The 1981 Listening Post - Wipers - Youth of America

 Wipers - Youth of America

#185

May 17 1981 LISTENING POST DISCOVERY

Wipers

Youth of America

Genre: Alternative

4.75 out of 5

Highlights:

Taking So Long

Can this Be

Youth of America

When It’s Over

I’ve written before about Wipers and Greg Sage. They are pretty hit or not such a solid hit. Sage seems to have invented Alternative music a decade before it became a thing. And in the pantheon of Wipers records, this is their Teenage Daydream. The title track is a ten minute fuzz tone assault that anticipates Sonic Youth and Nirvana and it’s raw and edgy and dangerous and I absolutely love it. And it ties the late 60s psychedelia to Thurston Moore, et al, in a way that I was not anticipating. But, also, the themes of Wipers’ songs are as relevant today. “The rich get richer and the poor get poorer” in that dystopian American version of Kraftwerk-by-punk guitars is terrifying and true, 39 years later. I would submit that Sage is taking Kraftwerk for a walk and demonstrating what it could and should have been. 

The rest of the album flies in the face of my theory that “punk” belongs in amber as a touchstone from a certain time but not to leave that era. 

This is timeless as well as perfectly OF it’s time. 

Every college radio station from 1981 to 2020 should have a copy of this album. And, to the film editors out there: If you are cutting a high speed chase/action sequence, you NEED to lay it out to “When It’s Over”. Trust me. 

https://music.apple.com/us/album/youth-of-america/1031831705

The 1980 Listening Post - Wipers - Is This Real

Wipers - Is This Real

#29

Reviewed by Jim Erbe

January 1980

Wipers 

Is This Real

Allen’s Rating: 4 out of 5

Jim’s Rating: 3.5 out of 5

Punkternative

Jim’s Highlights:

Mystery

Alien Boy

Wait a Minute

I knew nothing of Wipers going into this so I did a little research and realized I really SHOULD have heard of them.  They appear to be the seed band for the punk and alternative scene in the Pacific Northwest.  Nirvana cites them as a major influence.

So, going into the listening experience with a headful of facts about the band, their significance to the scene and their commendable longevity, I was disappointed to find this album kind of…well…bland.  

I figured I wasn’t paying enough attention, so I tried again.  And again.  And again.

After five listenings, things weren’t getting better.  Actually, they were getting worse.  

At this point, I actively hate the singles “Return of the Rat” and “D-7”.

So here’s the thing, these guys are technically great musicians.  They know what they are doing and they do it very well.  They tend to lay down a steady, driving drone of bass and drums and then write precisely one hook and repeat it…a lot…and typically get out in under three minutes.

I know, I know, I just described the basics of punk rock and that’s kind of the problem for me.  At this time, bands like X, The Clash, The Jam and a slew of others were pulling punk in a lot of more interesting directions and this just feels so…basic.

There are flashes.  “Mystery” and “Wait a Minute” add some pop sensibilities that remind me of the direction punk was heading.  And “Alien Boy”—a song the internet insists is about a kid who was beaten to death twenty-six years after the song was recorded (even though I suspect might just be about the shitty way we tend treat people who are different) is really effective.

All in all, I found this better than average…but still kind of average.

https://open.spotify.com/album/531Pc0lZ2aJIHJfyO7q0Ny?si=gKo8DUH9SquR-IJzmCnfbw

The 1986 Listening Post - Wipers - Land of the Lost

Wipers - Land of the Lost

#4/1161

January 1 1986

Wipers

Land of the Lost

Genre: Alternative

3.5 out of 5

Highlights:

Just a Dream Away

Yeah, I know. This is considered “punk” but if it’s anything I’ve learned from the past few spins of Wipers records it’s that whatever was being classified as “punk” was quickly morphing into the sounds that we would come to associate with “alternative”, “120 Minutes” and, eventually, mainstream 90s radio.

Just listen to that first track. There’s Sonic Youth and King Missile and Nirvana all over that shit. 

Unfortunately it doesn’t hold me the way Over the Edge or Straight Ahead did. 

https://music.apple.com/us/album/land-of-the-lost/983124741

The 1985 Listening Post - Greg Sage - Straight Ahead

Greg Sage - Straight Ahead

#484/1117

1985 Housekeeping

Greg Sage

Straight Ahead

Genre: Alternative

4.5 out of 5

Highlights:

Soul’s Tongue

Your Empathy

Lost in Space

World Without Fear

I don’t think we should call this “punk” even though it’s from the genius behind Wipers. It’s a harbinger of what’s coming around the corner that is the next decade. It’s dark and dank. Sage could be on a stage with just a mic and an amp and he would be just as effective and then the album explodes with it’s desert soundtrack wails of despair.

I don’t know what’s going on in Sage’s head or heart but it’s singular and desperate and…human. 

https://music.apple.com/us/album/straight-ahead/1035050991

The 1983 Listening Post - Wipers - Over the Edge

Wipers - Over the Edge

#238
1983 Housekeeping
Wipers
Over the Edge
4 out of 5

Highlights:
So Young
Romeo
What Is

Boy do I wish this sounded better. If the production/mastering wasn’t so cramped it could really shine. Instead it’s a wall of buzzing guitars, a drum that sounds like it was recorded in the closet in a hotel on Lexington Ave with wood panel walls (I know a specific hotel like this…). But I do get why a homeless would-be alcoholic poet loved this record. Oops, I spelled “Kurt Cobain” wrong. He must’ve heard the same thing I’m hearing but it didn’t bother him. Because he was always drunk.
Once you get past the terrible production, it’s quite engaging solid punk. Like if Jonathan Richman was actually really punk, with fuzzy guitars and a night in the desert edge. Check out “Romeo” to see what I mean.
By the end I was converted. I’m a Greg Sage fan. Regardless of the fact that the record loses steam at the end.