Dig Dat Hole - Kneejerk (1987)

So I wrote about DDH a while back and posted an old demo of theirs and talked about their shelved debut album that never saw the light of day. I just found it myself and here it is. I think Tod and the guys were in their prime with the first few Cop Shoot Cop releases (Headkick Facsimile, Consumer Revolt, White Noise) and this was the record that preceded it and it's right up there with those albums. The only thing that hadn't quite reached the level of CSC is the lyrics. Some of the lyrics on Kneejerk are immature and sometimes just plain stupid. One of the things I really love about CSC was their clever insight about politics, religion, and whatever else was pissing them off at the time and Kneejerk just isn't really up to par lyrically with CSC in my opinion.

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Foetus/Chrome Cranks - Vice Squad Dick (1994)

Vice Squad Dick is a split single by NYC's Foetus and Chrome Cranks.  They both do a cover of a song originally written and recorded by a guy called Dick Uranus.  Yep that's right "Dick Uranus."  Never heard of the guy but I googled him and was able to find the original version here.  The Foetus side is pretty typical sounding for the band but I like it.  The Chrome Cranks side, which I prefer, has a bit more of a raunchy vibe to it.

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Scorn - Vae Solis (1992)

I wrote about Justin Broadrick's lesser known projects a while ago but forgot all about Scorn's first record.  He's had so damn many bands it's easy to overlook one or two.  Scorn has Justin reuniting with his ex-Napalm Death bandmates Mick Harris and Nik Bullen.  Broadrick played guitar on Vae Solis only and Harris would continue with the band and produced several more albums after his departure.  Scorn is really Harris' band but I have to mention Broadrick because the album is much more along the lines of Godflesh than it is Napalm Death.

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Red Expendables - S/T (1997)

The Red Expendables came to be as a result of Cop Shoot Cop's front man leaving the band in mid-recording of what would have been their follow-up to Release.  Tod Ashley quit and the rest of band decided to finish the album without him.  Some of Tod's already recorded bass tracks remained in the finished album actually.  Cop's other bassplayer Jack Natz filled in and sang all of the songs instead.  I guess you could say the album sounds a lot like the Cop Shoot Cop songs that Natz has sang in the past.  He would usually sing a song or two on most of their albums. 

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Wreckers Of Civilisation (2000)

Maybe this isn't the best place to write a book review but since it's music related it may be appropriate.  Actually it isn't even really a review especially considering I'm only about half way into the book.  But so far I'm just really intrigued by the story of these truly fucked up people.  Many of you are already familiar with Throbbing Gristle but that's only half the story.  The birth of TG evolved out of a performace art group called COUM Transmissions founded by Genesis P. Orridge (Psychic TV) and Cosey Fanni Tutti.  I'd never even heard of COUM until I was paging through this book at my local book store.  Their idea of "art" consisted of self-mutilation, ingesting bodily fluids, and group sex.  COUM would eventually enlist Peter Christopherson (Coil) and Chris Carter and would become TG.  Do I consider them particularly talented as artists or musicians?  Not really.  I know that much of COUM/TG's work was meant for shock value and whether it's really much deeper than that could be questionable, but it makes for a hell of an interesting read.  I'm not even that big of a TG fan to be honest, but what they were creating had never been done before and it's a interesting look into the the birth of Industrial music.  So maybe I'll come back to this and add more once I actually finish the book, but I thought I'd mention it to anyone who's interested in this sort of thing.  

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Final - 1 (1993), 2 (1996) & 3 (2006) (By Request)

Justin Broadrick's (Jesu, Godflesh) power electronics/drone/ambient project.  Technically this is his first band with the original demo tape made when he was only 11 years old.  For fans of Whitehouse or Throbbing Gristle.

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Godflesh - Cold World (1991)

Two great Godflesh songs with two unnecessary remixes.

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Dig Dat Hole - Demo (1986-1988?)

Dig Dat Hole was Tod Ashley's post-Shithaus/pre-Cop Shoot Cop band.  They never did release a proper album but they did get close.  The album that never came to be was titled Knee Jerk which was suppose to be released on Steve Albini's (at the time) Ruthless Records but it never happened for whatever reason.  Some of those songs are on this demo.  DDH also featured Cop Shoot Cop's Phil Puleo and The Black Snakes/Fireworks' Darin Lin Wood.

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Shithaus - Live Crush (1985)

This is an even rarer Jon Spencer release than Exile On Main Street.  With even worse sound quality if you can believe that.  But once again, it's a great collectible for the die hard Spencer fan.  This was his first band (that I'm aware of anyways) that he started with future Cop Shoot Cop founder Tod Ashley.  Shithaus was a short lived band that he was in while attending Brown University and it's compiled of some live performances and a radio show that they performed for under the moniker Knocked-Up Teens.  It's really a good mix of the PigFuck sound of Pussy Galore and the more industrial side of Cop Shoot Cop.

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