Villa 21 - Electric Poison (Wipe Out! Records - WOR 007, LP 1987)

Villa 21 wasn't at first that hard. Their first release on Creep Records (a now legendary underground label from Greece), under the title "A Ghost On The Move" was rather a new wave listening than the Detroit-Australian garage outfit they later became. Although a good record (to the fans of the genre the expression "good" seems very poor...anyway) not my cup of tea. Driven almost entirely by Costas Pothoulakis, an excellent guitarist and front man who sadly lost his life very early due to a car accident. This album never released on CD. As a result of this; became a collector's item and last night when i checked on eBay, the starting bid was 175$....The true value of this monolithic classic of course is not the fuckin' money! Hard-ass Rock N Roll, the way the Nomads played it in the 80s! Or the Hitmen. Or maybe the Lime Spiders? Just give a listen to the opening track "Bad Luck" and check to the credits if Nick Vahlberg stands in front of the mic! The guitars are a crossover between the MC5 and the Radio Birdman. The electric influences of the Garage Rock N Roll scene by Oceania during the 80s was HUGE in my homeland. That's not a surprise if you think that "Electric Poison" made it to No6 on the Australia's indie charts with the track "Future Survivors"! Hearing it is something like the Scientists on speed! There's not a bad track here and even includes a rather "punkadelic" treatment on Stooges' "I Wanna Be Your Dog". Other high points for Villa 21's CV were the in common live appearances with the Wipers and the Membranes or that among the fans of their savageness, was Jello Biafra of the Dead Kennedys! Ah, don't forget to mention that the first pressings of the record had as bonus a 7inch single with the songs " Right Answers Wrong Questions" on the Snake Side and "Need Nobody Around" on the Poison Side...Unfortunately my copy hasn't got it. Hope someday find it.

Believe me, Greece got better reasons to rock n roll than Aphrodite's Child or the Socrates....Along with first 3 albums of the Last Drive these are the holy grails of Hellenic rock n roll, even the few times it existed.....


I ripped this fucker on 320Kbps from vinyl for your listening pleasure.

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