DayGlo Abortions "Here Today, Guano Tomorrow" LP

Chris Walter writes in his book on the Dayglos about this record "the new material was fast and heavy. While the songs were still short blasts of nihilistic energy, Cretin had upped the ante, and the level of musicianship was higher. If Feed Us a Fetus had been offensive to some, the gross out factor on the new album wasover the top. Song titles such as "Fuck my Shit stinks" made it abundantly clear that the DayGlo Abortions had not mellowed with age, and that the group would not be seeking radio play. Even die-hard DayGlos fans would have difficulty comprehending the vileness of songs such as "Hide the Hamster", which, as the title suggests, was about the insertion of live rodents into the anal cavity for sexual pleasure. It was almost as if Cretin was deliberately writing nasty songs just for the sake of writing nasty songs. Did "Kill Johnny Stiff" have any redeeming qualities at all? Johnny Stiff was the promoter who had swindled the band on a previous tour. The song expressed the band's dislike for booking agents and promoters." Chris continues that "the corrossive lyrics were matched only by the dazzling guitar work and metal influenced ferocity. This was an LP designed to scare listeners away or draw them in as committed fans. there would be no in-between, no middle ground, and for the DayGlo Abortions it was all or nothing." Nev the Impaler came up with the riff for "Fuck Satan to Death" which cretin encouraged out of him. A local musician / recording technician named Scott Henderson helped write "Shred Central", which was a song about Dave Dork's skate shop. Scott and Cretin also worked on "The Spawn of Yoth Sogoth" and "Drugged and Driving". Walter goes on to describe Cretin's writing on this record like this "His satirical powers and caustic observations were poison dipped darts, each guitar riff and snarling lyric a blistering attack on everything good and decent. Punk perfection, in other words." About how metal sounding the DayGlos had become Walter counters "the album actually broke new ground as a vicious blend of crossover thrash and speedcore. Mostly, the sound on Guano was an inevitable progression that occurred as cretin truly began to master his guitar." Not only were the songs solid, but with three guitars, the DayGlos were able to build a monster sound like never before. Both musically and creatively the band was at a high-point, honed to a razor's edge from long months of touring. These were the ideal conditions that the DayGlos cut this new record. Fringe Product would fund the release. The band recorded at Legacy Studios in Victoria and Tony Moskal would be the producer of the record. The recording took less than two weeks to record and less time to mix. "Worried that the lyrics weren't offensive enough on their own, the DayGlos struggled to come up with a cover that people would instantly notice. To this end, Spud hatched a concept, took photographs to demonstrate what he had in mind and mailed them to Fringe in Toronto. The record label liked Spud's idea, but used their own artists to produce a high quality version of the concept. The front cover, which depicts a cute little hamster nibbling at a box of chocolates, wouldn't be disturbing at all if it weren't for an anonymous hand pointing a big black gun at the unsuspecting rodent from outside the frame. The back cover shows the aftermath of the gunshot in all its bloody glory. When Here Today Guano Tomorrow hit the stores in the spring of 1987, the reaction was wift and furious. The cover art alone was enough to make music critics gasp in horror, and the lyric sheet had them shaking their heads in disbelief. This would be a record to shock the hell out of your parents. On June 18th, 1988, the police had executed a search warrant on the warehouse of Fringe Product Inc. The daughter of a Nepean Ontario cop named Jim Fitzgibbons asked her father to record borrowed copies of Feed us a Fetus and Here Today Guano Tomorrow. The officer was outraged by the artwork that he was being asked to illegally copy. the cop took the art and lyrics to his superiors who whole heartedly agreed that these releases were the most disgusting and offensive things they had ever seen. A month later the police seized thousands of copies of both records and any paperwork related to the releases. On August 24th, 1988, criminal charges were brought against Fringe and their distribution arm, the Record Peddler. The band started to realize how important this case was. If Fringe was found guilty, artists and distributors alike would have to seriously limit themselves or risk criminal charges. A number of civil liberties groups got involved and Jello Biafra did a fundraising event for their defense fund. Fringe wound up deducting $90,000 in royalties to the band in defense of the case. Spud claims that when all was said and done Ben Hoffman actually made money on the case and received three times more money than was spent on the case.

- this information is informed by "Here Today, Dragged Through the Courts Tomorrow" chapter in Chris Walter's book "Argh Fuck Kill: The Story of the DayGlo Abortions" that can be bought through www.punkbooks.com.