Zink Tabletz

Weirdo records of yesteryear. Killed By Death, rarities, and whatever else I like. Compliments, complaints, contributions to [email protected]

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Two years and three months later, I’m back with this awesome little platter from Syracuse, NY’s own Dress Code. There is honestly not a lot of information about this band I can muster up but they are responsible for these four awesome tunes which teeter between power pop, mod punk, and neo-pyschedelic rock. “Alcoholic” is definitely the punkiest of the tunes with  some simple lyrics about the narrators greatest vice and a little tiny bit of snotty vocal. “I Knew” and “Never Let Me Go” could have easily been pulled from some 60′s garage rock bands songbook or passed as such to music purists. “Somethings Really Wrong” would find itself at home on an early Television Personalities record, complete with the same childlike vocal delivery and satirical lyrics. Overall, a thoroughly entertaining listen that I’d recommend for fans of the previously mentioned TV Personalities, The Nerves, and bands that tried to sound like The Beatles but weren’t The Beatles, and therefore better than The Beatles. Boom! Rocking stuff!

Dress Code - Alone in the Crowd - 1981

01 Alcoholic

02 I Knew

03 Never Let Me Go

04 Somethings Really Wrong

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Up next is the only official release by what may qualify as my favorite Syracuse band ever, or at the very least my favorite non-catergorically punk/hardcore band from the area. Bad Cops we're a band that floated around the first half of the 00's and to my knowledge may still even technically exist although deterred from recording and playing live by location, responsibility, and other projects. They played a proficient intertwined style of rock featuring the highly technical bass, guitar, and vocal talent of former Spark Lights the Friction members Jon Peters and Jim Heffernan. These four songs each clocking in at over 7 minutes each are mini operas in a sense, staying interesting and entertaining enough for even a short attention spanned weirdo like myself.

As great as this EP is, it was live where this band truly shined, never taking themselves too seriously (as you can hear at the beginning Me, Rest, Drums) and always having fun while still playing effortlessly. Antics such as being poured sparkling grape juice by Jim between songs and having everyone watching them jingle their keys as further instrumentation during the shaker part of "Me, Rest, Drums" immediately come to mind.

I don't even really know how to describe this musically so I'm not even going to bother aside from saying "for fans of interesting, proficient, and anthemic indie rock." Featuring former and future members of One King Down and Rejouissance as well but don't expect a whole lot of similarity there. 

Bad Cops - S/T - 2003

01. Shitty Beach Party at Verona Beach 02. Me, Rest, Drums (You, Rest, Drums... Thank You) 03. Between Breaths 04. Gore and Tinto 

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Another old Syracuse, NY power pop staple of the dollar bin. Produced by the drummer of The Ohms and released on The Flashcubes "Northside" label that brought us some previously featured gems. This record is admittedly not the most memorable thing you'll ever hear but good enough for the completist none the less. The A-Side is pretty reminiscent of early Blondie (whose even mentioned on the single sleeve), the singer herself being a near dead ringer vocally for Debbie Harry.  The B-Side is a potential attempt at starting a dance craze that just sounds like a girl giving excercise instructions over a Sound Affects era The Jam song. I recently met former Syracuse punk turned actor/comedian/director Bobcat Goldthwait who seemed to hold more enthusiasm for The Most than anyone. Makes me wonder if there was more to this band that time has forgotten. 

The Most - Take A Chance b/w (Do The) Jumpin' Jack

01. Take A Chance

02. (Do The) Jumpin' Jack

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Teenage Alcoholic is a fantastic uptempo, power pop tune about being young, dumb and drinking your problems away like the after school specials on TV. I feel like this particular track is a sleeper easily filed away only to sneak back into your consciousness and kick you in the butt later. Chain Letter is a slower ballad but a fine track in it's own right. Overall, a decent slab similar in style to The Nerves courtesy of some Syracuse weirdos that later included (although not on this 7") Tom Kenny of Spongebob Squarepants fame on vocals. 

The Ohms - Teenage Alcoholic b/w Chain Letter

01 Teenage Alcoholic

02. Chain Letter

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Today we have yet another Syracuse music classic, featuring a local broadcasting legend and produced by disc jockey/local music historian Ron Wray. 

The a-side is courtesy of The Fallen Angels, a garage rock tune by the name of "Bad Woman." This is the true gem of the split, which while well known amongst collectors and psych enthusiasts, remains an obscurity amongst the general populous. Pounding drums, simple riffs, and the ranting of a man scorned that would fit well on any Nuggets style comp (in fact, it is featured on a Pebbles LP).

The b-side is a recording by Ron's fellow disc jockey and morning drive partner Rick Gary (billed without the "K"). The novelty tune, that features Rick speaking during pauses in the music, is mostly a throwaway good for a quick chuckle. This of course only adds to the a-side’s status as a total ripper. Rick Gary, as many may remember from his on-air gig with News Channel 9, remains a popular area fixture to this day.

The Fallen Angels/Ric Gary - Bad Woman B/W Pimples and Braces

01. The Fallen Angels - Bad Woman

02. Ric Gary - Pimples and Braces

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Because it needs to be Halloween already, I present to you Syracuse, NY's own horror television host Baron Daemon with this bloody slab of novelty garage/surf music. The Baron brought local television viewers his own sense of comedic macabre in the early 60's and has been making sporadic appearances ever since. Fortunately, he left us with this little nugget during his original run. Not much needs to be said about this as horror host records were pretty common at the time, and more or less interchangeable stylistically. None the less this is still an enjoyable little piece of Syracuse history.

Baron Daemon - Transylvania Twist B/W Ghost Guitars

1 Transylvania Twist 2 Ghost Guitars

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Here we have an obscure upstate NY album produced by Rochester music legend Armand Schaubroeck, who is better known as one of the owners (along with his brother) of the great House of Guitars. These songs range from intense retellings of human trafficking, cheating significant others, and “jailbait” induced wet dreams. All of which are wonderfully executed via what seems like stream of conscious lyrics made up on the spot. More akin to what I expect a drunk homeless man to be shouting on a street corner somewhere.

The musical arrangements on this record present an effective mixture of punk, soul, 70’s rock, and even at times employ a gospel style choir. Armand himself sounds much like Lou Reed at points and Iggy Pop at others. This is a real deranged curiosity but strangely listenable. Where else are you going to find pop songs about selling babies to young couples? By the way, did I mention this is not for the easily offended.

Armand Schaubroeck Steals - Ratfucker 

01 Ratfucker

02 Gigolo, Gigolo

03 I Love Me, More Than You

04 Buried Alive

05 The Independent Hitter

06 Preteen Mama

07 The Queen Hitter

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As a bonus, here is a great House of Guitars commercial (from the same year this album was released) featuring the man himself and The Ramones.

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Syracuse punky, power pop of yesteryear played by Ramones loving teenagers and also the source of the namesake for this blog. This record is a local killed by death classic eclipsed only by their previous 7" which now consistently brings over a thousand dollars on various internet auction sites. Unlike their 7", the vocals on this LP are completely taken over by guitarist J. Marc Patenaude who notably was going through puberty during the previous recording and was unable to do his duty. The drummers lone fronted song on this LP was accidentally left off during pressing (yet remains on the packaging) and subsequently destroyed by the band who used the master tape and only copy as car streamers on I-81. This record shines through as a few friends who obviously loved playing music together without expecting anything or ever taking themselves too seriously. Unfortunately, this beautiful union was to be short lived, and with the death of their leader in a 1985 car accident, the band disbanded. Think of them as the little brothers of The Flashcubes, yet much more interesting in approach and unpolished. An underrated Syracuse classic! 

The Trend – Batman Live at Budokan

01 Butler Did It

02 Giddy Up and Go

03 Zink Tabletz

04 Don’t Talk to Her She’s Just the Maid

05 Mommy is a Jilt

06 Toy Section

07 Peer Pressure

08 Pop Star

09 Quarantine Teen

Download Link  - Out of Print (Only available via Italian import)

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According to most accounts, Dolly Mixture started very humbly as the girlfriends (and one future wife) of the early UK punk band The Damned who simply figured if the boys could do it they could too. Unlike many bands of the era that existed out of this sensibility rather than actual proficiency, these ladies quickly picked up their respective instruments and were pumping out delightful pop nuggets not only much more prolifically but of higher quality than many of their peers. These songs owe a great deal to the earlier “girl groups” of the 60’s with topics ranging from love, break ups, and even a tongue-in-cheek barb towards another girl who’s a so-called “hit with the boys.” This record is a self-released collection of various demos and studio sessions that while recorded at different times and of differing quality flow coherently as a stand-alone record. Completely underappreciated, innocent, and catchy as hell tunes you’ll have stuck in your head for days. 

  Dolly Mixture – Demonstration Tapes 2xLP

01 Dream Come True

02 Ernie Ball

03 He’s So Frisky

04 The Didn’t Song

05 Will He kiss Me Tonight?

06 Miss Candy Twist

07 Shonay Shonay

08 How Come You’re Such a Hit With The Boys?

09 Side Street Walker

10 Treasure Hunt

11 Never Let it Go

12 Angel Treads

13 Welcome to the Perfect Day

14 Step Close Now

15 Stareaway

16 In Your Eyes

17 Understanding

18 Never Mind Sundays

19 Spend Your Wishes

20 Day By Day

21 Wave Away

22 Sorry to Leave You

23 Winter Seems Fine

24 Grass is Greener

25 Round the Corner

26 Remember This

27 Whistling in the Dark

Download Link - Out of Print

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Tip of the day: Never trust a punk who doesn't like The Ramones. Here we have a live set from the original lineup, three years into their existence and days after the release of their third full length "Rocket to Russia". In other words, this set documents an absolutely essential period of the band and of course, true to live Ramones form, all of these songs are performed at breakneck speed. It also sounds fantastic for the era (radio quality) and features a rare performance of "I Can't Give You Anything". Local ties aside, this boot is definitely worth a listen for any Ramones fan or even anyone that would like to hear what is probably the only time the words "It's great to be here in Utica" have ever been uttered. 

P.S. Johnny's guitar sounds incredible during the second half of the show. Raw and much more distorted than usual!

The Ramones - Live in Utica: 11-14-1977

01 Rockaway Beach

02 Teenage Lobotomy

03 Blitzkrieg Bop

04 I Remember You

05 Glad to See You Go

06 You're Gonna Kill That Girl

07 Gimme Gimme Shock Treatment

08 53rd and 3rd

09 Sheena is a Punk Rocker

10 I Can't Give You Anything

11 Let's Dance

12 Here Today, Gone Tomorrow

13 Surfin' Bird

14 Cretin Hop

15 Listen to My Heart

16 California Sun

17 I Don't Wanna Walk Around With You

18 Pinhead

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For the record...

I promise that not everything I post will be Syracuse/Upstate NY related.

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Categorize this post in the bands that never got the recognition/appreciation they deserved category. Urchins of the Night was the short lived project of the Brooklyn based members of Syracuse hardcore/punk band We the People (aka the singer of Black SS other project). Despite their base location the pedigree of this band is sure to make any Syracuse punk music dork sweat. Featuring former and current members of bands such as Spark Lights the Friction, Bad Cops, The Nojons, and the aforementioned We The People. You can classify Urchins as a much more melodic and anthemic nod to their former band with odes to everyone from Thin Lizzy to Husker Du. As far as I'm concerned this is worth downloading for "On the Road" alone (which unfortunately was too big a file to upload), but trust me when I say this whole thing is a rocker! Urchins of the Night - Reentry - 2009 01 Treat Your Sickness

02 The Vein

03 Reentry

04 Urchins

05 Teenagers

06 Put It Down

07 Nothing Ever Happens

08 The Indebted

09 On the Road 

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Here we have an early performance by the Talking Heads live from the basement of Kimmel Hall on the Syracuse University campus. This was the second of two performances by The Heads whose first single was released just a mere month before. It would be yet another eight months before their debut long player "77" would be released. The audio of this show was ripped straight from a pre-broadcast radio tape and is absolutely excellent quality for the time. A true piece of Syracuse music and Talking Heads history.  Talking Heads - Live at The Jabberwocky (Syracuse University)- January 26th, 1977

01 Radio Intro 

02 Love > Building On Fire

03 Uh Oh, Love Comes to Town

04 Don't Worry About the Government

05 Take Me to the River

06 The Book I Read

07 New Feeling

08 A Clean Break

09 Stay Hungry

10 Thank You For Sending Me An Angel

11 Pulled Up

12 No Compassion

13 Psycho Killer

14 I'm Not In Love

15 Love is All Around

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Straight from the small college city of Cortland, NY, located about 40 minutes south of this blog's home base came this rockin' little nugget from Wreck'n Crew (not to be confused with later acts of the same name.). Not a lot of information available on this band aside from the fact the guitarist (Oil Slick) later moved to Chicago and helped form the much more renowned Effigies. Two charged up 77 style punk songs in the vein of New York Dolls and The Dead Boys.

Wreck'n Crew -  Give Em A Fight 7" - 1979/1980

A: Give Em A Fight

B: Radioactive Love   

Download Link - Out of Print