Flipper: Bruce Lose, Will Shatter (vocals, bass); Ted Falconi (guitar); Steve DePace (drums).
Recorded live at CBGB's, New York, New York in November 1983. Includes liner notes by Michael Goldberg & Carlo McCormick.
All tracks have been digitally remastered.
Personnel: Will Shatter, Bruce Lose (vocals); Ted Falconi (guitar); Steve DePace (drums).
Audio Mixer: Steve DePace.
Liner Note Author: Michael Goldberg.
Recording information: CBGB's, New York, NY (11/1983).
Editor: Steve DePace.
Unknown Contributor Roles: Ted Falconi; Steve DePace; Kate; Will Shatter; Bruce Lose.
If not quite as rarity-collecting as the brilliant Sex Bomb Baby overview, Blow'n Chunks is still actually a great place for a Flipper newcomer to begin. Taking from a show at CBGB's in late 1983, Blow'n finds the band smashing and crashing through a combination of older and newer numbers both, including some that had yet to be officially recorded. The sound quality is good without being too pristine -- something about Flipper, at least back then, seems to resist a clean recording as being disruptive of the thick flow of sludge created. What's especially interesting in the light of history is that no matter how many bands from Seattle in particular claim Flipper as an influence, the quartet themselves never sounds like slow, dire grunge. Tracks like "Way of the World," "In Life My Friend," and "Shed No Tears" keep all the strong, lumbering energy familiar from the studio versions, sounding practically quick and speedy, even while the feedback walls and bass trudges set the way. Those numbers that are actually slow, like "The Lights, the Sound, the Rhythm, the Noise" and "Life Is Cheap" definitely betray the Black Sabbath influence long credited to the band, but with an economy that group seemed to lose somewhere along the way (if it ever had it). Both Lose and Shatter bark and scream out their vocals, and for all the implicit drama they never sound like they're putting on an act -- it's all natural, fitting right in with the powerful music. Fun examples of humor: quick snippets that appeared at the ends of the separate sides on the original tape release, with dogs barking and the band urging the listener to either "turn the tape over!" or to realize "it's finished!" Bio notes from the band and critic Michael Goldberg make for good liner info as well. ~ Ned Raggett
Professional Reviews
Uncut (8/01, p.91) - 4 stars out of 5 - "...What is captured here is their shambolic but irresistible sound, a raucous mudslide of garage psychedelia and bass punk riffery....This is musical history in its own right..."
