Junkyard

Idk man, if you played this at my birthday party I would probably not invite you next year

Nick Cave’s first band. A wild, off-the-wall take on post punk, goth rock and punk blues with screeching guitars, pumping bass and wailing vocals. Nick is completely insane here. I actually prefer their record Prayers on Fire to this one but I like this one. The global stats do not. This record is surely not for everyone. Favorite song: Hamlet (Pow, Pow, Pow) Least favorite song: 6” Gold Blade

This is one of those albums that sounds like its cover. It has the atmosphere of walking down a back alley full of deranged bums at night, and I mean that in the best possible way. It's the saying "I don't suffer from insanity, I enjoy every minute of it" in musical form. It's the kind of thing that Lou Reed probably wished he had made. That being said, it's a bit too wacky to go in my regular rotation, although I'd definitely bring it out on Halloween, or after a Fearnet binge if Fearnet still existed. Best song: Hamlet (Pow Pow Pow), which reminds me of the "The killer awoke before dawn" part of The End.

I'm glad I was baby in the 80's and couldn't listen to this music.

Genuinely one of the worst 42 minutes I’ve sat through. Seriously. What. And I cannot emphasise this enough. The. Fuck?

I respect Nick Cave but this ain't it chief. A really angry and worse Joy Division. Almost unlistenable as a whole.

Jangly discordant post-punk! Young Nick Cave tries to emulate Tom Waits. I really liked this, but can see why it scores low, I guess. "Pere Ubu" have a similarly low scoring album, so jangly discordant post-punk obviously rubs a lot of people the wrong way. Fave track - "She's Hit"

Fuck that

4.7 + hits you like an ice pick to the temple or oozes on like a bucket of swamp sludge.

This album is naaaasty, its rude, mean, loud, and just weird. Pretty cool listen, will definitely come back

Google started recommending therapists to me after I listened to this. Best track: She's Hit (??)

The Party's second and final full studio album, also the final release with the five-person lineup, was perhaps its scuzzy masterpiece, its art/psych/blues/punk fusion taken to at times outrageous heights. Right from its start, nobody held back on anything, Cave's now-demonic vocals in full roar while the rest of the players revamped rhythm & blues and funk into a blood-soaked cabaret exorcism. Nearly every tune is a Party classic one way or another, from the opening slow, sexy grind of "She's Hit," Cave's freaked tale of death and destruction matched by clattering percussion and a perversely crisp guitar from Howard, to the ending title track's crawl toward a last gruesome ending. Tips of the hat to literary influences surface at points, notably "Hamlet (Pow, Pow, Pow)," though the protagonist isn't so much the indecisive tragic figure of Shakespeare as a Romeo-quoting criminal on the loose. The ultimate Party song sits smack dab at the center -- "Big-Jesus-Trash-Can," a hilarious and blasphemous blues/jazz show tune with some great brass from Harvey to top it all off. Guest performers crop up at points; future Bad Seed Barry Adamson plays bass on "Kiss Me Black," while Anita Lane contributes two sets of lyrics if not her direct vocals. Later CD versions included three extra tracks. "Blast Off" and "Release the Bats" were originally issued as a single; both seethe with rage and fire in spades. The latter is at once powerful and a bit of a tongue-in-cheek goth goof, with Cave serving up lines like "Don't tell me that it doesn't hurt/A hundred fluttering in your skirt." The other bonus, a second version of the album's "Dead Joe" recorded in London, is if anything even more frenetically gone than the original, a car crash sample punctuating the lyrical reference to same all the more.

Ah, Nick Cave - one of my all-time favourites. His work from the last couple of decades is peerless, and the two live performances of his I've been to established him firmly in my mind as an elder statesman of rock. Emotive, fierce, quietly devastating... "Skeleton Tree", "Push the Sky Away" and "CARNAGE" are some of my favourite records by any artist. But this? Bloody hard work. The world of "The Birthday Party" is a brutal kind of post-punk where nothing holds together: mangled and torn, the world has turned in on itself and cannibals roam the streets. There is no logic, reason or narrative, just distorted nightmare imagery: one hundred skirts bleeding uptown; a car smash mangling bodies beyond recognition; Jesus driving a trash can; a gold blade in the head of a girl; being kissed black by a dog-like woman who sleeps like a swastika. The lyrics are a deep dive into the warped, violent poeticism that Cave has demonstrated throughout his career, and are the best thing about this album: they present its world in a vivid, intense, horrifying way. I have to give credit to the music for complimenting this and sounding suitably horrific, but for me it was just no fun whatsoever to listen to. There's very limited range in dynamics or delivery in each song to accentuate the lyrics, or to build any sense of momentum. Everything's relentlessly at the same level of demonic howls and apocalyptic crashing. There's no skill in musicianship to appreciate, certainly no guitar tabs to start looking up or vocal lines to sing in the shower. It all gets old very quickly, and by the time we reach "Several Sins", it's a shock to actually hear sung-through vocals, a distinct bass groove and sleazy guitar line. Being able to actually pinpoint and latch onto a tune is about as much as a listener can hope for from this. On the more positive side, "Junkyard" sits firmly outside of the trappings of the 80s and still sounds like it could be made in 2021 by a band pushing against the grain. In the UK today, plenty of up and coming bands like Squid, Shame or IDLES (shared the same producer as this album, incidentally) seem to be reaching for a slice or two of the Birthday Party's cake. My rating is being really skewed here by my respect for Nick Cave as an artist: he certainly committed to a vision here, and I admire The Birthday Party for not pulling any punches. But it was a real challenge to get through, and I like my music a little more palatable. Listening to this album makes me feel like a miserable old man who just doesn't get it. If that's my problem rather than The Birthday Party's, so be it.

Australia's “most original band”? Maybe. “Least talented” seems a safer bet. Can you tell this book by its cover? You can.

Post-punk has never been so weird. The thing to note about early post-punk is that the only unifying trait is the will to experiment on the punk genre. This leads to a wide range of different artist, with some experimenting more than others. The Birthday Party, in this case, leads more into the experimental side. Junkyard sounds like a junkyard. It's rusty, malformed, and a little dangerous. If punk rock were a Ford Model T, post-punk would be a T-Bucket. The Birthday Party wants you to feel kinda gross listening to this, like punk blues that's been dragged through the mud. this is accentuated by Nick Cave's wild personality; he's like a rabid dog throughout. This wild energy makes the abrasive guitars all the more interesting, as you can imagine the band tearing up a live performance with their hypnotic sounds. It's definitely not for everyone, but I think it's awesome.

This is wild as all fuck. Legitimately sounds like a band of demons from the depths of hell. I kinda dig parts of it? But mostly I just respect it for committing to being fuckin’ OUT THERE shit.

Excruciating

Never listened before and I loved it!

Not everyone's cup of tea, and honestly I'm not sure if it's really mine! But it's invigorating and interesting, so props to Nick Cave and the boys.

Very dark and noisy. Not sure if the timeline is correct to guess that Cave was influenced by Tom Waits, but that was what I was hearing. I have difficulty hearing the blues roots here, except on a rare few songs. Favorite song was She's Hit, least favorite is Kewpie Doll.

Oh god. This is an interesting one- the sounds are neat and the mood created by the music is definitely an interesting one, but it’s rough. The production is flimsy, vocals are often kept to the back- and the insane amount of noise created by this record is atrocious- which I think was the entire point. Nick Cave and the Birthday Party def succeeded at what they set out to do with this one, but that doesn’t mean that many people are going to want to listen to it. Stand-alone, some of the songs are really great. But together as an album, the pattern becomes apparent- and many of the songs themselves are too similar to stand out- making a large part of this album a blur. Is it cool? Hell yeah Is it for everyone? definitely not

This was an uncomfortable listen as dischord and wild shouting coals feature heavily. That said the music was technically very interesting almost jazz like drum rhythms and even a 3/4 time structure in there just made it more interesting for me. I felt like it would have been a great soundtrack for a horror movie

I looked at the album cover and thought, “I’m gonna hate this.” But someone once told me “Don’t judge a book by its cover,” and I’m a good boy. So I went in with an open mind. I hated this. The drums were erratic, the vocals were insane, the bass was exhausting, the guitar was whiny, the mix was terrible. It sounds like someone had just shot a gun in the studio, fucking up the mics, the mood, and everyone’s hearing. This is my introduction to Nick Cave. I’m worried about his other 5 (!) albums on the list, but hopefully they benefit from being a different project.

I spent most of my teens hiding out in a junkyard. I would catch and eat pigeons for sustenance and suck on the tits of stray cats just for fun and to fuel my beastiality kink. I once fucked a crocodile for 11 hours straight and listening to this record reminded me of that wonderful day. A perfect moment in an otherwise deeply depressing existence. Cum on my tits.

I’ll be honest: I didn’t know what this was but my first thought was “this sounds like Grinderman.”

Fucking unhinged 9/10

I didn’t expect to enjoy this as much as I did. Early, dark Nick Cave is a very good Nick Cave indeed (just like the other Nick Caves). It reminds me of Pornography-era cure mixed with 80’s Tom Waits and, well, Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds. It’s not for everyday listening, and it’s not something you’ll put on at an outdoor BBQ party this summer. If you’re disenchanted, pissed off, and/or questioning what this crazy life is all about, it’s probably the soundtrack for that.

I love Nick Cave but there is a reason to why I mostly listen to his later music

Nick Cave fan here, but I had never listened to The Birthday Party (shame on me). I liked the raw energy. I like early Cave and in a way this album is that, but extrapolated. A bit too much for my liking... I found it quite tiring to listen to the album in its entirety.

I actually prefer this over other Nick Cave albums. He really sounds insane on this one

Interesting album. A great preview for what's to come in Nick Cave's career.

They know what they're about and I respect that.

I've noticed this as one of the lowest rated albums on here so I have some serious trepidation going in. But on the first song I hear yeah okay, they're going for this raw, abrasive thing sure, but nothing too offensive really. The second song could definitely be played live at The Roadhouse in Twin Peaks. Third track is back to the raw, abrasive thing. I'm not gonna say I love this but if I had a few in me I could really enjoy this in a live setting. Kinda like an angry young amalgamation of Tom Waits and Ian Curtis fronting a surf-punk band. I have nothing against this. Bad dirty fun.

Ragged, rough, and rowdy.

That's a lot. Nick cave... A lot

My induction to The Birthday Party. Slightly terrified but a little energised.

Unique and brutal sound. Not sure if I'll listen again.

Lead singer sounds kind of like Plankton from SpongeBob.

Noisy, raw and borderline unbearable, yet there are glimpses of something interesting hidden beneath the sludge. Nick Cave's early band doesn't begin to showcase his talent, but you have to give him credit for trying, but really that's about all...

not my jam, sorry nick

The album art is an accurate representation of the music - a total mess. 3/10

Best Song: Dead Joe. Marginally better than the rest of what's on offer. Worst Song: Big Jesus Trash Can. Talentless shouting. Overall: The music is shit. The album art is shit. The name of both the band and the album are shit. Why am I listening to this?

I added six songs to my library. The rest was rather unpleasant. But hey, gotta give it to The Birthday Party for giving energy. Even if it wasn't an energy I really liked.

This cacophony of noise sounds like some neighborhood kids received instruments for Christmas. The dads confiscated them on Dec 26th because they were too loud. Those same dads started playing the confiscated instruments and recorded this album on Jan 1!

No. 80/1001 Blast Off 2/5 She's Hit 3/5 Dead Joe 1/5 The Dim Locator 1/5 Hamlet 1/5 Several Sins 2/5 Big Jesus Trash Can 1/5 Kiss Me Black 1/5 6'' Gold Blade 1/5 Kewpie Doll 2/5 Junkyard 1/5 Dead Joe - 2nd Version 1/5 Release the Bat 1/5 Average: 1,38 Uff, this one I didn't like at all. Most songs just felt like someone screaming over repetitve guitar riffs and drumming. This is now my worst rated album so far. Taking over from Kilimanjaro - The Teardrop Explodes (1,88)

Did some record label owe someone's parents a favor? Get it off the list. Forever. Get it off the Internet. Erase it from my memory. Give me back my precious minutes wasted on trying to listen to whatever this was.

Like, what the hell is this album doing here. I would be happy dead if i never listen to this.

God awful. I actually find it offensive that this is taking up a spot on this list while most hip hop artists do not have a single album on here and others only have 1. Horrendous.

Jesus, it is unlistenable.

Sometimes I wonder how these albums got picked and if this is just a random album generator... Fewer than 4M stream total for this 1982 album and it's easy to understand why. Turning it off. Unlistenable. Horrible. This is supposed to be music?

God, what a chore to get through. These guys don't give a damn about anything, even their music, and why should I? I'll admit that the end of Hamlet (Pow Pow Pow), which repeats the same line about fifty times, achieved a sort of kaleidoscopic beauty in its repetition... but that's all I got. Mike Patton does this schtick 20x better. I was going to write that this sounds uncannily like Nick Cave without any skill whatsoever, and then I looked it up... That's EXACTLY what it is! Good thing he got better with age and practice.

Why? I don’t understand this as something musical.

This just sucks. I don't even really need to go into more detail than that. Everything about it is like nails on a chalkboard for me.

Couldn't make it past track 4

Absolutely not.

JFC

This is the first time this has felt like a challenge. This is like if primus actually sucked.

Kai tätäkin paskaa sit joku kuuntelee... minä en.

Crazy to hear. The quality of the recording tries to overshadow the overall insanity of Nick Cave’s early punk rock/gothic effort. Every song speaks with a middle finger.

The Birthday Party sit with The Gang Of Four and The Pop Group as one of the best post-punk bands ever. I know a lot of people just "don't get it", but that's their problem, not mine

Entirely enjoyable in rawness and its candor

As a big Nick Cave fan it's nice to finally hear some context for where he started. I know from interviews and stuff that he was a huge fan of british post-punk weirdos 'The Pop Group' around the time he made this, and oh boy this album sounds just like them half the time, especially when Nick gets all yelp-y on a song. Now this is fine for me because 'Y' by The Pop Group is one of my favourite albums. It's nice to finally have another album to put alongside that one as post-punk that gets as wild and unhinged as possible. Wish I'd checked it out sooner, this is mental.

Not one happy birthday song on it. Great album to get a haircut to.

meh

Holy Post Punk Junkman. Nick Cave as a manic trashman with hypnotic drums, feedback, percussive macho bass lines... Dirty, steamy, swamp fever. This album is one psychotic madness, but a genius one. It sound like Bauhaus who had a mental breakdown. People who have read The Ass Saw The Angel will also recognize elements of Cave's Faulknerian novel characters in this album. This came off the back of yesterdays Dark Side Of The Moon and the contrast almost couldn't be higher. The album version ends with the hallucinatory Junkyard, in which Cave really gives *everything*, his voice almost to pieces, and just about to At the end you hear him coughing his lungs out during the fade-out after that effort. Sublime.

Excelente

This album has The Birthday Party as they lift their game substantially. I've been playing this since release and it's a favourite album.

10!

Maybe this just happened to synch perfectly with my inner aggression, but I had a blast listening to this. It’s probably not one I’ll have in the regular rotation, but it’s honest energy that I can get behind!

I went into this album cold and holy hell was it a treat. Made sense when I learned it was Nick Caves first band. Do I think it's for everyone? No. But this kind of sloppy, we know the rules of music but refuse to use them kind of music is my jam. She's Hit was the highlight track for me but I'm looking forward to listening through this one a few more times. Loved it.

This album is a wild mess. really chaotic but musically fascinating. Rough and frightening and beautiful.

it’s a problem: in terms of raw energy and pure creativity the birthday party were one of the greatest bands of all time; they were also full-time denizens of Hell; so do you want to pay a visit to Hell? well, punk, do ya?

Damn that horror bat sex horror sex vampire. It's silly but brilliant fun. The sort of stupid album you need to be deceptively clever to make. Does it get a little bit repetitive as it goes on? Yea. Does it sound like nothing else.on this list and brings the fun? Also yes.

Distilled chaos dipped in blood and poetry

Cannot find another way to describe what raw energy and unleashed creativity… well, maybe The Stooges. This album is a gem. It demands your entire attention and will not leave you free until it finishes. Even then, the silence will be distressing.

Birthday Party on parasta Cavea ja lisäksi parasta Rowland S. Howardia, jota muuten fanitan ISOSTI.

Rhythm on Kiss Me Black is crazy

I FUCKING LOVE NICK CAGE FJWMILOPDHAGQJVB Every album I heard from him is a god dang banger while I did like Prayers on Fire a little more than this one, this is still simply amazing - 10/10

Pretty good I love it.

Que maluquice, achei uma delícia quase todas as músicas!!!

the album cover really does let you know what you're in for: a hot rod drive-by done by psychotic mutant hillbillies wearing Ed Roth t-shirts. there's something really uncanny about how the great spirit of the All-American Fuckup was captured by a bunch of Aussies in the process of dismantling their band. maybe that explosive nature was key -- in order to sound like every caricature in focus on the songs is falling apart and panicking, the group had to self-destruct as well. i do think that on a few songs, the whole rattle 'n' yelp sound of the Birthday Party get a bit grating, but in brief rushes, like "6" Gold Blade" and "Hamlet (Pow Pow Pow)", you can actually get a bit scared. and the cover art is fine. you guys just need to get used to Ed Roth.

I forgot to tell you about several sins 😂💘

exciting, dark, and a little insane, it lives up aesthetically to its title

I’m always happy to say the sentence, “I’ve never heard anything like this before.” Nick Cave growls and snarls and screams through a wild set of dark and brooding post-punk songs. On some songs, he sounds like Tom Waits with more of a demonic touch. On other songs he sings like a demented lounge singer. The band shifts too. Sometimes they lurch through heavy, brutal riffs, and sometimes they actually swing! Wild, brilliant and totally unique.

It did grow on me! The first few tracks are quite jarring but it settles down! Some really good tracks toward the end of the album, more of the Nick Cave-esque stuff we find later on! 3.5 stars really...

Definitely not for everyone but personally I liked this much more than I thought. Am I going to listen to it often? No, but this is some good chaos and makes me want to take a deep dive into Cave's discography.

Rat Fink is definitely a vibe.

Interesting punk

Had to track this down on YouTube. You can see what Nick Cave would become. Absolutely wonderful noise.

First and foremost, the Ed Roth cover is sick. When I pulled this I thought I had never heard of The Birthday Party, and then I played the first track and was like OH! Nick Cave's punk band! As much as I love the Bad Seeds' discography I'd never listened to a TBP album. Glad I finally did! This is a messy, noisy post-punk album. Even falls into the no wave category at times, sounding similar to an early Swans record. Which is a good thing in my book! Nick Cave's vocal are manic. He sounds like Elvis on acid. Scroll down 100 entries on this page and you'll see a brief review of Ghosteen (recorded nearly 40 years after this) where I mention it making me cry. Talk about some range. Nick Cave rules. This album is sick.

Nick Cave's first band. This sounds like Nick's reimagining of Tom Waits. It's like noise rock meets blues punk or some shit. It's really abrasive, but really interesting. Nick fuckin belts out lyrics and it is full of blood curdling screams. Everyone abuses the living fuck out of their instruments. It's super dark, and super noisy, but super interesting. If it was anyone else I would probably hate it, but Nick Cave has a way of structuring stuff that is just great. There is structure amid the absolute chaos. Favourite songs: Hamlet (Pow, Pow, Pow), 6" Gold Blade, The Dim Locator, Release the Bats, Blast Off, Dead Joe, Several Sins Least favourite songs: She's Hit 4/5

i like this more than prayers on fire but 81-82 is so amazing that this album feels obsolete. this is obviously still really cool but i dont listen to it half as much as i do 81-82. 7/10

þetta hlustaði ég á og (þóttist?) fíla. veit ekki alveg með þetta. en fær fjögur vegna fortíðar.

I get why this is globally rated low as it’s unpolished and abrasive, but I really enjoyed this. It got my adrenaline pumping and has a crazy vibe to it. It’s the musical equivalent of getting punched in the face, tasting blood, and feeling your anger ignite you as your endorphins kick in and numb you. The bass absolutely rips, the guitar shreds, and Nick Cave is on one here, sounding like David Byrne going through a manic episode. This’ll put some hair on your chest!

A really shrill album. I haven't heard anything from Nick Cave's first band yet. But you recognize him immediately. I would describe the music as caustic in places. Nevertheless, I find it so interesting that I'm going to listen to the album again. 4/5

Schön zu sehen, wo die Wurzel von Nick Cave liegen. Heute gefällt er mir besser, aber die Lieder haben ihren Charme.

The seeds of genius were sown here.

I’m really glad I made it past the first few tracks. She’s Hit is a long, boring slog that felt like if The Misfits had all the codeine before going into record. The album really picks up after the first version of Dead Joe though. I respect Nick Cave, but generally don’t enjoy his music. This rawer, less “ooh I’m making some sort of spooky murder mystery dinner theater” shtick version works for me.

In 1993, I won a three-day trip to the US when I was 16. The prize was the opportunity to be there for an interview of Nirvana, in Seattle. That's how I spent one afternoon with Kurt Cobain, Krist Novoselic and Dave Grohl. It's not that I wanna boast about that particular experience here, yet I feel the need to mention the latter because there's a connection in my mind between that three-day trip and this Birthday Party album. A journalist was with me, of course. His name was Youri. Some time before the interview took place, we went to an independent record store. Youri bought some CDs there. Beastie Boys' *Check Your Head* was among them. And more crucially for the purpose of this review, so was The Birthday Party's *Junkyard*. I remember Youri telling me I should listen to those two records. Being as much an Indie-rock buff as I was a hip hop fan at the time, I followed his advice for the Beastie Boys CD, and this as soon as I got back to France. But I didn't for The Birthday Party (an admittedly harder CD to find, even in those years). And now here I am, more than thirty years later, finally listening to *Junkyard*. It's quite moving, to be honest. Of course, since 1993 I have already caught up on many stylistic aspects pivotal to the understanding of this uncompromising work of art. I have a decent collection of post-punk "classics", going from Wire to IDLES. And I love most of Nick Cave And The Bad Seeds albums. In a sense, I am more "prepared" to listen to this record than I would have been at the age of 16. And indeed, *Junkyard* feels very much like a laboratory given to Cave to test out ideas he would later refine and polish with The Bad Seeds. Of course, it's the laboratory of a mad scientist--raucous, noisy and unsettling in a manner presenting The Birthday Party as the love child of Bauhaus and The Jesus Lizard (forgive me for the anachronism here, yet "Big Jesus Trash Can" sounds *a lot* like David Yow's outfit). Roland S. Howard was also an amazing guitar player, by the way, not to mention a brilliant writer of bluesy lines and memorable hooks (as the more restrained and yet ominous "Several Sins" can prove). It's very sad that he passed away so soon. What I'm gonna add is a bit commonplace for quote-unquote "difficult" and "abrasive" records, but repeated listens do enhance the experience of this collection of scorchers. The most "animated" tracks (a-hem) usually stand out, between Cave's howlings and the hectic rhythm patterns played by that insane drummer, whoever he was. Check this out in the opener "Blast Off" (inexplicably left off in the original vinyl release). Or in "Dead Joe", "The Dim Locator" and the single-only "Release The Bats" (also found on CD versions). And some moodier cuts do stand out as well, especially the terrific title-track. So, not for the faint of heart, obviously. Yet truly rewarding for anyone interested in the umbrella genre of "post-punk" and goth/no wave shenanigans. There you go, Youri. I have finally listened to this album. I hope you're still enjoying it these days, wherever you are, man. 3.5/5 for the purposes of this list of "essential" albums, rounded up to 4. 8.5/10 for more general purposes (5+3.5). Number of albums left to review: 179 Number of albums from the list I find relevant enough to be mandatory listens: 357 Albums from the list I *might* include in mine later on: 206 (including this one) Albums from the list I won't include in mine: 260

Surprisingly listenable. Can't go wrong with Rat Fink.