FLIPPER
Generic Flipper
Gone Fishin’
Public Flipper Limited Live 1980-1985
Sex Bomb Baby!
All Domino CDs
www.dominorecord.co.com
There never was a band or a sound quite like San Francisco’s Flipper whose cult reputation has survived long after the break-up of the original line up following the death of bassist Will Shatter from a heroin OD in 1987.
First there was the release of the comeback album American Grafishy on Rick Rubin’s Def American label in ’93 and now Domino are playing their part in kick starting the next phase in the great Flipper revival by reissuing four vintage albums from the band that simply refuses to die.
Sporting specially commissioned
sleeve notes from The Melvins’ King Buzzo,
Henry Rollins and erstwhile Nirvana and sometime Flipper bass player Krist Novoselic – who line up to pay testament to the power and the glory of Flipper.
Rarely in the annals of rock has the sound of chaos and sheer desperation been so consumately preserved as on the collected discography of Flipper. Originally released on San Francisco independent Subterannean records (as were all of these reissues) their ’82 debut Generic introduced the world to the delights of Flipper’s trademark sound and, arguably, its ultimate expression – the mighty ‘Sex Bomb’. Released two years later Gone Fishin’ repeats the medicine of its predecessor without any great variation in the recipe. But while the studio albums are one thing, the live arena is where Flipper’s special brand of chaos really comes into its own. Public Flipper Limited captures the ragged, volatile atmosphere of the Flipper live experience at its roughest and readiest.
Sex Bomb Baby! meanwhile is a 13 track best of the early years comprising A & B sides, miscellaneous live and studio tracks.
Maybe the last word is best left to the prophetic King Buzzo – “if you’re never IN tune you can’t be out OF tune”.
Grahame Bent
THE GRUESOMES
Hey!
Ricochet CD
www.ricochetrecords.com
This CD version of The Gruesomes’ third and final studio LP from 1989 makes all the of the band’s work available on CD. After so many miles on the road Canada’s best garage/R&B band were starting to ask ‘What Am I Doing This For?’ but didn’t let it show in the quality of the songs. The likes of ‘Thanks For Nothing’ and ‘Hey!’ are as good as anything they ever wrote.
The Garbage Pail Kids’ demo, recorded in bassist John Davis’ parents’ basement in ’85 must have sounded as if it came from a different planet in mid-80s Canada.
Phil Suggitt |
