Jessie (Ex-Leatherface): S/T (1998)

Before reconvening Leatherface (more HERE), Frankie Stubbs tried one more monosyllabic new band name following the break-up of Pope. Of course, with Stubbs inimitable growl, guitar sound and lyrical bent front and center it still sounds awfully Leatherface-ish albeit a bit prettier, if you're willing to believe that.

A1 Indestructable
A2 Smarm
A3 Gone Fishing
A4 Everwas
A5 Jack Christ...
A6 As Your Mind Closed Mine Was Opening
A7 Rant
B1 World
B2 Dogsong
B3 Room
B4 Paradoxical Thing
B5 Handful Of Earth
B6 Big Freeze
B7 Truly Beautiful




 
So? Whadya think of this Stubbs band? Let us know in the COMMENTS section

Follow @jeffen69 on Twitter

Pope (ex-Leatherface): JohnPaulGeorgeRingo (1997)

Frankie Stubbs, like so many punk singers before him, learned that a band by any other name does not rock so sweetly. Unless you're in Fugazi or Rancid, the records that bear your punk band's original name are gonna get the praise and the sales. So, even though Stubbs' first post-break-up band sounds rather a lot like Leatherface (though perhaps a bit sombre) the album sunk with little notice. However, Leatherface's American label, BYO Records did sneak some of the Pope tracks onto their Leatherface compilation entitled The Last, perhaps proving that in the punkiverse there's a hell of a lot in a name.

1 Plebs
2 Fine
3 Redhouse
4 Laughing Melancholia
5 Promised
6 Kingsane
7 Cracks
8 Alone
9 Something About America


So why do punk bands get stuck with the first name under which they found notoriety? Let us know what you think in the COMMENTS section (which is where you'll find the Pope link).

 Follow @jeffen69 on Twitter

Punk - Past, Present and Future... (1993)

As a quick thanks-you to all my great COMMENTERS, here's a l'il rarity, a compilation put together by Released Emotions, home of The Price (more HERE) in 1993.

As the title implies and label-man Vince spells out in the liner notes shown below, the idea here was to cram 16 years of punk history into 23 songs. It's a revisionist history of course, one that supposes that the English punk sound of '77-'78 never wavered. (How American straight edge satire band Crucial Youth ended up here is anyone's guess!)

 

Anyway it's fun version of history and there's lots of bands who never got what was coming to them here that you can enjoy and hope I'll be able to dig out some of THEIR obscurities some day...









Released Emotions licensed some great '77 vintage stuff here and while they weren't able to get any Clash they did end up with THREE Clash covers, including the Indestructible Beat (featuring Steve Drewett of The Neurotics) take on "Capitol Radio":





1 The Vibrators - No Heart 1:50
2 The Lurkers - Walk Like A Superstar (Talk Like A Zombie) 1:49
3 Chelsea - Come On 2:05
4 Maniacs - Chelsea '77 2:35
5 Sham 69 - Questions And Answers 3:18
6 UK Subs - Motivator 2:26
7 Stiff Little Fingers - Tin Soldiers 5:04
8 The Ruts - Babylon's Burning 2:16
9 Angelic Upstarts - When Will They Learn 2:56
10 Red London - This Is England 4:58
11 Resistance 77 - Chelsea Girl 2:38
12 Oi Polloi - Scum 1:59
13 Attila The Stockbroker - Washington Bullets 3:34
14 The Sect - The Whole World Gets Me Down 4:07
15 Red Letter Day - Last Night 2:44
16 Anhrefn - Rhywle Yn Moscow 2:11
17 Last Rough Cause - Hey Lady 3:53
18 Crucial Youth - Turn The Other Cheek 1:35
19 Exit Condition - Plan 9 Channel 7 4:00
20 The Price - Standing In Your Way 3:19
21 Leatherface - Melody Lee 2:09
22 The Blaggers ITA - Guns Of Brixton 3:21
23 The Indestructible Beat - Capital Radio 3:25





LEAVE US YOUR THOUGHTS ON THIS COMP. IN THE COMMENTS SECTION!

 Follow @jeffen69

Leatherface: Eagle 7" (1992)

Leatherface (more HERE) covered ABBA on this 1992 7"? Perhaps a long, detailed, obsessive post on the subject of the band's strange covers that w0uld take weeks of work and hardly be acknowledged is in order? Can you wait about eight hours?


Your thoughts on all things Leatherface can be written in the COMMENTS section (which is where you will find the Eagle link).


Support the band

Hompage

Amazon

iTunes

Facebook

The Shipyards

Leatherface/Wat Tyler

HEY!
COME CHECK OUT MY TOP TEN LEATHERFACE
VIDEOS OVER AT THE BIG TAKEOVER!

(Don't be afraid to leave a thought behind!)

A Leatherface – Hops And Barley
B Wat Tyler – Discipline
C Leatherface – A Public House
D1 Wat Tyler – Not Superstitious
D2 Wat Tyler – (I Just Called To Say...)

The ever-reliable Discogs says, "15th in Singles Club series. Double 7". Wraparound sleeve in polythene bag, plus photocopied insert (label info one side, letter from Wat Tyler on other). Each band covers the others' songs. D2 is a hidden untitled track, based on the Stevie Wonder song: a tribute to British talk-radio host James Whale ("I just called to say 'James Whale You're A Fucking Cunt'") "

Well we've been prattling on about Leatherface for weeks (see HERE) but as for Wat Tyler, the clown-princes of anarcho-(pop)-punk, I`m a little short on detail. They were a a classic Very English band who were always connected to bands I knew well (Leatherface's cover of "Hops and Barley" is STILL in their set) but whom never found their way into my record collection. Despite being a fixture of the punk scene of the eighties and nineties (they even got on Lookout Records for a bit) the band`s profile is now pretty miniscule on the internet. The Wikipedia entry on the band is almost, non-existent and while we can thank the fucking brilliant blog Kill Your Pet Puppy for this post on the band, compared to the epic posts KYPP is famous for, this one is quite brief. (And speaking of brief posts on WT, I Vomit 4 U has a a good one here). Any one out there who wants to do a guest post on Wat Tyler for MRML is hereby invited.



Well, readers, what do you make of all this then? Let us know in the COMMENTS section (which is where you'll find the LF/WT split single).


Support the band

Hompage

Amazon

iTunes

Facebook

The Shipyards

Leatherface: Mackem Bastards (1994)

While, I confess to doing my part towards The Great Mid-Nineties Vinyl Glut (see HERE), I'm still not sure how so many bands put out so many singles without all losing the Crimpshrine T-shirts off their back. This beautifully packaged 1994 single from Rugger Bugger has that clasic mix of odd cover (A1), unusual original (A2) and live tracks (B1, B2) that defined so much of the era's vinyl outpouring.

A1 Win Some, Lose Some(Snuff)
A2 Ba Ba Ba Ba Boo
B1 Discipline (Live)
B2 Colorado Joe/Leningrad Vlad (Live)

What's your favourite 7" from this era? let us know in the COMMENTS section (which is where you'll find the Mackem Bastards link).





Support the band

Hompage

Amazon

iTunes

Facebook

The Shipyards

Leatherface: Smokey Joe (1990)

The Ian Burgess (R.I.P.) produced E.P. from 1990 marks the transition from the fine era of Fill Your Boots to the stunning era of Mush. In fact, "How Lonely" ended up as a central track on Mush and "Trenchfoot" and "The Scheme of Things" became bonus tracks on the CD version of the album (which is NOT in-fucking-print - download only!)

A1 How Lonely
A2 You Wanted Everything
B1 Trenchfoot
B2 The Scheme Of Things
B3 Ideal World

So do you think that it's ridiculous that Leatherface's most revered album, Mush, is NOT in print? Let us know in the COMMENTS section (which is where you'll find the Smokey Joe link).


Support the band

Hompage

Amazon

iTunes

Facebook

The Shipyards

Frankie Stubbs (Leatherface): Unhinged (1995)

I neglected to mention that Leatherface mastermind Frankie Stubbs had his solo acoustic debut on Rugger Bugger Discs back in 1995. It's gritty little three-song single that sacrifices little for it's stripped down presentation.

A Truly Beautiful
B1 Moon River [Uncredited] (Mancini, Mercer)
B2 Plebs



COMMENTS.
They are a good thing.
The link for Unhinged can be found in the COMMENTS section.

Frankie Stubbs (Leatherface): S/T 10" (2000)

Not long after re-convening Leatherface Frankie Stubbs put out this little solo acoustic 10". The results are sort of what you would imagine Leatherface would sound like without the electricity. The lack of musical varnish reveals a sound more akin to folk-blues then singer-songwriter. Of course, Stubbs' love of romantic pop is also on display here, as he (re)covers Elvis Presley's "I Can't Help Falling in Love With You" and Nick Cave's "Ship Song". But more talk on that aspect of the Stubbbs' personae will have to wait for a forthcoming post.

A1 Send Hand Shirt
A2 Old Elvis
A3 Sail Boats
B1 Dead Industrial Atmosphere
B2 I Can't Help Falling In Love
B3 Ship Song


Whaddya make of Stubbs acoustic work? Let us know in the COMMENTS section (which is where you'll find the S/T 10" link.)

Jessie (Ex-Leatherface): S/T (1998)

Before reconvening Leatherface (more HERE), Frankie Stubbs tried one more monosyllabic new band name following the break-up of Pope. Of course, with Stubbs inimitable growl, guitar sound and lyrical bent front and centre it still sounds awfully Leatherface-ish albeit a bit prettier, if you're willing to believe that.

A1 Indestructable
A2 Smarm
A3 Gone Fishing
A4 Everwas
A5 Jack Christ...
A6 As Your Mind Closed Mine Was Opening
A7 Rant

B1 World
B2 Dogsong
B3 Room
B4 Paradoxical Thing
B5 Handful Of Earth
B6 Big Freeze
B7 Truly Beautiful



So? Whadya think of this Stubbs band? Let us know in the COMMENTS section (where you'll find the S/T link).

Pope: JohnPaulGeorgeRingo (1997)

Frankie Stubbs, like so many punk singers before him, learned that a band by any other name does not rock so sweetly. Unless you're in Fugazi or Rancid, the records that bear your punk band's original name are gonna get the praise and the sales. So, even though Stubbs' first post-break-up band sounds rather a lot like Leatherface (though perhaps a bit sombre) the album sunk with little notice. However, Leatherface's American label, BYO Records did sneak some of the Pope tracks onto their Leatherface compilation entitled The Last, perhaps proving that in the punkiverse there's a hell of a lot in a name.

1 Plebs
2 Fine
3 Redhouse
4 Laughing Melancholia
5 Promised
6 Kingsane
7 Cracks
8 Alone
9 Something About America

So why do punk band get stuck with the first name they found notoriety? let us know what you think in the COMMENTS section (which is where you'll find the Pope link).

Leatherface: BBC Sessions (1989-1993)

So here's another edition of Radio Leatherface, this time around we present a round-up of late eighties and early nineties BBC sessions (which may include some crossover with the Peel Sessions available HERE) which provide raw takes of band favourites like, "I Don't Be the One to Say It", "Pale Moonlight" and "Do the Right Thing".

1. Not Superstitious
2. I Don't Want To Be the One to Say It
3. Discipline
4. Peasants in Paradise
5. Springtime
6. Dreaming
7. I Want the Moon
8. Games
9. Books
10. Not A Day Goes By
11. Cabbage Case
12. Do the Right Thing
13. Colorado Joe - Leningrad Vlad
14. Pale Moonlight
15. Books
16. I Can't Help Falling in Love With You


So you wanna hear more Leatherface related rarities? Let us know in the COMMENTS section (which is where you'll find the BBC Sessions* link.)

* Turns out yesterday I posted the wrong link, so this I`ll post both links today.


Support the band

Hompage

Amazon

iTunes

Facebook

The Shipyards

Leatherface: Peel Sessions (1991-1993)

1989 could've been the year that punk re-broke in England. After all, that year saw the release of Mega City Four's Tranzophobia, Snuff's Snuff Said But... and, possibly least auspiciously, Leatherface's Cherry Knowle.

It's not that the band's debut isn't a pretty ripping set of thrashy pop-punk song, its just that unlike MC4 and Snuff, Leatherface didn't hit the ground running full-tilt. The non-ironic covers, the Lemmy-esque growl of Frankie Stubb and the metallic pounding accompaniment were all there but it just hadn't all clicked together. Even Leatherface's second album, 1990's Fill your Boots (which I bought as a result of a glowing review in Maximumrocknroll and Snuff's relentless plugging of the band in interviews), which blazes out of the gate with "New York State" and "Razor Blades and Aspirin" does not approach the heights they climbed to on their 1991 follow-up, Mush. Now Mush jolted me because it delivered so much more than even Fill Your Boots could have indicated. The playing is more controlled, the hooks are more evenly spread out and those lonesome lyrics just reach through the noise and yank those heartstrings you foolishly left hanging loose. ("Not a Day Goes By" is possibly the saddest punk song ever written.)

Out of the entire late eighties British indie-punk scene, Leatherface has probably exerted the greatest influence on the larger musical culture. The band are a going concern putting out vital new music, touring all over the world and, as well, not only do a slew of punk bands cite them as an influence but also CallPastorJerface (my source for all things me-tal) informs me that amongst metal-dudes name-dropping Leatherface is considered pretty de rigeur. Way to go class of '89!

So, after that little essay I present you with my first (hopefully?) Leatherface offering, a collection of never-officially Peel Sessions recorded throughout the early nineties. The set actually acts as a pretty fair introduction to the band, as it contains alternate, rawer version of classics like "Not a Day Goes By", "Do the Right Thing, "I Want the Moon" and their bludgeoning of The Police's "Message in a Bottle".

Track List
1. Peasant In Paradise
2. Springtime
3. Dreaming
4. I Want The Moon
5. Games
6. Books
7. Not A Day Goes By
8. Can't Help Falling In Love
9. Cabbage Case
10. Heaven Sent
11. In My Life
12. Little White God
13. Do The Right Thing

So what's your favourite Leatherface album? Let us know in the COMMENTS section (which is where you'll find the Peel Sessions link.)

UPDATE: The link provided is for the BBC Sessions bootleg, the whole boondoggle is sorted out in the comments section HERE.

Support the band

Hompage

Amazon

iTunes

Facebook

The Shipyards