Teengenerate - The Singles, 1993-1996 (White Trash Soul Real R'n'R No.15)

 

The other day, I finally found the time to sit my old ass down and start watching the Teengenerate documentary ("Get Action!!"). Along with the Devil Dogs, The Hellacopters of the "Supershitty to the Max"-era, The Infections and The Humpers, these Japs were my favourite garage punk rock 'n' roll band when I was young, loud and snotty myself! 

The story goes like this: Fifi and Fink, two brothers with an addiction to all things punk rock, grew up in a rural port town located about two hours outside Tokyo. They thought capital was something of a Mecca for rock 'n' roll and figured that if they moved there and started a band, they would find other fanatics like themselves. This wasn't the case, though. They formed the American Soul Spiders in 1987. The band -of course- took its name from the Flamin' Groovies' song. They released a single on 1+2, which led to them being signed by Long Gone John's legendary now, Sympathy for the Record Industry label. Surprisingly, things went more than well and they released even more material and toured the States with punk rock icon Jeff Dahl. However, the American Soul Spiders music was heavily influenced by Detroit bands such as MC5 and The Stooges, and the two brothers wanted a more traditional rock 'n' roll sounding outfit. The opportunity arose when Dezaki, the singer of the Spiders, revealed that he was staying in New York after the tour ended and the band split up.

Impressed by the Devil Dogs' records, Fink started Teengenerate with the remaining American Soul Spiders members in 1993. This time they named themselves from a song by the Dictators. In May, a college friend of Fink's named Warabi founded Wallabies Records, with the 'Get Me Back' EP serving as the initial release. Teengenerate set off on their first American tour under their new name. They were loaded with an amazing 7inch and their first stop was the Estrus Records' Garage Shock festival. This led to offers from a large number of labels and the rest is history.

For a band that was only active for three years, their catalogue suggests they were around much much longer... They released two LPs and numerous singles on Australian, Japanese and American trademark garage punk labels such as Crypt, Dionysus, Rip Off, Estrus, Dog Meat, etc. They built a reputation in the US and beyond thanks to their rowdy live performances and supercharged punk rock 'n' roll recordings. Singing in (half?) english also helped them gain a steady and rapidly growing fanbase.

For me, Teengenerate was another important case study. It was through them and their mind-blowing cover versions that I first became intensely interested in bands like The Pagans, The Nervous Eaters, Angry Samoans and The Fun Things, to name a few. Their sloppy '50s rock 'n' roll attitude and utterly unhinged song execution, reminiscent of Jerry Lee Lewis played by the early Black Flag, made me a lifelong fan. I mean, really now, these skinny Japs made The Mummies sound like a cheap Damned imitation (and maybe they were, who knows?). Anyone and everyone who hears Teengenerate for the first time feels as though their eardrums have been blasted by a nuclear bomb or something. I remember doing this to my father's expensive, high-end stereo and him coming in, furious and yelling that he hadn't built this sound system to play that shit!

Here's another homemade compilation for your listening pleasure and your neighbour's disapproval. As the title suggests, it contains all of their 45s (except for "Bum vs. Teengenerate", I wasn't able to find it anywhere and obviously, I don't have it), including tracks shared with other bands on split single releases. While I am unable to pinpoint a particular release as the most outstanding, I must make an exception in stating that the EP "Wild Wild Teengenerate", featuring Steve Baise from the Devil Dogs/The Vikings, it's the very definition of punk rock: Lo-fi, high-octane and with unparalleled ferocity, the drums and the bass struggle and strain to keep up with the slashing guitars! They managed to improve three of the best songs that The Kids ever wrote and performed, man!!

Anyway, not all my rips, but as always, I carefully processed the audio, mostly balancing it, to make them all sound as if they were made by one person. Many thanks to everyone, who helped me create this by sharing many of these singles.