***REISSUED!!! “Released on vinyl in 1992 by the SCREAMIN’ MEE-MEES on their own Dog Face Records, this was the public follow-up to their debut EP unleashed fifteen years earlier in 1977! BRUCE COLE and JON ASHLINE (R.I.P.) made probably the best ‘worst’ record of the 1970s American punk era; the Live From The Basement EP is right down there with the Germs' ‘Forming’ and O. Rex's 1976 maxi-single. And then came Clutching Hand Monster Mitt! They're still in the basement, but with better equipment; technique that's still primitive, but more sure and much more experimental; a style that's equal parts ACID and STOOPID. Like, there's a song called ‘Mudflap,’ but it's instrumental and has a vibe somewhere 'twixt The Piper At The Gates Of Dawn and the Godz on ESP. ‘Riotous Crowd’ sets the tone for the whole thing with a kinda cranky paranoid narrative voice describing a world both surreal and mundane (like the Mee-Mees themselves). It goes on for a good while. The whole record's loaded with similar wah-wah guitar spasms, sloppy perfect drums, and oddball vocals. Dig ‘Visions Of The Dark Pumpkin’—Midwestern psycho-somethin'-delic with a shimmering dash of English acid-rock circa '67. And then comes the gruntspeak of ‘Visual Harm,’ staggering along like some very twisted Midwestern garage-rock-mutant locked away in a cellar for twenty years with nothing but Krautrock records and cheap beer. Urp. Like the Mee-Mees.”—Eddie Flowers. Remastered from the original tapes.
CD $10.50
01/22/2013
MP3 $5.94
01/22/2013
***REISSUED!!! “Released by Bag of Hammers in 1996, this was the SCREAMIN’ MEE-MEES’ second LP, following 1992's self-released Clutching Hand Monster Mitt, itself preceded by a lone EP from 1977—the immortal Live From The Basement. Nude Invisible Foot Phenomenon finds Missouri's premiere poets of basement-rock, low-tech experimentation, and righteous silliness flailing about somewhere between their 1970s STOOPID formula and their first LP's ACID+STOOPID approach. The songs are generally shorter, with more emphasis on the lyrics, but everything's awash in reverb and the clatter rarely pauses. On the other side of the theoretical fence, the eight minutes of ‘3-string classical guitar’ (by drummer JON ASHLINE) and tape manipulation called ‘Chinese Handcuffs’ demonstrates wonderfully how much of the ‘serious’ underground music that got released in the 1990s was cynical, stillborn crap. Whoever decided you can't have a few laughs while you're lookin' for a little space done got theyselves stuck! On the other hand, if you wanna open a frosty one and reclaim your whiteboy d-u-m-b roots, check out ‘Dogfishin',’ ‘The Grand Old Duke Of York’ (storytellin' in the surreal tradition of their '77 classic ‘Max Factor’), or ‘Goin' To A Barbeque.’ But I think I'll grab the bong and take another swim through ‘Smarter,’ a druggy bog up the bum of hierarchies everywhere. It was recorded in England by guitarist BRUCE COLE, with TODD DILLINGHAM and friends. Perhaps the track that best personifies the Screamin' Mee-Mees at this stage is ‘Mesmerizing Donut Glaze,’ which sounds so much like a stoned early...
CD $10.50
01/22/2013
MP3 $8.91
01/22/2013
***“THE SCREAMIN’ MEE-MEES are back! And it's back to basics, kids. For the Mee-Mees' first proper release in eleven years (after a slew of archival digs more recently), they turn away from the psychodelik tweaks and layering of their ‘90s recordings. The duo returns to its basic mid-’70s form: two adult children bashing away and making it up as they go along. That's JON ASHLINE on drums and stoopid ad-lib lyrics, and there's BRUCE COLE on the guitar. The guest bass seat this time is filled by ANN RERUN, the first female to enter this brotherhood's inner sanctum in its 35 years of existence. The five "tunes" with Miss Rerun concern a variety of social topics: plentiful gasoline, fried chicken, spillin' stuff on people, special sales, and reality itself. Bruce finds his voice on the brief but brutally effective "Blue Trashcan." The boys get kinda "experimental" with a lengthy double-guitar thing called "Flyin' Skull Fragments," which sounds like what a Captain Beefheart demo might've been like if Mr. Van Vliet plucked at guitar strings instead of playing one-finger piano. The two final "top secret mysterious unknown bonus tracks" find Bruce screwin' around with his audio generator in a fidgety Krautrock-like manner. The end. Now, how 'bout a sip of the Mee-Mees' new hot sody? It's been settin' in the sun for quite awhile now.”
CD $10.50
01/07/2008
MP3 $8.91
01/07/2008
***A collection of unreleased tracks from the vaults recorded between 1975 and 1980 by St. Louis underground rock sensations the SCREAMIN' MEE-MEES. Includes the cuts "Struck Out (Again)" (a redo of a tune from their debut The Basement EP), "Be Retarded," "C'mon Jimmy," "Money Back Guarantee," "A Group of Women," "No Known Antidote," "Disco For Drunks," "Too Young To Shave Part Two," and many more.
CD $10.50
04/22/2004
MP3 $9.90
04/22/2004
***A collection of the 7-inch vinyl output from long-running St. Louis proto-punk all-stars the SCREAMING MEE-MEES circa 1975-1997. Includes the band's Live From The Basement EP recorded in '75/'76, the 1978 Home Movies EP, the 1990s singles "Pull My Finger/Family Tree," "Life Never Stops/Oscillations," and "Answer Me/Arthritis Today," as well as the group's cover of the Twinkeyz' "Cartoon Land" (from a split single with Mike Rep), and "Squawk Squawk Squawk" from a comp EP for Whump! fanzine. Also included are tracks from BRUCE COLE's 1997 Venusian Plateaus solo EP. Packaged with a twenty-page booklet full of rare photos, sleeve reproductions, an interview with Cole by JEFF KOPP, a discography, and liner notes by EDDIE FLOWERS.
CD $13.50
11/11/2003
MP3 $9.90
11/11/2003
7" $4.00
01/08/2001