84 Flesh

84 Flesh was a French punk band from Paris, previously known as 1984 and formed by Henry Flesh, Frederick Goddard and Pierre Goddard, and which will last barely 1 year, between 1977 and 1978. The band will become Suicide Roméo. Their only output was the 7" single 'Salted City / D-Section' (1978, Skydog) . Both tracks on this single were compiled on KBD, and shows an angry, hard-hitting and dirty 70s punk rockers. The A-side is faster, the B-side is more melodic, but both are good. [SOURCE: RATE YOUR MUSIC]

 

Pionier Seriös

Pionier Seriös was a Neue Deutsche Welle band formed in Berlin. Members were Jürgen Baldiga (vocals, lyrics, drum machine), Eschi Rehm (analog synthesizer), member of Die Gesunden and Zazie Und Ihre Freunde, and founder of Warmer Südwind, German rock band from the late 1970s consisting, besides of Eschi Rehm, of Reiner Borchert and Bent Jacobsen, with LP 'Schwul' as their only album in 1977 with Trikont. The lyrics, written by Eschi Rehm and Reinhard von der Marwitz, openly address the homosexuality of the band members and their self-image as gays, which is why Warmer Südwind are considered the first gay rock band in Germany.  

 

Other members were Mabel Aschenneller (synthesizer, Farfisa), real name Klaus-Michael Aschenneller and member also of Die Gesunden, Transplantis and Zazie Und Ihre Freunde; and Thomas Wydler (drums), Swiss musician, born 9 October 1959 in Zurich, Switzerland and member of Alert!, Die Gesunden, Die Haut, Die Unbekannten, Kraft Durch Freude, Mutterfreuden, Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds, Sultans Of Gedankenbrain, Tanger Trio, The Moron Tabernacle Choir and The Notorious Heffel Bros. They only released the tape 'Berlin' on Das Cassetten Combinat in 1981, recorded in Music Lab Studio, Berlin, Moabit in 1980.

The Wannadies

Swedish alternative pop / rock band formed in 1988, The Wannadies are one of Sweden's sweetest secrets, a band that was lucky enough to look beyond the pop sensations of ABBA, Ace of Base, and Roxette to establish a career inside modern rock. Hailing from Skelleftea, The Wannadies formed in the late '80s and brought Sweden's alternative rock scene to the forefront nearly a decade later. Pär Wiksten (vocals/guitar), Stefan Schönfeldt (guitar), Fredrik Schönfeldt (bass), Gunnar Karlsson (drums), and Christina Bergmark (organ) issued two independent albums in the early '90s, but it wasn't until 1995 that The Wannadies truly got what they were looking for. Their sound was more glossy and the U.K. quickly took notice. A deal with Indolent led to the release of a third album, entitled 'Be a Girl'. Singles "You & Me Song" and "Might Be Stars" crashed the U.K.'s Top 20 and became NME favorites. Festival gigs across England also plugged The Wannadies campy rock appeal, allowing the fourth album, 'Bagsy Me', to also skyrocket in 1996. Drummer Gunnar Karlsson left the band shortly thereafter and Erik Dahlgren stepped in just in time for a joint tour with The Lighting Seeds. The Wannadies seemed unstoppable. Producer Nellee Hooper handpicked "You & Me Song" for the multi-successful "Romeo & Juliet" soundtrack in 1997, and the band gained college radio play in North America. Success was short-lived, however. The Wannadies constantly battled record labels and contractual responsibilities during the latter '90s. They took a two-year break from the industry and worked with Ric Ocasek for 1999's 'Yeah'. The U.S. finally saw the release of 'Yeah' a year later. After a break since 2002, in the autumn of 2020, Wannadies released their first single in 18 years, 'Can't Kill The Musikk', and announced shortly afterwards that the band is booked for a new tour in the spring of 2022. [SOURCE: ALLMUSIC]

Die Vitalienbrüder

Die Vitalienbrüder was a German Punk band formed by Ben Becker (Vocals; German actor, voice actor and singer. Born 19 December 1964 in Bremen, also in Ben Ben And No Ben and The Zero Tolerance Band), Dietrich Bergmann -aka Fetisch- (Synthesizer, and later in dance bands Axis, Ballistic Affair, Copyright, Lotterboys, Lottergirls, Terranova, The Cosmonauts Of Innerspace and Turntable Terranova), Gode Benedix -real name Detlef Benedix- (Guitar; movie and TV-actor from Berlin) and Robbie Reichsbahn (Drums). They only released the 'Die Vitalienbrüder' cassette single on Das Cassetten Combinat, recorded in 1981 in the basement of the Cassettencombinat, Naumannstraße in Berlin Schöneberg. 

 

Frau Siebenrock Combo

Frau Siebenrock Combo was a Neue Deutsche Welle and Minimal Wave band formed by Rene Calvetti (Lemmy Und Die Schmöker), Leffy Leffringhausen (co-founder of Das Cassetten Combinat and co-owner of Combinatsstudio), and Charlotte Siebenrock. Their sole release was the cassette 'Zäh Wie Gold' in 1981 on Das Cassetten Combinat, a very shortlived but influencial german cassette label, production company (O.U.T. Production), studio (Combinatsstudio) and shop from West Berlin, run mostly by the Kiddy Citny and Leffy Leffringhausen in 1981, but also sometimes by other members of Ohne Unter Titel. In 1980 Leffy bought a Teac 144 4-track recorder and they obtained the sound padding, when the West Berlin club "Excess" closed. Soon after the opened their 30 square meters basement studio. Everybody could record there for just 100 DM per day. Interested artists could have their work published, promoted and distributed via their label. In the tiny shop they also sold selected other tape releases, e.g. the work of Klar! 80. Their shop closed in early 1982, so did the label. In 1982 it was reformed as Das Cassettencombinat by Thomas Schmitt and Thomas Scholz, both members of T.A.S.S. II. 

 

Alexander Von Borsig

Alexander Hacke (also known as Alexander von Borsig, Alex Hacke, Hacke, born 11 October 1965) is a guitarist, bass guitarist, singer, musician, record producer, writer and film maker from Germany. He is primarily known as a longtime member of the influential German industrial music group Einstürzende Neubauten. 

 

Hacke has released two full-length solo albums, and has also collaborated with many other artists, such as Robert Rutman, The Tiger Lillies, Danielle de Picciotto, FM Einheit, Crime & the City Solution, Phew, Gianna Nannini, Gry, Miranda Sex Garden, Terranova, Sprung Aus Den Wolken, Wovenhand, David Yow, Mona Mur, Die Ichs, Schlaflose Naechte, Fred Alpi and others. 

 

In the early 1980s he released a few solo tapes and mini-albums, such as 'Hiroshima'. He became a long-time member of Einstürzende Neubauten and also was a member of several other bands, such as Sentimentale Jugend (with Christiane Vera Felscherinow, also known as Christiane F.), Sprung Aus Den Wolken and Mona Mur. In 1980, at the age of fifteen, he joined Einstürzende Neubauten, which had been formed earlier the same year. Hacke played guitar and worked with the band's sound until the mid 1990s. Then he changed from guitar to bass and is now a bass player and, according to band leader Blixa Bargeld, "a musical director of the band". 

 

Hacke's first full-length solo album was 'Filmarbeiten' (1992). In the 1990s he was frontman of the band Jever Mountain Boys, who played their favorite songs, particularly country music cover-versions. In 2003 Alexander Hacke and his longtime partner Danielle de Picciotto (married since 2006) organized the monthly event "BadaBing" in the famous Berlin 70s Club "Big Eden", presenting new and unusual bands and in this way initiating a new wave of Berlin-oriented "Futur-electroclash" music all over Europe.

 

They travel extensively performing multimedia shows together and presenting workshops on Berlin underground culture. In 2004, Danielle de Picciotto produced a documentary on Einstürzende Neubauten for which Alexander Hacke did the sound design. In 2005 Hacke and de Picciotto conceived and directed "The Mountains of Madness", an audio/visual live show based on stories by H. P. Lovecraft, inviting the English Trio The Tiger Lillies to participate and perform in the successful production throughout Europe. 

 

In the 2000s Hacke created the album 'Sanctuary' (released in 2005), travelling with a mobile recorder in Europe and North America and collaborating with numerous artists, such as J.G.Thirlwell (Foetus), Caspar Brötzmann, Larry Mullins (Toby Dammit), Vinnie Signorelli (Unsane), Michael Evans (KBZ 200), Sugarpie Jones (Celebrity Skin), Bob Rutman (Steel Cello Ensemble), Nils Wohlrabe (The Leather Nun), Gianna Nannini, Andrew Chudy (alias N.U. Unruh, Einstürzende Neubauten), Lary 7 (The Analog Society), and David Yow (The Jesus Lizard). In the reviews on this album Hacke was compared to Frank Zappa and Captain Beefheart. The "Road Record", an excerpt of which can be seen on 'Sanctuary', was documented by de Picciotto, describing the revolutionary recording style Hacke used to produce the record. 

 

Hacke also contributed to several soundtracks to such films as "Sonnenallee" and "Das Wilde Leben"(biography of Uschi Obermaier, 2006/07). Hacke produced music for Fatih Akın's film "Head-On" (2004) and is a main character in "Crossing the Bridge: The Sound of Istanbul" (2005), Akın's documentary of the Istanbul music scene. On several occasions he reunited on stage with FM Einheit (ex-Einstürzende Neubauten) for an experimental performance.

 

Alexander Hacke's first noteworthy girlfriend was Christiane F., who became famous with the internationally acclaimed movie and book "Wir Kinder vom Bahnhof Zoo", a biography of her heroin addiction. They performed together in Europe and the US with their band Sentimentale Jugend and also appeared together in the movie "Decoder" in 1983. On 3 October 1989, Hacke's son Joshua was born in Berlin. His mother is Angela Mettbach, a Berlin nightlife figure who had a short-lived musical career with her band Octopussy. Hacke was briefly married to German actress and singer Meret Becker and was involved in her musical career. Becker guested on Einstürzende Neubauten's album 'Ende Neu'. In 2006, Hacke married his longtime partner Danielle de Picciotto, an American Berlin-based multimedia artist who is known for having founded the Berlin Love Parade together with Dr Motte and for singing in the band Space Cowboys. [SOURCE: WIKIPEDIA] 

Ohne Unter Titel

Ohne Unter Titel was an Neue Deutsche Welle and experimental band formed in Berlin. Members were  Nina Hagen (vocals), Kiddy Citny, Leffy Leffringhausen (aka Lefty Flamingo, co-founder of Das Cassetten Combinat, co-owner of Combinatsstudio and musician member also of Frau Siebenrock Combo and Lemmy Und Die Schmöker), and Manon Pepita Duursma (also in Malaria!, Matador and Mutabor!). Also Known As Ohne Untertitel, O.U.T., O.U.T. Production or OUT Production all their releases were issued by Das Cassetten Combinat, a very shortlived but influencial german cassette label, production company (O.U.T. Production), studio (Combinatsstudio) and shop from West Berlin, run mostly by Kiddy Citny and Leffy Leffringhausen in 1981, but also sometimes by other members of Ohne Unter Titel. 

Einwegexistenz

Einwegexistenz (also Ein Weg Existenz, One Way Exis Tenz or, Oneway Exis Tenz) is another project by Kiddy Citny, a German musician and painter, founder of Sprung Aus Den Wolken and member of other groups such Die Chefs, Die Schlampen, Ohne Unter Titel, or Transplantis.  Einwegexistenz  released two cassettes: 'Ein Arbeitsbericht' ‎in Das Cassetten Combinat in 1981 and the self-released 'One Way Existenz 01/1'.

Zelda

Zelda (ゼルダ), stylized as ZELDA, was a Japanese rock band active in the 1980s and 1990s. They played a pioneering role as one of Japan's first all-girl bands. Led by Sachiho Kojima (小嶋さちほ), the band covered an impressive range of musical genres, from new wave, punk, pop, post-punk, and later, reggae. Zelda played a seminal role for later bands with their forays into roots music and experimental sounds.

 

In 1980 Sayoko Takahashi (高橋佐代子) joins as vocalist at age 15, and the next year the band have their major debut on 25 August with the simultaneous release of their first album 'ZELDA' and the single 'Mirage Lover' through Nippon Phonogram (later Mercury Music Entertainment, now absorbed by Universal Music KK). The band lineup at the time is: Kojima, Takahashi, Yōko Suzuki (鈴木洋子, guitar) and Kuniko Nozawa (野沢久仁子, drums). In 1983 Fukie Ishihara (石原富紀江) takes over as guitarist, and Ako Ozawa (小沢亜子) becomes the band's drummer. Next year Kojima and Takahashi form side project Maneki-neko Kagekidan (招き猫カゲキ団), releasing the album 'Dai-ichi Kakyoku-shū' ('第一歌曲集') in September. 

 

In 1985 Zelda moves to CBS Sony (Sony Music Entertainment) and the next year appears in the movie "The New Dawn of Billy the Kid" ("ビリー・ザ・キッドの新しい夜明け"). In 1990 Ishihara leaves the band and Zelda takes a one-year break, during which time they move to the cutting edge label (avex). In 1991 Naomi Motomura (本村直美) joins as guitarista and in 1996 Zelda disbands. [SOURCE: WIKIPEDIA] 

 

Voïvod

Since the mid-'80s, northern Quebec's Voivod have forged a unique and globally influential sonic identity. Their shifting personnel has never tempered their iconoclastic yet ever-evolving sound, which juxtaposes death and thrash metal with dissonant prog and hard rock, fueled by jazzy riffs, odd and quickly shifting time signatures, home-made sound effects, and manic, thundering drums. Their lyric themes are inspired by dystopian and sci-fi imagery, political critique, and keen societal observation. Voivod made their international debut on Metal Blade with 1984's 'War & Pain', offering a glimpse of the hoary, shapeshifting array of sounds that fully emerged on 1986's 'Rrröööaaarrr' and 1987's 'Killing Technology'. 1989's 'Nothingface' became their biggest commercial success and made the American charts, while 1991's 'Angel Rat' established their global reputation. 2001's self-titled offering included former Metallica bassist Jason Newsted. Voivod won a Juno (Canada's Grammy equivalent) for 2019's 'The Wake'. The quartet returned with 'Synchro Anarchy' in 2022 to celebrate their 40th anniversary.

 
Voivod was formed in 1982 in Jonquière, Quebec (now Saguenay, Quebec), about 50 kilometers north of Montreal. Its original lineup included guitarist Denis "Piggy" D'Amour, drummer Michel "Away" Langevin, vocalist Denis "Snake" Belanger, and bassist Jean-Yves "Blacky" Theriault. Deeply influenced by the emergence of hardcore punk, '70s prog rock, and the New Wave of British Heavy Metal, Voivod set out to create a truly original sound. To that end they forged a distinctive brand of heavy music whose lyric themes reflected then-relevant Cold War politics, post-apocalyptic literature, and science fiction. Their self-issued debut cassette, 'Anachronism', offered 22 covers of tunes by Venom, Motörhead (their two greatest influences), Judas Priest, Budgie, and others. They followed it with 'War & Pain', their 1984 Metal Blade debut. It was adorned with Langevin's cover art, further signifying their brand -the drummer has created the cover art for each album since. Produced by the band, it offered a roaring, lo-fi intro into the band's kaleidoscopic early vision of heaviness. 

Voivod introduced more thrash-oriented fare on 1986's 'Rrröööaaarrr'. They came into their own on 1987's 'Killing Technology', wherein they revealed the extent of how fast, aggressive, and technical they could play, developing an early model for technical death metal in the process. The album's sound kept the thrashcore, but spiraled out to embrace prog (via Piggy's remarkably dissonant syncopated rhythmic approach to guitar playing and Belanger's gritty, punky vocal attack). Interestingly, while the underground press celebrated the band's originality and aggression, the mainstream rock press, deeply enamored with that decade's hair metal phenomenon, offered only derision -and it would be years before they caught up. 1988's 'Dimension Hatröss' marked the band's first significant architectural alteration to their sound. For starters, the rhythm section offered enhanced, often-syncopated grooves that depended less on speed/thrash tropes; they used the latter only to relieve the pressure generated by Piggy's jazz-tinged guitar playing, which impossibly blurred the traditional roles of lead and rhythm. Their songwriting was dense and disjointed, full of asides, intros, interludes, and jagged transitions, it presented listeners with a challenge. A confrontational outing, it is regarded as one of the band's finest efforts, the first to showcase all the complexities in their sound, and a blueprint for 21st century prog metal. 

Voivod signed to MCA for 1989's 'Nothingface'. They had perfected their trademark fusion style after hundreds of road and club dates, resulting in the most commercially successful release of their career, spearheaded by a video for their cover of Pink Floyd's "Astronomy Domine" (which enjoyed airings on MTV's Headbangers Ball) and a headlining tour featuring a pair of bands that would change the landscape of rock by the early '90s, Soundgarden and Faith No More. 

 

Rather than capitalize on the commercial success of their previous outing, 1991's 'Angel Rat' became one of the band's most misunderstood releases. The album left thrash and speed and, for the most part, prog by the roadside. Instead they opted to explore a more accessible rockist take on garage- and post-punk that informed the development of alternative metal. Fans and the indie press initially greeted the album with confusion and some hostility. With repeated listening, however, most came around. Despite its artistic merit, 'Angel Rat's failure to match the commercial success of 'Nothingface' led to the interference of MCA and created internal conflict between bandmembers, resulting in the departure of Blacky, and the band went on hiatus while looking for a new bassist. 

After a lengthy search, they settled on session bassist Pierre St. Jean, and started writing and recording 1993's 'The Outer Limits' for Geffen Records. The album featured the band's grandest production level yet with the heavily textured sound of Piggy's guitars amid the swinging, groove-laden approach of the rhythm section. The biggest improvement, however, was in the presentation of Belanger's superb vocal performance. While the majority of the songs continued to chug along the hard-cum-prog rock trajectory showcased on 'Angel Rat', the music sounded more kinetic and less clinical. They offered another Pink Floyd cover in "The Nile Song" and included the labyrinthine, 17-minute long "Jack the Luminous"; it remains one of the band's most complex compositions. Unfortunately, after completing a support tour, vocalist Belanger left Voivod as well.

 
Belanger's departure marked the beginning of a period in the wilderness that would bring tragedy, redemption, and ultimately, rebirth. By the mid-'90s, Voivod's lineup had been scaled down to a trio -newcomer Eric Forrest doubled on vocals and bass- resulting in 1995's 'Negatron', an extremely dark, industrial-sounding album, and 1997's punishing, noisy, dissonant, doomy left turn 'Phobos', which garnered better reviews, and sales, than its immediate predecessor and closed with a riveting cover of King Crimson's "21st Century Schizoid Man." The odds-and-ends compilation 'Kronik' and the live set 'Lives' saw release in 2000. 

Forrest departed Voivod in early 2001, and the remaining members decided to call it a day. That said, the band reunited later that year with Belanger back on vocals and the appearance of ex-Metallica bassist Jason Newsted in the ranks. This quartet issued the eponymous 'Voivod' album in 2003 to mixed reviews. After touring the album, D'Amour began writing in earnest. The band scheduled several recording sessions for the spring and summer of 2005. In June he was diagnosed with colon cancer. After scheduling a routine operation, several complications developed leading doctors to diagnose the cancer as metastatic, rendering an operation non-viable. D'Amour slipped into a coma in the palliative care unit of a Montreal hospital on August 25, 2005. He died the following day surrounded by family, friends, and bandmates. On his death bed, D'Amour instructed his bandmates on how to complete his contributions to the band's forthcoming offering 'Katorz', which arrived in 2006. It was greeted with positive reviews for its display of the rootsier, hard rock/death metal/post-punk hybrid they'd developed with Newsted. 

 

Piggy had also left numerous songs and arrangements for another album on his laptop. In 2009, Voivod used his demos, guitar parts, and arrangements and constructed the album 'Infini', co-produced with Glenn Robinson; all of Piggy's original guitar parts were added without editing, re-recording, or overdubbing. It was to be Voivod's final album. The band toured across Europe, Japan, and North America as a farewell, with Martyr's Daniel "Chewy" Mongrain on guitar, a friend and fan of D'Amour's. The tour also saw the return of Jean-Yves-Theriault on bass. A 2009 show at Montreal's Club Soda was recorded and eventually released as 'Warriors of Ice' on Sonic Unyon Metal in 2011. 

Voivod didn't split after all. Mongrain became D'Amour's permanent replacement and the band released their 13th studio album, 'Target Earth', in January of 2013. The single 'Kluskap O'Kom' followed, as did an international tour. After completing the tour in 2014, Blacky left again; he was replaced by Dominique "Rocky" Laroche. 

Voivod toured for the next year to break in their new bassist. In 2015 they issued a pair of split singles: 'We Are Connected b/w Language of the Dead' by At the Gates, and 'Forever Mountain b/w Phonetics for the Stupefied' by Napalm Death. Those two tracks, a widely acclaimed cover of Hawkwind's "Silver Machine," and two new songs made up the 'Post Society' EP, released by Century Media in February 2016. Two years later, the full-length 'The Wake' arrived. Recorded and mixed by Francis Perron at Canada's RadicArt Recording Studio, it consisted of futuristic prog/thrash metal and mutant psychedelia, and employed a string quartet. The album won critical acclaim and commercial success. Many metal critics compared it to the trilogy of 'Killing Technology', 'Dimension Hatross', and 'Nothingface'. The Canadian music industry rewarded Voivod with a Juno award for Heavy Metal Album of the year. The following year, Century Media issued 'Lost Machine: Live' recorded in Quebec City during the 2019 support tour for 'The Wake', performing material ranging from across their career. 

Despite being quarantined during the COVID-19 pandemic, Voivod spent much of the last half of 2021 in the studio, with the returning Perron producing, mixing, and mastering an album titled 'Synchro Anarchy'. Released in February 2022, it appeared as the band celebrated its 40th anniversary. [SOURCE: ALLMUSIC]

 

Yasuaki Shimizu

Musical boundaries are no barrier to Yasuaki Shimizu, whose forty-year career spans an impressively broad range of genres. He is recognized for his crossover albums, film soundtracks, and high-profile installations and collaborations. His peerless back catalog reached a wider audience following the 2015 reissue of his band Mariah’s 1983 classic 'Utakata no Hibi', a masterful hybrid of Japanese folk and pop idioms. Reissued in 2017, cult favorite 'Kakashi' playfully weaves together minimal dub and musique concrète. 

In the mid-1990s, Shimizu’s passion for the music of J.S. Bach surfaced in two groundbreaking recordings of the entire 'Cello Suites' -the first-ever tenor saxophone interpretations of these pieces. Shimizu has also recorded as Yasuaki Shimizu & Saxophonettes, and in 2006 he relaunched The Saxophonettes as a saxophone quintet. Following the release of 'Pentatonica' (2007), an album of original and traditional pentatonic tunes, Shimizu returned his focus to Bach, releasing his arrangement -for five saxophones and four contrabasses- of the 'Goldberg Variations' in 2015. 

A prolific composer for film and TV, Shimizu has produced soundtracks for, among many others, the Oscar-nominated documentary "Cutie and the Boxer" (2013), which won Outstanding Achievement for Original Music Score at the Cinema Eye Honors. 

Shimizu’s boundary-breaking approach to music goes beyond composition and performance. He views physical space as an extension of his instrument, and often “plays the space,” making use of unique acoustic environments in which to record and play. [SOURCE: YASUAKI-SHIMIZU.COM]

 

X Ray Z

X-Ray-Z is recognized as one of Australia's pioneering new wave outfits. The band had its roots in Adelaide pub band Rufus Red, but sensing a change in the musical climate the band adopted a 'poor image', renamed themselves X-Ray-Z and moved to Melbourne in early 1977. Here they set about establishing an identity on the inner city pub circuit. The first single put out by X-Ray-Z in 1978 had three songs, "Poor Image", "Sledgehammer Hit" and "Citizen John". These tracks plus one other titled "Kodak Moments" were recorded as demos and released as a Maxi-Single in 1978. ("Kodak Moments" was omitted and therefore not mastered.) In early 1978, X-Ray-Z had signed to Suicide Records and contributed "Three More Glorious Years" (vintage diatribe against the Fraser Government) and "Valium" to the 'Lethal Weapons' album (1978). By the end of 1978 X-Ray-Z had mutated into Popgun Men. X-Ray-Z line-up included Peter Rich (Vocals/Sax, real name Peter Doley), Mike D'Art (Guitar/Keyboard, real name Martin Doley), James Wave (Bass, real name James Lloyd), and Jon Ray (Drums, real name Jon Wilkinson). [SOURCE: PUNK JOURNEY] 

 

The Vibrators

Part of the idea behind punk rock was that anyone could play it, but while most folks took that to mean the young and inexperienced could pick up a guitar and bash out two or three chords, the concept worked the other way, too. The Vibrators were one of the early bands to break out on the London punk rock scene and created one of the first classic albums to come out of U.K. punk. But as much as they tried to look like kids off the streets, their leader was anything but. Guitarist and singer Knox (aka Ian Carnochan) was the ripe old age of 31 when he launched The Vibrators, and he'd been playing in bands since his mid-teens. But if Knox was a bit long in the tooth to be part of the youth vanguard, he was also in it for the long haul, and he kept The Vibrators alive and productive throughout dozens of lineup changes well into the 21st century. 1977's 'Pure Mania' was their debut and acknowledged masterpiece, 2009's 'Under the Radar' is a strong latter-day effort, and 'The BBC Punk Sessions', issued in 2000, preserves several live-in-the-studio performances cut for British radio in 1977 and 1978. 

Knox was born in London on September 4, 1945, and grew up in the neighborhoods of Cricklewood and Watford. He was 13 when he first started playing guitar, and he was in a pair of bands with his schoolmates, The Renegades and Knox & The Knight Ryders. Knox was the rare British art school student who put his guitar away while he studied painting, but by 1972 he was playing again and performed on the fringes of the U.K. pub rock circuit. In 1976, as punk rock was growing from an underground phenomenon to the next big thing, Knox chose to get in on the action and formed The Vibrators, with himself on guitar and vocals, John Ellis on guitar, Pat Collier on bass, and a drummer who was identified as Eddie the Drummer (real name: John Edwards). The group quickly jumped out of the gate, opening shows for The Stranglers and The Sex Pistols and becoming regulars at one of London's first homes for punk, The 100 Club. Mickie Most signed the group to his RAK Records label, and they dropped their first single, 'We Vibrate', in November 1976. The same month, they were Chris Spedding's backing band for his novelty take on punk, 'Pogo Dancing'. Before RAK could release a second Vibrators single, they were snapped up by Epic Records, which released the single 'Baby Baby' in May 1977. A month later Epic unveiled their debut album, 'Pure Mania' to strong reviews and respectable sales, rising to number 49 on the U.K. album charts. In 1977, they were also the support act for Iggy Pop's U.K. tour (with David Bowie backing Iggy on keyboards). 

 

A mere ten months later, The Vibrators dropped their second LP, 'V2', which featured a new bassist, Gary Tibbs, after Pat Collier left the group. A single from 'V2', 'Automatic Lover', made it to number 35 on the British singles charts, which led to The Vibrators appearing on Top of the Pops. More live work followed, though John Ellis would drop out of the band in 1978, with Dave Birch signing on as guitarist; the group also added Don Snow on saxophone and keyboards. That lineup proved to be short-lived, and Knox and Eddie recruited guitarist Greg Van Cook and bassist Ben Brierly for a version that fell apart by the end of 1978. By early 1979, Knox left The Vibrators to launch a solo career, and while the band struggled along without him, they threw in the towel in 1980. 

In 1982, Knox opted to give The Vibrators another try, and he recruited the original lineup (Collier, Ellis, and Eddie) to cut a new album, 'Guilty', for Anagram Records. This edition managed to stay together long enough to record the albums 'Alaska 127' (1984) and 'Fifth Amendment' (1985) before Collier bowed out to pursue a career as a producer. Noel Thompson replaced Collier on bass, and after John Ellis quit the band to join The Stranglers, Mickie Owen took over on guitar. This lineup recorded a live LP, but by the time the group next returned to the studio, Noel Thompson was out and Mark Duncan was the new bassist. This edition cut two albums, 'Recharged' and 'Meltdown' (both 1988) before Owen dropped out and Nigel Bennett picked up the guitar spot. With Bennett, The Vibrators cut the albums 'Vicious Circle', 'Volume Ten', and 'Unpunked', between 1989 and 1996. From this point on, the number of personnel changes continued to increase, with Knox and Eddie as the sole constants (and even Knox left the lineup in 2008 for 14 months after an accident). However, the band continued to record and tour regularly, playing upward of 100 dates a year, and were regularly lauded as one of the most indefatigable bands in U.K. punk. In 2017, as the band was preparing for what they announced would be their last United States tour, The Vibrators dropped a studio album, 'Restless', via Die Laughing Records. More than four decades after the release of the 'Pogo Dancing' single, ace guitarist Chris Spedding once again teamed up with The Vibrators for their 2020 album 'Mars Casino', playing alongside the group's original lineup. Two years later, the band issued 'Fall Into the Sky', which was slated to be their final studio album. [SOURCE: ALLMUSIC]

 

What Is This

What Is This was an American rock band that originated in Fairfax High School in Los Angeles, California. Formed by guitarist Hillel Slovak, drummer Jack Irons, vocalist Alain Johannes, and bassist Todd Strassman, the band served as the nucleus for the Red Hot Chili Peppers. Members of the band would go on to perform with Eleven, Chris Cornell, Pearl Jam, Mark Lanegan, Them Crooked Vultures, Alain Johannes Trio and Queens of the Stone Age. 

 

Originally named Chain Reaction, the band would later change its name to Anthem, then later to Anthym (as there was already a band using the former moniker), and then finally to What Is This, which was a tongue-in-cheek reference to the reaction they usually received from first-time listeners. During their tenure as Anthym, guitarist Hillel Slovak became acquainted with an audience member at one of their shows, Anthony Kiedis, who was then brought on as a roadie and "hype-man" for the band. After a while, the band began to find bassist Todd Strassman's musical abilities unsatisfactory, so they considered replacing him. Slovak decided to teach a friend of his at Fairfax, trumpet player Michael "Flea" Balzary, how to play bass. Soon he replaced Strassman as What Is This' bassist. 

 

After graduating high school, the band began to play gigs in the Los Angeles area. Flea eventually left the band to play in the punk band Fear and was replaced by Chris Hutchinson. Around this time, Slovak and Jack Irons decided to play a show with Anthony Kiedis and Flea under the name Tony Flow and the Majestic Masters of Mayhem at the Rhythm Lounge. It consisted of the musicians improvising a punk funk jam (like Defunkt or James Chance and the Contortions) while Kiedis rapped a poem he wrote titled "Out in L.A." It was intended to be a one-time performance, but the show was received so well that they were asked to return again the following week. The group decided to change their name to the Red Hot Chili Peppers, played several more shows at various Los Angeles clubs and musical venues, and eventually recorded a demo tape, all while Slovak and Irons were still playing with What Is This. 

 

A few months later, What Is This received a record deal with MCA Records, and the Red Hot Chili Peppers received a joint deal with EMI America and Enigma Records. Hillel Slovak and Jack Irons decided to leave the Red Hot Chili Peppers and stay with What Is This as the latter was their primary musical project while the former was seen as side endeavor. What Is This released their debut EP 'Squeezed' in 1984. Around this time, Hillel Slovak had become uncertain of his role in the band and decided to rejoin the Red Hot Chili Peppers. He left What Is This in 1985, and later that year the band would release its only full-length studio album 'What Is This?' and its final EP '3 Out of 5 Live'. After this, the band broke up. 

 

Alain Johannes later met Natasha Shneider and the duo formed Walk The Moon, whose sole studio album featured Jack Irons and Chris Hutchinson on several tracks. Jack Irons later rejoined the Red Hot Chili Peppers in 1987, but would then leave the next year due to Hillel Slovak's death via a heroin overdose. Alain Johannes, Natasha Shneider, and Jack Irons later formed the band Eleven. Jack Irons would later leave Eleven midway through the recording of their third album to join Pearl Jam (with whom he recorded two albums) only to later rejoin Eleven in time for their fifth album. Eleven disbanded after the death of Natasha Shneider. Both Johannes and Irons were later part of Spinnerette. 

 

What Is This's song "Mind My Have Still I" from 'Squeezed' was also featured on the soundtrack to the movie "The Wild Life". Their second album, which featured a cover of The Spinners hit "I'll Be Around", was produced by Todd Rundgren, who also played Fairlight Synthesizer on the record. "I'll Be Around" was released as a single and video; it peaked at No. 62 on the Billboard Hot 100. [SOURCE: WIKIPEDIA]

 

V2 Schneider

German Minimal / Synth from early 80's NDW Underground V2 Schneider spanned chamber-like synth pieces, proto-techno pulsers and soured synth-pop. Jürgen Schweighart, alias V2 Schneider, released several cassettes from 1980 to 1985 including his official tape releases 'Vol. 1' (1981), 'Blues' (1982), 'Abgrund der Gefühle' (1984), 'Nr.1 in Hong Kong' (1985) and 'After A.I.D.S. Symphony' (1985). Going back to the sound and feeling of early cassette music is for the mature ear challenging and rewarding at the same time. This music just cannot be done anymore in this time and age and for good reasons. The energy of youth and also not having the state of the art studio equipment makes one curious and excited.  Sometimes it is in those limitations that very interesting things are born, despite the factor that a lot of those old songs sound pretty noisy and amateurism. [SOURCE: BOOMKAT]

The Undead

The Undead is an American horror punk band formed in 1980 in New York City's East Village by Bobby Steele (vocals and guitar), Chris "Jack" Natz (bass) and Patrick Blanck (drums). They were one of the pioneers in the New York hardcore scene. Steele (then of the Misfits) and Natz had been playing with drummer Richie Matalia as a side project called The Skabs. When Matalia departed and Steele left the Misfits, the trio of Steele, Natz and Patrick Blanck formed The Undead in October 1980.

 

In June 1982, The Undead released their first EP, '9 Toes Later', and were featured on the ROIR 'New York Thrash' compilation. A few months later Natz and Blanck left the band; Natz later played in Virus, The Black Snakes and Cop Shoot Cop. They were replaced by Brian "Payne" Aliano on bass and Bobby Savage on drums, and this lineup released the 'Verbal Abuse' single in 1983. Steve Zing (of Mourning Noise and later Samhain) then took over as drummer. Between 1983 and 1986, Aliano and Zing performed with the band intermittently, while many other musicians played in The Undead for short periods. Aliano and Zing finally quit the band in December 1986. Later full-length studio albums included 'Act Your Rage' (1989), 'Til Death' (1998) and 'Dawn of the Undead' (1991). The Undead went on hiatus from live performance between late 2002 and early 2006. 

 

The Undead returned to the music scene in 2006 with a lineup of Steele on guitar and vocals, Joel Gausten on drums and Joff Wilson on bass. They played CBGB on Saint Patrick's Day as well as a free show at Tompkins Square Park in June of that year. September 2006 saw the remastered rerelease of 'Dawn of the Undead'. Wilson left the band in July 2007, and Gausten in September 2008. The Undead recorded their own full-album cover version of the "lost" Misfits album, '12 Hits from Hell', and made the recording available as a stream on the band's website on October 31, 2007. This release was quickly followed by a new single, a cover of the Misfits' "Halloween", on Germany's No Balls Records. 

 

Steele released a solo album called 'Bobby' in 2009. He reformed The Undead again in late 2012 with Paul Mauled (bass), Serial Bill Gotta (drums) (of The Bad Whoremoans) and Diana Steele (keys and vocals). In 2015, Boris was recruited to play drums. The band released the album, 'The Morgue... The Merrier', in October 2015. In 2016, Joe Stoker took over on drums. From 2016 to 2018, the band saw a few bassists come and go and in 2018, Tristan D'Graves stepped up to round out the current lineup. On October 3, 2017, The Undead released the 'Having an Undead Summer' EP. [SOURCE: WIKIPEDIA]

 

Untamed Youth

The Untamed Youth were a mid-1980s garage rock band from Columbia, Missouri, United States, led by Deke Dickerson, who is best known as the frontman for Deke Dickerson & the Eccofonics. Original members (1986) were Deke Dickerson, Steve Mace, Doug Walker and Joel Trueblood (Alcohol Funnycar, Neko Case). 

 

The Untamed Youth first performed in Columbia at local club The Blue Note in January 1987, and quickly started playing locations throughout the United States between the years 1988–1993. The group disbanded in August 1993, but later reformed for a European tour in 1996 and to record two studio albums for both the Estrus and Norton labels in 1997 and 1998 respectively. 

 

The Youth were primarily a '60s-styled surf/frat rock band known for their wild stage antics such as spraying the audience with cans of beer and for their self-deprecating sense of humor (most notably to be found on their last album for Norton, 'Youth Runs Wild'). All this, while holding a true reverence for their influences.

 

While their live shows were generally hard-edged, their albums are notably well-produced and arranged particularly their early Norton work, which was produced by Billy Miller of Norton Records and Andy Shernoff of The Dictators. Despite considerable local success and strong critical acclaim (including album reviews in Goldmine, Alternative Press, and Maximum Rock & Roll), the band followed many of their garage rock brethren into obscurity due to the (at the time) limited appeal of 1960’s retro music. However, as has often been the case with bands of this genre, the Youth gradually acquired a cult status as is evidenced by their reuniting recently for festivals in both the U.S. and Europe. The band's first albums, 'Some Kinda Fun' and 'More Gone Gassers' are now highly sought after collector’s items on vinyl. [SOURCE: WIKIPEDIA]

 

Unsane

New York City's Unsane assisted in pioneering a more aggressive, less studied version of noise rock, one that blended the scum/art industrial sturm und drang of Foetus, the Swans, Einstürzende Neubauten, and Sonic Youth with the decidedly more straightforward hardcore idiom favored by acts like Sick of It All. While developing the blueprint for noise-metal bands to follow, Unsane cut a remarkable swath through underground music, inspiring a devoted, cult-like following around the globe. As a power trio, Unsane relied upon a hammering, power-press rhythm section, a searing Telecaster howl, and distorted vocals that resembled nothing if not the sound of a man trapped in the New York Subway system. 

Having met at Sarah Lawrence College in the late '80s, the original incarnation of Unsane -Chris Spencer (vocals, guitar), Peter Shore (bass), and Charlie Ondras (drums)- crawled larvally out of the practice space in 1989 and began playing New York's seediest haunts. It was these graveyard slots at clubs like CBGB's where the band developed and honed their trademark sound and delivered the goods with due intensity and volume. Unsane piqued the interest of numerous small indie labels and began issuing a series of singles and EPs before recording their self-titled debut with Matador Records. Using the photo of a decapitated man lying across train tracks, Unsane's album cover set the tone for the admixture of seething aggression, naked fear, and barely controlled noise chaos contained within. But the band's devastating maelstrom contained more than enough tunefulness and rock propulsion to quite easily surpass its more affected Lower East Side peers. 

 

During 1992, Unsane's daunting schedule was cut devastatingly short by the untimely drug overdose of drummer Ondras. Former Swans and Foetus drummer Vinny Signorelli climbed aboard the swiftly moving train in the fall of 1992 and the band began composing its next album. In the interim, Matador compiled and issued a collection of Unsane's early singles and compilation tracks, appropriately titled 'Singles: 89-92'. It is perhaps Unsane's defining moment. The following year found the band recording its first for Atlantic Records, 'Total Destruction', a menacing, dark collection of songs driven by Signorelli's hypnotic drumming and Spencer's man-pushed-to-the-edge vocals. More touring followed and Matador released the 'Peel Sessions' disc almost concurrently with 'Total Destruction'. 

After being discharged from Atlantic in 1994, Unsane found both a new bass player in Dave Curran -who joined on tour while doing sound for the band- and a home for their next album, 'Scattered, Smothered, and Covered', on the independent noise rock label, Amphetamine Reptile Records. While maintaining the band's signature sound and volume, 1995's 'Scattered...' showed the band opening their rhythmic approach, with most songs inhabiting a more rock-oriented 4/4 pattern, granting the album a more spacious and controlled feel. 'Scattered...' also contained the unlikely MTV hit video for "Scrape," featuring a series of skateboard accidents intercut with footage of the band performing live. Created for 200 dollars, it was ironically named one of MTV's Ten Funniest Videos. The band toured relentlessly and managed to secure an opening slot with metal behemoths Slayer on one of their North American headlining tours. Shortly after, the trio made another label switch to Relapse Records and began constructing its final album, the ironically titled 'Occupational Hazard'. While on a press tour in Europe only a month prior to the disc's release, Spencer was brutally attacked by street thugs and left for dead on the streets of Vienna, Austria. After emergency surgery, he returned to the touring arena. Though Unsane temporarily disbanded in 2000, they returned a few years later with a compilation ('Lambhouse') and an original album, 2005's 'Blood Run'. 'Visqueen', the group's sixth studio long-player, was issued in 2007 via Mike Patton's Ipecac Recordings. It was followed in 2012 by 'Wreck', issued by the iconic punk label Alternative Tentacles, and in 2017, Unsane came roaring back with 'Sterilize', which saw the group working with Los Angeles-based metal imprint Southern Lord. [SOURCE: ALLMUSIC]