'Accused' History:
InfoBlaine Cook aka Blaine Fartz aka the WIZARD aka Zippy is the former frontman for the legendary FARTZ and the highly influential splatter rock kings THE ACCUSED. THE FARTZ were a bloody raw political hardcore band in the early eighties whose unbridled onslaught of noise and fury earned them a roster slot on the then burgeoning Alternative Tentacles label. A.T. has recently decided to honor the band by re-releasing their entire discography on one CD called "Because This Fuckin' World Still Stinks" thus ensuring the infamy lives on. THE FARTZ were raw and heavy and intense. When THE FARTZ broke up Blaine joined THE ACCUSED another Washington state punk band who played rather generic punk, although tunes like "Reagan's War Puppets" were nice and snotty. With Blaine on board THE ACCUSED mutated into a much heavier, much sicker, much rawer band. The vocalist Blaine replaced, John Dahlin, calls it metal. Whatever. They adopted a mascot named Martha Splatterhead and began their reign of terror. My first exposure to the band was in about 1984-85. I was writing for a zine in Canada called Norhthern Metal that reviewed THE ACCUSED's first LP "The Return Of Martha Splatterhead" on Subcore Records giving it a 0.0 rating and absolutely crucifying it in the review. It is the only 0.0 review I remember ever seeing in Northern Metal. They hated it so much I knew I had to buy it. As I suspected, the album was a masterpiece of hardcore hysteria. THE ACCUSED went on to release several stellar records including some of my all time personal favorite albums like "Open Casket Funeral", "Grinning Like An Undertaker" and "Martha Splatterhead's Maddest Stories Ever Told" (which features Terry Date's most raw and devastating production job ever). Live THE ACCUSED were untouchable. The whole band was a frenzy of epileptic gyrations although Blaine's high flying leaps and bouncing off the walls like a deranged gnome were definitely the highlight. Even in today's underground you aren't going to find a more devastating band than THE ACCUSED. This isn't my first interview with Blaine, but it is definitely my best.... |
