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PERM-044
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In our constant search to feed our vinyl addiction, in which the next score is always needed now and crate digging is a matter of life and death, sometimes we get to unearth a gem that's been yet to be discovered. That may seem impossible these days, but sitting in someone's closet, basement or garage is a tape reel or acetate that just never got to be pressed. A band with a six minute vision, a two sided RnR epiphany never shared with the world. And when we get our hands on such an unbridled, unadulterated sonic treasure we know that it is both our duty and our pleasure to give that obscure band their 45 rpms in the spotlight.
Hence BAD AXE!!!!!
As garage faded, psych imploded and rock n roll took its bloated FM dominance to arenas nationwide, there were scores of bands that sought to ingest those Zep/Sabbath/Deep Purple/Blue Cheer moves and make them their own rally cry. Call it a second wave of "garage bands" but this time the music was more fitted for dark, hazy wood paneled basements with the requisite hi-fis, joints and cheap beers stolen from dad. These kids just outta high school, rejecting AM pop and the idealism of their hippie older siblings, set out to make their own way in the dystopian 70s. Hendrix was dead. The Beatles were gone. Yet everything still seemed possible.
Cut from the same cloth as Jerusalem, Morgen, Sainte Anthony's Fyre, Iron Claw, Bent Wind and other like-minded, bonehead crunchin' acid archives RnR weirdos, Bad Axe briefly aimed to make their mark on the Chicagoland music scene. Formed out of the remnants of local teen dance circuit playing garage rockers The Burlington Express (who released one single on Roach Records in the mid 60s, not to be confused with the Kansas band on Cavern with the same name), Bad Axe ditched the nice haircuts and suits of their Brit Invasion obsessed youth and TURNED UP THE ROCK TO 11. Not content to play for young crowds anymore, and finally old enough to play the downtown bar scene, Bad Axe moved into a house together on Chicago's west side, grew their hair long, sped up their music and set out to set fire to any venue that would have them! Playing gigs all across the Midwest, with many ventures into Michigan whose motor city RnR they found a direct kinship with (and even getting a chance to open up for the MC5!), Bad Axe took their primal fuzzed out hard rock to the masses. Unfortunately not too many people took notice. Despite that, they nevertheless ventured into a downtown Chicago studio in 1973 to record a few songs for the hell of it. No interest, lack of money and the addition of a keyboard player kept them from ever pressing "Coachman" or "Poor Man Run" to wax. Thus these rippers could never escape the tape that imprisoned them. Until now!
"Coachman" and "Poor Man, Run" are two tracks of absolutely searing twin guitar fireworks, frantic vocals, insane bass lines and pummeling drums. Bad Axe managed to conjure both the most blistering Nuggets garage singles and the no BS attitude of the forthcoming punk rock explosion, all while coating it all in a mind blowing lysergic hard rock vibe. Call it wizard rock, basement psych, proto punk, rustbelt underground rock, whatever, this is sure fire fucking rock n roll!!! The sort that never had stage props or groupies or stupid reviews to bolster the image or rock and roll over its content and primal urges. "Coachman" should've been comped a million times already, and let's just say"Poor Man, Run" ain't no B Side downer either. So get ready to sit next to your turntable, cuz you're gonna flip this one over and over again!
AND REMEMBER BAD AXE GETS EVEN MORE KILLER THE LOUDER YOU PLAY IT!!!!
SO WARN YOUR NEIGHBORS!!!
-jon markley
(Special thanks to Joe Losurdo without whom these Bad Axe tracks would still be languishing in obscurity!)
Hence BAD AXE!!!!!
As garage faded, psych imploded and rock n roll took its bloated FM dominance to arenas nationwide, there were scores of bands that sought to ingest those Zep/Sabbath/Deep Purple/Blue Cheer moves and make them their own rally cry. Call it a second wave of "garage bands" but this time the music was more fitted for dark, hazy wood paneled basements with the requisite hi-fis, joints and cheap beers stolen from dad. These kids just outta high school, rejecting AM pop and the idealism of their hippie older siblings, set out to make their own way in the dystopian 70s. Hendrix was dead. The Beatles were gone. Yet everything still seemed possible.
Cut from the same cloth as Jerusalem, Morgen, Sainte Anthony's Fyre, Iron Claw, Bent Wind and other like-minded, bonehead crunchin' acid archives RnR weirdos, Bad Axe briefly aimed to make their mark on the Chicagoland music scene. Formed out of the remnants of local teen dance circuit playing garage rockers The Burlington Express (who released one single on Roach Records in the mid 60s, not to be confused with the Kansas band on Cavern with the same name), Bad Axe ditched the nice haircuts and suits of their Brit Invasion obsessed youth and TURNED UP THE ROCK TO 11. Not content to play for young crowds anymore, and finally old enough to play the downtown bar scene, Bad Axe moved into a house together on Chicago's west side, grew their hair long, sped up their music and set out to set fire to any venue that would have them! Playing gigs all across the Midwest, with many ventures into Michigan whose motor city RnR they found a direct kinship with (and even getting a chance to open up for the MC5!), Bad Axe took their primal fuzzed out hard rock to the masses. Unfortunately not too many people took notice. Despite that, they nevertheless ventured into a downtown Chicago studio in 1973 to record a few songs for the hell of it. No interest, lack of money and the addition of a keyboard player kept them from ever pressing "Coachman" or "Poor Man Run" to wax. Thus these rippers could never escape the tape that imprisoned them. Until now!
"Coachman" and "Poor Man, Run" are two tracks of absolutely searing twin guitar fireworks, frantic vocals, insane bass lines and pummeling drums. Bad Axe managed to conjure both the most blistering Nuggets garage singles and the no BS attitude of the forthcoming punk rock explosion, all while coating it all in a mind blowing lysergic hard rock vibe. Call it wizard rock, basement psych, proto punk, rustbelt underground rock, whatever, this is sure fire fucking rock n roll!!! The sort that never had stage props or groupies or stupid reviews to bolster the image or rock and roll over its content and primal urges. "Coachman" should've been comped a million times already, and let's just say"Poor Man, Run" ain't no B Side downer either. So get ready to sit next to your turntable, cuz you're gonna flip this one over and over again!
AND REMEMBER BAD AXE GETS EVEN MORE KILLER THE LOUDER YOU PLAY IT!!!!
SO WARN YOUR NEIGHBORS!!!
-jon markley
(Special thanks to Joe Losurdo without whom these Bad Axe tracks would still be languishing in obscurity!)
Review by Jason @ 7 i n c h e s blog:
Two brothers Dennis and Danny Gray named their band Bad Axe, which is a city in Michigan, close to Chicago where they were from. It also sounds a lot like 'Bad Ass' which is completely appropriate for this sludgey '70s heavy rock recorded in 1973 to be exact. Five long hair bad asses (see sleeve) went into the studio to get these two songs on reel to reel tape. They must have pressed up a few hundred copies, one of which managed to end up at Permanent Records and is a truly incredible time capsule.
A-Side's "Coachman" opens with a trio of beefy low end guitars washed out in fuzz and chopped into blunt bricks. Everything screams '70s, the kind of muddy tube production that you can't even fake these days. Bouncy, no make that insane groovy bass from Stan Marcheska that flies all over this thing like he's been let out of a cage. Thin vocals from the Gray's and songwriter J. Turner are pushed to that early metal background that corrals the harmonies coming off like Hawkwind meeting Crazy horse. They can technically compete with those guys and still manage that loose Easy Rider, bar in the woods vibe. Solo perfection over bass punches makes you ask why there isn't this much lower end boosted in rock these days? We are in treble heavy garage my friends. Wackka strumming shows up towards the end and their guitars line up in a Sabbath way stopping immediately and giving the drums a chance to step into the spotlight. Timeless perfection from a couple of buddies with a big dream. Before your time, Bad Axe.
B-Side's "Poor Man, Run" also sets the tempo with compact fuzz and the drums take that skeleton riff into snare wailing head banging. An acoustic blows with melodic high register vocals from J. adding an air of psych to the otherwise beefy proceedings. Lofty vocals about this 'poor man' and 'no tomorrow' give this a serious medieval Yes sound with NO ORGAN. It all breaks down to drums and a Stairway to Heaven acoustic and bass moment that grows into solo after solo and more freakout double tempos from Stan, someone look that guy up. This one turns into a real Hotel California epic with ride cymbals into the sunset, more than enough to leave you sad that it's over and sadder that they may not have ended up recording anything else.
Two brothers Dennis and Danny Gray named their band Bad Axe, which is a city in Michigan, close to Chicago where they were from. It also sounds a lot like 'Bad Ass' which is completely appropriate for this sludgey '70s heavy rock recorded in 1973 to be exact. Five long hair bad asses (see sleeve) went into the studio to get these two songs on reel to reel tape. They must have pressed up a few hundred copies, one of which managed to end up at Permanent Records and is a truly incredible time capsule.
A-Side's "Coachman" opens with a trio of beefy low end guitars washed out in fuzz and chopped into blunt bricks. Everything screams '70s, the kind of muddy tube production that you can't even fake these days. Bouncy, no make that insane groovy bass from Stan Marcheska that flies all over this thing like he's been let out of a cage. Thin vocals from the Gray's and songwriter J. Turner are pushed to that early metal background that corrals the harmonies coming off like Hawkwind meeting Crazy horse. They can technically compete with those guys and still manage that loose Easy Rider, bar in the woods vibe. Solo perfection over bass punches makes you ask why there isn't this much lower end boosted in rock these days? We are in treble heavy garage my friends. Wackka strumming shows up towards the end and their guitars line up in a Sabbath way stopping immediately and giving the drums a chance to step into the spotlight. Timeless perfection from a couple of buddies with a big dream. Before your time, Bad Axe.
B-Side's "Poor Man, Run" also sets the tempo with compact fuzz and the drums take that skeleton riff into snare wailing head banging. An acoustic blows with melodic high register vocals from J. adding an air of psych to the otherwise beefy proceedings. Lofty vocals about this 'poor man' and 'no tomorrow' give this a serious medieval Yes sound with NO ORGAN. It all breaks down to drums and a Stairway to Heaven acoustic and bass moment that grows into solo after solo and more freakout double tempos from Stan, someone look that guy up. This one turns into a real Hotel California epic with ride cymbals into the sunset, more than enough to leave you sad that it's over and sadder that they may not have ended up recording anything else.
Review by Dan @ Ongakubaka:
Hot and heavy rock n roll rippers out of early 1970s Chicago. This long-lost 7" has gotten some new love thanks to Permanent Records (and Acid Archives), and it's one of the better re-issues you'll hear this year. The b-side is streamable below, but the a-side is even more killer so you're going to have to grab a copy from Permanent Records before they run out. Only 300 pressed.
Hot and heavy rock n roll rippers out of early 1970s Chicago. This long-lost 7" has gotten some new love thanks to Permanent Records (and Acid Archives), and it's one of the better re-issues you'll hear this year. The b-side is streamable below, but the a-side is even more killer so you're going to have to grab a copy from Permanent Records before they run out. Only 300 pressed.
Review by Nick @ Decoder Magazine:
Permanent Records continues its excavation of Chicago’s unknown, unorthodox underbelly with this archival Bad Axe 7-inch. “Coachmen” and “Poor Man, Run” were previously unreleased cuts by the early-1970s west-siders, and the release captures the simultaneous flexibility and drive of pre-Canon punk rock. What the quintet lacks in pure terror or sneer, they compensate with tender songwriting and sharp, textured instrumentation. Bad Axe’s B-side, “Poor Man, Run,” deviates from a brawling boogie to an acoustic breakdown that spins the cut into an expressive, lead-driven coda. It’s refreshing to hear more 1970s tape unearthed that features clean (or slightly overdriven) guitar at its forefront, and the production follows on the bass, drums, and crisp cymbals. For each potentially hard-rock edge, Bad Axe turn toward fragility, and these turns create an airiness, or spaciousness, that will burn this cut ceaselessly and ever-deeper into your ear. The 7-inch is available from Permanent Records.
Permanent Records continues its excavation of Chicago’s unknown, unorthodox underbelly with this archival Bad Axe 7-inch. “Coachmen” and “Poor Man, Run” were previously unreleased cuts by the early-1970s west-siders, and the release captures the simultaneous flexibility and drive of pre-Canon punk rock. What the quintet lacks in pure terror or sneer, they compensate with tender songwriting and sharp, textured instrumentation. Bad Axe’s B-side, “Poor Man, Run,” deviates from a brawling boogie to an acoustic breakdown that spins the cut into an expressive, lead-driven coda. It’s refreshing to hear more 1970s tape unearthed that features clean (or slightly overdriven) guitar at its forefront, and the production follows on the bass, drums, and crisp cymbals. For each potentially hard-rock edge, Bad Axe turn toward fragility, and these turns create an airiness, or spaciousness, that will burn this cut ceaselessly and ever-deeper into your ear. The 7-inch is available from Permanent Records.
Review on Styrofoam Drone:
Permanent Records got their grimy mitts on the original BAD AXE tapes, resulting in this brand new archival 7″. Both of these tracks date back to 1973, but the label has proudly pressed them to vinyl for the very first time in 2014.
You’re likely to think that somewhere between 1973 and 2014 somebody failed (or maybe just didn’t care anymore) to share these songs with the world. Now 41 years later, that awful mistake has been rectified thanks to the folks at Permanent. Coming in a modest edition of just 300 pieces on black wax, Coachman showcases the two known songs that were laid to tape by the Chicago-based band in the early 70s. They formed from the ashes of the Burlington Express, another Chicago band who released a lone single in the mid-60s on Roach Records.
Both of these tracks radiate an authentic 70s psych rock vibe, not to mention the smell of the dirty musk of the basements they were born in. “Coachman” is woven together with some truly righteous psychedelic elements – a deep, twitchy bass line supplies the A-side with a nefarious groove, answering to the dual, high-voltage twangery of monumental guitar work. Soulful yet frantic vocals bellow out from an unnamed frontman (John Turner?), spearheading a dazzling psychedelic onslaught that progressively grows louder and heavier. B-side “Poor Man, Run” breaks open with a riveting crunch, boasting a hard, bluesy edge that’s just slightly evil. The track closes out with a glinting beam of guitar, built with an acoustic skeleton that provides the foundation for an exceptionally effective breakdown. Bass plunges and dips with low-end frequencies, creating a rock-steady beat for an explosive bout of sinister guitar soloing.
It’s remarkable that something of this caliber was just recently unearthed, but we’re thanking Permanent Records and straight-up telling you you’re going to need this 7″.
Permanent Records got their grimy mitts on the original BAD AXE tapes, resulting in this brand new archival 7″. Both of these tracks date back to 1973, but the label has proudly pressed them to vinyl for the very first time in 2014.
You’re likely to think that somewhere between 1973 and 2014 somebody failed (or maybe just didn’t care anymore) to share these songs with the world. Now 41 years later, that awful mistake has been rectified thanks to the folks at Permanent. Coming in a modest edition of just 300 pieces on black wax, Coachman showcases the two known songs that were laid to tape by the Chicago-based band in the early 70s. They formed from the ashes of the Burlington Express, another Chicago band who released a lone single in the mid-60s on Roach Records.
Both of these tracks radiate an authentic 70s psych rock vibe, not to mention the smell of the dirty musk of the basements they were born in. “Coachman” is woven together with some truly righteous psychedelic elements – a deep, twitchy bass line supplies the A-side with a nefarious groove, answering to the dual, high-voltage twangery of monumental guitar work. Soulful yet frantic vocals bellow out from an unnamed frontman (John Turner?), spearheading a dazzling psychedelic onslaught that progressively grows louder and heavier. B-side “Poor Man, Run” breaks open with a riveting crunch, boasting a hard, bluesy edge that’s just slightly evil. The track closes out with a glinting beam of guitar, built with an acoustic skeleton that provides the foundation for an exceptionally effective breakdown. Bass plunges and dips with low-end frequencies, creating a rock-steady beat for an explosive bout of sinister guitar soloing.
It’s remarkable that something of this caliber was just recently unearthed, but we’re thanking Permanent Records and straight-up telling you you’re going to need this 7″.
Review by RK @ Terminal Boredom:
A couple of unreleased 1973 jambrowskis from Chicago's Bad Axe, unearthed by Permanent Recs, beating Numero and/or Rocakdelic to the punch. "Coachman" isn't quite as searing as you'd hope, but it's still an interesting document of some early Seventies dudes ditching the niceties of their teen scene past and laying some heavy groove down after dropping some acid and hearing some Nuggets. Extended jam-outro features fancy soloing and the abundance of acoustic guitar keeps from being say proto-metal, but it's also not far off from some Bonehead Crunching either I suppose. "Poor Man, Run" has a pretty funky bassline, a drum solo and could qualify sort of basement-prog perhaps. Maybe not quite dumb enough to be Bonehead, but what do I know. All you Wayfaring Strangers should dig. Scum stats: 300 copies only.
A couple of unreleased 1973 jambrowskis from Chicago's Bad Axe, unearthed by Permanent Recs, beating Numero and/or Rocakdelic to the punch. "Coachman" isn't quite as searing as you'd hope, but it's still an interesting document of some early Seventies dudes ditching the niceties of their teen scene past and laying some heavy groove down after dropping some acid and hearing some Nuggets. Extended jam-outro features fancy soloing and the abundance of acoustic guitar keeps from being say proto-metal, but it's also not far off from some Bonehead Crunching either I suppose. "Poor Man, Run" has a pretty funky bassline, a drum solo and could qualify sort of basement-prog perhaps. Maybe not quite dumb enough to be Bonehead, but what do I know. All you Wayfaring Strangers should dig. Scum stats: 300 copies only.
