Record Collectors brace for possible drop in value of rare singles, The Local Anesthetic compilation collects 11 legendary, extremely collectible punk records on one disc.
For over 20 years, record collectors have bought and sold copies of extremely rare and highly-sought-after punk singles with legendary songs like “My Dad’s a F*cking Alcoholic” and “Drunken Sex Sucks.” Now, these classic releases by the Denver label Local Anesthetic are available to us all on CD/LP at a considerably lower price. Included in this bargain compendium are rare recordings — the likes of which inspired REM’s Peter Buck and Sonic Youth’s Thurston Moore to later seek out details on how they were engineered — by The Frantix (featuring members of later Sub Pop grunge co-founders The Fluid), Bum Kon, The Nails (later to score a Top 40 hit with “88 Lines About 44 Women”), Defex and more.
In 1981, Denver’s Wax Trax Records co-owner Duane Davis formed the in-store label Local Anesthetic and released the debut single by Denver band Gluons featuring part-time Colorado resident Allen Ginsberg on vocals.
Local Anesthetic pushed forward as the only continuous independent label in Colorado, staunchly documenting the underground music scene of the early ‘80s. In tribute to the long-gone label’s influential releases, Smooch Records has compiled all the 7-inch singles released by the label, along with three other CO punk gems released prior to Local Anesthetic’s launch. This release arrives as part of a triad of Smooch archival reissues from early Mile High City bands which includes the Soul Merchants double-disc collection and the forthcoming studio discography by 80s thrash punks Bum Kon (authors of the aforementioned “Drunken Sex Sucks” masterpiece.)
Although all the singles fall under the punk umbrella, Local Anesthetic features a diverse collection of hardcore, new wave, ‘77 punk, artsy fartsy, goth, and experimental recordings from 1977-1983. Ginsberg may be the biggest name on the compilation, but “My Dad’s a F*cking Alcoholic” by The Frantix was and is the biggest hit released by Local Anesthetic. Drug-damaged punk played through broken amps, the catchy little number caught the attention of record collectors across the country and even Peter Buck from REM and Thurston Moore of Sonic Youth hunted down Denver producer Bob Ferbrache (Soul Merchants) to learn every detail about how it was recorded.
It was grunge before grunge. Bum Kon and White Trash played short, fast, and loud hardcore on par with any hardcore band from the era. The Nails and Defex were Boulder-based punk bands from 1977 who were the only two from the early era fortunate enough to release singles (not on Local Anesthetic). Only 100 copies of the Defex single made it out of the basement and existing copies fetch over $400 on eBay.
Two to three decades later, listeners are finally able to discover these landmark releases, record collectors be damned.
The Local Anesthetic Tracklisting:
Release Date: February 25th, 2008
Stream the compilation (HERE)
01. Frantix “My Dad’s a Fucking Alcoholic”
02. Frantix “Car”
03. Frantix “You’re Ill”
04. Frantix “My Dad’s Dead”
05. Your Funeral “I Wanna Be You” (MP3)
06. Your Funeral “The Abyss”
07. White Trash “Wake Up” (MP3)
08. White Trash “Nazis in My Neighborhood”
09. White Trash “Ballad of Ronnie Raygun”
10. White Trash “I Hate Toes”
11. White Trash “Daddy Warbucks”
12. Young Weasels “Twist & Burn”
13. Young Weasels “Happy Feathers”
14. Bum Kon “Bum Kon”
15. Bum Kon “Forced Away”
16. Bum Kon “Drunken Sex Sucks”
17. Bum Kon “The Draft” (MP3)
18. Bum Kon “Slow Death”
19. Gluons w/ Allen Ginsberg “Birdbrain”
20. Gluons “Sue Your Parents”
21. Frantix “Face Reality”
22. Frantix “Cat Mouse”
23. Frantix “Sharin’ Sharon”
24. Frantix “New Questions”
25. Jeri Rossi “I Left My Heart But I Don’t Know Where” (MP3)
26. Jeri Rossi “It’s a Man’s Man’s Man’s World”
27. Rok Tots “Suicide Weekend”
28. Rok Tots “Situation Kid”
29. Defex “Psycho Surfer”
30. Defex “Machine Gun Love”
31. Nails “Cops Are Punks”
32. Nails “Big Star”
33. Nails “Another Lesson”
