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THE PUNKS
The Most Powerful Music On Earth (Motor City Music)
Reviewed by Alan Wright
The Punks were on obscure band from Detroit that existed from 1973-77. Apparently, they were influenced by the music of the Underdogs, Unrelated Segments, Velvet Underground, MC5, The Stooges, SRC, Alice Cooper, and Blue Cheer. To say they sounded a lot like the Stooges would be an understatement. Lead singer "Frantic", a.k.a. William Kuchon sounds a lot like Iggy, and that's a compliment! Two guitarists gave them an incredible hi-energy attack, and the riffs! Even with the less-than-stellar sound quality - this is culled from demo studio sessions and live shows - it's obvious these guys had chops and great songs. Mostly, though, this stuff really rocks and is a total proto-punk experience. As I mentioned, they sound a lot like the Stooges, so much in fact that I bet you could put this one and tell someone it was the great lost Stooges album, and they'd believe you. Great songs like "My Times Comin'," the somewhat Black Sabbath-ish "Chains Of Madness," and the spooky "Drugs Related Incident."
One song is particular had me stunned: "On The Bum," sounds exactly like the Violent Femmes' "To The Kill," in that the chords and arrangement are so similar it's freaky! Did Gordon Gano somehow hear this and borrow the riff? Whatever the case may be, this is downright one of the best things in terms of previously undiscovered bands I've heard in a long, long time! Oddly enough, towards the beginning of 1977, the band changed its name to the End, just as punk started to gain media attention, and tried their luck in New York but couldn't get a record deal and ended up broke and disillusioned in Detroit. They even had Lester Bangs hyping them up, but still no one bit. How any record company could've let these guys slip through their fingers is utterly amazing. Apparently they were even wilder live, and maybe it was simply being in the wrong place at the wrong time. If they'd stuck it out a little longer, who knows, they could've been scooped up like bands such as the Dead Boys and the Ramones, both of whom they have much in common with musically.
[Pick this up at www.motorcityjams.com.]
© 2003 - Alan Wright