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CRIME
Piss On Your Turntable (Lady Butcher)
Reviewed by Alan Wright
Crime stuff is hard to come by these days. The now legendary San Francisco rock 'n' roll band (they refused to be labeled "punk," even though they essentially worked the punk sound) only released four rare-as-fuck singles, and a couple of posthumous albums: one of '79 rehearsal sessions called San Francisco's Doomed, on Solar Records (later released on CD with improved sound by Overground) and a rather lo-fi live album called Terminal Boredom, which was re-released legitimately with some more tracks on Planet Pimp as Hate Us Or Love Us, We Don't Give A Fuck. A few years ago, Revenant announced they were putting together a double CD of all the known Crime material, but it has yet to materialize. Until then, I guess we have to do with bootlegs such as this one.
Simply put, this is the now out-of-print San Francisco's Doomed release from 1990, with their four singles tacked on. It makes for good listening, even though I already had San Francisco's Doomed, and their first single, but since I was missing the remaining singles, I figured I'd pick this up. Well, the singles used for transfer are a little scratchy, but it's still nice to have all this on one CD. Plus, the CD includes a cool booklet that's a reprint of some Crime fanzine thing the band put out circa '77 with lyrics and band info, plus the backtray features repros of all their singles and the San Francisco's Doomed LP. That stuff sounds as good as the CD release I have it, although I'm hanging on to that since it has an excellent essay on the band by Michael Lucas of Phantom Surfers fame.
Anyway, this leads off with their 1976 "Hot Wire My Heart" single, a song later covered by Sonic Youth, along with its B-side "Baby, You're So Repulsive," covered later by the Drags. Next up is the "Frustration"/"Murder By Guitar" single from 1977, a killer two-sider if there ever was one. Then, it's the entire San Francisco's Doomed release (likely taken from the CD since I hear no surface noise), which is so incredible words almost don't do it justice. Hear as the band runs through two sets, each one an almost continuous barrage of clanging guitars, and punked out energy. Then there's their third 45 from 1978, featuring three songs with better production and a bit of a different sound for the band. Lastly, their forth single, the much maligned "Gangster Funk"/"Lost Souls," which I'd never heard before. Certainly they were heading in a new direction, but I still think this is pretty cool stuff. What direction they would have continued in is anyone's guess, as they broke up not long after, never achieving an album in their lifetime. Until Revenant comes out with the promised anthology, this is probably your best bet.
[Pick this up at www.diskunion.co.jp.]
© 2003 - Alan Wright