I’m in my mid ‘40s, and I’ve lived my entire life in Cleveland, OH. Go ahead and fire up your jokes, I’ve heard ‘em all, and frankly, if you still think it’s a punchline, I’m perfectly happy for you to keep your uninformed pierogi-hole on lockdown and stay far the hell away so as not to pollute my zen (OR: if you want to check it out with an open mind, I know a ton of very cool people who’d be glad to point you in all the right directions). I’ve traveled plenty, though obviously one can never travel enough, and I’ve had opportunities to live elsewhere, but so far I’ve taken none of them. Part of that was because until a few years ago I had enviable job security in an industry I loved, and I still have a crazy low cost of living, but the REAL magnet that’s kept me here? The music scene is and always has been beyond utterly fucking brilliant. I have never wanted for gifted mutants to rock with, and while everybody steeped in punk and New Wave lore knows what a musical atom bomb Northeast Ohio was in the ‘70s, and while the success of the Black Keys, indie champs Cloud Nothings, and garage/soul shit-fucker-upper Obnox are attracting attention here nowadays, the rarely-told stories of the ‘80s, ‘90s and oughts scenes are doozies, as well. Almost every time I’ve pondered a move, it’s been a band that’s kept me around, even though nary a one of ‘em has ever made a dent, and I while I abidingly love a lot of other cities, I’ve yet to seriously regret sticking it out here. A close-knit music scene teeming with talent is just that strong an attractor for me.
Recently, the excellent archival record label Soul Jazz have, as part of their ongoing PUNK 45 series, released two excellent compilations documenting the ‘70s/early ‘80s roots of that music scene, one each for Cleveland and Akron, both with extremely generous liner notes. They cover all the stuff I missed out on by being not being born 10 years earlier, but obviously these bands still weigh heavily on the region’s underground musical legacy. Both are assembled from early, independently-released 7"s, and both accordingly feature some previously compiled material AND some serious treasures.
The Akron comp, Burn Rubber City, Burn!, has the early DEVO single “Mechanical Man” and the rarity “Auto Modown,” the Waitresses’ early single “The Comb,” and Tin Huey’s awesome “Squirm You Worm.” (Versions embedded in this post may not be the same as what’s actually on the comp; they were the versions I could find online. )
The Waitresses, “The Comb”
Tin Huey, “Squirm You Worm”
Devo, “Auto Modown”
Its Cleveland counterpart, Extermination Nights In The Sixth City, is pretty geniusfull too, plus it has a way cooler title (sorry, Akron, I still love you). It features the undeniably seminal proto-punk opus “Life Stinks” by Rocket From the Tombs, the band whose seismic fissure would produce the Dead Boys and Pere Ubu. And speaking of Ubu, Extermination Nights includes their essential alienation-anthems “Final Solution” and “Hearts of Darkness.”
Rocket From the Tombs, “Life Stinks”
Pere Ubu, “Heart of Darkness”
There’s also definitive material from regional godfathers/godmothers like Pressler-Morgan, the Pagans, a couple of incarnations of the Styrenes, and the Human Switchboard. But the inclusion that excited me most was X__X (pronounced “Ex Blank Ex”). That band featured/features electric eels vocalist John Morton (the lower case band name is intentional), avant-garde guitarist Andrew Klimek, and eventual Golden Palominos drummer Anton Fier. That band is back together, sans Fier, not just for a nostalgic go-around (though there is a new collection of the old stuff out); they’re writing and recording new material. The recordings are evidently unfinished, so I’ve heard none of them yet, but I have intel that they’re amazing.
The Pagans, “I Juvenile”
Pressler-Morgan, “You’re Gonna Watch Me”
X__X, “Approaching the Minimal with Spray Guns”
Because why the hell not, here’s some waistline-cam footage of X__X’s hometown reunion show. Shot by the tireless area rock shutterbug Lou Muenz, the song is “A,” which is also on Extermination Nights.
Previously on Dangerous Minds
‘Irene’: New Pere Ubu video is eerie and gorgeous
Q: are we not men? The origins of DEVO’s theory of de-evolution!
Before the Dead Boys were the Dead Boys, they were the oh so glamorous ‘Frankenstein.’