Notes from the underground.

STARTIN' OFF with the small records, check the 7 inch Interrobang" by The Krunchies on Criminal IQ. Two dicks and one chick, full speed and jangly guitars, and an inherent spazzed-out and lo-fi approach. Dangerous when mixed with alcohol Do not operate heavy machinery ... Speaking of bands with dicks and one chick from Chicago that are spazzy and In-d, don't forget The Ponys on In The Red. Their 7-inch "Prosthetic Head" is an eyeball-melter. Kinda hard to peg: some at the vocals have a sort of haunting, early-'80s new wave ballad sound, like OMD, but in a good way Moving up a notch to the undercrutilized and very oddball 8 inch record size (but maintaining the spazzy-bands-with-girls-in-them theme), you gotta check the new Melt Banana EP "Three Studies for a Crucifixion" on Pastacaglia Apocalypse rock. these guys and girl are the kings and queen of heavy medicine. Quirky stops and starts on the A-side, with some heavy pounding on the B-side and a sung about being encased in magma; can it get any better? Melt Banana is a force to be reckoned with ... Movin' up one more notch in size and this time outnumbering the dicks with chicks (four to three), the reissue of the month has to be the "St Valentine's Day Massacre" three-song 10-inch EP featuring a collaborative effort between Motorhead and Girlschool. Originally released in 1981, it's been reissued as a snazzy picture disc. Imagine Lemmy doing a sort at romantic but all out rockin' duet with Kim from Girlschool on a cover of Johnny Kid and the Pirates' 1959 song "Please Don't Touch." And Girlschool does Motorbead's "Bomber" and Motorhead does Girlschool's "Emergency" It don't get much more rockin' than that ... Moving up to the big records and away from bands with girls in them, The Pullouts have a new LP on Estrus entitled Summertime. Dormant for nearly a decade, at least in terms of recording, this one is in the vein of their earlier stuff, irresistible lo-tech garage that is the perfect soundtrack to a beer and a barbeque ... The LP at the Month Award has gotta go to Henry Fiat's Open Sore and their The Parallel Universe of ... on Raw Deluxe. This record is completely amazing: short and fast songs like a kick to the neck (25 songs on the LP!), fueled by cheap beer, cheap uppers and punk rock, catchy songwriting ("I Never Touched Her' "Do Not Try This At Home," "Say No To Women," "Heil Hippie." etc. in the Swedish version of the English language), concealed identities, and attitude If you buy this record and don't like it, I don't like you because in this world there is no room for saps. Seriously, it is that good ... Also way up there on the (s)hitlist is the EP by Mannekin Piss, "Planet Death," on Flapping Jet Records. Outta San Diego and made up of members of some of" that area's great bands (including former skate pro Maria Rubalcaba, who plays drums for Rocket from the Crypt), it's a dose of straight up punk. This one's limited to 500 so you better dash to that local record store pronto ... Another on the re-issue plate this month is the screwball band Lubricated Goat's The Great Old Ones on Reptilian. Stu Spasm, the Goat's singer, re created the band (all new members) and re-recorded some or the band's best songs from their long out-of-print records Some of these versions are slower than the originals, and Stu's vocals seem a lot clearer, which is a good thing if you enjoy twisted dementia as much as I do ... Went up to Las Vegas to see the Dirtbombs last month and after we got to the club found out that they had cancelled. The Dirtbombs owe us one. But the buzz there, judging Cure the band that actually played and the stickers everywhere, was all about the Loud Pipes. Fast forward two weeks and back in Phoenix at the Deadbolt Valentine's Day show. Opening up: the Loud Pipes! They rocked. Their singer has a spazzy Darby Crash side and the dueling guitarists lay down some mean chops, kept together by the drummer and foxy Roxie the bass player They've done a five song demo CD and will hopefully get out more and tour. If they swing by your 'burg, go check 'em ...