Die Laughing Records Reissue Fang’s 1986 Album ‘Spun Helga’

Die Laughing Records have reissued Oakland, CA punk band Fang‘s 1986 album Spun Helga, after being released 35+ years ago Spun Helga now sees the light of day digitally for the first time ever. The current lineup is original front man Sam McBride (Sammytown) along with Obadiah Bowling and Tommy Knox on guitar, bass player Brandon Brown and drummer Mike Eightysixed. In the past five years, Fang has toured Brazil, Cuba, Mexico, Japan and Europe as well as numerous U.S. tours. Fang were recently profiled in the Turn It Around: The Story of East Bay Punk documentary and their song We Die Alone has been featured in the The Ranger, that is now airing on the Shudder Network. 2021 will see the back catalog of Fang records made available for the first time ever as digital downloads, as well as some surprises from this iconic active Oakland hardcore punk band.

“In 1985 Fang relocated to Europe, at first living in England but finally settling in Bremen, West Germany. In Bremen at the time, there was a war going on between the Punk Rockers and the Nazi skinheads. I was asked to join a street gang called The Outsiders (Anti Skin League). We would regularly fight the Nazis and sometimes the cops. The first song on Spun Helga, ‘Tits and Oi’, is calling out all the fascists and their sick mentality. It was the 80s so the ever-present fear of a nuclear war rears its ugly head in ‘Dr. Eugene Scott’ (a bizarre televangelist) and as it was in Germany there was a lot of drinking and partying (Tequila). While we were living in Germany, a friend of mine, Lyon Wong from Tales of Terror was killed in a street fight in Sacramento which inspired the song ‘Honor Among Thieves’. Everyone either loved or hated ‘Madonna’ so we closed out the record with our choral tribute to her. The doorway we opened between Bremen and Oakland is still alive today and many bands were able to follow in our footsteps to Germany and beyond. The record was released in 1986 by the now long defunct National Trust Records in the US and We Bite Records in Europe. The cover art on the US release is by outsider artist Joe Coleman.” (Sammytown)

Spun Helga can be streamed and purchased here