Fuck The Rules and Make Me Yours Tonight!

Sometime in 92 or so, looking through the new but discounted LP bin at Disc Union in Shinjuku, I come across the Throw compilation, out on Yoyo Recordings.

"Hey, Superchunk's on it and it's, like only 300 yen."

So I pick it up, go home and set the record on the turntable. Check the liner notes. The first band is a duo called Kicking Giant and their song is called "Fuck The Rules". I'm thinking, "Probably some lame, anti-authority/hardcore band straight out of junior high. Be over in a flash." So I drop the needle.

And I'm hooked.

Kicking Giant were great. Olympia indie pop, via New York. Lo-fi and noisy, but, you know, listenable. Not too experimental. Sloppy, in a good way.
I found their first CD, Halo, which was pretty much a compilation of their cassette only releases, at Amoeba in Berkeley a couple of years later. This song is off of that release.

Kicking Giant
The Way That You Are
Halo CD
Spartadisc 1993

This CD has amazing packaging: remember those origami fortune tellers that you used to make before you got into music? The jacket was based on one, unfortunately, no fortunes. Still cool.
I think Kicking Giant influenced many a band: Xiu Xiu, Deerhoof...probably the whole K Records/Kill Rock Stars scene that developed after them. Hey, Built To Spill covered "She's Real", probably my favorite K.G. song.
They split a few years later, singer/guitarist Tae Won Yu starting up the KG (!) and drummer/singer Rachel Carns doing the Needs.

Endnotes
1. Get the Throw comp. Kicking Giant, Unwound, Bikini Kill, Superchunk, Mecca Normal, Courtney Love (the band w/Lois, not, you know...her) plus awesome tunes from unknowns Glad and Burl. The CD version is the only one still in print, but you get some extra songs.
2. Thanks for the links: Totally Fuzzy and selector de frecuencias. Also, check out Thom: Weblog, for a list of mp3 blogs.
3. Go to Fluxblog. A new look and a United State of Electronica track. Both ace.