Our last summer Friday means a noisy playlist from me, Guest Shopgirl and Fulltime Mannequin A. Joseph 'Mao. Please note this playlist is not just for White Boyz.
"This collection of songs was chosen as a direct challenge to the listener's patience and willpower. Maybe some of these tracks will drive you nuts in all the right ways (i.e., make you nervous and unable to control your impulse purchasing behavior). Enjoy or don't, we don't care."
"I'm Waiting For the Man" by the Velvet Underground The Velvet Underground and Nico
Nobody likes an inconsiderate drug dealer so Lou Reed and his crew wrote this song to take a stand in favor of swift customer service on the black market. Just because you're a junkie doesn't give anyone the right to waste your time, does it?
"Brand New Cadillac" by the Clash London Calling
Brand New Cadillac ain't a noisy one by any means but the band did call themselves the Clash so there's that. That and no one writes boss ass guitar riffs like that anymore. This song is worth it just for "JESUS CHRIST, where did you get that Cadillac?"
"Dream Lover" by the Plasmatics New Hope for the Wretched
This Bobby Darin cover is a good example of how Wendy O. William always wore her balls on her chest and never hesitated to flaunt them. The instrumental "breakdown" in the middle was recorded in a divided studio where none of the band members could hear each other and the result was an extended gorgeously chaotic freakout (with a saxophone?) that only the Plasmatics would have dared injected into a cover of a '60s crooner.
"Smash It Up (Part 2)" by the Damned Noise, Noise, Noise
This version is live but the studio versions of Smash It Up (Parts 1 & 2) sound kind of candy ass compared to this. This past summer I had a conversation with my cellmate in county jail about punk rock. He asked me if I liked the Damned. I told him I really didn't know what else was out there besides Damned, Damned, Damned. He said, "I don't know what record it's on, but you gotta get "Smash It Up." I assume he meant Part 2.
"Death Valley '69" by Sonic Youth ft. Lydia Lunch Bad Moon Rising
This is where the real noise starts both on this playlist and historically. Both Sonic Youth and Lydia Lunch were major players in NYC's late 70's/early 80's no wave scene and this collaboration incorporates the most negative of waves and vibes while not being a bummer to listen to. You can be sure all the intoning about "I didn't wanna but she started to holler/so I had to hit it" is about the Manson family.
"Bring the Noise" by Public Enemy It Takes a Nation of Millions to Hold Us Back
Occasionally white boyz gotta Do The Right Thing and listen to Chuck D. tell us how it really is while Flav provides comic relief on the side.
"Taste the Floor" by the Jesus and Mary Chain Psychocandy
As soon as the opening chord progression comes fuzzing out of my speakers I already feel like I'm tasting something dirty. What's on the floor is the leftover scraps of Donovan's "Hurdy Gurdy Man" as well as "I Wanna Be Your Dog" that the Mary Chain shaved the fat off of with their razor sharp guitars. And you thought the Stooges were 100% lean.
"Aly, Walk With Me" by the Raveonettes Lust Lust Lust
I saw the Raveonettes play with the Black Angels in Minneapolis in 2009 and I knew I had to buy this record. The first track on their album Lust Lust Lust is this hauntingly scorching number with a backbeat night ravers can get loose to and plenty of fuzzed out psychedelic noise for the day tripper to get lost in.
"Jack the Ripper" by Link Wray Good Rockin' Tonight
Technically, this is just a surfabilly instrumental but Link Wray was the king of noise twenty years before anyone would ever appreciate such a title, let alone deserve it. The guitar sound he pioneered spawned garage rock, punk, metal, and every kind of degenerate rock and roll that has been invented since. I could have given you "Rumble" but you've heard that already if you don't live in a convent.
"New Gods" [instrumental bonus track] by the Meat Puppets Meat Puppets II
Reeking of bongwater and reverb, New Gods sounds like frustrated acid-fried hippies trading in their Steal Your Face t-shirts for ones with four black bars, which isn't as pretentious as it sounds when you consider that's exactly what it is. The Puppets expanded their sound for their second record but this track remains a relic of their hardcore days.
"Ghetto Cross" by the Black Lips We Did Not Know The Forest Spirit Made The Flowers Grow
Included for not much else other than the creepy ass lead guitar line (which has kept me up at night several times) and the lyric "The inbred Jesus always makes fun of me/but that's how he lets me know he loves me."
"Drudgery" by Royal Baths Litanies
I traded Slint's Spiderland for this record and can't help but feel like I stole candy from a baby because this whole album is so dope. This track is probably the most spine tingling jam on it and that's why it's here. I don't mean to shit on Slint (or my roommate who accepted the trade) but that's how it goes.
"Sweet Loaf" by the Butthole Surfers Locust Abortion Technician
A spoof of Black Sabbath's "Sweet Leaf" this song has a very classy intro that sets the mood for not only the rest of this track but the rest of the album as well. Gibby Hayne's unintelligible hollering during the Sabbath part and Paul Leary's intricate guitar playing during the pretty part complement each other bizarrely. Never has anything so stupid sounded so smart.
"T-Bone" by Neil Young Reactor
"You don't write a song about having mashed potatoes and no t-bone without making a few enemies."
- Neil Young
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