Over 30 posts and I’ve managed to totally ignore Phoenix. Any proper Southern Arizonian is supposed to hate all things Phoenix because we think we’ve figured out how real desert city life is supposed to be or something like that. Or maybe it’s just some stupid college/sports rivalry that’s seeped over into larger aspects of the culture. I’ve always found the politics of Maricopa County to be fucked, but you cannot deny that Phoenix has produced some of the best bands in the state and the nation. So I thought that I should start giving Phoenix some of its due. If this is a site about the fringe music of this state than you can’t ignore Phoenix because some of the weirdest and wildest shit ever was produced there. Shitty drugs, intense summer heat and poor public transportation makes people weird. I never lived there and have only played up there occasionally over the years, so I don’t know a lot of the people involved, but I do have recordings that I think are great and should be shared. So let’s start at the beginning of Placebo which was the premier punk/weirdo label in Phoenix. This first release by the Teds isn’t as weird as the label would get with Sun City Girls or the Dry Lungs comps. and it’s not as intense as the JFA or Mighty Sphincter stuff. It is however pretty damn good punk with a post punk, new wave and Killed By Death vibe. “Modern Guy” sounds like it could have been on one of the Jam’s early records while “Telly Surveillance” and “Digital Doris” have a dissident, minimalist stiff new wave sound. This is good shit and a good way to set the mood for the record label that Placebo would become. I don't actually own this record. I found it somewhere online and I can't remember where, but I give many thanks to the people that share these type of hard to find gems.
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