SADO-NATION
"Future Past, Present,
Tense" CD
3 years in the making or should that read ‘waiting‘?
This riveting compilation has took a long time coming, but the
wait was worth it in the end. Especially if your taste in punk
is from from the darker side of life, with loads of variation,
suss, and gutzy determination! You certainly won’t be frustrated
with this 34 track nemesis. Sado-Nation unlike most of the bands
on the GTA roster are actually still alive and active, dishing
out their apocalyptic fury to audiences on a regular basis.
Oh well back to noize. The bands first official self titled 7
inch EP, produced by Greg Sage of the Wipers, gets us off to an
impressive start. It's now 1980 and this long overdue debut featured
Leesa Nation on lead vocals, who had replaced John Shirley in
1979. It helped that she was also a lot easier on the eye. Leesa
also bought her very own high pitched yelp to the by now tight
Sado sound. This prototype 45 comprises of 2 tracks of don’t
mess with me angst, amid a brooding chord attack. As Mr Corboy
wrestles with suit jobs in the street during the reckless ‘Trouble’,
he still found time to hit back at persecution during ‘On
Whom They Beat‘. Flip the Sado-Nation coin and we get a more
pop punk resonance that surfaces during the quirky, teen lust
of ‘Gimme You’. A song that comes bouncing in with hand
claps and those reassuring “oooohhh’s oooohhh’s”.
Finally we are met with the compulsive ‘Mom And Pop Democracy‘
that hides a snotty attack on American convention neatly disguised
in Leesa’s sugar coated delivery. These 4 tracks alone showcase
Corboy’s affinity for creating snotty punk rock with tuneful
pop melodies. A talent which was to become a healthy combination
within the one chord realm of the early 80's punk scene.
By the winter of 1980 Sado-Nation had laid down tracks for their
debut album tentatively titled 'Disruptive Pattern'. But by the
time it was finished squeaky Leesa had relocated to New York City
leaving the band without a vocalist. To make matters worse the
band had run outta money, leaving em with no option but to shelve
its release. That was until now, coz we get to hear the full album
for the first time in 25 years! 'Disruptive Pattern' shows Sado
moving away from their poppy roots into a more course punk ghetto.
As we hear Corboy’s guitar creating razor sharp shards across
an abrasive landscape. Songs like the impressive ‘Cut Off
The Cord’ gets its first airing here, which seems to benefit
way more from Leesa's less impulsive vocal and sinister undertone.
We also get to hear the snotty ‘Phobias’ for the first
time. Which signalled Leesa losing the helium bleat of her earlier
vocal in favour of a more matured scowl?
That was till Dave come across a full on 18 year old punkette
called Mish Bondage who was then fronting an all girl teen punk
band called the Braphsmears. He seen in Mish the sonic medusa
he was looking for. So he seduced her into becoming Sado-Nations
3rd and final lead singer, and so began a 23 year old pact of
creative collaboration, demonic grooming and psychotic therapy.
Mish’s hardcore stage presence and fanatical delivery was
in total contrast to Leesa's more subdued approach. She had bottle
and fed off Corboy’s moody guitar slinging, thus creating
a more potent hardcore focus for the band.
This is the Sado-Nation that would take their Oregonian attack
further afield and infiltrate the thriving early 80’s west
coast punk scene. It also saw the emergence of a new set of songs
that would feature on their debut album ‘Were Not Equal’
released on their own Brainstem Records in 1982. ‘Were Not
Equal’ reprised here shows the band upping the ante with
a more dynamic direction. Along with Mish’s tense vocal delivery
we could actually hear a more extreme monster in the making. ‘Armageddon’
strikes home with its hyperboled bass and a buzz saw riff that
conjures up an aura of expectancy along side that cold calculating
vocal. We are then dealt the deadly blow of ‘Nuke Up Now’
which displays a rather unique take on the early 80’s spectre
of nuclear annihilation that was particularly impressive in a
nihilistic way. This is probably their best known track with its
radioactive guitar ring on the opening sequence, before it detonates
into a big juicy guitar riff with lethal glee.
Followed closely by the blitzing hyperactive 37 second rant of
‘On The Wall’ where Mish’s inner demons hit the
fan head on with no brakes, but just a manic beat to cushion the
blow! I really liked the wayward feel of the ‘Politics And
Passion’ track, Coz it enables us to observe Miss Bondage
generating a far weirder sneer in her doubled up vocal assault.
All this happens on top of a careering Corboy riff, which zooms
along on a 52 second rant that somehow stumbles into a British
police siren wailing away in the background while a babbling bondage
and co gets sectioned off to the loony bin!
We are then treated to a superior version of the clinically cruel
‘Cut Off The Cord’ which could’ve been even more
malicious if only the Duchess of discipline took lead vocal instead
of backup. They finish off this album with a blistering live studio
version of ‘Johnny Paranoid’ which harks back to Corboy’s
pre-punk roots on top of one of John Shirley’s more autobiographical
lyrics.
The band had been touring frantically throughout the US till 1984,
which saw Flipside zine voting Mish Bondage female vocalist of
the year. But even that accolade couldn’t stop the band eventually
splintering across different states as the second wave of punk
hit its dark ages. It wasn’t until 1997 and with renewed
interest in Sado-Nation from a new generation of punks that Bondage
and Corboy once more reconvened in Portland with a new rhythm
section and a renewed vigour. They bought the band back outta
their self imposed coma and recorded 'The Teal Project' CDEP in
2002. A session named after their current drummer Mike Teal who
also produced it.
Again it features their never ceasing penchant for the darker
underbelly of the American psyche. It also comes with a skilful
sheen just check out ‘Void’ for a great comeback track
with its hypnotic vocal segment. ‘Nil’ follows Mish’s
constant search for escape from the blackness, as she flexes her
complex visions and sneers majestically on top of some classic
Corboy’s power chords. ‘Cut’ has some of the best
lyrics from the bondage pen as Mish regails the only control in
her life and that’s through her music and delivery... "One
pain that I control a product of this mess, angry stares insults
thrown they all call me a bitch".
The most hypnotic number however in Sado's comeback has gotta
be the haunting 'Insomnia Insomniac' which is a f*cking belter
of a chugging nightmare and gives us Dave Corboy’s most impressive
vocal to date as the night creeps up and the scary spectre of
perpetual consciousness sits at the foot of his bed.
To round this impressive anthology off we get 4 live tracks recorded
at the Portland Met in 1983. This live time capsule gives us a
crackling bloody insight into a very live and thoroughly messy
Sado-Nation at a time when they were at their most lethal! Yeah
this collection is essential listening if you wanna sample a real
reek of Portland Punk, so get your copy now!
Comes with sleeve notes, selected lyrics and related images from
the bands sprawling reign. Oh yeah before I forget they are currently
writing a new album so beware of more sadism on your horizon!
Track Listing:
1. I'm Trouble
2. Gimme You
3. On Whom They Beat
4. Mom & Pop Democracy
5. I Accuse You
6. Cut Off The Cord
7. No More
8. See You Through My Eyes
9. Phobias
10. Industrial Revolution
11 .The Dark
12. Ole!
13. Death Camp
14. Messed Up Mixed Up
15. Armageddon
16. We're Not Equal
17. Don't Bother Me
18. Nuke Up Now!
19. On The Wall
20. Fight Back
21. Industrial Revolution
22. Politics & Passion
23. Cut Off The Cord
24. No Use
25. Johnny Paranoid
26. Void
27. Nil
28. Cut
29. Insomnia Insomniac
30. 16 Again
31. We're Not Equal (live)
32. Industrial Revolution (live)
33. Cut Off The Cord (live)
34. Front Row Chaos (live)
Tracks 1-4 EP 1980
5-13 Disruptive Pattern (previously unreleased LP) 1980
14-25 We're Not Equal LP 1982
26-30 The Teal Project 2000
31-34 Live Recordings 1983 (previously unreleased)
|
|
