Loveslug
This article originally appeared in NFH#18 in the winter of 1990.
"I just want to do my own thing and people can take it or leave it",
says Tony Leeuwenburgh, singer and lead guitar player for Holland's guitar monsters
Loveslug. "Either way is fine. We don't have any important statements to make
in our songs. It's basically just good time rock and roll."
Loveslug started out of boredom with the staleness of hardcore. Tony played
in a punk band called the Nitwitz from 1978 to 1982, and then played in a thrash
band called B.G.K., which actually toured the US at one point. Meanwhile, bass player Mike
De Veer had been in a melodic hardcore outfit called Funeral Oration and then the
sixties garage band Plainfield, while drummer Frank Sloos played for a party-punk
band called Outrageous. Loveslug started as a part time thing for Tony where he could jam
with some friends and play stuff that didn't really fit the hardcore of B.G.K. They
began by doing a lot of 70s punk covers, songs by the Users, Drones or Johnny
Moped, but they never got serious until B.G.K. split up (one might say they still
haven't got serious!).
At that point it seemed natural for Tony that he continue jamming with this new
band, and with a few line-up changes things began to click. Oekel Brenzev became
the fourth member on guitar. "He was never in any band before, but he had a
Marshall amp and a place to rehearse, so he was in", says Tony. "We all
liked to drink a lot and shared a sick sort of humor. The only problem was some of the
guys couldn't really play, so whenever we practiced it was like we were playing
bingo: "3d, 5th, et cetera."
A couple name changes later Loveslug emerged and began playing local bars with
little success. "Usually we were too fucked up to play properly and people
kept falling from the stage and things like that", explains Tony. "You know, the
crowds here are extremely jaded and spoilt and they basically just stand around
watching. We figured if THEY aren't having fun, we sure as hell are going to have
some fun ourselves!"
Despite their unpopularity, they recorded a demo tape called Strike Me Blind
which a German friend convinced Tony to send to Reinhard Holstein of Glitterhouse
Records. Reinhard was impressed enough to drive to Amsterdam to talk them into
signing, and shortly after, they had an lp, 1988's Slug 'Em All, on the streets.
The lp features 11 songs with great driving tunes and melodic but tough guitar
playing. "The only problem", complains Tony, "is that in retrospect,
the record doesn't represent the band's sound at all. We recorded in a good studio,
but the engineer didn't know anything about producing BIG guitars, as he usually
records crummy top 40 pop muzak."
It's hard to take this apology too seriously, since as it is Loveslug sound not
far from the company of other crunching bands like the New Christs. There are one or two
calm numbers, but the majority burn away like the devastating "Maggot
Man", or "Charlie". And oh yeah, while they may not sing about world
economics, the band does have interesting lyrics. Violent lyrics. Says Tony:
"It's a violent world. Yes, we're very interested in sickoes like serial
killers (which by the way is almost exclusively an American phenomenon), but that
is not to say we would glorify or condone murder and violence. In fact, I hate
violence. These serial killers are usually very lonely and pitiful people. It's
pretty interesting. I read a lot of books on this subject, but for sordid details,
you'd have to ask Mike. He's the connoisseur."
Which gets us into their songs about women, which will get them consistently
blasted (although the men in their songs are no better). "Let me explain that
I hate sappy love songs so we won't do them", says Tony. ""Chromosome
Damage" for instance was written for some hideous wench who was always so far
gone you couldn't talk sense to her. During one gig she came jumping on stage
wanting to sing and she's fucking around with the machine heads of my guitar which
got all out of tune and I just wanted to smack her, but she ran off with my bottle
of tequila and starting guzzling from it. I didn't even want it back afterwards,
and because she was so disgusting we figured we might as well write a song about
her."
"But hey, we LOVE women, as long as they're cool rocking wenches. Most girls
can't handle us because we're all foulmouthed slobs and they are these cute girlie
bimbos. We did a number of German gigs with San Francisco's all female a capella
vaginacore rap outfit (don't you hate people who insist on categorizing bands - Steve)
The Yeastie Girls which was a lot of fun and a good way to say FUCK YOU to the
rigid and self-righteous anarchist squatter punkers over here. These people are
just looking for reasons why NOT to like a band, and for them EVERYTHING is wrong
with Loveslug."
So maybe that helps to explain Loveslug's re-working of the song "You're No
Good", a track by 60s beat group The Swinging Blue Jeans that was a top 40 hit
for Linda Ronstadt in the 70s. Buried in the syrup, Loveslug discovered a
Stooges-style riff, and they proceeded to infect the song with typical Loveslug
fervor. Tony traces the story: "We were cruising with the slugmobile through
the highlands of Germany. There's some American soldiers stationed there, and as
the local Bavarian radio stations were only playing sauerkraut nazi marching music
we were tuned into a GI station, and they played "You're No Good". We
figured, "Hmmm, it isn't a bad song at all, and it's only got like four chords
so theoretically we'd be capable of doing it, so let's give it a shot."
The result pops up on the 1989 mini-lp Snail House Rock, which has an even
better sound than the first record and was recorded to lead the way into a European
tour in which the band did 28 shows (!) in one month touring with the Fluid. The
tracks on this record belie the modesty about Loveslug's playing ability...the
instrumental "Intro", for example, contains piles of exciting as hell
guitar that really powers, and the rest of the record is packed with more heavenly
riff fueled burners.
If you want more reference points, Tony says that Loveslug are influenced by
bands like Radio Birdman (the back covers of both their records have strikingly
similar graphics to the back cover of the US release of Radios Appear as well as
the Angry Samoans, Ramones, Dictators, Saints, Motorhead, Kiss, Ted Nugent or
Stooges, but he stresses that they don't try to copy those styles. "That would
be stupid. Why copy a band from 1969 when it's 1989 now? I don't see the point.
Although I'm not claiming our music is being very original, at least we're not
copying some band for the sake of copying."
Right now they're listening to a lot of Sub Pop bands (Tad and Nirvana get mentioned)
and a lot of Australian stuff like the Kryptonics, God, Exploding White Mice, and
Psychotic Turnbuckles. "I also like the New Christs a whole lot. It would've
been easy for Rob Younger to cash in with some resurrected Birdman sorta band and
play all the hits, but the New Christs deserve a name on their own."
As for European bands, there weren't many that Tony would say he liked a
lot. Excepted from this are Tina and The Torpedos, a Dutch band with a Birdman
influence that he says doesn't get much credit because they come from a rural
village. He also likes Berlin's Jingo De Lunch, H.O.A, Tashimoto Dolls and
Belgium's La Muerte. "I'd say the problem with European bands is that they try
too hard to fit in with some little scene or other, be it 60s garage, hardcore
thrash, or anything. It's too much according to the book, and only a few bands dare
to break away from that and do their own thing."
I thought this might be because music in Europe is a little behind because they
had missed the punk explosion, but Tony disagrees strongly. "Europe didn't
miss the 70's punk thing at all. I used to see bands like the Jam in 1977. Most
Europeans faded into obscurity, though. The first really independent punk records
from Europe started coming out in 1979 or 1980 when the music press had decided
that punk was passe. Also, you should keep in mind that there was no
communication between the various European countries due to the language barrier.
Local bands could only put out very limited editions (500 - 1000 copies) of their
records. Distributors wouldn't touch these records with a barge pole."
"There was no independent distribution or touring network yet, and in addition,
people on the European continent were just looking at what was going on in England,
which is probably how English bands became such pompous buttwipes. The only music
publications that were available all over the continent, notably NME and Sounds,
couldn't be bothered with anything that they couldn't hype (i.e. that wasn't
British). Now that still hasn't changed. The biggest thing these days is hardcore
thrash, only 7 years too late. Now a band has got to be American and wear flannel
shirts, or they're some Limeys with bad teeth and dreadlocks who sound like a
vacuum cleaner. Believe me, there have been some amazing European hardcore bands 5
years before those English douchbags got hip to that sound, and none of these
English thrash bands have ever paid their dues like many a European band, who
toured and toured and toured before getting some kind of name. It's the same story
over again."
Loveslug are in that same situation, touring around Europe. Tony has watched
with some bemusement as band after band comes over from the US and gets a great
tour. "If a band is from the States Europeans immediately assume it's hot
shit...the good old "grass is greener" effect", he says. But touring is
easier in Europe than America whether you are American or European, he says.
Promoters are better organized and actually pay guarantees. Loveslug have done
particularly well in Germany, drawing good crowds almost everywhere they go,
although they still have the odd story about being paid $1,000 to do a full set at
a festival, but going on so early that they play to only about 40 stoned hippies
laying in the grass. "Only in Germany", wails Tony.
In January Loveslug plan to record their second full length lp, which will be
called Beef Jerky. "This time we are in hopes of finally getting a monster
guitar sound laid down", says Tony. "I want an all out guitar crunch that
removes tarnish at 50 yards." The record will be produced by Sub Pop house
producer Jack Endino, and will be followed by a long European tour in April and
May. They'd like to get a label deal in the US, and cite Sympathy and Sub Pop as
their favorite labels, although he says he doesn't think either of those labels are
impatiently waiting for Loveslug. They won't tour here without a well distributed
US release, and that means we'll have to sit tight here and hope.
Shit.
