Punk rock Tuesday. I’ll send this out to my favorite punk rocker (old man division), Dal Basi. I didn’t meet Dal until WAY after the prime west coast punk rock years (as I was, sadly, living on the east coast), but I can definitely envision him in his Stockton, CA bedroom jumping up and down in his over-sized creepers to this record. And as well he should. Whenever I go back and listen to stuff of this vintage, I am struck my how super poppy much of it is. I’m not sure how how much I took notice at the time, but considering the first track – Circle Jerks’ “Wild In The Streets” – has a sing-a-long chorus, and the Jerks – I think – were the first punk rock band I ever saw (though it may have been the Ramones, speaking of your uber-poppy punk bands), I’ll just assume it registered on some level.
Anyhoo, this is simply a killer overview of SoCal punk rock, circa early 80’s. It’s all here. Black Flag? Check. Raymond Pettibon artwork? Check. Liner notes from a Flipside writer? Check. (And great liner notes, btw!). And for me, some of my favorite tunes of the time, ranging from prepubescent punk of Red Cross (“Annette’s Got The Hits/Cover Band”) to the pop metal bubblegum crunch of Channel 3 (“You Make Me Feel Cheap”) to the pre-twang boundary busting of Alejandro Escovedo’s first band, The Nuns (“Suicide Child”). Yes, they were a Bay Area band, so props for their ability to crash this little LA love-fest.
What I still don’t get to this day – Baby Buddha’s take on “Your Cheatin’ Heart.” I guess you had to be there.
You can find this record, which is quite scarce these days, at either of this fine online retail establishments. And if you happen upon this record via this post, drop me a line and I’ll knock $5 off the record, taking it down to $25. I know it’s hard to put a price on the timelessness of Shattered Faith, but I think I just did.
graypunk 