various artists - Bumped By Karaoke (Datapanik's Greatest Hits, Vol. II)

A roundup of your usual early 90s Columbus-area suspects makes up this second volume of Datapanik's greatest hits. There are tracks from TJSA, New Bomb Turks, and Gaunt. Girly Machine, Pica Huss, Greenhorn, and Monster Truck Five had all appeared on both early Datapanik 7" releases and the lovely "Shave The Baby" comp (you can download it here). But there are a number of shooting stars making an appearance here, with names like The Boy Scout Love Triangle, G-Spot Tornados, Stupid Fucking Hippie, and Appalachian Death Ride. Folks made some unfortunate choices when naming their bands in the late 80s and early 90s. Kyle Ryan is not impressed.

What's cool about this release? It's almost completely cuts exclusive to this record. The Turks' songs all appeared on "Destroy Oh Boy", although my untrained ear thinks these may be different recordings from that classic record. The Apartments offer a trio of recordings that were only available on a Datapanik promo-only record. And that's it; you won't find these songs anywhere else.

So start your weekend with a dash of trash. Break out a half rack of cheap domestic and turn this up load. Good luck with the neighbors.

Discogs

Click here to download.

various artists - Shave The Baby (Datapanik's Greatest Hits: Volume 1)

My old lady (with whom I celebrate 12 glorious [?] years today) attended grad school at THE Ohio State University, and is forever twisting my arm to relocate to Columbus, a place she describes as a promised land of inexpensive housing and Cincinnati chili. Personally, the Buckeye State always seemed like a place to dry through/fly over to me, but I find myself regularly drawn to Columbus's musical output, so maybe...just MAYBE, I should listen to her and start looking at packing up the family and heading back east.

Datapanik Records was a going concern for a handful of years in the late 80s and early 90s (with a welcome but sporadic return in the aughts), but they turned out some quality shit. Call it gunk punk or trash punk or garage, but their 15 or so 7" releases during that time are top to bottom qual-li-tee rock 'n' roll records. The New Bomb Turks, Gaunt, and Thomas Jefferson Slave Apartments are the big "names", although I'm pretty fond of Monster Truck Five's side of their split with TJSA. There's also an unlisted Great Plains track tacked onto the end, a welcome treat from a weirdo rock band that far too people remember.

In 1993, Datapanik and Engine (a division of Blackout! Records, doncha know?) put out the first of two compilations, gathering the first nine 7"s on the venerable label. There are a few things missing; Boys From Nowhere's tracks from their split with Two Hour Trip, one of Gaunt's cuts from the split with New Bomb Turks, probably something else I haven't figured out yet. You won't miss them. In fact, forget everything from that sentence. The comp is great, grand, terrific, a guaranteed wake & bake classic.

There's a second volume that Datapanik put out around the same time; it's in the mail, and I'll post it once it arrives.

Discogs

Click here to download.