Customer Reviews

12 Point Buck

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This is actually a re-issue of two VERY FINE Killdozer LP's on one CD: "Little Baby Buntin", and "12 Point Buck".

If you are easily offended by high-brow humor posing as low-brow obscenity then don't buy this. However, if you enjoy blasting massive wall-of-sound guitar rock fronted by shrieking baritone vocals singing about murder, insanity, grain silos, meat, scar tissue, and other niceties then you will enjoy it.

Of special note is the cover of Neil Diamond's "I am, I said" that really brings out the, uh, existential beauty of the lyrics.

Think you've heard it all? Grown jaded at cheap shock-rock? Well, bubba, this one's for you, if you can find a copy. Just put on Killdozer's dread masterpiece "The Rub" from "Little Baby Buntin'" (the vastly superior half of this two-album cd). I don't know what I love more about it--the biting irony or the "I LIKE COFFEE" coda at the end. I've recently tracked down a copy of this disc (to replace one I lost), and it's a sweet balm to my soul.

Make no mistake, no ifs, ands, or buts, this ain't easy listening. (Many of Killdozer's songs, however, despite their violently loud presentation, are surprisingly sweet-natured.) It's not music your spouse is going to let you play inside when they're around. But it's good stuff. Great stuff, in fact. "12 Point Buck," the first half, is a good album, with songs about disaster movies, customer service, and Flannery O'Connor. "Little Baby Buntin'" is a great album, and the pinnacle of Killdozer's output. "The Rub" is a breathtaking epic, "The Ballad of My Old Man" is a tender expression of filial devotion, "Cyst" is an oddly sympathetic look at an alien parasite, and, as another reviewer has pointed out, the cover of "I Am, I Said" does, in fact, highlight the existential beauty of the lyrics. If you're tired of wimps and poseurs, these are your boys.

I was working at a warehouse in Berkeley in the late '80s when I was first indoctrinated into the cult of Killdozer. Anne from the Thinking Fellers Union Local 282 put a pair of headphones on my head and told me to listen. What I heard was the opening vocal salvo of "Hamburger Martyr" from the brilliant "Burl" EP. Nobody can say "... you!" and mean it quite like Michael Gerald. Well, that was enough; I was hooked.
This pair of CDs (Little Baby Buntin' and 12 Point Buck) captures Killdozer at what I consider the peak of their career. The original lineup intact, they were perfecting their midwest, white ..., tongue-in-cheek, grain elevator disaster humor that had so vividly developed over their first few records. While some may prefer the more polished sound of Paul Zagoras' guitar work on the later albums, I'm a Hobson man. If it's possible for bombastic, distorted guitar noise to be "funny"...well, this is it. Brilliantly produced by a pre-Nevermind Butch Vig, both of these albums feature Killdozer's trademark wall of sound and growling, spitting (yet hilarious) vocals. This is music for drinking cheap liquor on the porch and shouting at cars.
If you buy these for no reason other than the recipes from the Killdozer Bake-off (try the watermelon pie!), you won't be disappointed. Enjoy!

Boy, does this ever bring back memories. What a glorious riot of lowbrow insanity these two immortal records are. Little Baby Buntin' in particular is pure redneck heaven - knuckle-draggin, Nascar-lovin', Colt .45 swillin' - the whole rooty toot. Or is Michael Gerald just having a good old chuckle with tongue in cheek all the while? Who knows. Without a doubt though these dudes occupied a musical space all of their very own, glorying in the truly bizzare. Perhaps only Butthole Surfers got close to Killdozer's obsession with the flotsam and jetsam of the great human soupbowl. The music is glorious throughout, grinding guitars and pounding drums behind Gerald's unique vocal delivery. Ah, the good ol' late 80s. Brings a tear to the eye, it does...

Killdozer have always provided a humorous counterpoint to the usual pack of self-absorbed whiny punk rockers; this is the shiz, distilled to its essence. The lyrics may make you smile, but don't think that makes this "light" music - these guys lay down some sloppy, punishing, heavy, slithering rawk with the best sense of humor in the music biz. Genius. If lines like this don't make you smile, then you're dead to the world:

"I worked like a mule down in the pits

for seven long days and seven lonely nights.

That makes one week exactly for those of you

who lack the skills to add things up right."

Buy this and play it loud.

12 Point Buck and Little Baby Buntin on 1 CD! What more do you want? Remastering these CD's is long overdue and will probably never happen. These are the best things that Butch Vig ever worked on. Actually, he was lucky to capture Killdozer at such a creative peak.

It's a mystery to me that more people haven't re-discovered how great these records are. People will drooool all over some mediocre Melvins tape and not pay any attention to Killdozer at all. Their loss. On their deathbed when Jesus grants them a moment of clarity right before their sad final breath they will realize that their life was inferior for shunning Killdozer. Don't let that happen to you!!

Check out Mighty High...In Drug City.

I first heard the song "Never Gave Me A Kiss" on the radio back in the 80's (college radio, of course). I went and found the CD the same day and snatched it up. I just listened to it again today, and it still holds up. "Hi There" has me busting out laughing every time, remembering how much I enjoyed this with friends long ago. This album doesn't hold back. Genius is right.

No matter what my mood (and I'm a depressive), Killdozer makes me smile, laugh and feel like there's hope. No other group has ever done this. A funny idea, I guess, for a punk band, especially for an old fart like me, but their outlook on life and their snide humor makes getting through the day a whole lot easier. I've been totally blasted at a couple of their concerts and enjoyed every minute.

I still listen to tapes of my old vinyls of these two albums. All I really want to say is that, no matter what my mood, even in the depths of depression, I always end up laughing because these guys, with their ornery, stab-in-the-belly lyrics make me see the basic humor of life. Nothing else can do that.

"Twelve Point Buck" has a few great moments, but "Little Baby Buntin'" is without a doubt the greatest noisefest of all time! Thundering bass, unbelievably distorted guitars and the funniest lyrics ever written make this a true classic. They never really recaptured the brilliance of this album on any of their others before or since, but with an album this perfect I guess that's not surprising. One of my all-time favorite recordings, get this album unless you're a sissy!