More Autobiographical Nonsense
posted by Villain at 3:15 PM
Screeching Weasel - The Science Of Myth
The Queers - We'd Have A Riot Doing Heroin (early, early queers)
The Queers - Born To Do The Dishes (from Don't Back Down)
as a follow up to the first installment of autobiographical nonsense, i wanted to break out a couple more from the early days of exploring and defining my own taste. i didn't care that it was considered the dumbing down of punk ethics, i liked that ben weasel thumbed his nose at the idea that punk had to be politicized, that it had to stand against something to be "punk". for the most part, anything punk rock had to say has and had become so cliche by that time that saying it was kind moot. what defined a punk act by that time was more the expression of angst than any real idea. but ben weasel did in fact have the ability to pen some fairly intelligent and "punk" lyrics (his pre-band career being as a journalist for maximumrockandroll), and some of his songs demonstrate a clever reiteration of some of punks more overblown axioms. at times he even managed to say things that i don't think most punk bands could articulate, such as this track Science Of Myth. ultimately, ben weasel just wanted to be the ramones. his hit and miss career as a punk rock act in chicago leading him to lookout records where he would eventually record an album as The Riverdales, and earn a slot touring in support of green day.
ben weasel wasn't stupid though. he knew his shit. for whatever reason, he convinced lookout records to sign new hampshire punk act The Queers, who shared weasle's love for simpler rock and roll - the queers tended to included an old surf rock cover or two on their records. weasel was the de-facto band dad, and his name would come up repeatedly in the juvenile antagonism of the queers' lyrics. to borrow from the AMG band bio ... "in 1993 Lookout released the Ben Weasel-produced Love Songs for the Retarded. Love Songs... was followed by a yearly salvo of bubblegum-punk, from 1994's Beat Off to 1996's magnum opus, Don't Back Down, the best late-'70s-era Ramones album the Ramones never recorded."
The Queers - We'd Have A Riot Doing Heroin (early, early queers)
The Queers - Born To Do The Dishes (from Don't Back Down)
as a follow up to the first installment of autobiographical nonsense, i wanted to break out a couple more from the early days of exploring and defining my own taste. i didn't care that it was considered the dumbing down of punk ethics, i liked that ben weasel thumbed his nose at the idea that punk had to be politicized, that it had to stand against something to be "punk". for the most part, anything punk rock had to say has and had become so cliche by that time that saying it was kind moot. what defined a punk act by that time was more the expression of angst than any real idea. but ben weasel did in fact have the ability to pen some fairly intelligent and "punk" lyrics (his pre-band career being as a journalist for maximumrockandroll), and some of his songs demonstrate a clever reiteration of some of punks more overblown axioms. at times he even managed to say things that i don't think most punk bands could articulate, such as this track Science Of Myth. ultimately, ben weasel just wanted to be the ramones. his hit and miss career as a punk rock act in chicago leading him to lookout records where he would eventually record an album as The Riverdales, and earn a slot touring in support of green day.
ben weasel wasn't stupid though. he knew his shit. for whatever reason, he convinced lookout records to sign new hampshire punk act The Queers, who shared weasle's love for simpler rock and roll - the queers tended to included an old surf rock cover or two on their records. weasel was the de-facto band dad, and his name would come up repeatedly in the juvenile antagonism of the queers' lyrics. to borrow from the AMG band bio ... "in 1993 Lookout released the Ben Weasel-produced Love Songs for the Retarded. Love Songs... was followed by a yearly salvo of bubblegum-punk, from 1994's Beat Off to 1996's magnum opus, Don't Back Down, the best late-'70s-era Ramones album the Ramones never recorded."
