Fleshtones

Recorded in 1978, prior to the band's debut album, the seminal ROMAN GODS, the tracks on FLESHTONES were originally available as a cassette-only release entitled BLAST OFF! This reissue of that material rearranges the order of the songs, but, more importantly, vastly improves the sound quality. Associated with the New York punk rock movement, the Fleshtones were clearly influenced by the garage and surf music of the '60s. Punk provided them with the impetus to start a band, confidence in playing fast, and a ready-made audience tired of the excesses of disco.
This record contains a number of classics: "Critical List" features huge, thumping drums and harmonica; "Atom Spies" is a hyperactive surf homage; and the blistering cover of "Rockin' This Joint" neatly anticipates both the rockabilly of the Stray Cats and the late-'90s swing revival. The standout of many standouts, however, is "American Beat", a garage/punk scorcher with searing guitars cutting across the bottom-heavy rhythm section--the kind of song that embodies Motorhead's maxim "Everything louder than everything else". This record documents some of the finest moments of American punk rock and, as such, is an important signpost on the road to what was eventually defined as "alternative rock".|