AMG Review of Keats Rides a Harley

Thom Jurek
All Music Guide

Keats Rides a Harley was released as a nine-cut EP in 1981. Released on the legendary Urinals' own Happy Squid label, it contained debut recordings by a number of underground L.A.-based bands -- and one from outside. Some of them, like the Gun Club and the Meat Puppets from Phoenix left a real mark and influenced dozens of bands who came after them. Others left ghostly traces of their sounds elsewhere and had recording careers of varying lengths such as the Leaving Trains, 100 Flowers (a Urinals offshoot), Toxic Shock, and Human Hands. Still others, like S Squad, Tunneltones, and the Earwigs, all but disappeared into myth and folklore. In addition to the original EP Keats Rides a Harley (named after the goldfish of the Urinals drummer, not the poet), this CD contains nine bonus tracks, one by each band featured on the original Happy Squid label sampler. The Gun Club's contributions are early, raw, and utterly superior versions of "Preach the Blues" and "Devil in the Woods." The Meat Puppets' "H-Elenore" is here along with a previously unreleased early cover of Neil Young's "The Losing End," which hints at the direction that the band would go on their classic second album. The Tunneltones featured future Savage Republic boss Bruce Licher on guitar, and this early incarnation of the Leaving Trains had Sylvia Juncosa playing not guitar as she did on her SST debut but keyboards! In sum, this is an excellent document both historically and musically, from a magical time when anything went, because none of it mattered beyond the day anyway. For those who have only heard of the storied EP, here's your chance.