking of Motorhead.  Much of the rest of these songs remind me of numerous hardcore bands from the time including Social Unrest or Toxic Reasons.  Which ain't all that bad comparatively.  There's a few attempts at harmony but  this demo never touches pop punk territory.  For some reason I'm really digging the song Hipocrite.  It's so of the times.  The urgency, the shitty recording, the self righteous lyrics.  So fucking punk.


    Carnival of the Absurd might be my fave here.  So many old school vegas references in one song.  It's kind of mind blowing.  After hearing that song I remembered that I had heard this tape before.  Probably while ditching high school at Substance D's practice space the D-Lab?  Not that I hung out there a bunch but that's the memory that came back to me.   

    

    The more songs I hear the less metal this demo sounds.  While it's got some high points I think when I want to hear Atomic Gods I might be returning to the 2nd demo more often than the first.  Still it's great that we can now hear em both now and decide for ourselves.        

Download links for Atomic Gods "Critical Mass" Demo
Click each song individually to download.

1.  Wreck On the 55
2.  Silence Is Consent
3.  Walking Dead
4.  Picnic In Hell
5.  Lost In the Night
6.  Modern Rome
7.  Another Nail in Your Coughin'
8.  Slave To Debt
9.  Carcinogen
10.  American Way of Life
11.  Rich Get Richard
12.  Officer Friendly
13.  One of These Days
14.  Hipocracy
15.  Carnival of the Absurd
16.  Final Test

Atomic Gods- DEMO SIDE TWO

    As promised here's side two of that Atomic Gods demo.  I can't believe the awful clothes they're wearing in this picture.  Anyway- I heard back from Sean (guitarist) and Richard (singer) and they were both surprised and happy with the post which is cool.  Sean mentioned that he told his whole family which explains why it's the most popular download on this blog.  Side two won't disappoint either.

   The first show is Atomic Gods at the Gilman Street Project.  This is a venerable punk venue that is still operating in Berkeley, CA.  I think it's still around.  Sound quality is pretty excellent as far as the recording goes.  My personal cassette copy does have a few rough patches where it fucks up a little but it still sounds good.  Drums sound way better here than on the demo recording.

    At the time of this recording Atomic Gods were Sean Sloan- guitar/ Richard Malcolm Gibson- vocals/ George Gentekos -Bass/ Alan Strong - Drums.

    The second show appears to have been recorded at Main Gate Lounge which I assume is in Las Vegas.  Cool stuff but I could have done without the Cream cover.  It's obvious filler because the tape ends perfectly at the close of the last song.   

     Much thanks to Brian Zannone for the scan of the cassette cover shown here.  Richard said he would be sending me the first Atomic Gods demo through the mail so expect to see that posted here too sometime in the future.  

Download Atomic Gods Demo Side Two (live)
Tracks 1-11 were recorded live at Gilman Street Project Berkeley, CA 1/25/89
Tracks 12-16 recorded live at the Main Gate Lounge, Las Vegas, NV 1989

1.  Complications
2.  bad joke 
3.  Fire (Jimi Hendrix cover)
4.  Crisco Strip Twisted
5. Doomsayer (live)
6.  Fat Rich Pigs 
7.  P.S.D.I.
8.  Needle Freak
9.  Excuses
10.  Test Site Protest Announcement
11.  Final Test
12.  Crucify Ronnie
13.  Rip It Up
14.  Funk You
15.  Sunshine of Your Love (Cream cover)
16.  Just One of Those Days

Atomic Gods- DEMO SIDE ONE

     After the last post featuring 4 dozen songs about nuclear attack I have to follow up the with this.  The Atomic Gods were an incredible band and incredibly overlooked.  They were at their pinnacle during the Fuck Shit Piss and 5150 heyday but they were a force unto themselves and I think they outlived both those bands. 

    As much as I admired Atomic Gods I never gave them as much love as they deserved.  I was blinded by my love for Fuck Shit Piss so every band was second best in my book.  I sometimes wondered if Atomic Gods were really a metal band with pretensions towards hardcore.  I thought this mainly because Sean Sloan was such a kick ass guitar player he knocked down any idea of hardcore being an amateur style.  Atomic Gods were tight.  The song writing was clever and inventive and they took a lot of chances which could easily scare off timid hardcore "purists" like my teenage self.   

     I saw Atomic Gods play several times but I don't remember where.  I know I saw them indoors and outdoors so that narrows it down.  They put on a hell of a live show.  Sean Sloan was the best guitarist in Las Vegas at that time.  No doubt about it.

    I have to admit I don't think I listened to this tape more than a few times.  I don't even know how I ended up with this tape.  I think this was again another cassette that Ryland Luss left at my house.  Ryland was probably my only link to all the demo tapes I've got.  I'm thinking I ended up with so many of his demos because he would come over to my house saying he wanted to record an Op Ivy record of mine and he'd bring over a demo to tape over.  On more than one occasion I remember giving him a tape and taking his demo to save for posterity.  Good thing I did because this demo is fuckin solid.  

     Not to mention it's fucking long.  This must have been their only demo as it's filled up on both sides amounting to like 90 minutes worth of music.  Side one is the Atomic Gods Demo.  Side two appears to be Atomic Gods live at Gilman Street in Berkeley California.

   Prior to listening to this I tried to recall what Atomic Gods sounded like.  The main thing I remembered was Sean Sloan's guitar histrionics.  He was a serious shredder.  The music is super original and it fits snuggly in the classification of Las Vegas Hardcore.  It's definitely got a slight metal edge to it but it's a unique sound and only adds more weight to my argument that west coast hardcore had more individuality in it's sound than that "mosh" minded east coast shit.  The singer for Atomic Gods, Richard Gibson, was a good match and seriously funny guy as the live shit will attest.  Pretty rare that you could understand all the words sung from a band like this.  

      Lyrically there's some pretty cool shit happening here.  Typical hardcore targets are tackled including Reagan (he fucking sucks), politics, selling out etc.  But it's not preachy dry sloganeering.  They have a good sense of humor about them which earns them a timeless place in LVHC history.  I know they played the Test Site protesting against nuclear weapons.  I think.  Anyway their heart was certainly in the right place.

     As the scene started to unravel because of the rift caused by nazi skins versus anti-nazi skins, Sean Sloan became the main person responsible for booking shows.  He was at the gate for almost every desert show I went to from 87-89.  If not for him things would have folded a lot quicker than they did.  I remember he was present when I got a knife pulled on me by a nazi skinhead.  But that's a story for another time.  

    The music is a fucking great find to my ears.  Man this band was tight.  Hardcore with metal leanings as mentioned earlier but it doesn't have that crossover feel so prevalent at that time.  Instead of the tough guy atmosphere Atomic Gods were pretty casual and fun loving.  While there are certain elements of thrash present here it's more polished musicianship and less punishing brutality.  The musicianship can't be denied and the song writing keeps it interesting.  

     Yeah- some of the pseudo hip hop leanings in 2 of these songs didn't age well but that can be attributed to the dearth of nu metal that skidded along during the 90's.  Still this experimenting with hip hop was a brave thing to attempt at that time.  A few hardcore bands broke out of that mold back then and attempted similar hiphoplike songs like MDC, the Big Boys, Op Ivy, and My Dog Popper.  It's not all bad stuff but it's not all that great either.  In fact those few songs on this demo bare a striking resemblance to what Faith No More would be doing a few years later.  One song is a dead ringer for Faith No More which begs the question: Did FNM listen to this demo before recording?  Who gives a shit?  

        Don't think for a second that hiphop stylings are the norm on this tape.  It's hardcore through and through.  But it's got more on the ball then the majority of hardcore bands at that time.  In  fact because they are so tight I'd put them in the same league as No Means No and their ilk as far as leaning heavily  to the jazz side of hardcore.  But it's got more balls than your average angular math rock band geek shit.  The metal element makes this demo a serious winner.  So glad I found it in my stacks.  

     There is no Atomic Gods presence on the internet.  So finding out some history about these guys has proven to be a fruitless endeavor.  Although I did find Sean Sloan on Facebook.  I have no idea what the names of these songs are.  I'm hoping he may be able to fill in the gaps so I can give them the proper names for those of you downloading.  If you know the names of any of these songs please leave a comment so we can all be enlightened.  

     This demo tape is freaking long.  I have included side one with the "proper" demo here for you to download.  Side two is Atomic Gods live at Gilman Street.  Both sides are amazing.  The live stuff is not only amazing but it is hilarious.  The banter between the guys on stage is a guaranteed belly laugh.  Don't miss it.

     And yet again I can't figure out why Mediafire won't allow me to post links to download the whole folder.  As a result feel free to download each song individually here without leaving the blog.  Sorry for the inconvenience.  Be sure to check back for side two!  If you have any pictures of Atomic Gods please share! 

    Much thanks to Atomic Gods singer and supreme smart ass Richard Gibson for providing a track listing to these songs as the only information I had was the pictures above.  He remembered most of the song names anyway.  Sean Sloan and Richard were both pleasantly surprised by this post which is pretty fucking cool.  Might we be able to hear the first Atomic Gods demo digitized sometime in the future?  We shall see.

DOWNLOAD LINKS BELOW

SIDE ONE- ATOMIC GODS DEMO 

I've had problems with links to download the whole folder.  Try and download all these songs in a folder with a single click here.

If that don't work download each song individually below.

1. Rip It Up

2. Crucify Ronnie
3. Funk You
4. Unanswered Questions
5. Fat Rich Pigs
6. P.S.D.I.
7. Crisco Strip Twister
8. Doomsayer
9.  ?????
10. Excuses
11. Needle Freak
12. World Peace Though Beer
13. ?????? 
14. Modern Rome (live)
15. Attitude (Bad Brains cover live)
16. PicNic In Hell (live)


SIDE TWO- ATOMIC GODS LIVE
I have not digitized Side 2 yet!  Please come back soon to find Side 2 which is mandatory listening!

Songs about Nuclear Annihilation from 1940's-80's

          Below you'll find download links for a group of mixes I made featuring songs specifically about nuclear war using music made from the 1940's through the 1980's.  I'm probably giving myself too much credit but I think of these mixes as a work of "audio archeology" similar in tone to the film Atomic Cafe.  I've skewed it to include songs from the dawn of the Atomic bomb to the fall of the USSR.  

       I was hoping to include tracks up to the present day but songs about nuclear war haven't been as prominent since the Soviet Union collapsed in the late 80's.   America has been lulled into a false sense of security since the end of the Cold War.  

      If I heard the presidential candidates correctly in the 2008 election, then we can expect a nuclear attack on American in the coming years.  No one seems to bring that shit up anymore.  You'd think there would be more paranoia through the "heartland" with all this high profile nuke talk.  I guess it's not as interesting as World of Warcraft or the endless amount of free porn we now have access to?  Regardless of these facts it still scares the fuck out of me.  I'm at least as concerned as I was in the 80's.  But isn't it in the background of all our thoughts?  

    

      

      The United States created this monster so is it  inevitable that the chickens will come back to roost. Someone eventually punches the playground bully in the mouth.  Right?  Don't read me wrong I'm not hoping for it.  But I'm being told by the "leaders" to expect it.  I guess putting the cart before the horse leaves the politicians less susceptible to criticism in the nuclear wake.  More brilliant strategy from the fearless leaders.

   

     

    As odd as it sounds I get the feeling you will really enjoy this mix.  Or it will depress the shit out of you.  Only one way to find out.  The styles of music  include: country, jazz, calypso, showtunes, heavy metal, powerpop, hip-hop, blues, pop, funk, doo-wop, post-punk, thrash, synth-pop, gospel, reggae, R&B and other things which can not be classified.  For those of you who follow this blog because of the slant towards Las Vegas Hardcore Punk then you will be delighted to hear that I've included two Nevada bands!  I'll say no more and keep you guessing. 

 

       If you were a teenager in the 1980's chances are good you've heard several of these songs anyway.  Surprisingly many of them were in the top 40.            

   I've included a tiny fraction of sound collage in this mix.  I didn't get too indulgent but a few minutes of collage/mixing are included in each of the the three files found below.     

    No songs in this mix were recorded after 1989 but I've included some audio clips throughout the mix to keep it up to date and fresh for today's insanity/reality.

      

   It's raw history edited for 2010 ears.  Relevant today and relevant until the end of the human race I'm sure.  It'll continue to be the elephant in the room that we must live our lives around.  So let's celebrate it in song!  While we can.  

North Korean nuclear missles.

      

   Growing up in the 80's instilled a sarcastic indifference about the apocalypse which I will never outgrow.  I have come to accept that it will happen in my lifetime and while it is a terrifying vision to contemplate it doesn't really mean much.  


   I can only think about it for so long before it overwhelms me. It's strangely intoxicating to be paralyzed with fear over things for which you have no control.  In a sick way it's comforting to know I won't die alone.  It's a teenage masturbation fantasy on an unimaginable scale.  From the 40's to the 80's each generation has created worlds out of the ashes in the collective mind.  I have to laugh at this because I can't cry my life away waiting for the end.  Screaming is pointless.  Worrying is futile.  It has to become the butt of jokes.  There is no other way to view it.  Getting all upset just wrinkles your face babe.  Don't let it get to you.        

   It's the myth we all long for because it's inevitable. That's the ultimate attitude growing up in the 1980's instilled in me.  A whole decade of Nuke Porn made it sound like something to look forward to.   Mad Max.  Terminator.  Godzilla. It's the biggest macho juvenile delinquent wet dream ever.  It's our primal urges molded by technological efficiency.  Genocide at the push of a button.  It's almost getting me hot just thinking about it.      
      

         The slate will be wiped clean soon enough and then there would be true anarchy motherfuckers.  When the time comes we'd see who is who.  Every man for himself.  Kill or be killed.  True freedom.  Wreck cars!  Blow shit up!  The world is mine!  Dozens of female survivors waiting for me to impregnate them so we can keep the human race going.  I'll still have my pipe so I can scrap resin and continue to get high for a few weeks after the blast.  It's  gonna be fuckin rad!  

       And then, like Burgess Meredith on the Twilight Zone, we collectively break our fucking glasses.  Where's the Mad Max world I'm supposed to inherit?  I was told to prepare for the worst and expect the best and all I have to show for it is this Discharge t- shirt?  How many of us will die bitter and disappointed we didn't see the big bang?    

   

       Many of the songs included here are actually celebrating the end of the world.  You'll be surprised to hear most of those celebratory songs pre-date the 80's.  Since it was first developed there's only been one logical response to the idea of nuclear war.  Laugh your fuckin head off.

        A little over a third of the songs in this mix come from the Atomic Platters series.  Mostly the songs from the 1940's and 50's.  The rest of these songs come from my collection.    

       I learned a lot about pacing and rhythm through this experience but you'll mostly remember this mix for it's wildly divergent points of view and kick ass rock and roll pointlessness.  So rock the fuck out.  

       Please listen to this now.  This may be your last opportunity to laugh.  It won't be as funny The Day After.   


   It's broken up into three parts for easy consumption.  Part one is 1 hour, part 2 and 3 are both 45-50 minutes in length.  I suggest starting with part one because it's rad.  
  
DOWNLOAD PART ONE
DOWNLOAD PART TWO
DOWNLOAD PART THREE

Fatty Lumpkin video

        High energy punkness dipped in funk and rolled into a classic rock burrito w/ goofball sauce.  Drunk.  I don't know what you'd call this shit.  It's good though.   Cool band.  Fun bunch of characters.  I first saw them play when I was a roadie on the Leap Frog Society tour.  They played with LFS in Spokane.  The show for these vids was at Pabco Road in the desert outside Las Vegas, NV 1997.  That night Fatty Lumpkin played with SPAZZ, Lopez, Catapult, and Dwarf Bitch.    

       They never put out a full length record.  Just a demo tape I believe.  I don't have it and don't know where you would download it but I likeded it when I heard lo these many years ago.  

      I digitized this footage a while back.  It's in a fucked up order on youtube and I put all kinds of corny graphics on it.  Then when I tried to add it here for you to download I could only find two of the three clips I put on youtube.  Then I found an 11 minute clip ended up being both the first and second part put together.  Then I found something that wasn't put on youtube.  etc. etc.  Sometimes I think my life is a shambles and I'm just finding my way through it.  Ever felt like that?  Anyway I've included a clip here that may be a bonus.  I can't figure it out and I don't want to have to watch these clips again so you figure it out.

      Here's every clip I could find.  If you care then you'll download all these clips to see what's what.  I'd be surprised if I found another clip but stranger things have been happening.    

        Still this vid makes for great televison.  Except this isn't television.  Ends up there's a bunch of different bands named Fatty Lumpkin all over the world.  And yeah it's a stupid fucking name.  If you want to learn more about this particular one then go here.

  

Hilarious now the video above isn't working. Gotta love it.

Download Fatty Lumpkin PART 1

Download Fatty Lumpkin PART 2

Download Fatty Lumpkin PART 3 
(bonus clip? you should be so lucky.)

Another bonus clip or am I mistaken?

Boba Fett Youth last show

       I'm not sure why this vid got lost in the shuffle.  I digitized it years ago but never made it small enough to post on da inernet.  I found it immediately once I remembered I had it.  Jeez it seems like these guys played a lot of shows.  This was the last one.  The last one I saw anyway.  I recall hearing about a brief reunion in 2001 which I didn't go to.  I had given up on punk rock again at that point but that's another story.

    This show was at the short lived USA Cafe and the other bands that night were: Tomorrows Gone, the Heroines, and the Scooters.  I think part of the reason I forgot about this video was because I thought the sound quality wasn't so hot.  Watching it now I'd say it's not too bad.  I've heard worse anyway.  Still it's worth seeing as a historical document since it was the last show and all that jive.

    Don't know the date.  I want to say it was May of 97.  Watch em all here and download them below if you want.  




Download Boba Fett Youth last show ONE
Download Boba Fett Youth last show TWO
Download Boba Fett Youth last show THREE

Tomorrows Gone Videos

        Sorry for the lack of sizable posts this month.  I got busy, stayed productive, and still managed to have a good time.  Expect the posts to remain erratic as the weather gets nicer.

     In the meantime here's a video from my archives of the band Tomorrows Gone.  This is on youtube but I found another few minutes of footage from this show that I neglected to upload to youtube.  I've included it here for you to download.  

        Cool band.  Cool video and a pretty good representation of what they were like live.  I'm surprised at how good the sound quality is for this being shot on a shitty hi8 camera.  This was Boba Fett Youth's last show.  I digitized the Boba Fett Youth footage from this show but can't seem to find it now.  I'll let you know if I ever find it.   

       I saw them play at various places in Las Vegas and they were usually pretty great.  Although I was never fully immersed in this style of hardcore I do remember liking them.  They're pretty tight.  Probably cause they're not all high and shit.  I'm not well informed on the story with Tomorrows Gone but the dream lives on here.  

     This was at the short lived USA Cafe (or was it America Cafe?) on Sunset and Pecos.  I gotta say I love the shot of the Lucky's supermarket sign in the background.  That's so shitty Vegas style it's actually making me a little home sick.  Maybe I'll go drink a beer in a parking lot somewhere for old times sake?         

Download Tomorrows Gone Part 1 (bonus video not included on youtube)
Download Tomorrows Gone Part 2 (the youtube vid)


      I felt weird including this clip here but not putting it on youtube as well.  So here it is on youtube.  Watch it first and decide if you want to download it.