Dog Faced Hermans - C/D, S/D

If it's the same programme, and I think it is, the other band on the bill were the Cateran, who were a bit like a Scottish Husker Du before that sort of thing would have become a lot more common. I liked 'em a lot at the time, probably still would.

But as for the Dog Faced Hermans - yes, a great great band. Particularly liked the first couple of albums. Never had the privilege of seeing them live though.

Imagine the artistic depth of The Fall combined with the sonic attack of The Ex and you've got a fair approximation of Dog Faced Hermans - though to be fair they never sounded like anyone but themselves.

Hum of Life is their masterpiece, but was available for about 20 seconds in the US on Project A-Bomb. I'm 99% certain it was never issued through Alternative Tentacles. I made sure when I saw them live that I scooped up every release they had. I believe my Everyday Time Bomb/Humans Fly and Mental Blocks For All Ages CDs are on Konkurrel.

If I had to rank their studio albums I'd have to go with:
1) Hum of Life: As noted, most perfect and awe-inspiring.
2) Mental Blocks For All Ages: Dry run for Hum of Life.
3) Those Deep Buds: Their best sounding album (from an engineering/production soundpoint), sometimes the lack of aggression makes for a more sweeping experience, sometimes it allows things to drag.
4) Everyday Time Bomb: Their punkiest album, the uppity psycho Dick Dale Twin Reverb gtr work reminds me of East Bay Ray at times.
5) Humans Fly: Weak-to-strong material is 50-50 for me on this one.

But those rankings are close and 2-4 could flip flop from day to day. They never made a bad album.

Their sound is so busy it can take a while for it to soak in, cf Captain Beefheart, so if at first you don't dig them, keep trying. It pays.

"We could only see the soles of their feet / we thought there were angels up ahead"

The old 8 Eyed Spy song, one of the most inspired covers I've ever heard.

And it was Konkurrel, not Konkurrent, thanks Edward. He is also right about Hum Of Life being on Project A-Bomb.

I'd like to note that that cool metallic upswingy sound on the guitar in "Jan 9" is the sound of Andy putting a soup can lid through his strings and hitting it with a screwdriver. He plays with the Ex now, I swear he has the same guitar he had with DFH ten years ago.

HUM OF LIFE is probably the best, though there's much greatness throughout the whole discography. Too bad it's all so hard to track down. Loveletter in Houston started reissuing all the albums at one point but didn't get very far, I don't think, and I can't find any evidence that the label still exists.

sleeve, any more details on BUMP AND SWING being "contract-breaking"? Was there animosity between the band and the label?

-- sleeve (sleev...), February 15th, 2006 8:25 PM.

Black Strat + Fender Twin, what more do you need? Besides a soup can lid, I mean.

Was there animosity between the band and the label?

-- dougfacedhermans (dou...), February 16th, 2006 6:33 AM.

AFAIK the band just wanted to give it a rest but were still obligated for one more album. Wilf had nothing but good things to say about AT when I talked to him, and this was after the release of Bump & Swing.

Yo [Edward] or others, can y'all tell me anything about that post-DFH collaboration between Marion and Chris Cutler that was allegedly released on Recommended? I think I only saw it mentioned once and would love to buy/hear it.

Tell me more about this band.

Don't have any albums but I've got their debut single "Unbend". Kinda fun, kinda silly in a good way. Saw them live a few times too and they were very raucous.

Saw them live at Speedboat Gallery in Mpls and Lounge Ax in Chicago. Awesome. Where are the bands like them and Tragic Mulatto?

I loved it when Erase Errata was briefly labeled "Dog Faced Hermans Jr" - obviously there is the trumpet connection.

d.wolk gets it all down on paper. god bless him.

http://www.trouserpress.com/entry.php?a=dog_faced_hermans

i said it before and i'll say it again: what a band. so great.

I picked up a copy of "Mental Blocks For All Ages" when I was out in Portland, OR. I guess the record store I was at (Mississippi Records) has their own in-house label and reissued it in an edition of 1000. They had a few copies left. It's really good.

The closest thing I can think of like them in terms of sound would be Eva Luna-era Moonshake, but that comparison fails to capture the controlled chaos.

Oh wait. Emusic has "Those Deep Buds" and "Bump and Swing" available. I didn't know it, but Guy Fixsen recorded it which explains my Moonshake comparison somewhat.

Other Scottish bands of the era with a similar sound (in decending order): Stretcheads, Dawson, Badgewearer.

sleeve & Edward III broke it down so well, that all I can do is add much love
-- Brian Jones (Brian Jones), Wednesday, 15 February 2006 18:40 (1 year ago) Link

Their drummer Wilf is playing with a band called the Bent Moustache now, I saw them open for Sebadoh and they were all kinds of great.

does anyone remember a band called Donkey? i think there were dog faced hermans in that band...

I believe Jer from Dawson is also in the Bent Moustache. Maybe worth checking out.

yeah, you are correct. I actually started a thread about it...

Sebadoh 2007 tour (ATTENTION: Dawson and Dog Faced Hermans fans)

that Mississippi Records version of Mental Blocks is not only reissued but remastered by 2 of the band members. Sounds fantastic. FE mailorder may still have some. I never got that CD verson and my original Konkurrel LP was pretty beat, so this is a true pleasure to hear.

This is my new favourite band.

I didn't know they were Scottish - for some reason I always thought they were Dutch - probably because of the The Ex connection. I guess Marion's accent does sound more Scottish than Dutch though. I agree with Wolk's Trouser Press synopsis - Those Deep Buds is the masterpiece. Great sound quality, yes, but also rich textures, fierce lyrics, and engaging tunes.

Hum Of Life to be reissued by Mississippi records soon, according to The Ex's web page.

Excited to get it on vinyl and assumedly remastered, my CD is probably the lowest-volume disc I own.

oh that's awesome news - yeah the sound is very muffled on the cd version

They were such great musicians (or maybe just had to work with crappy recording conditions) that they sounded even larger and more interesting live than in studio. On the Live at the Ancienne Chocolaterie tape, they're massive. And I still listen to a DAT I made of them in Boston (well, Cambridge) from late '94.

my local record store has copies of the reissued Hum of Life LP! Gonna pick one up very soon.

all these damn bands reuniting, why can't one of them be DFH?

COLIN MACLEAN / ANDY MOOR - Everything but the Beginning
CD, Unsounds U17
http://www.unsounds.com
http://www.myspace.com/andymoortheex
http://www.magpiemusicdance.com/archives/author/colin

The first release from Andy Moor and Colin MacLean since they disbanded Dog Faced Hermans 13 years ago. A collection of 'live' recordings of improvisiations over a period of three years in collabortion with several dancers that took place in Amsterdam at OT 301. Andy's unmistakable guitar blended with live sampling and electronics from Colin, creating a dark filmic atmosphere.

Colin McLean
Scots musician + sound engineer based in Amsterdam since 1991. Working at social/cultural centre OT301 since 1999. Began playing music in Edinburgh in early 80s as bass player in Dog Faced Hermans. Current musical activities include improvising electronics for dance performances [MUSIC / DANCE301, WONDERLAND, MAGPIE], playing bass guitar with GETATCHEW MEKURIA + THE EX, touring extensively [Europe, USA, Canada, Ethiopia] as live sound engineer with THE EX and mastering CD projects for local labels [Unsounds, Terp, Power vs. Power, Transformed Dreams]. Co-curator [with Alexandra Manasse] and musical director of MUSIC / DANCE 301, a monthly music + dance improvisation performance event at OT301.

Andy Moor
Born in London England 1962 Andy began his musical life in Edinburgh, Scotland playing guitar with the band Dog Faced Hermans, a multi faceted eclectic group that mixed energetic post punk energy with traditional tunes and improvisations....
In 1990 he moved to the Netherlands after an invitation to join Dutch band
The Ex...the openess and versatility of the musicians in this group has brought them into contact with many musicians from different scenes and backgrounds..including Tom Cora(cello), Han Bennink(drums), Wolter Wierbos(trombone),John Butcher (sax). Andy also was a founding member of Kletka Red...fusing traditional Klezmer, Greek and Russian songs with their own frantic styles of playing....

Andy's latest projects include a duo with Yannis Kyriakides a quartet with Ken Vandermark , Terrie Ex and Paal Nilssen Love called Lean Left and duos with Anne James Chaton and DJ Rupture and Colin Maclean. Andy continues to be a full time member of The Ex who most recently have been collaborating with veteran Ethiopian saxaphonist Getatchew Mekuria.

one of my favorite sounds on earth

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hOAStfrwLQo&feature=related

Ooh, that's an awesome "Volkswagen," looking forward to a spare moment to hear the rest. Marion C. in especially fine form. I wish I had heard these guys when I was in high school--I love them now but I would have been completely obsessed then.

God these guys whip fuckin ass. I thought about them and thought "haven't heard them in year" and picked a random album and the first song on it was called "January 9." This happened just tonight. It was my destiny to listen to the Dog Faced Hermans tonight. They whip ass.

wish someone would reissue Everyday Timebomb, I have reissues of the 1st and 3rd albums and the CD of Bump & Swing but Everyday Timebomb might be my favourite and that one hasn't been repressed since it came out

Fantastic, incredible band, I was in high school when Project-A-Bomb was distributing their first records in North America, though I missed them at the coffee shop basement when they came through at time

Marion Coutts's memoir The Iceberg about her husband's brain cancer is, well it isn't exactly a fun read, but is a great book nonetheless

Everyday Timebomb rules, I mean most of their discography does but "Scottish Block", "New Shoots" and "Live Action" are some of their best

still looking for decent rips of their first Peel Session and a couple other stray comp tracks, in case anyone is holding

Ooh, most of their stuff is up on Bandcamp, and looks like things have been steadily remastered over the past ~15 years!

https://dogfacedhermans.bandcamp.com/

Hum of Life sounds better than ever. Wonder if I ever bumped into Colin when I was hanging around OT301 a decade ago?

i was blessed to be in the right time and place to see them play regularly. but, while i really liked them then, i feel i wish i'd appreciated a little more just how special they were.

love those deep buds

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GIQjT9nQv4Q

always loved 'beautiful' off 'everyday timebomb', kinda reminds me of the sugarcubes

I've often thought of that comparison, too, about the band in general. Like an Ex/Sugarcubes supergroup or something.

clicked on this article and was extremely surprised <3

https://www.newyorker.com/culture/photo-booth/finding-a-home-among-the-punks

https://media.newyorker.com/photos/67a4074d1aa81875ec645a71/master/w_2240,c_limit/Petrusich-Gail-Butensky-04.jpg

Wait, what's the context? Is there a new book or exhibit of her stuff?

great picture!

Seriously, that's a Fugazi-level stage-puzzel/pretzel.

puzzle, even.

incredible, love them so much

Great photos! That Butthole Surfers one also really captures the moment. But surely that's not the members of Husker Du smiling next to each other in 1993

Ha, yeah I caught that too, that date seems off.