VARIOUS ARTISTS: The Funhouse Comp Thing

VARIOUS ARTISTS

The Funhouse Comp Thing

© 2006 My Fat Ass Productions (753701250822)

CD IN STOCK. ORDER NOW. Will ship immediately.

Garage/Punk Comp of 32 mostly unreleased songs of bands who have played Seattle's Funhouse

tracks

1 Fe Fi Fo Fums - At the Funhouse
2 The Unnatural Helpers - Your Way Back Down
3 The Primate 5 - Smash Your Radio!
4 The Trashies - Get Daddy a Chicken Sandwich
5 Black Horse - 327
6 Head - Sno-king Kung Fu
7 Pulses - the Kinks Say Fuck You
8 Gas Huffer - Midnight At the Apollo 13 (w/vocals)
9 Fall-outs - Haunted House
10 Armitage Shanks - Wot U Got
11 Old Haunts - Turncoat
12 Freak Outs - Santa Claus
13 Dead Vampires - Come Out and Play
14 The Bugs - Nobody Makes a Monkey Out of Me
15 Blank Its - Downtown Hang Around
16 Girl Trouble - Freedom Rock
17 Bug Nasties - Night Trip
18 Sgt. Major - They Should've Known
19 The Shackles - Birthday
20 The Mexican Blackbirds - Second Time Around
21 Charming Snakes - Rat Hotel
22 The Hollow Points - Cell Block 21
23 The Sermon - a Choice of Weapons
24 The Cripples - Eazy
25 The Invisible Eyes - Stormy
26 The Gropers - Talking to a Wall
27 Ape City R&b - No. 1 Phantom Killer
28 26000 Volts - I Love You
29 Repeat Offenders - 10 Penny
30 Glorious Day - Do the Stomp and Drag
31 Steaming Wolf Penis - Vampire Mustache
32 Earaches - Don't Care If I Die

notes

******look for the SECOND Funhouse Comp - 50 songs on 2 CDs!*****

Welcome to the Funhouse Comp Thing, a collection of 31
bands who have played Seattle's last remaining
(mostly) full time punk rock bar, plus one band who
has NOT played the Funhouse because they're too young
& their parents won't let them play a stinky dive bar.
The Funhouse opened on Halloween night 2003 & has
hosted hundreds of great local & touring bands, plus a
few really awful ones.
The building the Funhouse occupies has a long history
of hosting live music, from the punk scrunge when it
was known as Zak's, to back in the early 60's when
jazz bands ruled the roost.
Most of the bands on the comp are from the Pacific NW,
but there are a few exceptions - The Armitage Shanks
are from the UK & The Sermon from California.
One of these bands, Steaming Wolf Penis, have their
very own movie - check out www.jerkbeast.com for the
proof.
Some of these bands have been around for years, and
for one of them, Head, this is their first appearance
on CD after a number of vinyl only releases.
Most of the songs were recorded in basements.
As i write these words, most of these tracks are
exclusive to this comp.
The Charming Snakes song was recorded live on my radio
show, Sonic Reducer on KEXP 90.3fm.
ummm... what else?
If you like this comp let me know! if we sell a few of
these maybe we'll do a Vol 2?
Damn, I need a beer......

Brian Foss
Funhouse booking agent, night manager & janitor.
Feb 2006

****REVIEWS***REVIEWS***REVIEWS***REVIEWS***REVIEWS****

EXOTIC UNDERGROUND #27 JUNE 2006

http://www.xmag.com/underground/

By Rich Evans

I GOT A VAMPIRE MUSTACHE!
Lately I find myself exclaiming this with such an alarming frequency that my neighbors must think I have Tourette’s.The blame for my recent outbursts lies solely at the feet of Steaming Wolf Penis.
Before you assume I finally drank myself into dementia, let me explain. I, in fact, do not have a vampire mustache or Tourette’s. And ‘Steaming Wolf Penis’ is not my peyote-induced imaginary Native American friend. His name is ‘Screams At Firehydrants.’ But I digress...
Steaming Wolf Penis is but one of the many bands featured on a new album, The Funhouse Comp Thing, compiled by Seattle club promoter, disc jockey, tireless band booster, living legend, and all-around great guy Brian Foss.
What more can be said about Brian Foss that any punk aficionado in the Northwest doesn’t already know? The guy is tireless. A typical Saturday night will see Foss hustle to The Funhouse after co-hosting the “Sonic Reducer” radio show on indie uber-station KEXP, make sure the bands have everything they need (including enough beer), then start collecting the ridiculous amount of spent Pabst containers that dot every flat surface in the joint. He does all of this in between fielding a plethora of inquiries regarding open dates at the club, which is usually booked two to three months in advance, and dodging errant basketballs on the club’s outdoor patio.
How he manages these things and remains cheerful, affable and un-jaded is beyond my comprehension.
I GOT A VAMPIRE MUSTACHE!
Sorry about that...back to the review...
The collection is a sampling of the finest punk, garage, and otherwise noisy bands that have graced the beer-soaked stage at The Funhouse. No pretty boys, hipsters, Good Charlotte clones, emo whiners, or outright commercial douchebags on this slab of digital mayhem. This is the real deal. Anyone who has ever attended a show at the Funhouse knows what I mean. There is no line drawn between bands and fans at the Funhouse. Maybe this is because many of the fans at any given show are also in bands. Egos are checked at the door, and the overall vibe of “let’s get drunk and rock out” is a welcome change of pace from the fear of being seen having fun that infects other venues.
This compilation trumpets these values—loudly! The raw-yet giddy tone is set from the opening strains of disc opener “At The Funhouse” by the Fe Fi Fo Fums. Later, Primate 5 invite you into their garage with “Smash Your Radio.” Old warhorses Girl Trouble and Gas Huffer delight, as do less heralded bands such as The Mexican Blackbirds and Repeat Offenders.
Apparent homage to other great Northwest bands is paid in the very Spits-ish “Get Daddy a Chicken Sandwich” by The Trashies, and The Gropers’ “Talking to a Wall,” which begs comparison to The Gits. “Come Out And Play”—thankfully not a cover of that dreadful Offspring song—by Dead Vampires sounds like The Misfits jacked The Epoxies’ gear on the way to the studio. “They Should’ve Known,” Sgt. Major’s offering, seemingly channels The Fastbacks.
Other standouts are “Turncoats” by Old Haunts, who mine the dark undertow you rarely hear about in most surf-influenced music, and The Hollowpoints’ “Cell Block 21”, which blends aggressive melodies and musicianship that’s tighter than a whale’s ass (and that’s water-tight!)
I GOT A VAMPIRE MUSTACHE!
All right, already! If you haven’t figured it out by now, “Vampire Mustache” by Steaming Wolf Penis is without a doubt my favorite song (and band name) on the disc. It’s raw, noisy, and catchier than chicken pox.
“Don’t Care if I Die” by Earaches closes out this collection with hearty blues/punk riffage that leaves you hoping there will be a Funhouse Comp Thing Volume 2 in the not-too distant future. In the meantime...
I GOT A VAMPIRE MUSTACHE!

SUBURBAN VOICE 9/10/06
http://subvox.blogspot.com/

Well-above average comp of mainly garage-type bands, along with a few traditional punk stylists and centered around a Seattle club called the Funhouse. No wimpy shit. I’d heard of a handful of these bands before—the Pulses, Earaches, Gas Huffer (how long have they been around now?), Fall-Outs, The Sermon, Girl Trouble and I’ve heard the Blank-Its rockin’ album since getting this disc. If you like primal sounds, this is the ticket and there’s a variety here, from the rawness of the Primate 5, Ape City R&B to the(e) Headcoats-inspired Armitage Shanks to the nervier, almost new-wavish Cripples. I can’t possibly review all 32 songs but, listening through, there were only one or two songs I felt the urge to skip past. That’s the sign of a winner. Compiled from unreleased songs, alternate takes and vinyl-only releases.

UNDER THE VOLCANO #92

V/A The Funhouse Comp Thing
Punk and Garage and Garage and Punk¦ 32 bands worth¦ loud, demented, and in your fractured face! The Funhouse is a Rock n Roll dive in Seattle where a cacophonous plethora of Pacific Northwest bands make their noise known to the rabid delight of Cro-Mag men and Neanderthal ladies alike on any given night under the moon. This magnificently distorted stomp-fest compiles a raging eye-bulging array of studio tracks from mostly Northwest-area bands that have frenetically careened across The Funhouse stage at one time or another since the year of fermentation 2003. So feast your ears on The Primate 5, The Trashies, Head, Pulses, Gas Huffer, Fall-Outs, Dead Vampires, Girl Trouble, Bug Nasties, Charming Snakes, The Hollow Points, The Sermon, The Cripples, The Invisible Eyes, The Gropers, 26000 Volts, Repeat Offenders, Earaches, and many, many fuckin more. When I die, I hope I go straight to The Funhouse! (CD)-Moser

SUGARBUZZ

http://www.sugarbuzzmagazine.com/bands/funhouse/funhouse.html

Located near the Space Needle, The Funhouse (a.k.a. Zak’s pre 2003), is Seattle’s oldest surviving punk rock club. This dive has been the site of many-a-beer-laden, lucky-strike clouded, blood-on-the-floor, live shows, some of which I’ve had the pleasure of experiencing in person. Self-proclaimed Funhouse booking agent, night manager and janitor, (and KEXP DJ) Brian Foss, teamed up with Seattle rock icon, Jack Endino, to put together a kick-ass, 32 song compilation of primarily local NW punk bands, new and old, which will soon become as cherished an item in your collection as your tattered, black Ramones t-shirt from 10th grade.
Compiled of primarily, previously unreleased tracks, most likely recorded in basements, the Comp Thing represents a range of gritty and raw punches of punk, garage and rock from the likes of Gas Huffer, The Trashies, Glorious Day, Dead Vampires, The Earaches, Charming Snakes, Girl Trouble, Fall-Outs, Head, The Hollow Points, and a band name for the record books: Steaming Wolf Penis!
Slam dance, pogo and brawl to this solid collection, you leather-wearin’, PBR swillin’ punks!! Get your copy now at the Funhouse, your fav Seattle record store, or via the link below.


DAGGER

http://www.indiepages.com/dagger/

V/A-THE FUNHOUSE COMP THING- MY FAT ASS PRODUCTIONS- This was handed to me by Ken Dirtnap with the words, “Hey Hinely review this OR ELSE !” Since Ken used to be a pro wrestler I wasn’t about to say no. I guess this place The Funhouse is Seattle’s oldest surviving punk club it seems like every major American city has one of these. Some old dive bar where punk bands have been playing for years and this is Seattle’s haven . This 32 song comps features all bands who have played it’s hallowed stage (‘natch) and with plenty of unreleased cuts as well . Some of the bands you’ve heard of include the mighty Girl Trouble, Gas Huffer, Fall Outs, plus a few bands who’ve had records released on Dirtnap like The Cripples, The Hollow Points, Charming Snakes, Mexican Blackbirds, etc. and a classic opener from the Fe Fi Fo Fums called “At the Funhouse.” Good stuff.

SLEEZEGRINDER

http://www.sleazegrinder.com/review_5-18FunhouseComp.htm

The Funhouse is Seattle’s longest running punk rock club. It’s been going since 1976. Well, maybe not that long. It actually started up in 2003, but in punk years, that’s decades. This comp is chock full of Funhouse faves, which may make you go “Christ, there’s 32 bands in Seattle all playing trashy punk rock n’ roll…at the same club?” And while that does seem excessive, I should point out that one of the bands here is from out of town. Lessee here, The Mexican Blackbirds are the rockingest, The Freakouts are the fuzziest, Dead Vampires sound the most like the Misfits, and “Get Daddy a Chicken Sandwich”, performed on the fly by the Trashies, is so fuckin’ annoying I had to turn the CD off four times before biting the bullet and reviewing through the pain. That nasty cut aside, this comp is great fun, and an easy, sleazy way to hear a couple dozen trashy rock n’ roll bands you probably wouldn’t have, otherwise. Well, you might’ve owned a Gas Huffer record at some point, but the odds are you sold it for Ramen noodles money in 1994.



NOW WAVE

http://www.geocities.com/nowwave/records/funhouse.html

Contrary to what you may have read elsewhere, The Funhouse Comp Thing is not a compilation of live recordings. It is, however, a collection celebrating Seattle's oldest surviving punk club, the venerable Funhouse (which advertises such attractions as "crazy hookers" and "spooky clowns"). 31 of the 32 bands appearing on the comp have played The Funhouse. And the majority, I'd imagine, are Funhouse "regulars". So this CD does have the feel of a regional/scene comp, and by the sounds of it, Funhouse shows tend to be drunk, dirty, and loud! The prevailing sounds here are garage-punk, '60s R & B, sleazy rawk, and punk-as-fuck type stuff. No emo, no prefab mall-punk, no tough-guy hardcore...just real and raw punk and rock n' roll! My kinda comp for sure.
Like just about any punk comp with this many bands, The Funhouse Comp Thing contains a fair amount of mediocre or otherwise forgettable tracks. But there's definitely a lot of good shit as well, and it all starts with the Fe Fi Fo Fums' Funhouse tribute, "At the Funhouse". Oh yeah: it's awesome lo-fi trash on a par with the Fums' great debut LP. The Trashies come strong with their latest smash hit, the brilliantly retarded "Get Daddy A Chicken Sandwich". Written in just eight minutes and promptly recorded on the spot in the basement of the band's "shithole", this song demonstrates the Trashies' continued towing of the line between stupidity and genius. The legendary Head (the greatest Ramones-core band of all time!) appears on CD for the very first time after a decade-plus of vinyl-only releases, here offering the terrific "Sno-king Kung Fu". The criminally underrated Mexican Blackbirds deliver "Second Time Around", another primo blast of their Motards meet Black Flag kick-in-the-teeth punk. The Shackles' "Birthday" is thunderous Seattle grunge straight out of 1992 - but not in a lame way. England's Armitage Shanks, as always, deliver three-chord rock n' roll of the most sublimely primitive nature on "Wot U Got". The Fall-Outs' "Haunted House" is top-tier garagey powerpop (no surprise there!), while The Cripples' "Eazy" is weirdo synth-punk at its finest. The Primate Five's "Smash Your Radio!" will get mod/R & B fans dancing. Sgt. Major, Kurt Bloch's latest band, won't disappoint Fastbacks fans with "They Should've Known". And because there can never be enough horror punk songs about Santa Claus, the Freak Outs deserve a mention as well!
Surely The Funhouse Comp Thing will be most cherished by all those who've "been there", for it will bring back memories of good times, good friends, and good shows. But even if you've never been within a thousand miles of Seattle, there's lots to like here if you're a fan of garage and punk music. The Pacific Northwest scene continues to impress!

Compilation of the Year (various artists)
The Funhouse Comp Thing (MyFatAss Productions)
It seems fitting that a Pacific Northwest showcase should win in this year of very excellent PNW rock. Here's what I said in my review: "The prevailing sounds here are garage-punk, '60s R & B, sleazy rawk, and punk-as-fuck type stuff. No emo, no prefab mall-punk, no tough-guy hardcore...just real and raw punk and rock n' roll! My kinda comp for sure." Yeah! Best tracks by: Fe Fi Fo Fums, Head, The Trashies, The Cripples, Sgt. Major, The Fallouts, The Shackles, and the (now defunct) Mexican Blackbirds.

---Lord Rutledge
June 23, 2006

RAZORCAKE #33
www.razorcake.com

This comp..... is heavy on the trash rock and synth-driven punk stuff. Although a little diversity in it's thirty-two tracks would've been swell, what's here is top notch - energetic, loud and often fucked up in all the right ways. If for no other reason, pick it up for the Steaming Wolf Penis track. - Jimmy Alvarado

GO METRIC

V/A – The Funhouse Comp Thing cd
This is the most exhausting record in history. And
that’s coming from a guy who’s taken Topographic
Oceans for more than one lap around the track. The
key distinction being that The Funhouse Comp Thing
wears me out with an overwhelming number of great
songs, while Topographic Oceans wears me out with a
quartet of side-long song suites. There are 19 good
songs on Funhouse. Take that, Paul Hardcastle! I
listen to Funhouse in chunks, eight or 10 songs at a
time. It’s too much all at once and there are too
many cool cuts to merely skip around. So what’s in
store? Pop and punk and surf and garage and just
about everything else that makes life worth living.
For god’s sake, there are new songs here from Sgt.
Major (Kurt Bloch’s post-Fastbacks combo) and the
Primate 5. And the Pulses and the Fall-Outs and gobs
of other cool bands (Fe Fi Fo Fums, Unnatural Helpers,
Trashies, Head, Gas Huffer, Black Horse, yes, at this
point you should realize that I’m going to list each
and every one of the bands that I either liked or
loved on here, I must do all that I can to coerce you
into acquiring this collection and maybe, just maybe,
you’ll recognize a band name or three, so, back to the
list, Old Haunts, Dead Vampires, Bugs, Blank Its, Bug
Nasties, Charming Snakes, Cripples, Invisible Eyes,
and Ape City R&B). Never before has there been a
record that’s worth recommending despite having 13
weak songs. Trust me on this one. 19 for 32 = .612.
(My Fat Ass Productions)
–Mike Faloon

REVIEWER MAGAZINE
http://reviewermag.livejournal.com/

32 tracks of sweaty, balls-on, bitchin’ punk-fucking-rock, in the form of a CD compilation from Seattle’s The Funhouse, an indie collective, also known as My Fat Ass Productions. You get stuff like Gas Huffer, doing “Midnight at the Apollo 13” (ha-ha, funny!), Dead Vampires with “Come Out and Play”, Girl Trouble, singin’ ‘bout “Freedom Rock” and Bug Nasties going on a “Night Trip”. It is a teenage skateboard-gutter punk’s wet dream here, enough rip-roarin’ raw power to get your rocks off. Rock on, bro-ham. (http://www.thefunhouseseattle.com) –KM.

POCKETFUL OF CHANGE #4
www.pocketfulofchangerecords.com/magazine/home.html

For anyone that hasn't been in Seattle, the Funhouse is an ideal destination for cheap beer and $5 punk shows six days a night. In fact, if there is a punk scene in this town, it gets drunk at the Funhouse. The Comp Thing is for anyone who loves to rock out to loud fast music that you don't know the words to. Street punk, skate punk, indie punk, pop punk, dirty new wave and a few smoking rock tunes; many of the tracks are exclusive and even more are basement recordings. Standouts include The Trashies, The Bugs, Fe Fi Fo Fums and 26000 Volts (famous for that "I already fucked your mom" song). No surprise that Brian can put together a good mix, he does it every Saturday night on Sonic Reducer on KEXP. - ER

INK 19
www.ink19.com

Garage punk lives in Seattle. To heck with those depressing '90s grunge-aholics in their torn jeans and Pendletons. The Funhouse gang hosts old school punk and you can tell the difference because these punks dress in torn jeans and Pendletons, but they wear LEATHER Pendletons. There's enough action in this club to justifying pooling the beer money and recording a compendium of what's hot this week. With 32 bands involved, it's good most of them get their songs pared down to less than two minutes. Short songs = lots of songs, and you get a full measure of variety here.
Like the Pebbles and Boulders compilations, most of these tunes are pretty forgettable, but occasionally something shiny appears with a sonic link to the old days. "Smash your Radio" by The Primates 5 reminds me of The Standells, The Fall Outs gets a nice nuevo-surf sound with "Haunted House," Dead Vampires captures a no-nonsense straight ahead rock sound with "Come Out and Play" and there's country flavor to "Freedom Rock" by Girl Trouble. If there's a hit here, it's "10 Penny" by Repeat Offenders -- it's nothing new, but it's clean and exciting.
There's a lot to be said for live music and I'm sure these bands would fill a room with energy, given a crowd and cheap beer. For bands all calling themselves punk, they cover a lot of ground, and while it's not new ground, it's where rock and roll resides.

Carl F Gauze

THE FREE LIBRARY
www.thefreelibrary.com

I FINALLY GOT A SHIPMENT of some killer dope from the States, refreshing the stock over here in Southeast Asia and allowing me to once again hep (help??) you to some of the goings on in the better side of music. I don't have any vinyl to review, and yeah, that's what really turns my crank, but that'll come next month or so when I get back stateside for some R&R before returning here. Why don't we start with a kick ass lo-fi, lo-budget comp out of what is rapidly becoming a Seattle punk institution (up there with the Lake Union Pub, RIP), the Funhouse. It's the place where the good punk bands play, the beer is cheap and flowing, and pretension is checked at the front door. The folks at the Funhouse have seen fit to share some of their guests' music in the form of The Funhouse Comp Thing on MyFatAss Productions. It's got a heavy tilt toward Seattle and Northwest, with some legendary bands (Girl Trouble! Gas Huffer! The Fall Outs! Armitage Shanks! Head!) and some up and comers, too many to list, but here's a few: Pulses, Dead Vampires (which sound, on this track, somewhat Misfits-y, which is a good thing), Sgt Major (ex-Fastbacks!), the Mexican Blackbirds, Charming Snakes, and the Cripples. Best band name: Steaming Wolf Penis. Best lyrics: "Santa Claus is going to eat your brain" (Freak Outs). Best song title: "Get Daddy a Chicken Sandwich" (the Trashies). This comp of 32 tracks (!) is consistently kick ass....

Wez Lundry

JERSEY BEAT
http://www.jerseybeat.com/poppunk2.html

I've never been to Seattle or to The Funhouse, the punk club this comp celebrates, but I already love the place. Any rock venue that's got a basketball hoop and "crazy hookers" is alright by me. The 32 exclusive tracks on here are your typical Pacific Northwest/Dirtnap Records fare. All by bands who've played the club, except for the 15 year olds in The Freakouts, who have yet to get parental approval. New wave, trashy garage, lo-fi punk, sludgy rock. If you pay any attention to anything, you know the deal. Highlights include The Trashies lo-fi masterpiece "Get Daddy A Chicken Sandwich" and "They Should've Known" from Kurt Bloch's new post-Fastbacks band Sgt. Major. And while it certainly isn't great, I have a hard time not liking a song called "Vampire Mustache" played by a band called Steaming Wolf Penis. Gas Huffer, The Fall-Outs, The Pulses, The Cripples and several other PNW stalwarts contribute tracks. Cult faves and Ramones-core legends Head even contribute their first-ever CD track. Getting through all 32 tracks at once is somewhat impossible, but, even if synths and records that sound like they were recorded in washing machines aren't your thing, you're pretty much guaranteed to find something you like on here.

GRATH MADDEN

HYPER ENOUGH
www.hyper-enough-records.com/newrelease-top.htm

This was translated from Japanese!

As for Portland [rotsukunrorupanku] ~ flat tire ~ [potsupupankubandokonpi] around Seattle!!! All the 32 bands which perform to the lock bar which is opened in 2003 Halloween all the 32 tunes of recording!!! As for mixing & mastering familiarity JACK ENDINO. As for recording band FE FI FO FUMS, THE UNNATURAL HELPERS and THE PRIMATE 5, THE TRASHIES, BLACK HORSE, HEAD, PULSES, GAS HUFFER, FALL-OUTS, ARMITAGE SHANKS, OLD HAUNTS, FREAK OUTS, DEAD VAMPIRES, THE BUGS, BLANK ITS, GIRL TROUBLE, BUG NASTIES and SGT. MAJOR, THE SHACKLES, THE MEXICAN BLACKBIRDS, CHARMING SNAKES, THE HOLLOW POINTS, THE SERMON, THE CRIPPLES, THE INVISIBLE EYES, THE GROPERS, APE CITY R&B, 26000 VOLTS, REPEAT OFFENDERS, GLORIOUS DAY, STEAMING WOLF PENIS and EARACHES. Intense tension from [rotsukunrorupankubando] the band around DIRTNAP, the head where in addition influence of the new wave enters with with the Seattle [tsu] lever every band is a personality & sense to the strange flat tire band and with it is very funny [konpi]! Recommendation!!! (2006 June 2nd arrival)

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  • Fanfuckintastic
    author: Lauren

    The Funhouse comps make me want to go on a rock'n'roll pilgrimage to Seattle.

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