#the hickoids

[slashdementia7734]

A Eulogy to Gary Floyd by Jeff Smith (Hickoids).

Pour one out for the man I hold up as the greatest American punk vocalist of all time, Gary Floyd of The Dicks.

I first saw The Dicks when I was 16 or 17. They were a ramshackle freight train oozing danger and a dark romance that telegraphed the message  “our love is doomed — but the cops will probably kill us before we can fall apart.” Fatalistic but defiant with some unquantifiable level of simmering violence lurking beneath.

If all the clownish portrayals of punk rock to be seen on television and in movies during the late 70s through the mid-80s had conveyed one fourth of the power of The Dicks on a good night, punk rock might have actually been banned.

To be sure, the original outfit was more than the sum of its parts - a true band. Glen Taylor’s twitchy, dissonant and inimitable guitar playing cast a hollow spread over the relentlessly bouncing frame of Buxf Parrot’s ever-moving groove while Pat Deason’s steadfastly off-kilter drumming reminded one of a twenty-five-cents-for-fifteen-minutes motel bed shaker that occasionally coughs and still chugs when the quarter has run out. All of this propelled Gary to sing at the top of his lungs while laying atop this queasy chemistry, secretly hoping his voice will rattle the plaster off the ceiling and maybe the whole fucking roof will cave in so he can forget about that man, the pigs and every other cruel thing the world has thrown at him. And then maybe the whole seedy motel will collapse and it will all seem random rather than intentional, so he can go to sleep for a long, long time in the comfort that it’s not just him.

It’s the soundtrack of decay and desperation.

Decadence fed by heartache.

I saw some fucking great punk and hardcore bands in the day…but I have rarely if ever seen a punk band (or rock-adjacent band of any genre) who could deliver with the emotional power of The Dicks.

The reason was simple: Gary’s struggle was real. By late ‘70s Texas standards, the notion of an openly gay, morbidly obese, Maoist poor boy from East Texas fronting a band of novice outcasts was the stuff of a pornographic sci-fi novella a la Martin Amis. And, not to short change another group of local heroes fronted by an outsized gay man, the Big Boys, but they had more to do with the good times than the bad. It’s not necessarily a great analogy but they were the light of The Beatles compared to the darkness of our Austin punk rock Stones.

On a musical level Gary and The Dicks found their greatest power (like the Stones on their epiphanic masterpiece Exile On Main Street) with the blues, and were the first punk band, American or otherwise — with the possible exception of The Gun Club — to fold the style into punk in a successful way. In spite of the greatness of the art, one could make the  argument that Jeffrey Lee Pierce’s narrative and musical choices had a studied contrivance not found in The Dicks. “Successful” is used here to mean artistically high-performing rather than financially rewarding, of course.

The world is chock-full of guitar players who can hit the notes and bend the strings while making the ugly sex face. Our planet is also fully stocked  with those who can carry a tune and string together a rhyme of heartbreak and appear emotionally vulnerable while doing so. That doesn’t make it either good to my ears or moving to my heart.

Gary was free of artifice when it came to his singing. Not to say that he couldn’t be a sometimes silly yet riveting frontman, but his poetry was always forceful and direct. Folk music stripped of everything that distracted from the point. As a young man, I failed to fully grasp where he was coming from - it was too far from my realm of experience. But he sang with his whole body and absolute conviction, whether the subject was heartbreak or injustice. I might not have understood where all of his pain came from, but his voice told me it was real. And while a lot of other punk singers of the era spewed opportunistic political diatribes that amounted mostly to complaining, Gary simply belted out his truth. Even though the conflict might not have been mine, his voice made me understand the righteousness of the fight. Gary’s words helped provide me with the empathy starter kit I lacked.

Gary had a couple of other very good and more commercially palatable bands after The Dicks - Sister Double Happiness and Black Kali Ma. He didn’t get the commercial success he deserved, but he’s not alone there. Still, I believe he died a happier man than he was in the era I remember him most vividly from. We exchanged messages on FB and spoke on the phone occasionally during the past decade.

Rest in power my friend. It’s not just you - it is the world.

You might not have changed the world in the way you once hoped, but you changed mine.

Gary Floyd // 1979 // 📸: Tom McMahon

[t-tex-edwards]

Back 33 years or so ago, The Hickoids’ Davy Jones (RIP) hosted a month of Tuesday open-mic jams at Austin's Continental Club with all his pals invited. I was in town visiting from L.A., so I was included. Here's a flyer he drew for that event… 

[ttexed]

Purple Stickpin - I Walked All Night

At the Double Wide 8-3-2012 

[gotankgo]

[billlaotian]

[weneverlearn]

Wow, fun article here. The term "cowpunk" itself is enough to blow the top off many a trash rock fan, as over the years that term has been messily utilized, if at all, for all manner of weak roots rock acts or cartoon-y shockabilly offshoots who happened to have more than one member who wore a cowboy hat, played a hollow body guitar with flames painted on it, seemed to avoid dentists, or had a song with "farm" or "whiskey" in its lyrics somewhere.

With articles like this, I usually scroll down, and if I don't see a certain righteous band or three's name, I don't bother reading it. But once I saw Nine Pound Hammer and Hickoids listed, I knew this writer "got it."

Am I a huge fan of every band here? No. Do I still think "cowpunk" might be a term we should leave deep down in history's dustbin (or hay pile)? Probably. But this article does a good job of reminding us of some oft-forgotten or misplaced punk-sprung shit-kickers from across the post-punk epoch...

A few cowpunk faves of mine, below:

[savage-radio-3way-fm]

Episode 043 - Cow Punk

Fun Things - Savage

Resolver - Better Than What Coolabahs - Four Pubs & A Watertower Convict Class - Kantoriphobia

Zeke - Back At School (Cosmic Psychos) Shandy - Let's Dance Firepower - Road Bruiser Blowhole - Ballad Of Dee Dee

The Johnnys - Injun Joe The Johnnys - Ten Outlaws Beasts Of Bourbon - Psycho (Leon Payne) Jon Wayne - Texas Jailcell

Legendary Stardust Cowboy - Paralyzed Hasil Adkins - Chicken Walk The Cramps - She Said (Hasil Adkins)

The Supersuckers - One Cigarette Away Steve Earle With The Supersuckers - Creepy Jackalope Eye Eddie Spaghetti - Killer Weed Earl Lee Grace - Saturday Night (Dwarves)

Andre Williams & The Sadies - Hey Truckers Andre Williams - Car With The Star Ween - Piss Up A Rope

Dead Kennedys - Rawhide Mojo Nixon & The Toadliquors - Winnebago Warrior (Dead Kennedys) Elvis Hitler - Hellbilly Hickoids - Rodeo Peligroso Country Bob & The Bloodfarmers - Dang Me

Melvins with Hank Williams III - Okie From Muskogee Assjack - Tennessee Driver Jeff Walker Und Die Fluffers - The Man Comes Around (Johnny Cash) Country Teasers - Reynard The Fox Country Dark - 50000 Volts

Nine Pound Hammer - Folsom Prison Blues (Johnny Cash) Revelators - Serve The Man

[paulisded]

The Ledge #581: 2013

Generally speaking, when I do shows devoted to years of the past I go way back. Like, at the bare minimum 25 years, and as far back as 50 years. Looking at my shows from 2013, though, I decided tonight I'd do something a little different. Let's go through some of my favorite records from only ten years ago.

While I am one that believes there's great rock and roll released each and every years (despite what many of my fellow oldsters proclaim), 2013 was even better than usual. There's all sorts of lofi indie power pop from the likes of Mind Spiders, Bad Sports, and Fidlar. There's the discovery of a wonderful up and coming songwriter named Lydia Loveless. There's the second release by the reformed Superchunk (my favorite record of the year).

And, of course, there's also the return of The Replacements. Yes, this happened due to a tragedy, as Slim Dunlap had suffered a stroke the previous year. But what a joy to hear Paul Westerberg and Tommy Stinson quickly recording a handful of their favorite oldies. Even better was the Songs For Slim singles series which saw all kinds of Slim's friends recording their favorite Dunalp tunes.

As for this week's edition of "52 Weeks of Teenage Kicks", I once again have a band I wasn't acquainted with before. The Vamps are a UK band that formed in 2012, and over the next few years their first two records went gold in their home country. 2013 saw an EP called Can We Dance that included the live cover of "Teenage Kicks" that opens tonight's show. And like always, I must again plead with y'all for more versions of "Teenage Kicks". If you are a musician, or have any contact with artists that could record their own take on the classic, please contact me!

CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD THE SHOW!

1. The Vamps - Teenage Kicks (Live)

2. The Replacements - I'm Not Sayin'

3. The Replacements - Lost Highway

4. Chris Mars - Radio Hook Word Hit

5. The Minus 5 Feat. Curtiss A - Rockin Here Tonight

6. The Young Fresh Fellows - Loud Loud Loud Loud Guitars

7. Grant Hart - So Far from Heaven

8. Two Cow Garage - The Little Prince and Johnny Toxic

9. Hickoids - If Drinkin Don't Kill Me, Kill Me

10. CTMF Wild Billy Chyldish - The Second Generation Punks

11. Tommy Keene - Have You Seen My Baby? (Flamin' Groovies)

12. Tim Timebomb - Honor Is All We Know

13. Pat Todd & The Rankoutsiders - Small Town Rock Ain't Dead

14. Wooden Shjips - Back To Land

15. Obits - Taste The Diff

16. The Night Marchers - Loud Dumb and Mean

17. FIDLAR - Cheap Beer

18. Warm Soda - Jeanie Loves Pop

19. Lydia Loveless - Boy Crazy

20. Bleached - Looking for a Fight

21. Shannon And The Clams - Rip VanWinkle

22. The Hillbilly Moon Explosion - Motorhead Girl

23. The Men - Half Angel Half Light

24. Mind SpidersInside You

25. Bad Sports - Wahed Up

26. The Dirtbombs - Crazy For You

27. Thee Oh Sees - Toe Cutter - Thumb Buster

28. Ty Segall - You're The Doctor

29. Mikal Cronin - Am I Wrong

30. Kid Congo & the Pink Monkey Birds - Killer Diller

31. The Connection - Wrong Side of 25

32. Shocked Minds - Kalamazoo

33. The Tall Boys - The Man Who Walked On The Moon

34. Terry Malts - Two Faces

35. Telekinesis - Empathetic People

36. Superchunk -FOH

[babyhugz]

[ch-dld-bft-brit-omm]

(via https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3rN4OE3HKsA)

[don-lichterman]

Live Music in San Antonio This Week: Reverend Horton Heat, Anything Box, Kody West and more | Live Music in San Antonio This Week | San Antonio

Live Music in San Antonio This Week: Reverend Horton Heat, Anything Box, Kody West and more | Live Music in San Antonio This Week | San Antonio

click to enlarge Courtesy Photo / Reverend Horton Heat Reverend Horton Heat plays Paper Tiger with the Hickoids on Saturday. Summer months can be hit-and-miss for catching live music tours, but this week appears to be far more on the “hit” side of things. San Antonio will be awash in great music options, both from local acts like longtime guitar-slinger Jimmy Spacek and touring artists such as…

[t-tex-edwards]

" #ttexedwards from texas doing his creepy #cowpunk #countrypunk #murderballads on this #vinylsingel #7inch in the happy year of 1990, released on mighty #sympathyfortherecordindustry #vinyladdict Lee Harvey was a friend of mine/It's gravity.": https://www.instagram.com/p/Bq0WG4IgidW/

[ttexed]

Purple Stickpin venture north to Dallas...

Davy Jones & T. Tex Edwards at the AllGood Cafe 2013

photo by Gloria Wilkes

[gotankgo]

[matzohball77]

The Hickoids #thehickoids #hickoids (at The Lost Well)

[amirocks]

Shove a little Elvis in the #8track . Sketching into Monday morning with the cow punk sounds of the @hickoids last night @hotelvegastexas on a mission with Ron Pippin @helloshinyobject #drawing #sketching #sketch #digital #procreate #Austin #atx #texas #music #art #tablet #punk #cowpunk #punkrock #livedrawing #livesketching #artistsoninstagram #artistsofinstagram #hotelvegas (at Hotel Vegas) https://www.instagram.com/p/Cf37GgsO9ww/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=