One Wank/Unless You Try (2019)
In a conflict of interest plug. I have copies of the white vinyl and blue vinyl version to sell on the PopKid site. I wasn't able to find anywhere in the US carrying these records, so I worked out something with Unless You Try to distro a handful of them myself. I do not have many. As of this posting I have 5 left in total. There's also some other interesting stuff added to the distro, but I'll talk about that more in depth tomorrow.
Guns n' Wankers - The Complete Recordings LP for sale in the PopKid web store:
https://popkid.limitedrun.com/products/649494-guns-n-wankers-the-complete-recordings-lp-white-or-blue-vinyl
In 1994 Guns n' Wankers released their only recordings over the course of four 7"s. Pop, Hardcore and Metal were joint released by Rugger Bugger, Damaged Goods and Gap. The fourth 7", Silly, was released as part of the September '94 issue of the zine Feat and Loathing. Later, most of the songs from Pop, Hardcore and Metal were compiled onto CDs that came out on Rugger Bugger/Damaged Goods/Gap and a Japanese version on Snuffy Smile. In America the songs from Pop and Hardcore were released on Fat Wreck Chords as For Dancing and Listening. That's a lot of milage for thirteen songs.
I picked up the CD on Fat first, way back when. I had just gotten into the band Snuff and was told GNW was an offshoot. I loved those songs so much and that's when the record collector bug set in. Over the next year or so I hunted far and wide for all of the other weirdo versions. The Silly 7" and the Japanese version of the CD were the trickiest to find, but those have both been in my collection for over twenty years. Funny enough, the only one I don't have anymore is that CD on Fat as I gave it to my brother.
All these years later, Guns n' Wankers started playing shows again. With that came this reissue of every song they recorded from those '94 era releases. And in typical Wankers fashion, they gave me some variants to track down. There are 100 copies on orange vinyl that were only sold by the band at their shows. There is a blue vinyl version and a white vinyl version both limited to 100 copies and both sold via the label Unless You Try. 300 were put out on black vinyl for general release to stores and distros. And there are 200 more on yellow vinyl as part of a second pressing. I don't have one of those just yet, but it's on my to do list.
As far as the actual songs go, the ones from the Pop and Hardcore 7"s are some of my favorite songs of all time. "Raise Your Glass" is often in the discussion as my actual favorite song ever. There's something truly special about the way the incredible drumming makes that song pop. These songs have a hint of Snuff to them, but I've always felt they stood on their own as Jools' backing vocals create dynamic that's very much only part of GNW.
The Metal songs are fun, but not ones that I go back and listen to repeatedly. I love it as part of the three 7" gimmick, but just mixed in with the rest of the songs they tend to stand out. The two songs from the Silly 7" were certainly the hardest to track down prior to this compilation LP coming out. Now everyone can hear the jingle for "Gillette" and "For Whom the Bing Bongs," a song made up of catchy guitar riffage and a doorbell.
Guns n' Wankers - "Raise Your Glass":
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jZqqydweYtA
Guns n' Wankers - "Blah Blah Blah":
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u8KYC1eYbTo
Raise your Glass is an all time banger. That entire first six song record is a classic and one I still love to listen to.
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