The Pain Teens from Houston were formed by multi-instrumentalist, producer and engineer Scott Ayers and female singer Bliss Blood (who wrote the lyrics too), completed by David Parker on drums and Steve Cook on electric bass. Ralf Armin plays guitar on 3 tracks of Born in Blood (which are in fact the best tracks), and Austin Caustic provided tapes for 1 track of Case Histories.

The group is generally filed under Punk, and their global sound is somewhere between early Black Sabbath and punk bands as Black Flag: rather slow tempo, focus on guitars and drums, the singing is quite low key, especially for Born in Blood. A quite interesting detail is the use of stickloops instead of digital sampling. This means that the tapes are actually cut and reassembled to loops of some inches. Then the tape is hold by a stick and continuously played.

Both albums were recorded 1990 and Case Histories was included as bonus on the CD when Born in Blood was released.

CASE HISTORIES
is a catalog of sordid as can be stories: Bannoy, a boy raised in a cellar and fed with dog food, a New Woman that is in fact a serial killer trying to "wipe out human race" since "the time has come for women to be cruel". The whole thing served with Bliss Bloods vocals, slow crushing guitars, drums and noises as well as tape loops and it fails to impress me, since it totally lacks sincerity and real emotion.

BORN IN BLOOD
is in any way the more interesting album. Less fake blood and less pain inflicted to innocent victims and listeners, more loops and sound effects and even a bit more emotion.
Pleasures of the Flesh is relatively upbeat. The chorus says:
Oh yes my Darling, you will see,
the pleasures of the flesh will bring you back to me
Oh yes my Darling, you will find,
the pleasures of the flesh will drive you out of your mind
and I guess you get the picture: Bliss Blood as Venus in furs…

On The Way Love Used to Be most instruments sound very strange, while Bliss Bloods singing can be compared to the female voice of the late my bloody valentine. The enigma of this strange sound is solved in Desu Evol Yaw (the title is already a hint to the solution): on this track the singing is as bizarre as most instruments on The Way Love Used to Be. Quite normal, since it is THE SAME SONG played backwards.

Some tracks such as She Shook Me or My Desire may sound interesting at a first listen, especially out of their context, but since the same recipe (heavy sound and subject matter associated with a female voice) is used for almost every song, and often with less talent, the whole CD is quite a deception.

Track listing
BORN IN BLOOD
The Basement
Pleasures of the Flesh
Shotguns
Bad in My Head
The Way Love Used to Be
Secret is Sickness
Lady of Flame
Desu Evol Yaw
She Shook Me
Christo
My Desire
Noh Jam

CASE HISTORIES
Hands in Fire
Bannoy
Veil of Light
Puzzling Diagnoses
Wot's De Matter
Preppy Killer
Unthinkable
Path of Destruction
New Woman
Bug in a Can

Recommended: No