The Goal Posts of Life

As you can probably tell from the cover, in "Punk In Drublic" we see a Word Salad in its burgeoning and most immature form. In fact, it predates the band's first Prank Records 7" by about five years. Not yet the metallic leviathan that baffled us with its ability to be both manic and incredibly controlled, the band's unhinged disregard for predictability is still ever apparent on this debut. It warms my heart to know how our Word Salad turned out, and hearing them in their embryonic stage is tons of fun.

Word Salad "Punk in Drublic" 7" (Dog Shit Recurdz, 1993)

Uña de Gato...

Spring cleaning and some recent landscaping endeavors have rekindled a tight bond I once held with compilations. Cuing a few of them up while knocking out some grueling task just seems to work: fade in when the winners come on-- fade out during the duds. And so we arrive at another compilation week, but one that I hope will rejuvenate interest in a format tarnished by saturation and mediocrity. I can try at least. The best way to start is with "Uña de Gato- Cuerno de Vaca," a rare 2X7" of heavy bands Tee Pee Records put out 15 years ago. There are many reasons to start here, one is that a nice commenter requested it, but you may be more interested in reasons like El Dopa, Corrupted, Logical Nonsense, and Cattle Press. Some of the other bands are interesting too, but with a line up like this, they become an after-thought.

"Uña de Gato..."

On a side note, the same commenter who was looking for this was looking for other Cattle Press and IaborHer rarities. Justin at Mustard Relics tracked down a couple.

Death Is Their Hero

With all this Southwestern metallic hardcore going on, this would be a good time to post the last of the Lardass requests: some Word Salad. The split with Hellchild should do the trick: it's out of print (and not on Prank) and it rules! Hellchild should be easy to recognize after sharing split honors with Multiplex and Discordance Axis, among others. Sludgy, grungy, and drugged out Japanese metal with just the right hint of melody to keep you coming back. The thick metal guitar sound doesn't hurt their case either.

Word Salad... yeah, I'm not too keen on their name, but as always, it's the rock that counts. What I like the most about this band is that they really are hard to classify; there's some thrash metal going on, and they dabble in sludge, but there's still something modern and novel about the whole delivery. Comparisons to Dystopia, Logical Nonsense, and maybe Lesser Of Two are hard to resist. The final nail in the coffin for me is the vocal style: there's nothing special these days about screaming into a mic, but the way this guy draws them out is truly cringe-inducing. This band has been overlooked long enough...

Hellchild/Word Salad Split 10"

It's pretty easy to find this split... check some of the distros in the side bar. Prank handled all of WS's other releases, so check there for availability. Some good people have posted HC stuff here, here, and here.

Javier is The Man! & Logical Nonsense Rules!

We have The Man, Javier O., to thank for both Logical Nonsense related records posted here. Javier was good enough to upload some rips of the rare "Deadtime" LP a while back. Then after informing me about LN's split with 23 More Minutes, he uploaded those tracks too! I usually like to post records I actually own, but these two are so remarkable and rare, I've got to do a post anyway (actually, I just found a test press of the 23 More Minutes split for dirt cheap on a certain auction site...). I'm sure Javier is cool with it, since as he mentioned before, the more people who hear this stuff, the better!

First up is Logical Nonsense's "Deadtime" LP, of which only 835 copies were ever pressed (in 1993, Very Small Records). On this debut full length, LN begins to work out their dark, vicious hardore that would evolve some on their split with Grimple, and further on their two Alternative Tentacles albums. Much of the material on this one is in line with the sound on the Grimple split, but with melodically sung (!) vocals off and on. I've grown to really love this slab....

Going further back, the 23 More Minutes/Logical Nonsense split was released in a single pressing of 1136 (in 1991, Very Small Records). Prior to hearing these rips, I only knew 23 More Min. from their ode to debonaire, humanitarian game show host, Bob Barker, on the "Vinyl Retentive" Comp. On the split here, they offer seven tracks of their quirky punk/hard rock. If you like Samiam, Rites of Spring, etc, you may (or may not) like these guys. Now, as far as Logical Nonsense's tracks go, the band is surprisingly "upbeat" and melodic. Maybe it's just surprising to me because I have been listening to all their other material for so long. The twelve LN songs are good, but I mainly love them for their historical value, as sort of embryonic artifacts of the Logical Nonsense discography.

D/L Logical Nonsense's "Deadtime" LP Here

D/L The 23 More Minutes/Logical Nonsense Split LP

Here

I Can't Seem to Get the Grimple Out of My Ass!

I must have been a Bay Area resident in a past life. Half the bands I love (from the US) are from somewhere in Nor-Cal. Since I don't believe in transmigration of the soul, I'll have to conclude and accept that there's just a ton of great bands up there, and not many down here (how I wish that weren't true!). Grimple were a great example of the Oakland punk greatness I love, exuding the infectiousness of Berkeley punk of the late eighties, and the ferocity of street-punk and hardcore. Their "Grimple Up Your Ass!" LP is a plasma-ball of energy, absolutely exploding with power, grit, and snot! Those tracks are readily available and recommended, as are the not-quite-as-easy to find tracks on their split with Logical Nonsense (East Bay Menace Records). These later tracks were, I believe, released on a discography CD which is out of print. By this point (1993), Grimple's approach changed a little (not for the better or for the worse necessarily... it just changed) adding a more serious, political, metallic, and, I daresay, crusty dimension. Part of this was probably just an internal musical evolution, but was also perhaps influenced by the bands they were playing shows with (and doing a split with!). These nine tracks are an essential part of their discography (there's a great Celtic Frost cover too!), so here are some high bit-rate rips for you (below)!

And we can't neglect Logical Nonsense, who on this disc offer seven earlier examples of their dark and menacing metal punk. Here the band displays a slightly closer kinship to crust punk than to the Neurosis-metal that would become the signature of their later full lengths. The gruff and pained vocals, as well as the jangly Bay Area bass lines are the big attraction for me, and are the main source of the power and lasting impression of these tracks. All you apocalyptic punk types are gonna love this stuff! There are five listed tracks on the CD, but as bonuses the band included a re-recorded version of "Pig's Blood Blues" (from the "Vinyl Retentive" Comp.) and an atmospheric spoken word piece.

Download here!