1. Germs(MIA) The Complete Anthology
My parents divorced early and I lived with my mum because that was the law, even though she was not really equipped to take care of children. I had a teenage brother who basically raised me, which was thrilling. He took the bus into Hollywood to buy imports – he was into Skinny Puppy, Throbbing Gristle, Einstürzende Neubauten in the mid 80s – so when I come across as saying I was a 10-year-old with all this advanced musical taste, it has nothing to do with me having some gift, it was just I had a big brother and I loved what he loved. Oddly enough, I never recall him listening to Germs. I came across them when I was in high school. Of course, I had heard Black Flag, but Germs is the best punk band; the punk band.
I chose the collection because it just has everything. Iggy Pop loosely describes punk rock as music by people who have grand ambitions but lack the talent or skill to materialise it. I feel that Germs were making music above their talent, and that in their minds, they were making music that sounded like their influences, like ELO, or that their ambition wasn’t to be a punk band. I don’t care if I’m wrong. This is my fantasy. Germs were definitely a bedrock. In the first band I formed the songs were secondary and we were just teenagers underage drinking, getting kicked out of venues because that was what Germs did. The singer died of a drug overdose and unfortunately I think that overshadows a lot of the playful energy and spirit. I would wager that had he not died and had they made two or three records… well, I dream about what they would sound like. It could have been like Sparks, it just could have been wonderful, I don’t imagine it being harder-edged hardcore – they could have done anything.
