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JACKIE SHARK & THE BEACH BUTCHERS 7″

By cooch | Published 04/18/2010

Another once-mighty KBD hyper obscurity brought back down to earth by a small score of dead stock copies…

This used to be one of the top KBD rarities, with only a few known copies and no info whatsoever known about band members, band history, band location, etc. There was a slight break in the case a few years ago with the discovery of a cassette with the band’s address on it, found buried in the Bomp! archives when Greg Shaw passed away. The SoCal address yielded zero info, but the case was finally broken when Mr. Jackie Shark himself popped up from the depths last year. Since then, a small stash of copies turned up (40 or so copies), taking the record down a few notches from its once $1000+ status to the “paltry” $400 mark.

More info here and mp3′s available here.

Note: photo borrowed from breakmyface.com in lieu of the auction’s crummy pictures. Continue reading »

BATTALION OF SAINTS – Fighting Boys 12″

By cooch | Published 03/31/2010

I like ranking things in lists, so here’s one of the three best 12″ ep’s that would fit on one side of a 7″, along with Black Flag Jealous Again and the Straight Ahead 12″.

These guys took the best elements of Motörhead (metal) and Discharge (d-beat) and combined it with a healthy dose of Southern California to make some rippin’ metal-tinged hardcore. Guitarist Chris Smith was a certified shredder, even lending some licks on one of the Kraut LPs, before his untimely demise (passed out in a bathtub, I believe.) Allegedly the band is cursed, as all original members aside from singer George Anthony are dead, but I saw these guys about 15 years ago and everyone from that lineup is still alive.

Also cool with this copy, aside from belonging to Chuck Dukowski, is that it has a press kit with it. I got one of these off ebay a couple years ago in a lot of random flyers, and it’s filled with KILLER material.

Chicano punk BIN 2-fer

By cooch | Published 03/11/2010

Couple of classic SoCal Mexi-punkers, both with very reasonable BIN prices considering the are deadstock copies. These probably won’t last long so I’ll keep the descriptions short.

The Plugz are probably better remembered for their want-list-staple Mindless Contentment 7″, but Achin’ is no slouch either and has a cool punked up version of “La Bamba” on the flip. First press here with B&W sleeve, later pressings had a yellow paper sleeve.

The Brat released only this single-sided 12″ (also on a double sided 10″) and one comp track in their brief career. Both are great cholo punk with a girls singer.

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brat kbd plugz socal

AGENT ORANGE – Bloodstains 7″

By cooch | Published 02/13/2010

A bona fide best-in-genre release, here’s Agent Orange’s classic debut single from 1979. SoCal beach punk doesn’t get much better than this, and if you like punk music in any slightest way, shape or form, you should be familiar with the title track.

Though “Bloodstains” also appears on their Living In Darkness 12″, this version is exclusive to this release, with a much rawer and tougher recording with a great gritty guitar tone. The tunes on the flip, “America” and “Bored Of You” are good too but not as monumental as the A-side. As far as I know these two B-side songs have never been released elsewhere, though this version of “Bloodstains” was reissued on one of those Rhino Faster & Louder compilations in the 90′s (which were great pre-internet intros to punk/hc.)

The $100 opening bid could work out nicely for someone to score this at a good price, and the seller is very reliable as I’ve dealt with him many times buying and selling.