I've Got My Own Communication

Starvation Army started out sorta thrash and ended up sorta metal, but the singles/EP's that make up the middle portion of their ouput represent some of the most underrated p-rock being lobbed out of Cleveland during the '80s. Certainly none of the Maximums and the Flipsides paid SA any attention, which is easy to forget since the post-Yohannan MRR will cover just about anything nowadays. "Deep Sea Diver" is probably my second-favorite Starvation Army song (after "City as a Ghost", off 1986's "New Way to Burn" EP), and it follows none of the obvious punk rock formulas of the day, except for Radio Birdman maybe. "Payback" is maybe not as unconventional, but the needle was already down on the vinyl so I just decided to keep going, if only for the frantic/somewhat-annoying "PAYBACK IS A MOTHERFUCKER PAYBACK IS A MOTHERFUCKER" sing-along chorus.




Starvation Army -

"Deep Sea Diver"

"Payback"

I'm Getting Good At Letting People Down

This single came with the second issue of Seven 'zine, right around when Starvation Army were beginning to de-evolve from a pretty good Clevo/Radio Birdman-styled p-rock outfit into hard rock/metal. Even still, "Nasty Bit of Work" moves a ton of ass, helped along by an awesome glam riff and some quality work from Fraser Sims-- a completely underrated vocalist who always managed to not sound like anyone else. The sleeve to the record was actually a 7-1/2" x 8" pocket folder with an 8-page Starvation Army interview stitched into the middle of it, while the zine itself was a combination of several booklets-- including a short story written by Sims-- and postcards, with the whole thing being thrown into a polybag. I'm including a full scan of the interview (even though I know nobody reads those things), so dig it.


Starvation Army -

"Nasty Bit of Work"

You're The Kids That Don't Understand

Despite the low-key packaging (plain black center-hole sleeve with no other info or inserts), Starvation Army's self-released "Ticket to Oblivion" 12-inch is a pretty good dose of solid late-'80s Cleveland rock, even if some of the quirky touches that made their two earlier 7"-ers on St. Valentine so great are missing. The few attempts at curveballs here end up wide of the mark-- the jazzy "Wildly Mispent", for instance-- but the rest is straight-ahead punk rock. Plus, one of Starvation Army's strong points was always Fraser Sims' vocal style, and here it's as hard to pin down as ever; try figuring out who he's trying to sound like, or if there's anyone else who sounds like him, and you'll just be left scratching your head. One of my favorite overlooked bands from the '80s, if you haven't already noticed.




Starvation Army -

(these files are now listen-only)

"I'm a Saint"

"Tarantula"

"Gunfighter"

"Disconnected Boy"

If You See My Eyes Start To Close Please Pry Them Open For Me

They eventually faded out, lost their singer, and went sorta metal, but for a while back in the mid-80's, Starvation Army were punk as fuck. They actually started out as a hardcore band (see Erich's Good Bad Music blog for that, or here), but then slowed things down a bit and recorded a couple of rock-solid 7"-ers and a 12" before things went haywire again. Whatever the case, "City As A Ghost" (off "New Way To Burn") and "Deep Sea Diver" (off "In The Red") are two of my favorite CLE punk tracks ever-- just some really tough, Radio Birdman-style punk rock.

I actually interviewed Fraser Sims once; it could've been '88, but I think it was '87. I remember the accelerator cable on the old VW I was driving then (as opposed to the old VW I'm driving now) fell off right as I was leaving to go to the show, and I ended up having to fix it by hand and speed the whole way just to get the Anthrax on time. The interview never saw the light of day, unfortunately, but I remember Fraser being annoyed by the town we were in ("What's the problem with this place, anyway?") because there were no stores or gas stations near the club that were open late, making it impossible to find a pack of cigarettes after about 9 o'clock-- which was true. It might seem weird now, when pretty much everything's open 24 hours, but if you were in need of a pack back then, best you'd be getting that shit done early.





Starvation Army -

"City As A Ghost"

"Drinkin' Dog"

(these files are now listen-only)

Cut Loose With The Watts, Pussy

"Hotel Cleveland" along with the "Deanna" 45 made up the first batch of Prisonshake that I ever got my hands on, and those songs are seriously some of the best beef-fed Mid-American rock ever recorded. Since I was such an annoying customer, Walt at Brass City would let me place orders for the record store every so often, and the first order I ever phoned in was to Scat in '89 for every version of Prisonshake vinyl that I could get; some for the store, but mostly for me. I think Walt still has one thing left from that order--a copy of "Deanna" with the poker chips-- if you're planning to stop by there anytime soon.

Sure, the Prisonshake stuff here is awesome, but the rest is pretty damn good also. One of the best compilations ever sez me. Oh yeah, and a sharp-lookin' ad, too.

And now that you're gone
There's a smile on my face, baby
Ten feet long
No one's saying goodbye
And there sure ain't nobody saying thank you

-- Prisonshake, "Sweat Like Candy"

Prisonshake -

"Elijah"

"Pack o' Smokes"/"My Crooked Bed"

"Sweat Like Candy"

Ghost Sonata -

"Pray No Answer"

Crash -

"Standing 'Round The Kitchen"

Starvation Army -

"Heroes Never Dream (of this)"

(all of these files are now listen-only)