When Greg first approached me about adding my two cents to this here blog I thought my contribution could be an old metalhead's guide to metal past and present. You know, shaking my cane in a rocking chair yelling about how it used to be. I will get to cane wagging soon enough but, this being a blog of punks, first I figured I could use my much less refined knowledge of the genre I once dabbled in but maybe did not make the journey with me to old manhood. Let me present to you what I consider a lost, if not classic, at least really good record: Clown Alley's "Circus Of Chaos". Why this? Because when I tried to remember "punk" albums I loved as a teen, this and Attitude Adjustment's "American Paranoia" popped into my head. Since punk rock guru Greg had never heard of Clown Alley...you see where this is going. So, Clown Alley. This is it for them. They put out one record. They did, however, start Alchemy Records to put this out and would also release albums from Neurosis and the Melvins (so there's some legacy shit right there). Plus, two Clown Alley-ers (Lori Temple Black and Mark Deutrom) would go on to join the Melvins, so they've got that going for them. As for this record, it, alongside the D.R.I.'s of the world, ushered in the crossover movement (yes, the punk rock that holds up for me is going to be riff heavy). I was 15 when this came out in 1985, fully engaged in smoking dope and listening to Metallica and Slayer in dank bedrooms. But I had also been given the first Suicidal Tendencies so I fancied myself primed for crossover. "Circus Of Chaos" struck all the right chords with me. It starts out with "The Lie", a chugging riff heavy midtempo dirge and never lets up. In my mind, "In the Cartoon" is the "hit" based on nothing. But give it a spin and it pretty well encompasses all things Clown Alley. It starts out with a plodding riff, moves into a more traditional punk rock tempo, enjoys a rehash of the plodding, and you get the point. I hadn't owned this record in many years and was shocked to find out that Southern Lord had re-issued in the mid-2000's. I guess it was less stealthily metal than I remembered. Anyway, the re-issue is out of print but easily attainable on the cheap. It's got some live stuff as an added bonus that sounds like shit because the sound at Ruthie's was never world class and we didn't have digital recorders on us back then. Added bonus, an interview where the dj claims St. Vitus wants to play Clown Alley in whiffle ball. That's pretty metal. This here is a pretty good document on a really heavy one and done. Dig.
Southern Lord:
Clown Alley - Circle of Chaos
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