Well, this one is a bit of an oddity. One side features the band Guinea Worm, while the other is a compilation that supposedly originally came with a magazine. Mine didn't, but then I bought it cheaply on the basis that there was a Steve Albini interview on it.
This is precisely the sort of album that I own that just doesn't get played. You pull it out of the shelf, and spend a minute trying to figure out whon it's by and why you bought it in the first place, and then put in back, looking for a more obviously pleasurable listening experience.
But that's what this blog is really about. Picking albums out at random, and giving them a good listen, no matter how much your heart sinks when you first cast eyes upon it.
So, Guinea Worm side - At a guess, I'd assume that these are the guys that put out the S&M fanzine, and that this is something of a vanity project. It comes across as good noisy stuff that I'd prefer to listen to in a club with a pint of beer in my hand. A cathartic blast of volume where it doesn't matter too much when the songwriting isn't too spectacular. At home, it's on mid-morning, and completely out of place with my mood, so I notch it up as one to spin when I'm in fiesty mood and want to listen to a bit of a racket.
S&M side - I doubt if this album features on any of the following bands discographies, but it includes Jon Spencer, Green Day, Girls Against Boys, Steve Albini, Steve Ignorant, Huggy Bear, and The Darling Buds amongst others - mainly in live mode & recorded in the early 90's. At this point, Green Day were still playing pubs (I saw them in a pub next to Euston Station around this time). A closer look reveals that all the live tracks and interview snippets were recorded in Wales, and you soon get the overall impression that this is a aural document of a boozy night out in Newport. Lots of noisy tunes, banter, and a snatch of 'Happy Birthday.' Steve Albini's part is simply explaing how Shellac is pronounced differently in North America and the UK. Perhaps the magazine explained a bit more about what was going on. By the end, we have Huggy Bear bravely standing up to a drunken heckler who won't let them get on with it, and you think - 'glad I'm at home'.
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