Monoshock Walk To The Fire

REISSUED ON VINYL!!! Long considered a classic by music freaks and much sought after by modern psych nodes, the remastered reissue of MONOSHOCK's monster has been anticipated for quite some time...and now it is here. Monoshock's roots lie in Isla Vista, a charming student ghetto stuck on California's Central Coast. It was there that UMBILICAL CHORDS, a punk quartet who shot snot on the year 1987, were born. Scrappy and snotty, the Chords were led by guitarist GRADY RUNYAN. By 1988 the Chords were gone and Runyan, SCOTT DERR and RUBIN FIBERGLASS formed Monoshock taking garage blargh into realms previously occupied by the Stooges, Amon Duul II, Hawkwind, Blue Cheer, and other proponents of punkoid psychedelia or psychedelic punk or just good and loud rock & roll music. Later joined by ALUMINUM QUEEN on saxophone and DOUG PEARSON on all things Doug Pearson, Monoshock recorded three singles (on Womb, Blackjack, and Bag of Hammers) and a now legendary double album called Walk to the Fire (Blackjack). The 1995 release of their magnum opus also coincided with the end of the band. Praised by a handful of people at the time, Walk to the Fire didn't really start getting its due until Julian Cope featured it on his website Head Heritage, bands such as Comets on Fire and the Wooden Shjips started referencing Monoshock as an influence, and S.S. Records assembled a CD anthology of Monoshock's singles, compilation tracks and demo recordings (2004's Runnin Ape-like from the Backwards Superman). Since its release Walk to the Fire has been hailed as a "barbarian classic" by Julian Cope (who also wrote that "Monoshock was to rock'n'roll what those Miles Davis 1975 wa-everything Japan-release-only double-vinyl monsters (Get Up With It, Agartha, Dark Magus) were to jazz. That is, superfluous to the fucking intellectuals but spiritual carbohydrates for the ones who knew". Remastered from the original tapes-the result is a much better sounding record than the original pressing. Those fortunate enough to see their recent "reformation" show at the S.S. 2 Festival have universally agreed the band was "face melting." Includes an insert with liner notes and photos.