Freedom Has No Bounds

Gruberger Brothers (Reading PA)

August 3, 2020 / user

Greetings From Reading, Pa

The Gruberger Brothers, Solomon and Jay, were originally from Brooklyn New York and are well known for being members of the Proto-Punk band O. Rex who formed in 1973 and released an independent 3-song 7inch ep in 1976. The third member of O. Rex was Kenne Highland who later became famous in the Punk world as a member of The Gizmos. It seems that O. Rex never actually played a live show and by early 1977 the Grubergers and Highland combined forced with Kim Kane of the Washington D.C. band Slickee Boys to form a new band called Afrika Korps. Recording commenced with the results released in September 1977 as the Music To Kill By LP. During 1977 Afrika Korps played some live shows and their setlists included some of the O. Rex songs. For reasons unclear the Gruberger brothers dropped out of the Afrika Korps at the end of 1977 and first Solomon moved to Reading Pennsylvania and was later followed by Jay. Once they were set up there they tried to put a band together but found that people and clubs in Reading were not interested in original music. But, with a hired drummer named Mitch, they went into Jake Hain’s Unisound Recording Studio on N. 8th Street to record tracks for a proposed record. The name of the band was to be Spike and the record was to be a 7inch ep titled 90 Miles Per Hour. Eight songs were recorded but the record was never released. Over the next two years the brothers would record ten more songs at Unisound with drummer Ron Roberts. None of this material was released to the public at the time. Had the 90 Miles Per Hour ep been released in 1978 it would have been the first Punk record from Reading Pennsylvania. While the Grubergers were involved with music playing in cover bands in Reading, Spike apparently never played live and the Gruberger Brothers never played their original material live. Both brothers did return to playing with Afrika Korps in the 1980s. Sadly, Jay Gruberger was killed in a car accident in January 1993. In 2011 all these tracks were mastered from the original reels and released on this LP. Solomon passed away in 2012, almost a year after the release of this album.

Since this album is available to purchase at Midheaven and I’m sure other places I have only included a couple of track so you can sample them – if you like them get the album

Dirty Lies
Hustler

Thanks for the tape files Brett Noise Addiction II

Rocket 69

July 31, 2020 / user

Rocket 69

After Mudd Helmut Dan-O formed Rocket 69 with ex More Fiend Ron Kitagawa. Rock Koplin on guitar and Scott Schuppert on drums. This post has 2 of their Philly shows from the Khyber and Upstairs at Nick’s. Rocket 69 release a cd Demolition Diary on Snake Oil Recording and a split 7″ with Dion Blade & The New Kings Of Rock.
Thanks for the tape files Brett Noise Addiction II

Upstairs At Nick’s, Philadelphia 6-16-95

01. Mama’s Boy
02. Horsin’
03. Just Kill Me
04. Stop This Planet
05. White & Uptight
06. Somebody’s Going To Get There Head Kicked In Tonight
07. Detroit Rock City

Khyber Pass, Philadelphia 8-12-95

01. Negative Way
02. Search To Destroy
03. Wanna Be
04. Everything Is Fine
05. Mama’s Boy
06. Horsin’
07. Just Kill Me
08. Stop This Planet
09. Freaks
10. White & Uptight
11. Somebody’s Going To Get There Head Kicked In Tonight
12. Rock ‘n’ Roll All Night
13. Detroit Rock City

MediaFire Zip of all files

The “Sons” of Electric Love Muffin

July 29, 2020 / user

sons of ELM covers

A very recent nice development has been members of bands from the 80’s getting back together and/or starting new bands. Three of them from Philly all have members from of one of my favorites Electric Love Muffin. Another fan of ELM has been releasing records by these new/old bands on Sister Raygun Records. According to him the label’s main goal is to promote local Philly bands (though we have non-Philly bands too). Plus it is “purely a labor of love for me — just trying to help put out some good under-the-radar music….” The great part is these bands aren’t rehashing the sound of any of their old bands they are expanding on those sounds in many new directions. For some videos Check out the Sister Raygun YouTube channel
Now, getting back to the three bands:

Poppy

Poppy was first formed in the early 1990s with members of 2 of 80s Philly punk scenes favorites Electric Love Muffin (Brian Campbell) and Scram! (Craig Heim) with Kate Campbell’s powerful vocals and loud guitar. They returned a few years ago and have been playing all over Philly. First time I saw the reformed Poppy was at the Tusk (I think) and they were heavier than I had remembered and it was just a good time seeing them again. In November of last year (2019) they released a new album Snakes of New Jersey. There are a variety of styles on the album from Noisy Blues with powerful vocals to straight ahead pop rock to one song Marga, which in some ways reminds me of (I’m not sure what it’s been labeled) but bands like Seam/ Dustdevils/ Breaking Circus/ Polvo.

<a href="http://poppy1.bandcamp.com/album/snakes-of-new-jersey">Snakes of New Jersey by Poppy</a>

FoxyContin

FoxyContin formed in 2003, the band features members of 2 Philly punk legendary bands The Electric Love Muffin and Krhissy. Rich Kaufmann (ELM singer) wanted to start a band that channeled the first wave of punk rock after the end of his country rock, the Rolling Hayseeds. He was working with Ravine Veneer at Silk City who played guitar and got Michael Barndt (Krhissy) on drums and Mike Stifel on bass. I missed recent Foxycotin shows since they have been back, but once we can return to seeing bands, I plan on going, Their long awaited debut album This Time You’re On Your Own (see below) comes out on August 7th on Sister Raygun. There is something for everyone on this album. A song for the sad state of politics in America (The Whole World Knows I’ll Never Get Over It Now), A reworked Rolling Hayseeds song (It’s Starting to Show), and a couple of songs have organ music by Sam Steinig (Mondo Topless and GTVs) that reminds me of the organ parts of early Elvis Costello songs, plus lots of cool covers from all over the musical spectrum.

<a href="http://foxycontin.bandcamp.com/album/this-time-you-re-on-your-own">This Time You’re On Your Own by FoxyContin</a>

Mt Vengeance

Mt Vengeance is Rich Fravel – singer/guitarist (Uptown Bones, Latimer, Ashtabula, Blue & Realtor extraordinaire who helped me buy my house), Brian Campbell – bass (Electric Love Muffin & Poppy) and Nicky Santore – drums (Valsalva, Glory Hole). I have seen them live a few times and for me it was a strange (in a good way) mix of nostalgia for the 90s but with enough freshness to it to make it sound new. Their first album Covered in Dust from 2018 was one of my favorites of that year and the new album Machines is even better (see below). There are a lot of different styles on this album. A few songs have a pop sensibility but with a harder edge. Others like Nil By Mouth has distorted noisy guitar with a grove. Then it all wraps up with the song Machines which has a metalish Hawkwind sort of sound.

<a href="http://mtvengeance.bandcamp.com/album/machines">Machines by Mt Vengeance</a>

Here is a video I shot before the Photon Band / American Trappist / Mt. Vengeance show at JB’s. Brian (ELM, Poppy, Mt. Vengeance), Rich (Uptown Bones, Mt. Vengeance), Art (Uptown Bones, Photon Band) & Noel (Uptown Bones) played two Uptown Bones songs and an ELM song.

Other Sister Raygun bands include Philly’s own Beretta 76
<a href="http://beretta76.bandcamp.com/album/blue-sky">Blue Sky by Beretta76</a>

Good Power Pop Italian band Mad Rollers
<a href="http://madrollers.bandcamp.com/album/i-need-your-love">I Need Your Love by Mad Rollers</a>

I have to use the bandcamp description for Pre-Cog in the Bunker – a sci-fi post-punk duo blending punk noise, classic melodies, and literary lyrics.
<a href="http://precoginthebunker.bandcamp.com/album/what-if">What If? by Pre-Cog in the Bunker</a>

And The Professor Fuzz 63 is a cool, lo-fi, rocking’ trio from Dallas,
<a href="http://prof-fuzz63.bandcamp.com/album/owls">Owls by The Prof.Fuzz 63</a>

Pictures & Flyers

(some pics from the label and a couple I took)

Orifice

July 27, 2020 / user

Two demo tapes from late 80’s Philly band Orifice. In the late 80’s early 90’s some of the scene was moving from punk/hardcore into Industrial Noise à la Test Department & Einstürzende Neubauten. Philadelphia had a some good examples of that move in Orifice, King Carcass, Sink Manhattan, Nine Firemen Nine and I’m sure other I can’t think of right now. The band was made up of Bryan Willette (ex Love Battery (philly one not sub pop band that came later)) Grant Acker (Un), Pete Danz, Don Glass, and Frank Phobia (Anthrophobia),
I made a video for (I believe) their song the Burning Bus for a RTF class at Temple. I would love to put the video in this post but my partner on the project kept the only copy of it and I have never been able to see it again. I’m sure it was brilliant piece of 1st year of film school cinema. 🙂
Thanks for the tape files Frank!

Demo Tape (1989)

A1 – The Icebox
A2 – I Am the Machine
A3 – King of Maggots
A4 – Little Joe

A Pretty Nice Guy…A Really Good Liar Tape (1989)

A1 – Bludgeon
A2 – Gash
A3 – The Veil
A4 – Burning Bus
A5 – Meathook
A6 – Jack of Fools

MediaFire Zip of all files

Mudd Helmut

July 24, 2020 / user

2 Live shows from JC Dobbs in 1992 by Richmond VA band Mudd Helmet. There is not a lot of info about them online but it looks like Mudd Helmut broke up in 1993 after releasing one 7″ and one tape (1990).
Thanks for the tape files Brett Noise Addiction II

Live JC Dobbs 4-23-1992

01. Give Me Sensation
02. Wired
03. Doomsday In Hell
04. Between The Lines
05. Riding Jeanies Brain
06. title unknown
07. La La La
08. Somebody’s Gonna Get Their Head Kicked In
09. NYC Mourning
10. This Ain’t No Promised Land
11. title unknown
12. What’s Your Name

Live JC Dobbs 6-11-1992

01. Sometimes I Feel
02. title unknown
03. title unknown
04. Doomsday In Hell
05. Give Me Sensation
06. Somebody’s Gonna Get Their Head Kicked In
07. title unknown
08. La La La
09. This Ain’t No Promised Land
10. I’ve Been Gone So Long
11. Something’s Gotta Give
12. What’s Your Name

MediaFire Zip of all files

Original Sins

July 22, 2020 / user

Original Sins

Two shows from the 1980s Garage revival legends. Original Sins formed 1985 in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania.and continued through much of the 1990s releasing many records. The Khyber show was without their keyboard player. Both shows were recorded from the audience and have good sound quality.
Can anyone fill in the song titles?
They have a facebook page here.
Also defiantly check out Brother JT’s records on his site or bandcamp and the two other current bands RunHideFight & Suffacox mach2 (original Suffacox led by the late & legendary Wayne Hamilton) he is in.
Thanks for the tape files Brett Noise Addiction II

New York City 1988

01. title unknown
02. title unknown
03. title unknown
04. title unknown
05. Why You Love Me So
06. title unknown
07. Tearing Me In Two

Khyber Pass, Philadelphia 11-25-94

01. Ego
02. title unknown
03. title unknown
04. title unknown
05. Saturday
06. Sorrow [McCoys]
07. No Matter What [Badfinger]
08. title unknown
09. title unknown
10. title unknown
11. Making Time [Creation]
12. Original Sins
13. Juicy Fruit
14. Stupefied
15. All I Have To Do Is Dream [Everly Brothers]
16. title unknown
17. title unknown
18. Mary, Mary [Monkees]
19. Not Gonna Be All Right
20. Sugar Sugar [Archies]
21. title unknown
22. title unknown

MediaFire Zip of all files

YouthQuake

July 17, 2020 / Eric de Jesus

Photo credit: Jen Buck Knies

YQ was a band from 1985 to 1986 from Catasauqua in the Lehigh Valley.

Larry Deiter, charismatic teenage hero who ran away from home and lived in the little league dugouts for awhile, was the singer. he’d sung in a band called Zero Factor previously.

Tracy Pain played guitar, Bobby Fegley played bass (RIP. he died in a car crash in the 90s) and Roy Mayorga played drums. Somewhere late in their ‘career’ they got Roy Grube from LAST CRY to play bass. (I never saw this lineup…) Mike Gentilcore, local king of LV BMX, played second guitar in an early lineup.

They were from Catasauqua, which kids on the scene used to call Little England. Catasauqua (or Catty) was one of the punkest small towns in America. there were some truly amazingly stacked shows from 84 to 86 there. it was like the Huntington Beach of Pennsylvania; as if Catty High was the PA version of Edison High in HB. And most of those kids were a bit crazed and tough. it was totally Class Of ‘84.

Every other high school in the LV had maybe 5 or 6 punkers each. but at Catty High it seemed to me like every single student was a punker, or at least wouldn’t give you shit for being a punker. i mean i would go to the Catty High dances with Larry Deiter and Story from The Complaints and hang high up in the bleachers with the punkers. I never even thought of going to a dance at my own high school in Bethlehem! I mean fuck, that thought gives me shivers.

By the early 80s for some reason Catty had such a deep punk tradition and i don’t really know why…. To this day i still wonder about Why That Was. Someone brainiac should figure it out and do an ethnography.

There were even dances at some church in Catty that I and other LV punkers would attend. First time I went my mind was fucking completely blown: little elementary & middle school kids (no lie) pogoing around with spiked hair, sid vicious chain necklaces with locks, and engineer boots. Tracy Pain’s gnarly older brother was DJing (999, pork dukes, sex pistols, uk subs, all Catty faves). The chaperones were all singing along to Friggin In The Riggin and dancing around.

I couldn’t believe it.

Me & a couple kids started skanking around 1982 style and bam! Tracy’s older brother put me on the floor with a sucker punch. He didn’t like this new kinda punk dancing.

YQ practicing in some basement

Prior to Youthquake the Catty bands were pretty tough & raw and late 70s-ish. The LIARS, The CLAP, The COMPLAINTS (whom i totally loved), etc. They all kind of sang with english accents.

But with YQ came a more hardcore approach, as if intentionally they were reacting against the older punkers ( the Complaints had a song called Johnny Please Come Home, which i always hoped & imagined was about Johnny Loftus from The Clap) YQ wrote a darker themed song called Johnny’s Not Coming Home)

They broke up in 1986 I think?

But with roy’s brother on bass, or down-tuned guitar, they morphed into WORD MADE FLESH who were, to me, thee greatest LV band ever (not just up to that point). But for whatever reason they didn’t last too long either.

Larry went on to sing in Fathead, and continues to ‘live rough’ to this very day i hear. Roy went on to play with Nausea, Soulfly, Stone Sour, Amebix and probably others.

When i think of all these old friends and the things they did I cant help but feel good, and sad; about having once been a 16 year old punker, and about how much time has gone by.
– Eric de Jesus (raw pogo on the scaffold zine/ easy subcult)
– photos by Jen Buck Knies & Jen Chapelle

There first demo – It’s Up To Us is up on the FOE site
Thanks for the tape files Brett Noise Addiction II

demo cover

Stress Test Demo 1986

01 – We Dont Need
02 – Johnnys Not Coming Home Today
03 – The Tables Turned
04 – American Escalation
05 – Stress Test
06 – Ill Take My Chances
07 – Right to Die
08 – It Wasnt Your Choice
09 – Prepare Them for War
10 – It Cant Happen
11 – Youre the Robot

MediaFire Zip of all files

this flyer is for the first show i ever set up. zero factor was pre YQ (and SMD (smurfs must die) was pre Follow Fashion Monkeys.
larry in a blue bandana watch the Complaints at a church in catty
YQ singer larry in an old issue of my zine SPED
YQ at the Catty Shack ‘86 with naked raygun & pleased youth (photo by Jen Chapelle)
YQ at the Catty Shack ‘86 with naked raygun & pleased youth (photo by Jen Chapelle)

Doctor Bombay (L.M.N.O.P.)

July 15, 2020 / user

Doctor Bombay Flyer

L.M.N.O.P. were Rob Windfelder on vocals, Greg Cowper on keyboards, Lisa Cortes (aka Palmyra Delran) on bass/guitar, Eddie Beinlich on Drums. This was the very first LMNOP show. Drummer Eddie left the band soon after. Later on the band changed their name to Doctor Bombay and released their 1st single in 1985 with an LP following in 1989. For their Dr Bombay 7″ they added Barbara McGough on Backing Vocals, Bob McKeown / Joe Ankenbrand on Drums & Greg Cowper on Keyboards. Then for the Car Crash Rage album it changed to Noelle Hoover (currently of Gibbous Moon) on Bass, Keyboards with Bob McKeown again on Drums. Palmyra Delran is also on the live recording with Das Yahoos here. She later went on to play with Friggs and Pink Slip Daddy.
Here is their page on Discogs.
The insert pages for the LP had a lot of text so I included pdf versions + plus there was a fold over section so there are two versions:
Red Image Version & Black Image Version,
Thanks for the live tape files Brett Noise Addiction II

Deadspot

July 13, 2020 / user

Deadspot were in my opinion the best of the Philly Metal crossover bands. They definitely had a more metalish sound but retained punk/hardcore ethos. For the demo tape the bass player was Richard Birch who was also the guitarist for Decontrol. One of the Deadspot songs from their tape was on the Philly comp: Disc Pan Hands. Deadspot’s line up featured Larry Horn (listed as The Kid) on drums, Mike Illes on lead vocals and rhythm guitar, Paul Juestrich on lead guitar and Larry Leifheit on bass. Besides the Demo Tape I have included their first album Adios Dude and the 7 inch Built-In Pain.
Their 2nd album Built in Pain LP is still available to buy.
I’ve also included a couple of videos I put up on YouTube from Lenny Crunch (RIP) & flyers.

Thanks for the tape files Brett Noise Addiction II

Demo Tape

01 – Another Day
02 – Deadspot
03 – Friday Night in Hell
04 – Powertool
05 – Suicide City
06 – Tonite
07 – Here and Now
08 – Hollywood
09 – Paris is Burning

Adios Dude LP

A1 – Addiction
A2 – Right Through You
A3 – Inside
A4 – Deadspot
A5 – Friday Night in Hell
B1 – This Means War
B2 – Powertool
B3 – Another Day
B4 – My Death
B5 – Jesus is My Best Friend

Built-In Pain 7″

A1 – Razors
A2 – T.V. Eye
B1 – Built in Pain

MediaFire Zip of all files

Video

Deadspot from JC Dobbs

Deadspot @ Grendel’s Lair 10/20/85

Follow Fashion Monkeys

July 8, 2020 / user

wkdu house show

This is the first band I am putting up that played a show at my house. I first saw FFM at an early show for me (maybe my 2nd) in the Leigh Valley. Their lyrics opened my eyes to Animal Rights and I also liked the anti hardcore conformity message. Years later when I went to College in Philly I asked them to play a party at my house with Meister Squad. Sadly both their later period drummer DC Dave and their singer Steve are no longer with us. They were both great guys who are very missed
I’ve collected a bunch of their music here – I’m not sure if the first demo recordings are different then the first album but I included them anyway.
They released one self-titled album in 1985 (include here – it used to be available online but I can’t find it now), toured the USA with Italy’s Indigesti and recorded an album in 1987 at Inner Ear studios that was produced and mixed by Ian MacKaye and Don Zientara (available here).

For the 1986 Demo – The first song was re-recorded for their second album and the other song never saw the light of day. Sound quality is very good. The 87 demo has another version of “What About Tomorrow” and two more songs.
The live show from Club Pizzaz has 5 songs that were on that album. The live show was recorded through the soundboard so the quality is very good.

Click here for an early interview with the Follow Fashion Monkeys from FOE zine and they have a Facebook page here .