Green on Red - Gas Food Lodging

Green on Red’s Gas Food Lodging was a high point for the band, a lasting document of 80’s post-punk rock, and a precursor to the alt-country movement of the 90s. That’s quite a bit of hyperbole, I know, but this record, first released in 1985, does have staying power. The addition of Chuck Prophet on guitar amped up and roughened up the band’s twang, but just as integral were core members Dan Stuart (vocals, guitar) and Chris Cacavas, whose organ gave the group its signature sound. As the title suggests, this is a road record, equal parts Kerouac and serial killer. It sounds, at times, like Crazy Horse, minus the freak-flag-fly romanticism of Neil Young. The record’s centerpiece is the three song raveup, “Sixteen Ways”/“The Drifter”/“Sea of Cortez,” which ends with Stuart’s primitive, anguished wail crashing against a wall of guitars, keys, and drums. As a bonus, the re-release includes the self titled, 7-track debut, which includes gems like “Hair and Skin.” Now it’s time for a double of Gravity Talks and No Free Lunch, the Mercury release currently available only as an import. Gas Food Lodging, along with records like The Days of Wine and Roses and Rum Sodomy and the Lash, will disabuse you of the notion that 80s rock totally sucked.