Very Small Kick

     Dave Hayes from Very Small Records is doing a kickstarter project until November 21.  Click here to see.  Give him $42 and you get a great hoodie and his entire discography on a DVD/R with 1,111+ tracks!

     I’ve made several references to Dave Hayes throughout this blog.  If you’re unfamiliar with Very Small Records then you been missing out.  Go here and get acquainted.  He lived for a short time in Las Vegas and put out a few records featuring Vegas bands.  He went on tour with Dwarf Bitch and released both their 7” records. 

     I know what you’re thinking.  Who gives a shit?  Well he also put out records for: Operation Ivy, Crimpshrine, Jawbreaker, Green Day, Econochrist, Nuisance,  Schlong, Elmer, the list is endless including some of the best compilation records ever made!  All of it out of print.  When I think back to the music of the 90’s the only stuff I remember fondly is the Very Small shit.  The discography is solid.  If you are at all interested in underground music you should know Very Small Records.  Dave has been an inspirational figure in my life and I thank him very much for the work he’s done with this label.   

     Of course you could go over to his blog and download tons of this stuff for free.  He’s been offering it up free for years.  In fact he’s been talking about doing this DVD/R thing for years and I’m glad he’s finally running with it.  I think if you download from there you should really help a brother out and give to his kickstarter project.

     Plus you get an awesome hoodie with a universal message which will make an excellent x-mas gift this year.  Act quick the deadline is Monday.         

Lunch With the PMRC tape 2

            This is the second tape good buddy Nate Robards sent to me.  Another broadcast of Lunch With the PMRC originally aired on 91.5 KUNV in like 1991?  If you got a clue about the date please share.  Not much in the way of local music on this one.  I hear Checko Salgado in the background during the announcements.  He shares a demo from a Denver band named Small Dog Frenzy.  I think he was making a smart ass statement about the Vegas underground at that time since this was the Local’s Only segment.  Still that Small Dog Frenzy song is a good one.    

            The one local band featured on this tape is a serious winner.  This Tripple Ripple song is on fire!  I’m familiar with the name Tripple Ripple but for some reason I always assumed they were college rock alternative stuff. That's not the case.  This track has some hardcore bite but it’s a well structured song that doesn’t shy away from the guitar solos.  I love this shit.  Not punk, not metal, not alternative, but not shy about taking from those elements without having an allegiance to any of them.  This was before everything got codified and genretized.  I’m not even sure where you’d put this in the rigid labeling, compartmentalizing, minds of today’s music explainers.  Crossover seems like a tame category.  I like the song so who gives a shit? 

            My one complaint, because I gotta have at least one: the singer seems like an afterthought.  Without the reverb on his vocals it would really blow.  Although the effects do add a sinister Celtic Frost vibe to the mix which is cool.  It’s a minor detail in this case.  The music has enough going for it that it doesn’t need front man theatrics vying for your attention. 

            I’ve ripped the rest of the cassette but the real gem here is the Tripple Ripple track.   If you got the demo out there post it fucker.  The label on the tape indicates a Bad Attitudes demo.  I don't know if that's what's on side two.  It might be the girl band that starts off side two but the bleed fucks with the sound so much it's almost not worth checking out.  You can especially hear it between songs but it goes away after a few minutes.  The rest of the cassette is fairly tame 90’s fare.  I don’t know… some of it’s good but most of it reminds me of why the 90’s mostly sucked for music.  They do play the Fastbacks at the end which is cool!  I’ve lumped side two together into one long mp3 files because there's so much bleed it's fucked up.  I'm including it here for the curious.


Overall this tape is a novelty but make no mistake you should download that Tripple Ripple track.


Download below:
91.5 FM KUNV Lunch With the PMRC tape 2 from the collection of Nathan Robards


1. Tripple Ripple- Vermin
2. Jerry Burns chatter
3. Small Dog Frenzy- This Sail
4. KUNV chatter
5. Side one plays out
6. Side Two

Lunch w/ PMRC Locals Only circa 93

           A few years ago I bought a heavy metal magazine named, well the name isn’t important.  I read a few articles and several reviews until half way through the magazine I realized there wasn’t one negative criticism in the whole fucking thing.  It was blowing the horn of metal and it didn’t have one bad thing to say about the dozens or maybe hundreds of bands covered. 

            It was pretty hard to believe all those bands were beyond reproach so I lost all respect for the integrity of the mag and I threw it and the CD it came with away.  That’s what you’re dealing with here while I'm anxious to do my part to preserve and archive LV music history I also don't want to be a static participant. I'm ready to talk shit. Not out of malice, but becasue it's fun to write and read messy bullshit. And messy bullshit is what DIY is all about.  I refuse to be a cheerleader for past Las Vegas music. This shitty attitude stems from the unending cynicism and disgust endemic to living in Las Vegas, Nevada.  If I think the band sucks I can’t bite my tongue and act like I give a shit. Even if they're good I'll do my part to find any flaws and be a dick about it just to keep things interesting. And grounded.    

             

            Specific criticisms aside any “band” that gets together long enough to record something is worthy of respect.  Especially in the stone ages of the 80’s and 90’s.  My opinion comes solely from the recorded music and should not be seen as a reflection of how good the band was live or how important they were to helping the scene to move forward, or backward as the case may be.

            It feels good to put myself back into that time by hearing this mess again. It was a discovery then, it's a discovery now. I'm happy to learn more. I hope more music resurfaces. It's worth remembering warts and all.  

             

            But… it’s also fun to talk shit about horrible music.  In fact it’s more fun and usually more fun to read text filled with piss and vinegar.  And yet, do I really want to piss off people for no good reason aside from the fact that I think they made shitty music?  So I ask you reader:  should I rip stuff that sucks and post it here with commentary that rips the sucky demo apart?  Or,  do I divorce myself from such negativity and refuse to share music that at least a few people will find remarkable.  I don’t know.  I want to be fair but I also want to be real. 

            Fuck fair.  Here’s an interesting recording that I have mixed feelings about.  It was sent to me by my good friend Nate Robards who was the guitar player in Boba Fett Youth (BFY), Part-Time Whore (PTW) and currently Elements of Now (EON).  He sent a package with a few tapes and another package with a t-shirt form EON as well as their new demo CD.  It’s fuckin RAD.

            I ripped the cassette shown here.  I’m guessing he dubbed this cassette before sending it to me as the tape in question looks pretty new and he wrote Nostalgia on it which I’m taking as a swipe at me for all the bullshit I’ve written on this blog.  Very funny Nate.    

            So I’ve got mixed feelings on many levels.  First I’m grateful to Nate and others who’ve sent me stuff they’ve ripped, or sent stuff for me to rip.  It’s been fun and I think people are getting something out of it.  On the other hand I’m a little scared of this exploding in my face and I’m suddenly getting cassettes mailed to me hand over fist.  On the surface this seems like a great thing and I’m not opposed to lifting the floodgates and requesting all nature of cassettes be sent to me if people wanted.  But how many of these cassettes would suck?  Moreover I don’t want to see KL becoming a repository of mediocrity as well as shit I love.  I’m doing this because I love the music first off and I want to hear it.  I’m only releasing it to the public because I hope it will get out there so it can stay out there in the event that maybe if I lose all my shit someday in the future I’ll still have a Leap Frog Society or Fuck Shit Piss collection I can always find to download from someone online.

            In any event I’ve heard from over a dozen people who have demos and shit they’d like to contribute and so far only 15% of those people have come forth to contribute so I guess I shouldn’t be to worried about being overwhelmed by people sending me their KUNV recordings.  Most of which I don’t want to spend hours translating.  But I’ll still offer up my assistance in ripping stuff if it seems like something I’d like.  By now you should know what I like if you’ve been reading along so far.  Mainly hardcore punk demos but I’ve got a soft spot for metal, pop, and other curiosities that Vegas produced along the way.  It’s only fitting I stick to the Vegas themes as a requirement at this point.

            So the broadcast.  I can’t tell you what date this broadcast aired.  It’s got to be like 91-93 which were pretty rocky years for the Vegas underground rock world.  As mentioned previously there was a huge amount of in fighting in the underground.  Nazi versus anti-nazi was at it’s peak around then and so music in my opinion suffered.  I don’t recall a favorite band from this time.  I somehow didn’t hear or see the band Lady until well after they broke up but they were kickin it by this point.  Intentions of Hate was happening.  Wholes,  F.I., Heroines,  god knows there were more but the local bands featured in this broadcast of the Lunch With the Parents Music Resource Center were Junkie Nuns, Foot Long, Bent Tool, and Zub Zub. 

            Lunch with the PMRC was a radio show aired on 91.5 KUNV in Las Vegas, Nevada during the early 1990’s through the mid 90’s.  It took the place of the Hardcore show which happened in the 80’s and it featured Locals Only for the last hour of each broadcast.  It was a great show and has proven to be a good resource for tracking down music from local bands at that time.  Nate sent a second Locals Only tape which I’ll post sometime in the future. 

            This is where more mixed feelings come into the picture.  I have been looking for the Foot Long demo for years now.  My brother had the demo and we rocked out in my parents garage smoking the weed.  I thought it was a great demo on par with Lady’s second demo.  For a lack of cassette tapes he recorded a Leap Frog Society practice over the Foot Long demo and I never got to hear those song again.  Until now.  It was a nice surprise to hear parts of that demo on this tape.    

            I was never a fan of Junkie Nuns or Bent Tool but they were stalwarts.  Although I admit to understanding the direction Junkie Nuns was trying to go.  They just never seemed to get there.  The effects heavy shit was always almost cool but not cool enough to make it to the finish line for me.  I had the same opinion of many Vegas bands around that time.  The scene was in flux as the 90’s started and I think everyone was hoping for something to rise to the top.  Seemed like we had to relearn everything after the flood.  And so the music was searching for new avenues as well.  Maybe it was desperation that kept me hoping someone would take the reins like Fuck Shit Piss did?  No one from this time period could fill that vacuum but not for a lack of trying. 

            I wanted to like Junkie Nuns even if they looked a little goth which annoyed the hell out of me.   I think they were going for some disjointed industrial punk or something like that.  I think everyone from that time was really into shit like Skinny Puppy, Ministry.  After the release of Thrill Kill Cult's Sex On Wheels I was big on the "industrial music" backlash and I guess I never really got over it.  Hard not to because it's a style and aesthetic that certainly hasn't aged well.  Not to say Junkie Nuns sounds like any of that shit, I mean they didn't even have synths if I recall.  So maybe they were on the Butthole Surfer end of that sound?

         Anyway back then I was still taking psychedelic drugs so I was hoping to zone out on their effects heavy music but every time I saw them a fight broke out or I wasn't high enough.  That’s how I felt about the Wholes.  It was always really close to greatness but they seemed to be holding back.  Tension.  I’m sure both bands were on as many drugs as I was on at the time if not more and that couldn’t have helped things much overall.  These recordings make me think twice about Junkie Nuns.  But I doubt I'll think about them a third time.  I'm probably not high enough.

            Also included here is Bent Tool.  Again not one of my favorite bands from that time but there is plenty of in between song gabbing that's got it's funny moments.

            But the real gem of this find as mentioned is the Foot Long demo that remained a mystery to me for so many years.  It’s not the Holy Grail of Vegas demos.  But I do give them credit for being so passionate and creative in a time of great indecision during those turbulent years.  This broadcast only includes four of the seven songs from their demo Caffeine and Adrenaline But Mostly Adrenaline.   But the songs hold up.  It sounds like a more Metal version of Lady in some respects.  I knew Todd Flannery the drummer from this band although he won’t return my Facebook prompts.  I didn’t know any of the other guys in this band.  I think.  Although I remember seeing Scott Baxter and his twin brother around a lot back then.  I never talked to them because they looked like the British Bulldogs wrestling duo.  I was prejudice thinking anyone with a bunch of muscles can’t be that cool to hang out with.  Maybe I’m wrong but I kinda doubt it.

            These songs rule.  Glad to score this one again but I’d still love to hear the rest of their demo.  Share if you got it.  I can't remember everyone's names.  Please share that info if you got it as well.    

             Much respect to all these bands for even existing during a war torn changing of the guard for LVHC.        

            I got no pictures to add to this post.  If you want to include some get in touch. 

            I’ve had a bitch of a time embedding a link on this blog which will allow you to download whole folders.  Now Mediafire is charging me $7 a month to host these files and I’ve got so many files on their server that I can’t switch to something else.  So I’m including a link which may work for downloading the whole folder.  You tell me if it works.  This rip has the entire broadcast in the sequence as it is found on the tape.  I’m including links for each individual track if the folder DL doesn’t work for you.  What a pain in the ass. 

Try to download the whole folder here.

OR...Download individual tracks below:

1.  Into- KUNV chatter- Lunch w/ PMRC

2.  Agent Orange show promo KUNV

3.  KUNV chatter

4.  KUNV/Junkie Nuns Song #1

5.  Junkie Nuns Song #2

6.  Junkie Nuns chatter

7.  Foot Long chatter

8.  Foot Long Song #1

9.  Foot Long Song #2

10.  Foot Long Song #3

11.  Foot Long Song #4

12.  KUNV/ Bent Tool chatter

13.  Bent Tool Song #1

14.  Bent Tool giveaway #1

15.  Bent Tool Song #2

16.  Bent Tool Song #3

17.  Bent Tool giveaway #2

18.  Bent Tool Song #4

19.  Bent Tool giveaway given away

20.  Bent Tool Song #5

You may have noticed I don't have the titles for these songs.  If you know the titles of any of these songs feel free to share in the comments section.

furthermore...

            I forgot to mention another big reason for why I started ripping old demos for this blog.  Sure I’m disgusted that history is repeatedly getting flushed down the shitter, and yes my brief obsession with music blogs prompted me to create a film deconstructing hardcore punk within the confines of a memorable LSD trip, but ultimately the thrust of the demo portion of this project has been fueled by this smoking audio recorder I bought four years ago. 

            I bought this Edirol R4 professional grade 4 channel hard drive audio recorder with the intention of using it to make more films.  Instead I’ve increasingly been making animated films which doesn’t require real time audio recording.  As a result the R4 sat on the shelf for a long while and I started feeling guilty that I spent a couple hundred bucks for this neat little toy and was barely using it.  The Edirol is my key to making moldy shit encrusted demos sound barely listenable as new mp3 files. 

            The process is fairly simple and not as time consuming as you might imagine.  I pop the cassettes into my cassette deck which I somehow never got rid of, I send the cassette’s signal through my dj mixer which has an XLR out, and the mix goes direct into the Edirol.  The DJ mixer includes a rudimentary three band EQ which has been enough so far to allow me to make a few adjustments to the quality of the signal before it hits the Edirol’s memory.  Considering the source material a three band EQ is all I really need.  And believe me some of these tapes really needed to be cleaned up.  From there I import the clips through USB into my Mac computer and I make the edits using Garageband.  I add no effects and no manipulation in Garageband aside from cutting the music into smaller mp3 files.  After Garageband the clips get imported into itunes where I then convert to mp3. I try to keep the running time the same as the running time on the cassette although I noticed recently that itunes puts a little two second delay at the end of each file which is bullshit.  Anyone know how to get rid of that?  

            During this “mastering” process I’m able to listen to the material usually three or more times which gives me enough ammunition to write my own recollections and observations.  Which is something I neglected to do with the Pinball post.  I started writing long before I heard the demo but it still turned out funny anyway.  So fuck it. 

            The reason I bring this up is to share my process so other people with a similar interest of ripping Vegas past will approach it with a level of care that the material needs.  DON’T GET ME WRONG.  This stuff ain’t Steely Dan.  Most doesn’t need a fine tooth comb to be ripped.  Case in point, I was recently approached by a Michael Larson.  He let me know that he has a stock pile of old KUNV recordings and he’s started a ripping project of his own.  He sent me a link to his first foray into this rediscovered territory and I’ve posted the link below. 

            It’s great he’s taken the time to help archive these lost recordings and I hope my “mastering” advice will go to him with a grain of salt.  This first recording is a marvel of old timey KUNV archeology.  It’s a Local’s Only broadcast from Lunch With the PMRC featuring Zub Zub.  (Ironically the other day my good friend Nate Robards sent me a cassette of a different Lunch w/ the PMRC broadcast which I’ll be sharing in the near future.)

            It’s good to hear and it’s my hope that people who come here may download give it a listen.  My main criticism of the recording is the faint nature of the sound.  The gain needs to be turned way up on this recording.  I’m unaware of how he does these rips but he may be unable to bring this recording volume any higher without including a pre-amp in the process to boost the signal.  The DJ mixer I use acts as a pre-amp for my set up but I mostly use it for the EQ since I think the Edirol has a built in pre-amp.  A stereo receiver can be used as a pre-amp as well.   I also feel a little tightening up with the editing could be in order with this mp3 file.  There are a few “dead air” gaps within the clip that make it a little hard to keep your attention.  Again, I don’t know what equipment he’s using and this is his first attempt.  Let’s hope there’ll be more.    

            I'm nitpicking.  I'm sure you'll agree it’s a wonderful thing that Michael is willing to put time into sharing these treasures.  The mp3 in question is one file that runs about 25-30 minutes in length.  The technical problems inherent in this clip are things that make the recording appear more as a curiosity as opposed to something I might want to listen to more than once.  That’s what I mean when I talk about the level of care needed to maintain the integrity of the music. 

            For these KUNV recordings maybe it is all about nostalgia?  So fuck integrity.  I personally don't mind seeing these broadcasts lumped into one file.  That's how you would hear it on cassette.  It just get's a little dicey when you want to hear one song out of the mix and you're not able to do it without manipulating it yourself.  I'm glad it's getting out there anyway.   

             Whatever the case I'm thankful to Michael and hope he continues bringing us some more hits or shits as the case may be.

Here's the link:

http://www.sendspace.com/file/vl5d28