Net Searching - The Front (1989)

The internet has made it so easy to track down a lot of material from bands you were interested years go. A quick use of a search engine with a band name, album title and a file sharing site or "blogspot", a short waiting time after a few clicks and hey, presto the albums on your hard drive for your personal listening pleasure. The Front, who released one album which was self-titled, couldn't have known about the possibilities of the internet in 1989 or maybe they did and wanted to remain as mysterious as Jim Morrison's death. Lead singer Micheal Franano definitely had a Morrison fixation but channelled the Cult's still living Ian Astbury much better. Franano had a more than competent band behind him however the band never made more than one album. There's a better Alice Cooper song on this album than any of the shite A.C. was putting out in the late 80's.

Face The Front

Rocket Jocks video

Gisborne pop punk two piece, The Rocket Jocks made a music video for their song "What can I do" which has been aired on Alt Tv's Punk Songs Till Midnight show.

Secret Knowledge (Arcane - Destination Unknown 1990)

Remember Wild Rags records? No? Well, fair enough but at one point it appeared Richard C.'s underground metal label would be capable of giving Roadrunner records and Metal Blade a run for their money by signing a large number of underground metal bands. Wild Rags had their own zine which covered a wide scope of metal that hadn't reached mainstream ears. The zine had several scene reports usually from various parts of the states. Wild Rags later went the way many small independents do and disappeared from sight with the rarely ever seen again owner, Richard C. owing debt left, right and centre. Metal inquisition have the full story. One of their regular writers, Byron Hawk wrote the Texas scene report and later became an English professor after doing in an internship in a Texan progressive speed metal band.

Arcane's named was derived from a word used in Carl Sagan's enjoyable book "Contact" from which a messy movie starring Jodie Foster was made. Arcane's demo tapes were reviewed in New Zealand thrash metal fanzine AAAARRGGHH!! and stood out in the mag's reviews because they weren't a band who wanted to be Metallica or Slayer and seemed to avoid a lot of the more ridiculous metal cliches. Arcane aren't a band that would have today's metalhead using the mostly redundant and cliched metal word, brutal. There is a little Megadeth influence but instead having Sylvester the Cat vocals, Arcane have an actual singer who is capable of melody. To know what you're getting yourself into check Arcane's myspace page. There is a strong possibility of Arcane material being re-released on Solitude Aeturnus' John Perez's Brainticket label.

Destination Unknown

Poster Nostalgia

I missed this one but saw Nomeansno play in my hometown a few years later. I don't think D.O.A came back this way.

New Blog Alert (droolvert)

I'm not a big fan of the download available...no text blog but this new German blog is one of the two exceptions to the rule (downunderground is the other and I'd be surprised if even the hardest cynic doesn't find something they like musically on Mark's blog). George emailed me the link to his new blog because he has upped the Dum Dum Boys and The Henchmen albums. But there are also two hard to find 80's Palmerston North band's EPs up for grabs plus a lot of live flying nun stuff and garage rock.(RADIO BIRDMAN, MC5 , BELLRAYS). This is the part where a slogan of a third world sweatshop running shoe company could easily fit. You'd be silly not to look.

Boss Hog - Boss Hog (1995)

While living in Taiwan I strangely managed to see one band I'd always wanted to see for free on a beach. I saw The Jon Spencer Blues Explosion play with Andrew W.K., The Dirty Three and the 5,6,7,8's. The Taiwanese audience seemed to enjoy Andrew W.K but seemed somewhat confused by The Dirty Three. I guess an instrumental rock band with a violin following Andrew W.K is somewhat confusing. But this post isn't about any of the afore mentioned artists although Jon Spencer is a somewhat integral part of Boss Hog. The band's music is close to Jon's band however Christina Martinez's voice gives this band a different feel. In some ways the Boss Hog sound is similar to the stripped back rock of the White Stripes but these guys pre-dated them by a number of years.



The above Youtube clip was the single on Boss Hog's first and only album on Geffen.

Get Boss Hog - Boss Hog

Nothing at All! - Nothing at All! (1997)

Nothing at All is Dion Palmer's band before the flying nun records garage rock band The D4. Due to living in Asia for the first half of this century initial exposure to the D4 was through an English rock magazine's free compilation CD.

Nothing at All! have featured before in interview form. I only caught the band live once at some free show but they played garage rock tinged punk. Not that long after this album was released lead singer/guitarist Tony Brockwell died of cancer at the age of 21.

There's samples of conversations and so forth included on this album that probably would have been better left off. But that's just, like, my opinion, man.


Nothing at All!