Mix CD #14 - Life Is What You Make It

So here you go, mix number fourteen! It's back to no theme this week, just songs I've liked I want you to like too.
There seems to be an awful lot of older music on this mix this time, While it just seems to have fallen that way, the fact I'm an old man that listens to old music no doubt had quite a large part in it! There's a few Grunge songs and a few 90's Britrock tracks too as well as a bit of Stoner, some Punk and a couple of other bits and pieces.

I hope you like it,

Tracklisting
Doug Pinnick - Life Is What You Make It
Alice In Chains - Sea Of Sorrow
Not On Tour - Oded
Jobriath - I Love A Good Fight
Honeycrack - Gun
Scattered Hamlet - Guilty Plea
Ballboy - Disney's Ice Parade
Def Leppard - Action
Bushfire - NWO33
Die So Fluid - Anubis
Amen - Buy American
Zen Baseballbat - Gangcall At The OK Canal
Crazy Gods Of Endless Noise - Treacle Tummy Fudgetime Treat
Mina Caputo - Got Monsters (I No Longer Exist)
Calabrese - Lords Of The Wasteland
Magnapop - Lay It Down
Last Crack - My Burning Time
The Yo-Yo's - Time Of Your Life
Motorjesus - The Run
The Dogs D'amour - I Don't Want You To Go
Green Apple Quick Step - Ludes And Cherrybombs

You can download the mix HERE if you like.
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Doug Pinnick - Life Is What You Make It
Taken from the 2007 album Strum Sum Up

Doug is the Vocalist/Bassist in the iconic band King's X. He's also part of a plethora of side projects: Supershine, Grinder Blues, KXM, PGP, The Mob, Poundhound, DUG etc. This particular song is from an album recorded under the name Dug Pinnick. It's more radio friendly Rock than some of his more expermental, Progressive stuff. It's ridiculously catchy and upbeat.

Alice In Chains - Sea Of Sorrow
Taken from the 1990 album Facelift

One of the big four of Grunge. Growing up when Grunge broke all them years ago makes it hard to believe this album is over 25 years old now, it's just always been around. It's also hard to believe it's coming up 15 years since Layne Staley died! I love the "You open fiiiiire" bit  and the cool little boogie riff tht pops up from time to time.

Not On Tour - Oded
Taken from the 2012 album All This Time

Not On Tour are a Melodic Hardcore Punk band from Israel. Their songs are surprisingly short, Oded is the longest song on All This Time and is still  less than 2 minutes long.  I'd rather they fleshed out some of the shorter ones cos often they're over before you get a chance to enjoy them but nonetheless they're a fun little band.

Jobriath - I Love A Good Fight
Taken from the 2004 compilation album Lonely Planet Boy

Jobriath was an avant-garde Rock musician in the 70's, His record company clearly wanted him to be the next Ziggy Stardust and there's definitely similarities but Jobriath was even more flamboyant and over the top. He retired from music in 1975 and sadly succumbed to AIDS in 1983. This song is taken from a 2004 compilation but was actually recorded in the early 70's. 

Honeycrack - Gun
Taken from the 1996 single Go Away

When CJ and Willie Dowling were fired from The Wildhearts they moved on to form Honeycrack and released Prozaic in 1995. It was one of the best Alternative Rock. Punk albums released in the 90's. Big, hooks, some odd time changes, eclectic songs and excellent luyrics from Willie. They released an odds and sods collection but Prozaic was their only real album. This song was a B-side to one of their bigger singles. It's as good as any of the songs on the album to my mind. Clever lyrics and a catchy tune. Don't be fooled by the lumpen Metal riff it opens with, this is pure Pop Rock at its finest. 

Scattered Hamlet - Guilty Plea
Taken from the 2013 album Skeleton Dixie

Scattered Hamlet are a Southern Rock/Stoner band though, one look at the picture above and you can pretty much tell what this American band sound like. Skeleton Dixie is their debut album and it's really good. There's apparently a new one coming soonish so I'll be looking forward to that.

Ballboy - Disney's Ice Parade
Taken from the 2008 album I Worked On The Ships

This couldn't be much more different to the Scattered Hamlet, it's a twee little Indie ballad about keeping your chin up, it sees frontman Gordon McIntyre accompanied by nought but a ukulele. It's a nice song, and a couple of lines will illicit a smile from you maybe, 

Def Leppard - Action
Taken from the 1992 single Make Love Like A Man

This is apparently a cover of a song by The Sweet but I had no idea, it sounds just like a Def Leppard song, albeit one with a couple of Prog Rock twiddles every now and then. It's as anthemic as they come and I can see why it was eventually released as a single in it's own right. 

Bushfire - NWO33
Taken from the 2011 album Black Ash Sunday

I don't know a whole about this German Stoner band other than they have a couple of decent albums out. This track is a highlight from their debut. The song itself is all well and good, all political and social outrage, but the real star is the massive Kyuss-like riff that kicks in after a minute or so. It's a bouncing, rolling thing that'll get your toe tappin' in no time at all.

Die So Fluid - Anubis
Taken from the 2014 album The Opposites Of Light

This Goth Rock trio from London have been around for quite a while now, emerging from the ashes of 90's Indie Rock band Feline, they're heavier and more Gothic than Feline were. This is from their fourth and most recent album. I've just found out that drummer Al Fletcher died this year which isn't very nice, my commiserations to the band, 

Amen - Buy American
Taken from the 2003 album Join, Or Die

Another band that rose to prominence in the 90's There have been a large amount of members of this anarchic Punk band, with Casey Chaos being the only constant. All of their albums have been excellent, full of furious anthems and bitter vitriol. The last being Death Before Musick in 2004. They were supposed to release a new album last year but it has yet to be seen. I was lucky enough to see them live 3 times and they were very, very good each time. This is from an album of rarities that was a UK Tour only release, each is numbered in Casey's blood which is a bit weird. Anyway, I've got one, somewhere.

Zen Baseballbat - Gangcall At The OK Canal
Taken from the 2003 album For Refund Insert Baby

Zen Baseballbat were a peculiar Ska band and this was their second album. The band are from Widnes and sing with their own distinct accents. Although they're a 90's Ska band they have more in common with bands like The Housemartins or Madness than they do Less Than Jake etc. Both Albums sound as fresh today as they did when they were first released. This is in no small part to Gleavey's Northern wit and wry lyrics. 

Crazy Gods Of Endless Noise - Treacle Tummy Fudgetime Treat
Taken from the 1996 album Heavy Planet

I've been meaning to put this band on  a mix for a while now but never seemed to have got around to it. This was their only album and was a hodgepodge of Rock, Hip Hop, Grunge, Funk, and so on. At times they were a little too 'Hey, we're wacky!' for their own good but, for the most part, Heavy Planet is a really strong album, there's plenty of big choruses to offset the more... experimental aspects

Mina Caputo - Got Monsters (I No Longer Exist)
Taken from the 2008 album A Fondness For Hometown Scars

This is a bit of a harrowing song. It's about struggling to live with secrets, shame and guilt. It's made all the more poignant when you realise that it was written when Mina was going by her birth name of Keith. She's more well known as the vocalist in Melodic Hardcore band Life Of Agony. Her solo stuff is a lot, I would say mellower but it's not really, if anything it's harder to listen to, Gentler might be a better word.

Calabrese - Lords Of The Wasteland
Taken from the 2015 album Lust For Sacrilege

The three Calabrese brothers, Jimmy, Bobby and Davey play some entertaining Horror Punk. There's an obvious Misfits influence but a little bit of Rockabilly 50's style imagery too and a more contemporary feel like, say, Alkaline Trio. They perhaps aren't the most cerebral of bands but they're very enjoyable and all six albums are worth a listen if you like songs about Zombies, Vampires and a'murderin' etc. 

Magnapop - Lay It Down
Taken from the 1994 album Hot Boxing

Magnapop are a Grunge/Riot Grrrl band formed around the duo of vocalist Linda Hopper and Guitarist Ruthie Morris. They a couple of decent albums out but split towards the end of the 90's. They've apparently reformed since and released a few albums, I didn't know about that until researching for this. They definitely sound of their time but that's not necessarily a bad thing. This was one of their bigger singles at the time.

Last Crack - My Burning Time
Taken from the 1991 album Burning Time

I used to love this album. It took me a good few listens to appreciate though. I was 16 with no real understanding of what Progressive Metal was and some of Burning Time's more extreme moments were too much for me. It's a vary eclectic album though, at it's heaviest there's elements of Slayer and at the other end of the spectrum it's almost like U2. This is one of the more sedate songs and the guitars are cool, the way they're split through left and right speakers with each playing a different line. Try not to judge them by their very dated appearence, My Burning Time is a great song that's aged really well.

The Yo-Yo's - Time Of Your Life
Taken from the 2000 album Uppers And Downers

This band were destined for great things. Formed by Danny McCormack, former bassist with The Wildhearts, they signed a major deal with Sub Pop and released thsi gem of an album. Unfortutely it all imploded and the band split. They released a mini album with a different line up but it didn't really capture the magic of Uppers and Downers. Danny is now fronting The Main Grains and co-vocalist Tom Spencer is now fronting The Loyalties. As far as I'm aware Neil Phillips is still with the band he left to join The Yo-Yo's, B*Movie Heroes, but not sure about that. 

Motorjesus - The Run
Taken from the 2014 album Electric Revelation

This German quintet play no-nonsense Stoner Metal. It's songs about Metal, cars and/or gasoline. There's no trippy, spaced out segments or lengthy homages to weed, just lots of riffs and big choruses about the previous subjects. Good stuff! 

The Dogs D'amour - I Don't Want You To Go
Taken from the 1988 album In The Dynamite Jet Saloon

I've only recently got back into this band, way back in the day I had one fo their albums on vinyl, Errol Flynn I think, and I never bothered with them all through my cassette days and then CD's I recentl;y got a box set of their five most iconic albums and I'm loving them. They played Sleazy Hard Rock that had more to do with The Faces and The Rolling Stones than it did Guns n' Roses, Faster Pussycat etc.

Green Apple Quick Step - Ludes And Cherrybombs
Taken from the 1993 album Wonderful Virus

The first only time I've been to Glastonbury Festival was in 1994. It was my first big festival and it blew my naive little mind. Amongst others I saw Rage Against The Machine, The Levellers, Manic Street Preachers, Senser, L7, Blind Melon, Spin Doctors, The Boo Radleys, Madder Rose, Bjork, Ian MacNabb and Green Apple Quick Step. I had absolutely no idea who they were, I was waiting for either L7 or Senser, I forget which. I was really impressed with them and this song in particular stood out. It took me forever to find their album and , years later, I had to order it as an import. They've had a couple since Wonderful Virus but it's still the best. This song, lyrically is about an alien trying to fit in on Earth but judging by the title itself it's something altogether less fantastical.