This is a rough edit of my good friends The Time of the Assassins performing Bones at the Tote in Melbourne, Australia late last year. It was a great show! They’re days away from beginning their first US tour. At present they have shows booked in New York, California and New Jersey. You can find the dates on their Myspace page.
You can also check out an interview with TTOTA in the Pretty Ugly Zine.
X-Ray Spex - ‘I am a Poseur’ (mp3)
There’s nothing rare or obscure about today’s track. It’s just a goodun. Snap, crackle and pop!
Peyote - ‘Crazed’ (mp3)
Peyote - ‘Birzday (Gone)’ (mp3)
Peyote - ‘Bean Curst’ (mp3)
Note: The start of Crazed is real quiet for the first 28 secs.
Does anyone remember the Newcastle band Peyote? They seemed to disappear as quickly as they arrived on the scene back in 1995. I don’t know/remember much about them so would appreciate it if anyone could fill in the gaps. The one thing I do distinctly remember is the first time I heard them on Rage with the video for their single Crazed (or possibly Bean Curst?). From memory the video was simply live footage of the band. No Peyote love that I can find on the YouTubes thus far.
Peyote picked up the support slot on Faith No More’s Australian tour. They also played at the Alternative Nation festival. Their track Bean Curst appears on both the Alternative Nation CD and on Triple J’s Twelve compilation. Apparently a self-titled 4-track CD was released in the same year following on from Crazed but I haven’t been able to track that one down - if anyone can enlighten me about that please do! As far as I know they only had two releases and don’t appear to have survived beyond 1995. Band members were Justin King (vocals), Fin (guitar), Gavin (bass) and Sasha (drums).
Info sources: Newcastle Bands Database, Toolshed.
Peyote - Crazed, 1995
Mushroom Records / Medlodian
1. Crazed
2. Birzday (Gone)
3. Bean Curst
The Hook ‘n’ Pull Gang were part of the late 80s indie scene in Edinburgh, Scotland. Described as “a cross between the Sex Pistols and the Ronettes,” punters remember the band as a strong live act. They were known for singing about the Texas Chainsaw Massacre and influenced other bands in the Edinburgh scene such as Goodbye Mr Mackenzie. The band also made an appearance on the Scottish BBC indie music series FSD.
I’m only aware of one release by the band, a 7inch single which is the feature of todays post. After some searching I finally picked up a copy on eBay. My interest in The Hook ‘n’ Pull Gang (not to be confused with the more recent ‘Hook and Pull Gang’) stems from two of the band members, Rita Blazyca and Sam Ireland, who went on to form Die Cheerleader.
The recording for this 7inch is apparently from a radio session recorded in London in 1987, prior to Sam Ireland joining the band. The line up on the record is Eileen McMullan (drums/vocals), Rita Blazyca (guitar/vocals), Alan McDade (bass). By 1988 Rita had assembled an entirely new line-up, with Stuart on drums, John on bass, and Sam Ireland on vocals. When Sam joined the band a song called Smothered emerged in the set, one assumes this is the same Smothered that was also performed by Die Cheerleader?
After ripping the track Gasoline from my vinyl (not great quality, sorry) I found this gem of a download linked at KittyRadio.com. It’s a zip file containing the two songs from the 7″, another track Janice Long, and a live track recorded on May 19, 1987. Download it here.
The Hook ‘n’ Pull Gang 7″
A - Gasoline
B - Pour It Down Yer Throat
Label: Bitch Hog Records
Cat #: Bitch1
The Hook ‘n’ Pull Gang - ‘Gasoline’ (mp3)
Hey folks, if you’ve just downloaded IE v.7 and are having trouble playing the mp3s, I promise you it isn’t my coding. IE7 is just riddled with bugs. There’s a simple solution. Go to the Tools Menu > Internet Options > Advanced Tab, click on ‘Restore advanced settings’, then hit ‘Apply’. Shut down IE, open it again and the problem will be fixed. Or you could just download Firefox 
I know it’s the intention of this blog to delve into past releases/material, but when you learn who is playing in this relatively new band you’ll understand why a post was deemed necessary. Princess of Mars features some mighty fine personnel from two amazing bands that demand your attention - we’re talkin’ the guitar prowess of Rita Blazyca and the drumming of one Rat Scabies - I’ll be damned! No doubt you’re familiar with the later, but perhaps the former name is not ringing any bells. Rita Blazyca is best known as the guitarist for Die Cheerleader, a UK band whose 1995 release Son of Filth was backed and produced by Henry Rollins. Since the band called it a day Rita is reported to have played in numerous bands, however it wasn’t until 2004 that she got in touch (via the Die Cheerleader website we’ve been running since 1999) to let us know what she was up to:
“I am now finally in a band that totally rocks my world we are called ‘PRINCESS OF MARS’. I can say with my hand firmly on my heart I am currently making the best music I have ever been involved with…. Now with Princess Of Mars I got the second best drummer in the world!, from probably the best punk rock band in the world (The Damned), and a new female singer to rival any one who ever picked up a microphone, the bass player is of another planet..!!”
At that time the line up consisted of:
Rae Black - Lead vocals
Rita Blazyca - Guitar + backing vocals
Rat Scabies - Drums
Adam - Bass
A demo (pictured above) promptly arrived in the mail featuring the following tracks:
1. His Masters Voice
2. Judgement Decay
3. Goodbye Glorious
I didn’t hear much from Rita after that and assumed the band had ended, however I was pleased to learn recently that the band have just set up a Myspace page where you can hear all three tracks from the demo (’His Masters Voice’ has been retitled ‘Morning Star’) - which saves me from trying to track Rita down again to get permission to post the songs on this blog! Visit the myspace page to hear the tunes and download the track ‘Judgement Decay’.
Räuberhöhle - ‘Casio Destroy Toy’ (mp3)
Räuberhöhle sent in her 2000 CD-R release ‘Knallerbsen und Sprengkörper’ for consideration for a compilation I put out years ago. The demo featured four tracks of what would probably best be described as ‘riot beats’, in a style not dissimilar to Julie Ruin and Le Tigre. Armed with various Casios, kids toys that go beep and a riot grrl spirit, I found Räuberhöhle hard to resist. ‘Riots Not Diets’ was selected for the comp, which also appeared on one of the LadyBomb cassette compilations.
I hadn’t checked out Räuberhöhle’s website since 2001, and it seems a lot of great stuff has gone on for Räuberhöhle since then. Her tunes seem to be put together with more sophisticated equipment now, so the sound is more electronic and clean than the kitsch Casio sound of the demo. I have to say I’m not much of an electronica fan and I find the idea of ‘happy hardcore’ a bit strange! But I thought this might be neat trip into the past, one of the tracks on this release ‘Casio Destroy Toy’ has had a massive reworking for a forthcoming release (and can be heard on Räuberhöhle’s myspace page) so it’s interesting to hear how much her sound has changed.
If you dig Räuberhöhle please check out the website where you can buy mp3s from her past three releases (This demo no longer appears available) and the myspace page for tour dates.
1. Casio Destroy Toy / 2. Little ppl Pray / 3. Ghost Busters / 4. Riots Not Diets
Betty Davis - ‘Dedicated to the Press’ (mp3)
Betty Davis is not just a 1970s funk diva, she’s the diva of every god damn thing as far as I’m concerned, and if you’re not yet acquainted, consider this your introduction. Davis’ music career spanned a few short years (73-79) with three studio albums. She was dubbed the ‘wild-woman’ of funk, an out spoken, sassy woman with attitude and wit. She attracted great controversy with her suggestive lyrics. ‘If I’m in Luck, I Might Get Picked Up‘ from her debut record was banned in Detroit, and a radio station in Kansas city was even picketed by protesters for playing the song.
Prior to the release of her records, Davis was married to jazz legend Miles Davis. Miles divorced her after one year (1968) saying she was “too young and wild” for him, however Betty is credited with having greatly influencing Miles, by introducing him to figures such as Jimi Hendrix which fostered a new era in experimentation in his music (and his wardrobe!).
The track I’ve chosen today is pretty self explanatory, and shows Davis as unapologetic for her bold style, musically and otherwise. It’s taken from her final studio album from 1975, Nasty Gal.
Pink Fairies - ‘Do It’ (mp3)
This post is made with fans of the Rollins Band in mind. No doubt you’re familiar with their version of the Pink Fairies ‘Do It’, but perhaps you haven’t heard the Pink Fairies.. do it?
The original track appears on the ‘Never Never Land’ LP (1971). The recent remastered CD release also features the single edit version. The album version and some live versions appear on the compilations ‘Up the Pinks’ and ‘The Golden Years’ (and no doubt many others). But what I’ve got for you today is a 1970 demo version that comes from the 1999 Total Energy Records compilation ‘Do It: Rare Live and Studio Recordings (1969 - 1971)’.
If you wanna learn more about the Pink Fairies, and I do encourage you to do so, the Wikipedia page is a good start. Hailing from the UK, the Pink Fairies pre-dated punk and metal, and influenced many bands that came after them. Most of their releases are available on Amazon, so you should have no trouble tracking them down, although the CD that this track comes from is not always listed in PF discographies, so you may have to dig a little further into your google search results to find it. I’m unsure if it’s featured on any other compilation.