(Ace & Duce, 1985)Charming young Los Angelinos with LAFMS ties, the Child Molesters turned out an impressively nasty body of work that was uncompromising in its unpleasantness, if of uneven quality. The “Diary of Madness” / “Espionage” single came out of the band’s final sessions and was posthumously released as a 7” in ’85, three years after it was recorded. More of an emphasis on heavy, doomy rhythms here, as opposed to the slightly lighter/punkier touch on earlier material. There’s also a bleakness to the lyrical content that contrasts with the I-could-give-a-fuck smirks of records past; funtime was over for the Child Molesters, I suppose. No matter. Farren Foreceps’ bluesy rawk-growl (half Beefheart, half Michael Gerald) provides more menace and greater power than most rabblerousing punkers could ever hope for, while the wobbly guitar-crunch is a sickeningly unique take on heavyosity. And is that a bass version of the Peanuts theme bubbling underneath “Diary of Madness”?! Like all the CM singles (tho not the LP), it’s worth every second you spend locating it, and every cent you spend buying it. This is what I always wished Pere Ubu sounded like, whatever that means.
Wiseguys will want to find a copy of Forced Exposure #12 (Summer 1987), which has a three-page overview of the Molesters’ career, including a Dennis Duck interview, a discography, and a transcript of a 1980 radio appearance wherein the band repeatedly begs for little girlies to call in. An educational must-have.
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