Swingin' Utters - Hatest Grits: B-Sides & Bullshit Review

Posted by Tom Santoro on 01.08.2009

San Francisco Street Punk Vets release a B-Sides and rarity collection for their fans to enjoy!

TRACK LISTING:

1. No Groove in the Gunsights
2. To Return Now
3. Where are they Now
4. Outside Life
5. The Blue Lamp
6. The Lonley
7. Back To You
8. Teen Idol Eyes
9. Heroes of the Corner Bar
10. I Got Your Number
11. Annual Pimple
12. Yesterday’s Dog End
13. Nothing to Rely On
14. Tomorrow is Not New
15. Black Mountain Rain
16. Billy the Poop
17. Mr. Keen
18. Lady Luck
19. I Follow
20. Sunday Stripper
21. Sounds Wrong (Demo)
22. Jackie’s Jab (Demo)
23. Stupid Lullabies (Demo)
24. Time Tells Time (Demo)
25. Catastrophe (Demo)
26. We All Know (Demo)




The 1990s were a wild time for rock. With the strums of “Smells Like Teen Spirit”, Nirvana sparked a new movement of rock called grunge. Heard of it? Anyways after the world wide success of Nirvana, every label sent a representative to Seattle to drink a $5 latte and find any long haired fellow wearing grunge to sign to enter into the money grab.

After the vampires sucked Seattle dry, they set their sights onto California where punk was starting a revival. In the mid 1990s, California was the center of the universe for all things punk rock. Bands like Bad Religion, NOFX, Pennywise and Rancid all began to creep onto the alternative rock radio stations. The road for these bands was paved by the huge success of Green Day’s Dookie album and The Offspring’s Smash album. All of these bands were on independent punk labels like Epitaph, Lookout! and Fat Wreck.

The result of the resounding success of these bands led to bands gaining notoriety because they were on the same label as the noted bands. At times this became a detriment to these bands as true punks questioned whether or not they were selling out. There were complaints that the indie punk labels were somehow commercializing their music. While the labels battled for their indie credibility, the bands struggled with the decision as to whether they should jump ship to major labels. The Offspring and Green Day jumped without thinking and received a huge backlash from the punk community that cultivated them. Bad Religion also jumped ship, while NOFX, Rancid and Pennywise stayed at the labels where they got their start.

At this time clearly the ideals of punk rock were at war. Either you turn your back on the community that cultivated you for money and financial security or stay and keep your ideals and credibility intact. It was a tough decision to make. How many gray haired Mohawks do you see? Anyways, the point is money ultimately made the genre stale as you get more “punk” bands full of clean cut guys with faux hawks writing crappy songs about first dates and marrying pop singers.

All hope is not lost. There are still bands that kept to their ideals and they are still putting out albums and touring. The Swinging Utters is one of the veteran street punks that are still at it, more separately than together though as their members concentrate more on their side projects. Hatest Grits: B-Sides & Bullshit is a collection of singles, rarities, covers, demos and a few unreleased tracks for the true fans of the band.

If you are a fan of them then you possible have most of these songs on various punk compilations and 7 inches the band put out mostly during the mid 1990s. If you do not know the band’s style it is one part Vandals one part Social Distortion with a little bit of Irish punk folk thrown in. The album is a pretty good retrospective of the bands music with very little filler found on many B-sides releases.
Highlights on this record include the two Cocksparrar covers (“I Got Your Number” and “Sunday Stripper”), the anthems “Teen Idol Eyes” (Complete with Spike Slawson backing vocals) and “Where are They Now” and the folk punk “Heroes of the Corner Bar.”

There are also 5 previously unreleased songs, the best being “Lady Luck” and “Mr. Keen” reminds me of classic Social Distortion. “Billy the Poop” is the lone throw away on the record while “The Blue Lamp” is classic Utters. “I Follow” is a great track as well it is also the longest on the record.

The 411: This is a solid collection for long time fans and those unfamiliar with the band alike. It is a solid retrospective of releases the band has had over its 15 plus year career. It shows sticking to ideals can give you longevity.

Final Score:  7.0   [ Good ]