Negative Trend S/T EP on Superior Viaduct Records

Before Flipper there was Negative Trend. It seems like you can never go back far enough, there's always a band or artist that came before that seminal band that everyone references. It also reminds you that Flipper didn't just appear on the scene out of nowhere. Those guys, like every other band since, have been playing for years in one form or another and that project just happened to become the remembered one after the fact. Superior Viaduct is looking to highlight ground zero of San Francisco punk from 1978, not a place I even thought about having any kind of punk scene.

"Mercanaries" I love how one of the first notes is just stumbled on a little bit, in that kind of who gives a shit style, this is the good take, we don't have all day. A little honesty. Otherwise this is seriously clean, cranked up in the middle of a room, from the four count. Mikal on vocals is actually talking about those soldiers that got paid to go fight, remember when that was a weird idea? It's crazy that a track like thi could actually be eye opening. I remember friends and I going to see Jello Biafra talk somewhere. Back before the internet it wasn't the worst thing to have your high school mind blown by someone who had some crazy ideas about Reagan and running for mayor.

Die for General Motors!

You could see how you couldn't just casually like this sort of thing because it's fun to put on a mix tape. This means business and if I'm into this, I do to. Mikal Waters is seriously going on about Rhodesia? This is actually making the case for this single years later being a kind of weird time capsule, like Holiday in Cambodia...another place I would know nothing about if it weren't for punk rock telling me to check it out.
"Meathouse" to 2013 ears is more garage sounding with a pop melodic feel. Mikal keeps this in line with a Dazing sonding vocal, and yes that's years later, but when talking about these guys, everything is. Talking about a 'Meathouse' and every part of the process. Skinless faces. This could be a horror Cramps punk sound but it goes political with '...we get all our heroes there.' Power chords from a couple of guitars, that tight snappy drum sound. I imagine in the late '70s on the west coast this must have legitimately scared the hell out of aging hippies.
B-Side "Black and Red" has beefy lower end riffs that definitely are going in a Flipper direction, Mikal comes up with a post sounding lyric that juts out between the muted chords with a slight more echo than the rest of the record, surprised this sounds as sludgy as this actually. These are long tracks for a single, but I love that this is in that DIY tradition, they couldn't put out a whole full length. At the same time this could have been recorded in the last few years if they just got rid of how clear sounding this is.
"How Ya Feelin'" is a quick surf rock sound if Mikal weren't sounding like such a freaking brute. You'd want to steer clear of this dude, warning you about your stupid friends who are up to bad shit and then asking how it feels. They have about two seconds to throw a solo in here, the focus on these vocals and the serious thought put into the beginning of punk. Great authentically duplicated document in the tradition of Sing Sing or Last Laugh Records.

Get it from Superior Viaduct Records.

Destry Hampton & The Wolves From Hell – Angel Of Madness reissue on Superior Viaduct Records

The amount of recordings that seem to be constantly rediscovered in the era just before the golden age of punk - around '74 to '78, should give any music fan hope. Things like this seem to be evidence for no matter what terrible era you find yourself in history will constantly surprise you with the great, groundbreaking sounds that were happening if you just took the time to look for them. If you can't find anything to blow your turntable lately, well its your own damn fault. This single from Destry Hampton & The Wolves From Hell was originally recorded in 1977 in San Francisco, the least likely place you'd expect to hear this kind of dark, blues almost Sabbath style metal. At least I bet that's how it might have been described if Punk magazine hadn't come up with a better name two years before. Obviously its influence was felt across the country and Destry was part of the Northern Californian punk sound alongside The Avengers and The Dils...just a year before The Dead Kennedys released their California Uber Alles single.

The one track to preview "Angel of Madness" from the A-Side finds Destry howling like the David Lee Roth soundboard from hell. A slight echo layered over this tortured, snotty, brat vocal. Tough and screechy rising high into almost falsetto and back to a leather growl, punishing every single word. The guitars have that unrehearsed stumbling quality, the attitude is right and they just slip in their power chord progression. A heavy dose of scratchy distortion with extra treble finding time for a manic solo. Recorded extra clear considering the kind of loose chaos they're delivering in just over a minute. This is right on the edge of punk, its impossible to know who would have been the mind blowing tipping point of speed, attitude and dirt, but this may very well have been the thing to send fledgling bands back to the drawing boards.

Released today from Superior Viaduct Records who says:

There is no sense in trying to outdo Angel of Madness, Destry Hampton’s bona fide cult classic. Caught up in the international punk zeitgeist, Hampton laid down his unesaison en enfer in late ’77 in the North Beach district of San Francisco with a pack of friends that included Danny Mihm from the Flamin’ Groovies.

Buzzsaw riffs and manic leads underpin Hampton’s feral, reverb-doused vocals (“I’m feeling mean / Screwed up tight / O I’m ready to kill”). Angel of Madness is one of the most elusive records of the era: manufactured through legendary oddball label Moxie Records, stamped on Hampton’s own Z-Bop imprint, and distributed through a couple local record stores. Eventually the remaining stock was stolen from storage... This first-time reissue comes from the original master tapes.

The Urinals early singles reissued from Superior Viaduct Records

You haven't heard of The Urinals? Me either, but it took all of five seconds listening to a guitar and bass coming through one amp and the choppy cut up vocals recorded all through one boom box in 1978 to realize this is something that you want to have on that seven inch format, just like when it first was pressed up. Let alone these never ended up on a full length vinyl, at least not for anything at a reasonable price...and a shirt? What the hell? Why not... all for 35 bucks? Forget the record store day lines and flippers and get this...the entire catalog direct from Superior Viaduct. New players on the block of bad ass reissues.

Hailing from the late-'70s underground of Los Angeles, THE URINALS were often called "the American WIRE" for their graceful tension, wild energy and trademark brevity. Recorded with a sole microphone and guitar / bass running through a single amplifier, their debut 1978 EP defies its limitations while defining THE URINALS' unique aesthetic. "Dead Flowers," "Hologram" and "Last Days of Man on Earth" are not simply classic songs, they are venerable punk haiku raw and unrestrained.

Originally released in 1979 on the band's own Happy Squid Records, THE URINALS' second 7-inch picks up where their first left off. Bookended by the slow-building pressure of "Black Hole" (covered by THE GUN CLUB and GRASS WIDOW, among others) and rapid-fire surge of "Ack Ack Ack Ack" (famously covered by THE MINUTEMEN), Another EP shows what happens when dynamic songwriting meets condensed attitude. Essential recordings that are best appreciated in small doses, repeated over and over and over.

THE URINALS' third 7-inch, from 1980, demonstrates the group's increased technical proficiency and fuller production that the same members would later bring to their next project, 100 FLOWERS, under which moniker they produced an outstanding album (also available on Superior Viaduct). "Sex" and "Go Away Girl" (penned by David Nolte of THE LAST) are propulsive, lo-fi statements that lay waste to the A-side in under three minutes classic URINALS form. Faithfully restored with test tones on the B-side to ensure your hi-fi is set properly for these sounds.