PUBLIC COLLECTORS

I’m not really into all of these endless band reunions but Die Kreuzen is one that I just can’t pass up. I did see them on their first go round in about 1991 or 1992 in Pittsburgh. It was near the end of the band. They played at a strange bar where the crowd was seated in chairs around lots of little tables, and they were decent but not as amazing as I was hoping they’d be. I worship their second album October File and I remember that they hardly played a thing from it, much less from their classic first record. I think I actually bitched at their singer Dan about this after their set. 

Tonight they are playing a reunion gig at the Double Door in Chicago and I’ll be there. From the archives, here’s a partial scan of the lyric sheet from their first album on Touch & Go from 1984. I bought this original pressing used and the insert has a couple balls of tape in the corner from where the previous owner must have attached it to a wall (there are photos of the band on the reverse). They also made a bunch of pencil notes that indicate what order each song appears in on each side of the record. 

One last bit of Cryptic Slaughter ephemera: another merchandise sheet with a note from their bassist Rob Nicholson. The note about an “int” indicates that I must have asked if I could interview the band for my fanzine. Unfortunately that never materialized. More Cryptic Slaughter posts here.

A short note from Rob Nicholson from the band Cryptic Slaughter, written on the back of a merchandise sheet that he mailed me in around 1987. You can listen to all of the album Money Talks on Youtube. As a 16 year old who bought this band’s cassettes from the local suburban chain record store, I can’t overstate how meaningful it was to me that I could simply write the band at an address on the tape and actually receive a response. I was just starting to publish a fanzine around this time and knowing that it was actually possible to directly connect with the bands I listened to was really important and exciting.

The front side of a folded merchandise sheet sent to me by the band Cryptic Slaughter back in around 1987. More Cryptic Slaughter posts here.

A photocopied merchandise list for the band Cryptic Slaughter, mailed to be back in 1987. More Cryptic Slaughter posts here.

Back in 1987 I developed a special love for the band Cryptic Slaughter, who played ridiculously fast hardcore with just enough slower grinding metal breaks to disrupt the sonic attack. I bought their first album Convicted on cassette at the old Wall to Wall Sound and Video in Suburban Square in the suburbs of Philly and was entranced. It must have been around this time that I wrote the band and exchanged a few letters with their bassist Rob (who recently has been playing with Ozzy, of all people). Here’s a merchandise sheet for the group that they sent me in October 1987. More Cryptic Slaughter posts here.

A flyer, probably from 1989, for a show with Token Entry, Voice of Reason, Food For Thought, Batman’s Brother Ed, “and a D.C. band” at Unisound Recording Studio in Reading, Pennsylvania. You can see some more flyers from Unisound at this link. I did not attend this show but did see at least one gig at Unisound. I believe it was Judge and Integrity playing on the same bill if memory serves. This was, in my view, a horribly macho period of east coast hardcore, and shows at this time were filled with all of the jocks I wanted nothing to do with in high school. Unisound was a curious place otherwise, as they had a big indoor half-pipe for skating, which was used during shows.

A flyer for Outburst, Upperhand, Beyond Control, and Throne of Corruption at G-Willikers in Pennsauken, New Jersey. I believe this show would have happened in 1989. From an old mailing of material from my friend Eric Weiss (who I haven’t heard from in about as many years).

Born Against from Drastic Solutions No. 6, 1991, Toronto Ontario, Canada. Published by Paul Abrash. Public Collectors recently received a very generous gift of sixty old, mostly photocopied ‘zines from the collection of Dale Johnson of Bacon in the Beans ‘zine. Dale was (and still is) part of this world in the late 1980s and early 90s when I was also doing an underground music/culture ‘zine called Primary Concern. His donation fills some nice gaps in my own collection from this period. You can find Bacon in the Beans at: PO Box 4912, Thousand Oaks, CA 91359. Send Dale something great!

This Zine Sucks #7, 1987, Trenton, New Jersey. Published by Bob Conrad. Public Collectors recently received a very generous gift of sixty old, mostly photocopied ‘zines from the collection of Dale Johnson of Bacon in the Beans ‘zine. Dale was (and still is) part of this world in the late 1980s and early 90s when I was also doing an underground music/culture ‘zine called Primary Concern. His donation fills some nice gaps in my own collection from this period. You can find Bacon in the Beans at: PO Box 4912, Thousand Oaks, CA 91359. Send Dale something great!

Ignorance and Apathy, Spring 1988. Published by Steve Mar, Sacramento, CA. Public Collectors recently received a very generous gift of sixty old, mostly photocopied ‘zines from the collection of Dale Johnson of Bacon in the Beans ‘zine. Dale was (and still is) part of this world in the late 1980s and early 90s when I was also doing an underground music/culture ‘zine called Primary Concern. His donation fills some nice gaps in my own collection from this period. You can find Bacon in the Beans at: PO Box 4912, Thousand Oaks, CA 91359. Send Dale something great!

Arche-Type Morality No. 12, 1986, West Hill, Denver, Colorado. Public Collectors recently received a very generous gift of sixty old, mostly photocopied ‘zines from the collection of Dale Johnson of Bacon in the Beans ‘zine. Dale was (and still is) part of this world in the late 1980s and early 90s when I was also doing an underground music/culture ‘zine called Primary Concern. His donation fills some nice gaps in my own collection from this period. You can find Bacon in the Beans at: PO Box 4912, Thousand Oaks, CA 91359. Send Dale something great!

I’ll be continuing to post from Denmark this week. Here’s a street poster for the upcoming K-Town Hardcore Fest in Copenhagen. Wish I could still be here for this - Terveet Kädet!

A flyer for a 1984 show at the Wil-Mar Center in San Francisco by the Crucifucks, Imminent Attack, Other Christs, and Ganja Goodness from the collection of Stephen Perkins in De Pere, Wisconsin. Stephen lived in San Francisco between 1980 and 1990 and he collected tons of flyers off the street during his time in the Bay Area. You can see some of Stephen’s other collections on Public Collectors here.

A 1983 flyer for an M.D.C., Tragic Mulatto, The Dicks, Condemned to Death and Red Kross show in San Francisco from the collection Stephen Perkins in De Pere, Wisconsin. Stephen lived in San Francisco between 1980 and 1990 and he collected tons of flyers off the street during his time in the Bay Area. You can see some of Stephen’s other collections on Public Collectors here.