Rocktober: The Axman Swings His Blade

Can't let a Rocktober pass without some offering to the deities of rock's past. The eighteen year old dorm room rebel that blared Black Sabbath, Slayer, and Led Zeppelin with unabashed adoration is jumping out of me as I follow the stonerific releases from White Hills and Gnod. In name of the fall, in name of girls named Autumn, beards, and looking back at our American heritage, I invested in the releases of Vintage Records, a subsidiary of Rockadrome in Texas. They've been releasing some spectacular reissues of collector item hard rock LPs from the seventies and eighties that strike you right in the stoner bone. Only lame part is that they are on CD, so it is harder to pretend that it actually is 1974, you actually are stoned, and you are just deciding that the hardest rock of all is named metal.

First, hailing from the invincible Camden, NJ (Represent!), recent guest to Bon Jovi's playground build, hails Negative Space who recorded the landmark LP Hard, Heavy, Mean, and Evil in 1970. Fantastic reissue of the dream high school band, digging into some of the hard rock masterpieces of the time like "Johnny B. Goode" and "Purple Haze," these kids took cues from all the right places. So what if they are not sure exactly how to play in the same key as the rest of the band. So what if the drummer drums to his own tempo. This is rock and roll at a gritty and raw reality. The kind that can't be taught. Lester Bangs said that "grossness was the truest criterion for rock 'n' roll, the cruder the clang and grind the more fun and longer listened-to the album'd be." I agree. These kids were definitely on to something, and you will spot this record in Trenton fetching a mighty high fee, despite the fact that it is mostly garbage. I mean treasure. The first eight tracks are the most inspired, from the original LP.

Negative Space - Hard, Heavy, Mean, and Evil

Beyond the reissue, it looks like these guys reincarnated as a hard rock tribute band of the same name. so good. my favorite part of this video is the commentary arguing about whether one band member is a nerd or not.

Another great release from Vintage Records is the reissue of Iron Claw. Iron Claw is a Scottish roots-rock band that grinds out some burners, psychedelic blues rock in its purest. Their release Dismorphobia is fantastic. Though they were supposedly a Black Sabbath cover band for much of their career, their LP from 1970 is golden metal. If my internet was working better I'd upload that too. Maybe I will update this post with it soon enough.