Kill the Musicians

Infobox Album | Name = Kill the Musicians
Type = Album
Artist = Screeching Weasel
Released = 1995, 2005
Recorded = 1989-1995
Genre = Punk rock, pop punk
Label = Lookout!, Asian Man
Producer = Mass Giorgini, Ben Weasel, Screeching Weasel, Mike Potential, Steve Albini, Andy Ernst
Reviews = *Allmusic Rating|4|5 [http://allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=10:mzez97ukkrrt link]
Last album = "How to Make Enemies and Irritate People"
(1994)
This album = "Kill the Musicians"
(1995)
Next album = "Bark Like a Dog"
(1996)

Released in 1995, "Kill the Musicians" was meant to serve as a "cleaning up" of loose ends after Screeching Weasel's breakup in 1994. The compilation collects demos, b-sides, vinyl-only EPs, and other various odds and ends the band had accumulated in their career from 1989 to 1994. It came on the heels of 1994's How to Make Enemies and Irritate People, which itself was a collection of the final songs the band had written prior to splitting up. The band would soon reform in 1996 and remain together again until 2000, when they disbanded for the last time. This collection was out of print for a short period until it was remastered and rereleased by Asian Man Records in 2005.

Track listing

# "Kamala's Too Nice" (Weasel/Vapid) – 1:26
# "Punkhouse" (Weasel/Jughead) – 2:14
# "Fathead" (Weasel/Vapid/Jughead) – 1:16
# "Good Morning" (Weasel) – 2:16
# "I Need Therapy" (Weasel) – 1:21
# "I Think We're Alone Now" (R. Cordell) – 0:57
# "Something Wrong" (Screeching Weasel) – 1:50
# "This Bud's for Me" (Screeching Weasel) – 2:08
# "I Wanna Be a Homosexual" (Weasel/Jughead/Vapid) – 3:04
# "She's Giving Me the Creeps" (Weasel/Vapid) – 2:23
# "I Fall to Pieces" (H.Cochran/H. Howard) – 2:11
# "Celena" (Weasel) – 3:49
# "Radio Blast" (Weasel/Vapid) – 3:58
# "The Girl Next Door" (Weasel) – 3:12
# "Achtung" (Authorities) – 2:19
# "Judy Is a Punk" (Colvin/Cummings/Erdelyi/Hyman) – 1:21
# "Chainsaw" (Colvin/Cummings/Erdelyi/Hyman) – 1:55
# "Now I Wanna Sniff Some Glue" (Colvin/Cummings/Erdelyi/Hyman) – 1:21
# "Havana Affair" (Colvin/Cummings/Erdelyi/Hyman) – 1:38
# "Soap Opera" (Weasel) – 2:37
# "Stab Stab Stab" (Weasel) – 3:00
# "Six A. M." (Weasel) – 2:16
# "Hey Suburbia" (Weasel/Vapid/Jughead) – 2:46
# "The American Dream" (Weasel) – 0:39
# "Mary Was an Anarchist" (Weasel) – 3:15
# "Around on You" (Weasel/Vapid) – 2:50
# "Goodbye to You" (Weasel/Vapid) – 1:44
# "Veronica Hates Me" (live) (Weasel) – 3:02
# "I Can See Clearly" (live) (Johnny Nash) – 2:19
# "Supermarket Fantasy" (live) (Weasel) – 1:30
# "The Science of Myth" (live) (Weasel) – 2:14

Personnel

Ben Weasel - vocals, guitar (tracks 1-8, 20-31)

Jughead - guitar

Danny Vapid - backing vocals, bass (tracks 1-8, 16-31), guitar (tracks 9-15)
Dan Panic - drums (tracks 9-31)
Brian Vermin - drums (tracks 1-8)
Dave Naked - bass (tracks 9-11)
Johnny Personality - bass (tracks 12-15)

The songs

Although meant to collect all rare tracks, the compilation does not start with the band's first demo material. That would later be released on their second b-sides collection, 2000's Thank You Very Little 2xCD. Instead, "Kill the Musicians" starts with a 1989 demo version of "Kamala's Too Nice," the final version of which appeared on the 1991 LP My Brain Hurts. It was taken from a demo session that also included early versions of "Slogans" and "I Wanna Be A Homosexual," neither of which are included on this collection. "Homosexual" was left off since the second recording, which the band deemed better, followed later on the album. Both demos were later released on Thank You Very Little.

Tracks 2-7 were originally released on the Punkhouse EP in 1989, recorded that spring. It contained five original songs as well as a cover of "I Think We're Alone Now" by Tommy James.These songs mark the first Screeching Weasel recording that Danny Vapid (then known as Sewercap) played on. The songs are rougher than the more pop-based sound the band came to be known for, but still had a very noticeable melodic quality. The entire EP was recorded without Jughead's guitar. When he overdubbed his tracks, the band was getting impatient and made him hurry, resulting in no one noticing that his guitar was out of tune with the rest of the guitars on the recording. Ben has called this EP his "least favorite Weasel release", but it is held in fairly high regard by fans of the band's earlier material.

"This Bud's For Me" was recorded for a compilation entitled "They Don't Get Paid, They Don't Get Laid, But Boy, Do They Work Hard" on Maximum Rocknroll Records. The band had been told to "keep with the theme" of the record, so they intentionally wrote a fast, angry song as a bit of a parody. After this recording, Danny Vapid and Brian Vermin left the band, causing the first breakup of Screeching Weasel.

Tracks 9-11 are outtakes from the My Brain Hurts recording session. One is a re-recording of "I Wanna Be A Homosexual" with different lyrics and a tighter performance. "She's Giving Me the Creeps" is described by Ben Weasel as "an anti-hippie song," mocking women who fall into the stereotype of the feminist who rages against all men. The last is a cover of Patsy Cline, done in a very different style than any other song the band had recorded up to that point. It's much closer to the original, country style of music than Weasel's brand of pop punk that had emerged at this stage. These three songs were released as the Pervo-Devo EP, which is long out of print.

"Celena" was originally demoed for the Wiggle record, but never selected to be re-recorded for the album itself. It was tracked at the same time as "Going Home," which eventually found a release on the CD and CD reissue versions of the album. "Celena" was released on a 12" compilation called "It's A Punk Thing, You Wouldn't Understand" on Shakefork Records. Ben has gone on record stating his dislike for the song, but cedes that Aaron Cometbus (from Crimpshrine), who he co-wrote "Going Home" with, thought it was the best song the band had ever written. This demo session was manned by Steve Albini, as well as Eric Spicer of the band Naked Raygun.

"Radio Blast" and "The Girl Next Door" were the A and B sides, respectively, of the Radio Blast 7" EP released on Underdog Records. These songs were recorded during the sessions for Wiggle, but were deemed too weak for inclusion on the album. The A-side is a vicious attack on the state of rock radio. Side B is the sad story of a girl who cannot find love and ends up committing suicide. "The Girl Next Door" was covered by blink-182 in 1993 on their first demo album, Buddha. When Blink later gained fame and fortune, the song appeared on a CD repress of the album. Also recorded at this time was a cover of the Authorities' song "Achtung." It was meant for an Authorities tribute album which was never released.

In 1992, the band covered the entire first album by The Ramones for a vinyl-only release. Four songs from this were selected for inclusion on this compilation. At the time, the cover LP was out of print. It has since been rereleased on CD on Panic Button Records in its entireity as Beat is on the Brat. "Soap Opera" and "Stab Stab Stab" were also recorded at the same time as the covers. "Soap Opera" was originally released on a 10" compilation by Skullduggery Records called "Fallen Upon Deaf Ears", and "Stab" found a home alongside the Albini demo of "Going Home" on a split EP with the Pink Lincolns. Weasel later called "Soap Opera" an attempt to parody the songwriting style of NOFX, since his vocals had been repeatedly compared to their singer, Fat Mike. The two would later sing together on "Peter Brady" on the Anthem For A New Tomorrow album, letting listeners decide for themselves how alike their voices are. "Stab" is much darker than most Screeching Weasel material, and Ben has noted that he considers it one of the best songs he's ever penned.

After the band's 1993 tour with The Queers, they recorded eight new songs. Two were released on a split 7"/CD with Born Against and were not included on this compilation, as that release was still in print at the time. "Six A.M." is a trademark Screeching Weasel love song, and has the distinction of being the only song Ben Weasel ever wrote while driving a car, keeping it in his head for hours until he could play it. This rerecording of "Hey Suburbia" featured a new ending that the band had been playing live since 1989. The new ending is a bit longer than the ending that appears on the original release of the song on BoogadaBoogadaBoogada and concludes with Weasel and Vapid harmonizing on the phrase "shut up" repeatedly.

Tracks 24-27, recorded at the same session in 1993, were released as a 7" EP entitled "You Broke My Fucking Heart". Ben has written that he considers this to be some of their best material. It contains two Weasel-penned songs, both with a slight political slant. "The American Dream" is a short, sarcastic take on the ideal nation many citizens imagine the United States to be. It makes its point extremely clear with only six lines of lyrics. "Mary Was An Anarchist" is one of Weasel's finest storytelling songs, chronicling the life of a young girl who protests sexism and "throws a rock at a cop" as a teen, yet ends up a lonely housewife just like her mother by the time she hits adulthood. The song is a brilliant exploration of the effect political extremism can have on impressionable young people. The other two songs, co-written with bassist, backing vocalist, and longtime songwriting collaborator Danny Vapid, focus on more personal themes. "Around on You" is reminiscent of 50s pop songs more than the snotty punk the band was sometimes known for, and contains some of the finest vocal harmonizing the band had ever committed to tape. Both Weasel and Vapid have commented that they feel it's one of the very best songs they ever collaborated on. "Goodbye To You" is a fitting end for the EP, and was the band's set closer for most live shows in 1993.

The final four tracks on this collection are live versions of classic Weasel tunes. They were taken from a show in 1993 at 924 Gilman Street in Berkeley, CA. During "Veronica Hates Me," there is a noticeable moment when Ben's vocals cut out, caused by cream pies tossed at the band by Tim Yohannan and friends. Many songs were left off of this compilation, and many more b-sides were to be written and recorded when the band reformed in 1996, resulting in a two-disc collection in 2000 called Thank You Very Little.

Trivia

*According to the original liner notes, the cover art was originally intended as the cover of My Brain Hurts, but Lookout Records wouldn't pay for a full color cover.
*The original liner notes contained a detailed history of the band penned by Ben Weasel. These were omitted for the reissue on Asian Man Records in favor of notes written by Mass Giorgini.