CHANNEL THREE

 

How far they fall...and how fukkn fast. Listen to CHANNEL 3 shredding live in 1982 and then imagine that this abomination was recorded just three years later - it's wild. You can talk about contemporaries who released seminal hardcore/punk recordings and then descended into the murky butt rock underworld; SSD is an obvious example, F.U.'s get mentioned as well but My America still rips even though it's not a raw hardcore record. Sticking with California though, T.S.O.L. is the easiest comparison but fukk man....at least they were gradual, at least Revenge is still a pretty good record and honestly I actually liked Hit And Run when it came out in '86 (still have the copy I snagged when it was current, in fact). But these assholes went from one of the best SoCal punk songs ever ("You Make Me Feel Cheap" from 1982's Fear Of Life) to a ripping sophomore effort in '83 to....this piece of garbage. Like, it's like a full fucking hour of the montage song from '80s teen movies - the song you hear the edgy band in the club playing when the square girl is going to meet the mysterious boy in the leather jacket, But this is the wholesome version. Look at the cover photo/s - it's like they were trying to ape GANG GREEN's party-punk aesthetic but make it suitable for a photo spread in Teenbeat. Even the songs that seem good in the moment (I'm looking at you, "Penance Of Passion") are sonic turds when you listen with perspective - it's like a grundgingly palatable version of a thing that fukkn blows, you know? This was released on Enigma, who were also responsible for the aforementioned Hit And Run shortly after this complete waste of resources....almost makes you wonder how many other bands they sucked the soul out of in the 1980s. To be fair, THE DEAD MILKMEN and WIRE were both on the roster at the same time so clearly the label wasn't all bad, but there were a lot of people on the payroll who presumably signed off on this release...and that's not exactly a ringing endorsement of their hiring practices or quality control standards. Someone even approved the AEROSMITH cover - and it's a song that's only memorable because of the title (which is admittedly good - but this version sucks more than the original, which totally sucks). I bought this tape for $4 last weekend at a shop in Fresno along with an ALBERTO Y LOS PARANOIAS album that I hoped would be better than it is, a coupla ELVIS records and a folk jammer I snagged because it had a cool gatefold photo of a dude chilling on an outhouse shitter. And after listening to all of them, I only regret one of those purchases and I'm left wondering why this recording even exists. So...enjoy?

LAST TIME I DRANK...

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UPDATE: After feeling disgusted with myself for digging so deep into this tape, I decided to check 1989's Rejected and it sounds like it's even worse. Man, I fukkn love those first two records though, and they are still active...kinda sound like SMITHEREENS-tinged California melodic punk now.