Pistol Whip was the first ever Glam Rock / Punk band from Erie, PA, and their lone 7-inch on Endangered Species, released in 1977, is a scorcher and a prized collectible. This release contains the original 7-inch, plus the 1978 demo. The DVD contains wild 8mm footage from back in the day plus interviews, photos, and more!
A Snippet. PISTOL WHIP @ the Erie Arts Festival 1978. Adapted from 8mm film (without audio) and synched to the board mix! Witness Break Dancing... Lead Guitar Style!
"After I witnessed them tearing apart (yes, literally tearing it apart) a club in Peoria, Illinois at a Prairie Sun party I was won over. The group was sheer pandemonium and the energy kind of reminded me of early Rockers days".
"During their Midwest dates last winter, Pistol Whip was blamed for everything from starting a riot in Linesville, Iowa, to polluting Lake Erie".
-Prairie Sun, 1978
"Terminal is a powerful release that should have been available many moons ago. Uniting the likes of New York Dolls' rawness without the pomp, a touch of pre-new wave keyboards, pelvic blues and outright rock the Forgotten Rebels pine for, the album has so many loose, twangy barbs it's undeniably pure garage rock. As performed in a greasy, dingy mechanic's bay, not some pristine condo, that is. Smarmy and edgy, while still unpretentious, this is a great shot of primal punk".
"Formed in 1976 and disbanded in 1978, the group had talent to spare. "Heart Throb" and "Untouchables," the first two songs here, are catchy and melodic, and even feature harmony vocals. But all 10 songs on this album have held up well. A bonus DVD includes live footage and interviews with band members".
"I believe the overall sound that this band represents is timeless and since it was released in the late 1970s. The sound reflects the American side of punk rock which incorporated more elements of garage and glam as opposed to the Brits.".
".Pistol Whip were a band from Erie, PA (that’s pronounced pee-ayyy), that underwent a mysterious transformation between their Uber-obscure 7-inch from ’77 and the previously unreleased demos they cut in Chicago the following year. On the former, they’re a rather undistinguished mid-‘70s rock band a la Kiss(particularly on “The Untouchables” – inspirational verse: “Is every woman really a whore?”). On the latter, they’re the Dictators. Seriously – if gravel-voiced wiseass Willie Cotter wasn’t intentionally aping Handsome Dick, then he must surely have been channeling him. And Rick DiBello gave you more flash (if somewhat less finesse) than Ross the Boss. They even made the throwback organ work for them. (Deep Purple as punk?)".
"Pistol Whip played with snarling, assaulting energy, with Drumm sometimes baiting the crowd. They were also electrifying on stage. Footage from an Arts Festival gig shows DiBello racing around then prone on his back, spinning around in a Curly Howard kind of move while never missing a lick. A lean, limber Cotter gyrated and slithered around the stage like an Iggy Pop/Mick Jagger hybrid"
"...Fans of punk luminaries the Clash, T.Rex, and the Cramps and more recent bands like The Busy Signals or The Exploding Hearts will only be wishing this band had released more material by the time they're done with this retrospective".
"The music on the album is a good example of the early days of punk on the rise. Pistol Whip is definitely a band that could have held their own with the likes of The Clash and The Sex Pistols".
The quintet freely mixed punk, garage rock, power pop and more angular sounds with solid songwriting for an abrasive but melodic noise not too many other folks made back in 1978.
Pistol Whip embodies a kind of reckless innocence that still holds up well 30 years later. But other than the occasional dated lyric, Terminal stands up as just kick ass rock and roll the kind of thing that never really gets old no matter how many years pass by.
"After I witnessed them tearing apart (yes, literally tearing it apart) a club in Peoria, Illinois at a Prairie Sun party I was won over. The group was sheer pandemonium and the energy kind of reminded me of early Rockers days".