THIS CD IS CONDEMNED: BLACK TRACKS OF MICK FARREN & THE DEVIANTS, 1967-96 - The Deviants (Total Energy)

Time now for the man my daughter says sounds like "an evil Jeremy Irons." I called him "a rock'n'roll Renaissance Man" in Black To Comm magazine. " Meant it, too. Mick Farren, for those of y'all who don't know, is the lit Brit (New Musical Express and International Times rock scribe and prolific sci-fi author, the sequel to whose ace vampire novel "The Time of Feasting" should be appearing shortly), Elvis obsessive, poet of doom and chemical excess who fronted the Deviants, a 60s Britband that shared a revolutionary/radical sensibility with the likes of the MC5 and Stooges (played at a lot of demonstrations, were all amphetamine chaos onstage). Brought the Five to England for the first time, in fact, for the Phun City festival in 1970 and struck up a friendship and collaboration with Brother Wayne Kramer that's lasted to this day.

The two of them worked together on the avant garde R&B musical "The Last Days of Dutch Schultz," and Mick penned some of the most memorable lyrics on Wayne's Epitaph albums: "Junkie Romance," "Bad Seed," "Wild America," "Something Broken in the Promised Land," "The Boys Got That Look In Their Eyes," "Dope for Democracy," and lots more. Kept on making records, too, under both his own name and the Deviants rubric, from the mid-70s right up to the present day. Almost all of 'em are available now, reissued on the Captain Trips label in Japan; you can order 'em direct from the man himself FOR CHEAP by e-mailing him at Byron4AD@aol.com. Or you could cop this worthy compilation on Total Energy, which is just about all the Farren music the average Barfly (excluding those who just really, really like "spoken word") is likely to need.

Farren's compiled himself before, on a pair of Captain Trips releases called "Fragments of Broken Probes" (which collects a buncha outtakes, remixes, and live stuff from '68 to '96) and "The Deviants Have Left the Planet" (which is mostly choice live recordings from the nineties), but this time he's drawing from "official" releases exclusively, focusing on actual toons where he sings (again, like an evil Jeremy Irons) rather than declaims in the grand style (like Bro. Wayne did on his Epitaph discos, alienating many Rock Action aficionados). And hey, on the subject of "spoken word": not to worry the point to death, but if you don't think that kinda thang can be powerful, then you've obviously never heard Dylan Thomas reading "Fern Hill," or for that matter, Farren Hisself reading "Dogpoet" on "Fragments of Broken Probes" (NOT included here); FUCK Henry Rollins!

The jams: I remember buying the Deviants' "Disposable" for a buck from the record co-op at Cornell University when I was 15 way back in '73. It was worth it, too. Between the opening blast of "Nowhere to Go" (with Farren singing like a malevolent insect while Sid Bishop plays guitar like Ron Asheton on the first Stooges album), through the demented cover of "Papa-Oo-Mao-Mao" [sic], culminating in the end-of-the-world rant that was "The Last Man" (which reminds me of nothing so much as an old episode of "The Twilight Zone," or maybe the Visitors' "Disperse;" spooky), there was definitely something very weird going on here. What was it? Lack of musical ability, Farren will tell you, combined with amphetamines. Lots and lots of amphetamines.

Two out of three of those tracks are on "This CD Is Condemned," along with a coupla choice cuts ("Garbage" and "Nothing Man") from the Deviants' debut slab of psychedelic avant garde obscurity "Ptoofff!" and a couple more from their terminal platter "3," on which Canadian Paul Rudolph joined and tried to drag the band into Led Zeppelin territory - a feat which he and the others would manage only after ousting Farren, recruiting (or being co-opted by, take your pick) ex-Pretty Thing and colossal opportunist Twink and morphing into the Pink Fairies (whom Deniz Tek swears were better than the Stooges when he saw 'em at the Marquee in '71 but I've never been too impressed by them on record). Also here are the Bo Diddley-penned title track from Farren's '69 debut solo opus "Mona (The Carniverous Circus)." In the seventies, Farren began fruitful associations with Stiff Records' token Yank, Larry Wallis and guitarist/bassist Andy Colquhon. The former culminated in the album "Vampires Stole My Lunch Money" (four songs included here), which appeared at precisely the same moment that punk was rendering remnants of 60s hippiedom-hippiedom like Farren obsolete (he responded by cutting a rocking version, included here, of the Deviants' Fugsian anarchist singalong "Let's Loot the Supermarket"). The latter association continues to this day; Colquhon is a guitarist not to be missed by devotees of "outside," LEFT-WING rock guitar. For proof, see any of Farren's 90s releases.

I picked up the Farren thread in the mid-90s as a kind of sideline to Wayne Kramer's resurgence. Copped Total Energy's "The Deathray Tapes" 'cos Bro. Wayne was on it, along with reedman Jack Lancaster (whom I knew of from the early seventies jazz-rock Britband Blodwyn Pig, formed by blues guitarist Mick Abrahams after he was slung out of, uh, Jethro Tull), and American actor Brad Dourif (who specializes in playing quiet, quirky psychopaths, most memorably in the film of Flannery O'Connor's "Wise Blood"). Again, what the fuck? "The Deathray Tapes" was one monstrous, twisted, sprawling record - like listening to William Burroughs fronting a great jazz-skronk band led by Blood Ulmer or Sonny Sharrock. "Spoken word" was never like this before.

As the only "Deathray" track here is "Attack Ships of Zeta Reticuli" (heard here in sequence, rather than broken down into snippets in its original released form), I hereby unhesitatingly recommend that record to anyone interested in checking out Farren's thang in its pure form. More to the point for Rock Action purists is "Eating Jello with a Heated Fork," which presents Farren's warped sensibility in a ROCK'N'ROLL setting, including the lyricist's take on "God's Worst Nightmare" from Wayne's "Dangerous Madness," and is probably the second best port of entry (after this comp) to Farren's world for the average Barfly. If you listen to the words of songs, and like a little vicarious evil and perversion, sci-fi apocalyptic hysteria and madness (laced with acerbic wit) in the mix, Farren and the Deviants might be right up your alley. Check 'em out.