Breaking the Law (Anal Cunt album)

Infobox Album |
Name = Breaking the Law
Type = EP
Artist = Anal Cunt


Released = 1993
Recorded = Various locations, 1993
Genre = Grindcore
Length = 11:54
Label =
Producer =
Reviews =
Last album = "Morbid Florist"
(1993)
This album = "Breaking the Law"
(1993)
Next album = "Everyone Should Be Killed"
(1994)

"Breaking the Law" is an EP by American grindcore band Anal Cunt. It was recorded in 1993 and released, as a vinyl 7", in the same year. Only 200 copies were pressed, making it the rarest (and therefore most highly sought after) official Anal Cunt release. It contains the recordings from two Anal Cunt concerts from 1993, whish demonstrate the trademark violent live performances of the band's early years, hence the name "Breaking the Law". The name itself comes from the Judas Priest song "Breaking the Law" (a song which the band covered on their Another E.P.), although the two records are in no way related in terms of content.

Track listing

ide One

#"Live At Nightbreak S.F. CAL 8/26/93" – 7:05
#*The songs that A.C. are playing on this recording are "Iron Funeral" and "Blur Including New H.C. Song" which were both originally released on Another EP and later re-recorded in better quality for Everyone Should Be Killed.

ide Two

#"Live At the Good Company Lounge Braintree MA 5/20/93" – 4:48
#*The song that A.C. are playing on this recording is "Song #6", originally recorded and released on their Morbid Florist album and later re-recorded for Everyone Should Be Killed.

Information

ide One

Side A was recorded live at Nightbreak, a club which used to be on Haight Street, San Francisco, California, on August 26 1993. Following the release of their 1993 album, Everyone Should Be Killed, on Earache Records, Anal Cunt were supposed to go on tour with Eyehategod and the Deceased but this fell through so Anal Cunt booked their own tour, with Paul Kraynak having replaced former guitarist Fred Ordonez. For the tour, they played in New Orleans, Colorado and California.

At a show in San Francisco, 2 minutes and 45 seconds into the band's performance, a woman by the name of Elizabeth Quigley tried to grab the microphone of vocalist Seth Putnam. Putnam turned around and swung with the microphone in his hand, hitting Quigley in the face and causing her to sustain a minor face injury. The rest of the recording features the members of the audience, including Elizabeth Quigley, shouting at Putnam, including repeated cries of "Get the fuck out of here!" and "Call the fucking cops!". The woman screams several insults at Putnam, mainly that he is a "fat fucking piece of shit". There were only 10 people there, half of whom were playing pool and most of whom appear on the record.

The anger of the other 9 people in the club was compounded by Putnam making sarcastic replies to Quigley's comments, including the following exchange:

Quigley: You're a fat fucking piece of shit
Putnam: I know.
Quigley: I know.
Putnam: Thank you, good day!

Despite consistent attempts at negotiation and a peaceful resolution of the situation, the argument only got more heated and even when towards the end of the recording, Putnam attempts to apologise, Quigley refuses to accept it. The confrontation culminated with the arrest of Putnam, for assault - this is the only time he has been arrested for Anal Cunt-related activities, although he has been in court for other drug-related offences. Having been arrested by the San Francisco Police Department, he had to spend the remainder of the night in jail.

Later that year, on October 19, Seth Putnam received a letter from Elizabeth Quigley's Attorney at Law, Michael Spadaccini, an attorney licensed in California, informing him that he was preparing to file a civil action against Putnam for assault. Despite the fact that no 'real' assault took place, Seth Putnam was indeed taken to court charged with assault. Found guilty, he was fined $1200.

Side one concludes with the sound of a jail cell door slamming shut.

ide Two

Side Two was recorded at the Good Company Lounge in Braintree, Massachusetts, on May 20 1993, during a Battle Of The Bands competition, alongside Nightstick (the band of ex-Siege drummer Rob Williams) and Stinkpipe (for whom this was their first show). The prize for which the bands were competing was time in a recording studio, something which meant little to Anal Cunt, who were to release an album on Earache Records later that year.

The atmosphere was already tense by the time Anal Cunt went on stage and there had already been confrontations between band members and the club owner, Steven Faber, who had told the bands to keep the noise down for the benefit of the lounge's 'regulars', who were competing in a darts tournament. The club itself was known for violence, with the police having been called there on numerous occasions on reports of assault.

The fight, which can be heard in the background of Anal Cunt's performance on the recording, started with band and audience members throwing small objects at each other but during Anal Cunt's first song, "Song #6", people started throwing chairs. The disappearance of Seth Putnam's vocals partway through the recording can be explained by the fact that he wanted to get involved in the fight, recalling the violence of some of the band's previous concerts.

During the ensuing chair fight, a bartender by the name of Cynthia Nystrom was injured by the neck of a guitar, receiving a serious wound across her chin. With many fistfights breaking out across the floor, the club owner, Steven Faber, intervened, swinging at various musicians with his fist. Seth Putnam reacted by kicking him several times, at which point an unknown assailant struck Faber's face with end of a weighted microphone stand, causing him to fall back into the drum kit. He sustained serious facial injuries, including a broken cheekbone and concussion, for which he would be taken to South Shore Hospital for treatment.

The scene was followed by various fights and much shouting, despite cries of "That's enough!", until the police arrived at 12:05 a.m. No one was arrested and the identity of the perpetrator of the violent attack on the club owner remains unknown.

Miscellanea

*The recording on the second side of the record is not as clear as that on the first side.
*The Anal Cunt logo on this release is drawn in the style of the Judas Priest logo.

Line-up

*Seth Putnam - Vocals
*John Kozik - Guitar
*Paul Kraynak - Guitar (Side One only)
*Fred Ordonez - Guitar (Side Two only)
*Tim Morse - Drums