Reviewed by Ian Phillips.
By Asteroid B-612, Folc Records 2022.
In 1996 Aussie punk/rock band Asteroid B-612 spent 30 days touring all over America from Seattle to San Diego, Tucson to Texas, and Atlanta to New York City (and all places in between).
On the night of November 21, they ended up in the famed WFMU studios with legendary producer Pat Duncan behind the controls.
And what they played that night is what you hear on this album.
It just so happens that a good friend of the band was listening in to the radio station at his home in Philadelphia and he recorded the entire session on reel-to-reel tape.
A copy of that tape found its way to lead guitarist of Asteroid B-612, Johnny Casino, and, with a little mastering, it has finally been released.
Firstly, let me say that the boys absolutely ripped up the recording studio with one of the most intense live performances I’ve ever heard.
It’s full on and it’s a wonder that lead singer, Grant McIver had any voice left by the end of the session.
Asteroid B-612 are a really good band.
They are a super polished live outfit, and this recording catches them at the peak of their powers.
I don’t know what the yanks made of them but I suspect they would have been a sensation in the small music venues that dot the landscape over there.
The band contain all the pent-up aggression of classic Aussie pub bands of the era and on top of this they could really play well.
That’s not something that is that common amongst punk bands but the band line-up of Johnny Casino on guitar, Grant McIver on vocals, Ben Fox on drums, Scott Nash on bass, and Stewart Cunningham on guitar were extremely tight from years of playing our local pub scene and a hard driving and drinking month on the road in America.
And all this energy poured out in this legendary performance.
This album is a time-warp.
A moment captured for posterity, and we have that unnamed fan who had the foresight to record the radio show to thank for it.
