Men With No IQ's: True Black Metal from Mississippi

Ever since Pete Larson at Bulb reissued an LP of the 1986 primitive recordings by Hattiesburg, Mississippi geniuses the Terrifying Sickos, I've been on a quest to find whatever I could from what must have been a bizzaro circle and scene around them. I got pretty excited when DJ Rick on KDVS aired a compilation tape on the Primordial Sid label that revealed more Mississippi basement confusion by the likes of the Wheezing Crapheads, Cellophane Squids, and a truly drunk, woozy, and inspired version of Black Flag's "Nervous Breakdown" by the Skoalkans (who are said to have opened for Corrosion of Conformity). I got even more excited when Primordial Sid himself found I had played the Sickos and then floated a pile of CDRs my way last year. Then, he recently wrote me to point out the existence of another hallowed combo of legend: the Men With No IQ's. They indeed exhuded the same awesomeness as the rest of the Sid scene, though from a more metal side of things. From their My Space page (which someone else has set up, and on which the bassist has promised more pix soon):

"When I was 15 I used to sneak in to a dive called W.C. Don's in Jackson, Miss to see the monthly hardcore shows that seemed to come around at that point. Inevitably, Men With No IQ's would be opening the show. They were three African American guys who looked about as out of place as anyone ever could. The bass player, Booger Man White and the drummer, Steve Harris (no relation to the bass player from Maiden) were so huge that they would literally dwarf their tiny pawn shop instruments. Sylvester was the hot shot of the band, and he had like 10 Peavey practice amps, all stacked up on one another. Sylvester would always play with his shirt off while the other two guys wore custom MNI shirts and baseball caps that were most likely made at one of those iron-on shops in the Jackson Mall. THEY WERE AWESOME. I regret to say that I didn't appreciate them nearly enough at the time but they would always SLAY."

The Men with No IQ's almost remind me of Teezar in terms of the DIY-metal 80's insanity factor (they were referred to by someone as the soundtrack of a Budweiser and meth binge), but the lines are divided on the reality of that band's existence. I know I for one am disappointed when people go through the trouble of making extensive discographies and biographies and recordings for fictional bands, and I refuse to believe any kind of naysaying on some of them, but needless to say I am salivating over the mention that more MwNIQ's tracks are hovering around out there.

The Men With No IQ's "Can't Resist It" (MP3)

The Men With No IQ's "Dreamin' " (MP3)

Comments

[Goyim in the AM]

^^ spambots getting more sophisticated.

[jeff]

"10 Peavey amps , all stacked up" just made my day - though it is still early

[Aaron White]

Thanks for this! I really grooved on the Men With No IQs

[Mike Stender]

I originally found out about the Men with no IQ's from a Maximum RnR scene report "back in the day", I wonder if any of the other bands you mentioned were in that...anyway, I queried the Hyped2Death guy several years ago about them and he confirmed their existence and had a single, I was pretty excited. Found their Myspace last year and loved what I heard. Now, downloads and news of other crazy Mississippi stuff...my day is indeed made, thanks a million!

[DJ Rick]

Thanks for posting this B.T. ...This is killer!

[Pete Larson]

I made that MySpace page. Unfortunately I haven't been able to get any more tunes, but I think that Stewart might have some.

[Tom Beck]

Spotted this via Boing Boing, and it brought back a flood of memories. I remember seeing these guys many times at Don's. Always wondered what happened to them. Thanks for this, Brian!

[Bill Shoemaker]

ahhh, W.C. Don's, I literally lived there, it was the best place to hear local and sometimes nationally known non-commercial acts. voted as one of the top 10 dive in the country by musician magazine-a dubious honor.