Touch & Go record label S&D

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They're reissuing Blight? That single is great, indeed.

Die Kreuzen - October File is good, that's inbetween the s/t and Gone Away. The Gone Away CD is worth getting though cos it has Cows & Beer on it.

I just bought New Year - Newness Ends, that's quite good, although obv not much like most of the other bands on this thread since they're a post-Bedhead band.

Colonel Poo (Colonel Poo), Thursday, 15 December 2005 16:31 (eighteen years ago) link

No takers for Storm & Stress then? I like their approach, everything sounds so stumbling and erratic at first, but it really flows in quite a beautiful way. They're a bit like a freer version of Gastr Del Sol, I guess.

NickB (NickB), Thursday, 15 December 2005 16:42 (eighteen years ago) link

I have S&S's second record and think it's great; I only wish there was no (or less) singing.

Raymond Cummings (Raymond Cummings), Thursday, 15 December 2005 16:46 (eighteen years ago) link

I like the second S&S album, but can't bear to listen to it more than very, very occasionally. I have Gone Away on 12" - bummer, I want to hear Cows & Beer so shall look out for that on the cheap...

DJ Mencap (DJ Mencap), Thursday, 15 December 2005 16:48 (eighteen years ago) link

DON CAB FULES

u saved me (dubplatestyle), Thursday, 15 December 2005 16:50 (eighteen years ago) link

Yeah, it's not something I listen to much either; often I forget I have it.

Raymond Cummings (Raymond Cummings), Thursday, 15 December 2005 16:50 (eighteen years ago) link

and yeah everything scott said. tho i've never heard silver fish.

u saved me (dubplatestyle), Thursday, 15 December 2005 16:50 (eighteen years ago) link

dischord monorchid record much better

u saved me (dubplatestyle), Thursday, 15 December 2005 16:51 (eighteen years ago) link

I don't mind the semi-tuneful abstract mumbling that much, but I could see how it could grate. Definitely not big on the actual proper singing though, I'll give you that. Still haven't heard Battles - how do they compare?

NickB (NickB), Thursday, 15 December 2005 16:52 (eighteen years ago) link

You can almost dance to Battles

DJ Mencap (DJ Mencap), Thursday, 15 December 2005 16:53 (eighteen years ago) link

Arcwelder is cool too.

all these bands are good.

M@tt He1geson (Matt Helgeson), Thursday, 15 December 2005 16:54 (eighteen years ago) link

Also, NINA NATASIA IS THE MOST UNDERRATED T&G ARTIST EVAH!

Enon is okay.

M@tt He1geson (Matt Helgeson), Thursday, 15 December 2005 16:55 (eighteen years ago) link

>> I want to hear Cows & Beer so shall look out for that on the cheap...

Ebay - cost me about £2.50 inc shipping!

Colonel Poo (Colonel Poo), Thursday, 15 December 2005 16:55 (eighteen years ago) link

Anyone ever enjoy that Daddy Longhead record? I can never get past the cover.

NickB (NickB), Thursday, 15 December 2005 16:59 (eighteen years ago) link

I always liked Mule, they were a fun band to see live. I liked them better than the Laughing Hyenas, but the version of the Hyenas I saw was after the rhythm section took off to join Mule.

That Killdozer cover's lp is a godlike party album. They do the best version of Take the Money and Run ever put to wax.

earlnash, Thursday, 15 December 2005 17:26 (eighteen years ago) link

shit, i forgot killdozer. my bad. the Burl ep is essential. heck, most of their stuff is wonderful.

scott seward (scott seward), Thursday, 15 December 2005 17:32 (eighteen years ago) link

Touch & Go is the greatest!

M@tt He1geson (Matt Helgeson), Thursday, 15 December 2005 17:44 (eighteen years ago) link

killdozer - snakeboy
die kreuzen - first two albums for sure, anything else is just gravy
laughing hyenas - first ep (if you can't find the first demo tape)
scratch acid - better when they were still on rabid cat
big black - yeah, everything, and then to hell with steve albini*
necros, negative approach, no trend: sure why not

which mekons and ex records were on touch & go again?

* - except for his work with living things, cordelia's dad, red swan, gogol bordello, neurosis, etc

xhuxk, Thursday, 15 December 2005 18:15 (eighteen years ago) link

also, touch & go didn't put out the hose EP with "you sexy thing" and "super freak" (i think) on it, did they? pre-beasties rick rubin; damn i wish i still had my copy of that thing. i'd forgotten they were also on *god's favorite dog*; is rubin actually on those two tracks on that comp, including the zep cover? did hose record anything else? (and actually, were they really any good, or just a cool historical footnote whose EP i was totally correct to sell?)

and right, i'd forgotten about *cows and beer* when i mentioned die kreuzen. but honestly, october file might be the most beautiful pigfuck album in human history.

xhuxk, Thursday, 15 December 2005 18:20 (eighteen years ago) link

also, what about virgin prunes? they had at least one good album on touch & go, if i remember right.

xhuxk, Thursday, 15 December 2005 18:21 (eighteen years ago) link

nick put a link above to their catalogue, chuck. i heart mekons was the first thing that came to mind for me. i certainly wouldn't tell someone who wasn't that familiar with mekons to buy pussy, king of the pirates. i guess they reissued the old stuff too.

scott seward (scott seward), Thursday, 15 December 2005 18:33 (eighteen years ago) link

those first two shellac singles are cool too. i still want to hear bedhead. they are the patron saints for people who don't like to get out of bed. and they put out the scratch acid collection on one cd too. i still say beserker is better than just keep eating or the first album and i LOVE just keep eating. berserker is just one genius ball of psychedelic fury. perfect from beginning to end.

scott seward (scott seward), Thursday, 15 December 2005 18:37 (eighteen years ago) link

ok, well, in that case:

Mekons:
The Edge of the World
Devils, Rats & Piggies -- A Special Message from Godzilla
I Have Been to Heaven and Back: Hen's Teeth and Other Lost Fragments of Un-Popular Culture Vol. 1
Where Were You?: Hen's Teeth and Other Lost Fragments of Un-Popular Culture Vol.2
Fear and Whiskey
Punk Rock

Angry Red Planet
Gawker's Paradise

Urge Overkill
The Urge Overkill Story...Stay Tuned 1988-1991 (touch & go promo EP, not in catalogue, ignores their pre-t&g debut EP which I kinda miss)

Virgin Prunes
The Moon Looked Down and Laughed

Various
Process of Elimination EP

xhuxk, Thursday, 15 December 2005 18:52 (eighteen years ago) link

I thought the Mekons were on Quarterstick? (same difference, but..)

dar1a g (daria g), Thursday, 15 December 2005 18:58 (eighteen years ago) link

Brainiac overdue for recontextualization as ahead-of-their-time spazzy electro dance rock, Hissing Prigs and Electro-Shock are both good

if you like Silkworm but stopped paying attention after Firewater I'd definitely check out Lifestyles and esp. Italian Platinum

Urge Overkill's Supersonic Storybook, Polvo's Cor-Crane Secret

I liked Rodan's Rusty back in the day but now probably appropriate for only the most dedicated post-rockin' Slint fans

Renard, Thursday, 15 December 2005 19:12 (eighteen years ago) link

VIRGIN PRUNES OTM. That record has now been reissued by someone else as part of the much-needed VP reissue series.

You Can't Pray A Lie is by far my favorite Laughing Hyenas record.

Necros, Die Kreuzen, Mekons, Big Black, hell yeah. And I like those !!! records.

Not familiar with 90% of the new catalog. I heard Don Cab the other day and it was great tho.

sleeve (sleeve), Thursday, 15 December 2005 19:16 (eighteen years ago) link

Even though they reissued all their T&G recs on their own label, the classic Butthole Surfers period is inextricably connected w/ Touch & Go in my mind.

Edward III (edward iii), Thursday, 15 December 2005 19:30 (eighteen years ago) link

late period Silkworm (RIP) seconded. esp. Lifestyle

M@tt He1geson (Matt Helgeson), Thursday, 15 December 2005 19:35 (eighteen years ago) link

Lots of Big Black love, but not a vote for the Big Boys - I'd include the comps as essential T&G releases.

TRG (TRG), Thursday, 15 December 2005 19:37 (eighteen years ago) link

oh jesus, can't believe i forgot about those - fucking essential is right.

ZR (teenagequiet), Thursday, 15 December 2005 19:58 (eighteen years ago) link

Even though they reissued all their T&G recs on their own label, the classic Butthole Surfers period is inextricably connected w/ Touch & Go in my mind.
-- Edward III

Oh, yeah - I was wondering why nobody had mentioned the Buttholes yet! Thought it was like a conspiracy.

Not really a T&G band, but that Chrome Alien Soundtracks/Half Machine Lip Moves twofer is an essential item.

Myonga Von Bontee (Myonga Von Bontee), Thursday, 15 December 2005 20:03 (eighteen years ago) link

didn't the Buttholes almost bankrupt T&G with a lawsuit?

M@tt He1geson (Matt Helgeson), Thursday, 15 December 2005 20:10 (eighteen years ago) link

Probably. Heroin costs money you know.

Edward III (edward iii), Thursday, 15 December 2005 20:14 (eighteen years ago) link

T&G is run on handshake deals to split all record sale profits 50-50 in perpetuity. (Or something like that.) When Butthole Surfers got huge, their back catalog was a big moneymaker and they sued to take those records away from T&G.

Renard, Thursday, 15 December 2005 20:22 (eighteen years ago) link

Br41n14c were grate. Delta 72 - fun live band, not bad.

Didn't T&G have to destroy all the Surfers back catalog records they had? seem to recall some article about them being run over with a bulldozer but maybe I'm just wishing that was what happened.

dar1a g (daria g), Friday, 16 December 2005 00:01 (eighteen years ago) link

Effigies!

I have that Hose EP, it totally sucks. It's pretty funny though. The imprint is actually Def Jam, if I recall! That and God's Fave Dog the only two appearances I know of.

Stormy Davis (diamond), Friday, 16 December 2005 04:36 (eighteen years ago) link

Def Jam's inaugaral release, if I (also) recall

DJ Mencap (DJ Mencap), Friday, 16 December 2005 10:42 (eighteen years ago) link

no sufjan, no credibility.

M@tt He1geson (Matt Helgeson), Friday, 16 December 2005 23:13 (eighteen years ago) link

S:
Didjits - Hornet Pinata
Ex - Singles. Period
The Fix - everything, and good luck finding it (there was a CD of their stuff but I think it was a bootleg and it's long gone)
Jesus Lizard - Goat
L-Seven - s/t (not L7)
Man... Or Astroman! - pretty much all of it, except it all sounds the same
Naked Raygun - Throb Throb
Slint - Tweez
VA - Process of Elimination

Colonel Poo (Colonel Poo), Friday, 16 December 2005 23:53 (eighteen years ago) link

Jesus if Big Black didn't absolutely rule once...

Halloween Spooky Party Hints! (Bimble...), Saturday, 17 December 2005 04:02 (eighteen years ago) link

Also, NINA NATASIA IS THE MOST UNDERRATED T&G ARTIST EVAH!

Me too.

I am shocked by the lack of love for Pegboy on this thread.

Ben Dot (1977), Saturday, 17 December 2005 12:49 (eighteen years ago) link

I am shocked by the lack of love for Pegboy on this thread.

Maybe I am mistaken, but I thought Pegboy were on Quarterstick.

For this thread, are we talking just T&G the label or T&G the distributor, too, because some releases mentioned here were not technically released on T&G but were released by labels who were distributed (exclusively?) through T&G like Quarterstick.

It's interesting to see how T&G has changed over the years. They definitely have "softened" their aesthetic a bit. I know some of the newer releases are decent. But, when I think of T&G, I think of the hardcore stuff to the midwest, grunge, noise, thing (Big Black, Jesus Lizard, and Hyenas), which kind of died out shortly before the rise of post-rock (Something I never really got into.) I mean, the fact that T&G put out something like the Delta 72 record is a sure sign of some kind of decline. Hell, I'll take a rather boring Tar record over sub, sub, sub Jon Spencer fashion dorks. The only newer T&G releases I have ever purchased were the Monorchid/Skull Control stuff. As for the past three to four years, isn't just indie rock and pop. Maybe I'm wrong!

QuantumNoise (Justin Farrar), Saturday, 17 December 2005 16:05 (eighteen years ago) link

I agree - I associate them with that period and those bands and always will. They probably needed to expand to survive, I don't blame them, but I don't really care for their rooster of bands now and haven't for a while. As for Pegboy I always thought they were boring, and the final straw was a flyer they posted when trying to recruit a new member. You'd think you were joining the Marines, it was a strange ad. Unless it was a joke, and I don't think it was. That of course doesn't have much to do with the music, but it tells where they're coming from. They took themselves too seriously and I figured there wasn't much point in me taking them seriously, too. That aside, I thought they were dull.

TRG (TRG), Saturday, 17 December 2005 16:27 (eighteen years ago) link

Quarterstick is run by Corey Rusk (T&G founder, owner, etc.), so it's more of a subsidiary or sister label to Touch and Go rather than merely distributed by them.

Mike Dixn (Mike Dixon), Saturday, 17 December 2005 21:24 (eighteen years ago) link

Quarterstick is run by Corey Rusk

not unless corey changed his name to ed roche.

hstencil (hstencil), Saturday, 17 December 2005 22:31 (eighteen years ago) link

he did. you didn't hear about that?

latebloomer: Deutsch Bag (latebloomer), Saturday, 17 December 2005 22:33 (eighteen years ago) link

I used to have so much Touch & Go stuff!

[jailhouse tattoo] (nordicskilla), Saturday, 17 December 2005 22:36 (eighteen years ago) link

The Jesus Lizard were the best.

[jailhouse tattoo] (nordicskilla), Saturday, 17 December 2005 22:37 (eighteen years ago) link

According to T&G's own website, everything they've released (excepting licensed stuff and the, ahem, Butthole Surfers catalogue) is still in print, which is pretty remarkable. So while it's certainly sad that they're downscaling, at least they're not going the way of SST and disappearing into a crack in the ground.

MacDara, Saturday, 21 February 2009 23:39 (fifteen years ago) link

bought the reissue of the 1st die kreuzen lp today (with dl, thanks). we do our part

welcome little swetty (contenderizer), Sunday, 22 February 2009 03:13 (fifteen years ago) link

^ C: S

welcome little swetty (contenderizer), Sunday, 22 February 2009 03:14 (fifteen years ago) link

According to T&G's own website, everything they've released (excepting licensed stuff and the, ahem, Butthole Surfers catalogue) is still in print, which is pretty remarkable.
Would be if it were true! I expect most of it is, but not everything. The most obvious being the Necros, but there's at least a couple of old EPs not in print - Flesh Columns, Angry Red Planet etc.

I KNOW WHAT YOU'RE UP TO (Colonel Poo), Sunday, 22 February 2009 13:19 (fifteen years ago) link

Oh well, most of it is. Can't find where I read that about the whole catalogue now, d'oh is me.

In any case, it's still a damn sight better than SST, or even Sub Pop.

MacDara, Sunday, 22 February 2009 15:29 (fifteen years ago) link

one year passes...

it is AWESOME

sir you cannot be serious (stevie), Sunday, 3 October 2010 23:00 (thirteen years ago) link

six years pass...

I've been on a big Laughing Hyena's kick for a few months for the first time since the 90s, mostly getting ready to see Easy Action open for Dino Jr. earlier this year. John Brannon is definitely one of the more intense vocalists in that group of bands.

A joke a buddy of mine made the next day after seeing the Laughing Hyena's back in the 90s in Bloomington always comes to me when I listen to them trying to imaging John Brannon trying to order breakfast at Dennys.

I WANT BACON!!!
TWO EGGS!
OVER EASY!
WITH A SIDE OF TOAST
AND A CUP OF COFFEE!!!!

Brannon's vocal style is pretty much 110% all the time. Don't know what he is like off stage, but he's pretty intense dude with a microphone in his hand (even today). When I saw Dino Jr. earlier this year Brannon did the vocals on their old tune "Don't".

earlnash, Saturday, 9 September 2017 04:08 (six years ago) link

So his vocal style has been like that for decades then I guess! Remember him from way back when.

curmudgeon, Sunday, 10 September 2017 03:32 (six years ago) link

Yeah, Brannon still has the hard man stage persona. Easy Action was pretty cool at that show I saw earlier this year. Saw Laughing Hyenas a couple of times back in the early 90s and they were great live.

earlnash, Sunday, 10 September 2017 04:10 (six years ago) link

I probably saw that same Bloomington show, I know they played at 39 Steps (short lived all ages club) and maybe at Second Story once?

so fucking good

sleeve, Sunday, 10 September 2017 05:23 (six years ago) link

oh wait, no, those were 80s shows

I saw them here in Oregon in like '91 once more before they broke up, Larissa was so smacked out

sleeve, Sunday, 10 September 2017 05:24 (six years ago) link

He's on twitter now and he starts every single tweet with the phrase "check it out"

JRN, Sunday, 10 September 2017 06:13 (six years ago) link

he starts every single tweet with the phrase "check it out"

this is so wonderful

she carries a torch. two torches, actually (Joan Crawford Loves Chachi), Sunday, 10 September 2017 06:22 (six years ago) link

four months pass...

THIRD MAN RECORDS' REISSUES OF LAUGHING HYENAS'
MERRY-GO-ROUND AND YOU CAN'T PRAY A LIE
NOW AVAILABLE FOR PRE-ORDER

http://thirdmanstore.com/pub/media/catalog/product/cache/small_image/320x320/cd7fcf27be6a733566b266f46cb4e67d/t/m/tmr509_hyenas_cover.jpg
https://thirdmanstore.com/pub/media/catalog/product/cache/small_image/320x320/cd7fcf27be6a733566b266f46cb4e67d/t/m/tmr471_lhyenas_youcan_tprayalie_final.jpg

In partnership with Touch And Go Records, Third Man Records is re-issuing the full discography of punishing Michigan hardcore punk blues band Laughing Hyenas for the first time in over 25 years. The first two of these reissues, Merry-Go-Round and You Can't Pray A Lie, are available for pre-order on black vinyl now. Both reissues will be released on February 14. View both reissues HERE.

The Merry-Go-Round 2xLP reissue will include the 5 bonus tracks that were originally included on the 1995 Touch and Go CD release. The reissue of You Can't Pray A Lie will be a straight reissue of the 1989 release.

Formed in the mid-80s wreckage of American punk and hardcore, Laughing Hyenas were comprised of staples of the Detroit punk scene, including John Brannon (Negative Approach) and Larissa Strickland (L Seven) along with the locked-in rhythm section of Kevin Strickland and Jim Kimball. Groundbreaking, game-changing and some of the scariest records to come out of Detroit... or anywhere, and lovingly re-mastered for vinyl and cut by Bob Weston at Chicago Mastering.

Loud guitars shit all over "Bette Davis Eyes" (NYCNative), Wednesday, 7 February 2018 19:27 (six years ago) link

nice, those are great records

sleeve, Wednesday, 7 February 2018 19:32 (six years ago) link

two months pass...

https://scontent-lga3-1.xx.fbcdn.net/v/t1.0-9/31171453_10215607905448959_3412478781121976672_n.jpg?_nc_cat=0&oh=8b079d3bcdd86ce4322314799aea7610&oe=5B6FDC5B

Tigers/Dodgers World Series hero Kirk Gibson introduced Negative Approach last night as they opened for Jack White in Detroit.

earlnash, Monday, 23 April 2018 00:31 (five years ago) link

eight months pass...

awesome, thanks.

sleeve, Sunday, 23 December 2018 23:36 (five years ago) link

Wow to Kirk Gibson introducing Negative Approach! That Laughing Hyenas piece was good too. RIP Larissa

John Brannon: Larissa had never picked up guitar, she just kind of learned her own way. She wasn't affected by learning Eric Clapton or Led Zeppelin, she did it by feeling.

curmudgeon, Wednesday, 26 December 2018 18:25 (five years ago) link

one year passes...

Hey, they're on Bandcamp:

https://touchandgo.bandcamp.com/

Ned Raggett, Friday, 2 October 2020 14:48 (three years ago) link

Most excellent.

Ilxor in the streets, Scampo in the sheets (Le Bateau Ivre), Friday, 2 October 2020 15:40 (three years ago) link

Kinda disappointed the early Shellac singles aren't up there, though.

but also fuck you (unperson), Friday, 2 October 2020 16:19 (three years ago) link

I have a feeling those are coming "soon", which is Shellac terms means anytime between now and 5 yrs from now

chr1sb3singer, Friday, 2 October 2020 17:11 (three years ago) link

Good to see they went with this pic of Killdozer

https://f4.bcbits.com/img/0019944862_36.jpg

your response will be deleted unread (Matt #2), Friday, 2 October 2020 18:03 (three years ago) link

Always loved that photo. It's like they out-Urge Overkilled Urge Overkill.

Ned Raggett, Friday, 2 October 2020 18:23 (three years ago) link

the shirts alone are incredible, yes

sleeve, Friday, 2 October 2020 18:27 (three years ago) link

Thanks! That's good to see.

I wish they'd put their old yearly sampler compilations up, although I concede that maybe there isn't so much point in comps in the new online/bandcamp era. But a couple of those really changed the shape of my record-hunting in the late 90s, and now I can't even find them listed on the T&G website.

Guess I can look up the tracklistings on discogs and just listen to the individual tracks & buy whatever artist's albums take my fancy, which I suppose might be what a sampler was supposed to inspire, rather than being listened to on loop as an album in its own right by broke students who excitedly picked them up because they were cheap and had a lot of tracks on.

(Some of them were coproductions with their sublabel Quarterstick Records, who have their own bandcamp: https://quarterstick.bandcamp.com/ )

scampus unrest (a passing spacecadet), Friday, 2 October 2020 19:45 (three years ago) link


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