Razorcake podcast

I’ll be honest; the past several months have been difficult. My mental health is further being tested. Death by a thousand cuts type of thing. No knockout blows and I know others have it much, much worse. As lame as this may sound, I’ve gotta find joy when it comes my way because I can take only so many blows in a row. And, in this day and age, joy comes in the form of this podcast where we explore punk and punk-adjacent songs with horns in them. It’s a super dorky exercise that’s gone much further than we initially thought it would. Its event horizon keeps on spooling out in front of us by roughly a year, and that’s oddly comforting. But that’s not the main reason why it brings joy. It’s a good excuse to cut some intentional time out each month and sit down with Ethan, who I was acquainted with when we started this over five years ago, but who I now consider a friend. We get to talk about our shared fascination with this type of music (punk), catch up, talk shit, mangle words, and go off on horn tangents in a space designed just for that. Yep, that’s where we’re at with Horns Are Okay 55: a lifeline thrown into a roiling and tempestuous sea of uncertainty. –Todd

This is mentioned in the talky bits, but it’s worth putting in the introduction. DJ Mal is the latest addition to the When Horns Are Okay family. She contacted us and made some song suggestions that weren’t the usual, “Have you played X-Ray Spex?/that one Fear song?” query, but some deep cuts. The problem? Ethan, Tim, and I have about a year backlog of punk and punk-adjacent songs with horns in them and I didn’t want her to have to wait a year. In the interim, Mal kept on suggesting more and more songs that hadn’t been on our radar. And she’s a community radio DJ in Dublin, Ireland. So, after swinging and missing a couple of times with something that didn’t sound like we were talking at opposite sides of a cave with a disorienting amount of echo and reverb, we worked out the kinks (thanks to Kevin Ferguson for his help!). And guess what? We blab a lot. It feels like we’re pen pals in addition to hosting a podcast focused on honks and blurps and bap, bap, baps. Hope you enjoy listening to it as much as we enjoyed recording it. –Todd Tracklisting: TODD The Unnamed, “Scare the Squares,” (Self-released) - - - DJ MAL: EVERY REVOLUTIONARY IS MOTIVATED BY HORNS Wreckless Eric, “Brain Thieves” (Stiff) The Pop Group, “Where There’s a Will...,” ”In the Beginning There Was Rhythm” b/w “Where There’s a Will...” (Rough Trade) Miranda July With The Need, “Side B”, Margie Ruskie Stops Time (Kill Rock Stars) The Clash, “Radio Clash” This Is Radio Clash Chumbawamba, “Salomé (Let’s Twist Again),” Swingin’ with Raymond LP - - - TODD: PLEASANT LISTENING Pointed Sticks, “No Use for You,” Perfect Youth LP (Sudden Death) The Fur Coats, “The League of Extraordinary Octopuses,” The League of Extraordinary Octopuses LP (Johanns Face) The Men, “Buyer Beware,” Buyer Beware LP (Fuzz Club) Hedge Burners, “By Water,” Fell out of the Future LP(Legless)Laundry Bats, “Bizness,” Hangin’ on a String LP (Hozac) - - - MAL AND TODD MIX IT UP The Pretty Things, “Death of a Socialite,” Emotions LP (Fontana) The Box Tops, “The Letter” “The Letter” b/w “Neon Rainbow” (Bell) The 98% American Mom & Apple Pie 1929 Crash Band, “These Boots Are Made for Walkin’” Lee Hazlewood Presents The 98% American Mom & Apple Pie 1929 Crash Band (LHI) Natural Sway, “The Delaware Lightning Bug,” & the Squished Lilies LP - - - MAL Linton Kwesi Johnson, “Brain Smashing Dub” LKJ in Dub

In the 2000s, I relied heavily on my friends to discover and share music, whether we were trading CDs, burned discs, or VHS tapes. We were broke urban teenagers with limited transportation, strict parents, and a lot of boredom. Most of our parents hated the punk, metal, and rock music we listened to, which only made it feel more important to us. So when a fake cholo-pop-punk band released its debut album romanticizing the wealthy lifestyle, we weren’t easily convinced by the image they were selling. By then, we already had our own sense of identity, taste, and community. This podcast includes songs I’ve been listening to repeatedly over the past few months. Songs about joy, tears, nostalgia, and the battle to be authentic. Each song has struck a particular chord with me, capturing poignant, introspective, and resilient moments. Have fun! Tracklisting: Garland Jeffreys’s “96 Tears,” Escape Artist VICELORDS, “Bob Dylan Wrote Propaganda Songs” Split I, Christeen Thee (Self-release) Celtic Frost, “Mexican Radio” Into the Pandemonium (Noise) - - - Agression, “Locals Only,” The Best of Agression (Better Youth Organization) Saves The Day, “You Vandal,” Through Being Cool (Equal Vision) 7 Seconds, “Young ‘Til I Die,” The Crew (Trust) - - - Stars Don’t Mean Anything, “National Forest,” Fire is Beautiful (Self-release) Melvins, “Evil New War God,” The Bride Screamed Murder (Ipecac) Grudgepacker, “Animal” Animal(Vitriol) Descendants, “Rotting Out” Everything Sucks (Epitaph) Sapu Punk, “Toca mal o muere,” Curao, volao, y con bajón (Self-release) - - - The Ramones, “Danger Zone,” Too Tough to Die (Sire) Dead City, “Skidrow Creep” Out on Bail (Self-release) MERC, “Missing Since 1998,” No One Leaves This Room (No Time) OR ELSE, “At War with Myself” No Time For Fun Volume XII (Self-release) Fortuna Malvada, “Judas” Hate to Feel (Self-release) Chemical X, “Is this tomorrow?”Self-titled(Creep) Sordo, “Our Nations’ Finest” Sordo/Chulo (Self-release) Groin, “Puerquito Verde”Self-titled (No Time) Se Vende, “Wasting Life Naturally” How Much Trash Is Enough? (No Time) Back Fix, “Crack Rez Steady” Assimilation of the Nation (Self-release) - - - Tomar Control, “Una vez más” Frente al Miedo (Self-release) Sex Prisoner, “Los Cardinals” Cautionary Tale (To Live A Lie) Napalm Death, “You Suffer” Scum (Earache) Sudor Obrero, “No Me Mires a los Ojos,” Estamos en guerra (Bar Crew) - - - GG Allin & The Jabbers, “Don’t Talk To Me,” Always Was, Is and Always Shall Be (Halycon) Jan Bradley, “Mama Didn’t Lie” Chess Soul: A Decade of Chicago’s Finest (Chess)

Scene Reports: Prehistoric Sounds 1977-1988 Australian punk etc. An incomplete history Using old “Vaultage” articles from Artcore Fanzine as a starting point, this is the second episode of “Scene Reports” featuring the historical punk scenes of a variety of countries. This time we focus on Australia with 39 bands and songs taken straight from old vinyl. This is by no means an exhaustive collection of Australian punk, there are literally far too many to feature in 90 minutes. Tracklisting: The Rude Band, “I’m A Punk” The Saints, “This Perfect Day” Radio Birdman, “Aloha Steve And Danno” Razar, “Task Force (Undercover Cops)” The Victims, “Television Addict” Boys Next Door, “Masturbation Generation” X Ray Z, “Three Glorious Years” Thought Criminals, “Fun” The Chosen Few, “Do The Manic” The Press, “Alcoholic” X, “I Don’t Wanna Go Out” Fun Things, “(I Ain’t Got) Time Enough For Love” The Birthday Party, “Release The Bats” Celibate Rifles, “Let’s Get Married” The Lime Spiders, “Slave Girl” Mushroom Planet, “No More (Than I Need)” Vicious Circle, “Police Brutality” Depression, “What A Strange World” I Spit On Your Gravy, “Let’s Go Buy A Pizza” The Spikes, “No Friend Of Mine” Civil Dissident, “Death For A Buzz” Perdition, “I’m Laughing” Death Sentence, “Christian Fanatics” The Eastern Dark, “I Don’t Need The Reasons” The New Christs, “No Next Time” Seminal Rats, “Rat Race” Crucified Truth, “Lies” G.A.S.H., “World Turmoil” Arm The Insane, “Self Destruct” Cosmic Psychos, “Decadence” Permanent Damage, “The Brute” Hard Corpuscles, “Decide” Hard-Ons, “All Set To Go” Rocks, “Mental Blank” Condemned?, “Tidal-Wave” Hellmenn, “So Bad” Where’s The Pope?, “You Dick” Massappeal, “Rat In A Hole” Vanilla Chainsaws, “Everything”

Yeppers, another batch of punk and punk-adjacent songs with horns in them from multiple eras and approaches. One of us three knucklefucks has to like it. Science. Let’s see if this resonates. Instead of listing our blunders, miscues, and unsolved mysteries, Todd improvises the PSA in the style of Slayer, very much surprising Ethan and himself. So here’s your warning to keep your underwear clean. After the back listing of Todd’s song block, be prepared for some loud yelling and then gurgling. Art. Come for the horns. Leave for the metal karaoke. Oh, and there’s bonus commentary after the last song. Punk politics. –Todd

Scene Reports: Soundtrack for the Downfall: West German Hardcore Punk (Part 2) 1985-1989 Using old “Vaultage” articles from Artcore Fanzine as a starting point, this is the second episode of “Scene Reports” featuring the historical punk scenes of a variety of countries. This time we focus on West Germany in the second half of the 1980s. Thirty-three bands and songs taken straight from old vinyl. This is by no means an exhaustive collection of West German punk, there are literally far too many to feature in one hour.

I’m continuing the pattern I have for most of my podcasts: some newer songs (knitting, Quicksand, Dud, Converge) and also tunes that are stuck in my head and won’t let go (everything else). I hope you hear something you enjoy! –Kurt

You know the deal: punk and punk-adjacent songs that have horns, horn-like, or horn-synthesized sounds. It’s quite possible we’re both punch-drunk from getting hit in the head by the slides of trombones. Perhaps it’s that we know, in the distance, we found more rich veins of horn gold, but we’re still chipping at the granite of the episodes towards it. So, yeah, granted, we’re getting a little loose and all over the place with our commentary. These are the outstanding remarks and questions from this batch of songs. Direct quote, referring to the last episode’s artwork: “Poodle peen on the lipstick tip.” Fuck Vans for being totally cynical assholes or clueless dipshits for dragging Fugazi’s name into your culture branding. More like culture rustling, ya dopes. And death to all those false punk podcasts that take sponsorship money from Vans. Pick a pool to piss in: punk or exploitive corporations. No Gods, No Corporate Masters. Why did those middle school kids yell “potato” at us as what we assumed was an insult? This is a serious question. Contact us through the site if you know. “You hear that? Ding-ding-ding, another Ethan ringing endorsement,” when we both couldn’t remember the differentiation between one song we played and the next. “Professionalism for free.” Isn’t that a type of volunteerism? The benefit of having a searchable, unique band name, like Dead Beach Boys. Cave Pop. Is it real or just a marketing scheme? Listen to Cable Ties’ All Her Plans. In Todd’s mouth, “synth punk” came out as “Synth pump.”

Scene Reports: Sound track for the Downfall: West German Punk (Part1) 1980-1984 Using old “Vaultage” articles from Artcore Fanzine as a starting point, this is the second episode of “Scene Reports” featuring the historical punk scenes of a variety of countries. This time we focus on West Germany in the first half of the 1980s. Thirty-five bands and songs taken straight from old vinyl. This is by no means an exhaustive collection of West German punk, there are literally far too many to feature in one hour.

Yeppers. More punk and punk-adjacent songs with horns. And seriously, fuck the current Dickies. Since we’ve been doing laps on this track for a bit, we tend to go off on tangents when talking. Here’s the research to unanswered questions Ethan and Todd had after recording their talky bits. For all you Everybody Loves Raymond heads out there, the name of the documentary is called Exporting Raymond, which follows the series creator to Russia to help make a Russian-language version of the show, called Voronin’s Family. The show was an attempt to latch onto the crazy popularity of Everybody Loves Raymond in Russia. It didn’t go well. The Scud missile is one of a series of tactical ballistic missiles developed by the Soviet Union during the Cold War. It was exported worldwide, especially to the Middle East and the Global South. Thanks, neoliberalism and kill chains. More innocent people will be dying for decades to come. What are equines besides horses? Zebras and asses. Not Ethan and Todd type of asses, but those small, sturdy animals about three to five feet high at the shoulder. Chiapas, officially the Free and Sovereign State of Chiapas, is one of the states that make up the thirty-two federal entities of Mexico. The Zapatista (EZLN) movement operated in the tradition of a long line of peasant and indigenous uprisings that had occurred in the state since the colonial era. In early November 2023, a treaty was signed by rebel Subcomandante Moises and EZLN that announced the dissolution of the Rebel Zapatista Autonomous Municipalities due to cartel violence generated by the Sinaloa and Jalisco New Generation cartels and violent border clashes in Guatemala due to the increasing violence growing on the border. Our PSA this time around? Listen to Raw Power, not Funhouse. This episode is dedicated to the memory of Brick Wahl, Jon Wahl’s brother.