Apply some Local Anesthetic

In 1981, Denver’s Wax Trax Records co-owner Duane Davis formed the in-store label Local Anesthetic and released the debut single by Denver band Gluons featuring part-time Colorado resident Allen Ginsberg on vocals. With the fuse lit, Anesthetic would go on to release some of the most thrashingly good punk and hardcore music of the early 80's (while being the only lasting independent label in Colorado). And now, over 20 years later, Smooch Records has collected all of Anesthetic's rare 7" releases, as well as a few other Denver area punk band recordings, for a total of 33 tracks that fire off like a machine gun with their power and intensity.

While all the tracks would fall under the broad genre of punk, that's not to say it's that same sound repeated 33 times. There's a wealth of style here from a wide range of bands including Frantix (whose song My Dad's a Fucking Alcoholic was the biggest hit of the label and is included on the disc), White Trash (listen to Wake Up below), Bum Kon, the before-mentioned Gluons with Allen Ginsberg, Jeri Rossi (including a sick cover of James Brown's It's a Man's Man's Man's World), and several others. It's raw, sometimes unshaped sound that can overwhelm your senses. The album came out last month, so lace up your combat boots and get ready to pogo.

White Trash - Wake Up : Local Anesthetic

Jeri Rossi - I Left My Heart But I Don't Know Where : Local Anesthetic

Visit Smooch Records, the kind folks responsible for bringing you this mayhem.