I remember the first time I heard this album. I had seen the tape (yes, cassette tape) in Christ Centered Book And Music store for a few weeks and thought it was a kid's tape. So, I paid it no mind. Then I think I read about it somewhere and when I went back I popped the demo into the listening station and it took about 10 seconds for me to start begging my mom to buy it for me.
What I heard was some of the hardest punk rock I had ever heard at the time apart from The Lead. Gritty, almost drunk sounding vocals. Fast, aggressive guitar riffs. And the big seller, Blonde Vinyl's imprint on the back. Mike Knott had a way of finding some of the best underground bands for his now-defunct label. Blonde Vinyl was the early Tooth And Nail (when T&N was good). Almost everything that came out on that label was good. Fluffy's first album was no exception.
The songs are just weird in places. The spoken word on My America. A talking dog on A Mighty Fortress Is Our God. But when the band wants to rock out they have no problems on tracks like Excommunicated and My Proofrock. Toward the end of the album you can hear traces of Breakfast With Amy. The album slows down a little bit toward the end but still has the power and intensity that makes this disc a true classic. Looking back now, the album still has the staying power to compete with most of the punk and garage rock that coming out today minus the recording quality maybe. Seeing now where the band has taken things and progressed to what is now Duraluxe is simply amazing.
This is one album that should be in every punk rock fan's collection. It's a little hard to find but it's worth the look around.
From Amazon (it's a cassette listing but you can sometimes find a CD copy here)
From CMX
Info Via Knott Heads
2 comments:
have you heard the song "Imposter" by the band Outer Circle? if not, try and find it. you'll dig it.
I remember just happening upon this CD at a Christian book store. It was in the demo CDs section but there were no new copies on the shelves. When I brought it to the counter to ask if I can just buy the demo copy, they didn't even have it in their inventory. They sold it to me anyway and I must have had this CD on replay for 6 months straight. Some of the best raw sound I've heard in years, especially from a Christian group. I wish more Christian groups would step out of the box like this. There's too many Christian bands that are just Christian versions of secular bands (which is okay for their own right), but Christian musicians should be trendsetters too, not just scene followers.
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