Psycho Flowers
The concept of Psycho Flowers
first germinated during a chance meeting between 3 of East Kilbride’s most unhindered by talent bass players in early summer ‘87; Rude Rab, Brian Death, & Gordy Mc, along with East Kilbride’s only non-pro- skater/male model Sinky at the now derelicted Matelot Arms. Rude Rab had struggled to find the right vehicle for his ongoing quest to find the perfect note after the implosion of his previous Prog Rock band Pteranodon during their ’86 tour of Denmark which was no surprise considering the band’s combined age of 45 years and a hectic touring schedule that weekend. After bumping into each other by the puggy outside the male bogs, Gordy, erstwhile bassist in Cumbernauld’s second most premier Psychobilly band Thee Tombstones had along with Brian Death still of East Kilbride’s most notorious Death Metal band Sadistic Death agreed to ask Rab if he would be interested in joining East Kilbride’s first Punk Hard Core band consisting purely of bassists with Sinky on vocals and posing duties. Rude Rab instantly grabbed the opportunity to get back in a band and to continue with his quest with the first practice taking place that weekend in Sinky’s parent’s garage.
It quickly became obvious that having a band consisting of only three bassists was a shit idea and also that Sinky was much too pretty to be a Punk, so he was forced to grow a beard and sit as far away from the audience as possible behind the drums. Rude Rab refused to give up the bass as he continued on his quest for the perfect note, and as Gordy had no ability on the guitar or bass it was quickly decided that he would take on vocal duties whilst Brian learned how to play the guitar.Honing their art throughout those long hot East Kilbride summer months, Psycho Flowers hit the road in Autumn ’87 playing East Kilbride’s live circuit relentlessly for a week or two building a disinterested following/mob of hangers on. It was at this point that Psycho Flowers took their blend of Prog Rock, Psychobilly, Death Metal, and Skating/Modelling further aField to sticky venues of Glasgow and the well-lit Working Men’s Clubs of the North of England finally finding a spiritual home at Bradford’s 1 in 12 Club.
Psycho Flowers continued to play live for three more years culminating in their ill fortuned tour of Ireland accompanied by Sedition and East Kilbride’s other most unsuccessful hybrid band JSW. Sinky missed the tour due to an explosion of acne with The Cow Goes Huuuch’s drummer Shultz sitting in at short notice to play these very five songs on loop throughout these final gigs. It may be worth mentioning that during this tour all three bands were held at gunpoint by the RUC as no one could believe that they were musicians and not ne’er-do-wells. Psycho Flowers have been described as sounding like a cross between Con@ict and Poison Idea but not by anyone who has heard Con@ict or Poison Idea or for that matter Psycho Flowers. Others have described them as sounding akin to Glasgow’s The Disturbed but that may be due to Harvey schooling Gordy on how to shout in tune.This is Psycho Flowers third demo with the previous two luckily being almost impossible to find or listen too. It was recorded at Tower Studios Glasgow in Autumn ’90 over two long nighttime sessions fuelled by desperation and Buckfast.
Despite very limited interest at the time this recording was never released and has sat neglected but never forgotten in Gordy’s memorabilia box and was recently pressed on vinyl as a pure vanity project. However, 36 years may have passed since the recording of these songs but sadly they remain as relevant today as they did then. People are still squabbling over mundane shite whist communities struggle and the world burns, families breaking up over ever increasing pressures, homophobia raising its ugly head, fascism given a voice and platform at the highest levels, and someone still has to clean the shit from the toilet
