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(Sympathy For The Record Industry, 1994)Awright, here’s one I’m not too crazy about. “Pray For Surf” is a twangy midtempo surf number laced with mildly dirty double entendres (spoken not sung) that fail to bust any guts on the strength of delivery or wit. It’s a snoozer, a groaner. Why the label decided to pluck this weakling from the so-so Legendary Brown Album LP – a record whose recording date, like that of this single, is unclear – and release it as a 7” is a mystery for the ages… thing just doesn’t do right by the Child Molester legacy. Nor does the exclusive cover of “Muscle Beach Party” on the B; while it’s entertaining to hear the band take on those high backing vocals, the recording is respectful enough of the saccharine original to effectively reduce the group to a bunch of competent hacks fronted by a guy who sings in a funny voice. None of the confrontational verve or expectations-trashing musical creativity of which the Child Molesters were quite capable is in evidence on “Surfing With,” and it’s fair to wonder if this is the sound of the barrel being scraped. Skip ’er.
(Sympathy For The Record Industry, 1989)
SFTRI blesses us with a blue-vinyl double-set of four (count ’em) hotfuzz Child Molester recordings from 1978, plus a chained nudie on the cover as an extra bonus. It’s extreme anti-social goofing across the board on danceable punk-bop hits like “I’m So (Fucked Up)” and “13 is My Lucky Number,” the latter probably taking the crown for being r-n-r’s all-time catchiest and least-subtle ode to statutory get-down. Disc two was actually released as the second CM single in 1979, and despite its lyrical focus on violence (songs: “I’m Gonna Punch You (in the Face)” and “(I Wanna See Some) Wholesale Murder”), there’s surprisingly less musical muscle here – especially on “Punch” – as the lyrics and melodies carry the songs to a greater extent than usual; heavy rhythms and weird guitar queasiness aren’t lugging the load they normally do. The songwriting is thumbs-up strong, though, so don’t fret (& the solos are nice). All four sides are crazed, hooky, distorted, funny, and inappropriate, just as they should be… The aim is to shock and piss off, but these swastika-wearing perverts make music that’s just too doggone lovably entertaining to cold-shoulder, like a rougher, artier Ramones that couldn’t care less about the charts. Won’t you invite this record into your home today, and set a place of honor for it at your ear-table? Please?
(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.
(Sympathy For The Record Industry, 1994)
