THE NOISE ROCK

A lot of times now I have mentioned that I “grew up on noise-rock”, and some people mentioned to me, that they ain’t exactly sure, what I am talking about. Well, I am talking about a few years in the late eighties, early nineties that were especially formative in my biography. I won’t make the common mistake of thinking that “the music of my time” is the best music ever made. Y’know, lotsa people are of that opinion regarding the music they heard in their adolescence. There is an old Radio DJ in Austria, who says that about jazz and swing from the Thirties that he collects on 78’s. (If you have no idea what a 78 might be, forget the remark.) My parents tell me the same thing about early Rolling Stones and the McCoys and other beat bands. People of my age tell me the same thing about 80ies-Popmusic (and I know that this ain’t true). Well, anyway, what I wanted to do, was to write together some facts and opinions (my opinions, obviously) about what is “noise-rock” in my book. So, here we go, the most important stations of my “noise-rocked-life”.

Or did you ask, why a FAQ? Well, I have to admit, that I tried writing a piece called “a short history of noise-rock”, but after a few hours I realised, that I had started writing a book. As if this part of musical history was so important to me, that I couldn’t make it “short”. And a FAQ is usually a nice alternative (say: excuse) to writing a structured essay on musical history.

· What is “noise rock”?

I’ll try a definition. Noise-rock is heavy on distorted guitars, doesn’t care for musical structures in any traditional sense, is aggressive and loud and heavy and doesn’t give a shit. Usually, the bands don’t use costumes and as far as I can see there is no definite political message or message at all. Noise-rock is the perfect soundtrack to the last breath of the atomic-scare, the cold war and the no-future-generation. The music of a generation that grew up knowing, that things are gonna get worse, and their reaction was cranking their amps higher up than ever before. There is no ostensive use of drugs or shock-elements, the musicians look plain and common, like the guy from next door. And really, the guy next door might just be the bass-player in one of the loudest, nosiest, raudiest bands you have ever heard and never understood.

There is another thing that noise rock bands in my definition have in common: a certain uglyness, that permeated from the music to the musicians (or vice versa, I am not sure). I mean, it could be regarded as that older brother of punkrock that was always stuck to the couch, beer in hand, tussled hair, staring holes into the walls, when you came round to visit some pop-punk or other teenage rebell. That older brother was 5 to 7 years older, worked at the garage or body shop downtown and you just knew that just as innocent as punk-boy is, that noise rock dude is really dangerous. It is a grow up versus teenage-dom thing. They guy could be your best buddy if you knew him and he accepted you, but he would also kick your butt if you got out to annoy him.

This is what Paul Sanders, guitarist for Hammerhead (who recorded for AmRep among others) told me about noise rock: "I remember some times when I felt like when we played it was like surfing a big sonic wave. That's the feeling I associate with "noise". When it worked, it was transcendent. When it didn't, it was just difficult and annoying."

· Why did noise-rock never strike it big?

Well, my guess would be the ordinariness of the bands and musicians. No star-potential here. No dress-up, attitude-contest or queen-bitching. The best known band might be Sonic Youth and they ain’t noise-rock in my book. There was also no appeal to the most important record-buying-target group: 12 to 16 year old boys and girls. These bands were too dirty and ugly for the girls and too uncool and weird for the boys. There are a hundred more bands, that you might have heard of and a million you will never hear about. Some of them will be mentioned later on.

After all, to the A&R guys from the big labels the Noise-Rock-trend was just too ugly, loud and challenging to the audience to pay due to the balance sheets and marketing trend prognosis they have to give their department heads and chief accounting officers. These songs would never be played as background for a Volkswagen commercial. Fortunately so, I'd like to add, because even though some of these bands mentioned in here could definitely clear any room within a few minutes, those who remained did so for an unbelievable great experience.

· What about Grunge?

Exactly, what about it? Nothing much. They were around at the same time for some time, shared some basic principles (like not wanting to sound like metal bands and not wearing glam and glitter clothes) and even though there are some bands that wandered the borders of both genres, like Unholy Swill, Action Swingers or Gravel, noise rock never was hyped by major labels and the whole marketing industry as Grunge was. At least, I never saw a "how to dress like a noise-rocker"-segment in one of those teenie-popper magazines. The good thing about this inbalance of major business interest was, that all the phoney rock star wannabees left their hair metal bands and moved from LA to Seattle and not to Chicago. Nowadays what's left of those phoney pyjama rockers is married to Carmen Electra, which goes to show that holding out counts for something in the long run. Probably. Noiserock was something like the evil older sister of Grunge. The one with the bad tatoos, the hair on her feet and the smell of beer and sex all around her. Of course you are drawn and intimidated by her, when you go to pick up her little sister for a date, because you know if you would be able to work up the guts to go out with her, she'd go all the way with you without second thoughts. Unlike that little sister that always acts all princessy. Back to the music: In my time I saw a lot of great grunge bands (Nirvana, Urge Overkill, Afghan Whigs, SkinYard, ...) and they were quite good. That was a great time. When Swallow played "Knockin' on heaven's door" that burned the house down (as documented on the "From twisted minds come..."-compilation on Noiseville Records.

· Who are the earliest noise-rockers?

The earliest noise-rock-song has to be DEAN CARTER’s rendition of “Jailhouse rock” from the Fifties. Dean Carter not only gets all the words wrong, he also plays the most spastic guitar-solo (bottlenecking on a Dobro-no less) that you have ever heard. But this piece is also the wildest and most uninhibited version of that classic rock’n’roll-track you’ll ever hear. Dean Carter lets it all out, no bars held. (I have that song on the compilation “Born Bad Vol. Six. Check it out.)

Of course, the first noise-rock-band in the proper sense has to be THE SONICS. You’ll know the classics: “Strychnine”, “Psycho”, “The Witch” and all the others. These young dudes took special care of cranking their amps and playing as fast and wild as they can. Which also makes them one of the earliest and most important grandfathers of punkrock. But the way the keep pounding their style through every song they play or cover, makes them specially noteworthy in the field of noise-rock.

Another mention has to go to LINK WRAY, one of the best and wildest surf-guitarists and the first musician known to punch holes in his speakers with a screwdriver to make them sound better. He is also rumoured to have invented the fuzz-guitar – when one of his speakers blew up during a show. RiP.

· When did it all start? What happened between the Fifties and the Eighties?

Nothing really, in regard to noise-rock as defined above. Lets skip punkrock and new wave and industrial and whatever might have come in between, because punk ain’t rock and with all the other genres, the electric guitar wasn’t as important as the keyboards were. Surely, there were Throbbing Gristle and all the other industrial bands, who did a lot in the fields of deconstructing music, making noise acceptable as a musical tool. But did they rock? Really rock? I don’t think so. On the other hand, I am no musical authority, so I might not know about some unknown, freak-band that made a few records somewhere in the highlands of Scotland, that might (or might not) be classified as noise-rock nowadays. Who might be called Head of David or Headcleaner or something stupid like that. How the hell should I know? I am talking about my time here. The time I know about. If you want to know more, you should better of asked John Peel, because he knew everything.

Maybe noise-rock started when a young man called Tom Hazelmayer founded a label called Amphetamine Reptile Records to promote a band called Halo of Flies. Maybe it started when three young man and a drum machine came together in Chicago with a plan to make it all by themselves and to go where no man has gone before under the name of Big Black. Maybe it started in San Francisco when a young three-piece band called the Melvins started to experiment in the mixture of slow and heavy. Maybe it is somewhere else, and it really started with some small label, some young band, some guy or gurl, some place or maybe all of that together. Since I grew up on another continent, in a small country with really not a lot of means and no structures to obtain music (not as easily as today, but thank heavens for that time to be over), I am really no authority to tell you. I can only tell you what I experienced and this here might give you a clue.

· What about Amphetamine Reptile Records, the God Bullies, the Cows and Love 666?

Amphetamine Reptile Records closed it’s business in 2001 after letting run out their last contracts with the last bands, because their time was over. Or so, says Tom Hazelmayer, who ran the label from beginning to end. Unfortunately so, because he surely had the most raudiest, rawest and craziest noise-bands, in the most narrow sense of the word on his label. I mean, he had "noise" written in large letters right behind his logo. There you go. If you don't believe me, check out this old flyer from their European partners, Glitterhouse, available here.

The most important might be THE COWS from Minneapolis and THE GOD BULLIES from Michigan. Bass-driven, weird as fuck, straight from the woods and loud as hell noise-rock, that would fuzz out any room out there. Both bands released a flurry of records, toured violently and left a mark on everybody who ever came in touch with them. If you’d ask me today what noise-rock is, I’d mention these two bands, because they are right at the centre of the noise-rock-universe.

The albums “Daddy has a tail” by the COWS and “mama womb womb” by the GOD BULLIES made 1989 a special year. Amidst the first waves of Grunge-rock, and AmRep was distributed in Europe by Glitterhouse-records (along with Sub Pop) and promoted by the Howl-Zine who both became big and important during the grunge-hype (before changing over to alternative Country in the late Nineties), these two records somehow slipped in between Mudhoney, The Fluid, Tad and all the other early grunge-rockers. You couldn’t shake your long hair to these pounding, ugly and twisted songs. The God Bullies used lyrics by Georg Büchner’s “Woyzeck” on one of their songs.

The Cows pissed blood and vinegar and had a guitar-player called Thor Eisentraeger. I kid you not. The bass-player was Kevin Rutmanis, who later on joined the Melvins (see below). Listening back to these records today, they have lost nothing of their weirdness and noise. Classics, no less.

There were other weirdoes on AmRep as well. Helios Creed, former guitarist of space-rockers Chrome, found a home there as well as proto-emo-core Chokebore and of course the Melvins (more on them later on). The Satanist-epic-noise-metal-outfit Today is the day (now on Relapse-Records) made its first steps there as did Helmet. Some bands were, looking back, not so remarkable, but there and then made up the core of what noise-rock was supposed to be. Names like Hammerhead, Vertigo, Tar, Janitor Joe, Guzzard or Surgery come to mind, but you better check out the discography on the AmRep-homepage if you are really interested in them. As a last remark, I will never forget the concert by a band called LOVE 666. Not only because it was one of the first interviews we ever did, but because they decided on playing “free music” a few days before they hit Vienna. Their record “American Revolution” still has to be the most overmodulated piece of music ever pressed into vinyl. That bass boomed your speakers right into nirvana, but it was still basic rock-music (well, not really). But live, they just played whatever came to their minds, which means an endless flurry of white noise, fuzz, screeches, riffs and screaming. I remember the keyboarder asking “did you hear my Steppenwolf-medley?” Nobody did, believe me.

After AmRep started to go down, some of those bands found a home at other labels, sadly lacking the spirit and vengeance AmRep had for 'em, but most fell apart with the label. What a pity.

http://www.amphetaminereptile.com

· What a bout Steve Albini and Big Black?

Big Black (Steve on the right)

The story of Big Black is the story of Steve Albini, Dave Riley and Santiago Durango (and a Roland-Drum machine), who set out to play whatever the heck they wanted, where- and whenever it suited them and solely on their own terms. The combined the complete control-aspect with musical adventurousness rarely ever found in underground music. Big Black released four EPs, two full albums and a live-recording as well as three seven inches. If you never heard anything from them, I’d advise you to get their live recording alternating called “Pigpile”; “It’s toasted” or “strike anywhere” and listen to the song “Cables”. The song starts with some guitar-crunching by Steve Albini in the unmistakable, impeccable and uncopyable style of his and will tell you everything you need to know about Big Black. If it doesn’t just wait until they break into the song itself. Imagine 30.000 watts of PA blowing your brains out from behind and you are banging away on a weirdly distorted guitar while a few thousand people scream in agony and ecstasy. The pounding bass, the drum-machine puckering away, the deeply cynical and angry lyrics and of course the distorted clinker-clanker of Albini’s guitar. If you want to check out something else, get their album “songs about fucking”, worthy for the title alone. Actually, get all of their records. To mention their style of humour, I’ll hit at one of their 7”es, where they cover “Model” (by Kraftwerk) and “He’s a whore” by Big Black. Or just read their record-inlays, that’ll give you an idea of their no-shits-attitude.

You might have heard the name of Steve Albini around here as well. Sure you did. After Big Black broke up, Steve Albini played in a band called Rapeman and later on formed Shellac with Todd Trainer and Robert Weston IV. And Shellac was one of the bands that made me start writing and producing fanzines. So, they’d deserve a lot more space than this here, but I will do this some other time some other place. Just some more basic facts on the man, I gave the nickname “god” when I was younger. Steve Albini might be the only guy alive, who knows all the technical features of magnetic tape-types and microphones by heart. He taught himself the art of engineering records, built himself a studio in his basement and became one of the best known engineers (he frowns at being called a producer) in music business simply by being obnoxiously stubborn and individualist, following his own path and by demanding ridiculously high salaries for recording major-label-bands (such as Nirvana) while still working with small, unknown bands for little money (such as Valina from Linz).

· Who is the best noise-rock-band around?

Let’s refine the question: who is the best band around? Simple: The Melvins. Straight from San Francisco, the Melvins started out with a bunch of indefinable, slow and heavy records. Somehow they were punched together with another cool band in the first months (maybe because they were on the same label and toured together): Steelpole Bathtub. But SPBT didn’t last that long, while the MELVINS are still an important part of the music scene, still pounding on their individuality, weirdness and artistical integrity. (As their three-piece-CD on IPECAC proved.) In these years they defined slow and heavy. I remember an interview with King Buzzo, where he said something in the line of: “We just play Kiss-riffs, only much much slower”. Then they released solo-EPs in the same layout as the Kiss-Solo-albums and those contained weird instrumentals, noises and some guitar-doodling.

The Melvins were never easily categorized, and as soon as you thought you had them fixed, they went and did something unexpected, which might be “pure digital silence” or a rocking record on a major label. Today, their work is so vast and big, that categorization has become useless and no matter at all anymore. They have become their own category. To me, their album from 1993 “Houdini” (on AmRep) remains my favourite, because “hooch”, the first song on that one, haunted me for weeks and weeks with its pure and straight weirdness and incomprehensibility .Moreover, Kurt Cobain plays some guitar on a song called “Sky Pup” on that record and if you remember along with me, if somebody asked ol’ Kurt who he thought the best band on earth was, he’d say “Melvins”. (Okay, later on he also said “meat Puppets” or “Earth”, but what the heck, he was a junky anyway.) Actually, Cobain started out producing and recording that record, but due to his heroin habit being so strong, King Butzo asked the record company to send someone else around. Interestingly, in an interview I read lately, King Buzzo names "Houdini" as the one album he is the most unhappy with. So they recorded the whole record new in a sort of live setting. Figure it out yourself...

The Melvins are, of course, still around and ever will be. (Hopefully.) Take a look at what they are doing in their exhaustive discography. Currently they are on Ipecac Records.

www.melvins.com

· Where do you recommend me to start checking out noise rock?

Right here and right now. You are currently surfing the internet, so why not try to download some of the stuff mentioned here, but remember to buy the records off the artists or labels if you like them. If you are more the adventerous type you might want to get out of your rooms into the wide open world and try to hunt down the "Ugly American Overkill"-compilation that was released on Amphetamine Reptile and features the God Bullies, Helmet (when they were still good), Cows, Surgery, Helios Creed, Boss Hog, Tar, Vertigo and one or two others. That'll probably teach you all you need to know. Next you might want to try and find the "Camp Skingraft"-triple CD compilation released by, well, Skin Graft, which has everything else you need. If you get lucky in the second hand record stores you might be able to hunt down the "God's favorite Dog" compilation that was released by Skin Graft, which, though being more in a distorted Noise Direction (with the Happy Flowers, Big Black and all), but has Killdozer doing a coverversion of "Sweet Home Alabama". Now if that ain't great, I don't know either.

· What about that label Skin Graft?

Skin Graft is important for two reasons: releasing records by the weirdest noise-rock-bands from all over the globe and for comics. Yup, Skin Graft actually is a comic-label that started releasing records to accompany seven inches. There are also two qualitative reasons: Skin Graft has consistently made incredibly beautiful and unbelievable artwork for their records and they always took stupid ideas to their most extreme. Take for example the first LP by Melt Banana, that came in a pre-fabricated green plastic-bag. Or the first LP by US Maple that was encased in aluminium. Or the AC/DC-tribute single-series, where bands like Zeni Geva, Palace Music, Shellac, Brise Glace and many others covered AC/DC-songs. And who would release records by extraordinary adult puppet players Flossie and the Unicorn? Who brought the Flying Luttenbachers to Europe? No one else but Skin Graft. A small but very dedicated label, with their very own artistical vision – beautifully engraved in the comics and artwork of each record.

Mark Fischer, remaining founder of the label, lives in Vienna now. You can get their records via Trost. (Had to say that.) Why do you move from Chicago to Vienna? It has to be love. And after a short hiatus the label is back on tracks again. As consequently crazy as ever.

http://www.skingraftrecords.com

· What about that label Touch & Go?

Touch & Go was one of the most important labels around in the late 80ies / early 90ies. It was never a pure Noiserock-label, though, albeit Killdozer having released most of their oeuvre there. And the Butthole Surfers before they went all major label shitty. And of course Jesus Lizard probably were the best fucking band ever, but then Touch & Go went strongly into this direction where undistracted noiserock was mixed with blues (Laughing Hyeanas, Jesus Lizard) or all the way punkrock (Didjits) or just way groovy (Girls against Boys), to name but a few. I recommend you to check everything out they ever released, especially the early stuff, but there is only some noiserock, but hey we don't want to be to block-minded, do we? Think about it, this label had Killdozer (slow and growling) as well as The Didjits (fast and yelping) on their roster, which is a lot like the most extreme opposite of bands you can find. Oh yes, and they still release decent records.

www.tgrec.com

· What about US Maple?

US Maple in the Sang Phat Editor-phase

US Maple is the weirdest band I have ever heard. And I hold it to myself, that I have heard a lot. In the words of my wife: “They are like children who can’t play at all.” Answers Al Johnson, singer of US Maple: “She got it.” But really, what they do is deconstructing rock, but so consistently and thoroughly that nothing remains. They covered Dion’s “The Wanderer” once, and nobody recognised the song when I played it to them. The guitars (one high and one low) jangle away in different directions, while the drums pound away steadily but in all disoriented rhythms. And the singer, well he whiffs and does strange noises that are supposed to be the lyrics. On a concert you can see people dancing, but all of them to different songs and rhythms. Its disorienting to say the least. And that is what is so good about them. US Maple have released four albums up to now, the first two on Skin Graft and the other two on Drag City, and even though they have become easier and more commercial during the years, they are still far from accessible or playable to your romantic interest.

Some more interesting facts: Pre-US Maple bands included Shorty, Mount Shasta and The Mercury Players. Of course, they are from Chicago. Al Johnson played a bit part in the movie “Hi Fidelity” with John Cusack; he plays a record geek who the store-clerks don’t sell a record to. Yep, they do drugs.

· What about Japan Noise?

Japan Noise is a funny construction, because it used to encapsulate everything from Japan that went out of the ordinary. So there were pure white-noise-artists, who electronically produced masses of noise-walls without any structure but hypnotic and excessive enough to make me listen to. This included Merzbow, Masonna, Aube, Keiji Haino and others. Then the term included progressive artsy free-jazz musicians such as the Ruins, Ground Zero or lots of projects with Tatsuya Yoshida.

Then there were noise-rock-bands in my definition here, such as the mighty Zeni Geva, The Space Streakings, The Boredoms or Melt Banana. And of course all these people went over these boundaries, so KK Null, the main head of Zeni Geva released pure-noise-records.Yamatsuka Eye from the Boredoms did a lot of artsy-stuff and Keiji Haino’s band Fushitsusha travelled the grey areas between noise-rock and art-rock. The most important fact might be, that some of the participants mentioned here had been doing these things for over twenty years or so. And the lesson is: don’t let yourself get restricted by any definitions or genres. And keep on doing it, someday will be your day.

Most of the musicians counted into this genre are still around doing various stuff. Null goes solo a lot, the members of The Boredoms (who had just had their early records re-released, check them out) are all working in various side-projects, such as OOIOO and Melt Banana are still around a lot, releasing records on their very own A-Zap label.

Zeni Geva with KK Null in front

· What about other labels?

A worthy mention has to go to labels here. Mainly I’d like to mention Touch & Go records. All records that Steve Albini played on were released on Touch & Go, a label that has never made a bad record. A stupid one or a mediocre on, yes. A bad one, no. Touch & Go has hit its 25th anniversary mark. Not bad for a label that started out with bands such as The Dicks. There were / are other important labels in the same area, that had some important records and bands, e.g. Quarterstick (which is a sub-label of Touch& Go), Tupelo, Gasoline Boost or Trance Syndicate, but that would all be way too much to be mentioned here. So a big thanks goes to all of them. But with bands like Jesus Lizard, Girls against Boys, Laughing Hyenas or the Butthole Surfers Touch & Go was one of the most important, and it still keeps going with bands like Don Caballero, though the lawsuit against them (by the Butthole Surfers, who want more money! As usual, those fuckers!) is a hard one on their backs. It is a shame. Their latest great guitar-oriented band is TV on the Radio, which though not noise rock in any sense, is still great. Nothing against great music, right?

· What about others?

Sure, I forgot a lot. Scandinavian Noise (esp. the Origami-Universe), Distorted Pony, Barkmarket and David Sardy, the first record by Hole (pure teenage hate-noise), Crust (the band, not the style), Mule, Kepone and of course Unsane (the mightiest bass-noise around). Oh my god: Killdozer (R.I.P., the greatest storytellers and coverversions ever), Karp (evil wrestling-revenge from the mountains) and the German label Crippled Dick Hot Wax (who started out with noise-rock by Plainfield or Oxbow and then made millions with stupid Sixties-Soundtracks and easy-listening compilations). The more I think about it, the more names come to my mind: Loudpseaker, Piledriver, Party Diktator, UFO or Die, … but its all getting very obscure and blurry now. If you are interested in more, write to me. Or print out this list and do some research on the internet.

Anyway, this band deserves an honorable mention: Harry Pussy, due to their unbelievably intense and extreme live-shows - a 25minute attack of rage, attack, distortion and demonic screaming. And being outright obnoxious, perverted and provocative.

· Finally, what about Austrian noise-rock?

Sure, Austria is cold and windy, people are conservative and straight, the country borders right on the Eastern-bloc (or, it did then), of course there were / are noise-rock bands. HP Zinker and the Occidental Blue Harmony Lovers might be the earliest I can remember. HP (Hans Platzgumer) now plays with the Goldenen Zitronen and does solo-electronica-stuff, while the guitarist of the OBHL works for a newspaper in the music department. The best noiserock-band during the timespan mentioned here was Fetish69, who also appeared on a Dope, Guns and Fucking in the Streets compilation done by Amphetamine Reptile (see above), I guess it was volume 2. They have changed a lot since then, though. Next to that there were mainly punk- or artsy-bands in Austria (as everywhere I guess) and Austrian musicians have a knack for half-heartedness, i.e. they do something, but are lazy about it. They don’t go all the way. They don’t live it (except for some hardcore-bands). So what we get is a lot of stupid, mediocre bands (as everywhere I guess). Some who don’t fall in that category are Bulbul and Valina and, pretty new around, Sensual Love (at least in this context). More info on them in the review-section. A girlband called Whymandrakes released on of the heaviest pieces of noise-punk (a 7” on Trost) in the last years, but split just shortly after and regrouped as a beautiful, spherical guitar-pop-band called Holly May. It’s a pity but great nevertheless. And not to be forgotten are a landmark of Austrian noise-rock, who still bring an air of artsiness and going to extremes into their shows (I remember them dressed in nothing but black gaffa, puking over each other while keeping on pounding out some intense music): Fuckhead.

As far as labels are concerned, they are thinly spread, but interstellar records might be a good point to start searching for great Austrian Noise and Noise Rock (like Sensual Love, Gone Bald, Egotrip, Bug, and lots of other stuff).

· What about today?

There are still a lot of great noise-rock bands around. Shellac and the Melvins to mention just two. But most of them are really on an underground scale, playing basements, releasing CDRs, due to rise of computers, Pro Tools and electronic music as a release for the sociopathic introvert from next door or the office next to yours. After all, I decided to concentrate this Noise-Rock FAQ on the decade between 1987 and 1997, because that was the time when this music meant the most to me and it had its highest level of energy, productivity and madness.

· Okay, but what about the new wave of noise rock?

The fucking what? One swallow doesn't make a proper summer, you know. Moreover, except for New Wave proper and the New Wave of British Metal all that talk about new waves is really bugging me. Okay, so there is Todd, who are great. McClusky is gone already and there might be a whole bunch of other bands that I can't recall right now. But what there isn't are record labels concentrating on noise rock and, even more important, the coming together of like-minded souls with the transgressing feeling of something happening as it did back then. Well, there might be, but it has nothing to do with the bands that might be called noise rock that are around and new.

I found another reason, why this Noise-Rock FAQ is so important. Since we are talking late Eighties here, this is a time before the internet became really big. So there isn't a lot of information on that time available. Maybe this'll help to round things up a little. Please feel free to send all comments, additional info and hate-mail to cracked69@hotmail.com. Or record a tape / CDR with your favorite noise rock for me.

Say goodnight. Goodnight.

Georg Cracked (launched April 2002, last update January 2008)