Cargo Records

Onanie Bomb Meets the Sex Pistols

featuring all of Osorezan No Stooges Kyo and Anal by Anal. Released on WEA in Japan and Reprise in the U.S., Onanie Bomb began the trend of Boredoms albums qualifying as the one of the strangest ever released on a major label. Much like Germany's Faust in the early 70s, Boredoms were thrust into an alternative rock spotlight despite playing "music" that, even by the band's appraisal (other members complained that Eye's final mix of their first record bore little resemblance to what they'd originally recorded), was hard to take.

Elsewhere, on "Boredoms, Vs, SDI", the group drops their patented sludgy, post-Stooges take on acid-rock while Eye growls and screams to beat the band. Musically, Boredoms weren't then far from early Melvins, though their flare for grossing listeners out was without peer-- hang on for the last, semi-digestible minute of "Young Assouls" at your peril. At that point, they might have been best summed up by their own titles, "No Core Punk" and "Feedbackfuck", though "Lick'n Cock Boatpeople" arguably gives the best idea of what Onanie Bomb is about.

Later in 1988, Yoshimi P-We replaced Yoshikawa (who stayed on as co-vocalist) on drums, and would first appear on 1989's Soul Discharge-- and it's too bad that record wasn't included in this wave of reissues, because it's otherwise easiest available only as a single track containing its ten songs on Shimmy Disc's Soul Discharge/Early Boredoms release. It's certainly a better introduction to the first stage of Boredoms than Onanie Bomb, with better recording quality and a more palatable ratio of sort-of-songs-to-pure-scatological-mayhem. But don't worry, they weren't through.