It's about time we get sleazy here at Capital Loss, we've had some pretty choice bands posted but none quite like this before. Lethal Lipstick formed in 1985 with the mission of combining glam rock, heavy metal, and the snotty viciousness of punk and their early recordings are full of all that goodness in one place. From what I could gather they had quite a rotating cast of characters, including Mike Trash who would go on to start the Erotics out of the ashes of Lethal Lipstick and Nick Grind the guitarist of The Plague, but in the beginning there were Bob Gori and Wayne Haskins of The Misfits/Tragics who formulated the plan to smash together the New York Dolls and the Dead Boys to some success. It sounds like at some point in the late '80s they had a record deal with CBS records that went south after Sony bought the company, but I couldn't tell you the details of that as there's a few different stories I've come across and none of them are easy to sum up in the interest of brevity. If it sounds like it would be your thing, then it probably is. Included here are the two original tracks on the Bad Boys single, and two demo recordings because they rip and I can't find any more than that of the original cassette.
Not exactly punk, not quite hardcore, but Planet Eater had all the energy and force of them both in their live shows despite most likely being under the influence of a copious amount of marijuana. Stoner doom metal is tight as fuck, I don't care what you say, and this really is a prime example of just how heavy "heavy" can be at slower tempos with killer Sabbath inspired riffage. Had the honor of sharing the stage with them at a 518 Prints company barbecue in like 2010 maybe, and it was awesome seeing them even at the time, but I was a little ways away from finding my doom metal fandom that would give me new appreciation for these songs years later. It seems like the band didn't last long after doing this recording being that their last show was August 4th in 2012 and the bandcamp says this came out on the 2nd, but starting in 2008 they had a few good years and some good songs to back them. I know that most of, if not all of, these dudes have been involved in other musical projects but honestly I'm having a hard time digging any of that info up in my brain. Get in touch if you can fill me in.
From Saratoga Springs comes some crossover riff laden NYHC with all members of the band in the nationally established Silly Pink Bunnies crew (with album artwork done by Jeremy Fish, no less!), not to mention Saratoga staple George DeMers of Full Metal Racket fame, 20+ years and counting on WSPN 91.1 FM. This was the first recording done by hardcore legend Don Fury after he moved up to Troy and opened his new recording studio, which must have been quite the honor for these dudes to help him break it in.
Between drums and bass there is a really solid rhythm section to back the riffs that bounce between metallic shred and hard chugging breakdowns, which gives this some good peaks and valleys and keeps the music from ever getting dull. If I'm being totally honest the vocals were never really my thing but the dude was a ball of frantic energy onstage which made him a natural frontman, and his lyrical content goes above and beyond with over the top vulgarity that gets some laughs, desensitizes you, and then makes you realize how absurd the whole thing is all over again.
I was on the fence about including these dudes seeing as only one of them ever lived in the Albany area, while the rest of them were a little further south around Kingston, but they played the majority of their gigs in Albany at one point so I'd say they count. Besides that, this demo rips way too fucking hard to not include it, if we're being totally honest. Always a treat to see them play live partially because the songs were so good but partially because they had a real fucking grizzly bear on vocals. Singer Thomas Vomit was always the nicest of dudes, but the man is huge with a menacing presence and his vocal delivery can really only be described as a roar. The rest of the band were always tight as fuck, and played hard.
Really don't want to make comparisons to Discharge and Motorhead anywhere because then we get into that whole "motorcharge" terrain which is far more simplistic of a write-off than this band deserves. Yes.. naturally they took inspiration from both bands, but they made it into something that stands on its own two feet and smashed it together with a heavy UK crust influence along with some more USHC sounding hints here and there. Was really sad when this band stopped gigging, and wished there were more to their discography, but this demo stands the test of time. Drummer James would end up going on to form Bad Friends, who have been featured on this blog before, and eventually the Spirit of Violence.
Honestly ska, and specifically ska punk, hadn't really been my thing since I was around 13/14 years old. Here and there some stuff will catch my ear, and I've never been particularly opposed to it, but generally I will tune it out if it isn't 1st or 2nd wave. That being said, something about the Menace Society was different. From the first exposure I had I saw immediately that the energy level was nearly unbeaten, their performance was chaotic, and above all the dudes were having so much fun it was impossible for me to not get into it. As soon as they'd won me over, they sealed my fate by busting out a note for note cover of Iron Maiden's "the Trooper" and I was floored. Over the years that passed I got to know the dudes a little better, we shared a stage together at Valentine's more than a few times, and shared more than a few beers a lot of times.
They released an entire discography CD, but as you know that isn't my style to post it all in one shot. Always better to leave the people wanting more, yeah? The rest will go up eventually but for now this will have to hold you over. This material was always my favorite, though later stuff certainly had some real standouts like the classic "Beer Run," the instrumental "Save Fugi," and a hilarious fuck you to local staple Kevin Jackson. I think the earlier stuff appeals to me more mostly because of the harshness of it compared to when they got a little more refined down the line, however that's in no way an indicator of decline in quality. This demo has a lot of catchy uptemo ska shit with a good dance beat with the occasional straight up punk part and even a little hardcore influence peppered in there. After they split up in 2007 members went on to play in projects like Acid Reflux, Chlorine, Girls of Porn, and PartyHorn. Stick around after the last song for a secret track.
With members that would go on to play in All Fall Down, Cutthroat, and Stigmata, Substance were hardcore from the Cro-Mags school of mosh (rumor is their original name was Hard Times) that made them sound tough as fuck aside from their already raw demo. Usually this side of hardcore isn't really my thing, but this demo really rips from track one to the end. A lot of music that is supposed to be pissed off comes across as disingenuous at least on occasion but these dudes are really really pissed off and it shows from the riffs, to the vocals, to how hard the drummer hammers his kit.
Time for another one of my old bands! This supergroup of local weirdos was put together by JR of Lone Ranger who went on to be in the Royal Hounds in NYC (probably one of the best new oi bands going right now) with me, Welf and Joey from Aggressive Response, and David from Flowers of Evil. Okay so, the story goes like this: we originally were supposed to be a band for exactly one show, which was Iron Cross coming through Albany on tour. It so happened that that show was cancelled, and due to some weird law of transference we ended up becoming a real band.
With some hard hitting JR riffage, David's proselike lyrics and spastic stage presence, Joey and Welf filling out the sound, and me keeping a steady beat, we actually became something I am still kinda proud of. Only one demo recording exists and the sound quality is the perfect kind of shitty to compliment our sound, but we did have a handful of other songs that were never properly archived and that is a damn shame. We wanted a band that would be short lived and burn out quickly, and even if we started doing some outta town gigs here and there we still ended up becoming that band. Relationships soured with several members and it was decided we'd part ways. I had a good time in the band, but it was hard to be bummed while having 14 hour days between work and school before I'd even get to practice. Now that all that shit is over, I'm definitely missing these days. Pretty unforunate we never got to record the War At Your Door 7" but hey, it is what it is!
Don't really know much about these dudes either, but I'm pretty sure I saw them a couple times while they were around. While their name is a nod to one of the greatest comedians of all time, they seem to keep some of that humor without seeming schlocky and delivering some pretty solid NYHC tunes recorded by the legend Don Fury. NYHC is a little out of my area of expertise so I'm at a loss to think of a good comparison, but if that's up your alley you should check them out.
Originally starting off with the equally terrible and awesome name Reagan's Still Dead, Pointblank was built from remnants of The Jury after they split with members of Anal Warhead to bring some serious Cleveland by way of Albany style hardcore that sounds a lot like Cheap Tragedies or Gordon Solie Motherfuckers. If I remember correctly, their first gig they weren't even playing their own songs but a cover set of Black Flag tunes along with a band made up of me, members of Plastic Jesus, and Aggressive Response for the punkest book tour ever that stopped through Valentine's to promote Barred For Life. Maybe a few more shows passed before they changed their name, leading to a nigh incalculable amount of no-not-THAT-Pointblanks muttered from members and friends of the band alike. I'm not sure if the band ever really broke up or if they just kinda, well, stopped. I remember the singer Joe (former guitarist of The Jury) saying he took more lyrical inspiration from Richard Stark novels, known for his hard boiled detective stories, than anything else. This rules though, download it.
Wish I had some pictures of this band, but I was far too drunk and camera phones hadn't evolved yet to the point where they were worth busting out in a dark club. This band was the other real standout act for the 2008 Band Olympics, rumor was they had found out that every member at one point or another had worked at Stewart's which was too sweet a coincidence to pass up. They hung up a Stewart's Milk Club banner, donned their uniforms, and even threw out pints of ice cream to the crowd while singing sugary power pop ballads about all things relating to upstate NY's favorite convenience store chain. Some of the songs are clearly filler, but still contribute enough to the gag to not be out of place, while the good songs are really fucking good.
Been waiting to post this and the next post at the same time for a little while. For those of you from Albany in the aughts you most likely remember the Band Olympics, where local musicians all threw their names in a hat and were drawn at random to see who their band for the month was. This gave an opportunity for some real serious shitshow material, but sometimes it really paid off. In the case of the Band Olympics of 2008, there were two real standouts: Stewarts (who will be featured in the next post), and Spread 'Em. Consisting of Brendan from Scag Rotter, Matto of everything Albany, Heather of Zahnarzt, and Ben of the Honor Society, they penned a few songs and recorded a demo.
Hilariously cocky, Spread 'Em even showed up to the Band Olympics with t-shirts that declared them the winner printed long before the show even happened. To the surprise of some, but certainly not them, they did indeed win. Punk comedy sounds so shticky I know, but there are a lot of genuine laughs contained on their demo and this follow up 7" with the addition of Kurt from the Disenchanted on guitar. Pretty straight forward punk with songs covering topics like inflated cost of pizza, malicious zits whispering dark commands, and even the desire to be the son of King Kong. No other band in Albany, to my knowledge, has had such an impact in their short lives that several young women got the band name tattooed inside their thighs. What a ride this band was while it lasted.
Well, technically this came out as a posthumous release in 2018 but I believe this was originally recorded in 2013 or 2014 and was supposed to be pressed as an LP on Loud Punk but it never really came together which is a goddamn tragedy. This band was fucking fantastic and should have been on the cover of Maximum Rock N Roll and Teen Beat magazine at the same time and it is a crime they weren't. When you get a crew of weirdos like this together though, sometimes shit gets in the way. I have more stories than I can count of gigging alongside these dudes, partying with them, seeing them play countless times, and from talking to them about the history of the band in general. Trying to shoehorn all of those stories in a short blog post would do none of them any justice, but I'm always going to look on those days fondly.
Total '77 punk worship here! You can hear clear cut Johnny Thunders, Slaughter & the Dogs, and the Damned influences along side '50s rock n' roll and ripping skate punk that make all of their releases total gems. Sorry suckers who missed out on your chance to see it live which is undeniably the best way to hear it, but you can still download these tracks and get a taste. These sleazy jerks are no more which is very unfortunate, but the worst part about it is the passing of bassist Nick who we referred to in an earlier post about his band after this called The Rigs. He was a great dude, and a killer bassist that helped the already ripping guitar work come to life with a steady punk beat on drums.
As you may already know Gus moved on to Mystery Girl who isn't unlike Bourbon Scum, but they bring a lot more glammy power pop into the mix. Rick, the on again/off again second guitarist, has his own projects going including his primary band Onlyness which is good but totally not punk. Paul is probably skating at this very moment down in Catskill. I know I speak highly of almost all the releases I post on here, but I cannot stress enough how essential this band is to your Albany punk collection. You can see the full video of their last show ever posted up on YouTube, and I highly recommend you do.
This band was very short lived and I don't think I ever saw them play. I feel like there were some issues among band members, but I am not going to speculate on what they were because I don't know for sure, and it isn't really that exciting, so let's just say this band stopped existing because one of the members was eaten by Graboids. You know, from Tremors. Basically a follow up to Outa Commission with three returning members, with two of them having changed spots, and they even include a cover of the OC tune "Fag It." The sound isn't very similar though, but still very cool with a huge heavy fuzz '70s riff rock influence alongside some catchy American hardcore.
I didn't really know most of these dudes that well except for booking them up in Saratoga once when I was still living up in that area, but I know most of them played in hardcore bands at one point or another even if I'm not sure what bands they were. I also know that Ben is a mutant and you shouldn't be able to play guitar that fast using a thumb instead of a pick while ripping poppers like that, but he definitely did it because I saw it happen. Fast, chaotic, noisy hardcore punk. A cool band that I wish did more, but broke up too quick. Par for the course, Albany.
Alright, alright, I suppose it's time to stop being modest and post one of my old bands. Fuck, thinking about this band makes me really sad and happy at the same time and it's a weird mix of nostalgic longing and exhausted relief. Originally Mike (rest in piece, you sweet gentle asshole) and Pat had known each other from Schenectady and started a band with Chris Lee of the Bagabums (a band who I'd LOVE to have some recordings by but as far as I know they've all been destroyed) and his pal Jordan from Saratoga. Jordan wasn't really working out for one reason or another, Chris drunkenly asked me to try out on drums at Vive Le Punk 2003 in NYC. I agreed, for some reason or another, but have no idea why because I couldn't play drums at all. Until I did, and it sounded not terrible. I learned all their old songs, and we penned some new ones and recorded a demo only a couple weeks after I had learned how to drum. The quality is not the best.
Fast forward a couple years and Chris leaves the band, we all decide to change the name because it was his idea and we landed somehow on Scag Rotter. After a few attempts to find a bassist nothing really panned out until we tried our good friend Brendan who would go on to start Neutron Rats with me, among several other projects. The longest running lineup was born then, and we played a lot of killer gigs and even made it out of town a handful of times which was shocking with the amount of Milwaukee's Best we would suck down every fucking night. We had a handful of new songs in the works, but intended on putting out a 7" on our buddy Claw's new label Loud Blaring Punk Rock (now shortened to Loud Punk) so we figured we'd record some of the old stuff, a couple new ones, and then finish the other ones. Unfortunately the recordings never were completed, the record never came out, and all of those sessions are lost except for one song due to the engineer's computer crashing. It's drunk, and it's punk, for better or worse.
Fuck, I miss these days and I miss not knowing how fucking dumb I was. About 6 of these songs were actually on the demo but I'm including the rest which had some real stinkers on it, but also some pretty solid tunes along with the last remaining Scag Rotter session song. After Mike's passing two years ago I can't listen to most of this anymore without tearing up a little, but maybe you'll get some kind of enjoyment out of it. But seriously, don't focus on the drumming that shit is atrocious.
"You say that we'll be gone someday, you say our lives are just a phase / we've got nothing more to say, we found our place we're here to stay."
Definitely a little hazy on the year, and definitely remember different cover art for the original CDr release, but this is what I got so I'm working with it. The first incarnation of Have A Go Heroes was called Broken Toys but I don't think there were many gigs played under that name, if at all really. Guitarist/vocalist Kris seemed to have a constant rotating cast of characters behind him so the name wasn't very important in general because this was all his brainchild. Good catchy street rock/oi that definitely had more songs than what's recorded here, but I was so obscenely drunk all the time at this stage in my life that I couldn't tell you anything about them. My old band The Sleaze/Scag Rotter used to chum around with Kris a lot in the old days, so we naturally played a lot of gigs together too. This includes a song written by the late, great Nate Switzer called "Alleyway" about all of us boozing in the parking lot and behind Valentine's before and during shows. It was originally written as a dig against punks because there wasn't a lot of love when everyone first met, but we all became close friends and this became a real anthem for the times. Kris now plays bass with local oi/hardcore band Murderer's Row.
Victim to the Albany curse of putting out a ripping LP and then almost immediately splitting up, Scuzz was one of my favorite bands to see and to play alongside. Sharing a member with them (Dan, who was on bass here instead) and being buddies with these weirdos made doing a few weekend tours and an 8 day midwest/east coast tour with them a no brainer, and things sure got strange. From witnessing the total destruction of a NYC apartment, to watching a pediatric nurse do unsavory things to some ne'er-do-wells, to playing essentially in a laundry room in Baltimore, we have sure shared some of my more memorable gigs in Neutron Rats with them.
Always dug Allen's riff prowess in his previous bands, but this is noticeably an evolution from his days playing in Cancer. Not to say it sounds similar though, this is its own entity entirely mixing the Cleveland influenced Albany hardcore with some UK82 midtempo bouncy riffs, all with Cannonball's pissed off vocal delivery at the forefront. This LP is a masterpiece front to back, and it's a damn shame that it is the only thing on wax aside from a split 7" with Male Patterns. They did have a pretty extensive catalog of demos before this, but this really outshines them all. 13 songs including a cover of the Mad's "I Hate Music" make this one not to miss.
This one has been on my want list for a long time and I had no idea that it was tucked away in the two disc compilation of Stigmata songs called Troy Blood Unbeaten until I contacted singer Bob Riley asking where I could find it. Cranial Abuse was killer crossover hardcore with awesome metal guitar works and catchy as all hell songwriting that really brought a late '80s hardcore cross section together perfectly. Listening to this stuff makes sense of where the Troycore sound evolved from, as a genre it had always been on the heavier side of things with thrashy metallic riffage and hard mosh parts. This band eventually turned into the highly regarded Stigmata who has a pretty extensive catalog themselves which is totally worth checking out. Aside from this demo, there's not a whole lot of output from Cranial Abuse except for a track on the first Albany Style 7" comp featuring No Outlet, Wolfpack, and Fit For Abuse.
From members of Hail Mary and John Brown's Army, which is definitely noticeable in these songs, comes more hardcore with an apocalyptic atmosphere that is a little more focused. JBA brought frantic energy, Hail Mary had their chaos, but this has a little more control and it brings an almost cinematic quality to it with ebbs and flows that come naturally enough to the songs progression that it feels like shifting acts of a story. The first song alone "Attack and Retreat" is a four minute long epic that sounds like shields and spears clashing on a battlefield somewhere. Lyrically however, the focus sticks to Mark Telfian's sardonic world view which rounds this 3-song EP out fantastically. Listening to this is kind of like trying to read a good book while it is punching you in the face.
Was really hoping to get a good vinyl rip of Killtech's WW4 EP which came out in 1992 because that's just the way I'm used to hearing some of these songs played, but this is a great release too. Killtech took the skeleton of their songwriting from punk and built it up with some post punk and an almost industrial sound too. Songs have a good groove tempo and keep it on the slower side for the most part, but it never feels dull. The lyrics are excellent and very tongue in cheek, my personal favorite song being "Pleasure Cannister" with the refrain of "there is such pleasure in shooting people" that echoes throughout from the perspective of a violence crazed lunatic. I feel like these guys wouldn't have been out of place being released on Alternative Tentacles.
This is a fun one that I can't believe slipped my mind this long before I posted it. Here's the pitch: a three piece garage punk band where they all play guitars, except one of the guitarists plays drums with his feet too. I know you've heard this one before, but you haven't heard THIS one before because this is a lot more successful than most gimmick bands that have tried similar shit in the past. JR's vocals really hit it home, they're not what you'd expect but still very tuneful and carry the weight of melancholy which compliments the 1950s by way of the 1980s by way of 2015 music you're listening to. Killer harmonies both vocally and instrumentally, as if each guitar is fighting the next one with differing leads and rhythm sections that add sonic depth.
Another band I never got to see which is very unfortunate. Wake Up Dead were ferocious hardcore punk with some serious melodic guitar work that had a little crust undertones to it. Matto's vocal delivery on this shit adds a mania that really helps the music come together into a coherent piece, but that's not to say that it wouldn't be good without them. The music stops and starts on a dime and unleashes total mayhem on the listener, each transition giving you whiplash with some inventive drumming that deviates from the standard one two, one two punk and hardcore beat. The longest song clocks in just shy of a minute and a half, but it doesn't feel nearly as unfinished as some bands who try hard to keep their song lengths short.
Indisputably one of the most legendary bands from Albany, Monster X blended raw hardcore with grind while still maintaining underlying social and political themes that set them apart from the rest of the mindless '90s blast beat bands. Aside from having a split with Spazz under their belt, members also went on to projects like Limp Wrist and Dropdead aside from Albany area rippers like Devoid of Faith. Guttural vocals like these were generally absent from most punk and hardcore, so I think having them here really compliments the more punk sounding riffage and brings an additional layer of chaos to these songs.
Can I just point out what a ridiculous fucking lineup they played on the video above? This gig was Monster X with Charles Bronson, Spazz, and Quadiliacha at a fucking VFW hall or Knights of Columbus or whatever the fuck it is. That shit would never fly today, and it is a crying shame. One of the most interesting things I think was that they were probably the only straight edge band that called for the legalization of drugs. Maybe they were aware that addiction is more of a medical issue than a criminal issue years before that became common knowledge, or maybe they just didn't give a fuck what other people did.
Honestly not even sure if I ever got to see this band, and it was totally unintentional if that was the case, but in listening to this demo it really doesn't sound familiar to me at all. Fuck, this is awesome, what the fuck was I thinking? Another classic Kieran and Connor team-up, though their last one (only for now, hopefully) as Connor split town for the greener pastures of... Vermont? Yeah I guess it's pretty nice there. Listening to this through once it seems like a pretty solid hardcore punk recording but on my second pass through I started noticing weird garage rock and '70s influences creeping in a little just in the peripherals enough to not be noticeable if you aren't paying attention. Couple that with Connor singing in a lower register, and you have a sleeper Albany classic. I feel like this band had members of Coughing Fit too at one point, but I have no idea. Give it a download for a little harsh weirdness.
Sorry I haven't been active in a little while, been biting off way more than I can chew in my personal life but I'll still get around to updating this when I can. Stoked to drop this one on you: Secret Service, almost called the Handjobs in the early stages of the band, were pretty short lived but equally ripping punk, featuring Jamie from Nuclear Family and Heather from Zahnarzt. I'm pretty spent and having trouble putting a finger on who exactly they remind me of but it almost kinda seems like if A-Heads were from southern California, or if Naked Aggression listened to more Killed By Death comps. Fuck it whatever, either way this is tight and you should download it.
Kitty Little is another band that never quite broke up as far as I know, but they haven't played any gigs in a while for standard reasons (members living far away, playing in other projects, or just other priorities) and haven't released any new material since their 2010 split with Scientific Maps aside from a 2012 two song digital release. A great cross between power pop and pop punk with some '90s indie rock like Dinosaur Jr mixed in there.
They have a pretty solid discography and you can still pick up some of it from guitarist/vocalist Matto (who you may have seen from several other posts) and his record label Peterwalkee Records. My personal favorite being the aforementioned Scientific Maps split, but this first 7" comes in at a close second. This version has a couple of unreleased tracks that were uploaded to the KL bandcamp too, including "Never Stay" which is probably the best track from both releases (and also the first song played in the video above).
Really didn't get the chance to see these dudes as much as I'd have liked to, but they were always killer when I did. Hailing from Charlton, which I'm pretty sure is in the Burnt Hills/Glenville area but who knows, Swindle EPI wrote catchy dual vocal street punk vaguely reminiscent of Civil Disobedience. Don't really know what of these songs were on this actual release or not, but I know they did a couple different recordings from the differing sound of a couple tracks.
