Germs are, or rather were, a Los Angeles-based punk band but, unlike a lot of prior American punk, which always felt a bit polite, these went full hardcore. A lot of that is due to the vocals of Darby Crash, a ferocious growl like he’s vomiting up the words. Coupled with the general high tempo laid down by the rhythm section, the sound is like a precursor to thrash and death metal. Although, even their 43 second track What We Do Is Secret is kind of long for those genres.
A lot of the sound stems from the bassist with the glorious stage name of Lorna Doom, and the drummer Don Bolles. Considering Doom was recruited (along with, briefly, Belinda Carlisle) on the premise of “two unmusical girls”, she’s taken to her instrument with aplomb. It’d be easy for her and Bolles to just hammer out a repetitive thrash beat, but there’s a lot more funky work going on. The final track is a 9-minute live masterpiece called Shut Down. Crash growls and swears his way over what is a very jazz-like piece by Doom and Bolles, while guitarist Pat Smear (love Germs' stage names) gives some glorious feedback/shriek/noise/acid guitar. Actually, it isn’t a million miles from the kind of thing that Tom Waits was doing on Nighthawks At The Diner, only with more distortion. Otherwise, there’s a lot in common with Shut Down and beat poetry jazz. And both, probably, performed in dark cellars to an audience dressed in black.
Strange Noises is another good showcase for Doom’s bass. Not all of the tracks are thrashy – Lexicon Devil is a more “traditional” American punk sound that’s closer to the likes of New York Dolls. We Must Bleed turns chant-like with its repeated refrain of “I want out now” and a manic repeated riff to the finish, the soundtrack of insanity.
The darkness inside Darby Crash carries through in his lyrics, and he ended his own life the following year in the ultimate act of punk nihilism. Pat Smear joined Nirvana, seemingly doomed to follow bands with suicidal lead singers.
Comments
Post a Comment