Always read the fine print, kids. I got excited for this Porno for Pyros picture disc and was so clouded that I didn’t realize this 12″ was for the Pets single, and in fact NOT the full-length debut album with the same cover. Pets is great and all, and ok, sure, I already own two versions of the full length, but I’m just a little pissed at myself for not digging a little deeper. You live, and with luck, you learn.
Category Archives: 1993
Golden Planet
I’d been holding out for an original pressing of Digable Planet’s debut, 1993’s Reachin’ (A New Refutation of Time and Space), that was, until I discovered this limited gold vinyl 25th anniversary reissue from February of this year. As the first official vinyl reissue, this double LP is limited to 1000 copies worldwide, and doubles as an “Indie Record Store Exclusive” which is exactly where I found it. The Planets released a total of two studio albums (spanning 1993 – 1994), both of which are essential owns. Next up is 1994’s Blowout Comb, which I’m hoping will get the same 25th anniversary treatment next year.
Quarter of a Century…
If my (faded) memory serves me right, and it very well (likely) may not, I didn’t get around to Porno for Pyros’ debut album until after diving head-first into their sophomore masterpiece, Good God’s Urge. Porno for Pyros (the album, not the band) is much more primal and resentful than their second album, so its absorption, in comparison to the more intimate and ethereal GGU, took a bit more time. I will say, that this album certainly does hold up (some 25 years later, or quarter of a century, if you REALLY want to feel old), and in any form, is quite deserving of a lifelong place in any collection.
Phobia
Man, I need to catch up on my spins. For their 24th studio album, The Kinks released Phobia. A 17-track diddy that would prove to be the band’s last studio effort. For Record Store Day this year, a double LP of Phobia was released on this fancy orange swirl colored wax. What’s better than The Kinks participating in RSD is that Phobia was only previously released on vinyl in Spain upon its original release back in 1993, and with copies going in the $800 range, this beautiful reissue was a no-brainer.
We’ll Make Great Pets
So, as it turns out, we’ll make great pets are the lyrics to Porno for Pyros’ 1993 single Pets. I won’t bother you with what my 13-year-old self THOUGHT Perry Ferrell was uttering in this whimsical comment on a suffocating society, but I will say it was borderline vulgar. Anyway, if you haven’t in a while, give Pets a quick spin. It holds up.
Da Ya Think I’m Sexy?
Though a band using the Revolting Cocks handle released albums after a 13 year “Revolting Cocks” hiatus, 1993 and the album, Linger Ficken’ Good… and Other Barnyard Oddities marked the last era that the core group would record together under that name. Reasons why may stem from the Al Jourgensen documentary Fix (I’ll leave you to discover that one), but nevertheless, a strong and fruitful run (1986 – 1993) had inevitably come to a screeching halt. The last single from LFG…aOBO was released in 1994, but was comprised of alt versions of previously released tracks. This, the first single from the album, features the Cocks’ take on the Rod Stewart hit, Da Ya Think I’m Sexy?, and is clearly the better of the two versions.
Roads Unknown
Unknown Road is / was Pennywise’s second studio album. These punk brats released ‘er way back in 1993 and she was one of my first ventures into the genre. More importantly, though, its opening track, Unknown Road, was the intro song to our Junior Varsity basketball warmup mix tape. The things you remember, eh?
Ghetto-Box Rock!
Thanks to my brother-in-law, we now have a spinnable copy of RFTC’s Ghetto-Box Rock 7″ from the 1993 Speed Kills Magazine #4 (thanks again, Bri!). Today we’ll digitize and distribute. Tomorrow she’ll rest among her 7″ brothers and sisters.
Otha Fish
Fresh from the Bizarre Ride II The Pharcyde The Singles Collection, this 2012 colored vinyl reissue of the 1993 classic was one of 7 x 7″ 45s that make up this essential Delicious Vinyl release (record 6 of 7 to be exact). The music isn’t all that bad, either. Otha Fish Single Version on side A, and Otha Fish Acapella on side B, for those of you wanting to tickle your hip hop beat production fancy.
Getting Even
Manning vocals, guitar, bass, and wearing his producer hat, former Black Flag leader and principal songwriter Greg Ginn released his debut solo album, 1993’s Getting Even on Ginn’s own Cruz Records, an offshoot of SST Records, also owned by Mr. Ginn. As far as the music goes, it’s solid-state punk blues at its absolute finest. Think a VERY mature Black Flag, or a VERY IMMATURE Murder City Devils, but like, circa: 1993. It’s an amazing solo effort by one of the founding fathers of Southern California hardcore, and comes highly recommended.
So Nice, We Own it Twice
Not enough can be said about the soundtrack to the 1993 thriller Judgment Night. Pairing unlikely acts for an entire album’s worth of new material was a brilliant marketing technique from Music Supervisor Karyn Rachtman. You may know her work as Music Sup on a few of these other masterpieces: Desperado, Four Rooms, Reservoir Dogs, Mystery Men, Boogie Nights, and Pulp Fiction, to name a short few.
Judgment Night was consistent hype music before our Jr. High basketball games, some 23 years ago, and is still humbly considered, by me, to be the best soundtrack ever produced. Run D.M.C. & Living Colour, House of Pain & Helmet, Onyx & Biohazard, Ice-T & Slayer (a personal fav), Cypress Hill & Pearl Jam, Boo-Yaa T.R.I.B.E. & Faith No More, and Del Tha Funkee Homosapien & Dinosaur Jr.. Never again will there be another soundtrack that will outmatch these heavy-hitting collaborations, and that’s a-okay.
Pigs Will Pay
This comical insert to Propagandhi’s 7″ from Fat Wreck Chords once hung prominently on my bedroom wall some 18 years ago (yes, I’m that old). Now, it rests, tucked away inside the rarely played 7″ which is filed inside a shoe box on the office room floor. I can’t look at this and not think of innocent times nearly two decades ago. They don’t make ’em like they used to.
Speed Kills!
Sometimes when you’re piecing together the rooted discography of your favorite band, you opt for, “the works.” 1993’s Ghetto-Box Rock found its release within issue #4 of Speed Kills Magazine. This virgin copy has yet to be extracted from its source, and currently lives like a cocoon of motor music history.
The Prudent Groove 