LARAMIE DEAN You Can Almost Smell the Rubber Burn 7” EP

No Label - Hollywood (1999)

Four Barreled

The Last Lap

Praang

Aluminum

Laramie Dean – guitar

Geoffrey Hicks – bass

James Cable – drums

Surf-rock from Hollywood with car noises. I’m not an aficionado of this type of music – but it’s cool in short doses – the beauty of the 7” record – an LP would drive me up the wall. Other incarnations of this band have included such South Florida luminaries as Juan Montoya, Laura Simpson and Dominic Sirianni. Nice cover art by Mr. Montoya.

THE EAT – Hialeah 7” EP

Jeterboy Records – Hollywood (1995)

Hialeah
Shoes Shoes Shoes
M80 Ant Death
Psychotic McHale’s Navy
Dream of Yogi

Mike O’Brien – vocals, guitar
Eddy O’Brien – guitar, vocals, bass
Chris Cottie – drums
Kenny Lindahl – bass, guitar

A flawless record. I can’t consistently name a favorite or least favorite song on this record. They had 3 or 4 songs recorded in the same sessions that were equally good and a few others that weren’t bad– this should have been an LP in 1995. In my mind Hialeah is a strong contender for best FLA record ever. Previous records seem to be a 50/50 split between the talents of brothers Mike and Eddie – this one leans heavily to Mike. Great guitar work throughout – but nothing quite as amazing as some of the moments on God Punishes. Hialeah (the song) is an ode to the old racetrack – not the crappy city. Shoes Shoes Shoes was originally (I think) a Morbid Opera song named Skumbucket from when Mike was drummer for that band. Total stream of consciousness nonsense over a great riff -“I want to kill all your pets – don’t be afraid of my shoes”. M-80 Ant Death has great back and forth vocals from the O’Briens and promotes a very inefficient way of dealing with a fire ant problem. PMN is another pefect pop-punk masterpiece about god-knows what. Dream of Yogi sounds a little different – it’s written by Kenny Lindahl – and stands up with the others. In a sane world, these guys would have had real music careers – you know – the ones that involve actual money.

LOAD – Does Dead Godflesh Smell 7” EP

Faceless Records – Hollywood (1992)

Does Dead Godflesh Smell
Barbara’s Bush
Trying to Use

Bobby Load – vocals
Jeff Tucci – guitar
Tony - bass
Fausto – drums

Really nice cover photos showing the perils of (presumably) being shot in the face with a shotgun. During their storied career, Load released four singles, two LP’s and appeared on a few comps. This is their debut. “Godflesh” is a great song, despite occasional narration from what sounds like Fred Gwynn’s redneck brother. “Trying to Use” has tapes running through it and is just ok. Everyone wanted to have “found” sounds on their records in the 90’s! “Barbara’s Bush” is nice. I’ve heard Load called a hardcore band several times & don’t know why – they’re more of an Unsane / Hammerhead / Amrep sounding band. Great players – great singer – they shouldda been huge – but, like others before them, were done in by geographical isolation (& legendary substance abuse).

MYSFITZ – Aggravation / She’s a Teaser 7”

Edge Records – Hollywood (1981)

This record is usually hawked as a punk record on Ebay – in reality, it’s more like Cheap Tricky power pop. She’s a Teaser is more up-tempo – Aggravation is slower and slightly inept-sounding in parts. These guys probably appeared regularly at the Agora, Rock Casino, Button, etc. and were probably a bit better than the other bands mining the same territory (I can’t swear to that).