I know it might be a hard concept to wrap your head around, what with the über-shitty parts of their discography choking the sub-$1 CD bins of any given record store, but Urge Overkill were once a very good band. Some might even say they were a "great" band.

I got turned onto Urge Overkill in 1989 when I was in college in York, Pennsylvania. I got to see them shortly thereafter at the DC Space with (I’m guessing) Arcwelder and Flour. All I remember is that they were awesome. Really great.

Then I moved to Pittsburgh in 1990. And man, was I a lucky boy. I got to see UO play 4 times in a year as I witnessed what would become their masterpiece, Supersonic Storybook, come to life in sparsely attended shows at the Upstage Lounge. Their schtick which would eventually become cringeworthy had yet to be run into the ground. Crush velvet jackets, medallions and sunglasses were their uniform. And for 1990? 1991? That was pretty damned spiffy. I gotta say, I played those Touch & Go albums into dust. And I’m not ashamed of that.

Then there was their masterpiece single (if there ever was such a thing) for the Sub Pop Singles Club. Perfection. And I mean that honestly. "What’s This Generation Coming To?" was 15 years ahead of the curve talking about how vinyl was the superior format. And "That’s The Barclords" was just a glimmer of what their schtick was all about. Both sides had absolutely flawless jams and perfect production. Even now, in 2009, it’s perfect. I love that damned single.

The Stull EP on T&G featured the Sub Pop single and a few other tracks including both an Alan Milman Sect and a Neil Diamond cover. Kinda "eh" but they can’t all be winners, right?

Well, the Neil Diamond cover ("Girl, You’ll Be A Woman Soon") went batshit nuts for the band thanks to ‘Pulp Fiction,’ and the rest is history. The band got signed to a major during the early ’90s feeding frenzy and ended up on Geffen due in large part to their perfect timing opening for Nirvana on that fall ’91 tour when "Smells Like Teen Spirit" broke. Good for them.

"Saturation" was their first for Geffen and was kinda incredible. I mean, at least I thought so. However, I went to see them perform at the Masquerade in the fall of ’93 and that’s when I turned my back on UO for quite a while. The Pain Teens opened and were quite awesome, but UO took their sweet time changing over and (no joke) 90 minutes later they went on and just sucked. Flat out. I seem to remember them being a five piece by then (a painfully obvious session musician was on bass) and walked out and drove back to Athens quickly after they started. I’d had enough.

I ignored UO for the rest of their stay on Geffen. They turned into a farce and I just didn’t want to think of this band I once worshipped as being anything other than completely incredible. It’s a pity because, as I said, they once were a really great band.

Before their releases on Touch & Go, however, they put out the "Strange, I" EP on Steve Albini’s Ruthless Records in 1985. Nash Kato (nee Nathan Kaatrud) was his roommate at the time, so it seemed like they were all thick as thieves. One thing just stands out in my mind when I think of Nate Kato. He was an incredible typographer. I still see this "Strange, I"s artwork and think "damn, this is REALLY great!" Part of it is obviously Albini, but the type is all Nate. Really beautifully done. And there’s a lot of bands at the time who used his type stylings (Pussy Galore’s the first that pops into my mind) but it’s a pity that he’s rarely remembered as a designer.

One last thing, Albini was a very vocal supporter of Urge until about the time they jumped ship from T&G. I’m sure there’s a good juicy piece of drama surrounding that, but Steve was quoted as saying something to the effect that Urge would be hustling blow jobs for change at the bus stop in no time. There’s also the rumor that Steve was planting cassette tapes of Warrant (at least that’s what I remember) at the Lounge Ax with a sticker on it saying "new Urge Overkill demo"….. Does anybody have a better recollection of this? I’d hate to be wrong on this, but regardless, it’s still funny.

Also, I think there needs to be a rediscovery of Urge’s discography on Touch & Go primarily because much of it was poorly mastered to CD and never redone which sucks. The vinyl still sounds astounding, but any schlub who buys their records digitally will be terribly disappointed.

I’m including the 5 tracks from the "Strange, I" EP here because I never seem to be able to find anybody that recollects this record in the least. Sure, it has a VERY Chicago sound. A very close neighbor to Big Black and Naked Raygun, but I’d almost venture to say they sound similar to Dekalb’s Blatant Dissent as well. But maybe that’s just me.

Be sure to check out this embedded video interview which is sort of retarded, but also this video of "Ticket to LA" that I can’t embed but absolutely rules.

Urge Overkill – All Worked Out

Urge Overkill – Art of Man

Urge Overkill – My New Church

Urge Overkill – Snakemobile

Urge Overkill – Systems

Hey internet. Sorry I’ve been gone so long. I went on a much needed vacation with my wife down to Isla Mujeres, Mexico. Holy jeebus it was awesome. And I only brought enough swine flu back for myself, so quit askin’ for some!

In Chunklet news though, there’s a new release comin’ down the pike!

A limited edition of 500 2xDVD deluxe reissue of this classic from 2006.

"FOUR STARS!" “[Anthem is] a true labor of love, it collects three-and-a-half hours’ worth (44 songs) of live footage from ’93 to ’05, showcasing the trio at its atavistic best: destroying guitars, using sledgehammers as instruments, and beating gongs with flaming drumsticks. Watch, and welcome to the cult.”
Revolver

“Release of the Week!” “Four long years in the making, and it was worth every single second. They are without a doubt one of the greatest bands of the last 20 years!”   
Aquarius Records

“A” “A scolding revelation. It’s a salient reminder of giving praise where praise is due, at home in this puppet show land, where everything has got God’s hand up its ass.”   
Stylus Magazine

“Standard” version

DVD #1:
Original "Anthem" DVD is a 3+ hour, 44 song live documentary chronicles the band HARVEY MILK from their first shows in early 1993 to their stint of reunion shows in 2005. Shot almost entirely on broadcast quality television cameras, ANTHEM is a mandatory release for any fan of the band or any fan of metal, avant-garde or plain old rock and roll.

DVD #2:
A special DVD with over an hour of previously unreleased material. Included is an essential multi-camera pro shot video of the band playing to a full house at their final show with drummer Paul Trudeau at the 40 Watt in 2006 opening for the Melvins. Also featured is another show from the Caledonia Lounge in 2005 and, oh let’s say, a couple nifty goodies…

“Special” version available only at chunklet.com

The updated packaging was lovingly designed by Stephen O’Malley (Sunn O))), Khanate, KTL), with updated liner notes by Chunklet Magazine publisher Henry Owings.

The DVD is not available until mid-May, but get in on this now before they disappear (again).

I certainly don’t need to extoll the virtues of record stores to readers of this blog. Furthermore, I’ve been personally involved with RSD since before it started (I designed all their logos) and believe strongly in what record stores do for the community, music and just people’s well being.

So it pains me to see this interviewer have Billy Corgan at his local store in Illinois. The interview with Mr. Corgan doesn’t interest me (he can’t really be held accountable for knowing when RSD is, for instance), but the fact that the interviewer didn’t put his feet to the fire does. This is a musician who, let’s be honest, has thrown independent record stores under the bus routinely. Recently, he’s done Best Buy exclusive releases and shown time and time again that, contrary to his interview here, that the mom-and-pops really don’t matter to his bank account. And let’s be honest, it’s his bank account (and managers and lawyers, etc.) that speak louder than his feeble words in this clip.

Continue to fuck off, Billy Corgan. Seriously.

You know you’ve reached a certain level of notoriety when Nardwuar comes knocking on your door to get some salacious dirt on one of his impending interview victims.

And although he can’t reveal his sources (and we certainly won’t tear down the façade) there’s more than a couple of "How did you find that out?" moments in this interview which, let’s be honest, doesn’t happen much on a regular SXSW press junket. No?

…where machines meet rushed, untrained and distracted workers, where carnage and destruction are just one false move away, where one minute you are drinking see-thru coffee out of a styrofoam cup and the next you are missing an arm or have your head pancaked like an over-ripe melon…yes, there is such a world. Free advice, DON’T LIVE THERE.

(Man, I remember the time Renny in the Chunklet warehouse made a rushed right turn with a fork lift and impaled Dale like a friggin shish kebab, goddamn what a mess!)

Thanks, Kyle.

You know? It was better when Jandek was elusive and a perpetual question mark.

Now? I just want him to go back under the rock he was living under….. The thrill is gone.

Thanks, Stephen.

So I was recently asked to start writing for a really great blog called Pukekos which obessively chronicles the past 15 years or so in seven inch records.

I thought I’d start with Punching Contest which is a band that I initially knew very little about. I contacted vocalist Dave Martin and went to town. Enjoy!

Oh, Count Grishnackh. You reformed, yet lovably murderous, Nazi!

First we caught wind that he’s being released from prison and now we discover that Vice has leaked the album artwork for his first record since he’s been cured of his murderous urges? Hey man, sign me up!

(we hope you can read all of this)

Of course, the Vice crew totally get the irony in these titles which, I’m sure, will make their foray into easy listening/black metal seem almost tolerable.

Anybody know the titles of the "bonus tracks" at the end of this sucker?

We see Perry Farrell doing THIS! Almost as tolerable/enjoyable as his recent Jane’s cover band (or Jane’s for that matter).

Thanks to Sam for this. And Billy for the revised headline.

Ah, Bitch Magnet.

I guess by this point, everybody knows I lived in Pittsburgh in 1990. But what many of you probably don’t know is that Pittsburgh was one of the few places that really WORSHIPED Bitch Magnet when they were actually still a band! For some reason, Nice Strong Arm is another band that stands out as one of those "only in Pittsburgh" bands that people there just adored. Ironically enough, countless Pittsburgh bands of the time showed their love of Soo Young & Co. Hurl, Karl Hendricks, Don Cabarello, Swob…. God, and that’s just off the top of my head.

So this last weekend I was digging around for that tape of the "fuck you clown" joke by Mr. O’Rourke and came across this tape that’s been in my collection for about twenty years give or take a year or so. I can’t recollect if this either drifted into my collection or if Soo Young sent it to me (it looks like his handwriting on the case), but either way, it’s here.

The Ho Cakes tape is certainly trashy and not nearly what the band became, but well, it’s great to hear more Bitch Magnet no matter what. I’d love to know if this was possibly recorded when the band lived in Decatur, Georgia. Who knows? Anybody?

I am trying to stay "on target" with a number of projects I’m working on this week, so blog time is kind of in short supply, but this should tide ya’ll over.

Bitch Magnet – Proxy (Ho Cakes ’87)

Bitch Magnet – Margaret Wallace Rd (Ho Cakes ’87)

Bitch Magnet – Garden City (Ho Cakes ’87)

Bitch Magnet – Fat Tuesday (Ho Cakes ’87)

Bitch Magnet – Curtain of Surprise (Ho Cakes ’87)

Bitch Magnet – Carnation (Ho Cakes ’87)

Bitch Magnet – Cantaloupe (Ho Cakes ’87)

Bitch Magnet – Bleedin’ Heart (Ho Cakes ’87)

Bitch Magnet – Sugar Plum (Ho Cakes ’87)

Bitch Magnet – She Made Up Her Mind (Ho Cakes ’87)