Angry Samoans: The Unboxed Set 1995

 

Along with X, Black Flag, Fear, and the Circle Jerks, the savagely satirical Angry Samoans rode the first wave of Los Angeles punk. Formed in Van Nuys, CA, in the summer of 1978, the band was

founded by singers and guitarists "Metal" Mike Saunders and Gregg Turner, a pair of erstwhile rock critics who'd previously teamed with fellow writer Richard Meltzer in the group VOM. Adding Saunders' brother Kevin on guitar, the group considered names like the Egyptians and the Eigenvectors (a mathematical term), they settled on the Angry Samoans, and enlisted bassist Todd Homer and drummer Bill Vockeroth, and initially set out as a Dictators cover band.
                     

In 1969 the Saunders brothers cut a 14-song high school garage rock album I'm a Roadrunner Motherfucka in their hometown of Little Rock, under a twice-used local band name, The Rockin'

Blewz. The album went unissued until the late 1990s. Mike Saunders briefly played in an early

backing lineup for 1950s rockabilly cult artist Ray Campi during 1975, before moving back to Arkansas for two years (pursuant to a second college degree). Bassist Homer had played in 1977 Masque-era band Jesus Prick, and drummer Vockeroth was a veteran of the Pasadena "backyard kegger party" cover band circuit (which also spawned Van Halen).
               

During 1978, both Turner and Mike Saunders played with rock critic Richard Meltzer in the Los

Angeles punk band VOM, which issued a posthumous five-song EP Live at Surf City on White Noise Records in early summer 1978. Patrick "P.J." Galligan was formerly a member of heavy metal band Cirith Ungol. Galligan died from throat cancer in 2014.
              

Soon, Saunders and Turner began writing original material and Two years later, they resurfaced with Back from Samoa, featuring titles like "They Saved Hitler's Cock," "Tuna Taco," and "My Old Man's a

Fatso." Soon, the bandmembers grew disenchanted with the entire punk culture, and they spent the next several years largely in a dormant state: guitarist Steve Drojensky replaced Kevin Saunders in 1984, Vockeroth went on hiatus, and Jeff Dahl temporarily stepped in for "Metal" Mike in 1985, but by and large the group laid low until 1987's Yesterday Started Tomorrow. Problems with their label and internal differences led the Angry Samoans to disband after recording 1988's STP Not LSD.
               

By the mid-'90s, "Metal" Mike was also fronting a new Samoans lineup, which still included longtime

mainstay Vockeroth as well as guitarists Alison Wonderslam and Mark Byrne, and bassist Adrienne Harmon.
                      

THE UNBOXED SET

                    

The Unboxed Set is exactly what the title implies; a single disc compilation that includes all four of the

Angry Samoans' official pre-breakup 12" releases, including their classic 1982 release, Back from Samoa. One of the truly great '80s punk bands, the music of the Angry Samoans contained all the right elements: juvenile humor, raging barre chords, snotty vocals, and most importantly, a strong sense of justice and the everyman. In addition, they also had an unusually tight rhythm section and great pop songwriting instincts that placed them several notches above their contemporaries. All this is in

evidence here, from vocalist "Metal" Mike Saunders' primordial screams on "Ballad of Jerry Curlan" to the hilarious faux-folk of "STP not LSD." Also included in the package are truly inspired liner notes from guitarist Gregg Turner, which perfectly capture the band's recklessness, nihilism and uncompromising punk attitude.
                     

Angry Samoans – The Unboxed Set
Label: Triple X Records – 51190-2
Format: CD, Compilation
Country: US
Released: 1995
Genre: Rock
Style: Punk

TRAXS

               

01. Right Side Of My Mind   2:09
Written-By – M. Saunders
02. Gimme Sopor   1:44
Written-By – T. Homer
03. Hot Car   0:33
Written-By – G. Turner, M. Saunders
04. Inside My Brain   1:36
Written-By – G. Turner, M. Saunders
05. You Stupid Asshole   2:09
Written-By – M. Saunders
06. Get Off The Air   1:29
Written-By – G. Turner, M. Saunders, T. Homer
07. My Old Man's A Fatso   2:55
Written-By – M. Saunders
08. Carson Girls   2:48
Written-By – M. Saunders
09. I'm A Pig   2:17
Written-By – M. Saunders, P. Murray
10. Too Animalistic (Live)   1:59
Written-By – D. Guzman, G. Turner, M. Saunders
11. Right Side Of My Mind   2:16
Written-By – M. Saunders
12. Gas Chamber   1:01
Written-By – G. Turner, M. Saunders
13. The Todd Killings   0:38
Written-By – G. Turner, M. Saunders
14. Lights Out   0:52
Written-By – G. Turner, M. Saunders
15. My Old Man's A Fatso   1:32
Written-By – M. Saunders
16. Time Has Come Today   2:07
Written-By – J. Chambers, W. Chambers
17. They Saved Hitler's Cock   1:40
Written-By – G. Turner, J. Dahl, T. Homer
18. Homo-Sexual   0:52
Written-By – J. Falwell
19. Steak Knife   1:00
Written-By – G. Turner, M. Saunders
20. Haizman's Brain Is Calling   1:56
Written-By – G. Turner, M. Saunders
21. Tuna Taco   0:38
Written-By – T. Homer
22. Coffin Case   0:39
Written-By – M. Saunders
23. You Stupid Jerk   0:23
Written-By – M. Saunders
24. Ballad Of Jerry Curlan   3:08
Written-By – B. Vockeroth, G. Turner, P. Galligan
25. Not Of This Earth   1:12
Written-By – G. Turner, M. Saunders
26. Different World   1:47
Written-By – M. Saunders, T. Homer
27. Electrocution   2:09
Written-By – M. Saunders
28. It's Raining Today   2:43
Written-By – M. Saunders
29. Unhinged   1:55
Written-By – T. Homer
30. Psych-Out 129   1:54
Written-By – G. Turner
31. Somebody To Love   1:55
Written-By – D. Slick
32. I Lost (My Mynd)   1:56
Written-By – G. Turner, M. Saunders
33. Wild Hog Rhyde   2:07
Written-By – G. Turner, M. Saunders
34. Laughing At Me   1:47
Written-By – A. Cooper, D. Dunaway, G. Buxton, M. Bruce, N. Smith
35. STP Not LSD   2:05
Written-By – M. Saunders
36. Staring At The Sun   1:36
Written-By – M. Saunders
37. Death Of Beewak   2:07
Written-By – G. Turner, M. Saunders, T. Homer
38. Egyptomania   1:37
Written-By – G. Turner, T. Homer
39. Attack Of The Mushroom People   2:44
Written-By – M. Saunders
40. Feet On The Ground   1:18
Written-By – T. Homer
41. Garbage Pit   1:40
Written-By – M. Saunders
42. (I'll Drink To This) Love Song   2:04
Written-By – M. Saunders
43. Lost Highway   2:24
Written-By – M. Saunders

LINE - UP

    

Bass Guitar – Todd Homer
Drums – Bill Vockeroth
Guitar – Gregg Turner (tracks: 1 to 25), Metal Mike Saunders (tracks: 1 to 11), Mike Saunders (tracks: 26 to 31)
Guitar [1st Guitar] – Kevin Saunders (tracks: 6 to 11), P.J. Galligan (tracks: 1 to 5)
Guitar [Stun Guitar] – Gregg Turner (tracks: 26 to 43)
Jug [Jug Noises] – Gregg Turner (tracks: 26 to 31)
Lead Guitar – P.J. Galligan (tracks: 12 to 25), Steve Drojensky (tracks: 26 to 43)
Lead Vocals – Metal Mike (tracks: 12 to 25), Metal Mike Saunders (tracks: 1 to 11, 32 to 43), Mike Saunders (tracks: 26 to 31), Todd Homer (tracks: 12 to 43)
Rhythm Guitar – Metal Mike Saunders (tracks: 32 to 43), Steve Drojensky (tracks: 32 to 43)
Vocals – Gregg Turner (tracks: 1 to 25, 32 to 43), Todd Homer (tracks: 1 to 11)

NOTES

               

Tracks 1 - 11 originally released in 1980 as "Inside My Brain," but this is not correct. Tracks 1 - 6 were originally released in 1980 as Inside My Brain while tracks 7 to 11 were bonus tracks on side B of the 1987 reissue on PVC Records.
Tracks 12 - 25 originally released 1982 as Back From Samoa
Tracks 26 - 31 originally released 1986 an untitled 12" EP, later reissued as Yesterday Started Tomorrow
Tracks 32 - 43 originally released 1988 as as STP Not LSD

Flac Size: 490 MB