1.political destruction
2.not guilty
3.adolescent death
4.beautiful feeling
5.why?
6.tell me the truth
7.I'm locked up
RkL were one of the most important bands to me at a certain point & time in my life. The time was around 1986, when I was 19 years young, screwed up on anything that could get me off, and punk rock as fuck! The music, the lyrics, the artwork all spoke to me in ways other bands or music never had. I lived and breathed this shit.
I can recall seeing these guys play the Farm, the Stone, the Mab, the On Broadway, Ruthies Inn, shit... even the Oakland Omni. It's So depressing to think about the fact that two of the dudes are now dead from Drugs. Both Jason, and Bomer died a few years ago...a tremendous loss of life.
I'd hung out with these guys on Haight Street, ate at the soup kitchen with them, drove around in the rkl van looking for drugs and a gig, and even had a chance to try out as a bass player for them. To see this band of young kids perform in the mid 80's sent shivers down my spine at the time. They were all over the stage, and doing amazing jumps in the air while playing flawlessly.
I'm one of these Rkl fans with a tattoo, and who still believes in the first 3 records being equally as awesome as the next one. I really miss these guys, and those times. This post makes me sad, but at the same time really makes me remember my friends like Zoran, Kurt, Kenny, and Michael Roy. Hope you dig this.
http://www.mediafire.com/?tnm1ln2cpdi
Posts
The early RKL stuff like this (basically the Mystic stuff) was fantastic, if a bit on the shitty production side. After that they kinda had a more rock/metal edge to their stuff & lost their appeal to me. I remember being really disappointed with their "Rock'N'Roll Nightmare" LP when it came out.
ReplyDeletefuckin great 7" a must have!
ReplyDelete"I fuck authority right in the ass, now authorities gonna fuck me right back!" haha awsome lyrics. Great post man these guys are excellent
ReplyDeletePre-Epitaph RKL is probably one of the most under-rated bands. Awesome stuff.
ReplyDeleteNeat music! Thanks.
ReplyDeleteAdamski...that "shitty production" was part of the beauty of the band, the time, and punk in general back then.
ReplyDeleteRock n Roll nightmare is the last of the records i dig by them, and it is a fucking fantastic hardcore record with chunks of metal, and classic rock thrown in. Talk about amazing production, give that fucker a spin..
oh, and the comic that came with it, using the rkl dude for the lyrics... amazing.
Adamski -
ReplyDeleteI have to disagree....RnR Nightmare is a musical achievement that few Punk bands have ever achieved. Not the whole record mind you, but there are insane moments on that record. Anyone who caught them live in the mid to late 80's saw just how great this band was...they would play completely drunk and still play the songs note for note (Bomber was crazy good at so many things). Picking up Joe for bass duties was a crucial pick up for them.
The albums after RnR Nightmare quickly lost my interest because Bomber wasn't drumming and the songs were too slow and long. They were still pretty good live during that era (I saw Jason force himself to vomit on the crowd once! Classic, ballsy stage antics!), but they were nothing like the 80's version of the band.
Keep Laughing was in my top 5 albums in the 80's (and will always be in my top 20), there's no argument there how great it is. The Nardcore tracks were also top notch. But I think that this EP's shit production really held back it's value because there's some good songs on it.
Nate, I appreciate what you're saying about the production on this 7", but that was Mystic for you, I suppose.
ReplyDeleteI just ain't a fan of metal/rock, so the "Rock & Roll Nightmare" LP was a bit too much for me.
As haizman_brain said...
ReplyDeleteyou really had to see these guys live during this time period... simply blew everyone away, and they were fucked up on drugs and alcohol while doing it. There was no one who played tighteer in the bay area at this time.
What I like about the 7" is the shitty production, and how the band progressed to the LP, and then the next LP...its just perfect. They did it with out cheesing out, and stayed as true to their roots as always. Again.. I love all three of the first records equally.
I also got to witness Jason vomit on stage when they opened for MDC and Pigmy Love Circus at the On Broadway. Nate
Everything up to RNR Nightmare is classic, true "feel good" hardcore punk...The riffs were so frantic, changing every second, just blows my mind. KEEP LAUGHING!
ReplyDeleteI used to see RKL at the On Broadway, and even at the Stone a cpl times, and alcohol was the drug that messed with theyre "abilities" but as Glooms pointed out they ripped at theyre set list like hell on wheels, ...fast as fuck. anyone remember that little short dude they put on bass for awhile, he played this keyless Bass..gay looking guitar but that kid shredded. The Farm super gigs were pretty crazy i remember people fastballing full soda cans at Discharge when they tryed passing off this weak, flamming pansy metal, then the garbage cans started and they bailed. depressed me for days after that..,that Discharge went out like that...anyway Nice blog keep it up. would you happen to have the HellHound Demo from right about that same era..1983-1986'-range ??? they were local from Sunnyvale
ReplyDelete"anyone remember that little short dude they put on bass for awhile, he played this keyless Bass..gay looking guitar but that kid shredded."
ReplyDeleteMore than a while. You are referring to Joe Raposo. Joe played bass from 1987-2006.
He was the bass player after Vince (who played on the Beautiful Feeling 7" and Keep Laughing LP).
Vince and Joe are the only bass players for RKL you would have had the opportunity to see live.
Bomer played bass and drums on the Rock n' Roll Nightmare L.P. but he only played drums with RKL in live performances.
Wevs...
ReplyDeletehey, that's actually not true. The band had a skinhead bass player in between vince and joe. I'd seen them with him live at least twice, though his activity in the band was short lived, and he only played live.
nate
"The band had a skinhead bass player in between vince and joe."
ReplyDeleteSkinhead bass player? Was it Bomer? What year was this?
"gloom666 said...
ReplyDeleteWevs...
hey, that's actually not true. The band had a skinhead bass player in between vince and joe. I'd seen them with him live at least twice, though his activity in the band was short lived, and he only played live.
nate
August 13, 2008 10:12 PM
WEVS said...
"The band had a skinhead bass player in between vince and joe."
Skinhead bass player? Was it Bomer? What year was this?"
I was RKL's roadie, slackie, T-shirt screener and crash pad from about 2005 till just after the 2006 Disastour, and the bass player you are refering to is Barry aka Barried Alive. He had been in Morally Bankrupt prior to that and almost started a band called Los Bozos with me and another squatter named Mark Sperry (sp?)(who later got involved into the racial skins and moved to NYC to be "hardcore". Probibly dead by now). Barry wasn't a fascist skin, just a nut. He's got a my space page http://profile.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=user.viewprofile&friendid=598072
and is still making music and video in SF.
Hope that helps clarify things.
nah... dude that Barry you are referring to in the myspace page lived up in the Haight... he played second guitar for them. I smoked hash with him at his pad, and drove around in the van with him plenty. I knew Barry back then. Great guy. loved Zappa
ReplyDeleteThe bass player I refer to wore a "brian Johnson" ac/dc type cabie hat. he only played a few shows and def brought a crew of skins with him to shows (prolly why he did not last).
little ripper 7" !!!!!!!! great blog - everything so far is pretty much on the money - but this is my favourite dl to date! thanx!
ReplyDeleteI'll clear this one up for you guys. The Bass player you are refering to was me "Ricky Bowersock." I wasn't a skinhead but I did have a shaved head, and yes I wore a snap cap. Everyone knew everyone else back then and accepted one another for the most part. So there were skinheads we knew. I played Bass for a brief period in, I believe it was late 86 or early 87. I drank and partied WAY too much, didn't show up for practice and basically screwed things up at the time. I was happy that I left when I heard Joe R. play with them. Joe was born to play for RKL, and I believe that any other Bass player besides Joe would have hindered the Bands true potential. I am and will always be an RKL fan just like you guys. I was lucky enough to have been able to play some shows with them. I knew Bomer since High school. My respect for all of them runs deep. RIP Bomer and Jason.
ReplyDeleteRicky
I forgot to tell you guys. I also played Bass for Stalag 13 from 82-83 before In Control was released. Our first sticker (skeleton riding skateboard) is at the top of this page. I am from Ventura just North of Oxnard. I have sat in with other bands too, Dr. Know one evening in 2004
ReplyDeleteRicky~
ReplyDeletethanks for commenting and not making me look like a crazy fucktard. I Saw you play with the boys at the farm. you held your own.
RKL was indeed one of the greatest live bands ever back then. It sends shivers up my spine thinking about it.
I recall when you left the band the bass player of my band(Romper Room Rejects) tried out.
thanks for the info man... good luck.
Nate
I can't believe anybody in their right mind would hate on the RnR Nightmare record. That record has been #1 on my list of punk records since the day it came out. I grew up in Vegas and after the Vegas band Subterfuge recorded on Mystic, I was hooked on all the old Mystic bands from the get-go (RKL, NOFX, Scared Straight, etc...).
ReplyDelete...maybe I prgressed as RKL progressed, but lets face it, there's was a HUGE metal outburst by ex-punk bands during this era. RKL had metal influences on RnR Nightmare, but it was Kiss metal and at the end of the day this record was punk....nothing like the other punk playing garbage metal during this period (Junkyard!! Brian Baker of Minor Threats band...lol).
I just don't see how anybody could not like RnR Nightmare...beyond me....the whole album is a punk masterpiece. Nothing like it before, nothing like it after....greatest punk album ever!
Los Bozos was pretty funny. Barry D'Alive was the man with the Bozo hairdo. He played bass in DRI for awhile before playing with RKL. Also Mark Sperry was not any kind of "Racial Skinhead" at all and has worked in Oakland as a 911 Paramedic for the last 20 years. So not dead just yet....
ReplyDeleteSorry to find out that Bomber died.
RKL always had a 'chaotic' sound to them. Chaotic in the arrangements of the songs. RNR Nightmare had that chaos and therefore, the metal/rock influence was kept at bay. RNR Nightmare is not a crossover record, it was the chaotic RKL sound with better production and songs that were a bit more intricate. RNR Nightmare really cemented in me the great musicianship of these punk guys. Great LP!
ReplyDelete