Suicide

[kearn1tm]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Suicide_(album) (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Suicide_%28album%29)

Here's a review:

http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=10:89kxlfae5cqw

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/2/26/Suicide1977.jpg

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Specifically, their 1977 debut album. It's Halloween, and I was initially looking for disturbing music and had mined the transgressive and terrifying early Industry sound, and eventually stumbled across this duo.

A No Wave album that's been frequently cited as the first Synth Pop (though much more complex and ambient than most of the acts that comprise the genre), it features the (cult) infamous Frankie Teardrop, one of the most disturbing and frantic tracks I've ever heard. Cheree is another incredibly unnerving track - a love song that feels very much like the crazed ramblings of an obsessed and menac fanatic with a looped soundtrack that created a frightening aura.

[kearn1tm]

State Trooper by Bruce Springsteen (off his album Nebraska) was heavily influenced by Suicide.

[kearn1tm]

Nothing?

[Chuck!]

i'm interested. know where i can find this?

[kearn1tm]

i'm interested. know where i can find this?

...

Nothing *cough* illegal.

There was a two-disc reissue in 2002 that I believe is still available.

[kearn1tm]

Oh, that two-disc reissue also has a twenty minute recording of a live show at CBGBs in which Suicide gets booed off the stage, resulting in an irate Elvis Costello, who Suicide was opening for, playing a rushed set out of disgust of the crowd, leading to a riot, of which is also captured in the recording on the reissue (not Costello's set, but the rioting).

[Nevuk]

Yeah, I have the two disc edition. This is an awesome album.

[Chuck!]

...

Nothing *cough* illegal.

There was a two-disc reissue in 2002 that I believe is still available.

gotcha. i'll start looking around...

[kearn1tm]

I'll never stop believing.

[kearn1tm]

I won't stop it.

[bung]

These guys are actually really fucking good.

but the screaming kinda freaks me out, haha, so.. like, I feel very odd playing it loudly.

[kearn1tm]

These guys are actually really fucking good.

but the screaming kinda freaks me out, haha, so.. like, I feel very odd playing it loudly.

The screaming in Frankie Teardrop is almost unhuman.

Oh, and this album is also #38 on Pitchfork's Top 100 albums of the '70s. Here's what they had to say about it:

039: Suicide
Suicide
[Red Star; 1977] Nothing about Suicide made sense. Nihilist electro-rockabilly? In 1977? And what was up with the sunglasses? We've all heard what a glorious shithole New York City was in the 70s, and Suicide's highly theatrical project wallowed in the filth. The blood-curdling screams in the 10-minute murder fantasy "Frankie Teardrop" (aka Taxi Driver: The Musical) get most of the ink, but the pretty stalker anthem/prom night bloodbath theme "Cheree" is just as disturbing. Most of the above comes courtesy of Alan Vega's expressionist vocal performance, but Martin Rev's churning electronics were of equal importance. His unusual keyboard tone referenced the sound of 50s rock 'n' roll in a brilliantly subliminal way while the cheap drum loops pointed to a future of relentless, trance-inducing repetition. Suicide have been called the American Kraftwerk but every one of their highways led to a dead-end piled high with twisted metal and charred bodies. --Mark Richardson



http://www.pitchforkmedia.com/article/feature/36725-top-100-albums-of-the-1970s

[IWasaCamera]

Never got around to giving this a try. A tad too creepy for regular listening but I can see myself digging this from time to time. Good rec.

[kearn1tm]

A tad too creepy for regular listening but I can see myself digging this from time to time.

That's the best way to describe the listening habits of most who'd enjoy this record. It's incredibly unnerving. To best describe what I've done of late will sound contradictory: I've been forcing myself to give the self-titled debut repeated listens yet, I'm also compelled (morbid fascination and fixation) to consistently replay it. It's haunting and enticing. This is the same way I've been listening to early Industrial and No Wave bands recently (Throbbing Gristle, Swans and Einstürzende Neubauten - all three brilliant in their respective ways, and all three extremely frightening and unsettling as well).

[Czarsy]

Great album.

[kearn1tm]

Bump

[Melkor]

Listened to 'Frankie Teardrop' after being rec'd from this thread and man, that was disturbing. The first five or so minutes with that pulsing in the background and then the screaming is incredibly difficult listening.

[GuitarR0cker1]

Interesting but not really for regular listening. I mean who really wants to listen to this during a car ride or something?

[xAnti-Violentx]

Great band. Cheree - oh how i love this song..

[kearn1tm]

Interesting but not really for regular listening. I mean who really wants to listen to this during a car ride or something?

Not every track is like Frankie Teardrop. Yes, much of their music is unsettling, but not nearly as disturbing. I often find myself listening to the debut album while walking across campus and marveling at just how subversive their compositions were and hearing how much of what they did impacted Synth Pop and Post-Punk.

Great band. Cheree - oh how i love this song..

It's just as disturbing as Frankie Teardrop, but in a much more subtle way.

[Nevuk]

If people like this, they may be interested in the album No New York which is a compilation of other 70's no wavers like James chance and the contortionists.

[kearn1tm]

So, about the fact that I'm listening to this right now...

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You can tell dudes like Ariel Pink were influenced by them, and he's all the rage now, so, you know, this is good to listen to and junk.

[kearn1tm]

http://cdn2.ioffer.com/img/item/959/234/39/Jsxl0E3EUl58joc.jpg

[blebbio]

I listened to one of their albums. I wasn't really blown away.

[myplanforescape]

I have the self-titled, but I don't listen to it often enough, when it comes to synth-punk stuff, I always find myself listening to The Screamers.

[kearn1tm]

I listened to one of their albums. I wasn't really blown away.

Which one?

I have the self-titled, but I don't listen to it often enough, when it comes to synth-punk stuff, I always find myself listening to The Screamers.

Which self-titled? The first is the most renowned (and arguably the best). The Screamers are cool (nice avatar, by the way), but differ greatly from Suicide.

[myplanforescape]

Which self-titled? The first is the most renowned (and arguably the best). The Screamers are cool (nice avatar, by the way), but differ greatly from Suicide.

The first one, it's just one of those albums I enjoy but always forget I have. And yeah I know they're pretty different, I just always think of The Screamers when I see Suicide mentioned because I got into them both at the same time.

[ilikesound93]

I discovered these guys a while ago and Frankie Teardrop scared the shit out of me. (Headphones, mind you.) I still listen to it occasionally, but I usually skip over that track 'cause I'm a puss. I love the song Cheree, though. Is The Second Album any good?

[kearn1tm]

I discovered these guys a while ago and Frankie Teardrop scared the shit out of me. (Headphones, mind you.) I still listen to it occasionally, but I usually skip over that track 'cause I'm a puss. I love the song Cheree, though. Is The Second Album any good?

The second self-titled is solid, though it pales in comparison of their debut. A Way of Life from the mid '80s is more Industrial-based. I own it but seldom spin it. There's an album from the early '90s that I've yet to purchase.

I concur, Frankie Teardrop is difficult to listen to, but I've always found Cheree more insidious. It's subtly frightening and has a prevailing subtext of a stalker singing about an obsession. It's terrifying.

[Wake Up]

like totally blogging this in my blog

[kearn1tm]

And he tots did.

[oddwithoutend]

Good band.

[blebbio]

Which one?



Which self-titled? The first is the most renowned (and arguably the best). The Screamers are cool (nice avatar, by the way), but differ greatly from Suicide.

I think it was the first self-titled. I only listened to it one time and didn't pay much attention. I'll probably listen to it again sometime to see if my opinion has changed.

[kearn1tm]

I think it was the first self-titled. I only listened to it one time and didn't pay much attention. I'll probably listen to it again sometime to see if my opinion has changed.

Hey, if you don't like it, you don't like it. It's all good, but if you do give it another listen, be sure to post impressions.

[kearn1tm]

Good band.

See, we agree on shit.

[x togepi x]

weird i might be doing a suicide cover set.

[kearn1tm]

weird i might be doing a suicide cover set.

That's rad, man. Frankie Teardrop?

Does your new (the shoegaze one, right?) have a myspace or pure volume or some equivalent?

[x togepi x]

That's rad, man. Frankie Teardrop?

Does your new (the shoegaze one, right?) have a myspace or pure volume or some equivalent?

I think if it happens we're just doing the first album. I know a dude who's way into vintage synths who wants to do something like that. i might play guitar in it though (i know blasphemy).

not yet. haven't recorded. all we have are youtube videos someone took at our last show with their iphone but it's too loud that the video makes us sound like a harsh noise band. also don't have a set line up just yet. a dude is quitting in august to move and two other people are joining but i want to get something recorded before the end of summer because we actually get a decent response.

[kearn1tm]

I think if it happens we're just doing the first album. I know a dude who's way into vintage synths who wants to do something like that. i might play guitar in it though (i know blasphemy).

not yet. haven't recorded. all we have are youtube videos someone took at our last show with their iphone but it's too loud that the video makes us sound like a harsh noise band. also don't have a set line up just yet. a dude is quitting in august to move and two other people are joining but i want to get something recorded before the end of summer because we actually get a decent response.

Post something on here when you guys do. Also, it'd be cool to hear how you guys emulate that fuzzy, pulsating synth sound.

[kearn1tm]

I've been listening to the first self-titled a lot lately.

[blebbio]

i did listen to it again. still wasn't really into it. it certainly wasn't bad but i didn't think it was that amazing either.

[StreetSpirit76]

State Trooper by Bruce Springsteen (off his album Nebraska) was heavily influenced by Suicide.
That's how I heard of them, actually. I then listened to "Frankie Teardrop", got creeped out a bit, and never came back to them, ha. They're not bad, just not necessarily for me.