Fartz

  • Fartz
  • Because This Fuckin' World Stinks EP7 (Fartz) 1981 
  • World Full of Hate ... (Alternative Tentacles) 1982 
  • You, We See Crawling (eMpTy) 1990 

Proof of substantial Northwest punk before grunge, Seattle’s Fartz were an intensely political hardcore band with a positive outlook and a vocalist (Blaine Cook, later to roar thrash metal in the Accused) whose sore-throat shriek rivals Wendy O. Williams’ feral growl for sheer unpleasantness.

The EP is a nine-song 7-inch. The World Full of Hate… album — 16 soundalikes at 45 rpm — is otherwise fairly routine and need be sought after only by fans of totally unlistenable singers. Get that boy some lozenges, quick! (Historical asterisk: one of several drummers who passed through the Fartz later became bassist Duff McKagan of Guns n’ Roses.)

[Ira Robbins]

See also: Guns n' Roses