HR114 - Viktimized Karcass - Live at the South End - C46 — 1989
REVIEW by Jerry Kranitz
Recorded live at the South End on April 30, 1989, this performance was a benefit for the Peace & Justice Center. The lineup was Robert Henson (drums first two tracks, guitar and FX on the rest), Bob (Corn Boy) Riley (drums after the first two tracks), Chris Phinney (synths, FX), Roger Moneymaker (bass, FX), and Richard Martin (vocals, synth, banjitar on first two tracks, FX).
The set opens with ‘Warm Up (Tuning)’, a basic rock ‘n’ roll jam with a ‘Peter Gunn’ theme vibe. But though the rhythmic flow remains steady, moaning acid-angst banjitar starts to add color and serious tension, and then shifting to whirly/swirly patterns. A seamless transition to ‘Dim The Lights’ sees a shift to a punky funky groove, with cool noodling trip banjitar licks and anguished screech. It also features sporadic vocals. And Roger’s bass is characterized by a prominent, kind of lo-fi, valium induced Bill Laswell feel. ‘All By Myself’ is a ploddingly doomy yet spaced out, grooving rocker, with vocals that bring to mind Iggy Pop! I like the intricate guitar and bass interplay, as if both are operating in their own separate but interactive realms.
‘Stay Alive’ is a freeform acid-space jam with a steady but relentless drum beat, trippy acid-blues guitar licks, and demonic goth vocals. Imagine Cream playing ‘Crossroads’ as a lo-fi goth influenced space-punk band. ’30° Below’ is similar, but with more weather-beaten whooshing space effects. Finally, ‘Kissing The Cross’ goes all out acid jamming guitar rock ‘n’ roll, with freaked out electronic effects and guitar licks. Another wild analogy is that the relentlessly rocking drumming often made me feel like I was listening to a space-punk take on Golden Earring’s ‘Twilight Zone’.
INTERVIEW with Chris Phinney by Jerry Kranitz
Jerry Kranitz (JK): What was the South End? A bar in Memphis?
Chris Phinney (CP): Yeah, it was a bar in Memphis.
JK: What was the benefit for Peace & Justice Center? Was it a festival?
CP: It was a benefit for five Russian defectors that were in Memphis. The money was to help them.
JK: Were they at the benefit?
CP: I don’t know. It was a one day festival, two kegs of beer, as much beer as you could drink was the deal for the bands. There were six or seven bands. We were the second band going on so needless to say, heavy drinkers that Viktimized Karcass were, we drank at least three-quarters of one of those kegs.
JK: (Laughing) So you probably got more in beer than if they had paid you cash.
CP: Probably so. And we did all live improv. We just made it all up on the spot.
JK: You said the first two tracks aren’t guitar, but Richard playing the banjitar. What is that?
CP: It’s a guitar and banjo combined that Robert made.
JK: It’s electric, right? Because it sounds like a guitar.
CP: Yeah, it’s electric. Robert made guitars and basses. That was his hobby besides working as a pharmacist. His hobby was building gear, like homemade ring modulators and shit like that.
JK: Robert made it and Richard played it.
CP: Richard was playing the banjitar and Robert was playing the drums on the first two tracks. Because Bob Riley was late! That’s why Bob Riley never was a member of the band full time. I think he played with us on one other tape. He was with Corn For Texture, which was Bob Riley and another guitar player friend of mine.
JK: I remember them from the HR032 Cotton In Your Ears, HR034 Judgement Day, and HR037 New Society compilations.
CP: The ‘Warm Up (Tuning)’ track at the beginning shouldn’t have been that long, but it was made into a song because of my battle with the soundman. I was playing the ARP Axxe, and I was behind the curtain where nobody could see me. I wanted it that way. But he kept turning my sound down. So I had to go down while that song was playing and have a talk with him. I said the synthesizer is supposed to be loud. You gotta quit cutting me down. So that’s why I called it ‘Warm Up (Tuning)’ because it lasted four fucking minutes! Roger played bass through the whole thing and when Riley showed up he jumped on the drums and Robert started playing guitar.
JK: It’s interesting to me that Robert switched to guitar and Roger was playing bass.
CP: Yeah, we switched it up. (Laughs)
JK: It gave the band a different sound. I’ve gotten so used to Roger’s guitar. But his contributions as a bass player were pretty cool.
CP: He did better at the bass than Robert!
JK: I’ve heard enough Karcass now to know Roger was a gifted and creative guitar player. So it shouldn’t surprise me that he would stand out on the bass.
CP: Roger could play everything. Except for drums. If you listen you can tell when Roger hit the bass… ba-dum, ba-dum, ba-dum… and he’ll have this bass groove going, and that means it’s time to fucking HIT IT. And that’s when the song would start. He controlled when the song would start by hitting the bass and starting a rhythm and we would jump in.
JK: It’s rare getting to hear Karcass with drums. I think the combination of having a drummer and Roger on bass makes this one of the more purely rock ‘n’ roll performances. A lot of it had to do with the pounding drumming. In the review I said some of it rhythmically reminded me of the Golden Earring song ‘Twilight Zone’.
CP: Riley was another pharmacist. They all were except for me and Richard. Richard was a printer. I was a painter. All our occupations started with a ‘P’. Painter, Pharmacist, and Printer.
JK: One of my favorites tracks is ‘Stay Alive’. I described it as imagine Cream playing ‘Crossroads’ as a lo-fi goth influenced space-punk band. Improv always fascinates me with what can come out of it when it works.
CP: You gotta know what you’re doing.
JK: Did you guys stay for the entire festival?
CP: No, we were too drunk, we had to go.
JK: Did you ever find out if they raised any money for the Russians?
CP: They raised money at the door, yeah. My favorite song on that is ’30° Below’, don’t ask me why. I just like that one.
JK: That one I described as similar to ‘Stay Alive’, but with more weather-beaten whooshing space effects.
CP: That’s because it had more ARP Axxe. We recorded off the soundboard so we got a decent enough recording of the performance.
Recorded live at the South End on April 30, 1989, this performance was a benefit for the Peace & Justice Center. The lineup was Robert Henson (drums first two tracks, guitar and FX on the rest), Bob (Corn Boy) Riley (drums after the first two tracks), Chris Phinney (synths, FX), Roger Moneymaker (bass, FX), and Richard Martin (vocals, synth, banjitar on first two tracks, FX).
The set opens with ‘Warm Up (Tuning)’, a basic rock ‘n’ roll jam with a ‘Peter Gunn’ theme vibe. But though the rhythmic flow remains steady, moaning acid-angst banjitar starts to add color and serious tension, and then shifting to whirly/swirly patterns. A seamless transition to ‘Dim The Lights’ sees a shift to a punky funky groove, with cool noodling trip banjitar licks and anguished screech. It also features sporadic vocals. And Roger’s bass is characterized by a prominent, kind of lo-fi, valium induced Bill Laswell feel. ‘All By Myself’ is a ploddingly doomy yet spaced out, grooving rocker, with vocals that bring to mind Iggy Pop! I like the intricate guitar and bass interplay, as if both are operating in their own separate but interactive realms.
‘Stay Alive’ is a freeform acid-space jam with a steady but relentless drum beat, trippy acid-blues guitar licks, and demonic goth vocals. Imagine Cream playing ‘Crossroads’ as a lo-fi goth influenced space-punk band. ’30° Below’ is similar, but with more weather-beaten whooshing space effects. Finally, ‘Kissing The Cross’ goes all out acid jamming guitar rock ‘n’ roll, with freaked out electronic effects and guitar licks. Another wild analogy is that the relentlessly rocking drumming often made me feel like I was listening to a space-punk take on Golden Earring’s ‘Twilight Zone’.
INTERVIEW with Chris Phinney by Jerry Kranitz
Jerry Kranitz (JK): What was the South End? A bar in Memphis?
Chris Phinney (CP): Yeah, it was a bar in Memphis.
JK: What was the benefit for Peace & Justice Center? Was it a festival?
CP: It was a benefit for five Russian defectors that were in Memphis. The money was to help them.
JK: Were they at the benefit?
CP: I don’t know. It was a one day festival, two kegs of beer, as much beer as you could drink was the deal for the bands. There were six or seven bands. We were the second band going on so needless to say, heavy drinkers that Viktimized Karcass were, we drank at least three-quarters of one of those kegs.
JK: (Laughing) So you probably got more in beer than if they had paid you cash.
CP: Probably so. And we did all live improv. We just made it all up on the spot.
JK: You said the first two tracks aren’t guitar, but Richard playing the banjitar. What is that?
CP: It’s a guitar and banjo combined that Robert made.
JK: It’s electric, right? Because it sounds like a guitar.
CP: Yeah, it’s electric. Robert made guitars and basses. That was his hobby besides working as a pharmacist. His hobby was building gear, like homemade ring modulators and shit like that.
JK: Robert made it and Richard played it.
CP: Richard was playing the banjitar and Robert was playing the drums on the first two tracks. Because Bob Riley was late! That’s why Bob Riley never was a member of the band full time. I think he played with us on one other tape. He was with Corn For Texture, which was Bob Riley and another guitar player friend of mine.
JK: I remember them from the HR032 Cotton In Your Ears, HR034 Judgement Day, and HR037 New Society compilations.
CP: The ‘Warm Up (Tuning)’ track at the beginning shouldn’t have been that long, but it was made into a song because of my battle with the soundman. I was playing the ARP Axxe, and I was behind the curtain where nobody could see me. I wanted it that way. But he kept turning my sound down. So I had to go down while that song was playing and have a talk with him. I said the synthesizer is supposed to be loud. You gotta quit cutting me down. So that’s why I called it ‘Warm Up (Tuning)’ because it lasted four fucking minutes! Roger played bass through the whole thing and when Riley showed up he jumped on the drums and Robert started playing guitar.
JK: It’s interesting to me that Robert switched to guitar and Roger was playing bass.
CP: Yeah, we switched it up. (Laughs)
JK: It gave the band a different sound. I’ve gotten so used to Roger’s guitar. But his contributions as a bass player were pretty cool.
CP: He did better at the bass than Robert!
JK: I’ve heard enough Karcass now to know Roger was a gifted and creative guitar player. So it shouldn’t surprise me that he would stand out on the bass.
CP: Roger could play everything. Except for drums. If you listen you can tell when Roger hit the bass… ba-dum, ba-dum, ba-dum… and he’ll have this bass groove going, and that means it’s time to fucking HIT IT. And that’s when the song would start. He controlled when the song would start by hitting the bass and starting a rhythm and we would jump in.
JK: It’s rare getting to hear Karcass with drums. I think the combination of having a drummer and Roger on bass makes this one of the more purely rock ‘n’ roll performances. A lot of it had to do with the pounding drumming. In the review I said some of it rhythmically reminded me of the Golden Earring song ‘Twilight Zone’.
CP: Riley was another pharmacist. They all were except for me and Richard. Richard was a printer. I was a painter. All our occupations started with a ‘P’. Painter, Pharmacist, and Printer.
JK: One of my favorites tracks is ‘Stay Alive’. I described it as imagine Cream playing ‘Crossroads’ as a lo-fi goth influenced space-punk band. Improv always fascinates me with what can come out of it when it works.
CP: You gotta know what you’re doing.
JK: Did you guys stay for the entire festival?
CP: No, we were too drunk, we had to go.
JK: Did you ever find out if they raised any money for the Russians?
CP: They raised money at the door, yeah. My favorite song on that is ’30° Below’, don’t ask me why. I just like that one.
JK: That one I described as similar to ‘Stay Alive’, but with more weather-beaten whooshing space effects.
CP: That’s because it had more ARP Axxe. We recorded off the soundboard so we got a decent enough recording of the performance.