Screeching Weasel
Beat is on the Brat
Panic Button
In the summer of ‘92, Screeching Weasel recorded their fourth album, Wiggle . During the release party, Todd from Selfless Records called to ask if the band would like to cover their favorite Ramones album. Ben Weasel explains in the liner notes of Kill The Musicians , “It was a completely stupid idea, so of course we did it.” He then expands further on Beat On the Brat ‘s liner by stating “We were drunk, which was probably why we agreed to do it.
Whatever the case, Screeching Weasel chose to do a cover of the Ramones’ first album and recorded it from 12PM, October 17, to 2AM, October 18, 1992. They printed “something like 2,000 copies, only on vinyl.” It’s the only SW album where Dan Vapid sings lead (“Let’s Dance”). In ‘97, the album was bootlegged onto a CD, featuring the Queers. This past year, Panic Button re-released it and added four tracks from the Weasel’s Bark Like a Dog sessions.
Die-hard Weasel fans will want to add this album to their collection, if they don’t already have the original ‘92 recordings. The four bonus tracks are unmistakingly Ben Weasel: the fast, catchy, pop-punk tunes that got you hooked on Weasel in the first place. As far as describing the rest of the disc, Ben pretty much hits the nail on the head when he notes, “We didn’t go out of our way to do anything much different. How could we improve on those songs?”
Panic Button, P.O. Box 148010, Chicago, IL 60614
