Toxic Reasons – Within These Walls

The Midwest is the Rodney Dangerfield of Punk rock: no respect at all. Which is crazy when you realize they're the ones who gave us Negative Approach, the Zero Boys, and The Meatmen (not to mention the Dead Boys and Iggy Pop). The Midwest also gave rise to Toxic Reasons, possibly the greatest ignored Punk band in history.

I will confess to owning some very silly records. I have a habit (though I hesitate to classify it as a "bad" one) of trawling used record bins and taking wild chances on album covers I like, or band names i find amusing. It's how I wound up with the entire Armageddon Dildoes discography, but it's also how I first stumbled across Toxic Reasons.

Their 1985 LP "Within These Walls" has been a mainstay on my turntable for nearly ten years. It's one of those albums that you just can't shut off once it gets going. It works its self into the fabric of your life, and before you know it, you're a dreamer.

Toxic Reasons first started in Dayton, OH in 1979, and released their first single "War Hero" in 1980. The band eventually moved to San Francisco in 1982, and true to so many other Punk outfits they underwent some 15 lineup changes over the course of their history, maintaining only Bruce Stuckey, who started on bass and moved to lead guitar and vocals, as the only constant member.

"Within These Walls" was recorded just after the band lost a lead singer, but picked up Zero Boys bassist Tufty. As a result, the album is a departure from their previous albums of solid rocking hard core. Each of the 4 band members take a turn on the mic, and the eight simple songs on the album run a surprising musical gamut, proving once again that whatever detractors may say, Punk and hard core musicians are in fact musicians, and many of them are better than anything you'll ever find scanning the FM dial. The album as a whole is a lot more subtle than most straight hard core, but the subtlety adds a dimension of urgency that makes it almost impossible to turn off.

The album starts with "Then Came the Rain", a song with vocal stylings that wouldn't be out of place in British post-punk, or melodic New York art punk, ala Television, and a mournful, haunting chorus. The underlying anger is still there, though. The song imparts all the frustration at the tendency to make the poor invisible, and the feeling of hopelessness than can engulf so quickly when the whiskey runs out.

This isn't an emo album though, and the next track "It's So Silly" is a tuneful sneer at social evolution, and the mainstream. Relentless bass lines drive lyrics reminding you "you're different from the rest of the crowd" and calling for an uprising. The album picks up speed through "Party's Over", the perfect theme song for all of us with that insatiable wanderlust, or the oh-so-punk jaded boredom that comes from one too many aspirating junkies in your bathtub.

The band then takes a quick two tone-esque reggae detour in "Guns of September", which is unexpected, but somehow fits so well with the mood of the album that it doesn't seem out of place.

"Dreamer" is the next track, and is the best on the album, and seriously in the running for one of the top songs of all times. The rhythm of the song infectious and undeniable. The lyrics are possibly the bleakest plea for peace you'll ever hear: "How I wish we had a vision of a world that wasn't so divided. Oh well, I'm a dreamer," ultimately building to the sort of naked controlled anger you'd expect from hard core.

Which isn't to say, of course, the second half of the album isn't great. It is. "Too Late" starts reminiscent of the Dead Boys and Stiv Bators at his darkest, then erupts into raw sound and fury, and "Sons of Freedom" is the type of song made to get you speeding tickets. The album rounds out with "All Known Confusion", possibly the most musically interesting of all the surprisingly complex melodies presented throughout the record.

"Within These Walls" was originally released for UK distribution by Rough Trade, but there are rumours that Beer City Records out of Wisconsin may be issuing a re-release in the very near future. Beer City has already released a Toxic Reasons DVD/CD set titled "Essential Independence" which includes the original "Independence" album, along with previously unreleased tracks, and, obviously, video footage. Beer City is http://www.beercityrecords.com/ Toxic Reasons is http://www.myspace.com/toxicreasons02, and you're on your own for finding a copy of this excellent album. Happy hunting!

 

-Jo Problems-
Big Wheel Music Scene Reporter
 

 

 

 

Music from the Used Record Bin