Saturday, May 3, 2008

The Chronicles of Wino, Vol 2: Saint Vitus


I have chosen to continue my tribute to Scott 'Wino' Weinrich, this time focusing on Saint Vitus. While Weinrich was not Saint Vitus' first singer (he joined the group in 1986 after original singer Scott Reagers left), however it is the band he is most reknown for. That being said, Saint Vitus continues to be a terribly underappreciated band (their first 6 records were never even released on CD format and remain, to this day, out of print). Being on SST records and going on tour with Black Flag during the early 80's, Saint Vitus often times suffered from being seen as almost a novelty in the eyes of self-respecting punks everywhere. Unfortunately many failed to see past Saint Vitus' sound and image to fully understand their approach, which carried along with it enough DIY ethics to match the band with labelmates Minutemen and the aforementioned Black Flag.

Nonetheless, Saint Vitus' plodding pace, fuzzed-out sound, and lyrical imagery provided the base for countless bands to come. Their influence is unquestionable. It's for that exact reason, however, that Saint Vitus is more commonly seen as a reference point, a sly factoid, rather than a celebrated band with an impressive overall catalogue.

It was Wino's debut with Saint Vitus, 1987's Born Too Late that also happened to be the peak of the band overall creatively. With lyrics like "Everytime I walk down the street, people laugh and point at me" and "They say my songs are much too slow, but they don't know the things I know" (both taken from the album's title track) accurately depict the solemn tone of the album, where Wino's lyrics are as heavy-handed as the band's musical approach. Wino's writing was arguably at its peak as well. While his other bands had and would have more hooks and a more catchy tempo, his lyrical demeanor was incredibly strong.

Due to the difficulty of obtaining the band's material, I've uploaded their SST-released 'best of' compilation. It includes material from their first 3 records (pre-Wino) as well as Wino's material. Be sure to check out "Clear Windowpane" and "Born Too Late", both appearing on the previously mentioned "Born Too Late" LP. Stop living in the spoils of blissful ignorance!

DOWNLOAD HERE!

2 comments:

Krystina said...

Thank you for this! I've been trying to find more Saint Vitus since I got "Blasting Concept" Vol. 2.

- krystina

Tim Daltrey said...

no problem! Saint Vitus fucking rules! next time i come over i'll bring some LPs and we can listen to intense riffs and plodding doom!