The Remains Of The Toxic Narcotic, Pt. 3: School Jerks

As noted earlier today, I've decided to go ahead and post the inventory I'd compiled for what was to be my online punkzine, The Toxic Narcotic. The cover and the opening editorial were posted earlier. Now I give you a review of the band whose record inspired me to start the mag to begin with, and who also inspired me to seek out The New Punk Rock Generation and revive "RADIO NAPALM." Ladies and Gentlemen, I give you Toronto's School Jerks:

It turns out the sound of pissed-off modern youth is the sound of pissed-off 1981 youth!

Tim Discovers school jerks....

And what of the heroes of The Toxic Narcotic's debut issue? School Jerks are the very reason I'm doing this 'zine and relaunching “RADIO NAPALM.” They are energy and excitement incarnate. I know next-to-nothing about these guys, aside from their being a Toronto export and that they couldn't be older than we-just-hit-drinking-age. But a more potent burst of raw power hasn't been felt in these parts in many a year. It hit hard enough to make me quest to find a swingin' new punk rock generation. I found 'em. School Jerks are the tip of a hulking goddamned iceberg of punk rock goodness.

13 songs in 13 minutes, 12 inches revolving at 45 RPM. I don't have physical vinyl - I managed to score a digital copy. I have literally no information, even their names! I know they released three 7-inch EPs prior to this. Judging by the one I heard, Decline, those were stepping stones to this explosion.

Just sloppy enough to be fun, just produced enough for the guitar tones to be sharp and all instruments to be distinct, School Jerks is an ASSAULT. I couldn't begin to tell you whatever the hell the singer is singing, so unintelligible is his bratty bark. But he's ENRAGED about something! Nothing's overly distorted here - if anything, it borders on modern garage punk, except delivered at the speed of “Pay To Cum.” If nothing else, this may be what a Billy Childish record would sound like if he'd been raised on a steady diet of The Germs!

(GI) certainly sounds like a touchstone for these guys; you could easily file School Jerks alongside that, Damaged, Back From Samoa, Group Sex, and Hollywest Crisis. Yet this ain't Sha Na Na with a mohawk and combat boots! It turns out the sound of pissed-off modern youth is the sound of pissed-off 1981 youth! Brutal shit, and an instant classic! I really want to see these guys live, now....

(Get it from http://www.gravemistakerecords.com/catalog/ or http://gravemistakerecords.bandcamp.com/album/school-jerks-2)

"RADIO NAPALM" Podcast # 3 is on the air NOW! At Mixcloud Radio!

Irregulars, we've been on-the-air with the 3rd episode of the "RADIO NAPALM" Podcast for 24 hours now. Yeah, I suck - I shoulda been more on top of informing you. My apologies.

But...you CAN still click that handy link below, IF YOUR HEART CAN STAND IT!!! We've got new music and classics both from Iggy And The Stooges, UK Subs, and The Replacements; new hits from The Lovesores (featuring Scott "Deluxe" Drake and Jeff Fieldhouse of The Humpers), School Jerks, Pink Smoke, and Kid Congo And The Pink Monkey Birds; classics from The Nuns, The Sex Pistols, Television Personalities, and The Undertones. Plus all the screaming, echo, and vintage commercials and jingles you can eat! And Ed The Engineer, Scooter my dimwit assistant, and I get into all manner of wacky hi-jinks, despite my inability to devise a plot line this week! 

So, click that link, open your speakers, and WAIL, baby! What are you waiting for? C.L. of Austin, TX., says "Awesome podcast, goes great with coffee." Hell, "RADIO NAPALM" boosts your coffee's caffeine efficiency by 500%!! CAN YOUR HEART STAND IT?!!

"RADIO NAPALM" with your host, Tim Napalm (Podcast # 3, 4/13/13) by "Radio Napalm" W/Tim Napalm on Mixcloud

Now's as good a chance as any to announce some new projects

The Mark Of Quality, Since 2008

Second cup of coffee already, which means I'd better type fast....

First off, now that I'm back in the rock journalism game full-time, I've resumed my duties as American correspondent for John Robb's great UK-based punk culture site, Louder Than War. I resumed my Letter From America column musing about Black Flag's reanimation, and giving props to my fave new band, School Jerks. You can catch all the buzz, cock, right here: Just click all this blue underlined shit. 

Second, the reappearance of the Mark Of Quality above might be telling you of another reanimation. Yep, I'm reviving "RADIO NAPALM!" It'll now be a bi-monthly, one hour, streaming podcast via the Mixcloud site. I had The Garage rebuilt (at great expense), and Ed The Engineer and my hydro-cephalic assistant Scooter and are furiously toiling in my off hours to produce a quality Boss Punk Radio experience for you, which you can now stream whenever you get the urge. No, no more live broadcasts, which I cannot do any longer. Nor is there a chatroom, unless I set one up and all you old Irregulars want to meet whenever a new episode is first uploaded and available. Be sure to add the "RADIO NAPALM" Facebook group, right here, and bookmark the new "RN" Mixcloud site. 

Finally, my return to the ink-stained world led to my discovering, almost overnight, a whole rash of exciting new punk groups the world over. I'd dare say there's enough there to suggest a new wave of punk rock rising! It's all very exciting and proper. I want to write about it, but things have changed. None of the mainstream outlets I currently enjoy have time for truly underground music, which is odd to me, considering  I was the guy who brought groups like The Gories and Mono Men into Alternative Press when every issue seemed to have another Wax Trax act on the cover.

Hence, I've decided to start a new punk fanzine, done totally online. It's called The Toxic Narcotic. It'll be a few pages of quick, dirty, raw extended record reviews and graphics, basically me unloading about the new sounds I'm digging at that moment, published instantly. It'll be available as a PDF you can download from this blog periodically. Watch this space for the first issue, as soon as it's done.