Hard Candy Cock / Out For Blood / I Don’t Give A Shit // Drink, Fight And Fuck / Convulsions
Label: Blood Records (306015)
Recorded: Early 1983, Littleton, NH
Released: Summer 1983 (matrix indicates June 1983 pressing)
Lineup: GG Allin (drums, rhythm guitar, vocals), Dan Salomon (lead guitar, bass).
Killer Kelsie, Ripp Cord and B. Toff are fictional credits.
Standard version
Red letter variant
Later dark version
GG may have still technically been with the Jabbers — their official final gig was not until April 8, 1984 — but in his head he had already conjured up the next stage in his career. The debut Scumfucs EP appeared in summer 1983 pretty much unbeknownst to his bandmates. A studio project, GG wrote and recorded these five tunes while living 100 miles north of Manchester, in Littleton, N.H. (He and Sandy had moved in with his mom and stepdad in Fall 1982 and eventually separated; GG moved back down to Manchester in the fall of 1983). GG was working at Just Desserts bakery on Main St. in Littleton and he heard that the owner of the music store down the street had a recording studio in his basement, so he booked time to record these new songs. It was a two-man project with GG on drums, rhythm guitar and vocals, and studio owner Dan Salomon of Northern Lights Music handling bass and lead guitar. Dan recalls Kevin (who never mentioned the alias “GG” to him): “He was the most polite, mellow, quiet-spoken kid at the bakery.” When Kevin got behind the drum kit, “From the first hit I said, holy shit, this guy's good. He was a really great drummer.” He said they got along great and it was all business at the sessions, no alcohol or drugs. Dan's studio had a Fostex 8 track setup and he charged around $30 an hour. He remembers them doing four to five sessions to get everything done, and then Kevin left with the master tape before Dan could dub it for himself. For the next nearly 36 years until I contacted him in early 2019, he had no idea that these songs were ever released!
The insert states “Recorded in the dungeons of hell” — which in this case was a basement in Bethlehem, New Hampshire. (That's right folks, Jesus Christ Allin recorded in the little town of Bethlehem.) Dan elaborates: “Really it was just a rough pine paneled 12x2 room with a wall to wall carpet and a drop ceiling … pretty small but with a 7 piece drum set and all the rest of the instruments, recording and mixing gear too.” The powerful, well-recorded mix was arrived at via the following equipment (hey, how often do you get a Scumfucs gear list?):
- Drums: a walnut Pearl 6 pc
- Bass: 1974 Alembic series one
- Guitar: BC Rich Seagull
- Guitar amp: most likely a Yamaha G100-212
- Fostex A8 8 track multi-track
- Fostex A2 2 track for mixdown
- Audio Technica mics
The recording marks the beginning of the lyrics and personality GG honed in his mid-80s period. A fitting cruddy packaging job adds to the delivery — a black-and-white foldover sleeve hand glued to a white innersleeve on the back flap, while on the front of the white innersleeve is glued an updated version of the Jabbers insert from the “You Hate Me & I Hate You” single. Live photos on the front cover were taken at the Jabbers’ A7 Club gig in April 1983. Limited versions exist with the band name traced in red marker, some affixed with a quote from reviewer and outspoken GG basher Bob Angell of the Providence Newpaper. Yet another, most likely later, variant has a much darker photocopy job and the "Thanxxx David Peel" and "The Blood & Guts" lines were cropped out of the insert. For what it’s worth, “Out For Blood” was performed by The Jabbers during their pre-A7 gig practice recording in April 1983.
Reviews
Nothing would give me greater pleasure than tooling around town with the roof down, blasting "Drink, Fight And Fuck." What could be more fun? A "Hard Candy Cock" you say. "Hard candy prick / hard candy stick / stick it in your mouth / don't take it out / you want me / I want you / it's no romance / just fuck and screw / suck! suck! suck! suck! hard candy cock!" Mr. Allin may not be the next Baudelaire, but he gets to the meat of his subject, to say the least.
— Boston Rock (Boston, MA)
GG's best release to date. Grungy garage recordings by Dick Urine highlight this quintessential example of garage punk as GG tells us all about drinking, fighting and fucking...and much needed advice I might add. Keep it up.
— Chainsaw (Bethlehem, PA)
I don't know what to think of this. These boys seem as though they are pretty wild. They're even more blatant & disgusting than the Meatmen. Song titles are: Out For Blood, Convulsions, Hard Candy Cock, Drink, Fight & Fuck, I Don't Give A Shit About You.
— Contempt #4 (Mentor, OH) 1983
Manchester’s favorite bad boy of rock GG Allin has another record out — as usual, the titles are, by and large, unprintable. Can’t even name the backup band, but you can pick up the five song disc at Innerlight Records. Word is he’ll be back with the Jabbers in the studio shortly.
— Derry News (Derry, NH) Aug. 11, 1983
Kind of sounds like the Samoans but the recording is SO BAD that it’s hard to hear the words sometimes. But all in all good thrash record with music fast, loud … try it.
— Flipside (Whittier, CA)
Kinda like the Meatmen, but not near as good. The Scumfucs' basic music serves as background to GG Allin's vocals. Some song titles are "Drink, Fight & Fuck" and "Hard Candy Cock." Over all, pretty lame. Too bad there's no lyrics.
— Leading Edge #1 (San Diego, CA) September 1983
GG & his new band The Scumfucs are at it again, with their new 5 song eP that will blister your eardrums. The band is: GG - vocals, B. Toff - drums, Ripp Cord - bass, & Killer Kelsie - guitar. The songs are “Hard Candy Cock”, “Out For Blood”, “I Don’t Give A Shit About You”, “Drink, Fight & Fuck” & “Convulsions”. This one’s definitely not for the squeamish. Produced by Dick Urine.
— Malice (Memphis, TN)
GG apparently has a new band this time around, and I can’t say I’m crazy about them. Instead of his earlier 60’s garage punk sound, he now has more of a late 60’s Metal sound, solos and all. Idiotic and poorly recorded.
— Maximum RockNRoll #8, September 1983 (Berkeley, CA)
Scan courtesy of Chris Minicucci
First off, before we utter a word about the record, let’s examine the titles included on this extended play, shall we? All right, then. First up we find “Hard Candy Cock,” “Out For Blood” and “I Don’t Give A Shit,” on the flipside “Drink, Fight And Fuck” and “Convulsions.” Got it?
Nice, meaningful lyrics on “Hard Candy Cock” like “stick it in your mouth,” and a very polite and socially acceptable chorus of “suck suck suck suck.” But hold on. “Out For Blood” is even worse. He begs “make me bleed. You’ll never make me bleed enough to care.” We’ll just betcha.
The artist makes frequent vulgar but anatomically impossible suggestions on this little seven-incher.
On “Drink, Fight And Fuck” he finally (hooray) reaches the plateau of fecal mediocrity he aspires to. Terrible. Even the characteristically fuzzed-out guitar can’t save it.
And “Convulsions” is worse still. Really the pits. Not fit for scraping up dog droppings. Absolutely vomitose. Don’t buy this. And if it is sent to ya, send it back postage due and then report ‘em to the postal authorities and/or the aesthetics police. Serves him right. This sucks. It is kinda fun, though. Maybe you oughta get it anyway, just to be sure.
— The Newpaper (Providence, RI)
Geezus, GG, you really underdid yourself this time. How can I possibly recommend this when I can’t even write about it without being obscene? For those of you familiar with Mister Allin’s recorded works, expect more of the same only worse. For the rest, unless you have the intense, passionate desire to explore every human mystery, forget it! Even D. Urine’s “production” is obnoxious. Imagine being locked in a small room with a multi-murderer who is singing along with the muffled hardcore coming from the band in the next room. This is the essence of this five-songer. (In GG’s defense I will admit that his lyrics are readily understandable and The Scumfucs aren’t as bad as you’d imagine.)
— The Noise (Boston)
Especially low-fi production by Dick Urine, who also writes the descriptive liner notes, for a punk nihilist set that includes "tasteless animal noise" like "Hard Candy Cock," "Drink, Fight & Fuck" and "I Don't Give A Shit About You" — the perfect tonic for those who feel Iggy Pop has gotten too mature.
— OP Magazine (Olympia, WA)
Proud, lewd, crude, rude, loud, overbearing, horrible voyage into A. Artaud acoustics. Undomesticated Id at work. Twentieth Century Plague Songs; starving beast shouts. Rock and roll rabies...Musicians so annoying they become sublime. Revolt, rebellion, redemption, hysteria, sex, fine/gross gestures, athletic force igniting tissue/nerve matrix (reality as sense organ exploration) body-image self-knowledge; mind + body = bulk (meat); being "in the sack" (Mark Tucker). Revolt until body/sack = spirit. GG Allin and The Scumfucs break on through to Jim Morrison, Lenny Bruce, Patti Smith, Jimi Hendrix, Janis Joplin, and John Belushi in Meatspirit Vision. An unwelcome classic. Play at your own risk.
— Riding The Blinds #5 (Los Angeles, CA)
On the less revolutionary side, we gots GG Allin & The Scumfucs GNU 7” ep an’ DORK MY GRAMMA! Dick Urine is da best ting 2 have hit ol’ GG since that adamantium bank vault fell on his haid at age 3 … i’s gonna haf 2 say dat dis is da best GG record yet, cuz at last the recording is so low-budge that it sounds like total shit, which is X-Ackly how it should sound!!! Great Idiotic Toonz like “Hard Candy Cock” & “I Don’t Give A Shit About You” are not meant 2 be done in the wank-pop shtyle of sum a GG’s prior F-orts … only song outta the 5 I don’t liek is “Drink, Fight & Fuck” cuz it’s 2 stoopid even 4 da likes of me … as good as the moronic “Tasteless Animal Noise” tape, maybe even better … not for the pseudo intellectual at heart…
— Sick Teen (Green Bay, WI)
Scan courtesy of Chris Minicucci
Straight and to the point — this record sucks. But that’s probably the way New Hampshire’s self-professed wild man intended it, anyway. The production quality is so poor it sounds like it’s coming through the wall from the next apartment. The songs are typical Allin fodder - “Drink, Fight And Fuck,” “I Don’t Give A Shit,” “Out For Blood.” Yeah, it’s sick and funny in a perverse sort of way, but not as inspired as his other releases, so don’t bother. Produced by Dick Urine, no less!
— Suburban Punk (Lynn, MA) 1983
By no means is GG the animal he wants us to think he is. In fact, he’s rather restrained and subdued. Lyrically, the writing is among the most sophomorice ever committed to vinyl. With titles like “Hard Candy Cock,” even Journey is starting to sound intelligent. However, I must admit to liking the title cut.
— xXx (Marblehead, MA) 1983
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