Peter Laughner & Friends - Take The Guitar Player For A Ride download free

Screw the hyperbole about rock tragedy, even though this was one. Is it punk? And, if it's not punk, who would or should listen to this? The short answer is that while it might not be 'punk rock', it is most definitely punk 'attitude music'. This collection shows that Laughner was a better-than-decent songwriter who wasn't stuck in typical punk clichés and didn't need a band to play his songs, or others that he considered worthwhile. Laughner didn't let his influences overwhelm him either. Yeh, I can hear Dylan, Van Morrison, _Born to Run_-era Springsteen, and Richard Thompson echoes all over the place. It's all mixed-up in a more defiant smorgasbord though, and I wish that many cheezy alt-punk bands would give this a real close listen before working on their new albums. These are in the main lo-fi cassette demos, but Laughner obviously took his own stuff seriously enough to play his songs all the way through. That in itself makes this worth a listen. The fact that the album has the voyeuristic appeal of a documentary for some - simply because of the history - has nothing to do with it. These are the tapes we got, and so that's what you gonna hear. Helluva lot better than nuthin', and it is punk no matter if you call it punk 'rock' or not.