The Nubs on Last Laugh Records

Last Laugh has done it again and reissued this single from what had to have been one of the only punk bands I've ever heard of coming out of New Hampshire, The Nubs, but then again according to Henry Weld's well documented page of early New England punk singles he has GG Allin in the NH column of punk....and you learn something new everyday. Somehow I had no idea that piece of work came from the LIve free or die state. Easily their greatest folkhero. The Nubs however have the unique distinction of recording these tracks at NCS studios right before GG, and you can only imagine what the hell that studio was like if bands like this are showing up in the early '80s. Who was the lucky engineer at the boards when The Nubs settled in to put some super scuzz, metal-punk down on tape.

A-Side's "I Don't Need You" has a buried super fuzz effect on an electric driving this straight into METAL, reminding me of Hot Lunch's southern heavy stoner sound. These guys seem to be walking the line of Sabbath and that Mentally Ill single with BJ Branch delivering these vocals up in a high Johnny Rotten register...being almost that screamy Judas and occasionally ending lyric questions with that rising yelp.
The sentiment is a real shot to the self esteem:
I don't need you /'cause I got me
The band backing him up in a weird low response harmony to these up front slight echo vocals. There's some serious rolling drum fills, and this bassline is flying along supporting this attitude which is definitely punk, in that call to fight something. Far all the sad bastard music that's out there, I gotta hand it to punk, at least it tries to fight back and refuses to let the listener wallow in any kind of slow poetry. Catchy, solid-fuzz-bouncy kind of pop track about how you are the best. Forget about those jerks. The kind of history lesson I can relate to.
B-Side's "Dogs" then goes in a bizarre psych direction, stabby organ/moog sounds and literally an epic prog joke about a human dog person maybe being some kind of alien?...from the 'dogs' point of view, lots of barking by the band. A groovy bass line but definitely a typical B-side where this couldn't have been meant to ever be taken very seriously. Clever lyrics about all of the doings of this dog guy, and a crazy breakdown queen-ish section panning barks across the channels, I guess you just have to be yourself. Another lesson from The Nubs, who cares what society wants, you go be a dog if you want. Like Iggy. Or DMX.

Killed by death has more info over here.

Last Laugh says:

Nubs frontman BJ Branch crawled across the same beer-soaked stages as hometown pals the Jabbers, logging hundreds of gigs in the New England area during the band's six-year existence. The fuzzbox shredding on "I Don't Need You (Cause I Got Me)" has long stood in fine mix tape company sandwiched between the Mentally Ill and the Maids. Recorded in 1979 at NCS studios in New Hampshire, the Nubs left behind plenty of negative vibes for a young Kevin Allin to soak up while recording his LP tracks shortly thereafter. Transferred straight from the analog masters, and guaranteed to sound just as twisted 33 years later.

A-Side here: