skip to main |
skip to sidebar
Before The Jack Saints, Mike and Nick were in Solarfeast, a desert rock band that blended stoner rock, spacerock and noise rock into a heavy, psychedelic, unified whole.
"We recorded it and mixed it in 2 days and our singer hadn't finished writing lyrics... We did some cool shows though, played a lot on acid and in front of 16mm projections of space and Egypt educational films (I was on my Hawkwind kick obviously!).
'Rats' and 'Puppy Has Ludes' were my songs (not the lyrics), and 'Exode' was Nick's song. My favorite song though is the C.O.C. cover/hidden track," Mike told me in an email.
I found my copy of the CD in the dollar bin at Aron's Records in Hollywood!
The music and images were uploaded with Mike Desert's full consent. Thank you, Mike!
SolarfeastGossamer CD(El Camino)1995
Sample tracks:
My Cradle, My Grave
Helping Hands
Well, it's Thanksgiving time again, and I don't know about you, but I'm really struggling. There hasn't been a whole lot of work and things look pretty bleak from where I'm sitting. I keep telling myself to get through the end of the year and maybe things will look up come January, but I'm finding it harder and harder to listen to myself.
And so, I present my first mixzip, a compilation I assembled of songs dealing with the struggles I'm living every day. I actually made this back around May/June, but it's even more pertinent to my daily life now than it was then.
I recommend turning this up with some cheap beer for company and rocking to blues away.
A detailed track list with explanations for my song choices can be found here. The whole thing will fit on a CD if you want to burn it.
None of the songs were cleared for use here, but I hope you discover some new bands and rediscover some old favorites. Make sure you buy stuff from the artists you like (provided you can afford it, that is...).
MPAE presents...Hard Times MZ(MPAE)2009
And here is what I believe to be the second ILLB release. Here, Holly Prindle's tortured/angelic vocals come to the forefront, delivering dreamy, psychedelic lyrics over Marc Mozga's trippy electronic dub. As to be expected, it's highly original and genuinely unique, and an interesting step forward from their previous tape, Mysteries of Magnetism.
Play loud and turn up the bass!
The images and music were uploaded with Marc Mozga's consent. Thank you, Marc!
I Luv Luv BirdsI Know Why the Caged Bird Gun Slings CDR(ILLB)2006
Sample tracks:
One Watt
Icicles (Of Gasoline)
Before World War IX, Justin Melkmann swung his left-handed axe in his first band, Jerk Alert.
In his excellent punk rock comic book, Slap in the Face: My Obsession with GG Allin, Justin wrote:
"A comment from a friend of mine, who I was trying to turn on to [The Donnas' debut, Rock and Roll Machine] kinda turned me on my head. He said that the music was good, but nothing special. And if I liked this simple stuff so much, then why don't I just start my own group. I couldn't wrap my mind around this ludicrous concept, but I knew he was right."
He continued:
"About a year later, I was at my friend Julie's karaoke birthday party and it hit me, hard. I'd had no idea she possessed such a great voice--very Joan Jett. She sang Madonna's 'Like a Virgin,' but it sounded nice and rough."
"I knew how to play a handful of chords on the guitar and it was then and there that I got the wacky idea to go ahead and try to start my very own band! Alcohol and karaoke can make for an inspiring combination indeed."
Though much less "hardcore" than WWIX, the songs on this CD stand out for their catchy, almost early '60s pop, melodies (that Frankie Valli influence perhaps?) and strong female vocals.
In various emails, Justin told me, "It's sooooooo innocent...I like it, but man is it...uh....old. sounds really muddy, and we didn't bother to record a second guitar. And that's not good. We were on a Jabbers only tribute cd outta sweden though, and that was freaking great...We were in such a bubble at the time. We didn't know hardly any other bands. Music seemed dead. Now? Christ, there's a great band playing every night of the week."
Hey, it's punk rock!
The images and music were uploaded with Justin Melkmann's consent. Thank you, Justin!
Jerk AlertJerk Alert CD(Jerk Alert)2000
Sample Tracks:
What I Want
Bag Boy
Halloween's right around the corner, so here's the first release by my favorite horror-influenced band ever!
Mike Desert and I are practically family - his mom and my dad have been really good friends since the late '60s. When he heard that I was into punk rock, he found me on AOL (this was around 1996 or so, when I was just getting out of high school) and we've been music buddies on and off ever since. He got me into bands like Karp and The Candy Snatchers, both of which remain favorites of mine to his day. I believe I first heard about Hawkwind from him, too. We also shared a hatred of the NOFX brand of shit punk.
Around this time he was putting together his new band, the Jack Saints after the demise of his previous band, Solarfeast. I heard stories about shows in emails and finally, the band uprooted from their home in Palm Desert and moved to San Francisco, where they gained some attention.
I finally got to hear them when this CD came out and I found it used in Green Hell on Ventura Blvd. I was instantly a fan. It was dirty, scummy bar punk fueled by B-grade horror movies and booze. I've been a huge fan ever since.
I saw the band play three times, I think. Twice at Mr T's Bowl in Highland Park and once at Headline Records on Melrose with The Onyas, who I later saw at The Garage on Santa Monica Blvd. Great shows.
Years later, I interviewed them for what would be the final Horror Garage print issue.
When I hear The Jack Saints, I wanna get drunk and have fun. They make me very happy.
The music and images were uploaded with Mike Desert's full consent. Thank you, Mike! (I don't know The Idiots, so I didn't upload their portion of the split CD.)
The Jack SaintsSweating Like a Whore in Church CD(Man's Ruin)1998
Sample tracks:
Fox Sister
Lonely Man
BONUS: Hear my band, ULTRABASTARD!, do a sloppy, drunken cover of "Lonely Man" on my birthday in 2006!
Ultrabastard!'s "Lonely Man"
I'm in a black metal mood, so that's what you get!
Enchanted Sorrow was a Centuries of Deception side-project. Atrox had this to say about it:
"I am sending you 4 or 5 tracks from the unreleased Enchanted Sorrow album, which was recorded at the same time as the COD MCD...you can hear the COD type vocals in certain tracks like song #6. This is more melodic than what I would usually write but a lot of these songs were on their way to being converted into COD songs for the full-length album that never materialized..in fact, I remember arranging a lot of them in your apartment...There was an album cover once but it's long gone..."
Apparently, so are the song titles.
According to the Encyclopaedia Metallum entry, there was also another member called Agkistrodon.
Nothing wrong with rocking out to some tr00 kvlt black metal!
The images and music were uploaded with Atrox's consent. Thank you, Atrox!
Enchanted SorrowEnchanted Sorrow MP3(n/a)1997
Sample Tracks:
Track 04
Track 06
Not much is known about The Unnamable and they prefer it that way. Musically, they're total Brainbombs worshippers, as well as obvious fans of The Swans, Stick Men With Ray Guns, Flipper and GG Allin. Lyrically, the songs deal with cannibalism, necrophilia, pedophilia, rape, torture, sadism, masochism and all other sorts of general violence - you know, all the good things in life.
Not for the easily offended, weak of stomach or people under 18 years of age.
The images and music were uploaded with the full consent of Vocals. Thank you, Vocals!
The UnnamableI CDR(The Unnamable)2001
Sample tracks:
I Took Her For My Own
Acid Reflux Kiss
Before The Jack Saints, Mike and Nick were in Solarfeast, a desert rock band that blended stoner rock, spacerock and noise rock into a heavy, psychedelic, unified whole.
"We recorded it and mixed it in 2 days and our singer hadn't finished writing lyrics... We did some cool shows though, played a lot on acid and in front of 16mm projections of space and Egypt educational films (I was on my Hawkwind kick obviously!). 'Rats' and 'Puppy Has Ludes' were my songs (not the lyrics), and 'Exode' was Nick's song. My favorite song though is the C.O.C. cover/hidden track," Mike told me in an email.
I found my copy of the CD in the dollar bin at Aron's Records in Hollywood!
Solarfeast
