Tag Archive | GG Allin
March 22, 2012  

Twenty-Five Other Essential Punk Albums

A companion/reaction piece to Rob O’Conner’s recent listicle for Yahoo. Robbo hit all the biggies, but hey, listen, there are all these others. Entries are not numbered because I simply jotted titles down as I remembered them. I couldn’t possibly rank these fine works.

The Gits – Frenching the Bully

Quoting myself: “The Gits…bashed out sharp barre chord combinations with a bluesy twist that perfectly accentuated singer Mia Zapata’s deep, gutsy attack…1992′s Frenching the Bully was a diamond drill of raw nerve, one that ground its targets into a fine gruel.”

Adolescents – Adolescents

Is there irony in a seventeen year old singing “I Hate Children?” Yes, but only if you’re over twenty. The Adolescents offer sneering SoCal skate punk with the occasional detour into airy, soaring melodiousness. More sensitive than the Circle Jerks, but just as worthy.

FEAR – The Record

Posturing, theatrical, totally laughable when it isn’t legit frightening. The only thing weirder than Lee Ving’s opera singer-meets-redneck vocal style is Philo Cramer’s demented guitar work. “We Gotta Get Out Of This Place” might convince you to hide under the covers all week.

The Queers – Don’t Back Down

This record defines the Queers aesthetic (beer + girls + Johnny Ramone + Mike Love) just as well as any other. The production is flawless, though, and Joe King never wrote better heart-poking anthems than “Number One” and “Love, Love, Love.”

Reagan Youth – Volume 1

If you can’t beat ’em, confuse ’em. These peace punks attempted to deflate white supremacy/neo-nazis by latching on to corresponding imagery. The results were mixed, but they wrote some classics (“Degenerated,” “Anytown”) and that guitar sounds gloriously like a vacuum cleaner.

Crucifucks – Crucifucks

Doc Dart unleashes his inner toddler, throwing a tantrum over all manner of authority while his band mates whip up churning, dissonant noise. Interspersed between the songs are Dart’s various phone entanglements with law enforcement—which prove equally enthralling.

Adrenalin O.D. – The Wacky Hi-Jinks of Adrenalin O.D.

Pushing hardcore to the brink of utter blurriness. Goofball humor takes the edge off (“Rock n’ Roll Gas Station,” “AOD vs. Godzilla”). The song about hating Trans Ams might be subterfuge, though. These guys are from Jersey.

76% Uncertain – Estimated Monkey Time

Another one that leans metal but retains its cred. Contains the best (and perhaps only) hardcore punk song written in favor of curbing dogs. And how can you dislike any album boasting a song called “Monkey Jam” that features record scratching?

Replacements – Sorry Ma, Forgot to Take Out The Trash

Raucous Americana punk that masks genius songwriting and arrangement with shambolic, self-deprecating noise. No question these guys would eventually rule the indie rock wastelands. Crown jewel of the Midwest.

Cramps – Songs The Lord Taught Us

The seamy underbelly of rockabilly is nothing if not punk. Lux Interior was walking catharsis wrapped in leather, and the Cramps were living, breathing sex. You’re not from the right planet if you don’t like at least some of Songs The Lord Taught Us.

Dickies – The Incredible Shrinking Dickies

Helium-voiced basket case convinces Iggy Pop’s drug dealer to write songs about conquering or being crushed by social anxiety. The results gave Billie Joe Armstrong and his friends a nice template to work with fifteen years later. They also cover Sabbath and it is awesome.

Be Your Own Pet – Get Awkward

That spunky girl from your middle school grew up, went off her meds, and recorded a playfully violent collection of songs that occasionally reference Robocop, zombies, and friendship bracelets. Like, OMG, she will fucking cut you, bitch.

Guitar Wolf – Missile Me!

The lowest of the lo-fi, Guitar Wolf turn everything up to eleven and end up sounding like they’re trying to outplay a space shuttle launch. It’s charming, considering their musical style is pure 1950s motorcycle rock. A helmet may be required, but it won’t protect you.

The Vandals – Peace Thru Vandalism

In which sacred cows—Elvis, your mother—are grilled up over a flame of particularly crude racket. “Anarchy Burger” continues to reign as perhaps the truest expression of the “a” word in the genre. I don’t remember Crass ever telling people to piss on cheese.

Social Distortion – Mommy’s Little Monster

Burgeoning roots punk. Very heart-on-sleeve. The whiskey-worn vocals of a young Mike Ness bring it all home, even when he’s yawing about the same societal norms other bands have taken to task. The yearning title track should have been an FM radio hit.

GG Allin & the Jabbers – Always Was, Is And Always Shall Be

GG was way tuneful before he was King Gross Out, and Always Was is that fact’s invigorating testament. On the real: “I Need Adventure” and “Unpredictable” are at least as good as better than anything the Dictators ever did.

Black Randy & the Metrosquad – Pass the Dust, I Think I’m Bowie

Notorious San Fran rabble rouser tries injecting some tight-ass funk into his new wave, which only serves to underscore the drugginess his Pass the Dust outlines. You’ll feel like you’ve been awake all night after listening for only three minutes.

Bad Religion – Suffer

Watershed moment for the “modern” sound of punk. Perfect harmonizing in place of snot, erudite observation in place of unfiltered rage. Makes a great case for book learnin’. And you can still probably gleam the cube to most of this ish! Thrash on, library card bros!

Rosemary’s Babies – Talking to the Dead

One of the few horror punk band outside the Misfits worth serious investment. They reject work, school, and religion in favor of bondage, necrophilia, and blood lust—and you believe them. May not actually be possessed, but certainly disturbed.

Antidote – Thou Shalt Not Kill

Just the most livid New York hardcore. Eight songs, nine minutes, but hey, it’s not a contest. However long this is, you won’t forget the palpable sensation that Antidote are not fucking around. See the militant and white hot “Something Must Be Done” for absolute proof.

Suicidal Tendencies – Suicidal Tendencies

Best song protesting romance (“Won’t Fall In Love Today”). Best song protesting the mental health system (“Institutionalized”). Best censorship (“I Shot Reagan” altered to “I Shot The Devil”). So furious you can’t even follow it at times but completely delicious.

Dwarves – Blood Guts & Pussy

The Dwarves began as trash punk dedicated to satisfying the id. You can call it low brow, you can call it depraved, but you can’t call it boring and you sure can’t call it weak. Filthy sex maniacs obsessed with prescription drugs need a soundtrack too.

Sonics – Here Are The Sonics

Quoting myself again: “America’s first true punk band, the Sonics played…so loudly [that] every single instrument on their records had a beautiful natural distortion…did any other pre-Iggy white guy scream as satisfyingly as lead Sonic Gerry Roslie? You can feel [him] in your tailbone.”

Badtown Boys – Date With Death

The B Boys were ahead of the ’90s pop punk pack by about five years. They’re big in Germany, but they should be even bigger here. Screeching Weasel without the guilt? Sure. “Dee Dee Took The Subway” is oddly romantic for a song about a junkie on mass transit.

McLusky – McLusky Do Dallas

All the angry punk bands of the Bush years were actually just one band in Wales. Overflowing with bile, jagged hooks, and a decidedly sour charisma. Still, they could be pretty cheeky sometimes–see “The World Loves Us And Is Our Bitch.”

February 11, 2009  

Q: Did Doomed Hate Rocker GG Allin Have A Secretary?

A: No.

If that article isn’t gross/sad enough for you, check out my Reagan Youth profile from a week (two weeks?) earlier. I didn’t know a lobotomy could be used to save someone’s life.

If your threshold for pure sick remains non-breached, Blink-182 is reuniting. God, I could barely get that out without dry heaving.

October 15, 2008  

The Cornuzine Interviews: Evan Cohen

Welcome to the second installment of “The Cornuzine Interviews” (if you missed the first installment and want to know what the hell’s going on, click here). Today’s subject is Evan Cohen, a man who braved poop, pee, and a lot of other gross bodily fluids as bass player for GG Allin’s back-up band the Murder Junkies.

I first spoke with Evan in 2002; since then, we’ve kept in contact, mainly discussing the latest developments in the Star Wars universe. If you had told me when I was fourteen that I’d be corresponding with a Murder Junkie one day about Jawas and Ewoks, I probably would have laughed in your stupid, ugly face.

By the way, this interview was conducted via e-mail, which is why it reads so smoothly and features none of the patented “likes” or “uhs” that are a staple of my speaking voice.

EVAN COHEN: HE WAS A MURDER JUNKIE

JAMES GREENE, JR: Okay, Evan, now when exactly were you a Murder Junkie? What time period are we talking here?

EVAN COHEN: I was a Murder Junkie in 1993, for [the] last tour and beyond.

JG2: I didn’t see you in the definitive GG Allin documentary Hated.

EC: Then you weren’t paying attention. I was a pallbearer. I’m the only one wearing a suit.

JG2: I guess I wasn’t paying attention…I thought the guy in the suit was Dee Dee Ramone.

EC: Please, never confuse me with Dee Dee Ramone again.

JG2: So was that you on the guitar in that infamous footage of the “last show” in New York where it spills out onto the streets and a near riot ensues?

EC: No, I was the one who videotaped the last show.

JG2: My word. Were you frightened at all?

EC: No. I was scared shitless. I was terrified. But I was never frightened.

JG2: how did you become a Murder Junkie?

EC: When I moved to NYC in the fall of ’92 to go to NYU, the only person I knew in the city was [Furious George’s] George Tabb. We hung out all the time and I met everyone he knew. One of these people was [GG’s brother] Merle Allin. I’d see Merle every now and then, at shows or at parties, and we always got along. In April of ’93, George and I ran into Merle at the now defunct CBGB’s Pizza. Merle was telling George that he was looking for a roadie for the upcoming GG Allin tour. George suggested that he put an ad in the paper for one. Merle didn’t like that idea because he’d end up with some crazed fan that would just end up following GG around and wouldn’t get any work done. That’s when I interjected and volunteered my services. The rest as they say, is history.

JG2: How does Merle Allin differ from his famous brother?

EC: He’s alive.

JG2: Touché. Did GG ever attack you or anything?

EC: No. I had a contract with myself before the tour started. If anything “weird” happened to me personally—like if GG pulled some shit with me, I’d let it slide once. If it happened again, I would have taken the next plane out. As it happened, nothing happened even once. GG never attacked me. Why would he? I was part of the team. I was videotaping shows, selling merchandise, driving some—most importantly, I was doing the job I was hired to do. I was working for and with him, not against him.

JG2: Do you think GG was a prophet of some sort, a performance artist that was ahead of his time, or was he just completely insane?

EC: Prophet, no. Performance artist, no. Completely insane, definitely not. What he WAS….Shit, I’m still trying to figure that out. I know less now than I did before I met him.

JG2: Did you consider him a friend?

EC: Yes I did. But it all happened so fast. I met the guy, two and a half weeks later, I’m on tour with him for a period of three and a half weeks, then two weeks after that I see him again on and off for a week and then he’s dead. Who knows what would have happened had he lived. I’m glad that I got to know him for even a brief period of time, and am glad that I was in his good graces when he died. I think I said that at his funeral. Look at me recycling material.

JG2: You authored a book about your time in the Murder Junkies (I Was a Murder Junkie: The Last Days of GG Allin). Now, how did that work? Did someone approach you to pen the definitive GG memoir, or did you just write it and find a publisher?

EC: I wrote first, asked questions later, then wrote some more.

JG2: Mr. Cohen, riddle me this: how does one go from being a Murder Junkie to being a member of the cartoonish group Furious George?

EC: Lack of good judgement.

JG2: Oh, SNAP! I’ve interviewed George Tabb about [Furious George’s] experiences whilst on the set of Summer Of Sam, but he didn’t offer much insight. Did you get to meet Spike Lee? What’s your most significant memory of that whole experience?

EC: Of course we met him. We auditioned for him, wrote a song for him, and he directed us in three scenes. My favorite memory was in between takes at CB’s. At one point Jennifer Esposito grabbed my by the shoulders…looked into my eyes…drew me to her…and said, “This is so much fun, I want to be in your band!” I didn’t have the heart to tell her that it wasn’t really as fun as she thought it was.

JG2: Man, I’d let Jennifer Esposito join my band. She’s a looker.

EC: You ain’t kiddin’ buster. Hey Jennifer, if you’re reading this, I’m single again. You can get my number though Spike’s office. I’m ready to form a band and you can sing for it. We’ll be the only two people in the band and I have the first gig already booked in my bedroom. Call, we’ll talk. By the way, she could be a kick-ass punk singer. She never did it before the movie and took to it instantly. Big ups to Jennifer Esposito.

JG2: You penned the classic Furious George track “Counselor Troi Boy Toy.” Did you ever see that movie Counselor Troi was in where she gets naked? Is that possibly what inspired the song?

EC: Never saw it. Immaturity inspired it. And believe me if you think that’s immature, you should hear its as of yet unrecorded companion piece “Dr. McCoy, Boy Toy,” for the free-thinking menfolk of the world. By the way, I did write the music for “Abduct Me,” you know…

JG2: Indeed, you did. “Abduct Me” is nearly a rock opera compared to “Counselor Troi” or your other classic “Prozac Defense.”

EC: Wow, I think that’s the first time anyone’s referred to my music as “classic.” Even if facetiously.

JG2: Hey, “Prozac Defense” is one of the darkest chord progressions I’ve ever heard in my life.

EC: Thank you very much.

JG2: Why exactly did you leave Furious George?

EC: No dental plan. That, and it wasn’t fun for me anymore.

JG2: I was in New York City on New Year’s Day this year and I went down to CBGB’s and the Gallery section where they sell the t-shirts was closed and they wouldn’t sell me a shirt even though they had one in the window on display. I came all the way from Florida and they wouldn’t sell me a shirt. They told me to order one online. Do you think that’s fucked up?

EC: No, get one online like everyone else.

JG2: Evan Cohen, what’s your opinion of Evan Dando?

EC: I wouldn’t know him if he broke into my apartment and pissed on my rug.

JG2: I wouldn’t put that past him. Evan Dando is the guy who fronted early nineties pop sensation the Lemonheads. They covered “Mrs. Robinson.” He’s almost as nuts as GG.

EC: I mean, I know WHO he is….but that doesn’t mean I know what he looks like. I could care less for the fellow…unless he reads my book and makes public statements about how he thinks it’s the greatest thing this side of Leon Uris. Why yes, I am a hypocrite.

JG2: He looks kind of like he’s homeless. Skinny, stringy brown hair and a bushy beard.

EC: I think that guy sells pot in Washington Square Park.

JG2: Are you involved with anyone musically right now? If so, plug away!

EC: Why yes I am. I have a band called WORSE. Anyone who wants a free CD they can email me at GGBook99@aol.com (what a whore!). Also playing with Furious George again – imagine that. But most importantly, BUY MY BOOK.

JG2: Now hold the phone, chief! I thought you said Furious George wasn’t fun anymore, but you’re back with them? What the dilly, yo?

EC: Lemme give you the 212 on the situation. I quit FG in March of ’99. Wasn’t fun anymore. Stevie replaced me and in the Summer of ’01, he left the band. George needed someone for a gig, and since I knew all the songs….And here I am again. By the way, Stevie has a new band called “Stevie and the Trash.” They’re quite good, and they feature current FG drummer Michael keeping the rhythm.

JG2: All very interesting. Thank you for your time, Evan.

EC: I enjoyed the interview, thank you.

– Cornuzine.com, 2/7/02