“nine_pound_hammer”
Nine Pound Hammer
Live at the Vera
Scooch Pooch
I’m darn happy I’ve finally got my hand on a full-length from Nine Pound Hammer. Seems that I’ve “followed” this great punk rock band since at least ‘92 – but only on the radio and maybe a comp here and there. It happens… Well, this hefty disc is packed with twenty-three live tracks from a show a few years ago in Holland, where the crowd came to hear hick-powered punk rock.
Like the Supersuckers and perhaps the seminal cowpunks, the Hickoids, Nine Pound Hammer injects (or lampoons) the punk redneck lifestyle. It’s all tongue in check, with hilarious, yet way-punk, songs like “Hayseed Timebomb,” “Surfabilly,” and “Headbangin’ Stockboy.” Stop for just a moment, what kind of images does a title like “Headbangin’ Stockboy” bring up? Only today it’d be “pierced and tattooed stockboy.” Other fine live, rockin’ punk tunes appropriate to the decorum include “Shotgun in a Chevy,” “Run Fatboy Run,” and “Shakey Puddin’.” It starts to get strange when they rock out their rendition of “Radar Love.” Sadly, the liner notes declare that Nine Pound Hammer is no more – guitarist Blaine Cartwright now plays with Nashville Pussy.
Aha!, their covers of “Keep A Knockin’” and “Train Kept A Rollin’” unmask their true identity: Nine Pound Hammer were transported from a Sin City salon circa 1962, where they played hot rockin’ numbers before a heavily-liquored crowd. They’ve found a way back, maybe.
Scooch Pooch Records, 5850 West 3rd. St., Ste 209, Los Angeles, CA 90036.
