Search - Wayne Kramer :: The Hard Stuff

The Hard Stuff

A. M. Rowe | N. Syracuse, NY USA | 05/28/2002

(4 out of 5 stars)

"For Wayne Kramer, the hard stuff isn't drugs. It's the rock'n'roll life--day jobs, booze, blaring amps, police sirens and struggle. Constant struggle.Kramer has been pushing since 1967, when he and his bandmates in the MC5 sailed a spearhead of protopunk metal and righteous political anger out of Detroit and into...absolute obscurity. Their "spiritual adviser" John Sinclair got sent to the slammer over two joints, the band split with their major label, singer Rob Tyner and guitarist Fred Smith died, and Kramer has done hard time. "I've been trying to sell out for years," he says, "but nobody was buying." His solo debut sounds unlike anything else out there: an autobiography and a sociopolitical diatribe that embraces guitars of cold hardened steel, William Burroughs reveries, Marxist rhetoric and avant skittering. This is real rebel rock, pumped up by indie-undie ringers from the Melvins, Pennywise, the Vandals, Circle Jerks and Epitaph label owner/ex-Bad Religion guitarist Brett Gurewitz. But it's fueled entirely by Kramer's conviction that worth-while songs must have butt-kicking music and lyrics."Pillar of Fire," "Crack in the Universe" and "Incident on Stock Island" are lessons in humility, taught as ex-convicts murder in the 'burbs, Los Angeles burns and excess testerone boils into violence. "Edge of the Switchblade" may be the best song written about a band. "It was all for the music, we barely got paid/We were the edge of the switchblade," Kramer sings, invokingthe MC5's ghost over razor-wire chords. "Realm of Pirate Kings" and "Hope for Sale" flog demon capitalism too archly, but they're balanced by "Sharkskin Suit", a willfully goofy ode to "the Cadillac of suits" with tortured, caterwauling guitar strings tucked in its lapels.Despite his chiseled writing, Kramer speaks loudest with his Strat. Riffs drop out of the mix like blockbusters, random squawks and guttural honks burp throughout his hardscrabble tales. Let there be no doubt, Kramer is one Mother who can still kick out the jams."

You need to hear this legendary guitarist

Daniel Sokolski | Hackensack, NJ United States | 01/23/2004

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Great songwriting and intense musicianship. Do you think that bands like the Hives and White Stripes are original? Why dont you listed to the original bands and musicians that influenced them? Wayne was the guitarist of the MC5. In this album, he hasnt lost any of the intensity in guitarmanship and the songwriting tells some great stories of his past.Highly recomended. List to Johnny Badseed. Electrifying!!"