Description
Collecting all the A and B sides from East London’s forgotten David Lynch-dodging kings of 80s Pogo-Punk Erazerhead. Although it had its share of good points, the early 80s UK Punk scene did seem to take itself awfully seriously on the whole. It was as if the ethos of Punk around then did not allow having a little fun among the social comment and politics. You got the feeling that humour was not to be countenanced under any circumstances, being a frippery associated with “selling out”. Erazerhead, formed by Sid Vicious lookalike Lee Drury and song-smith Jim Berlin, represented a much needed breath of fresh air. Obsessed with old style Rock ‘n’ Roll and comic book toy-town sick humour, they were quite snappy dressers for the time (all this is relative) and of course they were very influenced by the Ramones, that much is obvious. They followed the blueprint in a quite rigid manner at times, but not to the extent it was a mere impression. Like their forerunners the Lurkers, they put their own spin on the old “1,2,3,4”. Though named after the film, they substituted the s for a z in their name just in case David Lynch was watching and made their first public appearances at the legendary Bridge House venue in Canning Town. In late 1981 made their bow (bells) with their first single, the 3 track “Apeman”, on Terry Razor’s Test Pressing imprint (who Blurt, Charge and Shane MacGowan’s Nips also recorded for), a classic slice of Punk Rock daftness. Via the success of this record they were soon signed up to Flicknife Records (founder Mark Frenchy Gloder wrote the sleeve note for this comp) and spent the rest of their recording career on the label. This 15 track compilation is a neat summary of what Erazerhead did best – provide short, catchy songs packed with a metric tonne of energy and charm. They were in their element as a singles act and this collection serves them best to show their strengths. Never having reformed, in what some would contend was the true Punk way, the only way to hear Erazerhead’s tunes is on record and this is as good a place as any to begin with.
Track list:
1. Apeman
2. Rock N Roll Zombie
3. Wipeout
4. Shell Shock
5. She Can Dance
6. Teenager In Love
7. All For Me
8. Do The Geek-live
9. Stuttgart Stomp-live
10. KGB-live
11. Get Pissed Again-live
12. Werewolf
13. Rock N Roll Zombie-1983 version
14. Summertime Now
15. Tonight