A Bullet for Fidel - "Don't Want Momma to Know" 7"

A Bullet for Fidel – “Don’t Want Momma To Know” 7”
Scat, 1994
Acquired: Love Garden Shotgun Room, Used, 2007
Price: $.25

This sounds like the solo acoustic project of a former punk rock singer. Oh would you look at that! It is! It is exactly that! Erie, PA’s Brian DiPlacido has a definite Roky Erickson jones at play here, and though the songwriting isn’t great, there’s something charismatic about his singing and the fact that this single is pretty much buried in the dark recesses of time that makes this kind of fascinating. There’s a really out of place but again, kind of awesome crappy guitar solo towards the end of “Don’t Want Momma To Know.” I love the pre-internet 90s. When if you wanted to record a song, you had to know someone and then if you did, or sent your song out to a bunch of people, someone would eventually press it to wax. Even though these songs aren’t great, they’re good enough. They exist on a tangible medium, which is more than you can say for the masses making music and putting it up on the internet (present company included) with only the slimmest hope of ever having their songs pressed to vinyl. This record is MOST interesting to me because it directly precedes Guided by Voices Bee Thousand in Scat Records’ discography. 

Here's a track from A Bullet for Fidel's LP Cold Before Morning. It is MUCH better than the two songs on this 7", but still maintains that kind of uber-ramshackle quality I was talking about. The writing is a little better here, though (but the vocals still yearn for a second take, but again, who the fuck am I to criticize anyone's vocals I can't sing for shit either and I still do it so forget that crack about re-recording vocals).