V/A - Death, Rattle and Roll (2003)

The fabulous "Death Rattle and Roll" compilation on Wondertaker Records out of San Francisco includes tracks by both the Hydromatics and the Nitwitz.

BUY IT

Spades - seattle sessions (2 x 7") 2003

The Spades got a slot at the 2003 SxSW festival in Texas. So we might as well do a few more U.S. shows (Los Angeles, San Francisco, Tacoma) en route to Seattle, where the band was to record with my friend and longtime fellow conspirator in matters of the rock, the esteemed Jack Endino.
Highlights of this mini-tour included one bandmember fearing for his life as he was chased by our 'host' wielding a rusty sickle (it was just like Jack Nicholson in the movie "The Shining") because he didn't want to sleep with her. The next morning we discovered we had spent the night in a total strangers apartment as the sickle assailant didn't even live there. She shrugged and gave us her beat up car, advising us to "drive that motherfucker into the Green River".

Me,Jack Endino, The Spades and Mudhoney's Mark Arm, Seattle 2003

Doodling with Ries 'rocktopus' in Seattle

GET The Spades 'Seattle Sessions'
Promo babble

DISCLAIMER : I DID NOT UPLOAD THIS FILE. I DO HOWEVER, PLAY GUITAR ON THE RECORD. AND PRETTY DAMN WELL EVEN.

V/A - All for one one for all

Who the hell Roger Miret is and why my song appears on a 'benefit' album for him I'll probably never know.

V/A - Welcome to 1984 (1984)

This international compilation was first released on Maximum Rocknroll's label. I'm sure it was re-released 15 years or so on another label and needless to say none of the bands even received copies in true DIY fashion. Anywhooo, The B.G.K. track was recorded in Oktopus studio, which was feared for it's crummy sound™. I used M.D.C.'s bass because "it's a Fender Jazzbass, man!" after mine was stolen on tour in Spain.
Tracks:
01. Terveet Kädet - Outo Maa
02. Olho Seco - Nada
03. Crucifucks - Annual Report
04. Electric Deads - Fish in a Pool
05. Inferno - Perfekter Mensch
06. Kidnap - No SS
07. N.O.T.A. - Propaganda Control
08. Icons of Filth - Evilspeak
09. R.I.P. - Anti Militar
10. Skjit Lars - Kontrol Zentrale
11. Rattus - Reganin Joululanju
12. Raw Power - Fuck Authority
13. The Bristles - Don't give Up
14. Depression - What a Strange World
15. B.G.K. - Computer Control
16. The Stalin - Chicken Farm
17. Frites Modern - Je bent een puist in mijn nek
18. U.B.R. - Harmonija
19. Mayhem - I Defy
20. Red Tide - Incubator Slide
21. Moral Demolition - Police State
22. Huvudtvatt - Where is
23. Upright Citizens - Stand up

GET IT

DISCLAIMER : I DID NOT UPLOAD THIS FILE. I DO HOWEVER, PLAY ON THE RECORD, AND WROTE ONE OF THE SONGS ON IT.

Nitwitz - Nuke rock city video

Violent imagery and manly rock poses in this video I made for a power ballad by the Nitwitz called "Nuke Rock City".
The song parodies the "Groningen Rock City" and "Eindhoven Rock City" mini hype in the Netherlands.
The Nitwitz - Nuke Rock City

Hydromatics (related) video

He's a poet and you know it. De Duizenddichter explains the bandname Hydromatics (in Clogspeak) :


Unbeknownst to the band, someone made/put a Hydromatics, um, "video" on youtube for the song "RIP RocknRoll". It was written by Scott Morgan, (administered by Bug music) and first released on the second Hydromatics album "Powerglide", (CD : Freakshow Records, vinyl : Cargo Germany), and re-appeared on a freebie CD with Ox-fanzine out of Germany.
Those of you who have spent the past 40 yrs or so under a rock may read up on Scott's achievements here.



Scott Morgan and yours truly are interviewed for the radio in Paris, France 2007.

B.G.K. - freeze me video

Video fragment of B.G.K. performing "freeze me" in Oktopus, Amsterdam ca. 1982. Maybe 1983, I can't remember. The same clip may be downloaded in WMV format here.



What Oktopus (the venue) looked like :


From this era, only very little has been documented. There were no cameraphones yet, and no one (that I knew, anyways) owned video equipment. But, the club filmed 3 songs of every band that played there. I believe most of the archives, sadly went missing as soon as it became evident the venue was closing it's doors for good, but thanks to (former part-time the Ex drummer and full-time carebear) Geurt, whose arduous efforts ensured that the little material that does still exist was compiled and released even, there is the DVD "Als je haar maar goed zat". And in true spirit of that particular time, it is a DIY, non-profit benefit project, the proceeds of which (all 120 bucks) go towards the Amsterdam kiddie cancer research hospital. Sorry to sound blunt. Further information can be found here but you'd prolly have to read Clogspeak to understand it.

Minor personal gripe : Way too much emphasis is placed on the so-called "Ultra movement", the word "movement" being a ROYAL overstatement. The closest being a bowel movement. It was a small cluster of groups, perhaps best described as the Amsterdam equivalent of that whole "No Wave/No New York" thing ca. 1979 i.e. new-wavish "experiments" by assorted art school students who definitely looked down upon us in a "punk is British/over !" kind of way, didn't want to have much to do with us, but called whenever they needed a band to do a benefit show. Why, for THEIR benefit of course. It was a total emperors new clothes deal. They were all about "summoning emotions, maaan", "expanding boundaries", and "seeking the experiment" (a Casio going bleep-bleep was considered 'innovative') and called us "reactionaries" for sticking to the "narrowminded" but time-proven verse-chorus-verse-chorus-break-chorus format, which some actually claimed was "too confining" for their artistic expressions. So I guess they didn't like Chuck Berry or the Ramones. Well, fuck that noise, Jack. I didn't like any of those pompous, no-talent "Ultra" bands back then and still don't.
Back to the rock, friends :

There was some VHS footage of B.G.K. "unplugged" at Oktopus, no kidding : At one point we weren't allowed to do our normal set at regular "this one goes to eleven" sound volumes because of noise complaints. They actually insisted Marcel put a tablecloth over his snare drum because it was too loud, even without amplification ! As firm believers in the agadium "the medium is the message" it HAD to be loud. But
in this case, perhaps making the best of a bad situation, we decided to abandon our regular set and play some Flipper songs, some Stooges, PLUS a 20(!) minute "Louie Louie/Wild Thing" etc. with special guest appearance by my friend Guy Pinhas, who would end up the bassplayer of No Pigs, later Goatsnake, Acid King and an assload of other bands) singing/rolling on the floor, re-enacting the Iggy-with-peanutbutter Live at Cincinnatti 1970 incident, much to the dismay of the crowd. They gathered to see B.G.K. in full blast mode, and got pelted with gooey brown substance instead, so that was quite amusing. If I ever find this VHS tape again I will digitize and upload it. But don't hold your breath for that to happen.

Btw, contrary to popular belief, B.G.K. were not a "crust" band. That sub-sub-genre didn't even exist yet ! I personally always held, and stand by the firm belief that B.G.K's politics and antics had WAY more in common with MC5 than say, Crass (who once pulled the plug on us opening for them in 1979 but that's another story !). Proof is this picture from B.G.K. in San Francisco, 1986.

Regrettably, the best (funniest) video footage of the Nitwitz playing Oktopus ca. 1980 or 1981 was lost forever after I lent out a VHS tape to someone who - naturally - never returned it. Hate it when that happens. There was a priceless moment in which a frenzied wild pogo-ing crowd gets the P.A. towers wobbling, and eventually the cameraman is near pancaked by a huge speaker cabinet. The impact sustained by that unbelievable dummy is too funny to be believed. The video image shakes wildly for a few moments, then everything goes black, but audio continues. The band stops playing, there's a bit of panic, calls for an ambulance etc.

That bit of lowlander punk rock history is gone forever, but what can ya do.

Consultants (2009)

People ask : "Slugman, we heard all 'ye olde shite', how about some new shit ? And when is your 7" coming out?". The answer is simple : Why, as soon as I unzip my fly, of course.

Just kidding.

Meet the Consultants ! A new band/project thing with members of (who else) the Nitwitz, the Hydromatics and Dumbell. So it's an international cast of super villains from the the Netherlands, Germany and the USA.
Now, to whet (yes, that's how you spell it) your appetite (for self destruction) and the full length Consultants alb we plan to unleash on your silly asses after the summer, I give you two tracks :
"Leaving You" was written by Paul Smith, (no relation to Patti or Fred btw), and "Spy Satellite" which was penned by myself.
There will be more Consultants material for your enjoyment here on Slug Trails in the future.

GET IT

Consultants MySpace

Nitwitz - Nitwitz rule Spain video

Attention Piggly Wiggly customers,
This is another fine piece of handcraft straight from the desk of Sluggy : an animated video for the tune "The Nitwitz Rule Spain", which as everyone knows, is based on a true story. It was made in Flash, and needless to say I lost the entire source code. Duh.
The Nitwitz - The Nitwitz Rule Spain

V/A - Howl fanzine freebies

Another release I totally (like, totally, d00d) forgot about and probably don't even have a copy of myself. These freebie 45's came with the German shortlived (?) but tasteful HOWL magazine ca. 1987. The LOVESLUG track "Quest for Fire" was an outtake from the "Slug 'Em All" album, and appears here unmixed(!), hence the crappy guitar sound. A mixed version would later find its way to the flip of LOVESLUG's "Coyote Date" single.

I took the liberty of lifting this fuckin file off GARAGELAND blog. It also contains tracks by the Miracle Workers, thin White Rope, Venom P. Stinger, Scab Cadillac, Feedtime, King Snake Roost, Ignition, Denver Mexicans, Vanilla Chainsaws, Low Max, Trashing Groove, Destination Zero and Mudhoney.

PICK IT UP - pass is "radiobirdman" or "offlimits", either one.
Figure it out, chief.

Loveslug / Fluid single (1989)

Loveslug / The Fluid live split single, recorded at the AJZ Bielefeld Germany in 1989. Shows there were always wild ! Loveslug and the Fluid did two European tours as a package in 1989 and 1991, approximately 70 shows altogether.

750 copies exist.

GET IT

Another place to download

DISCLAIMER : I DID NOT UPLOAD THIS FILE. I DO HOWEVER, PLAY ON THE RECORD, AND WROTE ONE OF THE SONGS ON IT.

Hydromatics - The earth is shaking (2007)

Third full length Hydromatics album came out on Suburban Records.
Cover art created by Bart from Peter Pan Speedrock.

As per usual, this release was followed up by a European tour. I think number 6.

PICK IT UP
Be a sport and BUY THE CD
Suburban MySpace
Ken Shimamoto talks about the record

DISCLAIMER : I DID NOT UPLOAD THIS FILE. I DO HOWEVER, PLAY ON THE RECORD, AND WROTE SOME OF THE SONGS ON IT.

REVIEWS

I-94 BAR wrote :

THE EARTH IS SHAKING - The Hydromatics (Suburban)

A brief history of the band, for those who missed the previous “chapters”: In 1996 the Hellacopters’ leader Nick Royale called his Dutch friend Tony Slug in order to record a demo of covers of their favourite group: the Sonic's Rendezvous Band. The plan is set aside for a quite long period of time, due to the engagements of the Hellacopters.

It stalls long enough for the Swedish band to meet Scott Morgan, the legendary singer and guitar player of SRB. So the idea of Morgan joining Slug and Royale in The Hydromatics started to take shape. After adding Theo Brouwer, former bass-player of the Dutch band Nitwits, The Hydromatics' "Parts Unknown" is finished and released in 1999, their explosive debut for White Jazz (the best Swedish independent r'n'r label at that time).

Though Nick had to leave the band to follow his career with The Hellacopters, the Hydromatics decided not to stop and in 2001 they pulled out a new shining album titled "Powerglide".

Now the band released the third musical chapter of its story. It’s called "The Earth Is Shaking" and features another great musician in the line-up: Kent Steedman, theextraordinary guitarist of Australian legends the Celibate Rifles.
The results are fantastic. "The Earth Is Shaking" is the best effort of this international supergroup. It shows 12 powerful and inspirational tunes with Scott’s voice at his best, an incredibly powerful rhythm engine and three guitars that talk to each other in a perfect way. The attack of the first three songs will take your breath. Tte album starts with the vibrating and Detroit-styled "Standing At The Juke", then follows “Baby Jane” – a mixture of soul music and great guitar sound. The third one is a classic from SRB: the eternal "Mystically Yours".
Also, Steedman brings a song from his side-band Yage called "Speechless" (from their third album “Integration”): a fantastic song where keen guitars cross beautiful rhythms.

But it’s not finished yet. There’s a great Rolling Stones cover ("All Down The Lines"), a couple of tunes showing punk energy ("Streets of Amsterdam", "Funball", "Detroit Leaning") and some mid-tempo ones that are perfect for Scott’s voice: "Power & Glory" and the lysergic title-track. These are beautiful songs that are part of a fantastic album.

- Roberto Calabro

---

If we're surprised that they're back from the dead should we be so shocked that it's so damned good?

The Hydromatics called it a day a few years ago, worn down by one tour too many (the irony being that that last tour nearly didn't happen.) Personal circumstances outside the band conspired to call time for all involved. This being rock and roll (and y'all know well that There's No Justice in Rock and Roll), everyone shrugged, pulled up the tent and did something else.

Singer-guitarist Scott Morgan certainly came up smelling of roses, with soul big band project The Solution (with onetime Hydros drummer Nick Royale) scoring Scandinavian chart success. One-tour bassist Laurent Ciron (ex-The Dogs) went back to Paris and recorded a powerpop classic with his trans-Atlantic band The Cinders. Tony Slug went back to being Tony Slug (by all accounts, a full-time occupation) and blasting half of Europe off the map with his regular band The Nitwitz. Drummer Andy Frost went back to Morgan's Powertrane, and then left.

It's funny how fate behaves when left to her own devices and a re-asemblage of the key members (they'd be Morgan and Slug) fell into place in early 2007, after a few curious twists and turns. On board - for the recording at least - were long-serving Hydros bassist Theo Brouwer and Australia's king of the scorched earth lead break, Celibate Rifle Kent Steedman, who also produced. Hard-hitting Dutchman Ries Doms (The Spades) was along on drums.

Seven months later and one of the stated missions of the Hydros - doing studio justice to Sonic's Rendezvous Band tunes that were only ever heard live - has been accomplished. The lesser known Morgan composition from that era, "Mystically Yours", makes it to this 13-tracker, as does the almost universally unheard "Power and Glory". Brutally scorching covers of the Stones' "All Down The Line" and Otis Clay's "Baby Jane" (you may be more familiar with the version by Dr Feelgood) get a run, and nestle alongside an excellent range of band-penned tunes.

While "The Earth Is Shaking" lacks the soulful warmth of the criminally hard-to-find "Powerglide" album and the explosive exuberance and surprise factor of "Parts Unknown", Kent Steedman's production brings out a crystal-hard veneer that tells you the band means business from the get-go. Latch an ear around the driving rush of the opener, "Standin' at the Juke". It's gritty and hard - just like the rain-swept Low Country streets that are the Hydromatics' turf.

(Here's a tip: Don't listen to this on my car stereo system. It just didn't sound that good. Given a decent set of speakers, I'm now appreciative of its sonic attractions.)

You'd probably have to be a fan of the Celibate Rifles to notice the big streak of that band running through this album, from the Steedmanised tone in "Baby Jane" to the chukka-chukka rhythm guitar part on "Streets of Amsterdam", a searing band composition that might be my fave thing here today. "Might be" and "today", because "Power and Glory" probably pips it, a mid-tempo builder with a masterfully emotive Morgan vocal, and I might come up with something else as a fave tomorrow.

I have to admit I wasn't initally sold. It took a few listens to climb in side this album properly. And while I might have liked to have heard a few more Tube Screamer wah-wah solos from Kent, I can't fault the band's democracy or the guitar company he keeps. While Scott Morgan tends to stow his light under a bushel and concentrate on vocalising, the sounds he lays down are first class. But from what I can make out, it's Tony Slug who steps up to the plate on this album and hits a homer with his axe. Steedman hasn't joined the band for its Euro tour, by the way, but a three-way tag team live would have taken some beating.

Here's guitar democracy in action: There's this breakdown in "Detroit Leaning", a solid enough rocker for sure, but it's taken to another level. Darting, weaving guitars, courtesy of our sonic sponsors Slug, Morgan & Stedman Pty Ltd, buzz around, up and down, and generally just do battle over Theo Brouwer's unruly, pulsing bass line, before the whole thing's shut down emphatically. A long gap punctuates its end and the start of the instrumental mini-journey that's "Monumental", where languid acoustic book-ends a somehow soothing album closer.
Ries Doms has a straight-up, go-for-the-jugular style that contrasts with his predecessor Andy Frost, but he rides out a wild bull of a feel on "Funball", a rollicking lament about digital technology that's rendered all the better by its brutal rhythm. Likewise the strutting tattoo on the title tune, where more layered guitars build before the heartbeat outro.

"The Earth Is Shaking" shows The Hydromatics stepping out from the shadow of Sonic's Rendezvous Band and walking the earth on their own two feet. If you're playing catch-up after the first two LPs and live mini-album went out of print, get your act together. Suburban Records or Scott Morgan's online shop are waiting for your order now.

- The Barman

---

LOWCUT WROTE :

Detroit legend Scott Morgan and Tony Slug (of Holland's oldest punkband The Nitwitz) carry on the flame of Sonic's Rendevous Band with "The Earth Is Shaking", Hydromatics' third album. This time they're joined by Kent Steedman, guitarist of Australia's protopunk icons The Celibate Rifles. And it's not surprisingly yet another vital dose of ballsy yet soulful Detroit rawk'n'roll. 12 cuts, no misses, all hits, and a great Stones cover ("All Down The Lines"). GET IT! Scott Morgan's voice is in topnotch shape and he also sings in The Solution with Nick Andersson (who previously was in Hydromatics). Don't know what my buddy Tony Slug is up nowadays besides Hydromatic, Nitwitz split up after the tragic death of Benito Gasolini, will have to check.

http://www.myspace.com/hydromatics

If you dig: Sonic's Rendevous Band, MC5, Stooges
4 stars

---

LORDS OF METAL WROTE :

I didn’t know much about The Hydromatics, but a short search on the Internet tells me that the band started out as a tribute to the Sonic’s Rendezvous Band. That Tony Slug (The Nitwitz, B.G.K., Loveslug) and Nick Royale (The Hellacopters) wanted to do this together. That Nick was too busy with his band and that by coincidence the original singer of the Sonic’s Rendezvous Band, Scott Morgen, teamed up with Tony Slug. That they founded The Hydromatics together. That they did well.

This is the third effort by this band, their live record excluded. To me, it’s sort of a revelation. ‘Standing At The Juke’ immediately sets the tone, the guitars just breathe rock n’ roll but their owners also listened to the blues. Scott Morgan has the perfect voice for this kind of music. He doesn’t scream, he knows how to sing. His voice reminds me of rock from the 70s. Though this is harder, more leaning towards punk, or a band like The Stooges. I’m not surprised that they cover The Stones (‘All Down The Line’). Rock ‘n roll the way it’s supposed to be.

Riots / Texas Motherfuckers split 7"

Dutchmen The Riots were produced by yours truly, Texas Motherfuckers from Sweden take the flip.
BUY THIS RECORD
Tx Mofos Myspace
Tx Mofos website
DOWNLOAD Tx Mofos / Suma split

V/A - A Tribute to Radio Birdman

International comp with a Nitwitz tune.

DOWNLOAD THE WHOLE DAMN THING

The Dynaminds

the Dynaminds are a great band from Bitburg, Germany whose album I produced. They also let me play some leads on it.

• Dynaminds Myspace with tuneage
• Dynaminds on last.fm
• Album review on I-94 bar
• Dynaminds (Krautspeak)
• Dynaminds Review (Krautspeak)
• Another Dynaminds review (Krautspeak)

Don't be a dweeb and check these guys out !
Roll The Revolution

The Felchers

In 1999 I went on a lengthy tour with the Hydromatics (together with Zen Guerrilla and the Hellacopters) to support the release of the Hydromatics "Parts Unknown" album. Dick Ginger and the Gadge from the Nitwitz formed the Felchers to have something to do in the meantime. When the Felchers recorded a full length album they let me drop a few leads here and there and shout "Bomb the Baldwins" in the studio, and the riff-laden Slugrock™ sound is most definitely here as one can tell from these MP3's :

• B-52
• Soul rocket
• Kamikaze Kamasutra
• Just about ready to shine

I'll stand by the review I wrote for HITLIST magazine back in 2001 :

FELCHERS – Taste the Star (advance of CD)
Not to be confused with the Canadians or Australians going by the same moniker, Amsterdam’s FELCHERS are a NITWITZ/FUNERAL ORATION offshoot that castrates the competion with a never ending barrage of fast riffage, mind-numbing profanity, and wailing leads. Tunes like “Kamikaze Kama Sutra ”, “Devil transport” and “B-52” (with it’s irrestibale “Bomb the Baldwins !” chorus) prove the FELCHERS waste no time with politically correct nonsense that neutered 95 % of the P-rock industry. People, listen to the Slugman, this rocks serious ass. (TS)

Felchers homepage
Help some brothers out and BUY THE ALBUM

This fantastic animated Felchers video clip was created by Johan Neefjes whose website is spotwijly, whatever the hell that means.

What the ... ?

Somebody actually wrote an essay(!) on the Nitwitz / B.G.K. and you have to shell out 4,99 British pounds to read it ! Boy, that's ironic.
For what it's worth, here's

• an extensive (and I DO mean extensive) 2004 tour diary that I wrote for VPRO radio (in Clogspeak)
  Note to self : translate that shit someday.
• Marvel at Nitwitz live in Sweden pics 2006
• Nitwitz at the Bukowski, San Sebastian Spain pics 2004
• Somebody made a B.G.K. page
• B.G.K. fan page on Myspace
• another B.G.K. MySpace fanpage
• Hablas Espanol ?
• Australian (?) Loveslug interview thingy 1990
• I coined the phrase Backnang Rock City (Krautspeak)

Nitwitz - Overreactor video

This is an animated video for "Overreactor" by the Nitwitz that I made for personal enjoyment. Embedded from MySpace means loading will probably be less than smooth, but I lost the damn source so it's all I got. The Gadge is on drums, and Mikey Offender (RIP) plays the bass.

The Nitwitz - Overreactor

B.G.K. - 8 track EP

This 8 song 7" EP from the fateful year 1984 is considered by many to be B.G.K.'s prime moment. Check this or this if you don't believe that sucka ! Original copies of this hard sought after collector's item go for megabucks on Ebay. We pressed 1500 copies prior leaving on a spartan, gruelling 3 month(!) U.S. tour. On the second pressing the backprint is negative by mistake. Further pressings were deemed "unneccessairy" by the band at the time. Yet bootlegs of this EP appeared in the U.S.A and in Switzerland later. The anonymous Swiss enterpreneurs were as kind as to slip a copy my way with an unsigned note saying they had done it "to support the scene".

If you want to support the scene how about STARTING YOUR OWN DAMN BAND ? It's what I did.

ROCK ME

DISCLAIMER : I DID NOT UPLOAD THIS FILE. I DID, HOWEVER, WRITE ALL THE SONGS, OWN THE COPYRIGHTS THEREOF AND PLAY ON THEM.

B.G.K. live video 1995

3 songs from a mini-gig ca. 1985 at the aptly named Kippenhok ("Chicken Coop") which was about the size of a shoebox.

This footage has been floating around the web for some time and appears to originate from one of those bootleg compilation VHS tapes ("video fanzine") that anonymous "DIY" enterpreneurs unleashed upon the discerning consumer, usually without bothering to tell the bands about it.

Well, it's my band and my songs and I can do whatever the hell I want so I'm stealing that shit back for these here archives.

V/A - Emma compilation

"Emma" was a squatted large building in the Amsterdam harbor district turned into a bar and "non commercial" venue for punk rock, hardcore, "avant garde" minimal music/doodling, poetry etc. The place was run entirely by volunteers from B.G.K. and satellite bands. (Pictured on the sleeve is doorman Wouter, B.G.K's manager).
In the summer of 1986 it became the veritable Mecca of the European hardcore scene. EVERYBODY played there. From Italy Raw Power, Negazione, Declino, etc. and from the U.S. Toxic Reasons, Scream (with Dave Grohl on drums), etc.

This comp offers rare tracks by B.G.K., Sonic Youth, No Allegiance, Pandemonium, Tu-Do Hospital, Morzelpronk, Nog Watt, Impact, Deadlock, The Ex, Membranes, Kaki's, Zowiso, Vacuum, Sjako!, Zak In As, Sonic Youth, IF, Electric Hannes, The Gentry, Svatsox & Dorpoudste De Jong, Krapuul, Grin, no Pigz, Negazione, Indigesti, Hostages Of Ayatollah, Capital Scum, Combat Not Conform, Murder Inc. III, UBCF.

All recorded between 1995 and 1996.

PICK IT UP

Hydromatics - live

Hydromatics live vinyl 10" quickie containing material that was accidentally recorded on cassette, DAT, and off the board etc. live all over Europa between 1999 and 2005 and was released on the tasteful Shitpark, just kidding, Pitshark label out of France, which means the French can do more than surrender. 500 copies exist. Good luck finding one.
GET ROCKED

DISCLAIMER : I DID NOT UPLOAD THIS FILE. I DID, HOWEVER, MASTER IT, CREATE THE COVER ART, AND PLAY ON THE RECORD.

REVIEWS :
I-94 BAR

LIVE - The Hydromatics (Pitshark)
If you're going to go out, leave a good looking (or sounding) corpse, and this posthumous release by the trans-Atlantic (read: American and European) Dee-troit mini supergroup fulfills that need, in a brutally elegant way.

Unless you're a stranger to these parts, you'll scarcely need an introduction to the personnel involved. That is, with the exception of bassist Laurent Ciron, the ex-Dogs member who replaced Theo Brouwer for the Hydromatics' 2003, and ultimately last, Euro tour. Laurent came into the ranks at the last moment, via an Internet Help Wanted ad placed by yours truly, so there's a personal kick to see this platter finally in print. But onto the music.

It's a vinyl-only, 10-inch release with eight tunes crammed onto a slab of black plastic that struggles to contain the raw energy contained within. The Hydromatics might have been largely a vehicle to bring the songs of Sonic's Rendezvous Band out of the darkness, but the Scott Morgan-penned newies ring with the same vitality. "Earthy" goes head-to-head with "R.I.P. R n R" and it finishes an honorable draw.

If you're going to play high-energy music there's scarcely a better-qualified guitarist on the Continent than Tony Slug to sign up. (Having him babysit your teenage daughter might be another matter). He and Scott Morgan rip into these eight songs like there's no tomorrow (and before you state the obvious, there actually was for a long while, with a handful of recordings stretching back to the band's beginnings in '99). Original sticksman Nicke Royale does the honours behind the traps on "Dangerous" while the balance of the drumming is down to Michigan powerhouse Andy Frost.

The Hydromatics' second studio album, the sadly out-of-print and impossible to find "Powerglide" (blame the fly-by-night label), remains a criminally under-heard release. One of its best cuts, "Tumblin' Down", makes it hear and even without the horns-and-backing-vox embellishments it still leaves a majestic impression.

So, yeah, it's over for the Hydros and more's the pity more people didn't get to see 'em. This mighty platter makes some amends for fate's failing on that count. It's a strictly limited edition, so don't dally, OK? - The Barman

V/A - Here's Fifty Bucks

The ultimate soundtrack to that beating you took as a kid
A full blast ROCK assault released on my own RocketDog label in 2004, after 4 years of toiling and scrounging for spare change between the seams of my beat up couch to finance it. There's not one stinker in the bunch folks. The mindboggling artwork by Vince Ruarus is a feast to behold (wait til you see the inlay), and you get an international cast of first class miscreants who shell out copious amounts of whomp the way you like it :

GLUECIFER (Norway) : God's chosen dealer
PLEASURE FUCKERS (Spain) : Electric fence
GEDS (USA) : Burnt city
NITWITZ (Holland) : Rock pusher
CANDY SNATCHERS (USA) : Run you down
UNION 69 (Sweden / USA) : Mongo magnet
BIG PAULUS (Holland) : Love train
THE SINISTERS (Canada) : Capt. Weirdo
PUFFBALL (Sweden) : Finger on the trigger
BOSS 302 (USA) : Failure
CELLOPHANE SUCKERS (Germany) : Bust riot
STREETWALKIN' CHEETAHS (USA) : Inside
TURPENTINES (Sweden) : She belongs to Jesus
DOWN'N'OUTS (USA) : Can't go on
PLUNGERS (USA/Japan) : Lost city lovers
POWDER MONKEYS (Australia) : I like pills
SPEEDHOLES (USA) : City of the living dead
JEFF DAHL (USA) : I'm in love with the G.T.O.'S (Live)
HELLACOPTERS (Sweden) : Hey (live)

DISCLAIMER : I DID NOT UPLOAD THIS FILE. I DID, HOWEVER, PAY FOR THE MANUFACTURING THE CD RELEASE, INCLUDING ALL MECHANICAL RIGHTS TO THE ARTISTS/RIGHT OWNERS AND THE ARTIST FOR THE COVER ART.

PICK IT UP
Better yet, be a sport and BUY IT HERE you cheapskate bastards. It's just 10 bucks Jesus ! Sluggy needs beer money too, ya know !

Nitwitz - Dark Side of the Spoon

Almost four years of sanity shredding setbacks before we got this bitch out, and whaddyaknow, mere weeks later Ministry releases an album with the same title. Just my luck.

Adding insult to injury, we got stiffed by the label, GET HIP.
PICK IT UP

DISCLAIMER : I DID NOT UPLOAD THIS FILE. I DID, HOWEVER, WRITE THE SONGS, OWN THE COPYRIGHTS THEREOF AND PLAY ON THEM, WHICH MEANS I CAN DO WITH THEM WHAT EVER I WANT.

Nitwitz - mouldy oldies

First Nitwitz EP (1980)
Second Nitwitz EP (1981)
Nitwitz / Gotterfliez live 12" (1981)
All in one tidy, handy package !

Recorded feb. 1981 live at "De Wielingen" squathouse in Amsterdam, a former orphanage/school building, where both bands rehearsed (in the actual mortuary in the basement, which also got flooded regularly).

Living in a broom closet was a homeless schizophrenic human scarecrow named Mark, AKA "Mark from the broomcloset" who I once caught in the kitchen, "frying" a dead, half-plucked pigeon that he had scraped from the sidewalk. Dousing it royally with a bottle of Sherry, he asked if I'd care for "a bite to eat". Declining the offer, this sordid image would still forever be embedded in, and haunt my spaced out brain. In fact it would find it's way into another Nitwitz song, "Drunk Tank Celebrity" a decade and a half later that appeared on DARK SIDE OF THE SPOON, and in a different Jack Endino produced form on NIBBLE THE GIBLET. I swear this shit is true.

Other bands on the bill that fateful night (who however declined the offer to appear on the record for some reasom) were future heartthrobs TROCKENER KECKS and polit-jazzpunkers(?) THE EX.

Cover art for "Wielingen Walgt" by Peter Pontiac, who also created covers for albums by my later bands B.G.K. and Loveslug.

750 copies were pressed of the 7" ers, 1500 copies of the 12" exist. Most of this material has since been bootlegged numerous times as original copies fetch a small fortune on Ebay. No I don't have a box full of these things under the bed. So unless you want to break your little brother's piggy bank, PICK IT UP HERE.

DISCLAIMER : I DID NOT UPLOAD THIS FILE. I DID, HOWEVER, WRITE THE SONGS, OWN THE COPYRIGHTS THEREOF AND PLAY ON THEM, WHICH MEANS I CAN DO WITH THEM WHAT EVER I WANT.

Niels blogspot
Nederpunk archives (in Clogspeak)
Peter Pontiac MySpace
Peter Pontiac blog

Hydromatics - City Slang video

Well I happen to speak Dutch, English, German, Afrikaans, COBOL, Ansi C, jive, a bit of frogspeak, understand a Leetle Spaneesh, and sure as shit am fluent in City Slang, which btw makes me a polyglot.
Now check out what I polyglot for your silly ass.


From the forthcoming Hydromatics DVD which y'all have to buy. No really, you HAFTA.

Hydromatics MySpace
Scott Morgan