Clinic - I.P.C. Subeditors Dictate Our Youth + 2 EP (Aladdin's Cave of Golf, 1997)

Some friends from up north came to town last night and insisted on taking me out drinking. Copious amounts of alcohol were consumed and the residual damage is an unerring, throbbing pulse that’s jarring my brain loose—oh, and the downy-soft pelt currently blanketing my tongue is new, too. Li’l ol’ teetotalin’ me was duly reminded as to why I don’t really indulge anymore. Awww.

So this means that you’ll be treated to an abbreviated version of this week’s entry. Topics that would’ve received commentary include (but weren’t limited to) the following:

• The preponderance of stellar 45s issued in the early 90s and the torrential streams of dross rounding out the decade.
• The self-reflexivity and dumb-ing down of once promising bands; to the point of caricature and self-parody.
• Alienating the remnants of my readership with such a decidedly indie (re: pussified) disc.
• John Peel’s championing of said record and its consequent critical acclaim.
• Proto nods aplenty: Monks, VU, Modern Lovers, etc.
• Clenched teefs.
• Ample nervous energy and frisson.
• Thom Yorke and how much he sucks.
• Disposable instrumental track. Typical limey wigger shit that should appeal to fans of Portishead. and Thom Yorke.
• Pressing info: 500 copies.
• A paltry offer to upload their two other, self-released EPs as an act of contrition.
  
  

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Songs:

I.P.C. Subeditors Dictate Our Youth
DP / Porno

Whew! It's weirdly comforting to get back to this after not really thinking about it for the past month.

Isn't it wunnerful how life has a knack for hurling a barrage of sundry complications at precisely the same moment? Let's hope that that's the end of my extra-curriculars for the time being, as I've got a surplus amount of plans in store for the next few months; specifically, another round of Q&As and inane spew in dense, voluminous lumps.

Thanks again for checking in and special thanks to my pal, RJM, who proved to be less-than-stingy w/ his extra copy of the Siggy Magic EP detailed below.

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Siggy Magic and the Hey-Hoe Band - Commercials for Free EP (Own, 1978)

Can·a·da [kan-uh-duh] –noun: A country whose contributions to the punk vernacular rarely extend beyond tepid pop excursions or the substandard aping of their southerly neighbors.

Now, now, before any Canadian aficionados feel unduly provoked and start spouting lines like “Hasn’t this asshole ever heard of the Neos, Dayglo Abortions, DOA, etc.?” let me lazily post the following disclaimer:

The snare above is only in reference to the real never-weres—those bands or individuals whose records were pressed in the low hundreds and whose aspirations extended no further than their own vanity.

It’s not my intention to undermine or denigrate this record’s musical superiority through qualifiers, but the reality that the UGLY sounds of the Hey-Hoe Band originate from the bucolic expanse of the Great White North is a decisive part of what makes the disc so remarkable. The fact that it’s a signature slab of strangulated roar / fortified grunt and strut, paralleled only by its closest philosophical compatriot—the first Snuky Tate EP—is of equal importance, too! The Commercials for Free EP, its tracks the proverbial lead-pipe cinch for inclusion on KBD #9 or #10, ended up on the last installment of Smash the State instead and was effectively lost to a wider audience. In a better world, this 45’s reputation would linger on the trembling lips of record collecting mama’s boys and forum trolls the world over.

Not surprisingly, both Siggy and his EP were concepts that hatched and expired within the confines of the studio. The single, issued in an edition of 200 copies, features four songs; each tune corresponding to a specific act within a film of the same name. Chronicling the sojourn from yokel to punker, the record’s only dud, The People Who Cheated Me, was intended for the film’s denouement and expressed Siggy’s ultimate disenchantment with his newfound lifestyle.

Poor Siggy.

AA

Songs:

Commercials for Free / Tooth Decay
Passive and Blue / People Who Cheated Me