Well, a week has gone by and we are still yet to see Whalehammer's first OR second recording on these pages. What's the hold-up? I know not. Well actually I do know. I just haven't done it. I'm sure they'll pop up soon.
In the meantime, let's go some other place with this. I'm going to stick with the theme of related music and explore the sick sad world of Orgy of The Undead. In fact this blog will no longer be a pure Whalehammer resource, it is a compendium to the music archive site www.doddrell.com/mp3. I'll describe the work here and if you are interested, you can download it there.
So, Orgy of the Undead. These guys were pretty demented. They were the post-high school band of a bunch of private school kids, based outta the bass-player's and guitarist's neighbouring houses in Wembley Downs. They started off a four-piece and steadily contracted and expanded in between one and four members through-out their time. They played a total of three gigs, at the bass-player and guitarist's birthday parties and at the drummer's farewell show when he left Perth to travel around Australia. The main reason for this lack of activity was their determination to find a singer, which was incredibly fruitless. One of them really should have bitten the proverbial bullet but that's hindsight for you. I wasn't there but apparently they once 'auditioned' a middle-aged man who I THINK sang 'holy diver' by Dio or something like that. Or he just professed a kinship with the great one (fukk Ozzy), I don't know/can't remember. He can't have been too good as they didn't go with him. Great taste though!
They were significantly more active in recording, knocking out an EP, 'Don't Just Lie There, Say Something' and a full-length called 'Love Is Dead'. Right now I would like to officially declare a massive FUCK YOU to a.) Brett Anderson, the former singer of Suede who used this title for his most recent full-length and the first single from it, and b.) Bernard Fanning, the singer from Powderfinger who incorporated this phrase prominently in his massive hit first solo single, which I think was called 'Wish You Well' (?). For the record, this phrase was really cool when Orgy of the Undead used it in oh, maybe 2000 or 2001? There was an associated liner note story that went with it too. So those two bastards can eat sh**.
Let's move on. OOTU's music could probably be described as trash-punk or garage punk, with a definite juvenile/moronic edge which was slightly put-on but whatever. Their main influences were The Misfits, The Ramones, a compilation called 'CBGB's - The Birth of New York Punk', classic UK punk, the music section in Thrasher (not the actual music) and garage rock. There was a slight post-punk feel on their full-length due to expanded use of such musical devices as 'octave chords', effects and 'bridges'. Big hits in the OOTU camp at this time were Interpol's first album and My Bloody Valentine.
Their late 90s/early 00's (can't remember) EP 'Don't Just Lie There, Say Something' is probably the definitive work in the Orgy of the Undead canon. The full-length is more diverse and experimental but 'D.J.L.T, S.S' is pure, a direct transmission from four idiotic minds. It is also quite funny, and full of lo-fi skuzz from the four-track/ghetto-blaster recording. They also had a strange habit of recording the vocals at the wrong speed. About half of the EP was recorded solo on four-track at the guitarist/singer's farm and half was recorded as a band at the various member's houses in the city. Lyrically, the EP is somewhat bizarre, half-formed ramblings about evil twins, animal skin mags, stripper cops, crack parties and doing it with porpoises. I'm into it. If Orgy of the Undead had an anthem it would have been their first song, 'Fat Bloated Fuck'. Check out the lyrical genius;
'Head up your arse
Shit up your nose
Money in the band
Records on the walls
Shit up your nose
Money in the band
Records on the walls
Head in the toilet
Spew in the halls
You're out to lunch
She's taking the calls
You're out to lunch
She's taking the calls
Fat bloated fuck
You had your day in the sun
Now get the fuck out of my way
You fucking cunt'
You can download a zip file with the whole album in it from www.doddrell.com/mp3. Here's the direct link to the O.O.T.U page;
I'll write about / upload the 'Love is Dead' full-length in the near future.
Ciao
David
No comments:
Post a Comment