Non si poteva non parlare dei Germs, pietra miliare del primo punk americano. Questo che sto per recensire, non è un disco datato, ormai è quasi impossibile trovare i dischi originali dei Germs diventati oggetti per collezionisti; MIA è un Antologia di canzoni del gruppo losagelino raccolte dalla “Slash” nel 1993, così ora possiamo trovare su supporto cd i primi introvabili dischi della band.
Troviamo quindi i primi sette pollici della band, “Lexicon Devil” e “Forming”, l’intero album (GI) del 1979 e varie tracce prese dalla colonna sonora del film “Cruising” di William Friedkin, un totale di trenta brani di puro delirio Punk, praticamente tutto ciò che hanno registrato i Germs nei loro soli tre anni di carriera (carriera finita per la morte per overdose del cantante ventiduenne Darby Crash).
La qualità di registrazione, non è delle migliori e varia da traccia a traccia, ma rende ancora più storico e grezzo il lavoro, le tracce sono in gran parte brevi, veloci e fulminanti, (eccezione fatta per “ShutDown”: quasi dieci minuti di pazzia), grazie alla voce e ai testi autodistruttivi di Darby Crash (detto “Manimal” per le “vivaci” esibizioni sul palco), alle doti compositive di Pat Smear e con la violenza di Lorna Doom e Don Bolles, canzoni come American Leather, Lexicon Devil, We Must Bleed, Richie Dagger’s Crime, rimarranno per sempre nella storia, e hanno consacrato una delle band più popolari della scena di Los Angeles dell’epoca come leggenda nella storia del PUNK. Track list:Forming / Sex Boy / Lexicon Devil / Circle One / No God /What We Do Is Secret / Communist Eyes / Land Of Treason / RichieDaggers Crime / Strange Notes / American Leather / Lexicon Devil /Manimal / Our Way / We Must Bleed / Media Blitz / The Other NewestOne / Let’s Pretend / Dragon Lady / The Slave / Shut Down / Caught InMy Eye / Round And Round / My Tunnel / Throw It Away / Not All Right / Now I Hear TheLaughter / Going Down / Lions Share / Forming 2 Leggi i testi…AmericanLeather [from the (GI) LP]Looking for a wayout
I put my foot out of line
Really like to break-out
I feel so confinedAmerican leather
The poisonous members
Not alone-not together
Their American leatherSaw you on a darkroad
Brought myself along
Got a sense of conflict
But I know what’s wrong(Chorus)(Middle)(Chorus)I know that kindafeeling
So I built my place up high
But you’ll never find me kneeling
Cause I’m too occupied(Chorus) Caught In My Eye[from the What We Do Is Secret EP]Through your darkeyes
You can feel my
Every sin
When I walk right
Into a straight line
This world of yours
I got you caught in my eye, again
You’re the fall guy
In the corner
Of my gloom
It feels like
Everything I see
Is nothing new
I got you caught in my eye, again
There’s a door there
That opens
Without you
And the door lies
With its open keys
To my room
Flames of the torch light
Fill my thighs
And I crave fulfill
And I consume ’em
But I don’t give
got you caught in my eye, again Circle One [fromthe Lexicon Devil Single]I’m Darby Crash
A social blast
Chaotic master
I’m Darby Crash
Your Meccas gash
Prophetic statureI’m Darby Crash
A one way match
Demonic flasherDeep, deep, deep,in my eyes
There’s a round, round, round, circle of lives
It’s a tame, tame, tame, sort of world
Where you’re caught, bought, taught, as it twirls…Snap, crackle, pop
Snap, crackle, pop
Snap, crackle, pop-in hereSnap, crackle, pop
Snap, crackle, pop
Snap, crackle, pop-out there Communist Eyes[from the (GI) LP]I’m looking throughCommunist eyes
I’m seeing planes in bloodshot skies
I see the flag of working people
Who conceal the lies in the stars and sickle
It’s a double edgeI’m looking throughCommunist eyes
I can’t even find the way out
Communist eyes-lost inside
I never get a day outI’m looking throughCommunist eyes
All I see is an old man’s alibi
There’s a world outside but I’m unaware
I open my books but the pages stare
It’s a double edgeCommunist eyes–allso blind
I can’t even play the game nowI’m living throughCommunist times
I wave my flag and hold my head high
I can feel the glory of my comrades in masses
But I’m waiting for the day when this madness passes
It’s a double edge… Dragon Lady[from the (GI) LP]You walk to thetemple on the boulevard
You know the way in cause you’re the son of God
She opens the door with a sardonic glance
You drop to the floor making your plansIt’s a real coolparody
That’s my dragon lady
In a low society
with no varityShe lives a tonguein cheek dream
There’s something in her eyes that nature denied
She’s a whirlwind creature of cultural ties
A preacher of schemes and self denial
She talks up the storm with news and belial(Chorus)To live in Brahmantragedy
Driven it seems by fantasies
A life like this is sad to see
A smile kept quite in reverieThe clock on themantle hands stop crossed
The rug on the floors a resting place for the dust
The talk of the town yet she’s never been seen
A loving relation with a well trained machine(Chorus) Forming [fromthe “Forming/Sex Box” Single]Rip them down
Hold them up
Tell them that
I’m your gun
Pull my trigger
I am bigger than-Mr. Prez in his bigWhite House
Listen he says we’re comin’ out
Infiltration-we’re numbing minds
Concentration-we’ve done time
(repeat chorus)Over there thequeen she says
Let’s stamp them out and dry those tears
Saturation-we want it in taxes
Flagellation-we’ve got gashes
(repeat chorus)In the cold, theczars claimin’
Just protectin’, rockets aimin’
Alteration-the Earth is changin’
Observation-we want action
(repeat chorus)I the Emperorproclaim
Us the masters we rule the game
Inclination-something to dream on
Deprivation-we are sons
(repeat chorus) Get A Grip [fromthe Germicide Live At The Whiskey LP] Going Down [fromthe Soundtrack to CRUISING Session]Sifting throughapocalypse
All I want’s to catch a glimpse
Just another broken day
My whole world’s gone away
I feel the ceilings coming down
I watch the deadmen run around
Trying hard to change the course
’cause they know what’s best for us
Your whole world’s coming down
Close to the bottom-close to the sound
Your whole world’s let me down
Drag me down to the under ground
Sifting through apocalypse
Already knew it would come to this
Just another game to play
How many ways have I got to pay
Hear them running faster now
They wear the hooves of Satan’s crowd
You came to visit for just one day
But now that you’re here-You’re here to stay Grand Old Flag[from the Germicide Live At The Whiskey LP] Land Of Treason[from the (GI) LP]Land oftreason-waste no reason-we are breathing fire
We’re packs of dogs-we’re enemies of men-we are notdesired
Our faces show-we’ve grown cold-but have notconspired
Old hearts gone-the suture’s on-mother nations mired
I like a receptical for the chosen dead, we find ourbodies clawed
And with the sent of death, we find that we are notso very awed.
Loyalties burned-the words are blurred-overturn yourown
Walk the dogs and watch the doors-have your otherstone
Stop the toys that march disordered-calculate thethrones
Feel the pulse descending-decaying hallowed tombs
In the starving sense you worship-the nations ofdebris
You ware a cost of sewage-that you’ve never seen
This time is now-the vicious here-a stolen dinnercode
The license of savage land-that you’ve always sold
So bite that hand that needs you and bless anothercoal
The virus never issues-from a cotton so very old
As the light come down and the guilty blaze; anothersort of road.
You wash your hands and start to climb the ladderthat you stole
Slip the latch-and spin the sword-the money lordsare poor
Push the tank-that rolls downhill-their sense ofdream absorbed
Still the cat breaks the night-that what’s right isscored
It’s a senseless cash in of right for right-what’swrong is never gone
And left is just a bastion for the fools golden dawn. Let’s Pretend[from the (GI) LP]Out on the streetswhat a lookin for
That thing in your bed’s just another whore
That tear in your eye’s not a tear at all
For that girl that you touch you could never fall
The stream in your mind is just a tearin’ styLet’s pretend you’revicious
Let’s pretend you’re cool
Let’s pretend suspicious
Let’s pretend you’re foolsYou wear yourleather tight but you wear it full
‘Gether is right but you gotta be cool
You cut your wrists but you don’t feel the pain
You change your mind but you still feel the same
To dream ain’t your kind just another lie…
chorusSell us a storythat we can believe
Spend your dollars on pills for relief
Love is a future that you still can’t see
Standing questions to answers are free
Scream in your bordom life’s just to die
chorusDive in yourproblems just like stealin’ a fix
Is your life to live or is it just for kicks
Kick dirt in the faces of angry dream men
Stand on your chairs and spell don’t let me in
Don’t stand in the night cause you know you can’tcry
chorus
chorus Lexicon Devil[from the (GI) LP]I’m a lexicon devilwith a battered brain
And I’m lookin’ for a future-the world’s my aim
So gimme gimme your hands-gimme gimme your minds-
Gimme gimme this-gimme gimme tha-yea-yea-tI want toy tinsoldiers that can push and shove
I want gunboy rovers that’ll wreck this club
I’ll build you up and level your heads
We’ll run it my way cold men and politics dead…
(Chorus)I’ll get silverguns to drip old blood
Let’s give this established joke a shove
We’re gonna wreak havoc on this rancid mill
I’m searchin’ for something even if I’m killed…
(Chorus)Empty out yourpockets-you don’t need their change
I’m giving you the power to rearrange
Together we’ll run to the highest prop
Tear it down and let it drop…away…
(Chorus) Lion’s Share[from the Lorimar Pictures Soundtrack CRUISING]All he sees aredeath masked stars
The lion’s world is cold and sharp
All he wants is much too far
So he stalks the roads of token cars
He snarls at windows that mean no pain
And takes the thorns in perfect form
A broken ideal rides inside the tortured lion’sdenim hide
I want the lion’s share
Gather up the broken chairs
Feed my mind unholy tests
Do me in I need to rest
He sleeps when nothing’s in the air
Eats the scraps of some that care
He strains the night to overbear
Secrets hidden in the lair
Pauses long enough to dream
Nightmares push the glowing stream
His shadows eyes show the toll
Something only lions know Manimal [fromthe (GI) LP]I came into thisworld like a puzzled panther
Wanting to be caged
But something stood in the way
I was never quite tamedI crossed the pathsof right and wrong
And saw them take their toll
I saw armies that marched
And like animals they crawled
(chorus)Evolution is aprocess too slow
To save my soul
But I’ve got this creature on my back
And it just won’t let goIf I am only ananimal
Then I can do no wrong
But they say I’m something better
So i’ve gotta hold on Media Blitz[from the (GI) LP]I’ve got television
I’ve got supervision
No decisions for you
Media blitz-media blitz
Immediate hits-we ruleDon’ steal youreyes off the T.V. screen
Can you realize we’re what we’ve seen
Take an injection from the mad machineDon’t read thepapers read between the lines
We’re vision rapers and we seen the signs
You’ll play your part in the master mindWe feed the science
We deal in riots
We play by ideal time
We’re a gov’ment fix
All social convicts
Watch the idle rhymes
(chorus)Bleed your heartout-that’s all it’s worth
Before you ever start-we planned it first
Forget the truth-accept your curse My Tunnel [fromthe (MIA) Compilation]I’m crawlingthrough me tunnel
When everything is dim where does one go
I crawl into my tunnel
It’s kinda shaky may even crumble
I’m talking to a lame man
When your maimed when does one go
I fall into my tunnelI’m waking into thejungle
When everything is right where does one go
I walk into the jungle
Sometimes I run-sometimes I stumble
I’m talking to a saved man
When you are sane where does one go
Back in to the jungle
Out, out, out of the tunnel
Back, back to the jungle
Out, out, out of the tunnel
Take me back to my jungle No God [fromthe Lexicon Devil Single]I’ve read everybook in the Bible story
And all it ever brought me was another worry
Don’t want God give me a jury
See…there’s no God to make up my mind-
No God givin’ me time…I peered in everywindow where I saw a cross
But I could never see just what they saw
In that piece of plaster on the wall
See…there’s no God to fear-
No God to hear your cries…I’d pray toanything out there
If only I was given some sign to bear
But while I wait I’m gonna live,
See…there’s no God to watch over me-
No God for human beings…When I was small Iobeyed his every word
Handed down to me by some thoughtful blur
But now I am as big as he,
See…no God bigger that I-
No God frightening me…In my image I madehe him and I gave him life
So he burned me, this creature has risen and I
Think you can see just what it is that’s drivin’
Me around roundWe are the churchwe are good we’ve got your
Millions God know we should…
(repeat first verse) Not All Right[from the (MIA) Compilation]Feeling not alright
My time’s in a sand-slide
So hard to not unwind
Find some wall to climb
Capsules cover the signs
My thoughts in a land mine
Some lights burn too bright
My nights hold too tight
Stowed away outta breath
Won’t wait to pass the test
To late to answer lies
Don’t even need to try
Livin’ in a fury
Life’s kinda blurry
Dyin’ in a hurry
Stories kinda lurid
No time to worry
Gonna hang the jury
Broke up kinda early
All the bribes are working
Living in a fury
Life’s kinda blurry
Dyin’ in a hurry
Stories kinda lurid
No time to worry
Gonna hand the jury
Broke up kinda early
All the scribes are working. Now I Hear TheLaughter [from the (MIA) Compilation] The Other NewestOne [from the (GI) LP]I feel your bodyclose to mine
I hear your breath and mine in time
I know I’m nothing but it’s you that I need
I touch your skin and it starts to feedYou’re not thefirst, your not the last
Another day, another crashMy eyes meet yoursin secret glance
Our bodies look in ancient stance
You whisper something and I know it’s good
you’re acting crazy just like I knew you wouldYour not the first,your not the last
Another day, another crashEmbracing my lifebetween your thighs
We will perform in the deadly skies
Reducing my mind to endless nights
You send my dreams to their demise
Realized by your last breathI take your hairinto my hands
I pull it tight to fill your demands
I feed my body into yours
I know it’s right cause it’s my soul you stir
Your not the first, your not the last
Another day, another crash Our Way [fromthe (GI) LP]Clara would beproud to know us
We’ve taken it to the end
Where the gray turns to black
And where the white just begins-we live every dayon the water
The night just kills the pain
From the suffering that was
We are no stranger-we are dust-Down in the crownwe’re down on our knees
Wanna get out but don’t wanna succeed
We’re the red-eyed legends of the night before
We’re the dead mind babies of the T.V. war-Living in rectoryof sin
Against the currents we all swim
Cageless wonders of sometime when
The paper lion’s chase will end- Richie Dagger’sCrime [from the (GI) LP]I’m Richie Dagger
I can stomp and swagger
I can take on all your heroes
I’m Richie Dagger
I’m young and I’m haggard
The boy that nobody ownsHe sits in hiscorner like a child despised
A crazy sort of cast comes over his eyes-
That’s Richie Dagger’s crimeHe’s that sort ofboy that was never much loved
His idea of fun was society’s grudge-
That’s Richie Dagger’s crimeHis life was such amess
And his friends weren’t quite the best
But he was satisfied-
That’s Richie Dagger’s crime
Suck me in and spit me out
Devour me in haste-
(chorus)He could set yourmind ablaze
With sparkling eyes and visionary case
He stood like a remnant from an outbreak past
Wore something in his ear
And boy was he a sass-
(chorus) Round And Round(written by Chuck Berry) [from the What We Do IsSecret EP] Sex Boy [fromthe “Forming/Sex Box” Single]I take it anywhere,any time that I can
I’m the fucking son of a superman
I got a weapon that’s as deadly as life
It’s a well trained tool of a master guy
Every day it’s the same, regime
A dozen girls are on my scene
Say sex boy will you come into my hand
They’re all on the floor, I better do what I canI put my knife intoyour gut
You gotta be above when you wanna make love
Say it exactly, sex boy, such a sideshow poster
After such a sweet sweet slutI know what ittakes
What in the time I can and can’t do
I know what it takes to satisfy you
That’s why your time is due
in the house of fortune
I take it out and you know it’s gonna come frombehind
Just like you, and you, and you, and you Shut Down (AnnihilationMan) [from the (GI) LP]Let me touch thetips of inculcated desire
And brush the fettered veil away
Shutdown in the depths I lay…If you want nothinthen I’ve got nothin
I’m your annihilation manLemme get controlI’ve got your minds; now I want your souls
Lemme get control I’ve got your minds
Now I want control, I need control…If you wantsomethin then I’ve got somethin
I’m your annihilation man… The Slave [fromthe (GI) LP]It starts in yourhead
And moves to your hands
Your body starts shakin
Cause your in demand
You do the slave to the beat
Of the neuro-sutra can can…You’re lashed twixtthe stars
With your ice and your motor cars:
You do the slave to the beat
Of the neuro-sutra can can
Oh yea! Yea! Pull out the zen
I’ve got a Buddhist principal in my hand
You life seems wasted your bodies laced in
Don’t stop now you’ve got to trace it…You put your handstogether
Writhe in the shackle
You twist your body round
Till it starts to crackle:
You do the salve to the beat
Of the neuro-sutra can can…Right here rightnow shake it in and out now
Lights on off now make it spin and fight now Strange Notes[from the (GI) LP]Billy Druids faceis marble
He keeps every thought in place
He lets the days turn tomorrow
Someone’s always walking on his graveHe wears the linensjust like Garbo
And talks at a suaurnine pace
Listening to the strange notes marvel
Only giving what it takesIt’s a sad man’sworld
And for Billy it’s sure to crown
Dragging beauty into darkness
Inflecting a pale white frownAnd that matterthat runs
Through Billy’s head
Is too concerned to fall Street Dreams[from the Germicide Live At The Whiskey LP] Sugar Sugar(written by The Archies) [from the GermicideLive At The Whiskey LP] Suicide Machine[from the Germicide Live At The Whiskey LP] Teenage Clone[from the Germicide Live At The Whiskey LP] Throw It Away[from the Soundtrack to CRUISING Session] Victim [fromthe Germicide Live At The Whiskey LP] We Must Bleed[from the (GI) LP]It’s Sunday and thestreets aren’t clear
The traffic’s screaming but we can’t hear
The sounds…the metals…driving us mad…
The sounds…the metals…driving us mad…
We must bleed, we must bleed, we must bleedThe crash as thebottle breaks
Flashes it’s will through me veins
The pain…the colors…making me sane…
The pain…the colors…making me sane…
The pain…the colors…making me sane…
We must bleed, we must bleed, we must bleedI’m not one I’m two,I’m not one I’m two, I’m not one I’m two
I want out now, I want out now, I want out now, now,now, now, now, now, now, now…. What We Do IsSecret [from the (GI) LP]Standing in theline we’re aberrations
Defects in a defects mirror
And we’ve been here all the time real fixations
Hidden deep in the furor-
What we do is secret-secret!We’re influentialguys for the D.C.C.
We can lie so perfect
And we’ve got a party line to every call
It’s a very short circuit-
What we do is secret-secret!Licenced to drillwith the torch in our lives,
Walking on shallow water
Progressed to the point of no distinction
Dementia of a higher order-
What we do is secret-secret! Wild Baby [fromthe Germicide Live At The Whiskey LP]<p
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