Download issue as PDF - SLUG Magazine

Spacemen 3Taking Drugs To Make MusicTo Take Drugs ToBomp Recordsspacemen 3 have been undergroundd~lings for a numberof years. They've seen anabundance of recordingsreleased in the last severalyears by the band or an offshootthereof. Taking Drugs.. .is subtitled "TheNorthhampton Demos." It isbasically a CD of a demo tapewhich resulted in the band -being signed to nr/GlassRecords. Portions of therecording we* released on arecord of the same title in1990. Spacemen 3 personnelat the time were Pete "SonicBoom" Kember (guitars,vocals, feedback), Jason Pierce(guitar, vocals), Pete"Bassman" Bah (bass) andNatty Brooker (percussion).Velvet Underground referencesare never ending 'as thedisc spins round and kund.Thewhite noise guitar fails todrown out the pop pretensionsthe band was capableof.. .if they so desired. Afterall, Pat Fish of the JazzButcher had a hand in gettingthem signed. Several alternatetakes are included with earlyversions of songs that wouldappear on lateralbums alongwith a couple of covers. For ademo recorded in three dayscompletely lacking in overdubsTaking Drugs.. .stands onits own as one of the betterSpacemen 3 recordings."Stoner" music at its best.The HumpersLive Forever Or Die TyingEpitaphCan I just tell you how muchI hate this band. I hate thisband like I hate when I findmy dog blowing the neighborkids. Cause I know somebodyis gonna do it everytime Iturn around. Put out badfuckin music, that is. Justgive me one good record onEpitaph come on guys stop.putting out this three chordkiddie tqnes. Punk didn'twork the first time.-Sausage KingSWALESSwalesWhat's His NameBar/NoneHere's a band that mighthave made their biggestmistake with the CD cover.It's a simple black and whiteof a pregnant female seated infront of an American flag. Iwas thinking punk rock allthe way. In fact the CD nearlyescaped my attention alltogetheq because of the cover.Now think all the way backto the early '80s and a fewbands that are mostlyforgotten:The Kings forexample. Roes anyoneremember the powerful . ,beauty of "Switchin' ToGlide" on the radio?How about the Jags firstalbum? "One More Mistake"opens the album with powerpop- actual power-pop - notthe '90s imitation version. Thelyries describe the usualboy/girl relationship. "Sothey head inside and makeone more mistake." It makesme nostalgic for a time dimlyremembered. The time whenthere was only an AM radioin @ car. Top 40 playedexciting music. Not that thetune islu3tro: at all nor does itsound anything like the past.It's simply a great job of bothwritingand playing. Nothingelse on the album can matchit. The rest isn't simply filler.There are tons of guests joiningthe Swales. It's a fullyeffort that be& forrepeating just to catch thedepth of the instrumentation.No punk rock, squeal, guitarpyrotechnics or any gimmicksat all. Just plain old-fashionedrock 'n' roll. ~eartland's rock'n' roll with a few nods to thecountry. Supreme songwritingand hook filled songs theart of which are lost ontoday's audience. The recordof the month that actuallyappeared in the mailbox lastmonth.The Dogmatics ,1981-86Vagrant Records -This is a really good recordfor a punk record, of course itis compiled from stuff from81-86 so it came out in theAmerican punk movement.This band is from Bostonmaking music before theywould let Juliana Hatfieldinto a club. The only realDownside with this record isthat it is dated and probablytrying to cash in on the alterna-explosion.God I hatewhen I get a complete set ofsongs by a band that won'tever record again. At least Idon't have to look for anymore records huh?-Sausage KingBeyondReassemblepavemeit MusicYet another potential soundtrackfor DOOM players. Seethe review for BLOODLET,it's interchangeable, and ifyou're into this kinda thingalso check out MEATHOOKSEED.+ANDLagwagonHossFat Wreck ChordsThis has the best cover I'veseen in a long time. Nothingbeats Hoss from Bonanza.This record sure fuckin don'tbeat anything but itself in adark closet. The music is notbad but this guys voice iskillin me smalls. It's thattinny kind of wKdg voicethat kills you every time. DagNasty did it well this bandjust does it. I hate when goodmusic becomes popular andthen the whole world tries tocopy the pasts formulas forsuccess. I suppose if you likekiddie core you'll love thisrecord look for my copy inthe used bin.-Sausage KineContinued on Page 40- I-