Bucky Records 7" Compliation

        I totally forgot about this record until I recently digitized the Leap Frog Society catalog.   The song LFS recorded for this record is their only song released on vinyl that I had not accounted for so it made sense to go ahead and digitize the whole record.  Especially when you consider what a lost gem we have here.  This is a stellar record that didn't get the attention it deserved.

        It's a complicated story and I know very little about it from the periphery but here's me trying to piece it together.  Boyde Wenger had released several records at this point with his label Bucky Records.  Bucky had a surprisingly respectable track record of good releases especially considering it mainly featured bands from Las Vegas.  The roster included records from the Heroines, Catapult, Leap Frog Society and Boyde's own band Boba Fett Youth.  At this point Boyde seemed to know what he was doing but during the mastering process of this particular record he made a fatal error.  In an attempt to save a little cash Boyde skipped the ordering of a test press and went ahead and pressed 500 records trusting the mix would be okay.  While he saved a hundred dollars he was left with a press of 500 records which all played at the wrong speed!  The pitch was fucked.  

        I'm pretty sure this was the last record released by Bucky records.  All small labels like this seem to be constantly on the verge of economic collapse.  Maybe this error was enough to do in Bucky Records?  I have to assume that's how it played out because Boyde never went back to correct the pressing.  After the first 500 were sold that was it and it was never repressed with the pitch corrected.  It's a shame because this was a great record in theory.  Unfortunately since it's at the wrong speed I don't think I ever listened to it more than once or twice.  I'm sure other people feel the same way.  So it kind of sank into obscurity more than any other record to come from Vegas from this time period.  Which is saying a lot.

        Thankfully I have a record player with pitch adjustment.  Which just hooked you up.  I hate to think I'm "remastering" these recordings for the new digital age but I suppose that's what I'm doing.  I'm not gonna say I'm a great audio engineer but I put some time into getting it right when I ripped this fucker to ensure that each song sounds as close to the original as I can make it sound with my equipment.  I bring this up because the process of digitizing this record was particularly difficult because of the pitch issues.  

        Side one featuring Leap Frog, Heroines, and Boba Fett Youth and it appears to be the same wrong speed for each song on that side.  Side two was much harder to figure out.  Tomorrows Gone seemed too fast to me, but my pitch would not adjust any lower!  The Catapult song seemed to need less pitch adjustment.  I've tried to get it as close as I can for each song.  If you can do a better job go for it smokey.  I'm all ears.  And beers.  

        Jeez, it's all coming back to me.  This wasn't the last record Bucky records released.  I think that honor goes to "The Blue Whale" compilation, which was another great record.  This record never got a repress because Boyde had already invested money to get the "Blue Whale" going so there was no money available to fix the mastering mistakes that happened with this record.   

        Life sucks because this 7" was the best record Bucky had put out at that point and it's a good cross section of bands from Vegas who played live at the time.  Is this the only vinyl compilation featuring Vegas bands exclusively?  I'm thinking it is.  The "Blue Whale" compilation wasn't just Vegas bands as I remember it also featured the Independents from South Carolina and Sharon Tate from Cali.  A recent investigation of my record stacks shows that I don't own the Blue Whale record!  If you got it how about digitizing it huh?  When I see "Blue Whale" in used record stores it's usually fetching a price of $15 to $20.  That's a record that stands the test of time.  Sadly if you find the 7" posted here I wouldn't suggest paying more than a buck for it unless you got pitch control.  It's a technical snafu that makes for a flawed document.  I only go for low maintenance functional art.  I'm sure you do too.
       And that's the real fucking burn.  This record is great and it never got it's due because of a simple mistake!  Well at least now we can give it a listen on our computers and enjoy it now for what it is.  

          So the music...

        Good mash up of styles that helped feed into each other and reinforce each others strengths.  I'm convinced that all of these bands played with each other at some point.  At the Rainbow Caves, at Losse road ditch, or perhaps Pabco.  

        The Leap Frog Society song here is probably my least favorite song of theirs.  But it's not that bad.  At least you can understand the words a bit more than on their last record.  They were still somewhat dwelling on the crust sound but the arrangement of the music makes this song stand out.  It's clever and bursting with personality so maybe I'm being too hard on em'?  The lyrics for this song were written by a crusty guy by the name of John from Chicago.  He was in a band named P.E.N. (Peace Equality Nihilism) and he had the logo from the band Filth branded onto his back so yeah he was pretty much punk.
  
       At one point in his travels he came through town with a tattooed punk rock lady who owned a really nice car.  They drove this fancy car to a show Leap Frog Society played at the Rainbow caves and they decided to park in the middle of the desert and hitch hike the rest of the way to the show.  He did vocals on a Filth cover song which Leap Frog played that night. After the show we dropped them off at their car which had been completely vandalized.  I'm assuming by people who just came from the show?  Yeah I know punk can really suck sometimes.  I'm trying to remember how many vehicles I've seen destroyed at desert shows.  Several.  

         The Heroines song here is a favorite.  Simple pop pep that's about as sexy as they ever got lyrically.  I never really grew too attached to Kelly's vocals as she seemed to be all snottiness and little in the way of finesse.  But the song on this record's got some balls.  Yeah I'd fuck her.  You'll have to listen to the song in order to laugh at that last sentence.    

        The Boba Fett Youth song here seems like quite a departure for them.  Do I detect a Catapult influence?  Maybe.  The bassline is super hypnotic.  Andrew Kiraly never struck me as a good singer but he nails this song. He almost sounds like an 80's metal singer like Rush or Dream Theatre or something like that.  I know that sounds like a dis but I think it really works in this case.  This song is fairly progressive and exotic.  Dare I say mature?  One of the last songs they recorded.

        I'm not too familiar with Tomorrows Gone but I did see them play quite a few shows back yonder.  The song here is fucking tight.  While it's not really my bag baby I might call this song the winner of the whole record.  Cool galloping drums providing a solid backbeat that hooks you right at the first listen.  Hopefully I "remastered" this at the right speed.  It's pretty fast.  Cool track!

    

        The Catapult song here took forever to digitize.  I could never determine the true speed.  Anyway here's as close an approximation as I can hear with my ears.  Again not my fave Catapult song but it's catchy enough and I recall this being a staple of their live set.  Talk about phoneing in the vocals.  Where's the enthusiasm?  Thankfully it picks up half way through the song making it worth your time to listen.     

         I've scanned my copy of the record here.  More great artwork provided by Greg Higgins.  Thanks to Boyde for making a great compilation.  I wish this record could have been salvaged and re-pressed with the pitch corrected but at least we can enjoy it here now.  

Bucky Records Presents: "My parents went to Las Vegas and all they brought me was this fucking 5 song 7" compilation"

Side 1

1.  Leap Frog Society- "Leap Frog Society"

2. Heroines- "F Word"

3. Boba Fett Youth- "Compromise"

Side 2

4. Tomorrows Gone- "Three Thirty Three"

5. Catapult- "Speedbumps"