Screeching Weasel
(V.M.L.)
by Scott Hefflon
Just under an hour of Screeching Weasel sounds like some kind of torture, doesn’t it? Ah, but such sweet torture it is. (How Goth of me, I’d paint my nails black, light scented candles, and stare at my mock-somber face in the mirror for hours laughing mirthlessly at the futility of it all, but I can’t muster the pretension.) Anyway, this is the first, previously-unreleased (for a reason) demo of Screeching Weasel. Meticulously-cataloged (as usual) by Ben (his linear notes alone are usually worth the price of the CD), most of this record was pre-BoogadaBoogadaBoogada (thank god for cut & paste), and, well, it pretty much sucks. As Ben states, “The album is amateurish, but not in a charming way. It’s just annoying.” But the back sleeve photo of SW looking like a basement metal band is classic. And, of course, mixed amidst the early attempts at the punk rock that was to come are goofy jokes, commentaries, and silly shit only a band no one knew or cared about would be able to pull off. Again in Ben’s words, “We did what bands were supposed to do – we wrote fuck you songs, sorta-political songs, and filled in the blanks with a bunch of know-it-all social commentary. The end result was about what you would expect from a just-turned-19-year-old lyricist in 1987. It doesn’t stand the test of time for shit.” Actually, the goofy talk-a-long style is almost Zappa-esque, but let’s not read too much into that, huh?
Once the 27 songs of the demo are done, then begin the 11 bonus tracks. And that’s when the record begins taking a turn for the better. Not much better, mind you, but better. And it’s funny to hear the demo version of songs that, later, were really good. “I Hate Led Zeppelin,” “American Suicide,” “I Wanna Be Naked!,” “My Right,” “Hey Suburbia,” and “Ashtray,” in their rawest form, are really fun to hear. Not pleasant, necessarily, but fun. Perhaps this record is only really of interest to completists and die-hards, but hell, despite my snide reviewer attitude, I’ve listened to this more times than I’ve listened to any new release that’s come in this month. Just keep the remote handy, huh?
