NEANDERTHAL Fighting Music 7" MAN IS THE BASTARD MITB

$

75

  Neanderthal
Fighting Music

Slap-a-Ham #4

Rare EP by Man Is The Bastard, Infest members. One of the earliest Slap A Ham Records releases.  You may have recently seen the auction for "Complete Fighting Music" on eBay...
It was a boot.  THIS IS NOT.  This is the rare 7" from years earlier where they stole the music for that unofficial release that sells for a lot of money.  This is worth much more, sir.

Guests include Chris Dodge of Spazz, Stikky, Joel Connell on drums in the studio, Chris Infest on drums in rehearsal, Brian Boss on drums in rehearsal, along with
ERIC WOOD - Voice, four steel girders  (MAN IS THE BASTARD)
JOE DENUNZIO - Voice on "Brain Tourniquet" (singer for INFEST)
MATT DOMINO - Guitars, drum kit (guitar for INFEST)
See below for songs and info.  One of the sides of the record is named as such, because of the photograph on the label. It is a shot of a man who slowly began slicing his junk down the middle until eventually he had a 2-headed dragon.

1990 7" black vinyl EP with sexy white on black cover and black on white insert.  Caveman w/ MITB skull insert. (See the photos)

Beautiful VERY OUT OF PRINT collectible rarity.
This sucker has never been played! UNPLAYED NM vinyl.
Sexy NM cover and insert.

THIS IS THE ORIGINAL VINYL PRESSING.

Man Is the Bastard were a pioneering hardcore punk band who contributed the name, and perhaps also the ethos, to the punk subgenre known as power violence. Based in Claremont, California, the band existed 1991/7, releasing many vinyl records on obscure labels from around the world.  

In stark contrast to other punk musicians, Man Is the Bastard made the move of displacing the electric guitar from its long reign as the primary instrument of punk aggression. In turn, they made room within their revolutionary spirit for progressive bass chords and scales, for industrial noise (field recordings and power electronics), and for member Henry Barnes’ (Amps for Christ) homemade guitar reconfigurations.

The bass-heavy configuration was found in earlier projects by founding members Joel Connell and Eric Wood, who recorded under such monikers as Neanderthal and Cyclops. Their thematic emphasis on the primitive and mythological would continue in Man Is the Bastard records such as “Sum of the Men” and the split album with Bleeding Rect*m. The fullest expression of these concerns appeared with the 7 inch EP entitled “Backward Species,” which combined an almost anthropological/New Historicist approach to humanity’s violent practices. Songs such as “Koro Treatment” and “Heretic’s Fork” are exemplary.  Obviously, this project fits in perfectly with themes (see above) they expounded on in MITB and other projects.

Artistically most of their releases had a similar design, with their trademark skull on both sides of the words Man Is The Bastard with the release title underneath in quotations. Frequently the liner notes would be just as simplistic. When they did have artwork it was often stark and brutal with a barebones layout. Here, the insert contains a neanderthal profile with the now-classic MITB skull.

Man Is the Bastard existed as a nucleus around which many prominent bands can be traced within a recognizable lineage: Cyclops, Pillsbury Hardcore, Peace Corpse, Pissed Happy Children, Charred Remains, Neanderthal, Infest, No Comment, Loomis Slovak, Atavism of Twilight, Sleestak, Buckethead, Bastard Noise, Born Against, Djam Karet, Amps for Christ, Lux Nova Umbra Est, Our Scars are Gifts, and more.

In the years since, Man Is the Bastard has splintered off into several working factions. Wood occasionally performs in the Los Angeles area as Bastard Noise. Kenyon and Connel have soldiered on in progressive rock acts such as Controlling Hand and Lux Nova Umbra Est. Perhaps the biggest surprise is Barnes’ Amps for Christ, which has blossomed into a highly regarded folk/noise hybrid.

Man Is the Bastard's lyrical violence was balanced by their adamant avocation of progressive ideals. Animal rights, vegetarianism, the decriminalization of marijuana, the legacy of American foreign policy, the encroaching police state, government corruption, corporate greed, the underlying problems with capitalism, and many others but above all the band was concerned with raising consciousness. This record of political activism resulted in their most widely available album, 1997’s split LP with political prisoner Mumia Abu-Jamal. They also frequently used ideas from obscure medical conditions in their songs and artwork.

The band's willingness to sublimate political concerns into a harsh and unique aesthetic is sorely missing. For example, during the first Gulf War, one of their releases featured cover art depicting Saddam Hussein being sodomized by George H.W. Bush.

UNPLAYED, NM vinyl. 

The most pristine copy I've seen since it came out (in very limited numbers).  1300 black vinyl copies were pressed.

HEAD SIDE:

Crawl / Neuter

SPLIT ORGAN SIDE:

Brain Tourniquet / Mind Eraser / Kill, Eat and Breed 

See the photo(s).  Sorry about my hand in the shots, (if it is), but I try to NEVER LAY THE VINYL DOWN ON ANYTHING, unlike lots of sellers, who FREAKIN' lay records down on tables and things to photograph them!  We give them all the very clean hand or WHITE GLOVE TREATMENT, as you see in the photos, and take the pics with someone holding the vinyl in the air, never touching it, pulling it carefully from its sleeve.  Whatever we sell you is going to be in the best shape possible. We're all collectors and know that other collectors appreciate the extra mile.