Friday, April 1, 2011


The Flesh Eaters- A Minute to Pray, a Second to Die (1981) MP3 & FLAC


"Fever turns to ice in a river as cold as life."

The L.A. hardcore scene of the late seventies and early eighties was so much more than the "three chord thrash" stereotype that Punk is often reduced to. Due to bands such as X, The Blasters, and The Flesh Eaters, a perhaps unlikely, but quite combustible mixture of stripped-down Punk aggression, Rockabilly, Blues, Country, and even Jazz was concocted, which pushed far beyond the boundaries of what it was assumed hardcore Punk could do musically. The Flesh Eaters were formed in the late seventies by poet (and, at the time, English teacher) Chris Desjardins (better known as Chris D.) after having met John Doe and Exene Cervenka at a poetry reading. Over the years, the band would feature a revolving cast of characters due to Chris D.'s notoriously "difficult" tendencies, but the music itself, especially the band's early eighties output, is consistently brilliant. A Minute to Pray, a Second to Die was The Flesh Eaters' second album and stands as a noirish, campy, Blues-Punk classic- the kind of thing that could have only emanated from L.A. at the time. Featuring a lineup of no less than Dave Alvin, John Doe, D.J. Bonebreak, Bill Bateman  and Steve Berlin, songs such as "Digging My Grave," "River of Fever," and "Divine Horseman" consistently play with listener expectations to great affect. Where else are you going to hear a tenor sax on a Punk album?  While admittedly, Chris D.'s vocals are an acquired taste, it's hard to deny that he was one of the most powerful vocalists on the L.A. hardcore scene. This is dark, trashy, and thoroughly essential stuff.

A Minute to Pray, a Second to Die (1993 Slash Edition)
1. Digging My Grave  (4:21)
2. Pray Til You Sweat  (2:36)
3. River of Fever  (3:55)
4. Satan's Stomp  (5:49)
5. See You in the Boneyard  (3:30)
6. So Long  (3:30)
7. Cyrano De Berger's Back  (3:22)
8. Divine Horseman  (7:08)



9 comments:

  1. just how i like it: dark and trashy, always essential. bring it on!

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  2. are you sure? Chris D. has a uni-brow ;)

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  3. I say, I say, what a post. I heard The Flesh Eaters once on a flexi that was including in the novel, Fast Sofa, that steaming pile of a novel. I never paid much attention to The Flesh Eaters after that. It sounds like The Dead Boys meets the Gun Club at a Cramps show. Inspiring.

    PS, I used to post as B&B Man but went ahead and registered, just for you, buddy.

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  4. Ol' Foggy (aka B&B Man), thank you for registering! I really do appreciate it. Great description of The Flesh Eaters by the way. I love this band.

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  5. I've just about worn out a cassette copy my brother made me back in 1984 of Time Stands Still, one of the best goddamn albums of the last 30 years and yet almost unknown...but I see Atavistic is reissuing the Flesh Eaters catalog including that one! Huzzah! Thanks for this too - it's got me fired up to buy the reissues.

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  6. gomonkeygo, when are the Atavistic re-issues coming out?

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  7. I know it is from the other side of the continent, but the mention of saxophone and punk made me think of James Chance. If you have any of his extensive discography, it would probably find a good fit here on the dark and seamy side of the moon.

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  8. Jeff, interesting suggestion. I'll look into that, thanks :)

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  9. Thank you! Could you please reshare it?

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