Shattered Faith - I Love America

 SHATTERED FAITH - I Love America b/w Reagan Country

             This record came out on Posh Boy, the label that put out a majority of the Agent Orange catalog, and a billion other great bands you've heard of. They even did the first press of the Black Flag single Louie Louie. Looks like the name "Kerry" on the back of the record sleeve is actually Kerry Martinez, the guitarist for the U.S. Bombs.

            I wonder why this band broke up. These two songs are really, really great. West coast hardcore at it finest. The singer sounds very young on these songs, but the band is put together well. A punk band that actually practiced!

Edit: Looks like Posh Boy is not only a still functioning label, but are actively seeking out blogs. Download it from them! http://www.poshboy.com/Reagan.mp3

The Stains - Feel Guilty

           The Stains - Feel Guilty 7" 1980 Gutterworst Records, 1000 pressed. Not to be confused with the LA band The Stains or the UK band The Stains. This is one of the best looking records I own. Clear wax with black splatter is a pretty rare color, especially for a thirty three year old record. 

           I got this from my dad. He had mail-ordered three of these from Fred Herring, a pseudonym for Dave Buxton, I think. It's a pseudonym for someone in the band. There are four letters from this Fred Herring written to my father talking about the records, their merchandise, and other random things. He talks about how they were going to press 500 copies of an LP in a few months, but that never happened. 

            This band had the full length album released in 1989 for their ten year university. I wish I had one of those. If anyone reading 

this has one to sell- email me! There was also a 2004 release in some serious called "American Lost Punk Rock Nuggets".  

              These guys are a lot more musically talented than most of the earlier punk bands. It's also pretty well-produced. The first two songs are originals, Sick of Being Sick is a Damned song, and Submission is a Sex Pistols cover. These dudes must have loved the Pistols. You can tell they really strive to sound just like em. The singer even sounds like he has a British accent at times. They originated from Portland, Maine, and talk about living in Boston in one of these letters. For anyone who ever comes across this record in shop or online, I would recommend picking it up. 

1. Feel Guilty

2. Give Ireland Back to the Snakes

3. Sick of Being Sick

4. Submission

Negative Element - Yes, we have no bananas!

           Negative Element was a four piece punk outfit from Willow Springs, IL, which is about thirty minutes from my house. This 7" was released in 1983 on Version Sound, the same label that put out the more well-know Articles Of Faith first 7". It has four tracks on each side, playing at 45 rpm, so you know this shit is going to be fucking punk. The name for the ep was pulled from a 1922 Broadway revue called "Make It Snappy". Why they chose this, I have no idea. The ep is pretty much even on serious and not-so-serious songs. Songs like Police Beat (On Me), Temples of Corruption, and Pay The Lord might have you thinking this band might have something valid to say, but tracks like What Ever Happened to Elmer Fudd and Anti-PacMan will assure you they do not. Anyway, this record rocks. This thing is the perfect example of that crude 80's garage-punk aesthetic. The end notes on the lyric sheet give thanks to some great Chicago-area bands like Naked Raygun, Articles of Faith, and Die Kruezen, as well as a "no thanks" to Silver Abuse. I wonder what happened there.  

1. Anti-Packman

2. What Ever Happend To Elmer Fudd?

 3. Temples of Corruption

 4. Just Be Yourself 

 5. Police Beat (On Me)
 6. No Way Out
 7. Dough Boy
 8. Pay the Lord

The Edseys - I'm Not Standing By Myself

              The only vinyl release from this mod influenced mid 80's Chicago band. This trio of brothers wrote catchy pop melodies with a very mod-ish style. This was a 7" from 1987 on Broken Records. Not the same Broken Records from England, either.  The bass player on this one is my uncle, and my aunt designed the sleeve. My uncle finds it hilarious the prices people are paying for his 7" these days. It's to my belief these these songs later surfaced on a cassette release, and were also featured on some kind of mod compilation. I remember my uncle telling me about some comments he saw somewhere about the comp. He said someone was arguing about how The Edseys "were never a mod band." thirty years later. Anyways, track B1 is killer.

A1 - I'm Not Standing By Myself

B1 - Action Girl

B2 - I've Decided