Gunk Punk

As promised, here´s some more on We Never Learn, New Bomb Turks singer Eric Davidson´s recent book on the punky garage bands that ruled the indie roost from ´88 to ´01. A very loose underground scene, with bands sharing stages and labels who were musically as far apart from each other as the Dwarves from Man Or Astroman or Dead Moon from Rocket From The Crypt. And also a scene which incidentally paved the way for the unlikely success of the White Stripes.

Buy it if you missed this drunk, loud, and funny piece of musical history, which Davidson calls gunk punk for want of anything better. Buy it if you lived through it, too, like I did, as it´s a fine trip down memory lane. While reading, it slowly dawned on me that I saw roughly 75 % of the bands mentioned live in concert back in the days. I was even present at the semi-legendary Mummies/Supercharger gig at the Vera Club that gets a write-up in these pages. Got the tour flexi to prove it.

Al the scenemakers that mattered are there, be they bands (Devil Dogs, Gories, Oblivians, Blues Explosion and many many more) or label bosses (Crypt honcho Tim Warren, Sympathy´s Long Gone John). Writing and researching, Davidson used the same enthusiastic approach that made him such a fine frontman with the Turks, and that´s probably the main reason it all goes down a treat. As a special bonus, you even get a code you can use to download an exclusive twenty track sampler that illustrates exactly what was so good about this gunk punk thingy. Here are four dynamite blasts to get you in the mood.

Rip Offs - She Said Yeah MP3

Supercharger - Buzz Off MP3

Oblivians - Memphis Creep MP3

Thee Headcoats - Girl From ´62 MP3