Guns n' Wankers (Ex-Snuff, Wildhearts): S/T

We talked a lot about Snuff last week (see HERE) but declined to offer a theory on the peak of Snuff singer/songwriter/drummer Duncan Edmonds career. Is it the Not Listening E.P., the Snuff Said... album, the Flibbiddydibbiddydob E.P. or something more recent? Or might it this bastardized collection of Redmonds short-lived band Guns n' Wankers?

All the songs on this mini-album were released in 1994 on a series of genre-themed 7"'s ('pop', 'metal', 'hardcore' and the freebie "silly') which was then issued in somewhat abbreviated format (no 'silly') as S/T by Damaged Goods in England and finally in even more truncated form by American label Fat Wreck-Chords (no 'silly', no 'metal') as For Dancing and Listening.


So with such a discographical fiddling, how will I argue this is Redmonds' finest work?

1) Songs like "Skin Deep" are "Help" are full of rough, racing guitars and choruses wound-up so tight that they just explode but yet these well-crafted songs could easily be done outside the punk idiom - just imagine what Lucinda Williams would do with a sad-but-defiant tune like "Help".

2) While Redmonds stepping out from behind the kit (shades of Dave Grohl!) may have been a bit disappointing, adding a killer Wildhearts rhythm section (Patrice Walters on drums and Joolz Dean on bass) allows his singing to be sharper, more controlled and more dominating than usual.

3) Lyrically, this release has the most resonant words of Redmonds' career. While early albums are dominated by either a twenty-something angst or whimsical cover songs (which it must be stressed are wondrous things) this album faces the sad, hard, fucked-up choices of life and then finds a "better place". Plus it make for one hell of a break-up album - jus' sayin'.

4) With just eight filler-free tracks, this album, unlike this post, proves that brevity is soul of wit.


So is this Redmonds best work? Let us know what you believe in the COMMENTS section (which is where you'll find the S/T link).

If you love this album and don't already own it go and buy the quintessential version of the album at either FAT WRECK-CHORDS, iTunes or AMAZON.

Snuff: Live 7" E.P. (1990)

For more Snuff go HERE.




Let us know what you think of this one in the COMMENTS section (which is where you'll find the link for the Live E.P.)


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Snuff: That's Fine (Smile) E.P. (1992)

So while the version of the minimally-worded song, "That's Fine" is the same as the K Records 7" version from 1991, the three B-sides on this 1992 10 Past 12 Records E.P. are totally different. It's frustrating to think how much better Reach could've been with the use of some of these excellent B-sides. For more Snuff go HERE.

1 That's Fine (Smile)
2 Another Day (Reprise)
3 I Can See Clearly Now
4 You're Wondering Now

So which is the better version of the 'That's Fine" single? Let us know in the COMMENTS section (which is where you'll find the link for the That's Fine E.P.)

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Snuff: That's Fine 7" (1991)

Snuff's second album proper, Reach, disappointed some people (this author included) both for not being as hard-hitting as the Snuff Said But L.P. and for being a lot less fun then the Flibbiddydibbiddydob E.P. The first half of the album, which, honestly, I thought looked too cheap to be a 'real album' back in 1992, does have some kick-ass songs ("I Know What You Want", "Spend, Spend, Spend") but it starts getting a bit blurry on side two. Of course, in all fairness side two kick's off with a Hammond organ-fulled song that's almost all hook ("That's Fine" are the sole words in the song). In what would become a major component Snuff's catalog, the 7" of "That's Fine" contains a wonderful cover of a Japanese song (I'm told it's sort of like a Japanese equivalent of 'Itsy Bitsy Spider') called "Den Den". It's a shame to have kept the song relegated to B-side status, as it sure would've livened up Reach.

A That's Fine
B1 Den Den
B2 What Kind Of Love? (live, 1990)



So is Reach a weaker Snuff album or did I just miss something? Let us know in the COMMENTS section (which is where you'll find the link for the That's Fine 7".)

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Snuff: Live at Kilburn National (1990)

So, I saw Snuff (more HERE) in 1990 when they played at the Royal Albert Arms on a triple bill with Samiam and Nine Pound Hammer. It was a packed, if slightly odd, triple bill and every band had stellar night. It remains likely the best triple bill I've witnessed. Nine Pound Hammer were the odd ones out (Snuff and Samiam being pop-punk touring partners) and while they have since fallen into some disrepute due to the emergence of the more gimmicky Nashville Pussy, they were a shit-kicking live band. Samiam were the subtlest band of the night but their set was taut as hell and watching guitarist James Brogan play those spidery guitar lines was hypnotizing. (Brogan was also in the highly-underrated SoCal hardcore band Social Unrest and when I chatted with him that night he actually remembered that SU's sole show in Winnipeg was at Wellington's, which was only a few doors down from The Albert). Every band punched above their weight but Snuff would get the TKO. That decision would come due to the impressive sight of Redmonds' singing and drumming simultaneously, the band's pitch-perfect sense of humour and they fact that they ran through Neil Young's "Heart of Gold" just so they could say they played a "Winnipeg song".

For more early live Snuff, visit these excellent site: I Vomit 4 U !
no longer forgotten music

So what do you think of Snuff as a live band? Let us know in the COMMENTS section (which is where you'll find the link for the Live at Kilburn National LP.)

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Snuff: Caught in Session (1989-1994)

Here's chance to look at two different version of Snuff (more HERE). The first, and possibly best, incarnation of the band is heard on their sole Peel Session, which previews their amazing 1989 debut album (Snuff Said But...). It's a blinding min-set (six tracks!) that shows they could pull this lightning fast pop thing off in any setting. As well here we're introduced by what is perhaps the key Snuff trope, the brutal thrashing of ultra-lightweight pop. Maybe Peely thought they were covering Tommy James and The Shondells but if you've followed Duncan Redmonds' career long enough, you'd know he was giving a tip of the sticks to Tiffany. (As a bonus you get to hear a fun 1994 BBC session from the reformed Snuff, full of hooky n' zany hi-jinks!)




Peel Session - 30th Jan '89
Win Some, Lose Some
For Both Sides/I Think We're Alone Now
Another Girl
Now You Don't Remember Me/No-One Home

Evening Session - 21st Dec '94
Instrumental Jingle 1
Funny Faces
Instrumental Jingle 2
Vikings On The Tundra
Jo Whiley Steve Lamacq 1
B
Jo Whiley Steve Lamacq 2
Batten Down The Hatches
Short Jingle


So is the first incarnation of Snuff the best one? Let us know in the COMMENTS section (which is where you'll find the link for the Caught in Session CD.)

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P.S. These Snuff posts have a Longy list of contributors. Thanks.

Snuff: Not Listening (1989)

I spent most of '88 with my head back in '77. Sure there was good new shit in that time but the overwhelming tone of the times was a downer. Pop-metal and synth-pop ruled the airwaves and speed-metal and jangle-pop owned the underground. Regardless of your feelings for those underground genres (personally, distaste for the former, appreciation for the latter) they seemed like products of a punk rock divorce, wherein one party got the speed and the aggression and the other side got the hooks and the smarts.


But 1989, speed, aggression, hooks and smarts regrouped, in little pockets around the world. In that year we had a phalanx of under-produced but ass-kicking American 7" and 12"'s by Jawbreaker, Mr. T Experience, Sloppy Seconds, Operation Ivy, Screeching Weasel, Bad Religion and Green Day plus stellar album albums by Canada's The Doughboys, Australia's The Hard-Ons as well as the Britain's pop-punk trifecta: Mega City Four, Leatherface and Snuff.



While there is a modest-sized group of bands with drummers who do part-time lead vocals, like The Doughboys, Snuff's Duncan Redmonds' plays the front-man from the backseat all the time. Such a skill puts Redmonds in a rare class of full-time lead-singing drummers, including the aforementioned Hard-Ons and later-period Genesis. While Keish de Silva was eventually replaced in The Hard-Ons and Phil Collins had to bring in Bill Buford for help, Redmonds stands alone with his near-superhuman ability be able to drum so frenetically and still sing just fine.



The first Snuff e.p. from 1989, which definitely caused a stir in North America, defined the band''s sound, melodic yelling, frantic drumming, blaring guitars and lyrics that dealt in a matters of a personal nature. The band recorded no cover songs for their debut, produced by Mekons leader Jon Langsford, that crucial part of their style would have to wait till the full-length album later that year.


So was Snuff one of the best things to come out of 1989? Let us know in the COMMENTS section (which is where you'll find the link for the Not Listening e.p.)

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