Fatal Charm 

1975-1980
A Brief History Of A Brief History

released 1994

 

 

The Players The Cover
 

Toby (Rob?) Duprey: guitar, vocals

Kristian Hoffman: keyboards

Kevin Kiely: bass guitar, vocals

Aaron Kiley: bass guitar

Lance Loud: vocals, jew's harp, flute

Paul Rutner: drums

Michele Loud, Delilah Loud: background vocals

Joe Katz: 

David Collert: 

Kim Cheeseman: 

 

The Songs

 
 01. I Like To Be Clean (Kristian Hoffman)

 02. Crocodile Tears (Kristian Hoffman)

 03. Rock & Roll This, Rock & Roll That (Kristian Hoffman)

 04. Muscleboys (Lance Loud)

 05. Fatal Charm (Kristian Hoffman)

 06. Brain Massage (Kristian Hoffman)

 07. Scream & Scream Again (Kristian Hoffman)

 08. Just Look, Don't Touch (Kristian Hoffman)

 09. Did You Get The Girl? (Kristian Hoffman)

 10. Anyone But You (Kristian Hoffman)

 11. Not Again (Kristian Hoffman)

 12. Awkward Age (Kristian Hoffman)

  13. Before The Accident (Kristian Hoffman)

 14. Forget Me Not (Kristian Hoffman)

 15. Teach Me (Lance Loud)

 16. S.O.S. (Kristian Hoffman)

 17. We Ended Up (Lance Loud)

 18. Dutch Boy (Kristian Hoffman)

 19. Stupid (Kristian Hoffman)

 20. Dance Tunes For The Underdogs (Kristian Hoffman)

 21. Photogenia (Kristian Hoffman)

 22. Gimme Gimme (Kristian Hoffman)

 23. Crocodile Tears (The Mankey Version)

 

 

The Liner Notes
 

Too pop for punk, too "old school" for the New Wave. Mumps were a 70's era New York rock band, out of time. Everything about us was contradictory or cockeyed in a fashion era in which motorcycle jackets, mohawk hairdos, torn clothing and lots and lots of chains were the order of the day, we were the band most often seen in jackets, dress shirts and ties. Our high vaunting musical ambitions were matched with low ranking musical expertise, we had a lead singer who could sweat better than he could stay in key, and besides the fact that three of us were gay in a hetero-heavy field which only acknowledged homosexuality as being a passing marketing ploy in David Bowie's career. The only thing shared between us all was our weird combination of superiority and insecurity.

lncluded on this compilation you'll hear just about everything Mumps ever recorded both our singles, a smattering of early rehearsal tapes, demos, an alternate version, and even one number "Stupid" which was recorded for a compilation record of New York bands that never got released and which now sounds, to me at least, to be among the best things we ever committed to tape.

Now from beyond the grave, Mumps are back. What's our worth in this day and age? Coming from a point in time, before MTV, that is as good as prehistoric, there is of course the archeological factor. (....Jurassic Punk?) Then there is also the timeless factor. Allowing myself only a moment on the soap box, our music spoke to the true misfit class of American teenager. Not the poetic James Dean type dream outcast, but the real, nerdy, nobody wants em, Forgotten Teens. You know the type. Too square to be down with the homeboys too idiotic to be up with the illelectuals, too insecure to be the center of attention and too impatient to just sit at home and wait until they get to be 21. Mumps music, and this of course was based on the tunes and lyrics mostly of Kristian Hoffman, spoke to the disenfranchised, kids who wanted to fit in any place but fit in no place instead. These Mumps miscreants came to our shows, loved my sweating and sour notes, were bewitched by Kristian Hoffman's pouting piano presence, thought Toby Duprey was the hottest guitarist ever, Paul Rutner was the toughest drummer around and Kevin Kiely was what the Venus De Mila would have been had she been a teenaged runaway male in the 2Oth century who played bass. The record of course is, as far as I'm concerned, first of all is for the former members of Mumps, something to show for the seven years spent in hard labor on the chain gang of rock and roll. But secondly this record is for the dorky youth. For kids who are dumb, unpopular, and considering a lifetime fraught with serious adjustment problems...Mumps the word.

-LANCE LOUD '94

 

The Comments
 

FATAL CHARM is a collection of nearly every Mumps recording, including singles, early rehearsal tapes, demos, alternate versions, and compilation tracks.

AMG EXPERT REVIEW: Fatal Charm compiles essentially the complete recorded works of the quirky New York band, including the simply wonderful "Crocodile Tears," as well as some equally spirited outtakes and live rehearsals. Though very little of the Mumps' music was released during their five years together as a band, their live shows were legendary, influencing many of the next generation of new wave and alternative rockers; Fatal Charm helps explain why bands continue to namedrop them twenty years later. — Chris Woodstra

 

 

The Mumps Biography

The Mumps were one of the most obscure, but distinctive, New York bands of the late '70s, performing an absurdly theatrical fusion of pop, punk and glam rock. Led by vocalist Lance Loud, the group's music was an affectionate satire of '70s kitsch culture, predating the similar obsessions of the B-52's by a number of years. The Mumps rocked as hard as the New York Dolls, while writing clever pop hooks the updated trashy garage and bubblegum singles of the '70s.

Although they never even earned a large underground following, the group was a favorite of many punk rockers of the era (including the Ramones, Blondie, the New York Dolls, X, Television, the Cramps, Devo, and the Go-Go's), as well as '80s alternative rockers like R.E.M.:, Game Theory, and Sparks.

In addition to Lance Loud, the core lineup of the Mumps also featured keyboardist Kristian Hoffman, guitarist Rob Duprey, bassist Kevin Kiely, and drummer Paul Rutner. Over the years, the lineup changed slightly, with Loud, Hoffman, and Duprey remaining the constant members in each incarnation of the band. The Mumps only released two singles while they were active in the late '70s, but in 1994 Eggbert Records released a CD called Fatal Charm that compiled everything the band ever recorded, including outtakes, alternate takes, and live rehearsals. Fatal Charm proves that the Mumps' music remains vibrant, creative, and intoxicatingly bizzare nearly 20 years after it was recorded. 

~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine, All Music Guide

 

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