aka The Vinyl Villain incorporating Sexy Loser
#021– Drag Racing Underground – ‚Hellfire'(Snakeskin Records ’89)
Dear friends,
now, let’s be honest: you had already thought of this, of course, but wasn’t it just a question of time until this series would feature a record which is, let’s say, only for those of you with “an appetite for the bizarre”?
Well, today is the day, folks! Me, I’ve visited The John Peel Music School from 1985 to 2004, and although I might not have learnt all too much there, there is one thing which stuck to my mind ever since: just because a tune might come in as a bit extreme at first sight, still you have to give it a chance. You can dislike it after you’ve heard it – but not before.
Which brings us to today’s choice: the mighty Drag Racing Underground. I’m willing to have a small bet you never heard of them, probably because in essence they are Big Stick, which solely consist of John Gill and Yanna Trance (pictured above in her natural environment), but Big Stick had to change their name for this record for legal reasons: JTFL can surely tell you more about the background and about US law altogether, should you be interested.
The thing is: I am willing to have another bet that you haven’t heard about Big Stick either, which is not your fault, of course: I mean, I do understand that you will most likely immediately skip song titles like “Do Not Rape My Sister At the Municipal Pool” or ones as nuanced as “Girls On The Toilet”, especially when they come from a combo by then completely unknown to you … well, NYC art-rock underground has never been everyone’s cup of tea, for sure! Nor John Gill’s statements, which might come in as a tad, uh, politically incorrect these days: “You go save the Rainforest and help the homeless, just stay the fuck away from my car.”
But that’s Big Stick, Drag Racing Underground are nothing like that, of course! No, they will not be seen leading the fanfare corps for the return of the rock opera, how could they when bands like Pussy Galore, Reverb Motherfuckers, White Zombie—or their high profile big mean daddies in Sonic Youth, the Swans, or Foetus come to mind when you try to pigeonhole them in one form or another?
And what do you get when subtle/fragile music is not to be expected? Right, lyrics which would entitle an inclusion in TVV’s ‘Some Songs Make Great Short Stories” – series any day of the week! And when Drag Racing Underground tell us a story, this story is bound to be based on cars and/or racing. Oh, and although I just drive a shitty Peugeot 208 myself, I still celebrate them all day long, simply and purely for this record alone … again, it is ‘just’ a B-Side:
mp3: Drag Racing Underground – Hellfire
And, btw, If only I could decipher those two lines towards the end,
“And filling your mind with (?) her kind of thoughts” and “So just tell your ole’ sister (?) her mouth”,
I’d be a happy man for the rest of my life!! So, if anyone can help, please do: not understanding what he is saying there has been driving me mad for 34 years now!
Thanks …. and drive friendly,
THE NEW VINYL VILLAIN 