Leatherface - or - I hate bands whose names resist Google Fu

Tonight's entry will be short and sweet not because this band isn't very good but because it's a rare case of the music speaking entirely for itself. Also, what you can find online has been written by inebriated British punks, who may be some of the most inarticulate people on the planet.

But that's ok. You don't need to know that this band is great, or that Frankie Stubbs sings like Ben Nichols on battery acid. Or that it influenced an entire generation of punk bands despite being more obscure than, say, Samiam. You don't even need to say that Leatherface were making great albums up until they petered out a couple years ago, although that's true. All that is rendered completely irrelevant as soon as they rev up to the chorus of "I Want to Moon," where Stubbs' ragged, tattered vocals sound like a hoarse, wounded man screaming out his life's pain in one burst of defiance while the dense guitars and rhythms pummel. They have an intense sound that doesn't really seem to go out of style, probably because I buy too many things with the No Idea logo on the back. Andrea says they're gnar gnar - I say they're pop punk. She's lucky she's a good cook.

Normally I wouldn't post five songs from one album, but as far as I know, the band's masterpiece (the flawless Mush) is out of print on all formats*, so I hope these highlights are enough to spur you on to finding one in used bins or on eBay or the dickfart snob hive that is the Vinyl Collective message board. If nothing else, they should at least encourage you to hurry up and order their split with disciples Hot Water Music and their classic comeback LP Horsebox, both of which are still available from BYO for not very much money.

I Want the Moon - http://www.mediafire.com/?aj9d1mzxmf0

I Don't Want to Be the One To Say It - http://www.mediafire.com/?vkx07zysmwx

Pandora's Box - http://www.mediafire.com/?fxcbajb92yx

Springtime - http://www.mediafire.com/?9jjhrx3myh7

Baked Potato - http://www.mediafire.com/?dnoe2vmyf1o


*I say this, and tomorrow's entry will probably be hyping the in-print Back to the Laundromat, the underrated classic from the US Bombs - it's one of the single best punk albums of the decade, as you'll see. I'm nothing if not inconsistent.