One of my best “scores” of the WFMU Record Fair didn’t technically come from the fair itself. See, my buddy Jon has this theory that his record collection should never grow beyond its limits. And its limits extend to what can be contained in the few shelving units he can fit in his tiny Manhattan apartment. The fact that he sets hard limits on what vinyl he can physically possess is generally believed to be a good thing for his friends, who reap the benefits when it comes time to pare down his record collection. When Jon mentioned on Saturday his desire to part with his first pressing of Hate Ashbury by Bongripper, I told him to go home and bring back the record so I could buy it. He did not disappoint, returning with what appeared to be an unplayed copy, for which I paid him $30 plus some beers later in the evening. I think I made out pretty well, considering its only been reissued once (in an edition of 200 copies) in 2011 and originals have sold for as much a seventy-five bucks. Also, I got to cross another record off my list of missing Bongripper records. Now all I need are Heroin and Satan Worshiping Doom to complete my Bongripper collection. I almost bought Ian’s original Satan Worshiping Doom (which he wanted to part with in favor of the 180-gram reissue) but I think we forgot to complete the transaction before the weekend concluded. Oh well. I’ll grab that one someday…
By the way, if you’ve never heard Bongripper you should do yourself a favor and check ’em out. The first record of theirs I ever heard was Great Barrier Reefer, which Ian told me I should order when it was first pressed on vinyl back in 2012. Originally all the band’s albums came out on CD or cassette. Only in the last two or three years has the band started issuing (and reissuing) their albums on vinyl. The doom metal band formed in Chicago way back in 2005 and has recorded five studio albums, a split with Hate (aka John Finaldi) and a Live At Roadburn performance (like Chelsea Wolfe, White Hills, Earthless, Ulver, etc.). One performance the band has NOT offered for sale is their Halloween 2012 performance as Weezer, where they played “My Name Is Jonas,” “Say It Ain’t So,” “In The Garage” and other hits off the blue album…much like The Ian Weinberger Trio (my band) did a decade and a half ago!
It’s a pretty simple record. There are two side-long tracks (as opposed to the compact disc, which was broken into 8 “songs”) of blackened sludge and feedback squalls with a touch of drone and ambience. Do you like Electric Wizard? Do you like pretty much any band on Southern Lord? Then you’ll love Bongripper. And no, the name isn’t a gimmick. In the same way that Weedeater and BONG and Belzebong might SEEM to outsiders like kitschy, cheesy bands trying to exploit the whole stoner-rock thing, Bongripper are awesome. Just like Weedeater and BONG and Belzebong and all those other artists are awesome. Just check this one out and I think you’ll very quickly grow to love them. Like I do. Then you’ll have to acquire all their albums, just like I’m doing. And one day we’ll meet. And we’ll compare record collections. And we’ll both own all the Bongripper albums. Then we’ll give each other a knowing nod, a smile, and return our gazes to the milky bong being passed back and forth between us. And then we’ll forget this whole thing ever happened.
By the way, because I don’t have everything back in my possession as of yet I don’t have the ability to photograph the front cover, back cover and label as I normally do. Sorry!
Bongripper
Hate Ashbury
(Great Barrier Records, 2011)
Side A (excerpt) [MP3]
Side B
