The Flesh Eaters “A Minute to Pray, a Second to Die” 1981/2024 limited edition red vinyl reissue on Jackpot Records. Early punk supergroup featuring X’s John Doe and DJ Bonebrake, The Blasters’ Dave Alvin, Bill Bateman and Steve Berlin (also from Los Lobos), plus Flesh Eaters founder/frontman Chris D. (aka Chris Desjardins). A Minute to Pray, a Second to Die was their second LP and it’s weird AF. In the punk canon it’s more campy Cramps or Devo with a death wish than their early SoCal LA contemporaries like the Germs or other harder-edged bands (though Chris D’s vocals occasionally have a Darby edge). Herky jerky weirdness abounds, accented with squawking sax’s and shaky maracas (all of that and more on the track “Satan’s Stomp“). While it’s “trashy…blues horror” (Allmusic), there are for sure ass-shaking moments like on “Pray til You Sweat,” the boogie-down “See You in the Boneyard” and the vaguely Bo Diddley-esque, maraca-forward “So Long.” The John Doe penned “Cyrano de Berger’s Back” would appear later on X’s 1987 See How We Are (sidenote: Billy Zoom was replaced on that LP by fellow Flesh Eater Dave Alvin on guitar) and again on their 2020 surprise release Alphabetland.

The Mighty Deer Lick “Stag Nation” 1990. Sub-Atomic Records. Four song EP from Milwaukee OG pop-punks. Though I’ve seen MDL play gobs of times over the years, I wasn’t at their most recent show at X-Ray Arcade (opening for Chicago’s OG punks The Effigies) this past Friday night but Joe was. It’s been a rough week and a rough couple of months generally as in December and then on Friday we lost our beloved boys, Mr. Pocket and Mr. Pants. Litter mates born around August 2009, we got them from the cat shelter (that I now volunteer at these past 9 years) when they were just 5 months old. The house feels really really empty. Anyway, after their set, Deerlick Dave came out with with a PANTS shirt on – you can read the story Joe wrote for me (I had to work early in the morning so the note was there for me when I got up) but if you can’t read his writing, this is what it says:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Mr Pants. Deerlick Dave was wearing this shirt after finishing their set. I asked him where he got it – probably online he replied – and told him our story. Having recently lost his dog, Jim, Dave said “Wait right there” and disappeared through the staff and artists’ door, reemerging moments later with a fresh shirt on, he hands me his PANTS t-shirt with the apology “it’s a little damp,” and hugged in condolence for our lost pets. RIP Jim, Pants, Pocket

Stag Nation is a mix of snotty pop punk: “She’s My Chemist,”  the extremely short and extremely silly “Skate,” the excellent rocker “Hey!” and some twanging Americana “On a Cloudy Day” that has both mandolin and harp, mixed into the late 80’s/early 90’s sound which just a year or so later would be called grunge, or at least grunge-adjacent. The liner notes are fun as my sister-in-law (Joe’s sister) and her ex-husband (who were are still friends with) are the third and fourth people thanked, plus a bunch of bands I saw in the 90’s after I moved to Milwaukee in ’93 and clubs that mostly gone (The Unicorn and The Odd Rock) and other assorted acquaintances in the Milwaukee music scene. That The Mighty Deerlick are still around and playing is pretty amazing, though the lineup has changed a bit over the years, the most tragic one being the loss of Dan Franke who died a year or two ago after battling some serious health issues for a long long time.

Andy Taylor “Thunder” 1987. Today, February 16th, is Andy Taylor’s 65th birthday (b. 1961). Thunder is the former, then not, then former again Duran Duran guitarist’s debut solo LP and it is basically nothing like Duran Duran – hard rock with metal shreds (Sex Pistols’ Steve Jones helps Andy out on guitar but I’m not entirely sure which of the two is responsible for those solos). Always-Duranie’s like myself were always aware that Andy really just wanted to rock but was restrained by the new wave/synthpop (in the 80’s at least) of Duran Duran’s sound. He totally lets loose of all that pent up energy on Thunder. It’s got big 80’s hair metal oozing everywhere, including the ubiquitous cheesy metal ballad (“Life Goes On“). While now out of print, the record did pretty OK upon its release in ’87, going to #46 in the US and to #61 in the UK (though I imagine at least two-thirds of the purchases were by rapid Duranies who were mightily disappointed – not necessarily expecting Duran but at least a Power Station vibe, which they did not get on Thunder). As much as I love Andy, I do not really care for Thunder (but will absolutely keep in our collection). The title track is formulaic 80’s hard rock: “Thunder” is fine but sounds like about 10 other songs released between ’86-’88, same with tracks like “Night Train” with their kinda forced anthemic vibe that could be by Whitesnake, Bon Jovi or any other harder edged 80’s rock band. The singles released, which include “I Might Lie” (US Rock chart #17)” the aforementioned “Life Goes On” (which only charted in Italy), and “Don’t Let Me Die Young.” That last one went to #36 on the rock chart and Steve Jones shares songwriting credits with Taylor. There is a lot of shredding on it and the video has the requisite 80’s ripped jeans and big big big hair.