Inching toward two decades of excellence, HoZac Records of Chicago sprang into being with a focus on wild, raw, and often catchy bands of the moment. With a flag planted firmly in the fertile soil of punk, the label has since branched out into archival recordings and books. Two LPs fresh out from HoZac, BUY + Homework, a reissue of the debut from late ’70s Columbus, OH band Screaming Urge, and Ways of Seeing, a new release by Sardinian/Istanbul post punk-garage supergroup Gentilesky, are covered below.
Busy while active but never breaking out of the original punk-new wave era’s underground, Screaming Urge provides a scuzzy but tuneful template of sorts for much of HoZac’s back catalog (the label’s earlier archival have done the same). With a stature that has retroactively flourished through inclusions on the compilations Killed by Death #6 and Bloodstains Across Ohio, Screaming Urge’s “Homework” also provided titular inspiration for the Hyped2Death label’s extensive series of multi-artist CDr retrospectives, the song itself landing on Homework No.1: American “D.I.Y.” 45s R to T.
Coming together in 1978, Screaming Urge—Michael Ravage (guitar), Myke Rock (bass), Dave Manic (drums)—debuted in 1980 with “Homework” on the A-side of a 45 issued by New Age, a label formed by noted subterranean Ohioans Mike Rep, Tommy Jay, Nudge Squidfish, and Chuck Kubat. The song and its flip “Runaway” kick off HoZac’s expanded reissue, a welcome edition as the original releases are frankly scarce and quite pricy in vinyl form.
“Homework” is a classic hunk of teenage frustration aimed at parents and school and a lack of freedom in general, all done up with infectious punk energy. But with vocals reminiscent of the Wipers’ Greg Sage, “Runaway” nearly steals the show. And if the proper LP’s opener “Hitler’s in Brazil” perhaps suggests an inclination for first wave punk shock value, that’s not really what Screaming Urge was about. Instead, they helped to establish Rock Against Racism in Columbus, played guerilla street shows, and broadened their repertoire with the legit protest number “War.”
But Screaming Urge’s comfort zone was relationship songs with nods to power pop and back to basics stylings (“Lovey Dovey,” “Do You Think I’m Strange,” and “Waiting for Your Call”) combined with tracks displaying an appealing cognizance of rock history (“Mercy Beat”) and their musical stance at the dawn of the ’80s (“Mono”). Most importantly, Screaming Urge eschewed generic punk rippers for memorable songwriting. HoZac states that BUY + Homework has been remastered but it still sounds like it was recorded in a day on a 4-track in someone’s basement, which is exactly how it should be.
Gentilesky’s name is a tribute to 17th century Italian painter Artemisia Gentileschi, noted as the first woman admitted to the Accademia delle Arti del Disegno in Florence. The supergroup designation above is earned through the band’s members—Yaprak Kirdök (vocals), Claudio Zucca (guitar), Andrea Pilleri (bass/vocals), Simone Mura (drums)—having played in Love Boat, Sushicorner, Talky Nerds, Thee Oops, Two Bit Dezperados, The Rippers, Maggot Madness, Haywire Desire, and Poster-iti.
The inspiration of Gentileschi fits with the band’s overall Rough Trade-ish seriousness of intent. Ways of Seeing is, like the records that clearly inspired them, hyperactive and methodical; it’s an emotionally striking if not necessarily “fun” listen. This is really splitting hairs though, as opener “City of Boredom” will surely trigger spastic pogo mania and the big structural shift in “Freedom is Coming,” moving from Gang of Four-ish punk funk splatter riffing to slowed down proto-punk Detroit-style guitar scorch, is a raise your fist and pump it sort of scenario.
Gentilesky are precise as they flail and thunder forward, and there is anguish but never defeat in the singing, reminding me of the Raincoats and Delta 5. But “In the Flesh” is spiked with rage in a manner that situates the band as a byproduct of right now; if they’d played this way in the late ’70s-early ’80s, they’d be fucking legendary. And looking to the future, “Misery” alone will secure Gentilesky’s rep for generations, and we haven’t even gotten to side two yet. Jagged and acidic, the flip is no letdown as the less frantic closing title cut is a solid departure.
Screaming Urge and Gentilesky are quite different in style, but they share a refusal to kowtow to current tastes then or now, making them fine additions to the HoZac roster.
GRADED ON A CURVE:
Screaming Urge, BUY + Homework
A-
Gentilesky, Ways of Seeing
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