Last weekend I headed down to Maryland and DC for some Ballad Of Buttery Cake Ass readings. First stop was at Bird City Records in La Plata, MD, a shop I can heartily recommend. All-women-owned, and Erica and Shannon were very cool to me. I walked in and immediately saw Van Halen’s 1984 out in front on the racks, and during my talk spied The Lemonheads’ It’s A Shame About Ray and Fugazi’s Repeater on the walls as I spoke about each of these albums. Nice coincidences.
The next day I was in Baltimore at my first ever literary salon, which was a blast. Lots of people told me it was hilarious, some even bought the books, which was awesome. Before I got there I went to Normal’s, which I had been to a few times decades ago. Room upon room of records and books, great selections too. Then on to Red Emma’s, a worker’s vegan café/bookstore that I had heard glowing reviews of, even up in Connecticut. My gluten-free vegan egg & cheese bagel was so good I bought another, and their selection of books, particularly music books, was pretty stellar. Then onto Atomic Books, a fantastic book/comic shop that were actually the first to take a chance on my Nick Cave’s Bar, and finally meeting Rachel, the owner, she told me it sold well. It’s still selling on the back of The Ballad Of Buttery Cake Ass, which makes me happy.
For the drive down there, which Maps told me would take five and a half hours but ended up taking 8 hr 20 min, I had been so impressed with Ian Winwood’s Bodies (see my review in The Counterforce No. 7), that I bought the audiobook of his Smash! Green Day, The Offspring, Bad Religion, NOFX, and the ‘90s Punk Explosion. Now, I don’t listen to any of those bands. I saw Green Day and NOFX back in 1994 and enjoyed both shows. I remember in 1993 my friend Glenn making me ‘Aug’s Magickal MixTape’ with lots of pre-Dookie Green Day on it. Maybe it’s because of this I always think ‘At The Library’ is my favourite Green Day song. I’ve never heard a full record past Dookie. But Ian’s writing is so compelling, making the story very interesting to me. And I was excited to hear all the stuff about Rancid. Who I absolutely LOVE. I bought Let’s Go in 1994, right before I went away to college. That summer, with its newfound sense of freedom and all the wonderful music we were discovering at that time. And ‘Radio’ – co-written with Green Day’s Billie Joe Armstrong, no relation to Tim – is one of my favourite songs of all-time. I consider it what I always refer to as “an important song”, by which I mean it’s a song about how important music is. There’s surprisingly very few of these. In fact, the only other one I always think of is The Smiths’ ‘Rubber Ring’, with its “you’re older now and you’re a clever swine, but they were the only ones who ever stood by you” line. Please message me yours.
I pulled into Bird City Records at 6 PM having just finished the section in the book on Operation Ivy. And along with all those other albums in my talk appearing before me, I soon noticed the Op Ivy 12” right at the counter. Very cool. Taking me back to the Boston clubs in the late 90s where ‘Sound System’ would always get the dancefloor going.
In Smash!, Winwood points out what a strong album ...And Out Come The Wolves is. The incredible energy of ‘Roots Radicals’ and the heartache of ‘Old Friend’ have been perennial favourites since this record was released, but it had been a long time since I’d listened to it in its entirety. Throwing it on for Tuesday’s long drive, and it is killer. I’ve always thought that ‘Ruby Soho’ is perhaps too good, that chorus is just so strong. And ‘Olympia, WA’’s too, infectious.
A few years ago I realized I had lost track of Rancid and went back and listened to all the albums I’d missed, as well as Armstrong’s Tim Timebomb stuff. There’s some gems in there. Whenever I need a reminder to keep going strong, and at plenty of other times too, ‘Honor Is All We Know’ makes its way onto my stereo.
Also keeping me company on the 1000 or so miles I covered was Conan Neutron’s Protonic Reversal podcast. Now this is great stuff. And a real time commitment, with episodes regularly lasting over two hours, and in the case of Guy Picciotto, three. I had discovered the show when I found Conan’s conversation with Katie Jane Garside, who I find a fascinating figure. And was pleased to discover Conan had also interviewed Phill Calvert, the only member of The Birthday Party I don’t know much about. In my Saved Podcasts folder, there are also talks with Tony Visconti and Hüsker Dü’s Greg Norton. Perhaps it was being in DC and thinking about how my early experiences of buying Repeater and then seeing Fugazi on the In On The Kill Taker tour at UCONN greatly inspired sections of The Ballad Of Buttery Cake Ass, I realized I had not finished the episodes with Ian MacKaye and Guy Picciotto. Rectifying that right away. Both are excellent conversations, Guy particularly going into detail about individual Fugazi songs. It was interesting, both musicians spoke of never really having had a plan, instead just living their lives. And each advocated accepting your situation completely, because then you can do something about it instead of agonizing over it. This way of thinking has worked out very well for them.
Conan points out that Guy on the basketball hoop is iconic. And watching it, that energy still amazes me. A post from the show’s organizer here. ‘Glue Man’ I’ve always considered my favourite Fugazi song, again the energy there, but thinking this over on the long drive home, I remembered how much I love ‘Margin Walker’ too. I love how frantic and scattered it is, but also how that all comes together into a cohesive whole. I’ve never owned 13 Songs, instead having the two EPs, but listening to it streaming, it’s wonderful how those two songs are back to back.
Conan Neutron also makes music himself. I really dig his latest, ‘Crybullies’, that came out in February. It very much ROCKS.
In other news, I was thrilled to come home to the news that The Ballad Of Buttery Cake Ass made the list of Vulture’s Best Comedy Books of 2023 (So Far). More about funny books next edition. If you’ve read The Ballad Of Buttery Cake Ass and would be up for leaving a review somewhere, I’d very much appreciate that.
SEVEN SONGS
Daisy Chainsaw - ‘Love Your Money’. Speaking of Katie Jane Garside, I remember seeing the video for this when it came out in 1992 and rushing out to get the EP. Such a great song. I can’t think of anything else really like it
Misfits - ‘Astro Zombies’. My favourite Misfits song. This was on the stereo a lot this trip.
Blast Off Country Style - ‘Cutie Pie’. Heard this on college radio back in 1994 and fell in love with it. An earworm for sure.
Pavement - ‘Summer Babe (Winter Version)’. Stopped off at Brewing Good Coffee Co. in Laurel, MD to get a nice gf vegan breakfast on Sunday and the music selection was really good. Reminding me how much I love this song.
Chainsaw Kittens - ‘Connie, I’ve Found The Door’. I caught the world premiere video of this on 120 Minutes back in 1992, last song of the night, and one to get you wide awake and full of excitement at 2 AM. Immediately making a note to buy Flipped Out In Singapore. Bought it, Daisy Chainsaw, and Manic Street Preachers’ Generation Terrorists all on the same day. Have loved the Kittens ever since and it’s been really cool being in touch with Tyson over social media.
Bad Brains - ‘I Against I’. I went to Joint Custody Records in DC and had a great conversation with the guys behind the counter, as always. Walked out with this stuck in my head for the rest of the afternoon. I’m on the next episode of Rob Elba’s That Record Got Me High podcast (airing tomorrow) talking about Van Halen’s 1984 and Rob points out that the doubled guitar and drum runs in ‘Girl Gone Bad’ are very Bad Brains.
Queenadreena - ‘Pretty Like Drugs’. More Katie Jane Garside. This ROCKS