FOE: The Blankz "White Baby" 7"

Sunday, May 27, 2018

The Blankz "White Baby" 7"

The Blankz

"White Baby" b/w "Sissy Glue"

Slope Records

Released: July 13, 2018

I want to be the one who lets you know about this exciting project. The most important reason I started a fanzine in the 1980s was to share information about records. Introducing people to music brings me great joy.

Inspiring, invigorating and just plain cool, this Slope Records project is something I want to introduce to you.

As someone who ran a record label for a few years, who has been an avid (a word here which means "urgently eager, characterized by enthusiasm and vigorous pursuit") record collector since 1971 and an admirer of creative projects, I am completely on board with The Blankz imminent 7" series.

The Blankz are releasing a series of nine 7"s that will then be compiled into a full length release.

I want you to get in on this at the beginning. Nothing like finding out about a project as cool as this at 7" number eight and then having to play catch up.

Musically, Phoenix Arizona's the Blankz combine the garage punk energy of the Spits, the engine-like precision punk rock of the Briefs, the snot of Blanks 77 (how cool would it be to see Blanks77 and Blankz tour... after all, we are all part of Richard Hell and the Voidoids "Blank Generation") and the keyboard placement of hardcore era Devo.

The Blankz are led by singer Tommy Blank, who is also the Slope Records founder. The A-side, "White Baby" starts at the beginning... The lyrical inspiration is Tommy's "struggle with identity and quest for belonging" as a "white kid adopted by a Mexican American family in the late 1960s".

The b-side is "Sissy Glue". Did you know that "b/w" means "backed with"? The lyrics of "Sissy Glue" tells a tale of Paperboy Jimmy, huffing airplane glue and spray paint in a dirty sock...

As someone who has more than two dozen years sober, I also appreciate that Tommy has 13 years of sobriety.

Need more validation? Cris Kirkwood (of the Meat Puppets and a fellow Arizonian) produced these first two tracks by the Blankz.