GØGGS’ Chris Shaw on Final Warning – “Out of Sight, Out of Mind” 
Got another edition of Hidden Gems and this time I’ve got Chris Shaw digging into his record bin to pick out a treasure that’s been roughed up by the injustice of history. If you’re unfamiliar with Shaw, he’s been the enigmatic front man for Ex-Cult, who burnt through a run on Goner and In The Red in the last few years. Following that he’s paired up with Ty Segall and mems of Fuzz to bash out psychedelic heaviness with GØGGS. Their latest LP elevates the band to a heady, heavy level that’s enviable to say the least. Now Chris looks back to a perennial favorite from Final Warning, a record that rips as hard today as it did in ’84. I asked Chris how this record came into his life and what impact it’s had on his own music.
Shaw reveals, “I bought this record on tour when I was in my early 20’s, and ten years later it’s never gone that far from the turntable. I play it every Christmas morning. It was originally released on Pig Champion’s Fatal Erection records, home to the best hardcore EP in history- Pick Your King by his band Poison Idea. This label called Blackwater reissued [Out of Sight, Out of Mind] in 2008, which is probably when I bought it. Their re-issue is pure class, with a gatefold cover housing the 7-inch. Every sick record should be a gatefold. If anyone reading this has an original they want to part with, hit me up.”
Examining what makes this one so special Chris muses, “As for the music, the guitar tone on this record, specifically the first song “Out of Sight, Out of Mind,” is so insane and fucking evil. The vocal delivery is perfect. This song is like the soundtrack to being dropped in hell. The other three songs are also flawless, my second favorite being “The Bunker.” Naturally, I wonder if its had an impact on the direction of Ex-Cult or GØGGS “Yeah it’s probably influenced my work in GØGGS more so than my other projects,” Shaw says. “I could only hope to be this nasty. I like showing this band to people who like GBH or Cryptic Slaughter or Inepsy, they deserve to be heard by more people. RIP to Final Warning member Jeff Paul who died in a motorcycle accident.”
Its clear when Final Warning is on the speakers that there’s a definite connection between Shaw’s brutally gnarled songs and the ’84 EP’s speed-ripped sludge. Unfortunately, even that 2008 repress is a bit hard to come by these days, though Discogs and Ebay will provide, but there’s always the respite of digital to save the day in a pinch.
Support the artist. Buy it HERE.