MP3: Killed by McG #2 compilation

Since so many of you missed this the first time around, once again, here is the second volume of the "Killed by McG" series. Styled after the "Killed by Death" series, this collection of punk killers was assembled by yours truly.

Killed by McG #2 - download liner notes (.txt)

1. Really Red - "Too Political" - We start off with some vintage Texas punk circa 1981. This track is from Really Red's amazing 1981 album, "Teaching You the Fear." Unlike the overbearing politics of fellow scene mates M.D.C., Really Red tastefully spells out the injustices of the haves and the have-mores with poetic precision. Musically, the band taps into the post-punk vein like a seasoned junkie and 23 years later, this amped-up hardcore anthem doesn't sound dated in the least.

2. La Peste - "Better Off Dead" - In 1978, La Peste released this fine 45 on Black Records. The vintage proto-punk sounds have aged well, unlike that of, say, Throbbing Lobster, the Pixies, the Damnbuilders and any other number of shitty Boston bands. It ain't "This is Boston, Not L.A." but then again it ain't the Mighty Mighty Asstones either. Sad but true: Matador correctly issued an album's worth of studio and live sessions by La Peste in 1996. Only problem was everyone was obsessing on how great Pavement was, and the reissue was overlooked and went out of print faster than Wesley Willis' two major label albums.

3. Testors - "Time is Mine" - Believe it or not this is the b-side of the Testors one and only 7". Damn good! The remaining recordings are of varied quality and have surfaced in several different configurations, but the only collection you need is "Complete Recordings, 1976-9" which has it all. It's catchy and poppy NYC punk rock stuff. It's a wonder the Testors went unrecognized. Guess everyone was too busy marveling how Blondie went from being a punky new wave band to disco then to rap then to flat out sucking.

4. The Spelling Mistakes - "Hate Me Hate Me" - Before the '90s infatuation with New Zealand Pop and Flying Nun, there was a punk scene going on down under with bands such as the Spelling Mistakes, Scavengers and Suburban Reptiles. The best looking band was the Spelling Mistakes who liked to dress in funny clothes (Nazi uniforms, drag) and making lots of noise. This sucker dates back to 1980. The band's entire output has been reissued on a 2-CD set with a surprisingly good 1999 reunion recording of the album they never made the first go round. Ace.

5. The Quick - "Pretty Please Me" - Now this is more like it! Sublime melodies and hooky guitars all over the place. Yeah, yeah, the Dickies made this song their own on "Stukas Over Disneyland" but it's the Quick's original version that is the quintessential recording. Bands like Redd Kross copped this shit up and down the S. Cali boardwalk, but the Quick remain the true Cali heroes of power pop. This song was released on a 10" fan club record, in a limited edition of 200, after Mercury Records dropped the band. How could you pass on a killer cut like this? Oh well. My guess is that the Quick weren't made for their times.

6. Adolescents - "Who is Who" - They say this is classic OC hardcore (that's Orange County for all you Dischord-lovers) from the Adolescents' 1981 debut album. All I know is by the time I heard about this band, they were releasing records on one of the worst labels ever, Triple X. Mudhoney covered this song and I liked their version a whole lot better. What do I know? Oh well, back to scanning the MRR classifieds for punk pen pals...

7. Angry Samoans - "I'm in Love With Your Mom" - The 'Moans might be one of the best punk bands ever. Three guitarists. Three friggin guitarists to play the most retarded and fundamental punk rock ever written. Hitler's cock, homosexuals and lame parents, the Samoans sang about every kid's worst nightmares. But it's this ode to MILFs dating all the way back to 1978 that is the real shit. This demo finds the band honing in on the psychosexual appetite of every fourteen-year-old.

8. Flipper - "Ever" - They couldn't play their instruments that well, and the songs were retarded and kind of bad. They were so bad, they were punk. Flipper were yesteryear's Beat Happening except you actually would want to listen to Flipper. This is from their "Generic" album which is curiously out of print. In the post-Nirvana punk blitz it saw a major label reissue on Rick Rubin's American label, but went out of print again raising the question: who the fuck is running the music business anyway? The working man's anti-punk punk band. See also No Trend.

9. Helen Keller - "Dump on the Chump" - The Helen Keller 7" was the stuff that Killed by legends are made of. Scarce pressings, little band info and a ridiculous collector scum price tag. Well, pay through the nose no more, because the original 7" was reissued along with some previously unreleased sessions, including this alternate version of chump dumping. It's pretty good stuff, but not essential.

10. Scavengers - "Mysterex" - Don't confuse these Kiwi fruits with the resurrected Avengers, who have been performing under the Scavengers moniker. The New Zealand punk scene spawned newspaper headlines such as "Mums and Dads Were Shocked" and "Punk Rock Claims Victim." Sounds like a pretty rough scene! From 1978, here are the Scavengers.

11. Suburban Reptiles - "Razor Smile" - Here's a previously unreleased cut from this great New Zealand ensemble. With a chick named Zero and a dude by the name of Jimmy Zero delivering wicked saxophone solos, the Suburban Reptiles offered more than the usual punk fare. Practically impossible to find their stuff, so hopefully someone will get to comping up their stuff soon.

12. The Adverts - "Gary Gilmore's Eyes" - England's The Adverts had a string of killer singles including this morose ditty receiving a serial killer's eyes in a transplant operation. Now that's friggin punk. They re-recorded all those singles for their debut, "Crossing the Red Sea with the Adverts." If you don't have this album in your collection, shame on you. The band dropped a bomb of a second album and promptly broke up.

13. Robin Johnson & Trini Alvarado - "Your Daughter is One" - This diamond in the rough is culled from the "Times Square" soundtrack, which you could find in the cut-out bins in the early '80s. On RSO records, the same label responsible for the Bee Gees and the Saturday Night Fever soundtrack. Obviously the label rep wasn't paying attention too closely when previewing this release.

14. The Diodes - "Red Rubber Ball" - The Diodes were allegedly the first Canadian band to sign to a major. For that, they faded into obscurity faster than Nice Strong Arm and Love Child. This is from their debut album from around 1977 and is a cover of the Paul Simon composition. Curiously, the bass player's name was Ian MacKay.

15. The Left - "Fuck it" - This awesome D.C. band kicked some major ass in the early '80s right before the Dischord boom. For some reason, there's not much fanzine ink about this killer cut or what the band was all about. They were recently comped up on the first volume of "Killed by Hardcore" which just came out on CD not too long ago.

16. 999 - "Emergency" - This U.K. band never really made a big impact over in the USA, despite being on Polydor, the same label that brought us the Jam. This is one of their more catchy and melodic efforts that you'll often find comped up on shitty punk comps like this one.

17. Pere Ubu - "Final Solution" - OK, the singer is really fat and can't really sing. Despite the fact that they still put out records on shitty labels (spinArt, Tim Kerr), this 1976 self-released gem is really a great punk track. Unfortunately the rest of their output wasn't up to snuff. In fact, Pere Ubu falls into the same category as Captain Beefheart: allegedly important music that is godawful to listen to.

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