{"id":17,"date":"2010-03-11T13:40:58","date_gmt":"2010-03-11T18:40:58","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/thebags.org\/blog\/?page_id=17"},"modified":"2025-02-07T15:10:59","modified_gmt":"2025-02-07T19:10:59","slug":"products","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/thebags.org\/index.php\/products\/","title":{"rendered":"Buy our Stuff"},"content":{"rendered":"

SWAMP OAF
\n<\/strong><\/h1>\n

Want to buy a copy? Contact Jon HERE<\/strong><\/a>!<\/p>\n

Track listing<\/strong>: Wail \/ Steamroller \/ Brain Masseuse \/ Sad Minnow \/ Arm And A Leg \/ I Can’t Remember My Name \/ (Howl At) The Moon \/ Mama Swine \/ Extra Eye \/ If You Don’t Leave \/ Oath<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>From the LP\/CD liner notes:<\/p>\n

The Bags never set out to make commercial records, but we were aware of our audience. People who came to our shows were a\u00a0lot like us; fans of both punk and hard rock, Ramones and The Who. We planted a foot in each camp and blasted away.<\/p>\n

But the Swamp Oaf record was different. There was no audience for this music. We made it to entertain ourselves. It was an indulgence, for sure, though a relatively cheap one. Albums cost thousands to produce and all we had were a few twenties in an envelope. So a\u00a0big part of the fun was to see if we could create an album from start to finish in a single session.<\/p>\n

We went to the original Fort Apache Studio in Roxbury, MA on the morning of April 10, 1989. Carl Plaster and Lou Giordano\u00a0engineered the session. We recorded basic tracks \u2014 guitar, bass, drums \u2014 in the order they were sequenced on the album, then\u00a0recorded vocal overdubs and a few other enhancements.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>Carl and Lou mixed the songs in the wee hours, in the same order they were recorded. With two mixed master reels for Side One and Side Two in hand, we left the studio early the next morning. We played the tapes for Aram Heller and he quickly released the\u00a0LP on his Stanton Park label in June 1989.<\/p>\n

The album is a warts-and-all romp. The best parts would never have happened without the atmospheric mixture of creative freedom and limited time that filled the studio that day. And the questionable stuff would have been red-flagged and abandoned if not for the\u00a0breakneck pace.<\/p>\n

Swamp Oaf may not have been a great career move, but it came at the right moment for us musically. We had spent enough time\u00a0together at that point to function intuitively. We were looking to take risks and find new ways around the old rock band norms. If\u00a0it failed, who would care? No one was listening and it only took a day.<\/p>\n

In the end the album had lasting value. Several Swamp Oaf songs became Bags set list staples. And the records that followed\u00a0were freer and more ambitious than they would have been otherwise. As The Bags\u2019 under-the-radar second album, Swamp Oaf set in motion a productive spell that culminated with Night of the Corn People two years later.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

MOUNT ROCKMORE<\/span><\/strong><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Want to buy a copy? Contact Jon HERE<\/strong><\/a>!<\/p>\n

Track listing:<\/strong> Tick Panic \/ Head On Sideways \/ Saddle Up Your Ass \/ That’s Right (He Died) \/ Radio Tower \/ Eye of the Goat \/ Mongolian She-Devil \/ High and Mighty \/ She Loves Cold Tongue \/ Green Maiden \/ I Really Wanna Go \/ Banana Peel \/ Dark Days in the Valley \/ Mount Rockmore<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Recorded and mixed by Carl Plaster and Devin Charette at Mad Oak, Allston, MA, 2006-2007. Complete lyrics included.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"“The dubious marriage of punk and metal has produced some of the most horrid music to ever be inflicted upon human ears. But the few bands that get it right tend to really get it right. I mean, come on: fucking Turbonegro! I put The Bags in the same category. If Mount Rockmore fails to fill you with delight, if it does not quickly compel you to jack up your volume knob to neighbor-enraging decibels, I’ve got to wonder if you’re really capable of enjoying good music.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Of course we’re talking about the Boston Bags – famed for their late ’80s\/early ’90s output and their considerable influence on Beantown punk-metal. They were broken up for a long time. Well, they’re back. Mount Rockmore is their second post-reunion album, and it’s just fucking great. Welding the thunder rock stylings of Sabbath, Motorhead, KISS, Dio, the Nuge, and Spinal Tap to the hard-slamming aggression of old school punk, this album has me banging my head and hoisting the horned-hand from start to finish. And while these guys have a great sense of humor and quite a flair for the comedic aspects of operatic metal, there’s nothing ironic about their commitment to rocking out. They genuinely love this music and play the hell out of it! Full of bonecrushing riffs, pummeling drum work, and kick-ass guitar shredding of the first order, this is the kind of record that would have had me drooling in awe when I was 12. The trio’s playing is tight and powerful; the songs are punchy and surprisingly hooky. I can just imagine Butt-Head telling Beavis, ‘This is the greatest album in the history of albums.’<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Humorously rehashing medieval rock themes of epic quests and fantastical adventures, Mount Rockmore suggests what Tenacious D might be if they weren’t a joke band. Except The Bags are funnier. ‘She Loves Cold Tongue’ is about a girl whose interest in exotic foods is limited to one delicacy, while ‘Banana Peel’ is about the grave dangers of, uh, a banana peel. Surely The Bags are the only band I know of that are singing songs about Mongolian she-devils, killer ticks, and green maidens with sinister hypnotic powers. The title track is the sort of grand manifesto you rarely hear in today’s rock:<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

With Sherpas for roadies
\nWe ascend and take the stage
\nAnd hail the gathered multitudes below<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

With the strength of the Saquatch
\nThe widsom of the sage
\nWe unleash an avalanche of rock and roll!<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Is there really anything more that needs to be said?” -Lord Rutledge, NOW WAVE WEB-ZINE<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n


\n<\/span> <\/span><\/p>\n

SHARPEN YOUR STICKS<\/span><\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

Want to buy a copy? Contact Jon HERE<\/strong><\/a>!<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Our first full length release after a 13 year hiatus!\u00a0Sharpen Your Sticks\u00a0contains 15 songs recorded by Carl Plaster at Mad Oak Studi<\/span>os in Allston.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Track listing:<\/strong> Bucket of Blood \/\u00a0Believer \/\u00a0Babbling Cadaver \u00a0\/\u00a0Here Come the Creeps \/\u00a0Want It All \/\u00a0Cavemen Rejoice \/\u00a0The Footprint \/\u00a0Thank You \/\u00a0Ivan The Terrible \/\u00a0Unbelievably Cool \/\u00a0Me Dumb \/\u00a0Ass Kicker \/\u00a0Gargoyle \/\u00a0Unlock the Cage \/\u00a0Anemone<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

“Cavemen Rejoice” – from Sharpen Your Sticks – is featured in the hit PlayStation 2 video game <\/span>Guitar Hero<\/span><\/strong>.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"The Boston Phoenix says:
\n“Along with Bullet LaVolta, the Bags are the band most often credited (or blamed, in some circles) for introducing punk metal to Boston. Which means that they don\u2019t have to worry too much about their sound having gone out of style since they last rocked. In fact, to a large extent, the new CD picks up where 1991\u2019s Night of the Corn People left off. There is a key difference, though: the CD of Corn People had 13 songs and ran 69 minutes. (Granted, one of those songs was “Waiting for Maloney,” the first and only lengthy rock opera about commuting from Allston to rehearse.) The new disc serves up 15 songs in 36 minutes: the sound is still metallic, but the songs are all punchy and punky. Meanwhile, the lyrics from Wood and Hardy amount to a puncturing of metal\u2019s ponderous tendencies. Imagine the post-therapy self-loathing of Metallica\u2019s St. Anger played for laughs and you\u2019d have the Bags\u2019 “Believer” or “Ass Kicker” (“You\u2019re gonna kick my ass, that I do know \u2014 Kung Foe”). So forget about this being just a respectable comeback and call it the Bags\u2019 best album. Period.” -Brett Milano<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n


\n<\/span> <\/span><\/p>\n

NIGHT OF THE CORN PEOPLE reissue<\/span><\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

Want to buy a copy? Contact Jon <\/span><\/span>HERE<\/a>!<\/strong><\/span><\/span><\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

Track listing:<\/strong> Amsterdamned \/ The Mole \/ September \/ A Pile of Money \/ Covered Up \/ Who’s Laughing Now \/ Naked Lady \/ I Smell A Rat \/ Movin’ To The Country \/ Barb Jones \/ L. Frank Baum \/ Matter of Time \/ Hey Maloney \/ The Shower \/ Refrigerator Song \/ In My Headphones \/ Meanwhile \/ Maloney’s Trip \/ The Grand Mythooza
\n<\/span> Bonus Tracks:<\/span><\/strong> Dr. Lb. \/ Frilly Underwear <\/span><\/span><\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"“The Mole” – from Night of the Corn People – is featured in the film\u00a0Air Guitar Nation\u00a0(2007), and “I Smell A Rat” is covered by Sebadoh on the album\u00a0Harmacy\u00a0(1996).<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Originally released by Stanton Park Records just prior to the band\u2019s extended 12 year vacation, Night of the Corn People was described at the time as “a feast of a set which contains enough hardcore guitar overkill to satisfy most heavy guitar rock fans, enough strange poetic weirdness and odd signatures to have children of the psychedelic revolution revolving in their jelly baths, and just enough rock-operatic genius to satisfy the self-seeking progressive lovers of \u2018serious\u2019 rock & roll” (Phil McMullen, Ptolemaic Terrascope, April 1992).<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

This reissue includes bonus tracks and a 12-page booklet featuring old and new cover art, liner notes, lyrics and photos.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n


\n<\/span> <\/span><\/p>\n

THE BAGS ’89<\/span><\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

Want to buy a copy? Contact Jon HERE<\/strong><\/a>!<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

THE BAGS ’89\u00a0is a collection of performances never before released in digital form.
\n<\/span> From The Bags LP<\/span><\/strong>:\u00a0Bagpipe \/\u00a0Evil \/\u00a0Beauty of the Bud \/\u00a0Atomic Coconuts \/\u00a0Dropout \/\u00a0Rip You Down \/\u00a0Dummy \/\u00a01000 \/ Acre Woods \/\u00a0Superpower \/\u00a0Take It Or Leave It \/\u00a0Closer Then \/\u00a0Swog
\n<\/span> Unreleased Tracks from 1989<\/span><\/strong>:\u00a0Volume Freak \/\u00a0China Doll
\n<\/span> From the 1989 Stanton Park 45<\/span><\/strong>:\u00a0Hide and Seek \/\u00a0I Know<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\"TheSome original press:<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cWith the grade-A snarl and swagger of their self-titled second album, the Boston raunchers the Bags are shoo-ins for Kings of Garageland 1990. At their best, the Bags rip it up like the Meat Puppets-meet-Motorhead, a marriage surely made in bar-band heaven.\u201d – David Fricke, Rolling Stone<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cBagpipe, Evil, and Dummy all storm from the speakers in a surge of hardcore energy, but there is an extra weight to the rhythm section, a wilder mania to the guitar, that wasn\u2019t present on Rock Starve.
\nWhile trading off vocals from song to song, both Wood and Hardy now display a fearsome mastery of the lower, louder regions of the voice box. Powered by this vocal prowess, Beauty of the Bud is a crushing rock stomp, not an ode to Anheuser-Busch but a song written from the point of view of a non-believer in the benefits of smokable drugs. Atomic Coconuts is a ridiculously catchy jumble of funk and nonsense that Janota claims is about sex or drugs or, most likely, nothing. Huge and ominous, Thousand Acre Woods, Closer Then, and Rip You Down (on which Wood expresses a preference for Hell as an address) tread the fine line between introspective hard rock and nightmare.
\nBut it\u2019s not until the record\u2019s final track that the Oaf completely rears its head. Swog proudly devours five minutes of vinyl in a conglomeration of psychotic vocals and instrumental grunge. This is the Bags at their most glorious.\u201d \u2013 Polly Campbell, Boston Phoenix<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n


\n<\/span> <\/span><\/p>\n

THE BAGS CD Single: 2 SONGS LIVE<\/span><\/strong><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Want to buy a copy? Contact Jon HERE<\/strong><\/a>!<\/p>\n

\"\"This disc features\u00a0Ivan the Terrible\u00a0and\u00a0Hide and Seek, recorded live during the “comeback” show at the Middle East Downstairs in February 2004.\u00a0Ivan the Terrible\u00a0was a brand new song at the time, and later appeared on Sharpen Your Sticks.\u00a0Hide and Seek\u00a0is a chestnut from 1989, previously available only on rare 7″ vinyl (Stanton Park). This single was the\u00a0first release on The Bags’ label, Oaf Records!<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

CDs can be ordered from <\/span><\/span>Stanton Park Records.<\/span><\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

SWAMP OAF Want to buy a copy? Contact Jon HERE! Track listing: Wail \/ Steamroller \/ Brain Masseuse \/ Sad Minnow \/ Arm And A Leg \/ I Can’t Remember My Name \/ (Howl At) The Moon \/ Mama Swine \/ Extra Eye \/ If You Don’t Leave \/ Oath From the LP\/CD liner notes: […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"page_with_sidebar.php","meta":{"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-17","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/thebags.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/17","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/thebags.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/thebags.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thebags.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thebags.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=17"}],"version-history":[{"count":46,"href":"https:\/\/thebags.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/17\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":406,"href":"https:\/\/thebags.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/17\/revisions\/406"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/thebags.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=17"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}