CHAIN GANG

Deuce Package EP7 (Kapitalist) 1979
Mondo Manhattan (Lost) 1987
Kill for You EP7 (Matador) 1990
Perfumed (Matador) 1993

Like the Loch Ness monster, this venerable New York quartet creates both heated excitement and intense apprehension among those who've followed its murky existence through more than two decades of irregular surfacings. Chain Gang began with the onset of New York's first punk scene, having played its initial gigs (under a prior name) in the early part of 1975; the band's aggressive, occasionally outright violent, approach would have fit right in if the deportment of its devotees hadn't gotten the group banned from most of the city's venues.

After releasing a handful of singles, Chain Gang went underground in the early '80s, only to return with the blindingly intense Mondo Manhattan, the soundtrack to a mythical video project the group purportedly spent years working on before abandoning. Picking up where Taxi Driver left off, squalid songs like "Are You Wearing Gold Tonight" and "Gross Out on 40 Deuce" chronicle the Big Apple's slow slide into the void — an inevitability that doesn't seem to bother singer Ricky Luanda all that much. Although parts of the album are likely to be all but impenetrable to those living west of the Hudson, the guitar splatter that surges from the heart of songs like "Kill the Bouncers at the Ritz" and "I Read" (captured live, in a 1982 version enhanced by the sax honking of scene stalwart Bud Struggle) is absolutely universal.

Another stretch of self-imposed exile came to an end when the band recorded the Kill for You double 7-inch and then compiled Perfumed, matching those studio tracks with live material from various eras — evidence that the quartet has carefully preserved every ounce of the nihilistic vitriol it's emitted over the years. Luanda proves as sharp as ever when it comes to anti-authority harangues like "Cut off the Drug Czar's Head." (In a show of solidarity for Body Count, Chain Gang challenged every band in America to follow its lead and integrate a version of "Cop Killer" into their sets.) Larry Gee's pinned-pupil guitar scratching adds more than enough menace to anti-everything missives like "Murder for the Millions." But don't let those titles give you the idea that Chain Gang plays only punk rock. As evidenced by the mid-'70s recording of O. V. Wright's soul classic "That's How Strong My Love Is" and the contorted funk of "Beijing" (which spotlights the freakishly synchronous bond between bassist Ted Twist and drummer Phil Von Rome), it's far more out there than that. This is the real sound of the decline of Western civilization.

[David Sprague]

 

 This review is from: Perfumed (Audio CD)

Totally maximist 40-deuce rock from these uncrowned Kings of NYC. The sound lies somewhere within an axis mapped out by early Pere Ubu, Vertical Slit, and Roky Erikson's Blieb Alien--you know that rock 'n' roll Bermuda Triangle where only the most intrepid dare to sail. PERFUMED is a hodgepodge of recordings from throughout Chain Gang's long and shambling "career", dating back to 1976 with a warm and raw version of "That's How Strong My Love Is" and moving up through various late 80's sessions. Along the way, you get to hear all their rare, late 70's 7" cuts (including the infamous "Son of Sam", which was released prior to the capture of B. Berkowitz), as well as a bunch of cool live tunes from gigs at clubs you never went to. My fave cut is "O.T.B.", a long-gone slopwave disco number that'll shake the pants off of anyone who hustles up next to it. But really, the whole glorious mess is worthy of your attention. And it's also a true testimonial to the creative energy of a breed of once-flourishing Manhattan underclass who, by now, have been pretty much priced out of the whole flippin' nation. Listen up to hear how the other half lived. 

 

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Terminal Boardumb => Music Shit => Topic started by: rub-a-dub on October 29, 2008, 01:04:05 PM


Chain Gang - Mondo Manhattan

terminal-boredom.com
Terminal Boardumb => Music Shit => Topic started by: rub-a-dub on October 29, 2008, 01:04:05 PM
 

 

Post by: rub-a-dub on October 29, 2008, 01:04:05 PM
I picked up a copy of Chain Gang's '87 LP, Mondo Manhattan, yesterday.  What a weird fucking record.  I like it.  Some awesome whacked out punk mixed with their weird take on rap or whatever that is. 

A quick google search revealed that they finally finished the movie which the LP was the soundtrack for.  There's a trailer for it online here ...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kbV26_9Fz2M

And it premiered late last year with a screening at a bar on Ave. A.

http://www.whowalkinbrooklyn.com/?p=497

Anyone seen this?  Trailer looks like it captures that old 80s sleazy New York vibe pretty well.

Title: Re: Chain Gang - Mondo Manhattan
Post by: Jared on October 29, 2008, 01:23:25 PM
I had no idea this movie actually existed.

Definitely a weird record, though.  It just kinda sounds like a collage-esque compilation of out-takes that the band had no previous use for 'cause there's late-80s stuff mixed with what sounds like late-70s/early-80s stuff.  I only really like about three of the songs.

Title: Re: Chain Gang - Mondo Manhattan
Post by: Scrod Prickknee on October 29, 2008, 02:02:42 PM
Quote from: Jared on October 29, 2008, 01:23:25 PM
I had no idea this movie actually existed.

Definitely a weird record, though.  It just kinda sounds like a collage-esque compilation of out-takes that the band had no previous use for 'cause there's late-80s stuff mixed with what sounds like late-70s/early-80s stuff.  I only really like about three of the songs.

I didn't know it existed, either! I like most of the songs on there a lot. I like that it's varied. I don't think it was really an outtake kinda album at all.

Title: Re: Chain Gang - Mondo Manhattan
Post by: pj on October 29, 2008, 02:28:05 PM
Ha!  I was thinking about this album on my way to school today and was going to make a thread about it when I got home.  Never heard it, but I've wanted to for a long time.  Just never saw it for sale anywhere and Soulseek has turned up nothing for the past couple years.

How long did it take to make that damn movie?  Wasn't it mentioned in their '88 interview with Forced Exposure?  I think I'll go back and re-read that.

Title: Re: Chain Gang - Mondo Manhattan
Post by: Jared on October 29, 2008, 02:28:26 PM
Quote from: Scrod Prickknee on October 29, 2008, 02:02:42 PM
Quote from: Jared on October 29, 2008, 01:23:25 PM
I had no idea this movie actually existed.

Definitely a weird record, though.  It just kinda sounds like a collage-esque compilation of out-takes that the band had no previous use for 'cause there's late-80s stuff mixed with what sounds like late-70s/early-80s stuff.  I only really like about three of the songs.

I didn't know it existed, either! I like most of the songs on there a lot. I like that it's varied. I don't think it was really an outtake kinda album at all.

No I'm sure it wasn't, it just kinda has that feel.

Title: Re: Chain Gang - Mondo Manhattan
Post by: rub-a-dub on October 29, 2008, 04:05:17 PM
Quote from: pj on October 29, 2008, 02:28:05 PM
Ha!  I was thinking about this album on my way to school today and was going to make a thread about it when I got home.  Never heard it, but I've wanted to for a long time.  Just never saw it for sale anywhere and Soulseek has turned up nothing for the past couple years.

How long did it take to make that damn movie?  Wasn't it mentioned in their '88 interview with Forced Exposure?  I think I'll go back and re-read that.

You can dowload the album here http://feelinkindafroggy.blogspot.com/2008/09/chaing-gang-mondo-manhattan.html (http://feelinkindafroggy.blogspot.com/2008/09/chaing-gang-mondo-manhattan.html)

I'm not sure how often it turns up.  I found mine for 7 dollars at a used record store in San Francisco yesterday.  Last time I saw one was many years ago at Bleecker Bob's in New York, for just a couple of bucks. 

I also remember seeing an ad for Chain Gang playing at CBGBs about six or seven years ago.  Skipped it for some reason but I've always been curious what that was like and whether they still play out at all.

Title: Re: Chain Gang - Mondo Manhattan
Post by: Scrod Prickknee on October 30, 2008, 08:00:47 AM
This album used to be a dollar bin staple. So was that Perfumed CD.

Title: Re: Chain Gang - Mondo Manhattan
Post by: erico on October 30, 2008, 03:33:25 PM
i listen to that record a lot... it's got a real "we can do anything" take on "funk" and rock that's helped by awesome NYC accented "singing"

cd is the easiest thing to get now although the record is around. yes it's got the singles hits on it.

GARY GILMORE GARY GILMORE!

Title: Re: Chain Gang - Mondo Manhattan
Post by: jagode on October 30, 2008, 04:08:49 PM
the show at CBGB's a few years ago was hilarious..

Title: Re: Chain Gang - Mondo Manhattan
Post by: davemartin on October 30, 2008, 06:48:27 PM
Quote from: jagode on October 30, 2008, 04:08:49 PM
the show at CBGB's a few years ago was hilarious..

It was.  Totally surreal and fantastic.  I heard that they tried to get the movie into some film festivals and has no takers so that's why they set up the screening at the bar. Sort of a first annual Chain Gang film festival.

Title: Re: Chain Gang - Mondo Manhattan
Post by: todd killings on November 03, 2008, 03:00:08 PM
I was just scanning some old emails from 2002 when I was working on the Testors reissue for Swami and noticed that there was a full album recorded with Sonny Vincent and three of the guys from Chain Gang in 1979 that was being considered for re-release. Forgot all about it until today, anyone heard it, or if its still coming out?

Title: Re: Chain Gang - Mondo Manhattan
Post by: Scrod Prickknee on November 04, 2008, 05:05:15 AM
That's gotta be good, right?

Title: Re: Chain Gang - Mondo Manhattan
Post by: todd killings on November 04, 2008, 10:09:11 AM
I have no idea, it was just mentioned in passing in an email about what other stuff he was involved in (Sonny Vincent), and he mentioned that he played guitar on an unreleased LP with the Chain Gang guys, and specifically said from 1979. Hope it surfaces!

Title: Re: Chain Gang - Mondo Manhattan
Post by: band-aids on November 11, 2008, 10:58:24 PM
Can't believe they actually finished that movie.  Thier forced exposure interview was hilarious.

 

Mondo Manhattan… Revealed!

Dec 3rd, 2007 by admin
The Publisher, awestruck, can barely get the words out: They said it couldn’t be done. They said it shouldn’t be done. And yet here we were, in the side room of an Avenue A bar to bear two hours witness to the fact that, indeed, it had finally been done: Mondo Manhattan… the movie, twenty years since most of the world first learned of the film-in-progress in the pages of Forced Exposure #13. This classic interview of Chain Gang singer Ricky Luanda, conducted by Jimmy Johnson & Byron Coley, made some sense of 1987’s amazing & mysterious Mondo Manhattan “soundtrack” lp on Lost Records, although it must be said, many questions remained. The Music Director– holed up in the iron-rich hills of northwest Jersey at the time– remembers clearly the cold, snowy day he walked from the Port Authority Bus Terminal down 8th Avenue to Midnight Records on 23rd Street to purchase the album. Those who didn’t know the city then can’t begin to imagine the fun that even such a simple trip as that entailed. Others will tell ya’ll about 14th St, Cooper Square, the Bowery, etc: today, with each strip more denatured than the next (or vice-versa), who gives a shit, really? It happened once & memories (“I remember the worry– would I have enough money left over for Show World tokens?” the Music Director recalls) & some artifacts remain. One of which, we can now declare, is Mondo Manhattan, the bastard spawn of Andre de Toth & Herschell Gordon Lewis adopted by Sam Peckinpah. Indeed, as much as we love Bring Me The Head of Alfredo Garcia & Two Lane Blacktop, The Wild Bunch & Cockfighter, if Warren Oates had to die so that Ricky Luanda’s Mr. Mondo could be born… it was probably worth it.

[googlevideo]http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=1096231909281331247[/googlevideo]

Junius Van Sinderen notes: This is part one of a series; I was there too & can only ask, is this the best punk rock “documentary” since Raymond Pettibon’s Sir Drone? Without question but it’s a lot more than that too. Stay tuned.

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