Moral Stain: 7-31-2015

Setlist:
Ramleh - Hole In The Heart
Pure - Sciamachy
My 3 Sons - Starving Artist
Blue Sabbath Black Fiji - You Hit The Funk / Six Fingers For California
Index - Turquoise Feline
Drunks With Guns - Leprosy
No Trend - Blow Dry
No Aid - Charlie Wutz

Ramleh - "Hole In The Heart"

Off of "Hole In The Heart," released on Broken Flag in 1987, reissued with bonus tracks in 2009.

A jumble of undefinable genres and sounds, Ramleh's landmark in the British Industrial / Power Electronics scene, Hole In The Heart, is quite a treat! The original cassette was taken up by 4 songs, all intense drones. The Double CD reissue however, contains 13 tracks; one reaching 25 minutes in length (True Religion). Tons of great songs on this reissue. Do Not Come Near, Product Of Fear, Grazing On Fear 2, Spear Flowers, and well, pretty much the whole tracklist is great. The main stick out track (besides True Religion because of its length) is the great 4 minute blast title track, Hole In The Heart. Blasting synths (or are they guitars being ran through synths? I dunno, man.) and a dude yelling. The last 15 seconds is the best outro I've ever heard in a song, except impossibly the outro to Blow Dry by No Trend.

The cover of the album is depressingly majestic. Extremely reflective of the music; Hole In The Heart's 2009 repress hosts a very fitting cover. A desolate wasteland with a long forgotten road, dead trees and a old, long abandoned factory off in the distance. I was never too fond towards Power Electronics / Death Industrial, (it's a very stagnant genre that's appeal lies in excess) but I felt the British PE crowd always knew what they were doing aesthetic wise. The original 1987 press hosts a very fitting photo of Jean Genet, but I better stop; I can talk about Gary Mundy and his buddies all day.

Pure - "Sciamachy"

Off of "Fetor," released on Birthbiter in 1987, repressed on Freak Animal Records in 2007.

Another crowning achievement of Power Electronics in 1987, Fetor, despite having little to no press published on it and lacking a notable label backing it, it became a classic of Power Electronics. Power Electronics may not be the right term however, because much like their friends Ramleh, Pure is harder to tag down. Lo-Fi production (even for PE) and tendencies to sway towards Noise Rock, Pure's Fetor is, along with Hole In The Heart, a case of true artistic foresight is present. Pure is most known for having member Matthew Bower, (Skullflower) who coined the future sound of Skullflower and even mid-period Ramleh on this tape.

The history behind Fetor is a whirlpool of confusion; however. During their initial frame of activity, Pure never released any material; only played shows. Not long after their breakup, the label Birthbiter came forward and asked Matthew Bower for recorded material to release. Matthew Bower sent back what was mostly solo work, which was released as Fetor, under the Pure name. Pure did boot an untitled tape in 1983, and that tape is usually referred too as a true Pure release, unlike Fetor.

My 3 Sons - "Starving Artist"

Off of the "Starving Artist / In The Beginning" single, released on Buy Our Records in 1984.

Strange, obscure Noise Rock not completely unlike Flipper and No Trend. From New Jersey, My 3 Sons saw a short time together as a band and as a result only released one single. They did record more; however; the songs "Untitled 13" and "People Who Bleed" where featured on the 1985 V/A comp "New Jersey's Got It?" also on Buy Our Records, the label that gave us this single. Driving simple Art Punk with Flipper-esque blasts of feedback here and there. Most American Punk scenes had a scuzzy, fucked up noise rock group to keep the punks in like (DC had No Trend, San Francisco had Flipper, New York had Swans, and so on) so it's no suprise a Noise Punk band arose form the New Jersey punk scene.

There was a compilation of My 3 Sons studio sessions (most of the tracks previously unreleased) slated several years ago but it fell through. Although I'm not too big on My 3 Sons, I'd enjoy too hear more.

Blue Sabbath Black Fiji - "You Hit The Funk / Six Fingers For California"

Off of the "Mistake Of A Small Bird" LP, released independently in 2010.

I put the 2 tracks together since they flow into each other so well, if you're wondering. Blue Sabbath Black Fiji (possibly a parody on Blue Sabbath Black Cheer) are all about making loud, thundering, albeit fun noise music. Using guitars and mics hooked up into a soundboard and mixing table whilst being backed by a drum kit or drum machine, the European duo mainly operated from the mid 2000's to the the early 2010's. I had the pleasure of bringing this home after an acquaintance sold it too me. Taking the better aspects of Wolf Eyes and Black Dice and mixing them with weird underground rock (Chrome, Hawkwind and The Butthole Surfers seem to be a sonic inspiration) is an excellent way to develop a unique, albeit confusing sound.

Index - "Turquoise Feline"

Off "The Index (Black Label Album)" LP, released on DC records in 1967, repressed in the mid 80's by Voxx records and in 2004 and 2013 by Varlord Records.

An explosion of wahwah and reverb, Turquoise Feline is just a glimpse of the masterpiece that is Index's 1967 debut. Recorded in a basement by 3 seniors in high school, The Index (Black Label Album) is a long forgotten classic of American underground music. Index doesn't sound like they debuted in 1967, but more so the mid to late 80's during post-punk and the garage revival. Along with Ptooff! and Black Monk Time, Black Label Album is definitely ahead of it's time, and along with VU & Nico, Black Label Album still sounds like it could be released today, despite being nearly 50 years old.

Varying from the proto-shoegaze tracks like Eight Miles High and Israeli Blues to the garage rock jams John Riley and You Keep Me Hanging On to the psychedelic Fire Eyes and Turquoise Feline to even the ball busting noise rock track Feedback, beating Sister Ray by a year.

Drunks With Guns - "Leprosy"

Off the "Alter Human Industrial Fetishisms" EP released on Dental records in 1987 and the "Second Verses" compilation EP released on Intellectual Convulsion records in 1990.

LLLLEEEPROOOOSYYYYY! Here DWG presents us great noise punk with the lo-fi punch of Rusted Shut mixed with the noise rock squeals of Flipper and a scummy industrial aesthetic to top it off. Drunks With Guns are one of the few notable underground St. Louis bands of the 80s/90s, and for good reason! If you listen to alot of 80's and 90's Noise Rock / Hardcore Punk you're probably familiar with DWG's sound. I would've used "Wonderful Subdivision" from their self titled album, but I couldn't find a good rip. Ha!

No Trend - "Blow Dry"

Off the "Too Many Humans...." LP, self-released in 1983/1984.

No Trend... what to say? One Of My All Time favorite bands. The legacy, the philosophy, the music... all incredible. I could never do them justice, so here's some links.

Teen Beat