Romeo Void - Benefactor

 This one was kind of on a whim because of a comment my buddy Fernando had made on a Voetsek post I had done a while back.   On another site there had been comments about how the singer of Voetsek had problems with her weight and was not stereo typically beautiful (fat and ugly).  Fernando had said,  "What I did some days ago instead, when seeing this post, was checking the pic and then thinking of Romeo Void, because the gorgeous Voetsek singer reminded me of that old wave interesting band (old wave? haha).  And then I went for Romeo Void stuff and re-discovered a band I hadn’t listened to for ages."  In fact, in that review of Voetsek the main focus was on her appearance and not her ability to sing.  Anyway, long story short, I decided to take Fernando's lead and check out Romeo Void as I did remember the singer from the video for Never Say Never which is the only tune I was familiar with.  That tune went way back to the early 80's for me when New Wave was a sin in my circle and you could have rocks thrown at you for listening to it, so you did it in secret. There actually weren't that many tunes in that genre that did anything for me back then but that one did, at least I still remember it.  I did my usual and started with Wikipedia who had this to say, which wasn't much, but I'm a creature of habit sometimes and seem to always check there first (not that they are the ultimate authority but definitely a good start).  I then went to see if I could find anything of their music on the web and found their second album Benefactor.  While looking around in general I came across some stuff from an awesome blog I've been familiar with for a long time Kill Your Pet Puppy.  Great place to go if your interested in, even though he's not limited to, late 70's and early 80's English stuff.  Incredible site, just wish he would separate his tracks and label the MP3s. That can be fixed and actually if you get anything out of this post, check out the history represented in his blog. Anyway Romeo Void was mentioned in one of his posts as being influenced by a band called the Bush Tetras.  Check out what he has to say there and then give one of their tunes a listen. Bush Tetras-Too Many Creeps Now that tune definitely is similar guitar wise to Never Say Never, Romeo Void's big hit and actually I kind of liked it better.  Speaking of that tune, I found out when reading that the version on Benefactor was not as good as the version on a 12" single they had, so I made it my mission to find that version.  I couldn't find that on any blogs until I came upon Systems Of Romance.  Really good reading there and they mention the difference between the two versions but I couldn't download the tune. I went and found it elsewhere for you to check.

Never Say Never (12" version) The rest of the album really didn't do anything for me although Chinatown was kind of cool.  So all that for an album most will probably not listen to or care about, but if you're curious,

Never Say Never Wrap It Up Flashflood Undercover Kept Ventilation Chinatown Orange Shake The Hands Of Time S.O.S.

 

Ill Repute - Halloween 1 & 2

Shitty time last week with one of the worst kind of hellish colds I've had in a long time.  I felt like a kid again in the bad kind of way, helpless and miserable.  Made up for it though when the old lady and I took Friday off so we could do our bi-monthly trip to the big town to pick up supplies.  We hit up our usual spots and even tried out what passes for a pawn shop in that town.  Pretty crappy compared to some of the ones I've been to in some of the bigger cities but we did manage to pick up some movies and a PS2 game which we hadn't done in a while.  Saturday had a birthday party for the granddaughter and Sunday took one of the older guys from Kim's group home out for lunch, pepsi and shopping.  After that spent some quality time with the horses so what started out shitty ended up pretty sweet.

  This is my third and last Ill Repute post and in case you missed them be sure to check out What Happens Next and Oxnard Land Of No Toilets.  I've already said a lot on these guys on those posts so be sure and check those out and the comments too.  Three posts should tell you they're definately one of my favorite hardcore bands and maybe just bands in general.  The other side of that is that I hadn't ripped any vinyl in a while and just felt like listening to these two 7"s.  To be honest with you not as good as I remembered them and not really the most "powerful" of live recordings I've heard by bands recently.  Check out Mental Abuses' 01-adolescent-skins_gimme-death-live.  Now that is some sick ass live hardcore, but don't get me wrong I still stand behind Ill Repute 100%.  There's a few tunes on here that stand out like Sleepwalking, Cherokee Nation and Fuck With My Head so at least check those out.  My copy of part two didn't come with a cover but I found those images out there for you on some guy's Flickr when I did an image search.  Edit: I wanted to give the guy who supplied the awesome scans of these covers some credit for those, so be sure to check out his Flickr page here.  I always had What Happens Next on tape so when I went to get it years later it came as a "Value Pack" that had the part two 7" with no cover.  Anyway, babbling again, so give this a listen.

 

Stop And Think Fill It Up Sleepwalking Sleepwalking II Fuck With My Head Cherry Cherry Monster Mash  

 

Count The Odds Smoke On The Water Change Bad Rep Laugh It Off Cherokee Nation Sometimes, I don't know if you've noticed, it's not enough to just do what I had planned.  I hadn't heard the demos from these guys and thought I'd see if I could find those.  The guy over at the awesome Old School blog had them posted but I couldn't get the files to download.  My bro Jason had recommended trying Soulseek a while ago so I finally got off me ass and tried that out.  Good for me and good for you because I found both Ill Repute demos there and am passing those on to you.  Listening to these was like finding some long lost early Ill Repute record because this stuff seriously stings it.  It wasn't just the tunes that were familiar but several others really jumped out at me.  So go ahead have at them. Demo 06/82

 

No Hope Boot Camp Death Row We’ll Get Back At Them Greed Clean Cut American Kid When You Win You Lose Don’t Be Like Them Punk Love Can’t Fuck Your Money Judgement Day

 

In Society/Who Cares I Won’t Kill For You Strike Back Thirsty Eyes PT Blues Sluts Rapid Pulse Propaganda Demo 09/82

 

Pressure Why Us Don’t Get Used Hit N Run Bad Rep Takin Care Of Business Pluto’s Mad Lab Who Needs You

 

In Society/Who cares Noise Clean Cut American kid Monster Mash Cherry Cherry When You Win You Lose Judgement Day Count The Odds

 

The Velvet Underground & Nico

  Another one of those curious moments made me go and search out this one.  Always heard about these guys and how influencial they were so I gave it a go.   As always this was enlightening.  So listening to it, and all I could think was, heroin music.  Damn I can taste it right now.  I know I've listened to these guys before but I just never paid any attention and they probably never made much of an impact.  These days I'm curious, less close minded and willing to give anything a chance.  Mood music might be another way to describe it but no matter what I think they were obviously important.  I guess in that sense they had to end up being a Mustard Relic although a very recent one.  To get more of this kind of jingle jangle junkie rock check one of my previous posts and favorites in Sparklehorse.  I actually like Sparklehorse a bit better but what does my opinion count for?  It's weird how music can be associated with moods, feelings, and even states of mind.  This one is kind of hippy maybe in time but also kind of has that beatnik place going on.  You guys have all probably heard this before but in any case here it is. Sunday Morning I’m Waiting For The Man Femme Fatale Venus In Furs Run Run Run All Tomorrow’s Parties Heroin There She Goes Again I’ll Be Your Mirror The Black Angel’s Death Song European Son

 

Just for the hell of it here is an early thing from Reed and Cale called the Primitives that I stole from here. The Ostritch Sneaky Pete