Morbid Florist

Infobox Album |
Name = Morbid Florist
Type = EP
Artist = Anal Cunt


Released = September 28, 1993
Recorded = September 20, 1992
Genre = Noisegrind
Length = 17:39
Label = Relapse Records
Producer = Tina Morrisey
Reviews =
* Allmusic Rating|2|5 [http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=10:difqxqthld6e link]
Last album = "Live EP"
(1991)
This album = "Morbid Florist"
(1993)
Next album = "Breaking the Law"
(1993)

"Morbid Florist" is the full length debut album / EP by American grindcore band, Anal Cunt. It was recorded on September 20th, 1992 and first released on September 28, 1993 by the Relapse Records label. It was later re-released on March 24th, 1998 with two previously unreleased and unheard bonus tracks, as well as extensive liner notes regarding the conception and creation of the "Morbid Florist" album.

The story behind "Morbid Florist"

"Morbid Florist" was recorded for the expressed purpose of being a demo for Earache Records. Anal Cunt was interested in securing a recording contract with Earache, as they were somewhat of a major label and they would be able to distribute Anal Cunt's releases to a wider audience as well as keep them in print. When Anal Cunt submitted their newly-recorded demo to Earache, they liked the recording and so they signed Anal Cunt to a seven-record deal. When this arrangement between Anal Cunt and Earache had been affirmed, Earache still expressed an interest in using "Morbid Florist" (which, at this point, had still not been given a proper title) as the first side of Anal Cunt's first album for Earache. Anal Cunt didn't like the idea and the recording was then shelved for a little over a year.

=Released "as-is" by Relapse=

Relapse showed an interest in releasing the album 'as-is', and so the now one-year-old demo recording was finally released as "Morbid Florist" on Relapse as RR 6070-2.

Origins of the material on "Morbid Florist"

Many of the songs on "Morbid Florist" would be familiar to fans who followed Anal Cunt throughout their early years. "Guy Lombardo" and "Song #6" had been played at their concerts for several years. The album also features a cover of EMF's 1993 hit "Unbelievable", as well as a medley of three songs originally recorded by the band Siege: "Drop Dead", "The Pentagon" and "Death And Taxes". The track "I Don't Wanna Dance" could also be considered a cover, although it is not so much a cover as it is a parody of the song "I Don't Wanna Dance" by Eddy Grant. Only the beginning of the song retains any sort of element of the original Eddy Grant song, with the rest of the track just being random blur noise and screaming. There is also a hidden track on the album which is a cover of "Hello, I Love You", originally recorded by The Doors (see "Another hidden bonus track").

Kozik's absence from the Anal Cunt line-up on "Morbid Florist"

Although the album was originally planned to have both John Kozik and Seth Putnam play guitar on it, Kozik ended up in the hospital for kidney stones on the very same day that the band was scheduled to enter the studio. As a result of this, the only two members that appear on "Morbid Florist" are Seth Putnam (vocals, guitar, bass, piano) and Tim Morse (drums). Since Kozik had paid $105 to chip in for his one-third of the recording fee and was also the guitarist for Anal Cunt throughout the album's entire supporting tour, he was credited on the album as a guitarist anyway, even though he doesn't appear anywhere on it, whatsoever.

Album artwork and cover

The album's cover depicts a photo of Pete Shelley, the guitarist for the band The Buzzcocks, taken from the cover of his "Homosapien" 12" single. The reason behind this is that "he was the gayest looking person that [Seth Putnam] could find in [his] record collection that day". The inside cover (which is also the outside, middle panel of the fold-out insert included with the album) is a close-up photograph of Seth Putnam performing live on stage. The left, inside panel of the fold-out features a photograph of drummer Tim Morse, showing his middle finger to the camera. The left, outside panel has the words "Anal Cunt" written in styled lettering that is composed of small drawings of decapitated human body parts. The disc itself features the misogynistic version of the "AxCx" logo that is made of a picture of two women who are tied up and gagged, one bending over, forming the 'A', the other lying with her legs spread, forming the 'C', plus a small 'x' after the 'A' and another small 'x' after the 'C'.

Relapse Records re-release

In 1998, Relapse Records re-released Morbid Florist (as RR 6994-2) and this version contained two bonus tracks, including a cover of the song "Hello, I Love You" by The Doors, which was included as a hidden track. It was reissued on March 24. "Morbid Florist" is also one of only three Anal Cunt releases to be made available on iTunes online store. The other two are "Defenders of the Hate" and "".

Track listing

:0. "Hello, I Love You" (Jim Morrison / Robby Krieger / Ray Manzarek / John Densmore):1. "Some Songs" – 1:07 (Seth Putnam):2. "Song #5" – 4:32 (Seth Putnam):3. "Chump Change" – 0:38 (Seth Putnam):4. "Slow Song From Split 7"" – 1:21 (Seth Putnam):5. "Unbelievable" – 0:46 (James Atkin / Ian Dench / Zac Foley / Derry Brownson / Mark Decloedt):6. "Siege" – 0:28 (Siege; arr. Seth Putnam):* "Drop Dead":* "The Pentagon":* "Death And Taxes":7. "Grateful Dead" – 1:28 (Seth Putnam):8. "I Don't Wanna Dance" – 0:25 (Eddy Grant / Seth Putnam):*"Although technically a cover of an Eddy Grant song, most of this track was improvised by Putnam and Morse.":9. "Even More Songs" – 0:33 (Seth Putnam):10. "Radio Hit" – 1:12 (Seth Putnam):11. "Some More Songs" – 0:59 (Seth Putnam):12. "Morrissey" – 0:22 (Seth Putnam):13. "Song #6" – 2:36 (Seth Putnam):14. "Guy Lombardo" – 0:40 (Seth Putnam):15. "Bonus Track" – 0:32 (Seth Putnam / Tim Morse):*"Extra song, bonus track on re-issued version of the album.'

7" vinyl track listing

A 7" vinyl pressing of the album was also produced in a small quantity of 500: 400 pressed on green vinyl and 100 pressed on white vinyl. One major difference between the CD and vinyl versions is that the vinyl version only contains 9 of the 14 tracks that are included on the CD and, therefore, the track listing for the 7" vinyl version of "Morbid Florist" is as follows:

#"Some Songs"
#"Unbelievable"
#"Song #6"
#"Radio Hit"
#"Some More Songs"
#"I Don't Wanna Dance"
#"Even More Songs"
#"Morrissey"
#"Guy Lombardo"

Another hidden bonus track

*"Hello, I Love You" (Jim Morrison / Robby Krieger / Ray Manzarek / John Densmore)

Another bonus track on the CD re-issue is a cover of the song "Hello, I Love You", originally recorded by The Doors. It is hidden in the pre-gap before track 1 ("Some Songs") and can only be accessed by rewinding the beginning of track 1. The iTunes music program will not import the hidden Doors track in the pre-gap. This is due to the technical limitations of the iTunes program and not a problem with the disc.

Line-up

*Seth Putnam - vocals, guitar
*Tim Morse - drums
**Line-up would have included John Kozik on guitar as well, had he not been in the hospital that day.

ongs re-recorded for "Everyone Should Be Killed"

12 of the original 14 songs on "Morbid Florist" were re-recorded and released on Anal Cunt's later album "Everyone Should Be Killed". They are: "Some Songs", "Song #5", "Chump Change", "Slow Song From Split 7"", "Unbelievable", "Grateful Dead", "Even More Songs", "Radio Hit", "Some More Songs", "Morrissey", "Song #6" and "Guy Lombardo". The only songs from "Morbid Florist" to not be re-recorded for "Everyone Should Be Killed" are "Siege" and "I Don't Wanna Dance".