FROM THE LAND FAR AWAY FROM OKI-DOG

Time to clear out the ol' ear canals. Flipper's "Sex Bomb". Yeah baby. It might not have the same punch as it did back in the day. But, man, the first time I heard it was like a revelation. A record could be intellectually barren but still physically felt. It came out in 1981, right on the tail end of the late seventies punk rock era. Hardcore was big, but no one yet knew what would be next. Flipper was not hardcore. They weren't punk rock, or they were punk rock to the extreme. Think about it. Take, for instance, the Ramones. They dumbed it down by reducing the amount of chords to three, eliminating solos and having lyrics that were, well, stupid. Structurally, the songs were good, and volume helped. That said, they were like a metalflake paint job to Flipper's primer gray. Flipper took what the Ramones (and the Stooges, and...) did and took a dump on it. A sloppy, grinding monotonous dirge with hardly any lyrics ("Sex Bomb" has only seven words in it). The only things that really resemble regular rock 'n' roll is that there are guitars bass and drums, there is volume, and it is repellent to some. But that's way over-thinking it. Flipper's like eating jalapeno peppers with your ears.

A post over at Primitive Offerings has a zip of thirteen songs, including their first two 45's and five live cuts. The original 45 version of "Sex Bomb" is in the mix, and also below as a YouTube link if you're on the fence. And "Ever" is down there just because I had a link to it.

~ NOTE: ALL MEDIA IS HOSTED BY THE BLOGS & SITES NAMED BELOW ~

Listen:
Flipper - Sex Bomb (original 45 version) (streaming) at YouTube
Flipper - Ever mp3 at 30 Milkshakes
Flipper - Sex Bomb Baby compilation at Primitive Offerings 13 song zip

BAND PHOTO

There's a select subset of old farts like me that could not pick a member of Flipper from a police line up if their life depended on it, despite having heard their music for decades. They're not that kind of band. But I guarantee you that all of them, the select subset of old farts, have a visceral reaction when they see that logo above. Instantly recognizable and easy to duplicate or borrow from, as demonstrated by the below customization of my younger brother's Falcon. The lettering on the rear fender says "Body by Flipper".

So, tonight after tripping over a post with Flipper's "Ever", I went looking for an image of their logo. I ran into the photo below. Nope, never seen 'em. Despite the fact that I've seen the band live, none look familiar now, years later. Oh yeah, but that logo. I could probably draw that in my sleep.

~ NOTE: ALL MEDIA IS HOSTED BY THE BLOGS & SITES NAMED BELOW ~ 

Listen:
Flipper - Ever mp3 at 30 Milkshakes 

HOWDY NEIGHBOR!

Oh yeah, annoying the neighbors. That was, at my partying peak, a habit of mine. I seem to remember that much. Though I don't remember it being intentional, it very will may have. If it was a weekend, I'd just let it rip. Had to, there was almost always a handful of beer drinkers over, whether there were plans for later or not. As I said in the last post, the Germs and Flipper were standbys for those sort of asshole nights. Cuttin' loose, neighbors be damned.

Flipper's "Sex Bomb", the 45 version, was the go-to when things got loud. I couldn't find an mp3, so it's YouTube only for that, but you do need to hear it. I did find the flip, "Brainwash" on an old post at Bleedin' Out that also had Anarchy 6 (Redd Kross) and Teengenerate. If you'd like some visuals check the two videos. The one above is a 1983 performance by Einstürzende Neubauten. It's a healthy racket, I tell you. As long as we're on this FTW tack, there's another link below to a demolition derby with cars pulling trailers. Total destruction. Basho dominates.

~ NOTE: ALL MEDIA IS HOSTED BY THE BLOGS & SITES NAMED BELOW ~

Listen:
Flipper - Sex Bomb (streaming) at YouTube
Flipper - Brainwash mp3 (via Box, download button, top right) at Bleeding Out Go there for Redd Kross, Teengenerate and a few others.
Video:
Banger Caravan Racing, Ipswich at YouTube Demolition derby, a solid Revel Skill Level 2

DEMOLITION DERBY ROCK

After spending an hour of watching videos of demolition derby races, which I might add was an excellent use of time, I went in search of a soundtrack. My first thought was Flipper's "Sex Bomb", but that was too easy. Maybe okay for regular demolition derbies, but I'd been watching demolition derbies with large vans and buses, and the harder stuff, caravan races with trailers. Those were the best. Total vehicular carnage. Like a chain fight on wheels. Nope, I needed something less obvious than "Sex Bomb". Let's see what Sonic Youth has cooking. Contrary to my usual method of finding music, I headed straight to their official site.

What's this? A new Sonic Youth LP of unreleased instrumental demos from '86? Okay, I sampled one song and it might as well have been Eno for what I needed. Stopped long enough to check out their mp3 page, and there's some interesting stuff. Their first release, backwards. Okay, but that still doesn't say "smash 'em up" to me. On to the live stuff. Quite a bit of feedback and what have you. Ordinarily that would have claimed more of my time. Really, it's the take away for tonight if you haven't been watching demolition derby videos. But, I was on a mission, and that was to find something that captured the intensity of the playful, stupid as brilliant, destruction I'd seen. I just cut to the chase and watched Einstürzende Neubauten, circa 1983. Yeah, early. It did more than hit the spot. Smashed it all to hell.

~ NOTE: ALL MEDIA IS HOSTED BY THE BLOGS & SITES NAMED BELOW ~

Listen:
Flipper - Sex Bomb mp3 at Sergey Khabaroff's Holiday Songs (?)
Sonic Youth - Eric's Trip (Live 1990) mp3 at Sonic Youth
Sonic Youth - Theme with Noise (streaming) at Spinhead Sessions
Sonic Youth - More mp3s at Sonic Youth Some good stuff 
Video:
Einstürzende Neubauten - Autobahn at Vimeo 1983

OLD TIMEY HOUR

I just needed to clean out the ol' ear canals. I could have walked to the Bat Cave and grabbed a Q-Tip, but it was far easier to revisit Flipper's second 45 "Sex Bomb" from the comfort of my dilapidated office chair. I remember hearing it for the first time. My buddy Bill, who had been living in Berkeley, brought it home with him, and couldn't stop chuckling as he put it on. This is the same guy that blasted John Lennon and Yoko Ono's Life With The Lions, a totally abrasive affair, while watching The Loves of Hercules on TV, while his sister was attempting to neck with a sailor on the family couch. He appreciated unusual juxtapositions. Depending on what side of the gettin' chummy fence you were on, he was a total buzz kill, or a laugh riot.

Admittedly, this might be a case of you had to be there, but "Sex Bomb" was one piece of work, iconic in terms of a recorded fuck it all statement. There is no pretense of anything that makes sense. A simple bass line, grinding chords, lyrics that consist of about seven words, a slide whistle and a car crash just for good measure. (Bill was particularly fond of the "Woo!" right after the car crash.) It is liberating in it's total abandonment of anything proper. And it still sounds good.

Here's the original 45 version, and the flip, "Brainwash" which could be alternatively titled "Brain Fart" because that's what it basically is. There's also a link to Lennon and Ono's Life With the Lions, the entire album, streaming at YouTube. I encourage you to listen to the first couple minutes.  Try to figure out why Bill's sister didn't just fucking clobber him. Her and the sailor didn't flinch. She was a strong woman. She out mind-fucked her arrogant kid brother.

~ NOTE: ALL MEDIA IS HOSTED BY THE BLOGS & SITES NAMED BELOW ~

Listen:
Flipper - Sex Bomb (original 45 version) mp3 at Little Mike's
Flipper - Brainwash (the flip) mp3 (via Box.com) at Bleeding Out 
John Lennon and Yoko Ono - Life With the Lions LP (streaming) at YouTube Entire album. In case you're wondering, I made it through the first seven minutes. That was reminder enough. But bookmark it.
Visit: 
Sex Bomb - A blog that collects versions of the handmade "Sex Bomb" 45 sleeves. Someone had to do it.

NOW GET READY FOR THE REAL WORLD

If you have kids, or know kids, who have that tough guy attitude, think that an outfit, a little ink and a goofy haircut makes the cooler than shit, and you're ready to slap 'em upside the head, there is hope. You don't have to resort to physical violence, just try a little aural assault. Let Flipper help. Yeah, Flipper. How to best describe Flipper? You know how it is when you go swimming and you get out of the water, and you just can't help yourself; you just have to do the do the one nostril snot rocket? That's what Flipper can do for someone who's had too much, well...(for lack of a better term) pussy music..

Flipper is back at it, with a new studio album, "Love", an upcoming live album "Fight", and a recently reissued back catalog. Of course, there are those who might say that Flipper's been going downhill since the release of their second 45, "Sex Bomb" a quarter century ago. I, too, was dismayed when it appeared on their first LP, Generic Flipper, with saxophone and no car crash. But you know what? Even the mellowest Flipper has the requisite dirge to do the job.

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Here's Flipper's latest, "Be Good" (which has Bruce Loose sounding almost like John Denny) and their opus, the original version of Sex Bomb. (The yelp right after the car crash at 4:14 still has me in stitches...)

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Flipper - Be Good mp3 at MBV Music
Flipper - Sex Bomb mp3 at Lil Mike's [Pop-up filled] Last Known Thoughts
Flipper's Official Site

Stop. I'm just finding this out.

On September 19, Moby played with Flipper. Yet the earth continues to rotate.
Check your disaster kits now.