An interesting one-time-only band, New Race was proof that good music can occur when "teachers" and "students" get together. In this instance, the "teachers" were ex-Stooges guitarist Ron Asheton and ex-MC5 drummer Dennis Thompson, who joined forces with "students" Deniz Tek, Rob Younger, and Warwick Gilbert, the latter three members of the seminal Australian punk band Radio Birdman. Tek was a Michigan native who'd emigrated to Australia in the early '70s, bringing his love of high-energy Detroit proto-punk with him. After Birdman's demise, he contacted Asheton and Thompson to come to Australia and form this ad-hoc touring outfit. New Race toured Australia once in 1981, playing mostly small halls and releasing one legit live LP and a few lo-fi bootlegs. While the resulting record, 'The First and the Last', benefits from a significant amount of in-studio sweetening (backing vocals are added, guitar solos overdubbed), it's still an exciting, guitar-fueled rave-up. Fans of the early-'70s Motor City sound or early Aussie punk wouldn't want to be without it. [SOURCE: ALLMUSIC]
Mystery Plane formed in 1980 from the ashes of 70's new wave band 3D5 who's line-up also featured future Cure member Porl Thompson. Their sound -a sublime minimal basement krauty synth- was inspired by bands such as Neu, Amon Düül II, and 'Vienna' period Ultravox, featuring guitar work of Gerald O' Connell who was a big fan of Ash Ra Tempel's guitarist Manuel Gottsching. In 1982 he went on to form Lives Of Angels who made the classic cold wave album 'Elevator To Eden' which was originally released on Color Tapes in 1983. Mystery Plane have been featured on the highly touted (and deseverdly so) "Cold Waves Of Color" compilation series. [SOURCE: LAST.FM]
La Mode was a Spanish pop music group, active during the first half of the 1980s. They were one of the exponents of the "Movida Madrileña" movement, formed by former Paraíso member Fernando Márquez "El Zurdo". Their first show was at the Escuela de Caminos de Madrid on December 12, 1981.
A few months later they recorded their first demo which included “Cita en Hawaii” and “Aquella Chica”. In 1982 they released both their first EP and their first album entitled 'El Eterno Femenino', featuring “Aquella Canción de Roxy”, possibly the most famous song in the history of the band.
In 1984 they published their second album, which did not achieve the commercial and critical success of the previous one. In April 1984, Márquez left and was replaced by Daniel Ballester. During this period they composed the theme for the TVE show “Caja de Ritmos” and released the mini-LP 'Lejos del Paraíso'.
In 1986 La Mode released their last album, 'La Evolución de las Costumbres', that went unnoticed and caused their split. The song “La Evolución de las Costumbres” is considered one of the best dark wave songs made in Spain.
On October 24, 2014, the band Robots y Japonesas (a clear reference to the lyrics of the song “El Eterno Femenino”), formed by the founders of La ModeMario Gil (keyboards) and Antonio Zancajo (guitar), joined by José Luis Moro, from Un Pingüino En Mi Ascensor, was the opening act in a show precisely of Un Pingüino En Mi Ascensor.
The band's guitarist, Antonio Zancajo, died on October 20, 2023.[SOURCE: WIKIPEDIA]
The veterans of the Belgian punk scene, The Kids formed in 1976 when bassist Danny De Haes was just 12 years old. Joined by his brother Eddy on drums, lead vocalist Ludo Mariman, and guitarist Luc Van de Poel, the band supported Iggy Pop and Patti Smith before releasing their self-titled album in 1978, and its follow-up, 'Naughty Kids', in the same year. Following 1979's 'Living in the 20th Century', 1981's 'Black Out', and 1985 swan song 'Gotcha!', the band split but reconvened in 2004 to play their first-ever U.S. show at Brooklyn's Southpaw. After releasing an anthology collection in 2007, the band appeared alongside the likes of the Sex Pistols, the Buzzcocks, and The New York Dolls at the 2008 Lokerse Feesten Festival. [SOURCE: ALLMUSIC]
Justin Trouble was a New York City band that had a mildly successful stint on that city's club circuit (breaking into the legendary Max's Kansas City in the early '80s) and released one unheralded album on the independent Casino label. Songwriter and lead guitarist Justin Trouble had an affinity for '50s rockabilly, but he also merged Clash-derived aggression and power pop hooks and harmonies on a record that, had it been picked up by a major label, might've rested comfortably alongside critic's faves by The dB's and The Shoes. Certainly songs like "Missile" and "Let's Get Together" are as good as any power pop from that era. [SOURCE: ALLMUSIC]
Johnny Thunders was the first punk rock guitar hero, earning a cult following for his noisy but epic style a few years before the insouciant new music gained its name. Following in the footsteps of his idol and role model Keith Richards, Johnny Thunders (born John Anthony Genzale, Jr.) lived the ultimate rock & roll life, spending most of his days churning out tough, sloppy three-chord rock & roll and gaining nearly as strong a reputation for his decades-long struggle with addiction as for his music. Thunders made his greatest impact as a member of The New York Dolls, the proto-punk glam rockers of the early '70s. During the late '70s, he was a familiar figure on the New York punk scene, both with his band The Heartbreakers and as a solo artist. Thunders performed and recorded steadily until his death in 1991, turning out a series of records that inadvertently documented the struggles of his life and his art.
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Under the name Johnny Volume, Genzale began performing in high school with local combos Johnny & the Jaywalkers and The Reign (an unreleased Reign tune recorded in 1967 was released as a single after Thunders' death); after those bands ran their course, he joined Actress, which featured future Dolls Arthur Kane and Billy Murcia. Actress became The New York Dolls in 1971, with the addition of vocalist David Johansen, and Genzale renamed himself Johnny Thunders. After recording two acclaimed but commercially unsuccessful albums, the Dolls broke up. In 1975, Thunders and the group's drummer Jerry Nolan formed The Heartbreakers with former Television bassist Richard Hell and guitarist Walter Lure. Hell left the group shortly afterward to form The Voidoids and was replaced by Billy Rath. With Thunders leading the band, The Heartbreakers toured America and Britain, releasing one official album, 'L.A.M.F.', in 1977. The group relocated to the U.K., where their popularity was significantly greater than it was in the U.S., particularly on the burgeoning punk scene. Thunders earned a reputation for powerful but inconsistent performances -solid and rollicking one night, incoherent, sloppy, and drunken the next, sometimes veering between the two extremes in a single evening. After several months, the group returned to America, where they played a series of farewell gigs in New York.
Thunders went solo in 1978, recording 'So Alone' with various rock and punk celebrities, including the Sex Pistols' Steve Jones and Paul Cook, Steve Marriott (Small Faces, Humble Pie), Peter Perrett (Only Ones), Paul Gray (Eddie and the Hot Rods, The Damned), and Thin Lizzy's Phil Lynott. After its release, Thunders and Peter Perrett played in the short-lived band Living Dead, while in 1980 Thunders teamed up with MC5 guitarist Wayne Kramer in the band Gang Wars, another project that soon fizzled out. During the early '80s, Thunders re-formed The Heartbreakers for various tours and periodic "farewell" shows in New York City, with their stage work documented on a series of live albums, often of dubious legality.
For most of the '80s, the only Johnny Thunders product available consisted of haphazard compilations of live tracks and demos. In 1984, Thunders rebounded with a surprisingly strong acoustic album, 'Hurt Me', followed in 1985 by 'Que Sera, Sera', a collection of new songs that showed he could still perform convincingly. Three years later, the guitarist recorded an album of rock and R&B covers with vocalist Patti Palladin, 'Copy Cats'. And in 1991, German punk band Die Toten Hosen paid homage to Thunders by inviting him to play guitar on a cover of The Heartbreakers' "Born to Lose" on their album 'Learning English: Lesson One'.
After recording with Die Toten Hosen, Thunders settled in New Orleans, where he planned to cut an album with local jazz and R&B musicians. However, only a few days later, Thunders was found dead in his room at the St. Peter House on April 23, 1991. Thunders' passing was shrouded in rumor and uncertainty; while it was widely believed he overdosed on drugs, friends insisted the guitarist was weaning himself off heroin with methadone, while others believed he was the victim of sadistic burglars who ransacked his room after feeding him LSD, and still others reported Thunders was struggling with an untreated case of leukemia. Though Thunders' passing was strange and chaotic, it was curiously appropriate -no other rock & roller ever lived as hard and traveled as individual a path as Johnny Thunders. [SOURCE: ALLMUSIC]
Australian skate-punk/hardcore band, active since 1986, The Hellmenn came blasting out of Sydney's northern beaches skate punk scene like a rocket from the tombs of hell. The band's fierce sound mixed Black Flag with Black Sabbath by the way of an environmental manifesto. The band's original image was of a drug-crazed surf punks looking for good times and loud rock'n'roll, which said more about a desire to create mayhem as opposed to creating great art. On the otherhand, singer Ben Brown was also well known for his grotesque, demented artwork which was an extension of the bands frantic approach to music making.
The Hellmenn signed to the label Waterfront Records and issued the hardcore mini-albums 'Herbal Lunacy' (December 1987) and 'Bastard Sons of 10 000 000 Maniacs' (November 1988). The second was populated by such unhinged characters as "The Tripping Priest" and "Sluggo". Yet, among the chaos, there was some semblance of order. The title 'Herbal Lunacy' for example reflected the band's interest in herbal medicine (guitarist David Hopkins is a qualified naturopath). The band contributed a cover of "Search and Destroy" to Au-go-go's Stooges tribute album 'Hard to Beat' (1988).
In 1989, Victor Levi (ex-Ratcat) replaced guitarist Tony Goode, and the band supported American Hardcore god-father Henry Rollins on his Australian tour. The Hellmenn issued one single during 1989, Blubber Soul ('Daydreaming/The Trip'), after which Levi left the band. A year later, The Hellmenn issued the album 'Mourning of the Earth' and the single 'Anyone/Possums' (May 1990). The album featured a mellower set of songs, and the title was a pun highlighting the seriousness of the worldwide environmental issue. The Hellmenn contributed a cover of "The Deuce" to the Kiss tribute album 'Hard to Believe' on the Waterfront label (1990). The band's last release for the year was the single 'Homegrown' (December), which had been lifted from 'Mourning of the Earth'. Around the same time, Bill Gibson (ex-The Eastern Dark) joined on guitar.
The EP 'Electric Crazy Land' (October 1991) boasted a broad range of sounds, from Hendrix-like psychedelia to Sonic Youth-styled noise. The description 'sonic surf sounds' was an appropriate one. The band, however, had fallen into a rut and broke up at the end of the year. A few weeks later, Brown, Hopkins, and drummer Steve Heald revived The Hellmenn with new member Ken Archibold on bass. That line-up appeared on the bill of the inaugural Big Day Out (January 1992).
The band then signed to Phonogram's development label Id, which released the CD EP 'Meltdown' (September 1992). The EP mixed three studio tracks with three bonus live cuts. The CD EP 'Absolute Filth' (June 1993) was another strong studio release (described by the band as 'thermo-nuclear-sonic-burnout'). Although The Hellmenn had progressed over the years, they continued to be dogged by references to their skate/surf/thrash beginnings. After eight years of noise making, The Hellmenn called it a day in April 1994.
Ground Zero was a 1980s hardcore / thrash band from Minneapolis, formed by Taras "Terry" Ostroushko (vocals, guitar), James "Jamie" Ronnei (bass) and Dave Evenhouse (drums). They only released two albums, 'Ground Zero'
(1984) and 'Pink', both on Reflex Records, an early 1980s U.S. punk /hardcore label based out of St. Paul, MN that released records by Hüsker Dü, Articles Of Faith, and Minutemen, amongst others. This label was founded by Terry Katzman and Hüsker Dü to promote bands in the Minneapolis scene, after Twin Tone Records rejected Hüsker Dü's first single in 1979.
Horror movie-fueled Sacramento, California pop-punks the Groovie Ghoulies originally comprised singer/bassist Kepi, his guitarist wife Roach, and drummer Wendy. After debuting in 1989 with the album 'Appetite for Adrenochrome', the group spent the early '90s largely out of the spotlight, issuing only the occasional single (including 1990's "Lost Generation" and 1992's "Christmas on Mars") before finally releasing its sophomore album, 'Born in the Basement', in 1994. By now a hugely popular attraction on the Sacramento club circuit, in 1996 the Ghoulies signed to Lookout Records to release 'World Contact Day'; Wendy left the lineup soon after, however, and was replaced by ex-Screeching Weasel drummer Dan Panic. In the wake of 1997's 'Re-Animation Festival', Panic exited as well and was eventually replaced by drummer Jaz Brown.
The Ghoulies' fifth LP, 'Fun in the Dark', followed in 1999, and a year later the group resurfaced with 'Travels with My Amp'. The band left Lookout soon after, but showed up on Stardumb for the 'Freaks on Parade' EP in 2002. Featuring new drummer Scampi, 'Go! Stories' was the first full-length released on the label, appearing later in the summer and followed by a European tour. The group followed up in late 2003 with a record made up mostly of re-recorded versions of old singles and Lookout album tracks called 'Monster Club'. After leaving Stardumb and starting their own imprint, Green Door Records, the Ghoulies released an amped-up EP of Chuck Berry covers, 'Berry'd Alive', in August 2005, and then delivered their ninth album, '99 Lives', in 2007. Sadly, the band split up just days before the record's release, citing difficulties carrying on as a band after the dissolution of Kepi and Roach's marriage.
After the band's demise, Kepi continued recording and touring at breakneck speed. Whether playing folk songs or music for kids, or revisiting old Ghoulies albums (as on 2015's redo of 'Fun in the Dark', where he's backed by Dutch punks The Accelerators), Kepi has kept the fun-loving, goofy punk rock charm of the band alive. [SOURCE: ALLMUSIC]
Armed with jagged guitars and pounding drums, London, England's Five Thirty tried to puncture a hole in the dance-oriented U.K. music scene of the late '80s and early '90s. Formed by bassist Tara Milton and guitarist/vocalist Paul Bassett, Five Thirty recorded their first single, "Catcher in the Rye," in 1985. Originally performing in Oxford and Reading, Five Thirty moved to London and met drummer Phil Hopper. In 1990, the group was signed to East West. The band's Jam-like sound and incendiary gigs excited the critics. However, the masses were unmoved by the band's back-to-basics rock & roll. Although the track "Abstain" managed to squeeze into the Top 75, the follow-up "Air Conditioned Nightmare" was completely ignored outside of the British press. In 1991, Five Thirty released their debut album, 'Bed'. But the timing was wrong. If 'Bed' had appeared years later -when '60s-styled English guitar rock without the club mixes was in favor- it would've had a better chance of selling. Disillusioned by their lack of success, Five Thirty unleashed the frustration in their songs, yelling, "This song ain't exactly what we'd call money but we don't care," in "Hate Male." Five Thirty split up in 1992. Hopper became an actor; Milton started The Nubiles; and Bassett recorded with Orange Deluxe. [SOURCE: ALLMUSIC]
Australia's feedtime (the name was deliberately spelled with a lower-case f) earned a rabid cult following for their primal and bruisingly powerful, bass-heavy sound, a walloping fusion of punk rock, blues, and hard rock. feedtime was formed in 1979 by a pair of friends from Sydney, Australia, Rick and Allen (just as they dismissed the capital "f", they didn't bother with last names); Rick played guitar (he was especially adept at bottleneck slide riffs) and his tastes ran to Rose Tattoo and the Aussie punk band X (not to be confused with the Los Angeles band of the same name), while Allen enjoyed acoustic blues and took up the bass. They recruited a drummer named Dave, but he grew tired of the way the group's music polarized audiences, and left the band in 1981. After Allen's sister handled the percussion chores for a while, they discovered one of their fans, Tom, was a musician with a talent for drumming, and he became feedtime's permanent drummer. In 1985, the trio financed and released their self-titled debut album; a pair of songs from the sessions appeared on a compilation from the Australian indie label Aberrant Records, and label head Bruce Griffiths liked them enough to sign feedtime to a recording deal. Aberrant released feedtime's second album, 'Shovel', in Australia, while Rough Trade struck a deal to issue the record in the United States. A third album appeared later the same year; 'Cooper-S' was a collection of cover tunes filtered through feedtime's musical world view, including songs by The Rolling Stones, The Stooges, the Ramones, and The Beach Boys. Butch Vig joined the production team for the group's fourth album, mixing the tracks for 1989's 'Suction', and the result was feedtime's most accessible release, but long-simmering tensions within the group came to a head, and shortly before the band was to launch their first American tour, feedtime broke up. They band reunited for some live dates in 1994, and two years later they recorded a one-off reunion album, 'Billy', with new drummer John sitting in for the absent Tom (the celebrated noise rock label Amphetamine Reptile released the album in America). In 2012, Sub Pop Records, whose flagship act Mudhoney were long avowed feedtime fans, released 'The Aberrant Years', a box set which collected the group's first four albums, and in support, feedtime staged a short reunion tour of the United States. Rick, Al, and Tom would reunite in the recording studio a few years later, and 2017 saw the release of their first studio album in 21 years, 'Gas', which saw them doing business with another stellar indie label, In the Red Records. [SOURCE: ALLMUSIC]
In spite of their limited lifespan and discography,The Faith were a seminal influence on the early emocore movement in Washington, D.C. For starters, nearly all of their membership moved on to either Embrace or Rites of Spring, by most accounts the first true emo bands. But even during their existence, the Faith's music hinted at what was to come, softening the standard-issue hardcore approach somewhat with better-developed melodies and a more inward-looking perspective. To be sure, it was high-energy, high-velocity punk, but its subtle deviations from the norm opened up new vistas for the D.C. scene.
The Faith was formed in the summer of 1981, and was initially a quartet featuring vocalist Alec MacKaye (ex-Untouchables and brother of Minor Threat's Ian), guitarist Michael Hampton (formerly of Henry Rollins' first band, State of Alert), bassist Chris Bald, and drummer Ivor Hanson. Filling part of the void left by Minor Threat's hiatus, The Faith quickly became one of the most popular bands in D.C., and naturally signed with Ian MacKaye's Dischord imprint. Their first release was a split LP with thrash-punkers Void, released in 1982 and featuring 12 songs from each band. Second guitarist Eddie Janney -also late of the Untouchables, as well as Ian MacKaye's short-lived Skewbald/Grand Union- joined afterward, and made his recorded debut on the 1983 EP 'Subject to Change'. A more developed and mature set of songs, 'Subject to Change' also proved to be the Faith's swan song, as the group disbanded by the summer of 1983. Janney formed the groundbreaking emo band Rites of Spring with Guy Picciotto, while Hampton, Bald, and Hanson all joined Ian MacKaye in another early emo band, Embrace. When Embrace broke up in early 1986, Chris Bald rejoined Alec MacKaye in Ignition; meanwhile, Janney played with One Last Wish and Happy Go Licky following Rites of Spring's breakup. Hampton and Hanson reunited in Manifesto in 1991, while Alec MacKaye sang with The Warmers during the mid-'90s. [SOURCE: ALLMUSIC]
Some bands seemingly come out of nowhere with a debut release only to turn out to have a long established history, which turned out to be the case with New Jersey's Deardarkhead. Consisting of guitarist Kevin Harrington, drummer Robert Weiss, and bassist/singer Michael Amper, the group formed in 1988 (taking their name from an Irish poem by Sir Samuel Ferguson), and have been happily recording and playing ever since. Their sound is openly and proudly Anglophilic, combining both elements of the blissout/shoegaze scene and a slightly older vein of post-punk guitar experimentalism, making at its best a rich combination between the two influences, shamelessly romantic and elegant. Running their own label, Fertile Crescent, the members first released two demo tapes, 'Greetings from the Infernal Village' (1988) and 'Spiral Down and Vibrate' (1991), followed by two separate CD EPs, 'Melt Away Too Soon' (1992) and 'Ultraviolet' (1993). The group then took a lengthy recording break before creating its full album 'Unlock the Valves of Feeling', which appeared in 1998. They continued to play into the 2000s, continuing as an instrumental trio following the departure of Amper in 2009, with new bassist Kevin McCauley joining in 2010. In 2011, Captured Tracks compiled the group's three EPs from the early '90s as 'Oceanside: 1991-1993', the second installment of the label's Shoegaze Archives series. Deardarkhead's first release in nearly two decades, the instrumental EP 'Strange Weather', appeared on Saint Marie Records in 2016. [SOURCE: ALLMUSIC]
Fronted by vocalist Ian Astbury and featuring guitarist Billy Duffy, The Cult evolved from a Gothic post-punk outfit in 1984, transforming themselves into England's leading hard rock revivalist act. Their image combined the pseudo-mysticism and Native American cultural obsessions of The Doors with the guitar orchestrations of Led Zeppelin, and the three-chord crunch of AC/DC, with blended traces of post-punk goth rock. Their 1984 debut 'Dreamtime' performed well, but follow-up 'Love' amplified their hard rock direction and chart success with breakout single "She Sells Sanctuary." 1987's Rick Rubin-produced 'Electric', was their hardest record yet and went Top 40 stateside thanks to the smash singles "Lil' Devil," "Love Removal Machine, and "Wildflower." 1989's, 'Sonic Temple' became their most successful album, peaking at ten in America behind single "Edie (Ciao Baby)." The spoils of success began tearing at the members, and they disbanded in 1995. Astbury and Duffy resurrected The Cult for 2001's 'Beyond Good and Evil'. Subsequent efforts included 'Born Into This' (2007), 'Choice of Weapon' (2012), and 'Under the Midnight Sun' (2022).
The origins of The Cult lie in The Southern Death Cult, a goth rock outfit formed by vocalist Ian Astbury (born May 14, 1962) in 1981. Astbury was the son of a merchant navy man, which meant he moved frequently during his youth; at one point in his childhood, his family lived in Canada, where the young Astbury became fascinated with Native Americans, who would become a recurring theme in his songwriting. Astbury eventually settled in Bradford, Yorkshire, where he met a group comprising David Burrows (guitar), Barry Jepson (bass), and Haq Quereshi (drums). Ian joined the group as its lead vocalist (performing with the last name of "Lindsay," which was his mother's maiden name) and had the group renamed The Southern Death Cult. By only their fifth concert, the band was attracting audiences of 2,000. In December 1982, The Southern Death Cult released their first single -the double A-side "Moya"/"Fatman"- and the following month, they supported Bauhaus on tour. Though the group's future was looking bright, Astbury pulled the plug on the band because he was frustrated with the positive articles he was receiving in the press. The remaining three members joined Getting the Fear, which eventually became Into a Circle; in the late '80s, Quereshi became a member of Fun^Da^Mental. All of The Southern Death Cult recordings were eventually released in 1986.
Following the breakup, Astbury shortened the name of the group to Death Cult and recruited guitarist Billy Duffy -who had previously played with Morrissey in the pre-Smiths band The Nosebleeds, as well as Theatre of Hate- and drummer Ray Mondo and bassist Jamie Stewart, who had previously played with Ritual. Death Cult released an eponymous EP in the summer of 1983; on the EP, Astbury reverted back to his given name. Later in the year, Mondo was replaced by Nigel Preston, who had previously played with Duffy in Theatre of Hate; coincidentally, Mondo became the drummer for Preston's previous group, Sex Gang Children.
In early 1984, the bandmembers decided to excise "Death" from the title, fearing that the word gave them the misleading appearance of being a goth band. Where both Southern Death Cult and Death Cult had been overtly influenced by post-punk, The Cult were a heavy hard rock band with slight psychedelic flourishes. 'Dreamtime', the group's first album, was released in the fall of 1984, accompanied by the single "Spiritwalker." 'Dreamtime' reached number 21 on the U.K. charts. In the spring of 1985, Preston left the group. For the group's summer single, "She Sells Sanctuary," the band was joined by Big Country's drummer, Mark Brzezicki. "She Sells Sanctuary" became a major U.K. hit, peaking at number 15. During the recording of the group's second album, drummer Les Warner joined the group. 'Love', released in the fall of 1985, continued the hard rock direction of its teaser single and became a number four hit in Britain.
For their third album, The Cult shuffled their lineup -Stewart moved to rhythm guitar, while former Zodiac Mindwarp bassist Kid Chaos joined the lineup- and hired Rick Rubin as producer, and the result, 'Electric', was their hardest, heaviest record to date. The first single from the album, "Love Removal Machine," became a number 18 hit in the spring of 1987, while the album itself reached number four in the U.K. upon its April release. Later that year, 'Electric' gained The Cult a fan base in America, and the album cracked the U.S. Top 40.
In 1988, the group fired Chaos and Warner, replacing the latter with Matt Sorum; the band failed to hire another bassist. The new lineup released 'Sonic Temple', which would prove to be the band's most successful effort. The hit single "Fire Woman" helped propel the album into the American Top Ten, and within no time, The Cult were seen hanging out with the likes of Mötley Crüe and Aerosmith, as well as supporting Metallica on the Damaged Justice tour. Though the group was experiencing its best sales, it was fraying behind the scenes due to infighting and substance abuse. By the time they recorded their follow-up to 'Sonic Temple', Sorum had left to join Guns N' Roses and Stewart had quit; they were replaced by drummer Mickey Curry and bassist Charlie Drayton. The resulting album, 'Ceremony', was released in the fall of 1991 to weak reviews and disappointing sales.
Following the release of 'Ceremony', the group took a break for the next three years. In 1993, the band released the U.K.-only hits compilation 'Pure Cult', which debuted at number one. By summer 1993, The Cult had a new rhythm section, featuring former Mission bassist Craig Adams, second guitarist Mike Dimkich (Channel 3), and drummer Scott Garrett. This lineup recorded 'The Cult', which was released in late 1994 to poor reviews and sales. In spring 1995, The Cult disbanded, with Ian Astbury forming the Holy Barbarians later in the year. Billy Duffy briefly played with Miles Hunt's Vent 414 before leaving to pursue a solo project. In 2000, the band's catalog was remastered and reissued, and 'Pure Cult' was released in the U.S. (despite a similar compilation, 'High Octane Cult', having appeared four years earlier). It was followed by 'Rare Cult', a six-disc box set of rarities.
A new Cult, with Matt Sorum, Martyn LeNoble, and Chris Wyse joining Astbury and Duffy, made their debut in June 1999 at the Tibetan Freedom Festival. This band produced the 2001 album 'Beyond Good and Evil' before The Cult were retired again, as Astbury joined former Doors members Robbie Krieger and Ray Manzarek in The Doors of the 21st Century (later renamed Riders on the Storm). In 2007, it was announced that Astbury had left the band to rejoin Duffy in a new version of The Cult, with Chris Wyse on bass and John Tempesta on drums. They signed to Roadrunner and released 'Born Into This' in 2008, which they promoted over the next few years on their highly publicized Love Live tour. They returned to the studio in 2011 after inking a deal with Cooking Vinyl Records and released their ninth studio album, 'Choice of Weapon', the following year.
In 2013, Duffy announced in an interview that The Cult were working on new material for 2015. However, personnel changes put a bit of a damper on the band's plans: after 20 years, Dimkich left to play with Bad Religion and Wyse left for Ace Frehley's band. Longtime friend James Stevenson took the second guitar chair, while Grant Fitzpatrick took over on bass to play the band's 2014 world tour. Jane's Addiction bassist Chris Channey came on board in the studio for the band's tenth studio album. With Bob Rock producing, The Cult completed 'Hidden City' in 2015. The first two singles, "Dark Energy" and "Deeply Ordered Chaos," were issued in November and December, respectively, with a third, "Hinterland," appearing in January of 2016. The album followed in February of that year.
Following two world tours, and summers spent playing sheds and festivals on both sides of the Atlantic, The Cult took a well-deserved breather extended by the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic. In July 2022, they quietly released the video single for "Give Me Mercy." In October they released the full-length 'Under the Midnight Sun'. Produced by Tom Dalgety (Pixies, Ghost) it appeared from hard rock indie Black Hill Records, offering eight tracks that also included a second single in "A Cut Inside." [SOURCE: ALLMUSIC]
One of the most notorious Australian pub rock bands, Cosmic Psychos play beer-fueled, garage-accented, heavy-hitting punk rock with no frills and no pretensions. Officially beginning their journey together in 1985, the Psychos gained a reputation for not caring about money as much as the free beer, laughs, and occasional overseas traveling involved with being in a rock band. Despite their lack of careerism, the band has had just that: a career that's spanned four-plus decades, seen them release over a dozen albums, sing with Pearl Jam's Eddie Vedder, befriend Mudhoney, and supply beer to the then-underage Silverchair at Australia's Big Day Out Festival.
In the late '70s, bassist Ross Knight was playing in a high school punk band called Rancid Spam in Victoria, Australia, two hours north of Melbourne. Around the same time, guitarist Peter Jones and drummer Bill Walsh were performing together in the Melbourne group Spring Plains. After Spring Plains lost their bass player in 1982, Walsh and Jones asked their friend Knight for his assistance. Knight agreed to join them on bass, and by 1985 the threesome handed the original singer his walking papers. After deciding that Knight would take over vocal duties, the group changed its name to Cosmic Psychos.
The band played its first gig as Cosmic Psychos at the Stockade Pub in Carlonand, Australia, with The Moodists. That same year, Cosmic Psychos recorded their debut EP, 'Down on the Farm', on a two-track tape machine in their practice space and released it on Australia's Mr. Spaceman Records and Europe's What Goes On label. Two years would pass before Cosmic Psychos would release their first full-length, 'Cosmic Psychos'. Mr. Spaceman released the vinyl version, while Australian label Shagpile had the CD counterpart distributed through Shock Records. By 1989, Cosmic Psychos saw their second full-length album, 'Go the Hack', released by Australia's Survival; it also became their first American release when Sub Pop brought it out in the United States. The band followed 'Go the Hack' with its first live album, 'Slave to the Crave', in 1990, which was taken from a June 1989 performance at Melbourne venue the Palace.
As 1990 set in, Jones vacated the guitar spot. Knight and Walsh asked their friend Robbie Watts, a self-taught guitarist, to join the fold. Watts said yes and Cosmic Psychos ventured to Wisconsin to record their third full-length release, 'Blokes You Can Trust', at producer Butch Vig's Smart Studios. Released in 1991, 'Blokes You Can Trust' was the band's first record for the American noise rock label Amphetamine Reptile, after the bandmembers became drinking buddies with label head Tom Hazelmeyer. (AmRep would also reissue 'Down on the Farm' and 'Cosmic Psychos' on a two-fer CD.) The Psychos conducted a European tour during which they developed an unusual trademark. After seeing many other rock bands take bows after performances, at the end of a show in Potsdam, Germany, Cosmic Psychos decided to alter the tradition by pulling down their pants and mooning the unsuspecting audience.
The release of the 1991 "Dead Roo" single was followed by the 'Back to School' EP, which included a cover of L7's "Shove." The latter track was a nod to the Los Angeles all-female rock band, who'd covered a Cosmic Psychos song on a 7" EP. Amphetamine Reptile also had the band contribute a track to its 'Dope, Guns and Fucking in the Streets, Vols. 4-7' compilation. The year 1993 saw the release of 'Palomino Pizza', a six-song EP featuring three cover songs of old Australian pub classics from the likes of Billy Thorpe & the Aztecs, Buffalo, and Guitar Overdose. The bandmembers criticized themselves in interviews, saying they felt that the CD was a half-hearted effort on their part, but they toured in support of the disc nonetheless. They played shows in the United States with Superchunk and The Onyas. Later that year, Cosmic Psychos recorded a split 7" with the band Vertigo. The record, released on Hippy Knight, was a tribute to noise rock group Halo of Flies (whose lineup included Tom Hazelmeyer) and featured the Psychos playing their own rendition of "Garbage Rock."
Throughout 1994, Knight spent time on his farm in Australia recording various song ideas, amassing 40 riffs on one cassette. Cosmic Psychos rummaged through the material and came up with what critics considered their strongest album to date, 1995's 'Self Totalled'; the group members spent a thousand dollars on liquor to get themselves through the weeklong session. The band played a number of gigs in America and ended their tour in Australia, where they opened for Pearl Jam in Sydney on the recommendation of Mudhoney's Matt Lukin, who suggested to Eddie Vedder that he look the Psychos up. The audience of 37,000 wound up booing the Psychos' 45-minute set, and the band responded with their bare-bottomed thanks. The Psychos rounded out their 'Self Totalled' tour by playing at Australia's Big Day Out festival, which featured the Screaming Trees, Hole, Silverchair, Primal Scream, Luscious Jackson, The Offspring, and Ministry.
At the beginning of 1996, the Shagpile label released a 7" single featuring the 'Self Totalled' track "Whip Me" along with acoustic renditions of 'Down on the Farm's "Crazy Woman" and 'Go the Hack's "Lost Cause." (The CD version included two extra unplugged songs.) The band had never recorded with acoustic instruments before, but growing tired of MTV Unplugged, the band figured they'd release their own version to poke fun at the program's popularity. Along with producer Lindsay Gravina, the band recorded the tracks with a pre-recorded audience at Birdland Studios. To the band's surprise, the acoustic numbers received heavy airplay on a large number of Australia's radio stations. A condensed version of the unplugged session was released in the United States on Man's Ruin Records. Cosmic Psychos finished their seventh full-length album at the start of 1997 and gave in to their obsession with Australian meat pies, titling the record 'Oh What a Lovely Pie'. The album came out that summer on Amphetamine Reptile in the United States and Europe. It contained ten songs dealing with everything from dominatrix girlfriends to serial killers. The release was followed by a 24-date tour of Europe with the Melvins. Following the jaunt, the two bands recorded a split 7" for Gearhead Records, which included the Psychos' cover of the Sweet's "Some Girls." (Gearhead also included the song on their 'Runnin' on Fumes: The Gearhead Magazine Singles' compilation.)
Throughout 1998, Cosmic Psychos continued to tour in support of 'Oh What a Lovely Pie'. Their Australian and European shows included supporting act The Onyas, while in the United States they gigged with Gaunt, Mudhoney, and Nashville Pussy. After a three-month break back in Australia, Cosmic Psychos returned to the United States in July of 1999, teaming up with their old friends the Melvins to promote their split 7". By the end of the year, work also began on a Cosmic Psychos retrospective LP culling tracks from their first 15 years together. As the year 2000 reared its head, Cosmic Psychos released '15 Years, A Billion Beers', which included rare outtakes, B-sides, and material from their previous records. A European tour with supporting act The Mobile Homos was scheduled to celebrate Cosmic Psychos' anniversary. Watts decided to sit the tour out, and Knight and Walsh hired the Raunch Hands' guitarist Mike Mariconda to play the gigs.
In 2005, drummer Bill Walsh left Cosmic Psychos, and was replaced by Dean Muller, who played in Ross Knight's side project Dung. Muller made his recording debut with the Psychos on 2006's 'Off Ya Cruet', which included a bitter kiss-off to Walsh, "Kill Bill." On July 1, 2006, while the band was on tour promoting the album, Robbie Watts died of a heroin overdose. The Psychos soldiered on, with John McKeering of The Onyas taking over on guitar. The band soon returned to the studio, and 'Dung Australia' was released in 2007, dedicated to Watts' memory. Four years later, the Psychos released 'Glorius Barsteds', and in 2012 the band played a run of shows at Melbourne's Tote Hotel shortly before the venue was closed. The shows were filmed and recorded; an album was released, 2013's 'I Love My Tractor: Live at the Tote Hotel, Melbourne', and footage from the shows appeared in Matt Weston's documentary about the band, "Cosmic Psychos: Blokes You Can Trust", which included testimonials from Eddie Vedder, Buzz Osborne from the Melvins, and Mark Arm and Steve Turner of Mudhoney. The year 2015 brought the studio album 'Cum the Raw Prawn', which was issued in Australia on CD as well as LP in a special pressing the color of beer. The group's 11th studio album, 'Loudmouth Soup', appeared in 2018, and was followed by an exhaustive 28-date tour of Australia. [SOURCE: ALLMUSIC]
The 1980s new wave movement introduced a large number of stylish, artful bands from the U.K. and Europe to American audiences, but the opposite was also true, and Cock Robin were one act from the U.S. that found a larger and more loyal audience outside their homeland. While "When Your Heart Is Weak" was a modest hit in the U.S. in 1985, the single fared better overseas, and over the next five years, Cock Robin would enjoy consistent success in France, as well as in Italy, Germany, Belgium, and the Netherlands, while attracting only a cult following in their homeland.
Cock Robin was formed in 1982 by Arizona-born Peter Kingsbery, who was establishing a career as a tunesmith in Los Angeles when he relocated to San Francisco and formed the group. With Kingsbery on keyboards, bass, and vocals, he filled out the Cock Robin lineup with vocalist Anna LaCazio, guitarist Clive Wright, and drummer Louis Molino III. The group landed a deal with Columbia Records, and their self-titled debut album was released in 1985. Produced by noted prog rock guitarist Steve Hillage, Cock Robin spawned "When Your Heart Is Weak," which rose to 35 on the American pop charts, and to the Top Ten in France and Germany. The follow-up single, "The Promise You Made," failed to chart in the States, but went Top Ten in France, Germany, Switzerland, and the Netherlands, while it peaked at number one in Belgium. Cock Robin's polished blend of pop hooks, new wave style, and arena rock guitars made them stars across Europe, and while their second album, 1987's 'After Here Through Midland', struggled to 166 on the American album charts, it went platinum in France and reached the Top Ten in Germany, Norway, Sweden, and Switzerland. By the time 'After Here Through Midland' was released, the original lineup had splintered, and Kingsbery and LaCazio were joined by a handful of session musicians to record the album, which was produced by heartland rock specialist Don Gehman.
Cock Robin's third effort, 'First Love: Last Rites', was produced by Rhett Davies, who had previously worked with Roxy Music, King Crimson, and Genesis. Once again, Kingsbery and LaCazio were the faces of the group, and studio musicians rounded out the lineup. The album was modestly successful in France when it was released in 1989, but was overlooked in most other markets, and Columbia didn't release it in America until 1990. A few months after its unsuccessful stateside debut, Cock Robin broke up, with Kingsbery and LaCazio both going on to solo careers. In 2006, Kingsbery and LaCazio teamed with original guitarist Clive Wright to re-form Cock Robin, recording a new album, 'I Don't Want to Save the World'. The group supported the release with a tour of France, and a fifth album, 'Songs from a Bell Tower', followed in 2010, supported by more live dates in France and Spain. In 2015, a French music magazine broke the news that LaCazio had left Cock Robin after Kingsbery relocated to France (where he was also a solo star) while she preferred to live and record in the United States. Cock Robin's French website later revealed that Coralie Vuillemin would be the group's new female vocalist, and that 'Chinese Driver' would be released in March 2016. [SOURCE: ALLMUSIC]
Before becoming a French pop star with Charles De Goal, Patrick Blain was part of C.O.M.A., a synth-punk band that recorded only one album, chock full of ideas, which then dismantled shortly after. Originally released on Flamingo in 1979, 'Clinik Organik Musak Anatomik' is now a much sought-after collector's item. Some will find similarities with Metal Urbain in their sound, especially on tracks like "Assaut," but C.O.M.A. is certainly weirder and mixes clangy punk guitar, proto-industrial synth, harmonica, and slapdash electronic drums. Each song is its own experiment. Inspired by bands like Devo, Wire, XTC, Kraftwerk, The Residents, and Magazine, C.O.M.A. were The Screamers on the French side of the Atlantic Ocean. [SOURCE: FORCED EXPOSURE]
Masters of crude, sludgy, and unrelenting garage punk, the Cheater Slicks have been following their purposefully unrefined vision since the late 1980s, churning out inspired noise and lyrical bad vibes with a consistency that few other bands could match. Flashes of blues, psychedelia, '60s garage rock, and lo-fi punk swim through their swampy attack as they explore the boundaries of their no-frills two-guitar-and-a-drum-kit approach, which has won them a loyal cult following that includes avowed fans Mudhoney, The Dirtbombs, and The New Bomb Turks. The band first started making an impact outside the noise-punk underground with 1995's 'Don't Like You' (produced by Jon Spencer), and while they became less productive after 2002's 'Yer Last Record', they kept making music their own way, and returned to form with a pair of releases that found them exploring new territory -2021's 'Piano Tunnels', recorded with vocalist Bill Gage, and 2023's 'Ill-Fated Cusses', which added keyboards and electronics to their mix.
The Cheater Slicks were formed in Boston, Massachusetts in 1987 by brothers Tom Shannon (guitar and lead vocals) and Dave Shannon (guitar). Eager to play raw, uncompromised garage punk, the Shannons recruited Dana Hatch to play drums and brought aboard bassist Merle Allin, best known for his work with his late brother, G.G. Allin. They began making themselves known on the local underground music scene, and the Cambridge-based label Gawdawful Records stepped up to release their debut album, 1989's 'On Your Knees'. Not long after it came out, Allin left the group, and several bassists passed through the lineup, including Allan "Alpo" Paulinho (formerly of The Real Kids) and Dina Pearlman, before they decided they were better off as a bass-less trio. They issued a fistful of singles for various labels before the Australian Dog Meat label released 'Destination Lonely' in 1991. In 1993, the respected indie punk label In the Red Recordings signed the Cheater Slicks, releasing their 1993 album 'Whiskey', which kicked off one of the band's most stable associations with a label.
Jon Spencer, a fan and friend of the group, signed on to produce their fourth album, 'Don't Like You', which also featured Spencer on lead vocals on "Sensitive Side." He also brought the band on the road as his opening act for his own band's tour behind 1996's 'Now I Got Worry'. In 1996, the Cheater Slicks collectively left Boston and relocated to Columbus, Ohio, where they booked time at the local Diamond Mine Studios and cut an expansive double album, 1997's 'Forgive Thee', which included guest appearances from Mick Collins of The Dirtbombs. 1998's 'Skidmarks: A Collection of Oddities, Rarities, and Vintage Spew' was a compilation that featured the out-of-print 'On Your Knees' album as well as unreleased tapes from Allan "Alpo" Paulinho's time with the band.
'Refried Dreams' followed in 1999; it was their last release for In the Red for quite some time. Secret Keeper Records issued their next long-player, 2002's 'Yer Last Record', and Dead Canary, a Columbus-based label, did the honors of releasing 2007's 'Walk Into the Sea'. After 2009's 'Bats in the Dead Trees', a limited-edition LP of improvisational music, the Cheater Slicks would primarily focus on live releases such as 2011's 'Gutteral (Live Vol. 1 2010)', and brought out an archival release, 'Our Food Is Chaos: The Allen Paulino Session', that gathered unreleased material from Allan "Alpo" Paulinho's short tenure with the group. 2021's 'Piano Tunnels', issued by In the Red, was the fruit of a collaboration between the Cheater Slicks and Bill Gage, the lead singer with the Boston-based group BILL and one of the few artists with Down Syndrome to front a rock band. (According to In the Red, profits from the release benefit the Arts Resources programs of the National Association for Down Syndrome.) Bill's brother John Gage played bass on the 'Piano Tunnels' sessions, and the addition of some bottom end seemingly agreed with the Cheater Slicks. For 2023's 'Ill-Fated Cusses', James Arthur, a former member of the Necessary Evils and Fireworks, was invited to play bass in the studio, and Will Foster, who engineered the recordings, added keyboards and electronics to the songs. [SOURCE: ALLMUSIC]
Chaz Jankel came to prominence as the musical director for Ian Dury's Blockheads, helping to steer those pub rock survivors away from punk and toward funk, disco, and pop. Jankel went further into fusion on his own, creating a dexterous, stylish music that dashed between the boundaries separating new wave and the mainstream. Quincy Jones spotted "Ai No Corrida" on Jankel's eponymous solo debut and decided to have Dune sing the tune for 'The Dude', Quincy's 1981 blockbuster. Jones' version of "Ai No Corrida" became an international hit, reaching 28 on Billboard's Hot 100 and 14 on the U.K. charts, thereby establishing Jankel as a force outside of The Blockheads. Over the next decade, Jankel worked on his own, releasing a total of four solo albums in the first half of the 1980s and scoring a massive dance club hit with 1981's "Glad to Know You," but he eventually wound his way back to Ian Dury, serving as his chief collaborator on 1998's 'Mr. Love Pants' and 2000's 'Ten More Turnips from the Tip'. Dury died shortly afterward, leaving Jankel as the leader of The Blockheads, a role he'd maintain alongside his solo career.
Born on April 16, 1952 in Stanmore, Middlesex, Chaz Jankel was drawn to music by Lonnie Donegan, the king of Britain's skiffle craze of the 1960s. He picked up the guitar as a child, then learned piano. While he was at boarding school, he fell in love with soul and funk, but his first major band was a folk-rock group called Byzantium, which he played in while attending Saint Martin's School of Art in the early 1970s.
After leaving Byzantium, Jankel joined Jonathan Kelly's Outside, appearing on their 1974 LP 'Waiting on You', then he went on to Kilburn and the High Roads during their final days in the mid-'70s. Jankel hit it off with Kilburn leader Ian Dury, so once TheHigh Roads split, the pair formed The Blockheads, a punk band that supported Dury on his 1977 solo debut, 'New Boots and Panties!!' The Blockheads swiftly steered toward funk and disco on 1970's 'Do It Yourself', a shift in direction that accentuated Jankel's musical interests.
'Do It Yourself' turned into a huge hit for Dury, providing momentum for Jankel to launch a solo career in 1980; he'd continue to write with Dury, notably collaborating on "Spasticus Autisticus" from 1981's 'Lord Upminster'. Signing with A&M, he released his eponymous solo debut. 'Chasanova' followed in 1981 (in the U.S. it was called 'Questionnaire'), making inroads in the U.S. thanks to the single "Glad to Know You," which became a number one hit on Billboard's Hot Dance Club Play chart, staying there for seven weeks. That same year, Quincy Jones covered "Ai No Corrida," the lead track from 'Chaz Jankel'. Jones' version became an international hit, turning the song into something of a new wave disco standard. 'Chazablanca' arrived in 1983 and 'Looking at You' came out in 1985 -its lead single "Number One" appeared on the soundtrack to the Val Kilmer comedy "Real Genius" that year- then Jerry Moss of A&M rejected a subsequent fifth album, leading to the label dropping Jankel.
Jankel relocated to the United States in the late 1980s, where he started to work as a film composer beginning with Susan Seidelman's 1987 comedy "Making Mr. Right" and the Dennis Quaid-starring remake of the 1949 film noir "D.O.A."; the latter was co-directed by Chaz's sister Annabel. He eventually returned to the United Kingdom in the mid-'90s, leading to a reunion with Dury and The Blockheads. Jankel and Dury collaborated on the singer's final two albums, 1998's 'Mr. Love Pants' and 2000's 'Ten More Turnips from the Tip'. After Dury's death in 2000, Jankel led The Blockheads through a number of tours and records, all the while continuing to work on a solo career of his own. Throughout the 2000s, he regularly released albums on CJ Records, culminating with 2010's 'The Submarine Has Surfaced'. During the 2010s, his recording projects involved The Blockheads, who released 'Same Horse Different Jockey' in 2013 and 'Beyond the Call of Dury' in 2017.
Cherry Red Records released 'Glad to Know You: The Anthology 1980-1986', a five-disc compilation of Jankel's A&M recordings, in 2020. [SOURCE: ALLMUSIC]
