VICTIMS FAMILY — Voltage And Violets (review)

VICTIMS FAMILY — Voltage And Violets album cover

Album · 1986 · Hardcore Punk

4/5 · 2022-07-21
siLLy puPPy

While the San Francisco Bay Area became a world famous destination for its thrash metal scene in the 1980s, the area also hosted a rich and diverse underground hardcore punk scene which included most famously the Dead Kennedys but also a multitude of more experimental hardcore bands like Flipper, Tuxedomoon and VICTIM’S FAMILY. This band formed in the North Bay city of Santa Rosa in 1984 and remained an underground staple throughout the 80s and still exists as a band to the modern era. The equal dominion of bass guitarist Larry Boothroyd and guitarist and vocalist Ralph Spight who have both been together for nearly four decades now, the duo has experienced the Spinal Tap syndrome of not being able to keep a drummer although as far as i know they are all still alive.

VOLTAGE & VIOLETS is VICTIM’S FAMILY’s debut and featured Devon VrMeer on drums at this stage. This band was known for its bold innovative spirit which made them difficult for music critiques to categorize. In the same stylistic approach of other punk innovators such as NoMeansNo and Minutemen, VICTIM’S FAMILY seamlessly fused the disparate musical genres of hardcore punk, jazz, funk, hard rock, noise, progressive metal and math rock into its bizarre amalgamation of styles. The band enjoyed a busy touring schedule and played with many bands that would later become famous such as Faith No More, Suicidal Tendencies, Butthole Surfers and Camper Van Beethoven. At one point both Mr Bungle and Green Day opened for VICTIM’S FAMILY and while many of these bands went on to experience great success, VICTIM’S FAMILY has remained pretty much an underground anomaly throughout it all.

What sets this band apart from many other punk bands of the era is the extraordinary musicianship on board. VICTIM’S FAMILY was much more sophisticated than the average three chord punk rock act. With meandering off-kilter time signatures at faster than usual speeds, this trio has consistently evoked an awe both musically and lyrically like few punk bands can. These guys played a tight jazz-fueled torrent of punk infused angst that kept them well within the punk scene complete with snarling half sung, half spoken lyrical tirades and filthy raw guitar riffs with the classic punk rock delivers. The band however excelled at hairpin turns that offered trippy excursions into clean guitar non-punk jazziness as well as moments of old fashioned rock’n’roll turned into a sizzling metal guitar soloing performance.

While often compared NoMeansNo and Minutemen, VICTIM’S FAMILY was much heavier, much faster and more unpredictable in its stylistic approach. For example of the 20 tracks on board on this debut, tracks can change from a progressive jazz-fueled metal based rage as in “World of Hate” to a Meat Puppets cowpunk hoedown on “Devon Drool” and then a more traditional punk sound as heard on “Quivering Lip.” The rotisseries of stylistic shifts is what made VICTIM’S FAMILY stand out from the crowds and VOLTAGE & VIOLETS showcased the band’s unique style from the getgo. This band and debut are highly recommended for those who love their punk rock with some serious musical chops. One of only a handful of progressive punk (=pronk) artists to have emerged in the 1980s and still with us today. A musician’s punk band for sure.