I’ll admit, I am not one for tribute albums and never really have been. There are a couple of exceptions out there (Bad Religion’s tribute from SPIN Magazine is one of them), but overall I just turn my head away usually when I hear the term “tribute album”.
Today was one of those days I changed my mind about a certain tribute. Earlier today, I heard about a tribute album and rather than ignore it, I got excited. I got really excited.
American Laundromat Records announced today that they would be releasing a tribute for the soundtrack to the 1980s cult classic Repo Man. Having a tribute featuring modern day bands cover classic late 70s / early 80s punk rock tracks from one of my favorite soundtracks to date has the potential to be seriously awesome.
Maybe it is because I adore the movie so much that I like this idea, or perhaps the fact that Those Darlins are covering the title track for Repo Man originally performed by Iggy Pop. Come to think, it could even be because Polar Bear Club is covering Black Flag’s “TV Party”.
Regardless, this is one of those “exceptions” I spoke of earlier in regards to tribute albums, and I have already put in my pre-order for the CD that drops September 18th.
Why did I pre-order so early? Check this out (taken from ALR’s website):
All pre-order customers receive a 6-panel CD eco-wallet featuring original artwork by revered rock poster designer Lonny Unitus (Melvins, Decemberists, Willie Nelson), bonus promo pin, album preview prior to release date and, while supplies last, an official Little Trees’ royal pine tree-shaped air freshener which were featured in the film — “you find one in every car… you’ll see” (Miller to Otto).
Did I mention the CD pre-order bundle is only $10? Click HERE to pre-order one for yourself. See the track list below.
While you are at it, click HERE to check out a post I did in 2009 about why I like Repo Man so much.
Track List:
“Repo Man” – Those Darlins
“TV Party” – Polar Bear Club
“Institutionalized” – Amanda Palmer & The Grand Theft Orchestra
“Coup d’Etat” – New York Rivals
“El Clavo y la Cruz” – Black Francis
“Pablo Picasso” – The Tellers
“Let’s Have A War” – Mike Watt
“When The Shit Hits The Fan” – TBA
“Hombre Secreto (Secret Agent Man)” – Matthew Sweet
“Bad Man” – TBA
“Reel Ten” – Weekend
Saturday night I conquered new territory, saw a show, and got to hang out with old friends. It was a very quick and triumphant evening full of laughter, new faces, and 80’s/90’s sitcom references sung in the key of The Electric Grandmother (TEG).
Let me explain because I am sure you are scratching your head right now…
TEG, aka my great friends Pete and his awesome wife Mary Alice (MA), decided to grace the city of Canton, OH with their presence and play a show at a place called Old Glory (more on OG in a moment).
So what kind of music do they play? The answer is Sitcom-core. Take one part 80’s & 90’s sitcom love and add it to freaky beats and a roller-coaster of vocals that are pure raunchy yet hilarious. That is Sitcom-core. I should also add TEG has been doing their thing before Nerd-core was even fathomed – so no haters please, they are pros at this and honestly, it is way more entertaining.
The two person team is musically and visually entertaining with Pete belting out the singing and creating the beats while MA takes care of a slide show like no other that coincides with the music. It is like nothing you have ever seen or heard and you need to have an appreciation for cheesy ass television to even remotely have a clue. It’s fun and meant to be fun and they are also my friends so I guess that makes it even more special to me every time I get to see them.
Photo by Allison Edwards
Aside from them making what TEG is, I have known Pete for half my life now and he along with Mary Alice are two of the most genuine people I know. Sadly I do not get to see them as much as I would like to as they reside in Columbus but we still communicate quite often. Needless to say when they told me they were going to be performing at a venue in Canton I was most than pleased and canceled all zero plans I had that evening to go and see them.
Now I am not familiar with Canton at all but thanks to my trusty GPS I was able to find Old Glory, at least I thought I did. The sign on the building said Old Glory Tattoos and for a quick moment thought I found the wrong place and was about to give the bird to my GPS. You see, I have a bad history of GPS’s taking me through the ghetto of different cities. I have driven through the projects of Baltimore once on account of a GPS thinking it knew the quickest route to a venue so once I learned that Old Glory Tattoos is now Old Glory I just laughed.
Old Glory is basically a DIY house. They are working on getting a liquor license so they can sell beer during shows and turn into a business but until then they open their doors to all who want to attend free of charge. Until that happens the venue is BYOB and smoking is welcomed (not a fan) since technically they are not a business. The owners of the place were super awesome and I wish I was able to remember their names but to make a long story short the place was a tattoo shop in a not-so-good part of town so he decided to close the shop up and open up something fun – a place where bands could play music.
Photo By Allison Edwards
There was no cover for the show as mentioned before but donations to the venue and the bands was accepted. Supposedly there were to be 5 bands all together that were to play that night but only 3 showed up and stayed. I guess one band showed up called Hollywood Lies (no link necessary, I am not going to promote them) and said they would be back but never came back. Apparently they played the Warped Tour and they were too good for OG. Kinda of a douche move if you ask me… It’s ok though because I did not want to see them play if they were going to have that type of mentality.
The neat thing about DIY houses is that there are loyal attendees that will always come out and see what is going on. Rather than have TEG play just to a handful of folk the owner of OG kept asking them to hold off and kept making phone calls. By 10:30pm there was a nice collection of music and beer lovers in the house.
TEG took the stage and immediately wowed everyone in the place with “The Day I Pretended To Watch Airwolf”. Those in the crowd who were there to see TEG knew what to expect but for all of the people that just came in unknowingly they were all very accepting of Sitcom-core to their virgin ears.
I admit I get nervous for my friend’s bands sometimes when they get on stage to a new crowd but I don’t ever need to worry about Pete. He is one of the punkest kids I know in life and he could really care less what you think about his music. He is there to have a good time and just do his thing. The folk in OG Saturday night really did get a kick out of TEG as they played though the night with”England-man American”,”New Coke Rap”, and also fan favorites “Car Phone” as well as a song dedicated to The Golden Girls. Throughout the songs MA kept the projections moving along with hilarious pictures that reminded all how corny yet memorable television and culture was in the 80’s and 90’s.
By set’s end the place was having fun and that is exactly with TEG came there to do. Giving away free CDs and making fun of the bands that did not show up to OG that night TEG was all about having a good time. TEG is not a gimmick by any means and what they do is for the love of performance, gratitude, and plain old generosity.
How generous? Well TEG is offering all of his synth heavy albums for free download. Yes, free. The following are a couple links to download his most recent albums. Check them out and honestly if you don’t like them delete them but I can guarantee that at least a couple of the songs will crack you up and who knows, you might just become a fan of The Electric Grandmother. It’s ok, I won’t tell your friends…but you should because it’s ok to like them.
When you feel like there is nothing left to do inside your house and the cold weather prevents you from doing anything outside the internet can be your best friend. Now there is plenty for me to do inside, I just choose not to. Instead I have been watching my favorite 80’s cartoons via YouTube.
I thought I would share some of my favorites with you all:
M.A.S.K. (Mobile Armoured Strike Kommand) is quite possibly my all time favorite cartoon from the 80’s. I do not think I missed an episode when I was a kid. I always dreamed of my first vehicle being a M.A.S.K. vehicle… Funny thing is, I still remember the opening lyrics but forgot how cheesy the music is. Got to love that 80’s music! I really wish they would put this cartoon on DVD already (I have only found bootlegs). I would buy it in a heartbeat for sure.
“In the near future, Doc Terror and his cyborg companion Hacker…” Hahaha, I never noticed that line before during the opening. Maybe there was much more to Centurions then my young mind could handle when I watched this show. It was on at like 6am on channel 61 right before the newly created Home Shopping Network began and I made sure woke up and quietly watched it so not to wake my folks up.
The Gobots… Transformers retarded cousins… This Hanna Barbara cartoon cracked me up with the voices and odd looking robots. Do you think they will make a Gobot movie??? I hope not.
Visionaries… Not a huge fan of the cartoon but I loved the group herculean intro. Makes you feel super manly!
…umm… Not a favorite of mine at all… Love the intro song though! Also love the face that Pole Position was an arcade game and this cartoon was more Speed Racer….
Danger Mouse. The only reason I loved Nickelodeon. Well that and You Can’t Do That On Television, Salute Your Shorts, and the Adventures of Pete & Pete…(some of which were more 90’s shows…)
Ghostbusters. It was ok, but not as entertaining as the next…
This version of Ghostbusters was way more entertaining and tripped out… I could not get enough of this show. It was whacked.
So there is my small list of some 80’s favorites. I know I am missing a few but I can not for the life of me remember some of them. I admit I watched a lot of cartoons when I was younger. I left the obvious ones out like Ducktales, Tale Spin, TMNT and Transformers because I think that pretty much everyone remembers those cartoons. I was trying to point out the obscure.
I’ll admit, I am not one for tribute albums and never really have been. There are a couple of exceptions out there (Bad Religion’s tribute from SPIN Magazine is one of them), but overall I just turn my head away usually when I hear the term “tribute album”.
