Flipper

[thenationalacrobat]

no trend - teen love / early months is the pinnacle of this stuff for me... "hanging out in georgetown... drinking coke!" i'd take no trend and stick men with ray guns over flipper any day but this is a flipper thread yes yes

[letchhausen]

No Trend were pretty good. I wouldn't put them in the same class as Flipper though. For one thing, there were smarter and that ain't always a good thing where rock is concerned. They had that sort of smart irony humor that treads a line between pretentious bitterness because you weren't popular in high school (Teen Love) and the real critique of social norms that seemed their real target. I don't think they were always successful. I have a couple singles, the Too Many Humans LP, the Lydia Lunch thing and just wasn't interested by the time of Vegas Polyester. I do have fond memories of their live show (an amusing cover of AC/DC had them screaming "back in black repetitively while regurgitating the initial riff over and over while in the midst of some strobe lights) though. It was pretty intense and organized for abrasive intent. Sorta like Big Black with a completely different intelligence at work. I thought some of their stuff like Mass Sterilization sounded like Flipper meets early PIL and that ain't a bad thing. I did feel that their self-consciousness over time towards their project often made them as unsexy as the Dischord crowd they were pissing off. Rebelling against what you perceive as the dominant aesthetic (in this case the punk/hardcore scene) isn't that avant-garde. You have to be careful that you aren't just the high-school kid who wore the "why be normal" button picking up a guitar.......

I think Flipper was something more immediate and primal and yet it wasn't part of the dominant aesthetic either. I find No Trend to be a very interesting band and I would definitely urge people to get their records and check them out. To my mind they were part of that stream of bands that rode through the punk underground that made up what was a very interesting and varied scene. I can remember running down to see bands like The Three O'Clock, Whitehouse, Husker Du, Black Flag, No Trend, Youth Brigade, The Fall or whatever and never really thinking that any of this stuff wasn't part of the scene. I think one of the limitations of something like the movie American Hardcore is that it created a sort of segregation. I remember seeing The Three Johns playing with Gang Green and not thinking anything of it.

Ooops sorry, I'm uhh rambling here. I think Flipper is a band for the ages while No Trend are going to be one of those cool bands that the people who dig deeper will know about. Everbody's talkin' that the new sounds are funny but it's still rock and roll to me.

[jon abbey]

Everbody's talkin' that the new sounds are funny but it's still rock and roll to me.

and that's the first time in history Billy Joel's been quoted in support of Flipper.

[dala]

"I've had a hard day boycotting coke,
I need a cup of coffee and a smoke.
Listen to Flipper and No Trend,
Make me feel good aout humans again.
Too much hardcore for breakfast!"
Th'Inbred

[vomir]

the release date has been postponed to early december...

[Stevo]

Just got word that they've sorted out new bassist. Ex Frightwig/Mudwomen . & are sounding the best they have in years.
Must be phenomenal since they weren't slacking with Krist on board.
Drag about the delay in the reissues though. Was hoping to get them cheap through Amazon & with the delay wouldn't have them arrive while I was around. So may have to pay higher price in London so not get them all. Well highlights of the new year then.

[jon abbey]

these are out now.