THE GEARS
Rockin’ at Ground Zero
THE D.I.s
Rare Cuts double CD
Hep Cat Records 2009
“Don’t Be Afraid To Pogo!
Don’t Be Afraid To Relate!”
If you are a fan of either band, you are going to love this 2 cd set that was lovingly put together by Chris Ashford (founder of What Records? that put out seminal L.A. punk singles like The Germs’ first 7”) and released by Hep Cat. “Rockin’ At Ground Zero” has the Gears’ complete 1980 LP and also their 1979 demos and first 45 “Let’s Go To the Beach” (originally on Four Speed Music) with new mixes and mastered by Ron McMaster at Capitol records. These 23 punk classics are worth getting this set for alone. I just sit and salivate over the small fold out poster that’s a collage of gig posters and ticket stubs circa 1979-80 from venues such as The Starwood and Hong Kong Cafe where The Gears shared bills with so many legendary L.A. punk rock bands like Weirdos, Fear, X, Angry Samoans, The Plugz (!) and more. I can only imagine how nuts they were! The companion disc is the D.I.s “Rare Cuts”. They were Gears vocalist Axxel G. Reese and Drummer Dave Drive as the core of the band with a long list temporary bassists and other musicians. This CD contains Dreamship sessions and Lock N’ Load 12” EP (both produced by X guitarist Billy Zoom). D.I.s weren’t to my taste as much as the Punk/Rockabilly mayhem of the Gears. They explored Roots and Rockabilly music more than punk but man they were a lot better than the mainstream rock music going on in the ‘80s… it reeked! The exploitation film image used as cover art on Rare Cuts CD (with a photoshopped breast tattoo) was also used on the Psychotronic Video Guide cover in 1996. (Bob Scott)
