Bad Axe "Coachman" 7" <br /> <br />Cut from the same cloth as Jerusalem, Morgen, Sainte Anthony's Fyre, Iron Claw, Bent Wind and other like-minded, bonehead crunchin' acid archives R'n'R weirdos, Bad Axe briefly aimed to make their mark on the Chicagoland music scene. Formed out of the remnants of local teen dance circuit playing garage rockers The Burlington Express, Bad Axe took their primal fuzzed out hard rock to the masses. Unfortunately not too many people took notice. They nevertheless ventured into a downtown Chicago studio in 1973 to record a few songs for the hell of it. No interest, lack of money and the addition of a keyboard player kept them from ever pressing 'Coachman' or 'Poor Man Run' to wax. As a result these rippers could never escape the tape that imprisoned them. Until now! RIYL: Michigan Meltdown, Bonehead Crunchers, Warfaring Strangers, Jerusalem, Bent Wind and only the wildest, heaviest private press rock'n'roll from the Acid Archives!.. <br /> <br />Permanent Records continues its excavation of Chicago’s unknown, unorthodox underbelly with this archival Bad Axe 7-inch. “Coachmen” and “Poor Man, Run” were previously unreleased cuts by the early-1970s west-siders, and the release captures the simultaneous flexibility and drive of pre-Canon punk rock. What the quintet lacks in pure terror or sneer, they compensate with tender songwriting and sharp, textured instrumentation. Bad Axe’s B-side, “Poor Man, Run,” deviates from a brawling boogie to an acoustic breakdown that spins the cut into an expressive, lead-driven coda. It’s refreshing to hear more 1970s tape unearthed that features clean (or slightly overdriven) guitar at its forefront, and the production follows on the bass, drums, and crisp cymbals. For each potentially hard-rock edge, Bad Axe turn toward fragility, and these turns create an airiness, or spaciousness, that will burn this cut ceaselessly and ever-deeper into your ear..
