Teenage Time Killers have been the epic one-off punk-metal supergroup put in combination within the mid-2010s through My Smash guitarist Mick Murphy and past due Corrosion Of Conformity drummer Reed Mullin, and that includes contributions from everybody from Corey Taylor and Dave Grohl to ex-Useless Kennedys frontman Jello Biafra. In 2015, forward of the discharge in their one and simplest studio album, Steel Hammer stuck up with Mullin to determine the trick to preserving this all-star celebration at the rails.
Within the lengthy hall at Dave Grohl’s Studio 606 in Los Angeles, Corrosion Of Conformity drummer Reed Mullin is quietly dropping his shit, not sure what to mention. On the different finish of the hall stands 64-year-old American punk rock legend Lee Ving, fortuitously recalling the time that his band Concern have been banned for lifestyles from Saturday Evening Reside. “Dude!” beams Reed, as though we haven’t spotted. “It’s Lee Ving!”
In the back of us, Alkaline Trio’s Matt Skiba is taking selfies with My Smash’s Tairrie B and Mick Murphy, whilst Fireball Ministry’s Jim Rota chats to Samhain drummer London Might. In all, there are about 15 band contributors right here, all amassed for a photoshoot and to listen to the overall combine in their new album, Largest Hits Vol. 1, which is blasting from the studio. These days, we’re paying attention to Jello Biafra’s blistering rendition of the John Cleese poem Ode To Sean Hannity. And it’s now not on a daily basis you get to listen to Monty Python-approved punk rock!
Make no mistake, that is no unusual album playback, the place you’ll be filled right into a joyless room with some humourless reporters, or, worse nonetheless, have to hear the document in entrance of the band, hoping to nod in all of the proper puts. As an alternative, Reed fingers out beers and there’s a basic mingling about, and now not somewhat confusion about who’s in fact within the band, as a few of them have by no means in fact met ahead of. That is no unusual band, both. In all, there are 35 contributors (and counting), together with one of the greatest names in rock, equivalent to Dave Grohl, Corey Taylor, Randy Blythe, Neil Fallon, Doyle Von Frankenstein and Nick Oliveri. The band is known as Teenage Time Killers, a side-project to eclipse all others, and in all probability we must take a look at to give an explanation for the way it all took place. This, in the end, was once now not the plan.
Our tale starts about 30 years in the past, when a tender Reed Mullin was once striking on punk displays in his house the town of Raleigh, North Carolina, and striking out data on his personal impartial label. Amongst the ones he signed have been a Washington DC band referred to as Dain Bramage, whose lineup integrated none as opposed to long term Foo Fighter Dave Grohl.
“He was once a large COC fan,” says Reed, “nonetheless is, and we’d performed together with his band. I have in mind seeing him on the 9.30 Membership in Washington DC, and I had this little label, so I put his band out, and 30 years later he’s a large rock superstar or no matter. We’ve been buddies for years and beers, so he allow us to do an album right here [2012’s Corrosion Of Conformity], and I changed into buddies with the top engineer, this man named Lou [John ‘Lou’ Lousteau]. Lou was once like, ‘When we’ve got some loose time on the studio, you’ve gotta pop out and perform a little hardcore songs.’”
Understand that, it seemed like a groovy concept and, just right to his phrase, a 12 months later Lou referred to as to mention they’d a loose week within the studio. By way of this time Reed had written some subject material, together with the aforementioned adaptation of the Cleese poem, and he referred to as up punk icon Jello Biafra to look if he sought after to sing it.
“So I flew out and went into 606 with Lou and his friend Mick [Murphy],” continues Reed. “And as a substitute of doing 5 tracks we did 12. Then I’m on the airport going house and I see this man strolling previous as I’m going to my gate, dressed in sun shades like he’s all hungover or one thing, and he’s dressed in a Corrosion Of Conformity t-shirt. So after I walked through, I used to be like, ‘Whats up, guy, great blouse!’ like a dork. He pulled his glasses down and spoke back, ‘Reed?’ And it was once Randy Blythe from Lamb Of God! I instructed him what I used to be doing and that I had Biafra making a song, and he was once like, ‘I wanna be on it!’ So it went from being 5 songs, with Jello making a song a tune, to being 12 songs with Jello and Randy fronting the tracks.”
From there, it’s protected to mention that issues can have spiralled out of keep watch over. Dave Grohl by some means were given wind and sought after to be at the document, and was once rapidly adopted through Pat Smear, Lee Ving, Minor Danger/Unhealthy Faith guitarist Brian Baker and Tommy Victor of Prong, and 5 tracks changed into 21.
“There’s some lovely large names,” grins Reed. “However just about everyone at the listing, I’ve identified ceaselessly. It more or less strikes a chord in my memory of the previous days after I used to place on punk rock displays in Raleigh, and I’d get my buddies from Richmond or DC to return and play a display. The one man I didn’t know in this was once Corey Taylor, however Lou from the studio is buddies with him, and he was once like, ‘I’ll do it subsequent week!’”
Unusually, Reed says that juggling 35 musicians for the recording procedure was once quite simple. Within the previous days it was once all analogue tape, and folks must cross to the studio in individual, however now there’s Professional-tools and the web, so Vic Bondi from Articles Of Religion did his vocal tracks in his house studio, as did Neil Fallon from Seize, and Mike Williams from Eyehategod [we told you it was a big roll-call]. It’s a a long way cry from the usual tale of a typical band jamming in a practice session area (which might were logistically not possible), however Reed insists that this didn’t mute the alternate of concepts.
“I don’t assume so,” he provides, “since the overwhelming majority people have identified each and every different for goodbye, and all of us went via the similar stories within the punk rock days. However I do know what you imply, it’s undoubtedly other from the previous days the place folks would accumulate and write songs, like, ‘Whats up, what do you recall to mind this?’ I want it would’ve been that method, however numerous the vocal tracks have been completed at 606, simply when folks dropped through. There was once additionally a few folks I sought after to be on there who have been , nevertheless it didn’t figure out. [Black Flag’s] Keith Morris was once intended to be on there, and the tune that Phil Rind from Sacred Reich sings was once intended to be part Phil and part Max Cavalera, however Max was once at the street. To be fair, the item that took the longest was once the criminal stuff, coping with everyone’s document labels! The entire folks concerned have been super-cool and enthusiastic, and it grew to become out actually just right, it’s now not only a novelty.”
This a lot is obvious from the primary playback; Largest Hits Vol. 1 isn’t any fucking funny story, both musically or lyrically. And Reed isn’t a long way unsuitable when he compares the document to the vintage 1981 compilation Let Them Consume Jellybeans, which featured such legends as Black Flack, Useless Kennedys, Flipper and Unhealthy Brains.
“This album is kinda like that,” he says. “It has numerous other flavours of punk rock and bizarre tune. And the similar is going for the lyrics: there’s a tune referred to as Useless Hand, which is instantly up Protest And Continue to exist through Discharge… I utterly ripped that off! The Useless Hand was once the program that the Soviets had in position, when the Chilly Warfare was once occurring, the place although everyone over there was once lifeless, they’d nonetheless ship their complete arsenal at us. It was once referred to as The Useless Hand, however I wrote a tune about it that sounds so much like Discharge. It’s lovely numerous in phrases of numerous the other types of punk; there’s some American hardcore, some British- sounding GBH/Discharge more or less stuff, however then the person who Corey Taylor sings seems like 1983 thrash metallic or one thing, with an Iron Maiden intro! Guy, there’s 21 songs, so it’s more or less exhausting to mention, however there’s such a lot of other flavours. There’s some stuff that sounds just like the New York Heartbreakers… all types of stuff.”
The call of the band, Teenage Time Killerss, when you’re questioning, was once taken from a songtitle through mythical anarchist punk band Rudimentary Peni, a tune that’s lined at the album, with teen Trenton Rogers on vocals. Reed even sought after to get Peni’s Nick Blinko to do the sleeve paintings, however was once instructed “to not cling [his] breath!” The album name, Largest Hits Vol. 1, in the meantime, was once lovingly pilfered from West Ham hooligans the Cockney Rejects. In some way, it’s a understanding nod to the truth that punk rock nonetheless doesn’t rather get the distinction it merits from the metallic neighborhood, nonetheless the awkward cousin whose call is a four-letter phrase. With out Discharge or GBH, there can be no thrash metallic, easy as that. Funnily sufficient, Reed is of the same opinion. “No shit! I couldn’t agree extra,” he exclaims. It’s been mentioned, now not with out some fact, that punk was once the most productive factor to occur to metallic, and that metallic was once the worst factor that took place to punk. “That couldn’t be truer!” is of the same opinion Reed, yet again. It’s in all probability becoming, then, that Teenage Time Killers is going some method to redress that stability. It’s simplest honest,since COC have been one of the crucial first to go from punk to metallic with out sucking!
“Yeah, from the get cross we have been into Black Sabbath, however we couldn’t actually play Sabbath,” laughs Reed. “One in all our songs, Redneck, was once actually simply Symptom Of The Universe. We have been all the time into that, however extra for the tune. Aside from Sabbath who all the time had just right lyrics; heavy metallic, for essentially the most section, had ridiculous lyrics.”
However we digress. You’ll pay attention the album quickly sufficient, and already there’s communicate of a follow- up, a Largest Hits Vol. 2. Is Reed able for some other spherical? Who does he take into account for the sequel?
“We’ve without a doubt gotta get some English fuckers,” grins Reed. “Is [UK Subs frontman] Charlie Harper nonetheless alive? I believe we’ll without a doubt do some other one, as this album was once an excessive amount of a laugh. Even if there wasn’t numerous time for us within the studio, it was once sufficient to be a unconditionally cool enjoy.”
All of which results in the inevitable, and almost definitely silly, query… It’s all the time irritating when superior side-projects come in combination and no person will get to look them reside. What are the possibilities of seeing Teenage Time Killers, given the spiderweb of commitments its contributors have to stick to?
“Neatly, I assume the core contributors are myself, Mick and Lou,” says Reed, “However I wish to take this out at the street. Perhaps shall we do a display in LA or New York with as lots of the folks as we will be able to get in combination. I will simply see us doing somewhat excursion and a few large displays, however one of the bigger-name other folks are kinda busy at this time. Corey sought after to be right here for the photoshoot, however he’s at the street, and Neil from Seize sought after to be right here.”
In all probability it will paintings should you have been all enjoying the similar pageant, like Obtain or one thing? Trace, trace…
“In truth,” grins Reed, already forward of the curve, “we have been pondering it could be cool to get as lots of the bands who’re on there and do a pageant of our personal later within the 12 months. You need some other beer?”
Fuck sure, on each counts!
Replace: Teenage Time Killers’ debut album, Largest Hits Vol. 1, was once launched on July 28, 2015. The band performed a one-off display on the Fonda Theater in Los Angeles in September 2015. Unfortunately, co-founder Reed Mullin kicked the bucket in 2020.
At first printed in Steel Hammer factor 267. Up to date June 2024
