Dear Friends,
Dogs are the best, except when they are dicks. Even then, you can usually figure out a way to empathize with them or you realize they are dicks because their owners are also dicks. I’ve been blessed to know a lot of good dogs.
Having good dogs in your life is a good thing. I wish I could say the same about cats, but cats are assholes and very few of them are consistently delightful. I know a lot of delightful dogs, though, who are consistent in their awesomeness.
I don’t really know why this is a good thought for a Monday.
*****
Yesterday I took a good first step toward getting the rest of the site up to date. I have a long way to go, but all of the records I have written about through the end of April are available on the monthly record pages. I’ll knock out May today, if at all possible, then move on to June tomorrow, and get caught up by Wednesday.
Life was really busy back in Phoenix and will be again, but I’m getting more and more organized each day. I will have to be in order to do all the things I want to do during the rest of this year.
I have goals.
*****
One of my new goals is to build a new website. I’m not ready to let the cat out of the bag just yet (pesky, asshole cats), but I will share soon enough. It will probably have a lot of impact on how ergonomic mischief operates in 2025, but not in a bad way.
*****
We saw The Fall Guy at the Rangeley Movie Theater last night. It was a pretty fun movie. There were a couple of draggy bits for me, but overall, I enjoyed the heck out of it. You have to think about some of the humor, which I’m not opposed to doing, and the actin sequences were excellent. I’d recommend it to most people.
*****
I love a good compilation for obvious reasons. Without intending to repeat myself (but I am sure I am), I have to point out that a good compilation gives you access to a few (or a lot of) good bands in one place. As someone who watched his music dollars closely for the vast majority of my life, a good compilation was excellent bang for the buck.
This one was a bit of a score when I found the cassette of it, then later the CD, and even later, thanks to my friend, Jason, the vinyl. I have the triumvirate which makes me cooler than most (not really) and allowed me to feel a sense of musical completion (doesn’t exist). I’m talking about God’s Favorite Dog, of course, a compilation featuring six noisy bands.
Led by the Butthole Surfers and Big Black, God’s Favorite Dog features the same six bands on each side. Scratch Acid, Happy Flowers, Killdozer, and Hose join the fun, too. Touch & Go Records put this out in 1986 and knowing that chaps my hide a bit. I could have been enjoying this a lot sooner than I did.
Two songs each from each of these bands and the order is reversed on the “God” side and the “Dog” side, so the Surfers start the fun on the “God” side and end it on the “Dog.” On the CD, you get Big Black back-to-back with two songs that, I believe, were not released anywhere else and that’s never terrible.
As a former Butthole Surfers completist, I had to have this comp because it featured my favorite band. The two Surfers’ songs are great, too. “Eindhoven Chicken Masque” and “The Legless Eye” are both excellent and at that time, weren’t available anywhere else. I’m curious is Touch & Go still own these tracks or if the Surfers got them back when their catalog was released.
Either way, I wasn’t disappointed at all in my purchase. “Eindhoven Chicken Masque” was a treat to my ears when I first heard it and then the comp stays strong through the “God” side. The weakest moment is Happy Flowers’ “Colors In the Rain” and that isn’t a jab at them at all. By itself, it is a fun bit of noisiness but compared to the other tracks, it doesn’t have a whole lot to offer.
Hose’s rendition of “Down By The River” is fun and the Scratch Acid offering, “The Final Kiss” is typically amazing. I really love Scratch Acid a lot. It’s short and to the point, but “The Final Kiss” packs a punch.
Killdozer offers “Sweet Home Alabama” which is great fun, too. Those guys knew their way around doing awesome covers and making them their own. The last song is Big Black’s “Every Man For Himself.” Hot damn, it’s one of the best songs of theirs in my book. Dave Riley’s bass line is fucking killer.
The “Dog” side, as mentioned, starts with Big Black slogging through “Crack Up.” This one is not as much of a barn burner as “Every Man For Himself,” but it’s still very good and you can’t hear it anywhere else on vinyl or CD.
Speaking of the CD, I can’t find a listing for the CD on Discogs, but I have one. Could it be a bootleg of some kind, I wonder? If it is a bootleg, they did a great job.
Happy Flowers are back for another noisy one then Hose does a Led Zeppelin cover, “How Many More Times.” It’s okay, I suppose. I think both of these bands are pretty darn forgettable. Rick Rubin, yes, that Rick Rubin, was a member of Hose. That’s their claim to fame.
Luckily, the “Dog” side ends super strong with “Holes” by Scratch Acid, “Sonnet” by Killdozer, and “The Legless Eye” by the Butthole Surfers. The Scratch Acid track just cements the greatness of Rey Washam’s drums. David Yow is his usual self, too. Super good and tasty, for sure.
“Sonnet” is a really wonderful Killdozer effort. I particularly like the riff a lot. The lyrics are quite visual, too. Michael Gerald can really paint a picture, too. Also, I was today years old when I learned that Butch Vig recorded this track for them. Go figure…but it makes sense.
“The Legless Eye” is another great Surfers’ song. It kind of reminds me of songs from Locust Abortion Technician or Rembrandt Pussyhorse. It’s creepy and super haunting with all kinds of weird noises that are meant to make you feel a bit uneasy, especially if you were on some kind of hallucinogen at the time. Headphones in the dark would be the way to go.
*****
See you tomorrow.
The Fonzie of Dogs by AI
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