Thursday, October 25, 2007

Alcohol Funnycar - singles, etc

I'm tempted to say that Seattle's sorely overlooked Alcohol Funnycar were a once-in-a-lifetime discovery, but they weren't. More accurately, they elicited a visceral reaction in me in the summer of 1993, that so rarely happens today, to me anyway. During their brief early-to-mid-90s tenure, this phenomenal trio led by guitar wielding vocalist Ben London, Alcohol Funnycar could have jockeyed for a place in the grunge limelight, but instead of wallowing in swampy demi-metal, they opted for pop-punk instead. A particularly ass-kicking stain thereof in fact, enough to grind the likes of Green Day and The Offspring into kitty litter. Residing on the respectable and relatively well-distributed Seattle imprint, C/Z Records, it was AF's debut ep, Burn, that first grabbed ahold of my eardrums and never let go. With slicing, incisive, and utterly melodic piledrivers like "Aggravation," and "Time," I had found nirvana, even though it was technically three or four years since I had found, uh, Nirvana (get it?). Tracking down the first two Alochol Funnycar singles that predated Burn was more than worth the effort. Their debut wax, "Pretense" b/w "Drive by" on Rathouse Records may not have nailed the penetrating hooks of their releases to come, it was a lovingly bruising warm up nonetheless. The single's tool-head sleeve, depicted to the side of this text, is as priceless as the tunes enshrined within.

Their second offering came courtesy of yet another another obscuro Seattle label, New Rage Records. The A-side, "All About It," is an early version of another blistering powerhouse in the Alcohol Funnycar oeuvre, which would later appear on the band's full-length debut, Time to Make the Donuts. It's backed by none other than a fervent take of Killing Joke's debut album favorite "Complications." Pure gold my friends. I'm rounding out this brief upload with Funnycar's contribution to the C/Z four-band comp 7" Four on the Floor from 1993, a well as "Fistfight With a Billygoat," a fun, riff-rocking hoedown that appeared on the Rathouse Records Power Flush compilation album of the same period.

Alcohol Funnycar dropped their second and final lp, Weasels, in 1995, a more serious effort inspired by the loss of tragically murdered Gits front-woman Mia Zapata. Ben London when onto a much mellower solo project, Sanford Arms after Funnycar disbanded.

Tracks:

01. Pretense (1st 7'')
02. Drive By (1st 7'')
03. All About It (2nd 7'')
04. Complications (2nd 7'')
05. Push (Four on the Floor comp)
06. Fistfight With a Billygoat (Power Flush comp)

Hear

9 comments:

fulhamx said...

Great band, Great post
Ben gave me 5 copies of the very ltd Blue vinyl pretense 7"s from a stash he kept under his bed when I went over to seattle (about '94)
I gave out 3 copies to friends as pressies, but still treasure the 2 copies i have left
This post brought back great memories
Thank you

spavid said...

I guess I had to settle for a copy on black vinyl. Guess you lucked out.

The Writers Room said...

While I can't condone the fact that you're giving our (and AFC's) music away for free, it's good to see this awesome single get a little recognition. If anyone wants to find out more about our obscuro label (and maybe actually BUY a copy of the amazing "All About It" 7", please go here:
http://www.myspace.com/newragerecords
http://home.earthlink.net/~ademt/

AtothemfT

Anonymous said...

please put this up again - the link doesn't work and i'd love to hear this material

Unknown said...

Hi, you mind re-upping this? Thanks!

spavid said...

The link has been updated.

Mike Williamson said...

Could you upload this again in honor of AFC playing a show last week in Seattle? Thanks!

Anonymous said...

Re up? Please?

Unknown said...

Re-up?