Various Artists
The Local Anesthetic
Smooch Records
By Kevin Hakansson
Hey, remember going to punk shows growing up? I know I do, and while I'm sure there are still plenty around that I don't know about, it doesn't seem like kids aren't all that into punk rock, in its truest sense. While there are certainly plenty of local music scenes simmering across the country, the words that you’ll fine in front of the word “scene” are likely to be “hardcore,” “indie,” or even “metal.” There just isn’t a whole lot of fast, obnoxious street punk going around today, and sometimes we need a reminder of just how emotionally satisfying the style is, or was. The Local Anesthetic provides such a reminder.
The Local Anesthetic is an ode to a record label with which it shares its name. Once upon a time in the not so stereotypically punk city of Denver, Duane Davis, owner of Wax Trax Records, the local punk rock record store, started Local Anesthetic Records, which would prove to be one of the only sustainable record labels in the entire state. The label supported all sorts of local artists, from street punks, to moody goth types, to Brit-pop wannabees. The majority of Davis's artists find their way onto this salute to the little record label that could, starting with The Frantix. Members of this band would go on to form the Sub Pop band Fluid, but they popped out the underground for Local Anesthetic, with the perhaps unintentionally comical "My Dad's a Fucking Alcoholic," a raw, distorted, desperate punk groan.
While it's safe to call this a punk compilation, Davis was clearly open-minded in his choice of artists. Your Funeral sounds like an art-punk band whose "The Abyss" is about as experimental as the comp gets, while Young Weasels perform "Twist & Burn," a five minute dirge that The Cure would be proud of. Perhaps the most experimental tunes come from Gluons. The title of their song "Birdbrain" may sound familiar; this one features legendary beat poet Allen Ginsberg performing his poem of the same name.
Beyond Ginsberg's notable appearance, this comp is carried by raw, fast punk rock. The aforementioned Frantix make several other appearances here, bringing with them some more fantastic song titles like "My Dad's Dead" and "Sharin' Stone." Rok Tots do their best Jello Biafra meets the Ramones amalgam with the super-punk "Suicide Weekend," while DEFEX check in with "Machine Gun Love," conjuring Butthole Surfers.
All those punkers sound downright boring to the two bands that highlight the comp. Bum Kon sounds as though they could have been Minor Threat, if only their vocalist had the skills of Ian MacKaye. They certainly didn't share the same sentiments as the Threat; something tells me MacKaye and company wouldn't have approved of the tune "Drunken Sex Sucks." Regardless, the distorted single guitar sound that Bum Kon brings to the rapid fire "Forced Away" and the trudging "Slow Death" bring about such comparisons. They're no match for White Trash, though; this group of Dead Kennedys meets Operation Ivy rabble-rousers would've been the toast of any local punk scene with three chord, pseudo-political sprints like "Nazis in My Neighborhood" and "Ballad of Ronnie Raygun."
When all is said and done (33 tracks later, to boot), The Local Anesthetic makes for a rather interesting compilation. As has been spelled out by now, breakneck punk rock is what makes up a solid majority of the disc, and for good reason; it's all pretty damn good, in spite of what are likely live basement recordings. Just about every band here, regardless of style, puts their stamp on the comp. One can assume that each band had a similar effect on the label in question. That being the case, this makes for a worthy tribute to Davis and the work he did for his fellow Rocky punks.
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