Love for Lubricated Goat
Between my boyfriend's current obsession with collecting all of the harder-to-find Sub Pop Singles Club singles, my lust for Killed By Death compilations, and my habitual dork-out sessions with master archivist and Tigertail owner Tim Hayes, I've been spending a lot of time with long-forgotten punk records.
My current fixation is on Lubricated Goat, a noisy Australian 4-piece most active in the late '80s to early '90s. Frontman Stu Spasm was married to formidable Babes in Toyland leader Kat Bjelland for a spell, a union which resulted in a short-lived love child of a band called Krunt. LG also snagged a great deal of attention for appearing on an Australia television show, a stunt that resulted in the documentary In the Raw. Here's a little video clip (relatively safe for work, I promise, thanks to an abundance of "censored" banners):
More important than those bits of trivia is the way their approach to experimental, caustic punk had a mischievous, sick-minded bent that would appeal to that sect of rockers who still adore Pussy Galore, Jesus Lizard, Rapeman or Cop Shoot Cop (Trouser Press blithely described it as something that "could serve as a striptease for strangling hyenas," though I think it was a complimentary appraisal). If you dig that sort of stuff, I highly recommend tracking down a copy of Paddock of Love (though it will cost you a purty penny).
In an ideal world, these guys would be opening for the Liars at the Showbox next week, but Mr. Spasm now spends much of his time teaching guitar lessons in NYC, though he still plays out under the LG moniker and proudly claims to have retained his status as a "cock in the ass of decency." How sweet!
3 comment(s)
Kathy Fennessy says:
Caught them live with Babes in Toyland at the Backstage eons ago. Towards the end of the set, Stu lit his hair on fire. Did himself no harm, but the smell was awful. Lubricated Goat\'s Martin Bland now plays in the Tom Price Desert Classic. They premiered at the Fantagraphics holiday party, and sounded good. Afterwards, I told Matt Wright--on keyboards instead of vocals--that they reminded me of the Scientists, and he was glad to hear it (although I have no idea whether they consider them an influence or not).
Posted On: Friday, Jan. 25 2008 @ 2:40PM
Anonymous says:
I was totally at that show, Not My Son opened up. That was fucking gross when he lit his hair on fire... repeatedly! It stunk the whole place up so bad everyone was fleeing! And I remember Babes in Toyland be great, I was love with Kat like a dumb fanboy. I loved Lubricated Goat\'s AmRep stuff!
Posted On: Friday, Jan. 25 2008 @ 4:52PM
Craig says:
Saw these guys heaps of times in the late 80s/early 90s in Sydney. Much better live than they ever managed to capture on record. Checkout Monroes Fur and The Butcher Shop as well. A few of the same people (not Stu) and very good as well. I really miss the live scene in Sydney from that time. You could have a Black Eye nearly every weekend.
Posted On: Friday, Feb. 6 2009 @ 10:01PM