Jon Wayne
Texas Funeral

Now, these four crazies put 12 songs on a vinyl and make it a little gem. They play (played, did play) cowpunk with true hardcore edges and an irreverent as well as entertaining irony. The slow and more traditionally country tracks are plagued with drunkenness while Jon Wayne, the quintessential western hero, croaks sardonically, making big fun of Texans, Texas, and more broadly an overly stereotyped way of being American. It must be said that it is in gems like this record that one understands how eclectic and unconventional the Californian punk scene of the eighties was. The Minutemen and SST, the Gun Club, the Dead Kennedys, and the bands from San Francisco, up to Texas with the Dicks, Butthole Surfers, etc... Jon Wayne in the punk scene of the time is perfect: an eclectic group, a bunch of buffoons, delirious and delightful songs, in their own naive way. "Texas Cyclone", the fourth song of side A is an electric and distorted country shot at hardcore speed, it lasts 33". Crazy stuff. Wonderful.