Coyote Ugly

Here's the cover art for a 3 song 7"er by UK garage/trash fiends The Coyote Men. Dull City Records, located way up there in the frozen wilds of Northern Norway, put this out back in 2000 AD. It was a limited edition of 400 copies, 200 black vinyl, 100 each on green and yellow vinyl. Monsters, rasslin' and rock'n'roll, what more could you ask for? Stay tuned for MORE ACTION!

Ugly On A Stick

This was drawn back in the mid-'90s for an unpublished "Ugly Art" zine I was gonna put out called Unbelievably Ugly!. It ended up being printed in a cool zine called Terminal Brainrot outta Ohio and was later reprinted in Dale Ashmun's crazy Kult Of Kuteness zine. I'm pretty sure Ashmun was the guy who informed me that schlock movie maven Joe Bob Briggs often used the term "Ugly On A Stick" to describe his mother-in-law but I wasn't aware of that when I came up with the idea for this drawing. There are a few more leftover pieces of Unbelievably Ugly! art hanging around in the back of my refrigerator next to the mouldy meatloaf, so look for more of this stuff in future entries on this blog. Stay tuned for MORE ACTION!

Smells Like Teen Suicide

Here's a cheery little image that I drew back in 1996. The "Die Fast, Don't Live" slogan was ripped off from a sketch by former Cramp Kid Congo Powers that appeared in a Cramps fanzine published by Lindsay Hutton back in the '80s. I remember sending photocopies of this to all my pen pals back in the day but I don't think it was ever published anywhere. Stay tuned for MORE SELF-INFLICTED ACTION!

Spitballs Attack!

Here's a previously unseen CD design I did a couple of years back for a trashed-out garage punk combo from Chicago called The Spitballs. This CD hasn't come out yet but I hope it will still see the light of day at some point because it's a real fun album. I kinda got a kick out of the punk rock Archie Comics concept we came up with for the cover art as well. Keep an eye out for this cover in the "Trashed-Out Garage Punk" section of your local record store and while you're at it... Stay tuned for MORE ACTION!

Web Of Mystery

This drawing was used as the front cover art for the 4-song compilation 7" Web Of Mystery Vol. 2 issued in 1995 on Misty Lane Records outta Italy. The printed version was cropped a bit and partly obscured by text but here you get to see the unedited original version in all its Universal Horrors meets Riot On Sunset Strip glory. The comp featured The Fiends from Canada, Australia's Breadmakers, Thee Flypped Whigs from the USA and Italy's own Others all blasting forth the fuzz, flakes and R'n'B shakes. Stay tuned for MORE ACTION!

TV Casualty

Here's a real moldie oldie for ya from way back in 1990. This one was first published in Winnipeg alt music mag Friction and later in the Mad magazine tribute issue of Roctober. Stay tuned for MORE ACTION!

This Is A Riot!

Here's the cover art for the cool Winnipeg Riot! compilation CD, released on Dionysus Records back in 2006. Documenting the Winnipeg rock'n'roll scene from approximately 1997-2004, the CD compiles a whole mess of wild garage, punk, rockabilly and surf combos, all wailin' heedlessly away in a city chock fulla squares. Top local combos The Farrell Bros, The Horribles, Hot Live Guys, Squareheads, American Flamewhip, The Hestons, The Insaniacs and The Mohosimrots are all represented on here (all of 'em have been blabbed about in previous entries on this blog) along with some equally fine but lesser known bands. You can (and should) still order this CD direct from the Dionysus Records website. My cover art was meant to illustrate the degree of indifference these combos faced playing in a city that has pretty much abandoned its rock'n'roll heritage. It is also part of my ongoing series of Grumpy Old Men drawings. For a bonus, here's the poster I put together for the Winnipeg Riot! CD release party at the Royal Albert. Stay tuned for MORE ACTION!

Vampire Vixens

This was the back cover art for the Monkeyfuck 10" by sinister French garage/psych combo The Beach Bitches. Like a lotta my mid-'90s work this piece was heavily influenced by the illustrations in old horror pulps like Weird Tales. This drawing also appeared in an issue of Winnipeg's alt comix anthology Sunburn back in the '90s. Stay tuned for MORE ACTION!

Frantic Romantic

Here's the first logo I did for cool French label Frantic City Records back in 2008. I just got a package from the label containing a swank T-shirt featuring this art plus a bunch of hip new 7"s by various trashy French garage and punk rock combos (plus one from Holland) and other neato swag like stickers and posters, all of 'em featuring the logo above (or the other one I did for 'em last year which you can find in the archives of this blog). If you're a fan of rock'n'roll you should check this stuff out 'cuz it's the real thing, baby. Stay tuned for MORE ACTION!

That's Not Fog, It's Smog!

This is another one of those oddball gigs you sometimes encounter when you're working as a freelance artisté. It was meant to help peddle some kind of bogus anti-smog air-cleansing device. I thought my '50s-style original version above was pretty effective at getting the general idea across but my client insisted on using a revised version (see below) with accusing mother, hapless infant and asphyxiated teddy bear to more directly hammer on the guilt impulses of all the potential suckers out there. I must admit that I kind of get a kick out of these grifter-ish assignments when they come my way. Stay tuned for MORE NEVER GIVE A SUCKER AN EVEN BREAK ACTION!

Alternative Is Here To Stay!

Here's a poster I made back in 1994 for a Winnipeg show by a couple of then-popular "Alternative Rock" combos. I wasn't a fan of either group so I fell back on a technique I've used several times when called upon to draw something for bands I didn't know much about and wasn't interested in: I came up with a weird idea based on the band's name. The drawing on this is not very good but I like the design and that plus the hand lettering and overall wackiness of the whole thing make it worthy of your momentary perusal in my humbled opinion. Stay tuned for MORE ACTION!

Space Madness

Here's one of several drawings I did for those rock'n'roll invaders from another world, The Knurlings. I didn't want to make these drawings but they had control of my mind. I could tell you the facts as I know them about these unearthly creatures, but I'm pretty sure all I have are false memories implanted by their unholy alien technology. Stay tuned for MORE ACTION!

Speed Kings Ride Tonite

I made this poster back in 2003 for a planned Winnipeg show by Marky Ramone and the Speed Kings. This was a double blast for me both as a huge Ramones fan and as a friend of Speed Kings guitarist Nick, formerly of the cool Belgian combos Midnight Men and The Buckweeds. All the Speed Kings record sleeve art had a '50s juvenile delinquent theme so I adopted that idea for this poster. Unfortunately the Canadian tour was canceled at the last minute which also put the kibosh on plans for a silkscreen version of the poster. The band broke up very shortly thereafter. Marky eventually showed up in Winnipeg for the first time a couple of years later when he was drumming for The Misfits. Stay tuned for MORE ACTION!

Pyro-Mania

I made this cover back in 1999 for a zine chronicling the heavy duty fusion of punk and '70s hard rawk that was thriving around that time. My memory on this is a little vague but I think they were publishing out of Eastern Canada somewhere. I never got a copy of the mag and in fact I'm not even sure that it ever came out. Anyone ever see a printed copy of this thing? I wouldn't mind scoring a copy for my archives if they are actually out there somewhere. More neat stuff coming soon. Stay tuned for MORE ACTION!

Haunting With The Horribles

Probably the most legendary band of Winnipeg's modern rock'n'roll era, The Horribles got together in 1997 and made their stage debut opening for the one and only local appearance by The Spaceshits that year. Mixing '77 punk, hardcore and street rock with dashes of garage, psychobilly and metal, The Horribles ruled the local scene until their breakup in 2000 and inspired the most all out craziness seen at local shows. Huge wild slam pits, stage invasions, Halloween props and copious amounts of blood, both fake and 100% real, were staples of their loud, fun and frequent live sets. They had a batch of great, super catchy original tunes, most of which are to be found on their one and only CD release, You Should Hate Them. One track from the CD can be heard on the Winnipeg Riot! comp of local rock'n'roll action from the '97-04 period. A few later originals sadly never saw proper studio recordings though there is a live set from local college radio that includes some of them. Drummer Brian Six-Pac went on to play with the Farrell Bros, Squareheads, Switchblade Sisters, Accosters and others before moving to Montreal and joining the Demon's Claws. Bassist Clockwork Alex played in a great but short-lived local powerpop band called The Detentions. I'm proud to have been able to help out The Horribles with the skull logo above, which was used on buttons and patches, and the art below which was used on stickers and flyers back in the early days of the band. I miss The Horribles and all the craziness that went on back then. Hard to believe more than 10 years have gone by already. Oh well. Stay tuned for MORE EVIL IN A LEOPARD PRINT SKIRT ACTION!

Vehicular Homicide

My "Goonsmoke" painting from the Sci-Fi Western art show (see yesterday's post for all the gory details on that) sold to a guy named John who ran the Toyroom Gallery in Sacramento. He later got in touch with me and asked me to make a poster design for an art show he was putting on at the gallery and here be the result. There was a nice big silkscreen version of this poster. I guess not many were printed of that (I only got one copy myself) but I don't know exactly what the print run was. Stay tuned for MORE ACTION!

Goonsmoke

One of my few published paintings, this piece was done in 2002 for the Sci-Fi Western art show which was curated by Miss Sunny Buick and took place in San Francisco in early 2003. My original idea for a submission to this show didn't work out so I had to bash this thing out in a real big hurry but it's kinda fun. This painting appeared in the cool art book featuring work from the show which was published by venerable undergrounders Last Gasp, quite a thrill for this longtime salivatin' fan of Skull Comix. This piece led to another interesting art gig which I will tell you about in tomorrow's post if we all make it that far. Stay tuned for MORE ACTION!

Tripmaker

Inspired by '60s fuzz punk and heavy reading of underground comix at an impressionable age, Tripmaker is possibly the best comic strip I've ever done. This one was widely published, appearing in Roctober, Misty Lane, Fiesta Germany and possibly one or two other zines. Needless to say this was inspired by the classic song of the same name from the second album by The Seeds. I had a chance to send a copy of this strip to Sky Saxon a few years ago but unfortunately he didn't share his thoughts about it with me. Stay tuned for MORE LYSERGIC ACID ACTION!

Teenage Lobotomy

This one started way back in 1997 as a conceptual pencil sketch for a tribute album to legendary punk rockers The Queers which an Italian label was planning to put out. I believe B-Face from The Queers ended up doing the cover design for that CD himself. The sketch for this piece landed in my ever-growing "Finish 'Em One Of These Years" stack until 2007 when I dug it out and completed the inking and coloring. Graced with a few minor revisions this very morning, here it is served up with relish for your delirious delectation. More comix stuff coming in the next couple of days. Stay tuned for MORE ACTION!

Let's Have A Party!

Here's my comic strip tribute to rockabilly/country legend Wanda Jackson, drawn on the occasion of her induction into Roctober magazine's Hall Of Dynamic Greatness back in 1999. The drawing appeared as part of an elaborate 32 page calendar insert in issue #26 of Roctober. Stay tuned for MORE HOT DOG, THAT MADE HIM MAD ACTION!

Saturday The 14th

Here's a wacky little comic strip I drew some years back. It was first published in issue #8 of Winnipeg's excellent alt comix anthology Sunburn, way back in the summer of 1998. I'm pretty sure it appeared in another zine or two back around that time but I couldn't tell you what or where without a lotta diggin' through my archives which I don't have time to do right now. More comix stuff comin' soon. Stay tuned for MORE ACTION!

Teenage Bratpack

Here's the sleeve art for a 6-song 7" EP that came out in Germany back in 2002. I guess you'd have to file these bands under the dodgy moniker of pop punk but it's good Ramones-based punk rock'n'roll and not any kinda Blink 182 bandwagon jumpin' junk. Chris from The Reekys was the brains behind Varmint Records, the label that put this one out. Stay tuned for MORE ACTION!

Snitches

Here's a quickie poster for a 2003 Winnipeg show by The Snitches. Don't know much about these guys. I was told that they were a garage rock combo but at the show they sounded more like pop punk to my ears. I think this was their only show here. Stay tuned for MORE ACTION!

Fuzz Overdose!

Here's a couple versions of a logo I designed last year for hip Greek garage label Fuzz Overdose Records. Stay tuned for MORE ACTION!

Primitive!

You may have noticed that most of the stuff I'm posting on this blog dates from about 1995 or later. I did quite a bit of work in the early '90s but generally it is too technically crude to befit the rarefied atmosphere that we strive to maintain here in the Rubber Room. However, here's an oldie where the primitive quality of the drawing actually kind of enhances the overall effect. Drawn way back in 1992, this was an ad for the cool German garage/punk/powerpop record mailorder operation Soundflat which is still going strong to this very day. Stay tuned for MORE ACTION!

Electrocuting Frankenstein

Here is the first poster design I did for Electric Frankenstein way back in 2002. This was drawn for the first EF art book which was published by Dark Horse in 2004. This is not the actual poster that was originally used to promote this concert in 1997. The idea was to create new posters especially for the book for those shows which did not have the trademark cool EF monster graphics on the original poster and I was lucky enough to be invited to contribute this piece, joining a power-packed lineup that included over 180 wild rock'n'roll artistés from all over the world. Stay tuned for MORE ELECTRIFYIN' ACTION!

Terror Twins

Here are a couple of things I just put together for Tempo and the Terror Twins, a 4-piece Link Wray inspired instrumental combo outta Norway featuring ex-Basement Brats action hero Nils Tempo on rock'n'roll guitar. The color piece is a first for me; it's the "sleeve" for a download-only 3 song EP that will be available at Amazon and other legal music download sites. Another backward step into the future for your old pal King Merinuk. Stay tuned for MORE ACTION!

Beware Of Ghouls

This monster mashin' mess was originally drawn as a poster for a Halloween garage rock gig in Calgary that Tiemen from Dragsville and Teenage Depression zines put together back in 2002. I wasn't happy with the way part of the original version turned out so a couple of years later when The Independents asked me to design a poster for their 2004 tour I worked up a revised version and added some color. Independents guitarist Willy B printed up 100 silkscreen posters of this in his secret laboratory in the castle East, near the master bedroom where the vampires feast. Stay tuned for MORE ACTION!

Amaze Your Friends!

Here's another wacky Lonely Vulcans poster. This one was inspired by the weird ads for cheap, gimmicky magic tricks that you used to see in comic books. Stay tuned for MORE ACTION!

Goin' To The Graveyard...

And we're gonna get buried. This was a tattoo design for my friend Murderhouse Mike of Martian Graverobbers and Zombie Assault!! fame. He already had a shrouded ghost that I had drawn for the cover of the "In Scareo" 10" by The Fiends tattooed on his shoulder and wanted a spooky background for it, so I drew up this jolly little graveyard scene. Stay tuned for MORE ACTION!

Drive-By

Here's a little gag drawing I did some years back featuring the grimy clown character that I came up with for the band Flat Stanley (see "Killer Klown" post below for more on that). I sent it to the band but I dunno if they ever used it for anything. Stay tuned for MORE ACTION!