Dear Friends,
What can I really say about yesterday that I haven’t already written over the last month. It was what it was and I’m glad that it is now done. Time passes. I will write about it this week, though, as I process my feelings more.
It was good to see everyone, though. That’s for sure. The family and Doug's friends came out to support us and remembered Doug fondly. I heard stories and feel embraced by some of the Maine folks in a way that I wasn't expecting. It was really nice and I am exhausted.
It’s very strange how quickly this last month has gone by. Major life changes will do that to a person, I suppose. Time is really just a man-made thing anyway, at least how we look at it. The more I learn about time, the more I learn that it is a tricky S.O.B.
What will be strange is heading back to Phoenix today without Rhondi and Dev and Bailey. That will be strange. I’m not sure that I will be feeling very good about it when we get on the plane later.
These are the types of Sunday thoughts I often have, though. What will happen? What will this week be like? What do I need to get done?
More like “Sunday Questions” but who gives a shit about the second word. Thoughts are often questions and answers are often pretty similar to questions to when you don’t know them. I should probably leave the philosophy alone today.
*****
Two weeks in Maine in October is not a terrible thing. I highly recommend it, actually. The trees were gorgeous, and the weather was really pretty darn great. Sure, it was cold, and I came home with a cough, but the dry air will zap that out of me. The trees, though…
I am going to miss them a lot. A man could get used to a place like this. I understand why Doug loved it so much.
*****
On a lighter note, during the two weeks in Maine, there was time to watch television. Bad Monkey is worthwhile if you like a good ‘cops and robbers’ story. I can go either way with Vince Vaughn (probably most people would agree with that), but he’s pretty great in this. The cast around him helps keep him in line and his penchant for loquaciousness is a running joke in the story. I recommend it.
We watched several movies, too. From the utterly silly Barb and Star Go To Vista Del Mar to the twists and turns of What You Wish For with Nick Stahl, and there was another one in there with Joseph Gordon-Levitt and Shailene Woodley called Killer Heat. We also watched Wolfs with George Clooney and Brad Pitt.
Kristen Wiig’s character in the Barb and Star movie is pretty ridiculous, but it is entertaining and the type of movie you can turn your brain off and enjoy. I’m not sure I would give it a hearty recommendation, but there are worse ways to spend your time (such as Jackpot! With John Cena and Awkwafina). There are at least a few laugh out loud moments in Barb and Star.
The Nick Stahl movie, What You Wish For, is definitely worth a watch. It is a slow burn at first and confusing but stick with it. It’s a low budget, straight to video kind of movie, but don’t hold that against it. There is some dark humor in there and a lot of hopelessness to grab onto along the way. Fun hopelessness, if that is any consolation.
Killer Heat is a fine way to pass some time but don’t expect much out of Shailene Woodley. She’s terrible. Gordon-Levitt is good, as usual, and it is kind of an interesting mystery, too. Any movie set in the Greek isles is cool with me. That’s a place on the planet I would love to go.
Wolfs is clever and the two mega-stars are charming and entertaining. It’s not a great film, by any stretch, but it will keep you interested. The kid who is in the bulk of the movie with them is pretty entertaining, too. Not sure what his name is and I’m not looking it up, but if you have seen it (or will), you know who I am talking about. Some good action sequences, too.
*****
I hope this weekend has been good for you, gentle reader.
*****
I’ve written about this one before. Back about eight years or so ago, I did a thing about the most influential punk records in Arizona history, and I mentioned This is Phoenix, Not the Circle Jerks during the introduction to the column. I gave it honorable mention as being number 11 on a list of ten records.
As I started to become part of the Phoenix punk rock scene, I kept hearing about This is Phoenix, Not the Circle Jerks. It became a kind of holy grail, too, as it was really hard to find in the record stores. Nobody seemed to want to cough up a copy of this record, so the first version I had was a dubbed cassette tape that an old girlfriend gave in 1985.
The way people talked about the record then was like it had been out forever, but it had only come up a year or so before I first had it. Time had a way of being funny in those days. Maybe this was because so much was happening so fast in Phoenix.
My friend, Tony, put this out on his label, Placebo, and it was kind of a playful jab at another famous comp at the time, This is Boston, Not L.A. There is a certain irony in that, too, for me at this point, but that’s another story. Tony told me that the Circle Jerks played in Phoenix a lot so he thought it would be cool to call the second Placebo comp, This is Phoenix, Not the Circle Jerks.
Side one starts off with the classic lineup of Mighty Sphincter with “Constrictions,” “Temple Dogs,” and “Beast of Belsen.” Of the three, I think “Temple Dogs” is the best one. This version of Mighty Sphincter was probably my favorite but I’m sure my late friend, Doug, would not be happy with me writing that. For a vampire, he was always looking at the most alive (and current) version of the band being the best. I loved that about him.
“Beast of Belsen” is fairly typical Sphincter of that time, as was “Constrictions.” Both songs are the hyper, jazzy death punk they should get more credit for creating. I wonder if they would have been the first band on the comp if Greg Hynes hadn’t been the drummer. Probably not.
Conflict (Tucson) was up next and “Who Will” is a monster of a punk rock song. I remember thinking that Conflict was the coolest band ever when I first heard that dubbed cassette. I also would have bet money that the singer of Conflict was a dude. The three songs were so powerful.
“See What I’ve Done” is another scorcher and so is “Feedback Symposium.” I am just dumbfounded every time I listen to these songs. They were so fucking good. If these songs came out right now, the kids would lose their minds.
After the absolute stunning three-song onslaught from Conflict, Solent Greene (spelled this way on record) was up. These are also some great punk rock songs. Way more raw than Conflict, but still fantastic. “Pledge” is a song that The Father Figures once covered when we played at our buddy Neil’s club. Neil was the drummer in Solent Greene, so we figured we would bust it out at a cool show we played there with Zany Guys. More on them later.
As a young’un, I was so bummed that I had missed out on Solent Greene and never got to see them play. I really liked the way they attacked a song. “Frank Discussion” is a pretty hilarious take down of the one-time Phoenix scene legend. Knowing Frank a little bit, I’m sure he was very pleased that he got immortalized in song, even if it was a diss track.
“Taxed” is another pretty standard, straight up punk rock song that reminds me what a vibrant scene we have often had in Phoenix. Lots of great examples of how make punk music and to draw strength from, plus there was a variety of styles and approaches to song structure, too. Listening to this music makes me proud of where I come from.
As I’ve gotten older, the way I appreciate the Zany Guys has shifted quite a bit. I thought they were the coolest when I was 15 years old. I would see Mark, who is an awesome dude, at Vans every so often and he was always super great to me. I heard their songs from the 45 as well as this comp and thought they were just the greatest.
There was a time, though, after playing in bands for a while where it occurred to me that Zany Guys were more of a pub rock/party band kind of thing which made them seem brilliant to me in a different way. They just had a ton of fucking fun. The songs on This is Phoenix, Not the Circle Jerks are not particularly great, but they are very, very fun.
“No Way Dude” is still a favorite of mine, though, for sure. I can remember feeling like I was the dude they were singing about as I first dipped my toe into the punk rock scene at Deer Valley High School. Some of those people were not very accepting, but that’s okay. I think they might accept me now and if they don’t, I could care less.
The Sun City Girls songs on This is Phoenix, Not the Circle Jerks have always just been kind of there for me. I prefer the songs on the other two Placebo comps, to be honest. I suppose the mash up of “Hit Man Boy/Rappin' Head” is pretty cool. I prefer Sun City Girls records at this point in my life to small doses like this.
JFA adds two songs to the comp to help it finish strong. This was clever of Tony to do and probably made sure a lot of people heard Zany Guys and Sun City Girls to get to the JFA stuff. “Standin on the Verge” and “Do the Hannigan” are both songs that could get a corpse moving, so they are worth the wait.
Overall, this is one of my favorite Phoenix (and Tucson) records. It helped shape me, back in the day, and made me want to be in band that got to be on Placebo compilations. I have to believe that if they would have continued to be made, I would be on at least a few.
*****
See you tomorrow.
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