Punk Reunions

Flesh Eaters original line-up via contra costa times:

... the Chris Desjardins-led Flesh Eaters and L.A. bands like them (the Gun Club) were all about abolishing satin-jacketed excess and its kind -- and, for the most part, they succeeded. Plumbing the depths of nihilist philosophy and true crime, alongside penman Charles Bukowski and dark-siders the Doors for inspiration (and, oh yes, the New York poetic punk explosion that sparked Patti Smith, Richard Hell, and had its ripple effect on this coast as well), these would-be musicians and poets were inspired to go ahead and do it themselves. It's an often-told story, true, but this is one 25-year reunion to tell about. When the lineup that made 1981's "A Minute to Pray, A Second to Die" comes together, it means that you'll find Dave Alvin and Bill Bateman, John Doe and DJ Bonebrake and Steve Berlin (names that regularly appear in this column in association with their bands the Blasters, X, the Knitters and Los Lobos), along with Flesh Eater and Divine Horseman Chris D., for one night only, April 5, at Slim's.

Details: Show is 9 p.m. Tickets are $15. Contact 800-225-2277, www.tickets.com, www.slims-sf.com.

Also, Cheetah Chrome motherfucker is trying to pull together some semblance of the Dead Boys and Rocket from the Tombs, even though the principal members of both are dead as nails and Charkattack also announces he will be playing guitar for a reconstituted Crime - what lit a fire under his ass all of a sudden?
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It's not the original band, of course, since singer Stiv Bators was hit by a car and killed in Paris in 1990. But guitarists Cheetah Chrome and Jimmy Zero will split the vocal parts on a short Canadian tour this spring. Although no dates have been officially announced, Chrome said this to Billboard.com: "We're going to do about a week's worth of gigs in May, starting around the 8th up in Montreal.

"The confirmed dates so far are Montreal, Toronto, London and Hamilton. And then while we're there, we're going to do a couple of long rehearsals, and then for a couple of days we're going to record things — just mess around in the studio and see what we come up with. We have no idea what to expect from it, but we figure we'll run some ideas around at soundchecks, block out 10 hours and see what we've got at the end of the day."

The band, who also feature drummer Johnny Blitz and bassist Jeff Magnum, haven't written any songs yet. But Chrome believes they can come up with something approaching their memorable 1977 debut, Young Loud And Snotty, which spawned the punk classic, "Sonic Reducer."

Chrome is also breathing new life into Rocket From The Tombs, which also features Pere Ubu singer David Thomas and Television guitarist Richard Lloyd. RFTT were actually the predecessors of the Dead Boys and broke up in 1975. The experimental rock band reformed for a tour and live album in 2003, but now Chrome plans to get the group together to write new material.

Chrome is also working on a solo record, while the Smogville label is compiling a retrospective of his non-Dead Boys career. He may also contribute lead guitar to a new album from a San Francisco band called Crime.

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