7in - Bad Axe - Coachman b/w Poor Man, Run (Black Wax, Ltd 300) - $5.99 -
BUY
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LISTEN 
PERMANENT RECORDS 44TH RELEASE!!!
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!!!
(Special thanks to
Joe Losurdo without whom these Bad Axe tracks would still be languishing in obscurity!)
RIYL Michigan Meltdown, Bonehead Crunchers, Warfaring
Strangers, Jerusalem, Bent Wind and only the wildest, heaviest private
press rock n roll from the Acid Archives!
