The Paisley Umbrella

Hail To The Clear Figurines: How Artists and Indie Labels Can Make Rock ‘n’ Roll Better If It Can’t Be Saved

2011-05-27T02:59:00.004-05:00

I just stopped writing this big, overblown history of how digital format has changed the music industry in both good and bad ways. I’ll spare you by not clogging the blogosphere with more garbage that only a select few will read and like all opinions thrown out there, will generate an endless barrage of conflict and bickering. However, I’ll repeat my often touted opinion that the music has gotten much better while the industry on the whole, at least the larger parts, are failing. The digital revolution gave smaller indie and unsigned acts a better chance to have their music heard. It’s an ongoing problem that there’s so much out there that nobody cares anymore. They don’t discover music anymore. They don’t go to a record store and hear something new. Radio and internet radio can still do that, but with being able to change songs on internet radio, the limited audience of satellite radio, and pure radio being only heard as an effort by the devoted, the opportunity and therefore, the excitement of hearing something new is not there anymore.

We’re overloaded. MP3’s have advantages, but it’s a nonstop feed. Even if we hear something good, we can buy it on download or many illegally download. It’s binary code and holds little meaning. There’s this whole generation that’s grown up on collecting binary code. Music is art. Albums are art because the packaging is how the artist presents their work to the world. It has greater meaning as a whole. Vinyl has always had a small but devoted audience, and that’s mostly been from musicians and audiophiles. It has advantages. It sounds better, it’s visual, listening to vinyl is a ritual and one can’t sit there with a remote and switch between thousands of songs. It’s more active.

Many of us and the bands we love appreciate technology and like that we can take the music we love anywhere, but it comes at a cost to those who make it since one can buy a few songs and even a full mp3 album is cheaper than vinyl. However, and this is the most important point: Vinyl was the only music medium that grew last year. The digital revolution is here and has been for a long time, but we see its disadvantages, and a growing audience is beginning to see that, too.

CD sales are declining, MP3 sales are stable, vinyl sales are growing. So why not press only vinyl? Vinyl is a lot more expensive to make. It’s 50 cents to make a CD, they sell for $15, it’s $10 to buy an MP3 album, but no art. A CD cover is small and cheesy, though. Albums? They’re big, sensitive to heat, need to be held and cared for gingerly, the art is better, you can read liner notes, oh, and we know: They sound better. Albums are $5 to make, though, and one has to order them in larger quantities, so it’s a bigger investment.

We love rock ‘n’ roll, we want it to live on. Most of our indie label friends, bands, and unsigned ones feel the same way, but the truth is that CDs and MP3’s are cheaper for them to make, and vinyl is not huge in sales.

We all want the same thing, don’t we? We do! We want great music. We want to see the artists get recognized. We want them to do well so they can keep making music. We want the labels they’re on to keep putting it out. So artists, labels, and fans: We want the same thing, only the first two are the ones making and selling, the third needs to buy it. Make it special. Be creative. Not just with the music, but how you put it out into the world.

It’s not just the music that matters. It’s a product that we’re investing in. It’s art. For many of us, it has symbolic meaning as material culture. It’s the packaging, the artwork, the care and effort that one puts into not just making the music, but presenting it to the world. I started telling people a few years ago that they should phase out CD’s entirely. They’re cheap, they don’t sound as good as we once thought, and most of us just burn it into mp3s and then put it away anyway. Wicked Cool Records was including CD copies with their vinyl. Although many still said the CD market was big when I made the comment, some started to ease toward multiple formats. Labels? You figured it out. Give us both formats and don’t force us to choose between one or the other since both have advantages and disadvantages. I want to listen to an album in my home. I want to take it out of the sleeve, put it on the turntable, and put the needle down, but I also want to take it with me so I could hear it at work, or in the car. We deserve multiple format and shouldn’t have to buy the same thing twice. I’m glad more of you have caught up.
We appreciate it. It’s not easy for you. The costs are higher for vinyl and you have a small consumer group for it, although it’s growing. You want to sell volume. You need to. You’re not here for just a few of us. We want you to so you can stay with us.
We love this music and we love you for putting it out, so we want to see the audience grow as much as you do.

So how do you do this? There’s a number of options that everyone’s playing around with. Right now, the accepted norm is vinyl with a download card. That’s pretty much industry standard. However, a few labels have tried new things that make it more exciting. Yep Roc Records offers a free instant download with album purchase. Great! Good things take time. We don’t mind waiting for fresh vinyl, but that extra step tells us, the consumers, that you’re offering instant gratification for our investment. How do you make that better? Do you remember when you heard upcoming releases on radio before they came out? Do that again! Send only vinyl to some radio stations. Release the album on your band and label site a few weeks later for preorder with the free instant download. We get the music early, the album arrives the same day it does in stores! How cool is that? It brings excitement and anticipation back.

What about Hail To The Clear Figurines? It’s stellar. Simple yet complex, droned out yet primitive, acidic, fuzzy yet clear, and with a genuine feel that’s simply unmatched. “ignition Slated For Eight” is the closest anyone’s ever gotten to “Piper At The Gates OF Dawn” despite the numerous psuedo goth sounding drone bands that try to get there but mostly can’t feel it and get nowhere near it. Consequently, The Asteroid #4 are still the most listened to band on Rainbow Quartz’s last fm station, but here’s where they set themselves apart from the rest of the industry currently. The Asteroid #4’s new album and their label, The Committee To Keep Music Evil, threw something new at me. Like a few others, they decided upon colored vinyl. This is special. A small amount more for manufacturing, depending on the volume, but it stands out. Again, it’s the presentation. It’s the details and just one more way one presents their art to the world. Not only that, but some of their earlier releases are reissued and available on colored vinyl also. It was very, very special when it came in the mail, I opened the records, put on the new one on red vinyl, marveled at the reissue of “Introducing The Asteroid #4 on dark, opaque blue vinyl, listened to the new one all the way through, put on the new 10 inch and marveled at hearing The Catherine Wheel Cover “I Want To Touch You”, which was almost a revelation when I heard it live a few years ago. I stayed up way too late that evening with the lights out listening to “Introducing...” on high volume and soaked in how the music filled the room, all the while thinking how the blue vinyl gave it a new feel that somehow should have always been there. The Asteroid #4 and TCTKME did something really, really special, and they have a few more reissued gems on colored vinyl that I’m really looking forward to getting and hearing again as if it’s for the first time.

Many you are rightfully thinking in practical terms. Vinyl is a big investment and most indie labels are boutique labels that cater to an audience, so it’s a bigger investment that’s not really feasible. The vinyl market is growing and will continue to do so substantially for the next few years, but maybe not to the point where the artists and the labels will be able to reap larger, tangible results to make the investment in pressing vinyl seem worthwhile. The Love Me Nots, an unsigned garage (for a lack of so many other great adjectives to describe them) act from Phoenix, AZ might have come up with a solution. They pressed 400 mango vinyl copies of their new album, The Demon And The Devotee on Project Infinity Records. Their last album, Upside Down/Inside Out, was also pressed in limited number. The first pressing in red vinyl sold out, so they made more in two tone black and red vinyl, so not only did they press a limited number, but made more that were slightly different once those sold out, thus appealing to some of their fans who might want to own both versions. By their example, a return to vinyl is possible if one keeps their numbers smaller but doesn’t create a snob factor by not making more available.

So there you have it. A problem. CDs are becoming obsolete and most real music fans are not going to take a download only copy seriously. You can’t cherish binary code. Vinyl is the only medium that’s growing. It sounds better, but it’s more expensive to make. Press vinyl. Do so in limited quantities. If you sell those, make more but experiment with a different color. Include the mp3 download card with the vinyl. It’s better if one offers the instant gratification for your fans by having a free download at the time of album purchase. Have it available before release date so the fans can feel special and to show them some gratitude for their enthusiasm. If you find a service that you can include download cards or link for the automatic download, but also feature you with other artists from the same or similar genre on their site. Apollo Music is a great example. Rainbow Quartz artists The High Dials, Solaram, TCTKME with The Asteroid #4, The Quarter After, and Brian Jonestown Massacre, Optical Sounds, a prolific psych label from Canada with act The Hoa Hoa’s, Planet Creature, The Disrealis, and others such as unsigned acts Sweet Jane and The Cult of Dom Keller. Apollo Music also offers download purchases, as well as free full length album streams. After all, having a place where you’re included with other unique, similar indie acts and especially if you have free streams on the same site increases your audience by giving you opportunity to be heard by an audience that’s genuinely interested.

Material culture has symbolic meaning. Cover art, liner notes, a unique color, whether solid, opaque, or marbleized, making limited vinyl copies, then making more available in a different color so more people can purchase it without making a huge investment to begin with that you might not be able to recoup, enabling the consumer to exercise their right once they buy your music to own it in multiple formats, and rewarding them with an instant download upon purchase of an album so they can enjoy the music before it gets to them in a few weeks is a reasonable, multitiered approach to keeping your costs low, making something unique that will encourage more excitement and devotion by your consumers, and getting your music out there to a larger potential audience with vinyl only advance copies sent to stations who will play your music and digital downloads and streams on a site that can highlight you among similar artists is a better tactic then doing one or the other, or as many are, struggling with a market that has different formats and can’t decide which way to go. You win, the vinyl fans win. Your music gets out there faster and is more available in the dominant format and the growing format.

Music is a gift. Great wrapping included. However, in the end, if your music isn’t great to begin with, what goes around it and how you present it to the world doesn’t make a difference. The music in the end has to speak for itself. For those of you that I’ve cited and those of you that I’m writing to, it already does.

Hail To The Clear Figurines.

The Fleshtones: IT'S SUPER ROCK TIME: The I.R.S. Years 1980-1985

2010-07-13T22:50:00.003-05:00

The Fleshtones

IT'S SUPER ROCK TIME: The I.R.S. Years 1980-1985
Raven Records

Whether you're a devoted fan trying to get their hands on the old stuff that isn't available, or a new convert to Super Rock, you've learned by now that older Fleshtones material is rare and super hard to come by unless you have unlimited funds to pay off shady dealers on ebay. Mourn no longer. Raven Records has released IT'S SUPER ROCK TIME: The I.R.S. Years 1980-1985 with a whopping 25 (!) tracks covering The Fleshtones' five year tenure at IRS Records. This is not just a compilation of their three IRS released Roman Gods, Hexbreaker!, and Speed Connection, but also rare tracks appearing on CD for the first time!

Songs like the raunchy fuzz of "The Dreg" put one smack in the middle of New York 1979 at a Blue Whale Party. It's not only young, fresh, and LOUD, but so surprisingly modern that you'll end up feeling like you missed out the first time, even if you didn't. Another track from Roman Gods is surf and harmonica of "The World Has Changed." The song and statement haven't aged at all. A personal favorite is "Screamin' Skull" from 1983's Hexbreaker! I owned a copy of the vinyl 25 years ago. Needless to say, I was a little new wave kid caught up in "The Age of Earnestness", so our beloved 'Tones didn't do too much for me back then since it had very little hints of seriousness, but I have fond memories of that tune as well as the silliness in Keith's voice on "Right Side of a Good Thing." It's great to hear it again. Obviously, it didn't take too long for me to learn my lesson.

I have to make a sidetone here about the whole "Age of Earnestness" thing. It was brought on by countless new wave bands who made serious, somber, sad, silly emo music. Unfortunately, it put great rock 'n roll bands like The Fleshtones and their former rehearsal space mates, The Cramps out of contention for gaining the recognition that they really deserved. Luckily for us, both bands are cemented in our own personal Hall of Great Rock 'n Roll Fame and their music continuously withstands the test of time and is rediscovered.

25 tracks to span five years, two studio albums, a live album, and tons of EPs, singles, maxi-singles, and extras. Over three decades of The Fleshtones. The great party anthem "Girl From Baltimore", the anthemic "American Beat '84", the psyched up cover of Lee Dorsey's "Ride The Pony", the awesome tremolo and sing along of "The Theme from The Vindicators" - honestly, every song is a sing along party anthem, a sweet groove, a little garage, a little rock, a little surf, and a whole lot of soul. It's a lot for five years and it only scratches the surface of just how good they really are. The Fleshtones are unabashed rock with soul that's unmatchable on songs like "All Around The World" The stuff is so good that it's a true musical revelation, and the best party your ears will ever have.

The Fleshtones were so prolific that a box set of all their material would be overwhelming, but a requirement for anyone who thinks they're a real rock 'n roll fan. Sadly, this is likely to never happen. For now, IT'S SUPER ROCK TIME: The I.R.S. Years 1980-1985 is essential. You'll be grateful to own a copy.

Grip Weeds Strange Change Machine Exclusive!

2010-06-01T12:05:00.001-05:00

Hey Grip Weeds fans: Strange Change Machine is available exclusively for you at the link below...Double LP - Double CD - Downloads!

http://gripweeds.com/StrangeChangeMachine/StrangeChangeMachine_store.html

Flickr

2010-05-08T14:45:00.001-05:00

This is a test post from , a fancy photo sharing thing.

The Grip Weeds New Release: Strange Change

2010-05-07T10:00:00.004-05:00

The Grip Weeds

Rainbow Quartz Records

The Grip Weeds establish a colorful, maybe murky, but distinctive space in the musical aether. Their discography itself is a trip through jangling 12 string Rickenbackers, Mellotrons, wah wah pedals, three part harmonies, melodic but simple bass, and more. Imagine the veritable kitchen sink if one has in it the best vintage instruments combined with the best recording gear and all in the hands of four people who are talented enough to make them work together. Eureka! Now we’re getting somewhere. To summarize The Grip Weeds, go back to the beginning of the review.

In their new offeringStrange Change Machine, they offer an interstellar blast from start to finish. The opening “Speed of Life” is a soaring power pop blast with a building beat, Kurt Reil’s infinite drum flourishes, distinctive guitar licks, both jangly and wailing, and art rock keyboards that are definitely spacey. It’s almost like having as much as many bands can put into one album in to one song, but it never loses its simplicity and excitement as a fun rock song. The Grip Weeds are rock and roll fans, so their frame of reference is based on “what’s good” and not using a genre to define that. Among the results of this broader appreciation is “Sun Shower” an acoustic based, psych folk song with Kristin’s flute and a building tempo that goes into rock, but the buildups keep the song engaging. This is definitely a standout song.

The albums title track “Strange Change Machine” is unabashed, cranked up rock with added vocal harmonies that best communicates what the band is all about - “Pull you out of the same, mix it up in a Strange Change Machine.” This album was sequenced and putting the title song on the B-side of the second album is a great way to tell the listener who they are without announcing themselves by using it as the first track. Instead, one gets a an incredible rock experience with the songs before it, but having the title track afterwards is like getting to the meat of an essay after a strong introduction.

In true contradiction, the longest song on the album is “The Law,” which is also the most basic rock song with it’s emphasis on Rick Reil’s strong, loud, power chords. It also stands out in true rock ‘n roll spirit not only in it’s rawness but also in its outright middle finger to authority. One might also find themselves singing along to the loud guitar intro of “Hold Out for Tomorrow” only to be surprised by the backing vocals reminiscent of Cream. The hard power pop near the end of the second album is interrupted with a Nick Drake based instrumental “Love in Transition,” but the addition of flute and a simple beat accompanied by tabla and more aggressive acoustic flourishes give traces of Arthur Lee and Love. As much as one could stay true to the basic rock milieu and admonish the idea of giving prominence to a “non rock” instrument, the song is a great surprise that has a wonderful depth.

The closing “Mr. X” is a pure stroke of genius. Not only in its multiple melodic nods to “Tomorrow Never Knows”, but also in using it as the closing track. Much like its comparison, the ending notes stay with you and make one want to play the song over a few times.

New Jersey’s The Grip Weeds occupy an odd space. On one hand, they’re a ‘60s rock inspired band. Now that we have a primordial ooze of their foundation, the confusion begins. The frenetic beat and feedback of The Who, the wonderful jangle of The Byrds, the sweet melodies of The Beatles, the rhythm of The Kinks, the Delta Blues solos of The Yardbirds and the bands that followed: Led Zeppelin, Cream, the psychedelic leanings of most of them combined with The Creation, The Move, The Zombies, and more, possibly some louder wailings akin to Ron Asheton of The Stooges, even. It’s been five years since their last studio release “Giant On The Beach.” That’s a long time. A lot of change, things brought into the soup, balances changing, things shifting. All that time away resulted in a groundswell and resulting outpouring of creativity. This double album over 80 minutes long was worth the wait. It’s packed full of great songs, epic in length and substance, but stand out as a great rock album that has material that will continue to be discovered, which is the true trademark of a great, enduring rock and roll album.

The album will be released in the next month. Currently, CD copies are available for purchase during their performances in the New York area. However, a deluxe CD edition as well as a double album vinyl edition are forthcoming. A free 10 song download is available if you sign up for their fan club at The Grip Weeds home page

The Contrast: The God of Malfunction

2010-04-18T20:13:00.001-05:00

The Contrast

The God of Malfunction
Wicked Cool Records

Peterborough, UK's The Contrast have been at it for a while. A power pop band, a little psych, songs written around a Rickenbacker Jetglo 330, but a clean sound that didn't really fit anywhere but power pop, although almost their own category. They always sounded too clean for garage, yet possess a simple, modern jangle that doesn't make one go backwards as most good rock does, but still has it. In a sense, The Contrast exist as a great rock band, but it's hard to make direct points to the lineage except for power pop. However, five great albums on the high quality but niche paisley pop label Rainbow Quartz Records show a high quality catalog that has largely been unrecognized. They chime and have influences, but the sound speaks of rock noir (psych-noir) more than anything.

In their first completely new foray with Wicked Cool Records, front man David Reid and company take their film/pop culture sound a lot further, but the underlying theme of their songs remain the same. It's always been about dysfunctional women, broken relationships, women on the verge that are unreliable but magnetic nonetheless.

The Contrast always had studio sense that took them well out of the garage. There's no mistake that the elements are there: the simple chords, the harmonies, the melodic hooks that draw one in, but the production has always been so clean that many garage fans find a substitution in B-movie imagery of the same era for the garage punk sound. The opening "Underground Ghosts" might be a song from the 2007 album of the same title that never made the cut. Vintage keyboards providing the basic melody in sharp difference to the guitar chord ethos of garage rock, Reid's trademark melodic guitar taking center stage, great vocal harmonies, and of course, a supernatural theme that low budget, vintage film buffs catch on to.

A sure standout track in line with the obscure movie theme is "I Am An Alien" with it's twisting theremin presence and pounding beat, but the theme is not outer worldly. Instead, it touches of the eternal divide in relations of what someone thought you were and what one finds out once they're involved: the divide is too great and the planets are too far apart. "Gone Forever" is the retro groove in nothing but Rickenbacker, Byrds-y jangle that's all classic power pop. The mellotron set on violin gives it a bigger feel and the overall result is a harmonious revelation of an end. The title track is full of parts that make The Contrast so unique, but juxtaposes a boppy chorus with metallic riffs. that make a memorable melody. The equal jangle of "Unexpected" takes on a personal note that's familiar territory for The Contrast, but it's simplicity and twist between a softer take that's replete with strong drumming lives up to its title.

Brit rock/pop has always taken American rock influences and turned them upside down. Therefore, most of us have a soft spot for the "sensibility" in care that good British rock from the '60s to now has taken. In a sense, The Contrast have always had this sensibility that matches bands like The Kinks in being polished and harmonious but focusing on angst. "She's A Disaster" is a perfect accomplishment on these levels with guitar lead and keyboard melodies that hook one in but simultaneously idolize the familiar yet traumatizing theme of the beautiful girl (or boy) who's presence is so strong that it dominates, but that strength is wrought out of so much pain that it presents both fear and longing with lyrics like "Her words are charge with hidden games, her makeup's going up in flames right now" only to be followed by "She's in my head from my distant past and future."

The closing "False Ambition" is no less intriguing in its depth and angst, added piano which not necessarily adds to the depth of the song since their songs have always relied on guitar led melodic hooks, but providing the piano background allows a larger breathing room where Reid builds a stronger climax to the simpler hooks of the rest of the album and their catalog, for that matter.

The Contrast has an illustrious catalog to being with. It's full of simple, jangle but '80s angst mixed with a strong polish. The God of Malfunction is a standout in stretching out the guitar hooks and trying some new things. The big difference with the earlier catalog is that the music slows down more as if bridging the gap to other alternative genres, namely dark, postpone Brit Pop. As if a predictor to this change, the original version of 2000's "Perfect Disguise" touched upon this expansion.

The God of Malfunction is overall, a great album, but it's full of challenges for the ''60s garage faithful. It's probably the farthest thing from garage, yet it shares many strong elements with those elements, adds in bad horror films, alienation and angst, but the biggest departure and new foray into power pop is the guitar hooks making the melody instead of the melody over the chords, which is more common for garage rock. Essentially, The Contrast have always made incredible, jangling, harmonious music that twisted up psych/garage roots with '80s angst. They've always been extremely polished. The juxtaposition is trademark for The Contrast. They are a new era of power pop with elements drawn to make their music a life of its own that presents contradictions and constant reconsiderations.

The God of Malfunction is available in a wide variety of formats, including vinyl, at Wicked Cool Records

Free download version of the new Grip Weeds album coming soon!

2010-04-17T13:54:00.003-05:00

The dawn of Strange Change Machine is approaching! Follow the link and sign up for the fan club to get a free download version of the new Grip Weeds album, which will be available as a free download VERY soon! All you need to do is enter your email address!

The Grip Weeds

Crank In The Summer With Thunderbolt Patterson

2010-04-15T22:57:00.001-05:00

Thunderbolt Patterson
The LP Is Dead
No Fun Records

The seemingly endless cycle of snowstorms, icestorms, and being stuck indoors has finally come to an end. The sun is peaking out and warming the pavement all over the country. What does that mean? It's time for some top down, wind in your hair, rock 'n' roll! It's time for Thunderbolt Patterson's new album The LP Is Dead and it's loud, power chord hooks that are too good to sit inside with. If you know "Rockaway Beach", then you'll dig into "Almost Summer" on the way there with Ramonesish guitars and Beach Boys harmonies.

Leave it to an original NY '70s punk to take things backwards to its simplest elements. Chords, hooks, loud, fun, take the top down, simple punk powerpop, with some exceptional drumming on tracks like "Dynamo" with the accompaniment "Remember being parked outside your house, and I spilled a 40 all over your blouse." Ahhh, memories! Don't worry, the act is not being glorified. "Dynamo" is more about Patterson making fun of himself.

The title track is a catchy sing-a-long lament (??) about short term attention spans and the devaluation of media. We've heard the theme. Nothing new, but this version's a lot more fun! The follow up "On and On" is the same: catchy, but with some groovy, soul keyboards. Ok, this isn't rocket science, but we need simple fun. We need loud, simple, fun sing alongs again. However, this album is too much fun to hear in the background. The songs make you want to stomp your feet, crank it up, go outside, and throw/crash a party. "Getting Out" rocks in the way that makes you pick up the air guitar and throw out Guitar Hero (I sincerely hope none of you own that).

If The LP Is Dead with its throw back to simplicity (and this review, for that matter) come across as an "I remember the good old days" moan, consider the fact that great rock 'n' roll for the past 40 years has been deconstruction. Garage, punk, and the flavors that came out of it were created out of stripping things down and going back to the beginning. The good shit always steps into the future by looking backwards, but who else but the drummer for The Dictators to remind us that this is supposed to be fun, and what's fun without a party anthem? How about "When you could use a little leverage, all you need is one beverage" from "One Beverage."

11 tracks of loud punk/powerpop with solid guitar and drum punches. Some occasional wailing metal solos for your hesher buddies on "On The Tip", but your pals will also be singing along until they realize you caught them. The closing "Four Pair" nearly approaches Southern Rawk in its guitarosity.

Tracks like "Hand Grenade Around My Heart" should not be listened to in confined spaces like airplanes. The LP Is Dead is too much fun to listen to in closed quarters. Either wait until the party or vacation starts unless you're heading down the highway with the top down.

This is essential Spring/Summer listening.

The LP Is Dead is available from your local indie record store and directly from the only label that rocks enough to have Thunderbolt, No Fun Records.

South by Southwest 2010 and Why the Corporate Music Industry Still Sucks

2010-02-26T17:07:00.000-06:00

SXSW 2010 approaches. It’s just like last year. A bunch of bands both old and new, a bunch of conferences with catchy titles such as “Social Networks and the Future for Musicians”, which echoes the last 6 years or so of a music industry that makes their money off of artists and are bitching, moaning, kicking, and screaming that they’re not making as much money as the used to, a bunch of parties that are also for “industry only”, which means that bands play to those who might talk about them or want to be involved with them, but nothing usually comes out of it since the same people are often attending the conference as their personal vacation and would rather see the ever growing number of well known acts admitted to SXSW. So what do you end up with? A corporate party where the current and once well known get to be seen again. Occasionally, some new act will have this great buzz and people will come to see them, but for the most part, new, unsigned, and indie label acts are overlooked. I can say this from nine years of experience now. I’ve attended plenty of SXSW showcases. The lines are around the corner for the well known acts, while the smaller acts and indie label showcases rarely reach capacity. At the same time, venues that choose not to be official SXSW participants, whether bars, independent businesses, and the like are often targeted by the fire department while the official venues are left alone at the encouragement of SXSW organizers.

How many problems can one pick out in this scenario? Too many, but this is the tip of the iceberg. The music industry, whether labels, media outlets, and others involved have been losing money and struggling with electronic media and the resulting free music and illegal pirating and sharing for a while now. As a result, new acts are less likely to get noticed and even less likely to get a good offer if someone wants them. As a result, the industry arrives at SXSW and gravitates towards the safer, larger act venues where they can chat with their own while the music’s playing. I’ve witnessed new acts in the midst of not being hard by the overwhelming chatter of the “Don’t you know who I am?” crowd countless times during the official showcases.

The private, badge and invite only day shows are much worse. I’ve attended my fair share of those, too. They’re mostly little parties that often have very promising acts, but because they’re industry only, little attention is paid to the music since they’re more of a social gathering. As great as a new act can be, there’s something fundamentally missing at shows for mostly industry people: The music fans! Face it, the “industry” is failing and forever trying to curtail how music is heard and distributed. As a result, bands are better off playing to their real audience since those people are the ones that are going to discover them, tell friends about them, buy their merchandise, follow their activities on social networks, but most of all, will find excitement and inspiration from music that affects them. Industry types are often too busy, too jaded, or simply ignore them by not paying attention during a performance or just not seeing them in favor of seeing someone well known. Whatever got many people into the music business to begin with has been long forgotten that dollar signs have greater value than the power of rock ‘n’ roll.

As an alternative to the little club that the corporate music industry is during SXSW, what would happen if these small parties were left open to the independents? The bloggers, amateur photographers, and those who still get excited about it? What would a journalist from a large print media outlet have to say if they saw a crowd of those gathered, reacting and interacting with a new act on some warm March day at a small, outdoor party? How would record label execs react if they witnessed genuine responses from those who they would actually end up profiting from? The answer is obvious, the solution even more. It’s the music fans that matter most, not the industry designed to make money off of the talents of the acts.

Honestly, what would happen if journalists, label reps, etc., were the minority at a performance with a sea of enthusiastic fans? They would have a much better idea of a band’s potential based on the crowd response as opposed to mostly industry attendance, sizing up the profitability of a band based on their sound alone. The same people would also have the opportunity to talk to the fans and find out what moves them, what they’re looking for, and most importantly, what the music means to them. It isn’t rocket science. The music biz is smart enough to know that they’re best off when they have a product that means something to people, so why not find out an act’s potential based on the response of those who would potentially buy their products? This isn’t exactly a new idea, either. Plenty of acts, including well known veterans of many different genre’s within “alternative” music do this every year. The Stems will play a free day show to a crowd a few times bigger than the one that shows up to their showcase, The Cynics will practically play anywhere and as often as they can, Michael’s voice willing, Muck & The Mires inquire about playing unofficial parties and plan on doing them well in advance, new acts get referrals and ask about doing those shows based on word from those they knew who did them before, etc. These acts could simply hang out, rest, party, and play only to industry people who can supposedly help them. Instead, they make a priority of being seen, heard as often as possible, and to meet as many as possible that are NOT part of the music business.

What happens at SXSW doesn’t stay at SXSW. The events reverberate. As much as the industry sits in their meetings, round tables, keynotes, private parties, and the like to talk about new paradigms and then get out to see popular acts that they can see more often in places like New York and L.A, it’s those that get out to play at and attend the unofficial, free gatherings that have the new paradigm. These acts meet their audience and play at unlikely places where they connect with them. They find out what their music means to those who show up to see them, they interact, try new things, sometimes have some backline related adversity and shine through it, making their performance greater. If those free shows have newer, related acts that are added to the bill that would likely not be for an official showcase, the newer acts benefit more than they would playing a private party in a tent, a regional showcase, or a small, official showcase at a club while so many people are out seeing bigger acts since they’re seen by more potential fans who are more likely to be discouraged from venturing downtown to deal with the mayhem. Quite often, those that see the bands at day shows end up choosing to go and see them again that week at an official showcase. This is the new paradigm! Bands have figured out what matters: Their fans and the independents that are going to talk about them, review their music and post their photos. These acts end up with a more dedicated following, which is something that’s very hard to come by given the fickle mindedness of popular music.

This is what SXSW used to be about: Discovering new talent. Despite good intentions, the official festival has become so popular that this objective is drowned out by the popular acts, corporate sponsorships, and exclusivity to only those who can pay more, which is really the antithesis of the rock ‘n’ roll ethos. Rock ‘N’ Roll is about rebellion, loud music, and the pure excitement of discovering something new or hearing something already known in a different light. It’s the crowd response and the connection the band makes to an audience, not the “Who’s Who” yearbook of the big players and movers, which are exactly those same people that SXSW caters to. At the same time, the organizers of SXSW in the least turn a blind eye to those that venture into playing for the fans, consider it a turf war by attempting to shut down those venues who choose not to be part of their club for the week, or at worst, turn it into a little high school game by telling acts that if they deviate by playing non official events, especially at the same time as the official showcases, that they’re not going to cut them a break by accepting them when they’re on their way downhill in the future.

I’m not claiming that SXSW and the organizers themselves are an evil entity. SXSW started out with great intentions. For better and worse, they were very, very successful. Money can change one’s objectives and there are often compromises that come to fruition as a result of greater notoriety and interest, but the result is that a large part of the soul is lost. SXSW is a huge deal. Bands from around the world come to play and get noticed by industry people, which can often help them gain a wider audience, but with the growing popularity, larger, corporate entities became involved since it was a pie that they wanted a piece of. In wanting to become a bigger event, the organizers give increasingly priority to the corporate world ever year. Unfortunately, the festival is more of a corporate schmoozefest for out of towners instead of an even where people go with the objective of hearing or seeing new things and getting challenged at the promise of rock ‘n’ roll. It’s too bad. There are so many new, indie acts out there that are making music that is better than their predecessors by ripping it off and building on top of it, which is really the way that great rock ‘n’ roll is made.

Furthermore, the music business relies on the small, independent outlets to get the word out about new acts. Social networks like myspace and others present this bombardment of music and no filter. It’s the bloggers, small print papers, and others that act as the filter by reaching out to acts, writing about them, and having a more personal forum to communicate about them. The corporate media outlets, labels, radio, and MTV and its affiliated networks have not been the tastemakers for quite some time, and even more so since there’s so much more music out there that’s readily accessible. Many people in the industry do recognize this, but one only finds out at chance meetings. SXSW has absolutely NO outlets for those that take the music seriously enough to contribute to it but don’t make a career out of it. There are no chances for sessions with larger entities that could encourage them or those that could help them gain a wider audience, which is purely needed since blogs like Pop Matters have a growing audience who reads their work and reaches a much more dedicated following.

By choice of SXSW, the budding journalists who are changing the industry don’t have access to the same tools and resources that the larger outlets take for granted, photographers have even less access to contribute by taking live shots even though many, many bands end up using photos made by fans to promote themselves. In conclusion, the very people that SXSW originally envisioned promoting and helping are excluded. New bands and those that are the most important to their success: the fans and independent bloggers, writers, photographers, and the like are shut out by choice of SXSW in favor of corporations, labels, and sponsors willing to throw enough cash into SXSW’s pockets to turn the festival into a snobby private school. If what matters the most is the music itself, they’d find ways to open the doors up a little by allowing better access to independent outlets and accept more new acts to play the official showcases. Labels, bands, and larger media outlets could communicate with their fans with contests or invites to smaller day parties where those who attend them would have a stronger emotional connection to the music and might walk away afterwards with their own rock ‘n’ roll story. Those memories are what make rock ‘n’ roll so great to everyone who loves it. It’s those memories of rare opportunities and performances, where something great happened, that make the music so important.

Unless SXSW and the industry at large can allow the influx of new ideas and new people without the same resources as the big ones by loosening the reigns a little bit on the exclusivity, the SXSW music festival is a velvet rope that allows only the popular people or those with deeper pockets in. That’s an exclusive disco. That’s not rock ‘n’ roll.

Take Communion with The Soundtrack of Our Lives

2010-02-05T01:07:00.002-06:00

The Soundtrack of Our Lives

Communion

Sweden knows rock ‘n roll. Name a bad rock band from Sweden. They’re few and far in between. The Soundtrack of Our Lives (TSOOL) are this superpsychedelic rock burst from there. A big sound, plenty of odd musical and lyrical happenings, and a vast array of anthemic songs with different tempos on their double release of Communion.

By nature, TSOOL are required to be a psychedelic band since they’re a six piece. A lot of it is still power chord, rock based, but one gets a lot of layers to go through that accompany those chords. The opening “Towers of Babel On” is a slow buildup that turns into an invitation - “Come on to The Towers of Babel On”, but like many of their songs, it’s a double entendre in referring to sites of both biblical chaos and complex civilization. However, many of their song titles have a similar wit in title such as “Pineal Gland Hotel”, “MENSA’s Marauders”, and others.

Usually, different genres communicate their own emotions and are fairly limited in their scope of topics. Although there isn’t hat much to choose from, TSOOL is successful at combining ideas into ironies on songs like “Ra 88”, which is the periodical chart assignment for Radium, a metal that’s bright white, turns black once exposed to air, and is highly radioactive. On one hand, the metaphor is used to describe freedom of expression - “Radium’s burnin’ inside of me, brilliant white that I’m bound to set free” while having to confront the ultimate destruction that anger brings - “Radium’s bad for my century, something I cannot deny when I’m free.” This is a modern lesson on anger and how one feels good to let it out, but how it can consume everything around it, much like someone can be mad over the state of one’s life or the world, but that emotion can ultimately nurture negativity. Naturally, this is communicated through a song that is nearly cathartic in rock volume.

In many ways, TSOOL take on the chaos of modern life and neuroses with most of their songs that can poke fun at the dysfunction of everyday life. It’s almost as if Robyn Hitchock’s “Uncorrected Personality Traits” is elaborated on to describe most adults as needing a good therapist in songs like “Distorted Child.” They take it a step further by describing how it leads to alienation in much darker songs like “Second LIfe Replay”, a soft description of emotional suicide with a realization that one’s still alive, stuck in their own head, and will be around the next day to live again.

Alienation and detachment reaches a climax on the first album with a cover of “Fly” by Nick Drake. The song takes the sense of fading that his soft voice and simple melodies communicated so well, but TSOOL turns it into a building rock song that’s somehow more intense but also adds complimenting melodies that give a sense of hope. The arrangements gives one a sense that TSOOL have a sound comparison to if Nick Drake sat in with The Who for The Lighthouse Sessions. The songs have both the sonic power and the attention to arrangements that Pete Townshend perfected, but possess a lot of careful and simple subtleties like Drake.

Communion as a double album can seem a little disconnected. The first album is powerful that one finds themselves more involved. The second album broadens musically with slower tempo but still engaging music such as the instrumental “Digitarian Riverbank” and more folksy oriented songs like “Flipside.” Honestly, it was hard to listen to the second album until recently, which is bad for a timely review after holding on to Communion, but it’s also like discovering a second great album. The songs carry on with the same depth as the first album but often have simpler, American rock approaches such as “Lost Prophets in Vain”. One even gets a pure ‘70s Who blast on “Reconnecting The Dots” with added sitars.

Two albums is a lot of material. Communion has its share of moments where one is anticipating something greater, but the songs seem to flow and are good, but don’t quite live up to the others. Nevertheless, the majority of the songs are always full of brilliant, loud, melodic and introspective rock. Despite a really artful approach and the range of tempos and instrumentation, Communion RAWKS, only it might encourage more attention for the times when certain songs don’t reach out and grab you. Especially attention grabbling is the almost early ‘90s Manchester, easy feel of “Utopia”, which breaks into a louder tempo change that adds a hard rock angst.

Communion has 25 songs. It’s a lot to go through, but it’s a great thing to go back and find new songs that one finally “gets” at different times. It’s heavily melodic, but rarely dull. The songs are both beautiful, angry, and uplifting. There are competing dualities between the more elaborate and the simple, both illustrated in the louder and softer songs. Surprisingly, the album remains cohesive. It’s definitely challenging, but never goes strays into territory that removes the songs from rock and simpler origins. Summarily, if one loves Who’s Next and can relate to the power and melody of the songs and how they stand up to time as great rock songs, Communion is the next progression. Quite amazing.

Flipside

The Love Me Nots Get Groovy on Upsidedown Insideout!

2010-01-07T10:41:00.001-06:00

The Love Me Nots

Upsidedown Insideout
AtomicAGoGo/MayCauseDizziness/BadReputation

I've always been a big fan of The Love Me Nots. Great, loud, surfy guitars, steady, pounding beats, and a female lead vocalist who sizzles with every word. On top of that, every song is memorable and steeped in surf, garage, and Detroit R&B, but they have their own mod image that's retro and still all ther own. This band has always been an incredible package. They've more or less mastered the whole garage thing by digging up those influences that create garage rock and playing them so well with their own, unforgettable mark. The problem is, how does one top that? One word: Change. Let's face it. Garage rock is enduring and once one becomes a fan, they steep up all the influences that created it and added to it, but the mix of Northern Soul, Motown, R&B, fuzz, surf, '60s punk, and early psychedelia can sound a little redundant even to the most broad minded and music knowledgeable junkie, so it gets harder to create something new and different out of that. In comes the third release from Phoenix's The Love Me Nots. In form of familiarity with the new, long time producer and collaborator Jim Diamond worked the keys and added some extra playing, but instead of going to Ghetto Recorders for laying down the tracks, Jim flew out to Phoenix and sat in with them at Flying Blanket Recording for the new album. New drummer Bob Hoag also took on the role of pre-mastering.

The red hot cover instantly suggests a new direction for the band. Although the simplicity of their other album covers are there, the upside down silhouette of go-go boots with a red background indicate something a little bit modern in reminding one of the opening credits for the popular, mid century period TV program "Madmen." The first track, "Do What You Do" is equal parts guitar and Farfisa sharing lead and melody, but Michael Johny Walker plays longer, more "lead guitar" type riffs that suggest a more hard rock than surf base and Nicole's vocals have a slight background at times that suggest The Yeah Yeah Yeahs. Still incredibly cool '60s mod, but maybe with a little bit of a broader appealing twist. The following "Karen (Get Yourself Out)" is a manifesto for vintage organ with guitar taking a more melodic role, although there's still a few solos that expand the appeal outside of the garage rock world. The song is also a crowd pleaser that's known to really get the crowd going at their shows. Perhaps the biggest shock is "You Don't Know a Thing About Me" with a sweet acoustic guitar base, super heavy keys, and electric that combines into something straight out of The Paisley Undergound movement, only bluesier.

Nicole Laurenne's power and presence have always taken front and center, but Kyle Rose Stokes' added vocals on songs like "You're Bringing Me Down" and "He's What I Want" give a stronger gender balance. Upsidedown Insideout overall has a greater melodic approach than their earlier work, but still has heavy garage and speedy beats such as "Take Pity." It also has songs like "The Kinda Love I Got" that are more of a straightforward, super charged guitar pop that pushes towards broader appealing rock. "Fire and Pride" is definitely soul in its sweet, sad melody punctuated by deeper, bluesy desperation and surf riffs, but brings to mind another new theme that runs throughout the whole album: No matter the volume or tempo of the songs, all of them have this incredible grooviness, even with my personal surprise for the lyric "I don't like paisley" on "Not That Kind of Girl" still rocks my world.

I've listened to this album multiple times over the past 6 months or so, appreciating its new sound while still trying to grapple with the fact that it has a new pop appeal while still steeped in everything that makes The LMNs a great band: Great, loud guitars, sweeping organ, an intense beat, and a vocal delivery that's tough, sexy, and desperate at times. Perhaps what's really telling about Upsidedown Insideout is that it never gets too familiar. Even with repeated plays, one hears something new or appreciates something a little more with each listen, such as Nicole's Farfisa solo on "Rosie" that floods one's ears, or the almost classic blues sound of "Undone."

Upsidedown Insideout is The Love Me Nots doing the kind of rock that they're known for. It's strong, loud, and has that sense of heat that they're known for, but it's definitely a new direction for them. It's musically recognizable, but full of surprises. Their previous releases are too and incredibly well done, but this release offers more melody and grooves that embellish their simplicity and break a lot of new ground. It's more than a great effort. It's an incredible album that one never gets tired of hearing.

Upsidedown Insideout is available from numerous outlets including Atomic A Go Go and Get Hip Recordings.

The Morning After Girls: Alone

2009-10-26T08:58:00.000-05:00

The Morning After Girls

alone
Unsigned

I love rock 'n' roll. I like it simple. Three chords driven by a beat and some occasional harmonies from either guitar and/or vocals is all you need. However, every now and then a deviation from that comes along that makes me expand my paradigm. Most of us like at least some psychedelic music as it relates to early garage rock, but psych has taken so many twists, turns, and different beats that we tend to be very selective in the bands we like within that labeling. Hailing from from Australia, Tanzania, and New York City, The Morning After Girls take psychedelic rock on some familiar roads and then end up at very new places. I'm not sure if that description gives Alone enough justice. In many ways, this is completely new.

The opening "A New Silence" is a short drone of feedback. Not much to hook into, but goes right into the acoustic intro of "The Best Explanation", a song with beautiful soft vocal harmonies and explosions of celestial psych guitar and feedback that goes from complexity to simplicity and back again. It's a little sonically overwhelming, but carries a sharp, colorful lysergic quality that sounds both beautiful and confrontational. The following "The General Public" takes the paisley underground revival and turns it on its head by adding the Revolver influenced side of '80s Britpop in its dance beat, but with an emphasis on rawness instead of cleaner production that characterized much of the music from that era. The title track "Alone" continues in this vein closer to the early '90s Manchester psych of The Stone Roses or some of the Stonesier material from Primal Scream or The Verve, but the only strong commonality it has in its structure. The vocal harmonies are softer and much more memorable, but the guitar is both melodic and filled with feedback, which makes it more attention getting than what's commonly called "Shoegazer."

Like the title itself, "Death Processions" is a little on the brooding side with it's goth rock tone, but not quite dark psychedelia with wah guitar and noise. Nevertheless, it's another song that demands multiple listenings because one hears something different that they can't quite place their head around every time they hear it. In a slight continuance of the theme, "You Need To Die" matches only in title. The production, backing guitar melodies, and overall theme suggest more of the mid era Who/psych rock of The Soundtrack of Our Lives, but takes more risks. "Who Is They" also continues in this melodic mold, but like many other tracks on Alone, the combination of the harsh and the exquisite in vocals and guitars take one on familiar roads to places they've never been. On a personal note, this track amazed me to the point that I often had to pause it and take a break in order to absorb what I just heard.

"Part Of Your Nature" is probably the most straightforward tracks as an acoustic song, but also has vintage sounding loops (sound moving back and forth) and a harmonic, Edge like guitar climax that carries the song to its conclusion. "To Be Your Loss" has a lush, shimmering quality and a higher pitched vocal that more or less defines shoegazer music, but vocal contrast and guitar driven melody leaves a lot more enjoyment in its abrasive quality and volume.

"There's A Taking" catches one off guard given all the guitar hooks one has up to this point. It feels like a short, intense foray into Syd Barrett's mind in the mid '60s as he began to slip away. None of us have ever been there nor is anyone really qualified to say that, but it feels detached and somehow hints at accurate mental perception. I'm not really sure if there's a better way to describe it, but I think the interpretation is best left open. "Still Falling" has the complex but engaging sound of modern era The Chuch, only one also hears the folky simplicity of "Jane Says" for a song that is so beautiful that I felt a lump in my throat after the first few listens. However, this becomes the norm for Alone after repeated listens.

The lengthy, ending tome of "Tomorrow's Time" passes closely to the country tinged psychedelia of former labelmates The Asteroid #4, but the first 5 minutes are the bulk of the song followed by silence until the echoed noise of the last one and a half minutes.

On their new release, psychedelic rock is encapsulated and compressed from all the different revival eras into something that tends to explode outwards, expand, then contract. It's heavy, melodic, harmonic, abrasive, confrontational, never stays in the same place, but never strays into meandering or a background, which is really the essence of good psychedelic rock. It remains rock. It's exciting, different, goes in different directions, but never sounding like an aimless experiment.

As a major proponent of the three chord rock ethos, one has to move their feet and dance to call it good rock 'n' roll. There are notable deviations, but that's really it. Every now and then, something comes along that demands one to think twice. After all, if one cites bands like The Byrds, Love, VU, and a growing list of other acts that drew upon early psych and garage rock to reinterpret it, the idea grows and is no longer as cut and dry. Certain things come along that demand attention beyond the simple mindset. The new release from The Morning After Girls is not just a prime example of this, but truly phenomenal.

Alone is currently available exclusively on iTunes for the USA.

The General Public

2009-10-22T16:26:00.002-05:00

The Moog

Razzmatazz Orfeum
Musick Recordings

You Raised A Vampire, Side B The Passion Of Lovers (Bauhaus, featuring David J) Artwork by Gris Grimly

After a long hiatus and especially since 'tis the season, there's nothing like sinking your teeth into something from Hungary, the home (He ruled what is now Romania, but was born in Hungary) of a bloodsucker that doesn't need to be named. To boot, The Moog even live up to their birthright with "You Raised A Vampire", the first single from their latest release Razzmatazz Orfeum, with the bonus of a Bauhaus cover with David J as a guest!

The Moog lie off the beaten path of garage and psych in their Cars and obviously Moog infused take on goth rock, which in its present, more encompassing form of goth music, has incorporated earlier musical styles and thus, is not really rock 'n' roll, but in its early form, goth rock was the inevitable growth off of garage (Bauhaus even covered The Strangeloves classic "Nighttime", found on Nuggets: Volume I), Velvet Underground, and the early glam of Bowie and T.Rex. On their latest release, The Moog stay close to the "rock" part. The opening track "This Is Horror" provides a heavy Moog (of course) intro that reminds me of the little known Tones On Tail classic song "Performance" with its added guitar screeches announcing something big about to happen. It switches into a more '80s dark Britpop song with a strong melody and strong vocals from lead vox Tonyo, but the melodic diversions are a bit surprising. The followup "Panic" is a bit hard to pin down. However, like many of their progenitors such as Bauhaus, the combination of melody, searing guitars, and changing beats that still keep a basic but not constant structure is a sure trademark of the post punk ethos of breaking things down and starting up again.

"You Raised A Vampire" is a take on hunger caused by deprivation. Surprisingly, it's very upbeat and strange in The Moog's own way with its simplicity and faster beat. As one quickly learns with these guys, there's a lot more to them than what one immediately senses. A fast tempo, great, simple chords that seem to speed up, and some underlying "gothiness" to lend energy to your angst. "When I See You" is an immediate reminder of Weezer's "The Sweater Song", but an awful lot more fun with lyrics like "Just want me, just need me, just say that I'm your baby, I haunt you then kill you, When I see you I go, Woohoowhooo!" If anything, you'll want to put the fun back in funeral!

"Lost Day" puts a smile on the face of every late Joy Division and early New Order fan with a bass driven melody and a clean, melodic guitar coupled with a great vocal range that communicates longing and vulnerability not unlike Peter Hook. This is definitely an album highlight. The following "Joyclad Armies" shows off some heavier chops, but The Moog's unique combinations and musical refrains tend to be uncategorizable in the rock milleu, although still engaging and unmistakably theirs. "Sphinx" even gets heavier with a dominating and neverending tribal beat that keeps one listening. "Heart and Soul" is another great listen for fans of post punk Britpop in its Smithslike isolation, but Tonyo's falsetto is both amazing and a little alarming.

As someone with a broad musical background but a strong tendency towards certain definitions of great rock 'n' roll that lie in its r & b simplicity, the occasional infusion of jingly jangly guitar and sometimes, wonderful vocal harmonies but still having a tendency towards a definition of great rock 'n' roll as music that essentially gets one to dance, move, and have fun, The Moog present a challenge to it. They have those elements, but they bring a younger voice (and definitely spirit) with later post punk, dark Britpop, and goth influences that present a picture that's a little more complex than my original focus. The Moog could do a teenage vampire movie soundtrack on their own and hook everyone in that age group in. They're young and thus, could easily be categorized somewhere in the emo camp, but a genuine listen to Razzmatazz Orfeum gives a lot more surprises than a quick and easy classification that most bands their age have and stick to. The music has its simplicity, becomes elaborate, and like great rock 'n' roll, has very little in fillers or dull moments, although they packed a lot into the album that needs an explanation from a broader background. Despite the young appeal, the approach is very firm and never boring or predictable.

The album review would not be complete without a very honorable mention to the b-side from the "You Raised A Vampire" single, a cover of the Bauhaus classic "The Passion of Lovers" with a slight melodic guitar in line with the romanticism of early Mission UK and guest David J's detached vocals thematically fit the song and its original cover of a praying mantis being devoured. In fact, it's better than the version I recently saw Peter Murphy do live. Finally, the artwork on the gold vinyl 7inch by Chris Grimly is incredible.

You Raised a Vampire

Here's a new video for "When I see You" shot in Los Angeles at The Bob Baker Puppet Theater

The Fuzztones: Horny As Hell!

2009-05-14T01:52:00.000-05:00

The Fuzztones

Horny As Hell
No Fun Records

As much as I "dig the new breed", leave it to a band that's been around for three decades to rewrite garage rock, make it bigger, louder, and give it a whole lot more soul. Since The Fuzztones are mainly known as a "garage punk" act, adding a horn section, female backing singers, and trading the Vox for a Hammond B3 is pretty ambitious. The opening cover of "Garden of My Mind" by Mickey Finn rearranges the raw sound of the original with super loud horns and a much more exciting vocal treatment from lead vox Rudi Protrudi, but the backing female vocals give it an upbeat, Motown vibe that's got so much soul that it's sinful. Followed up witha Fuzztones staple "Bad News Travels Fast", which grooves and swings heavier than the original recording, and you get a garage/soul/ghoul rockin' heaven that anyone would be hard pressed to even pause for a moment. The blazing saxophone treatment on "Brand New Man" might come as a shock to some devotees, but it's honestly not that radical. Afterall, The Sonics have a sax player, too. Another fascinating high note on Horny as Hell is the added swing in the ? and The Mysterians cover "Girl, You Captivate Me" with a "cooler" but older toned organ from Lana Loveland that retains a psychedelic buildup.

Horny as Hell is full of notables. "Third Time's a Charm" has equal parts fuzz and wailing, almost funky guitar while "Be Forewarned" is thick in deep, dark blues and works to bare Rudi's, soul as an unrivaled, powerful vocalist. The cover of The Moving Sidewalks "99th Floor" is both sweet and dirty with guitar licks. This is followed up with The Pretty Things "Alexander", which lays on the backing female vocals enough to make it sound like classic Motown. Very few can ponder the thought of monster fuzz with blasts of brass, but "Black Lightning Light" pulls it off with a thick, swampy feel then adds eerie keys over it to get every zombie rocker moving. An overall accomplishment of Horny As Hell is the ultimate mixture of soul, fuzz, and garage punk. The songs sometimes sound vintage enough that one can imagine swinging to it, but the added snarls, howls, and overall madness of The Fuzztones fuse the elements to create new standards on songs like "Yeah Babe". It's not a nicely done experiment, but a bold move by one of the few acts good enough to make it incredible. It sounds like vintage soul, psychedelic fuzz, and garage concocted into a tasty, mind and ear blowing trip that will definitely leave one a changed person after they come down.

One can't go without mentioning the "new" version of The Fuzztones most popular song "Ward 81." The vocal introduction, the saxes that just add to the insanity, the backing vocals that add the sadness and desperation more effectively, the crashing drums, and the lyric "Gotta flip a switch, pull out the stitches" that many of us might have used to express ourselves (metaphorically) will leave one screaming them as though they're an angry teenager. "She's Wicked", another staple, will make everyone realize where many of their favorite acts got their inspiration from.

We've all heard of The Fuzztones, but limited press and distribution has placed them in obscurity even though they have over 70 releases to date. For those not familiar with them, Horny as Hell is a fine introduction to the realm of skull and crossed Vox guitars! For you loyal fans already initiated, tune in, turn on, and fuzz out!

Horny as Hell is a available at your finer indie record store. If they don't have it, they need an education, but in that case, you can buy it directly in either vinyl or CD from No Fun Records, a great label out of Detroit, MI with truly worldwide garage rock origins. Other notables who call the label home are Los Peyotes, The Dials, The Avatars and Los Kahunas. They've also got some exciting new acts and releases coming out this year. Although I'm partial to vinyl, the CD version of Horny as Hell has a bonus track "Caught You Red Handed" featuring Mark Lindsay from Paul Revere and The Raiders.

"She's Wicked"

Video courtesy of electricbanana69

The Asteroid No. 4: These Flowers Of Ours

2009-05-04T18:06:00.001-05:00

The Asteroid No.4

These Flowers Of Ours
The Committee to Keep Music Evil

The Asteroid No.4 have always been distinctive in their craft. With three guitarists, the band has crafted a melodic noise. Part early Pink Floyd, but jangling, Byrds influenced rock at the same time. Something that causes most to pause is the extra guitar creating a thicker noise and making the songs into heavier psychedelic rock. Although this band is an ever evolving experiment with a stable partnership, one really can't say they pick up where they left off. These Flowers Of Ours is completely new. The opening "My Love" goes from intense space effect to lulling folk rock set on an English countryside, evoking images of a well dressed gentleman and his equally primped partner looking upon the greenery and architecture that seems to become darker with the addition of guitar fuzz and spacey organs that brings on a sense of foreboding. Beautiful, but intense. The following "Let It Go" is a dual jangling guitar song that would put every Rickenbacker fan into a sonic heaven with one guitar chiming while the other one kicks in a similar melody, but the drums + tambourines turn it into a great rock song that's both wonder to the ears as well as the feet. In their true trademark, loud, sharp guitar noise adds a sense of highs and lows and a whole new dimension. This one is rock 'n' roll that one can appreciate on so many levels. Truly amazing.

"Hold On" takes on some grounding with its blues drenched harmonica and foray into Americana. However, one also hears a little bit of "The Porpoise Song" mixed in with slow, heavy Southern rock guitar that gives it a harder, louder edge that lends itself more to delta blues. A special surprise on These Flowers Of Ours is the fuzzed out remake of Rain Parade's "I Look Around". Although retaining the happy psych pop melody of the original, the guitar work leaves one to conclude that it's no mistake, it's a loud garage rock song. "She's All I Need" takes on a pounding shoegazer approach with thicker guitars, but the soft vocal refrains that get punctuated by the heavier instrumentation leave one at a loss. Like the rest of the album, there's a lot here that require multiple listens. "War" takes on a more classic psychedelic/experimental approach that might take one back to a time when people would listen to music on headphones to get the full effect of tape loops and sounds moving in circles, but for some reason, the smoother, calming melodies are still confrontational and challenging.

The title track "Flowers of Ours" is rather disturbing but somehow a smooth image of Velvet Underground's "Sunday Morning" crossed with Simon & Garfunkel's "A Most Peculiar Man", but it has an overall presentation that illuminates the title as a much more accurate portrayal of all that comes with love. A psychedelic album would not be complete without an Eastern influence. "Hei Nah Lah" is their contribution, but it's also a hypnotic chant that brings to mind Native American and maybe Polynesian music too, but the steady stream of guitars and psychedelic noise subtract any idea of it being worldly. Instead, the spoken word ending places it squarely in confusion, leaving one to think more of where it took them. "She Touched The Sky" is also a take on a familiar psychedelic theme, but slide guitar add fuller dimension to its acid sound. The following "All Fall Down" is somewhat of a breather. I thought of The Jesus and Mary Chain at first, but with more tremolo and a beat that picks up into a faster tempo. The closing "Empty Like a Little Child" sounds a perfect 'goodbye' with the repeated lyric "Empty like a little child, you'll realize, my friend, when you're gone." As many ideas that one hears throught These Flowers Of Ours, this idea is an apt summary. The album takes you to a lot of places and presents you with a lot of things. A mystic trip, maybe. But unlike one, a person is confronted so much that they don't know all the places they've been, only that they've been given a sensory overload of a lot of strong ideas. This album is actually hard to get one's head around. However, the lullaby melody of the closing track is almost a way of coming down, which any good trip host makes the effort to not leave us shaking in the wind, confused over everything we've just experienced.

The Asteroid No.4 have allowed their talents to be affected and driven by their multitude of surroundings. The resulting These Flowers Of Ours starts on ground and then shoots the band and its listeners into space through non logical means. It's not spiritual. It's too weird in a good way for that. One could call probably say dark but benevolent forces have integrated themselves into the rational world of music to create a rock experience that is more psychedelic than anything out there, although still a rock experience. In fact, These Flowers Of ours borders on a new genre because it's psychedelic but loud and thought provoking. There's a basis in '60s rock and garage, but with a lot of psychedelic experimentation. That explanation isn't enough because psychedelic music that goes beyond rock reminds one of the late '60s to mid '70s prog rock experiments with concept albums. It's a listening experience, but it rarely rocks you. That was the unfortunate history of psychedelic rock and what became of it. Instead, These Flowers Of ours is a rock album from start to finish because it's confrontational. Great rock 'n' roll does that. It shakes you out of your expectations and forces you to think. You might not love everything you're hearing, but it's causing the cogs in your cerebrum to move and try to figure it all out. But in the end, this album can't be taken apart.

One can't sum them up so easily because we try to fit new things into what we know. These Flowers Of ours? It's quite beautiful, but striking. It's been a task to summarize. '60s punk, garage, acid, folk, deep blues, paisley undergound, Americana, tons of feedback, and jingle jangle thrown into a vat of acid that eats away and exposes parts at random that combine but never blend enough to become homogenous. Call it a bouquet. Call it a dark gift that shatters expectations and will constantly call to you to listen to it. Call it These Flowers Of Ours.

From the albums's liner notes:

The work, of course, came later, and the resulting tome, These Flowers Of Ours, was what was on the group's mind this misty morning as they stared into the fog, while, as always, each cold grey morning, the fog sang right back to them. In the dulcet tones of a male harmony, in the chime of an ancient, knowing Rickenbacker, in a lonely slide guitar, the fog told them: Science alone won't save you. It can't. So to temper it, please accept this treasury of witchcraft and devilry, this humble relic, this partial map of a crumbling continent: These Flowers Of Ours.

Cocktail Slippers "St.Valentine's Day Massacre" In Stores 4/28

2009-04-27T19:03:00.004-05:00

The Cocktail Slippers

St. Valentine's Day Massacre
Wicked Cool Records

Straight out of their rousing sets at SXSW, The Cocktail Slippers release their second effort on Wicked Cool Records, but it's anything but sophomoric. Admittedly, there's no shortage of great garage acts from Scandinavia, but St. Valentine's Day Massacre hits a few different chords. "Sentenced to Love" is a tight song with cool keys and a strong beat, but there's something more with the girl group harmonies and the the vocal stretches of "aye yaye yayes" more well known of male vocalists make it a lot of fun. "You Do Run" has a catchy chorus that you can't help thinking of "Da Doo Run Run", but that was probably intentional. It's a straighter song, but again oh, those great harmonies and impressively tight rock beat. The title track "St. Valentine's Day Massacre' sounds better the second time around within the larger context of a full length album and has a groovy organ throughout. The rock guard comes down on songs like "Don't Ever Leave Me" and "I Got A Crush On You, both sweet, full on '60s girl group homages with all the vulnerability of an original, but definitely cooler with some melodic guitars and vintage organ.

"Anything You Want" is probably the best description of The Cocktail Slippers overall sound: A tight, garage rock band with an affinity of 60's girl group pop. Although one could say that combining both is a standard for modern garage rock, other bands have not really embraced the girl group ethos like they do. Instead, other acts that are all or mostly female play rock 'n' roll or garage rock with a female lead or take a more assertive, rock 'n' roll approach. Therefore, The Cocktail Slippers take is pretty refreshing. A standout on the album is "Round and Round" with a mixture of Pat Benatar's energy from some of her earlier work mixed with, you guessed, vocal harmonies.

Although there are countless excellent all female rock and garage acts out there that might rock harder or have deeper soul roots, The Cocktail Slippers might have a leg up in breaking into the mainstream with their girl group derived songs. However, they still rock. Every song on St. Valentine's Day Massacre is proof of that. The songs not only rock, but they're really good. The mix of simpler pop songs with a stronger beat and a really tight sound are pretty unique. Although many are going to fall either more towards the rock side while others might lean towards the pop song side, a lot of people will be happier in the overall cohesiveness of having both. Even the simplicity of the final track "Heard You Got A Thing For Me" with it's simple vocal pop and "Leader Of The Pack" sensibility cuts into a deeper, less pop oriented keyboard solo that's more '60s rock.

Courtesy of Wicked Cool Records

Graham Day & The Gaolers: Triple Distilled

2009-04-23T02:07:00.002-05:00

Graham Day & The Gaolers

Triple Distillled
Damaged Goods Records

Many of you are familiar with "The Medway Sound", but let me just start off by saying that Medway is a conglomeration of a bunch of towns in Kent that eventually merged as a result of population growth and sprawl. Oh, what a beautiful name to call it! The conumeration is named after the River Medway, which had a long standing reputation as a waterway for factory runoff until it's cleanup in the last few decades. To call music "The Medway Sound" is ignorant. It would be like combining Manchester and Liverpool into one general area. In fact, those two towns are 35 miles apart from each other, which is less than the distance from Canterbury to Chatham, both of which are considered part of Medway. Geography lesson aside, as much as many Americans need it, Medway rocks. From The Pretty Things to Mickey and The Milkshakes and beyond. The "sound"? NME calls it "music should be immediate." Not much to go on there. One could just say that the bands that are considered to be "The Medway Sound" make garage rock that's equally r & b as it is punk with a raw, freakbeat delivery. A somewhat silent genius of Medway is Graham Day, formerly of The Mighty Caesars, The Prisoners, The Solar Flares, as well as producer for The Len Price 3 and Jarvis Humby. His recent project is Graham Day & The Gaolers with Woggles and Bongolian member Dan Elektro as well as a revolving bass lineup including fellow Woggles axeman Buzz Hagstrom and former Buff Medways Johny Barker. Their new offering Triple Distillled is a collection of agressive rawness and perfect harmonies that leaves one wondering why they haven't heard them.

Although many of us occasionally lament being older, the opening "Glad I'm Not Young" is garage punk fury that both bludgeons the ears and strikes a good chord with "I don't have to identify with anything". Besides, Dan Elektro's drumming is furious and pounding throughout. Another tune for identification is the great vocal harmony backed up "A Better Man" that confronts the conundrum that men have about being complimentary or being honest with "If you're talking shit, then I'll agree." Other notables not only the sitar flecked, persuasive invitation "Pass That Whiskey", but also the catchy, organ infused "Begging You", which is one of the few times any of us will seriously consider singing along to a song with the words "My baby". There's also the apt opening "I"m standing in the rain and I'm really pissed off" on the hard hitting "I Wanna Smoke", one of the louder tracks on an overall collection of superbly loud tracks that could easily be an anthem. Another notable is "Something About You Girl", but we'll take a pause on so we don't give away its secret. With all the work Graham Day has done, the most polite way of telling people not to ask for him to play 'hits' with the slightly jangly, Rolling Stones "Monkey Man" hinted "Just A Song".

Like its title, the sound of Graham Day & The Gaolers can best be summarized as Triple Distilled. That can be exemplified in "If There's One Thing I Can Do" with Graham's smooth vocals and infectious choruses, chunky, raw guitar chords, Dan's drumming, which sounds more like a driving force that punctuates frequently instead of just providing a beat, and Johny's high noted and quite noticable bass. Although Triple Distilled has nothing less than every single song being great, other standouts include the slightly dark surf sound of "Lost Without My Dignity" and the common sense but searing volume of "Go To Sleep", a strong suggestion of exactly what you should do at some point after going out (instead of loitering around at parties).

There's no shortage of well known talent engaging in side projects to fill in the time inbetween their better known bands, but Graham Day & The Gaolers are a fulfillment of so many of our wishes since not only is Graham a legendary talent who's created something with his new band as another outlet to make an important contribution to garage rock, but for Woggles fans, it gives them another slice of perfection to enjoy before the next Woggles album. Additionally, Dan's work on Triple Distilled is so up front that it will give many who already love The Woggles a greater appreciation for his talent.

Damaged Goods Records does not have a USA distribution yet. However, Triple Distilled is more than worth the extra pounds (dollars) layed down. Don't let this one pass you by or you're really going to miss out on a possible favorite new band. Graham Day & The Gaolers are touring Europe this May. We'll also have to work on getting this raw, trashy but melodic garage rock supergroup to broaden their live potential.

"I Wanna Smoke"

Courtesy of retrobambino

"Glad I'm Not Young"

Video courtesy of GrecianFire

Gaolers May tour dates

15th Rennes, Mondo Bizarro
16th TBA
17th Aachen, Musikbunker
18th Münster, Gleis 22
19th Berlin, Cortina Bob
20th Hamburg, Hafenklang
21st Bremen, Towerbar
22nd Antwerpen, Bar Mondial
23rd Bourges, Cosmic Trip Festival

Robyn Hitchcock & The Venus 3: Goodnight Oslo

2009-04-03T19:01:00.006-05:00

Robyn Hitchcock & The Venus 3

Goodnight Oslo
Yep Roc Records

Robyn Hitchcock is a walking contradiction. He's a channel of psychedelic weirdness with bits of Erickson, Barrett, and even Lennon, but his music always seemed to rock a little harder and go to more places. Lyrically, one might call him an evolutionary mystic with his songs about everything from bees to prawns as allusions to the human condition, but other songs of his are blatantly forward like "Uncorrected Personality Traits." In over 20 albums, Robyn is the King of Weird while simultaneously emotionally stable. That of itself is a rock 'n' roll contradiction. On his third release with friends The Venus 3, the slight CCR feel of the opening "What You Is" is a little shocking for such a grammatically correct guy. He gives us the moral with "It doesn't matter what you is, it's what you are." And if you miss the bees, "Is Your Head Here?" offers a few along with tentacles and various surprises. Singing "Bop bop" hasn't been heard in a while, but the slightly distorted "Saturday Groover" is a result of Beach Boys harmonies and "Day Tripper". With added guitar distortion and horns, let's just say it grooves in many ways.

"I'm Falling" takes on territory familiar to Robyn Hitchcock fans in its emotional tone in losing one's self when falling in love and all the the doubt and difference that lies within, but has an almost gospel fervor in both the chorus "Take it away" and the vocal refrains. Goodnight Oslo flirts with country and slide guitar on "Hurry For The Sky" with success that sounds vintage. "Sixteen Years" follows up backstepping in sound with a harmonica as well as "Sixteen years and all I got was high", but also is a slight departure to his Dylan influences and earlier since it's a sad, bluesy track. Simultaneously, Peter Buck's jangling guitar is conspicuous throught to add some welcome complexity. This mood become uplifted with "Up To Our Nex", which is bright with horns and strings. Musically, there are a lot of sounds that one tries to pick out that somehow combine in a great harmony such as banjos and various strings, but builds into a heavier rock song with guitar and Bill Rieflin's sharp drumming. In some way, maybe Robyn's long exile as a folky, wise troubadour resulted in putting a lot more instrumentation on his recordings.

If one's familiar with Gertrude Stein's statement "A woman needs a man like a fish needs a bicycle", "Intricate Thing" brings up those contradictions pretty well. Instead of love needed, it's an "intricate thing" with "all kinds of needs that you don't know you're needing" to "little drops of blood that you don't know you're bleeding." The opening sounds a little shallow, but it really delves in to everything behind an intimate relationship that and results in one of the most truthful and obvious songs about love without being a love song. The ending title track is simply a thing to behold. I never thought I'd talk about cellos and rock 'n' roll at the same time, but it's use on "Goodnight Oslo" is an effective draw that pulls one into the song from the very beginning. Additionally, one can't help but appreciate "I've got special powers that render me invisible to everyone buy you." Despite the deeper, moody feel of this track, the cello duplicates the human voice so much that it's naturally good to hear, but the string arrangements meld themselves in high volume with even louder guitars that communicate well the last statement "They're waiting for the dark that never comes."

Instead of walking the familiar tightrope that many of his influences have between genius and insanity, Robyn Hitchcock occupies a more solid space of the odd lyricist with more to say than most of us could fill in our heads that's either flecked with animal and psychedelic overtones or blunt directness. He once summed it up in saying that like everyone else, he wonders about the human condition and is just as afraid of the outcome as the rest of us. As a result, his version of pop both musically and lyrically embody the human condition in all its foils and triumphs. Likewise, the human condition cannot be simplified. As a result, Robyn Hitchock's music isn't, either. It's great to hear him once again with a band that somehow fits his vision. Peter Buck, Bill Rieflin, and Scott McGaughey as The Venus 3 are all stellar performers that envelope Robyn's ideas and visions in a way that compliments but never stays in the back. It's great to hear him with a great band again.

Tour Dates:

FR 04.03.09 - Austin, TX
SA 04.04.09 - Dallas, TX
MO 04.06.09 - Nashville, TN
TU 04.07.09 - Atlanta, GA
WE 04.08.09 - Carrboro, NC
TH 04.09.09 - Washington, DC
FR 04.10.09 - Philadelphia, PA

SXSW '09 Pick #17: The Urges!

2009-03-13T00:24:00.006-05:00

The Urges

Psych Ward
Wicked Cool Records (US)

Although Psych Ward was released in Europe a almost a year ago on Germany's Screaming Apple Records, this release that has garnered so much praise both far and wide overseas is out on Wicked Cool Records and easily available in The States. Recorded at legendary Circo Perrotti Studios in Gijon, Spain by Jorge Explosion, who recorded Pittsburgh legends The Cynics latest offering Here We Are as well as releases from Billy Childish, Los Immediatos, and The Dee Rangers to name a few, Psych Ward is almost a purist's delight of '60s garage punk. Fuzz, psychedelic Farfisa, zombie howls, harmony vocals, you name it, it's here. In fact, Us Americans are now kind of late in our discovery of The Urges and their debut Psych Ward. Reviews from all over have hailed them as mistaken for a '60s garage punk band, leaders of the new generation of psych/punk, to the missing link between '60s garage punk and '80s Paisley Underground. Then again, that last reference is over two decades old. Since then, garage rock, garage punk, and many psych tinged manifestations on it have emerged with bands that are both backwards in their influences but forwards in their sound. However, The Urges sound like all of those things combined and fans leaning towards every angle are going to pick up on it.

The opening "Jenny Jenny" is a raw '60s Brit Beat number with lyrics that bear an eerie resemblance to "If I Ain't Got You" by The Len Price 3 - "Without you I'm just a ghost of myself" although with a bit more of a louder garage rock twang. However, theirs came out well before The Len Price 3. One might pick up traces of The Chocolate Watchband or The 13th Floor Elevators on "I Gotta Wait," but there are simultaneous traces of raw guitar much like early Stones and The Downliners Sect. The following track "You Don't Look So Good" lines up well next to The Wheels but adds more fuzz guitar, a stronger beat, and great harmonies. The Urges manage to break out some great surf guitar and a pretty strong Chesterfield Kings style farfisa melody, but the overall feels is still older and louder. "You're Gonna Find Out" is a tripped out mix of The Remains and even a touch of early Cynics. This sounds like an awful lot of "sound like" to stomach, but if you take parts of all of your favorite bands and put them together into one, The Urges could be it. "The 13th Floor" could be mistaken for a '60s garage psych classic, but somehow it's also a deeper rock lament that's both psychedelic but without some of the forgettable experimentation of early garage psych. One could guess that this what it sounds like when a garage punk tries something psychedelic. It's more urgent, compact, louder, and much more focused. "Salvaje" is a fuzzed out stomp that unmistakably could be The Mummies and throws in some great, ghouly Cramps laughs. Among the more straightforward songs is "So Uptight," which sounds a little too much like "Stepping Stone," only much better. "The Urges Theme" is a muted reverb, dark, surfy, echo laden song with some truly impressive tremolo and building beats.

I'm finding it really hard not to talk about every song on Psych Ward. Every song is packed with something great. One might hear The Seeds influence on "Out of Time" while others will hear traces of Mickey & The Milkshakes and The Electric Prunes. That's actually a fine example. Take your pick of something really good and you'll hear some of it, no matter what decade of the garage spectrum you lean towards. "Curse It All" is an all out surf romp that seems to cross territory into fast paced Irish pub and Russian drinking music. The guitar is fast and all out impressive, and the beat holds time with it just as frenetically. The last track is "Psych Ward." It's just as impressive as the rest, but heavier on the Electric Prunes styled delerium and the only "psychedelic" studio effect on the whole album thrown in at the end.

One could look at The Urges Psych Ward in two different ways. Before I start on the negative, I need to use the disclaimer that those who can do music do it, but those who don't succeed critique. One can easily narrow The Urges as a band who listened to their parents' record collection and all volumes of Nuggets religiously and studied them to come out with a sound that has all those influences without allegiance to a single one. As a result, It's great music, although not original. I beg to differ. As I've said before, don't listen to rock 'n' roll if you want to hear something original. It's rock 'n' roll! It's basic. Guitar, bass, and drums. The real truth is that great rock 'n' roll never gets old. If one combines great parts of 60's garage rock, garage psych, garage punk, zombie films, surf music, Paisley Underground, and everything else that's been out afterwards that's worthy of one or more of those labels and is good, it would sound like The Urges, but it's definitely original. Psych Ward has the fuzz of garage, the faster, sharper guitar of surf, the psych garage of Farfisa, but the youth, focus, and volume of garage punk. '60s garage purists, mod music fans, surf afficionados, psych rockers who want some good vocal harmony or melodic embellishment on guitar, and garage punks who want to hear loud wails and basic chords will hear ALL of those things in each song. In the end, you'll hear at least one thing you like in every single song; one thing that reminds you of another band that you really, really like, but different from them at the same time. This band sounds both like seasoned '60s garage staples AND loud, snotty punks with attitude. According to their bios, they had little to no musical experience. After listening to Psych Ward, one would find that really hard to believe. It's that fucking good.

Pysch Ward is essential garage rock perfection. Nothing else. In fact, the best way to appreciate it is with the the package deal of vinyl with the full length cd + bonus tracks for only $15. You can't beat that. Among them is "Don't Lead Me On", a slow tempo song that's full of guitar exchanges from Glen and Gary that range from almost delicate psychedelia to loud surf, intense vocal melodies, and Ross's bass that keeps the tune more deeply. It's a damn good vibe, but what's most noticable is the kind of airy sound that either has a vintage analog tape hiss or just the sound of a big room with a lot of empty space. It's pretty special. The other extra track is "Around and Around," a tune with a splendid garage punk beat, plenty of vox guitar sounds, and a little bit of fuzz to send it on. Since every track on the original release is great beyond belief, the extra tracks are essential. There's no slip ups or filler to be found with The Urges. These guys are the real thing.

SXSW Appearances

The Urges are putting down roots in Austin, Texas for a full seven days next week. There are plenty of opportunities to catch one of today's best rock 'n' roll acts. You should see them at least twice. You don't have any excuses.

Mar 16 2009 8:00p.m. Hole In The Wall w/Black Nite Crash & Lower Heaven Austin, Texas
Mar 17 2009 8:00p.m. The Red Scoot Inn w/ Choo Choo and Teen Sensations Austin, Texas
Mar 18 2009 4:00p.m. Sonny’s Vintage w/The Hall Monitors, The She Creatures, Broadfield Marchers, and friends Austin, Texas
Mar 19 2009 1:00p.m. Blue Velvet Vintage Day Party Austin, Texas
Mar 20 2009 1:00p.m. SXSW Antones - LSUG/Wicked Cool showcase Austin, Texas
Mar 20 2009 3:00p.m SXSW - BD Riley’s (Full Irish Breakfast) Austin, Texas
Mar 20 2009 8:00p.m SXSW Red Eyed Fly - LSUG/Wicked Cool showcase Austin, Texas
Mar 21 2009 6:00p.m. Spider House Café w/The Higher State & The Woggles etc Austin, Texas
Mar 22 2009 8:00p.m. The Fuzz Club w/The Cynics & The Higher State Austin, Texas

Here's a cool cover of The Omens' "Searching."

"The Urges Theme." Utterly convincing.

SXSW '09 Pick #16: The Moog!

2009-03-12T01:23:00.003-05:00

The Moog

Sold For Tomorrow
Musick Records

Budapest's The Moog are the newest teen sensation out of Hungary. Well, the only teen sensation out of Hungary, for that matter. Short, sweet songs created out of early punk, synthy new wave, and a little indie rock become popular music that's still good music. "Your Sweet Neck" is about as current as one can be with it's vampire theme, so it's no wonder that goth kids are among their growing legions of fans, despite that it's a catchy, Cars like synth tune that's beat and hooks are about as far beyond the self indulgent themes and slower tempos of most goth rock, but maybe the appeal is Tonyo's seductive, low voice. "Everybody Wants" is a little '80s and a little modern indie with clever guitar hooks and a catchy chorus that causes one to envision Sold For Tomorrow as beginning to take root among the disaffected high school youth that still value art and literature. Definitely a thing for the geeks! The teenage angst bend to a lot of Sold For Tomorrow is temporarily shed on the super clap and say "yeah" along song "I Don't Want You Now", and it's probably the 'funnest' song on the release. Was that a Moog at the end?

The first single off the album, "I Like You" is catchy, but seems to aim more for young romance or better stated, obsession with its repetitive chorus, but the refrain "I do not know what I should do" adds a little more character and has some well filled drumming from Gergo that gives it some added depth that will cause a better listen. "If I Died" definitely has a Moog and gives the song a straight out of '80s American new wave bend, but with lyrics "Oh, and there's nothing left for me to live or die for, so I think I lock every door behind me and throw away the keys 'cause it would not impress me" speaks volumes for their appeal to the doom and gloom". Wait, the chorus of "If I loved, if I cried, if I died" is really fun! I guess one could say the appeal of The Moog is that the music is fun, early new wave and punk based, but the juxtaposition of gloomy and/or teenage angst expands their appeal. I'm wondering how the brooding, black dressed crowd will deal with a live show with so many people smiling, pogoing and singing along? Another standout is "Survive". It's got a fast, near hardcore punk beat that suits it's theme of telling some sad (probably goth girl, again) to stop blaming others and pay attention to their own actions.

A particular appeal of Sold For Tomorrow is that it has both a musical depth and simultaneous simplicity. "Xanax Youth" is a great example of that. Drums and Csabi's bass have a clarity and wholeness, but Adi adds guitar that is both melodic and slightly hooked while also relying on a chord progression that channels early Joy Division. The lyrics? Imagery that's straight out of the book of The Cure, but instead of taking their route of abandoning sharper hooks for somber but good melodies, the song has a really good buildup and eventual climax of drums and feedback which only serves to summarize that The Moog is a rock 'n' roll band that's harder to place. The bonus song "Hit Song" empasizes The Moog's contradictions further as a song of longing but acceptance of a breakup, only it sounds so happy it's beat!

Being not so easily categorized can either be a blessing or a curse. Too often, music fans put their tastes in a pidgeonhole by taking a narrow view of it and only putting bands in that narrow, little space. In truth, great bands have musical connections who are in turn also great, but not necessarily in the same way. If one loves great rock 'n' roll, then they see those connections, although they don't necessarily have to love them. Are The Byrds a garage rock band? No. Are The Sonics a psych/garage band? No. However, many of us share an interest for bands that fall under both influences. How is surf music with it's emphasis on notes instead of straight chords related to garage rock? Musically, one could say it isn't. Therein lies the appeal of The Moog. They're a lot of fun musically. Great beats, catchy hooks, the occasional Moog itself finds its way in and gives the music a quirky, new wave feel at times. The other side is lyrically, they're kind of goth with darker themes, heavy imagery, and plenty of teenage angst. Their influences lean just as heavily on The Ramones as they do to bands from Manchester, UK in the early '80s and the following Batcave crowd which spawned the goth scene. These oppositions are sharp, but The Moog have taken them to create something entirely new that sounds familiar without sounding too much like anyone, so they fit perfectly in with what so many of us seek when we hear new music. We want somthing that has a past in great bands, but we appreciate it more when it still is original. Otherwise, we'd be listening to the same thing. If one's in the latter category, then one's too old for rock 'n' roll.

"Everybody Wants"

"I Don't Want You Now"

SXSW Appearances

Mar 19 2009 4:00p.m. Unofficial SXSW free day show Blue Velvet Vintage Clothing 217 W North Loop Blvd 78751
Mar 19 2009 8:00p.m. SXSW
Mar 20 2009 8:30p.m. SXSW Official show Club 115 115 San Jacinto 78701

SXSW '09 PIck #15: Muck and The Mires!

2009-03-10T01:04:00.003-05:00

Muck and The Mires
UPCOMING RELEASE: IMAGE NOT AVAILABLE AT PRESS TIME
Hypnotic
Dirty Water Records

Muck and The Mires gave us a little teaser last year for their upcoming Kim Fowley produced release, Hypnotic. The long wait will finally end on April 9th. It's been too long! The opening "Doreen" somehow sounds much better now. Drummer Jessie Best kicks up a sweet, loud beat while Evan "Muck" Shore throws in superb, unadelterated chords on his Muckenbacker while gravelling jubilantly. Throw in some tasty little high and low riffs from Brian Mire, a few handclaps, John Quincy Mire's groovy bass and solo time, and you're in rock 'n' roll high school were it's all about girls and fun. Great start, isn't it? "Treat Her Right" is a little alien at first with it's country tone, but it grows on you after a while. "I'd Do It Over Again" takes a '60s surf/spy approach with a slower beat that brings to mind wet, warm nights and hot rods.

Later tracks like "Hang All Over Me" cements in Muck and The Mires signature vintage sound of early '60s Hamburg with two raw guitars and a basic rock 'n' roll approach that echoes the celebratory revolution of rock 'n' roll in those days; a time when The Beatles thrived on playing nasty tunes live every night and the newly shorned Monks made the town their own monastery by squeezing in faster beats and an organ, thereby perfecting The Hamburg Sound. In fact, "Hang All Over Me" has the group singing in unison a nice organ in it! A great track is the Kinks influenced "Crush on Me", which has smoother vocals and a melody reminiscent of "Tired Of Waiting" that builds, moves, and will shake anyone as well as any structures within earshot. "That Poor Little Girl" still sounds fresh and new, but "Hypnotic" takes on a new identity in its second run. It somehow sounds a little louder and definitely persuasive with its Harrison-like plucks and two chords for a melody. "Hamburg Time" is a loud homage to the previously mentioned birthplaces of loud rock 'n' roll that will leave everyone else wanting to set their clocks to "Hamburg Time," but "Mata Hari" throws The Rat Pack out of the tiki bar to replace them with some British Invasion and a slinky sitar. It's rock 'n' roll that brings to mind wild nights among tiki torches and hula dancers in celebration of the ended day's wave riding. The British Invasion models and shapes the sound of many acts today, but Muck and The Mires make it a lot more special by reviving The Hamburg Scene when the bands that played were a lot rougher and more fun than their later incarnations and subsequent counterparts.

Kim Fowley declared "Cocoa Beach" to be a big hit for the Summer of '08 when he went into the studio with them a while back. It's got a great ocean rhythm, beach music harmonies, and some astounding drumming, but whether it's by heritage or the age demographic of Florida, my image and memories bring up visiting Aunt Sadie and Uncle Morty in Boca more than a hot vacation. Although "lying on the beach all day" would be ideal, many who visit end up playing a lot more shuffleboard. I can't fault anyone for that, though. In fact, I need to get down there if Cocoa Beach is as groovy as Muck tells us. The closing track "Gone, Gone, Gone" is a standout with feedback and volume. It's a good ending by kicking things up just a little.

Fowley had a vision of recording Muck and The Mires in the style or feel of With The Beatles. Although The Beatles are so familiar that everyone likes them, but a large portion amonth them lack the ability to hear great new music, so they've dissected, overanalyzed, and written endless, over repeated tomes on their genius to the point where we all know about it and have been furiously shaking off the weight of The Beatles for a good part of our lives, if one listens to a song like "I Saw Her Standing There" and rediscovers the rock 'n' roll simplicity of it in the catchy lyrics, the happy beat, the elated tone in the screams, and the eventual realization that it still has what we all are looking for: Simple, fun rock 'n' roll, then go farther back and dig "The Hamburg Sound" with The Monks, one could only conclude that Hypnotic is the answer to our modern dilemnas of politics and the economy. We've got fun, loud rock 'n' roll that's not complicated or overdone. Things have been pretty tough for everyone lately. It's time to get out there, go to a show, and shake, rattle, roll, and shimmy one's self back to into a time when things were fun and the world carried a lot of hope and promise. Not only can Hypnotic take us there, but it reminds us that like back then, things are changing all around us and while we remain apprehensive about the future, the world is opening up again, which is exactly what one feels when they discover rock 'n' roll. It's time to have some fun!

"Hamburg Time"

"Crush on Me"

Both videos courtesy of rfgenerator-March 6, 2009 from Vincent's Bar in Worcester, MA.

SXSW Appearances

Mar 20 2009 11:00p.m. With THE NEW YORK DOLLS 504 Trinity St. 78701

SXSW '09 Pick #14: Maximum Jangle with The Parties!

2009-03-08T21:57:00.005-05:00

The Parties

Can't Come Down
Rainbow Quartz Records

The Parties are a mod band that plays two 12-string electric guitars. That's the best description. Not psychedelic, not mod, not Byrds influenced. All of the above. They call it Maximum Jangle. What one finds on their debut Can't Come Down is a lot of songs all built around their sound that do, in fact, touch on late '60s garage, mod, early psych, '60s LA folk rock, The Paisley Undergound, and modern psych with older twists. Although that covers a lot of musical territory, one notices the most that their sound is their own with a combination of eras and influences led by vocal/12-string, left handed Vox Phantom wizard Jeremy Powers. "Love For Sale" floats like an '80s psych anthem, complete with an effect laden intro, almost choral opening vocals, a deep, melodic bass from Rex Paddyhag, a catchy guitar melody intro, and definitely 'trippy' guitar to compliment the melody that send it into melodic psychedelia, although with plenty of feedback. It hooks and pulls one right in. Tripped out, raw guitar, psychedelic pop much like not only modern influences like The Asteroid #4 and The High Dials, but also nods to The Rain Parade and The Church. Then the higher harmonic pitch of the refrain "She did it again" sends one into The Stratosphere. "Breaking Hearts" leans towards a more basic approach, but the jangle has a lot more feedback than the classic Rickenbacker 'tinny' sound. It's got this early Who sense of rawness and the occasional Keith Moonish drumrolls from John Morgan, but instead of Maximum R & B, we get Maximum Jangle! "Cold Life" has a more "classic" 12-string Rick sound, but the song introduces us to guitarist Sarah Mehlfield, who's Velvet(y) Underground tone combines with LA folk and Burt Bacharach coolness to create a fully electrified folk experience (Sarah has since departed). "Yours and Mine" probably comes the closest to classic jingle jangle in tempo, but it also has a great, live sound with a tambourine taking a central role. The title track takes an echoed, smooth approach with a full sound air that feels like a late, inebriated evening where the music fills the room like The Mama's & The Papa's if they had mixed sweet harmonies with a lot more guitar and "All Tomorrow's Parties".

After deeper, introspective tones, "Radio" is a more chord driven psych number which provide an upbeat, rock lift that's accentuated with a good amount of fuzz and still retains a '60s innocence and simplicity. The select number of people that I've turned on to The Parties were turned on by "Velvet Love Affair," which has a slight '60s country rock/folk tinge that reminds one of The Stone Pony's interpretation of Mike Nesmith's a different drum. Although all the tracks on Can't Come Down move around a dual 12-string sound, "Waterfall" goes into '80s Paisly Underground interspersed with the louder, mod revival powerpop. One sees one of the forumulas in The Parties of airy psychedelic melodies twisted with feedback, fuzz, and even folk. These seem to come together in "Gotta Get Out", a slow, modish song that would have been at home on Quadrophenia, especially with the words "I've got my head in the clouds, all for the chance of impressing a girl" that could only make one think of Jimmy's identity crisis "Cut My Hair".

With the mix of feebacked early psych and folk rock played as more lush, layered but still fuzzed out songs on most of "Can't Come Down", the title track comes as a little bit of a shock as a full jangly powerpop song that although it's my favorite track, it's definitely a standout compared to most of the album. What's even more shocking is the slide guitar intro of the ending "Much Better", but this one somehow just puts a lump in one's throat with Everly Brothers like harmonies. Additionally, it's a chord based rock song that somehow combines a faster melody with a slower but groovy rhythm over it. It's another song that makes one stop and marvel at how special The Parties are.

The Parties make jangly psych rock that's too fuzzy to be powerpop, but there's a range of musical styles from airy psychedelic, electric folk, and jangly fuzz that might leave most listeners unsure of what to call them. Truthfully, a great band either does the same thing over and over and does it brilliantly every time, or they challenge themselves and their fans by using their own, original sound to take bigger jumps from without transforming into something less exciting than they were. The latter can be said about The Parties. Every song has strong points, whether it's in a deep, folky simplicity, trippy electric psych, or just rock 'n' roll with a maximum jangle, The Parties have their own voice that lies in their sound. Once one hears a few tracks, they'll recognize the remaining tracks as distinctive and sounding more like The Parties, a band that invented Maximum Jangle!

"Gotta Get Out"

SXSW Appearances

Mar 21 2009 3:00p.m. The International Psychout! SXSW Day Party Austin, Texas
Mar 21 2009 8:00p.m. SXSW Showcase - B. D. Riley’s Irish Pub Austin, Texas

Note: Rough Draft, Disraelis misspelled

SXSW '09 Pick #13: The Love Me Nots

2009-03-08T00:43:00.002-06:00

The Love Me Nots

Detroit
Atomic A Go Go Records

The hottest/coolest thing to come out of Arizona have returned with their second album wrought in spy/surf mayhem. Whereas their debut In Black & White packed punches in every song, Detroit pummels. Nicole's vocals are stronger, more seductive, louder, and more soulful, while Michael Johny's guitar is heavier, thicker, and louder. As if the two leaders aren't enough to batter you with fuzzed out surf and farfisa for nearly 40 minutes, bassist Christina Nunez and drummer Jay Lien equally join the melee with every thud and pound, although both left recently and were replaced by Kyle Rose Stokes and Vince Ramirez. In Black & White was a flawless debut that left many record labels pounding at their door. Alas, The Love Me Nots were left unimpressed with the possibility of major label exposure and losing certain rights as a compromise. As a result, the band kept their DIY attitude and outdid themselves. Detroit is the second album released on their own label, Atomic A Go Go records. This is an album that labels wish their artists could do.

Ghetto Recorders guru Jim Diamond turned the knobs again, but this time, every thing that was so great about In Black & White was turned up to 11! An Arizona band turned into natives of The Motor City, definitely. Detroit is heavier in volume and power. Farfisa/lead vocal Nicole Laurenne's voice is enough to leave everyone bowing their heads in awe on the opening track "Walk Around Them," but the keys blast in like ice against Michael Johnny's wailing guitar, but the chords have an echo that fills up every corner of a room. There's also a cool pre-solo of melodic bass fuzz that one can't help but nod their head in approval. "Bulletproof Heart" and "Secret Pocket" has almost Arabian guitar intros and later solos that is nothing less than authentic if one considers that surf guitar legend Dick Dale is of Lebanese descent and used Arabian melodies as a major influence in his work. Jay's drumming on it is tough, primal, and to the point, but Nicole's almost hypnotic keys on "Secret Pocket" have a swirling, almost mesmerizing effect that could make anyone swoon if it weren't for the fact that all the other instrumental and vocal parts demand notice. "I'm The One" is almost a 'traditional' garage rock song with it's simple beat, but the keys are eerie enough to throw one into a zombie movie. "Love Letter" is almost a refrain from the previous tracks in it's simpler delivery. Whereas the songs before it have an almost punk assault in delivery, "Love Letter" is a freakbeat dance song that can fill the floor. "Work" is a pure r&b foray that showcases a fuller range of Nicole's vocal prowess in that it's smooth and seductive, but the added tambourine rhythm is a great surprise as well as the certainly Motown style background vocals.

Detroit is undeniable fun that is far better in its intensity and simplicity than most of what's out there. The 60's surf, garage, spy movie and fuzz/farfisa are all there, one can instantly pick out the influences, but the delivery is punk in volume and one can only slightly pick out influences to say what they sound like. For example, "Shuffle" has loud, dark surf guitar and the beat that could have been at home on Hulabaloo, Shindig, or Beat Club, but it doesn't really sound like anyone. An exception is the commanding Black & Blue that hints at The Sonics "Have Love, Will Travel." Then again, that song is such a staple that an awful lot of great bands have a few songs in their repertoire that hearkens back to it. Although Birthday Present has the same beat of In Black & White's "Move In Tight," the Farfisa is nice and muddier than the other tracks, Nicole's voice into full command as well as the others. "Shaken" is a slower, subtle but still intense, and desolate lament that's a perfect ending for the album.

SXSW Appearances

Mar 21 2009 6:00p.m. PAISLEY UMBRELLA SHOWCASE @ ROCKIN TOMATO
Mar 21 2009 9:00p.m. OFFICIAL SHOWCASE @ SMOKIN MUSIC
Mar 22 2009 1:00p.m. CHEAPO RECORDS IN-STORE Austin, Texas

"Work"

SXSW '09 Pick #12: Magic Christian

2009-03-06T23:50:00.004-06:00

Magic Christian

Evolver
Wizard's Den Records

Given the pedigree of Flamin' Groovies, The Plimsouls, and Blondie, one can't help but to think in awe of Magic Christian. It comes bottled in their second release, Evolver. As a good intro, "In Your Arms" is good, jangly, late Groovies era, but it's followed by the supercharged "Out In The Streets", with full, raw chords from Cyril Jordan, intense rhytmic drumming from one of the most talented drummers around, Clem Burke, and convincingly superb, commanding vocals from Paul Kopf, who's probably the luckiest rock fan in the world! It's also got some southern boogie, Rolling Stones style piano that brings together the overall sound. Perhaps the trademark of Cyril's legendary Flamin' Groovies was this ultimate mix of dirty r & b with perfect, jingle jangle melodies. "All The Stars" is a great example of this hard rockin' with great melodies, almost to the point where the melody is really familiar even though it's an original song. They also give "Anytime At All" from The Beatles A Hard Days Night a great update that has echoes of "Turn Turn Turn!". What's most exciting about this one is Paul's incredible vocals.

"Run and Hide" takes a careful emphasis on great vocal harmonies, another late Groovies trademark, but with a lean towards Rubber Soul that will dare anyone not to think it's a great song, but it also has a deeper bass melody from 'Fast' Eddie Munoz and builds up into a louder song with some heavier guitar parts and layered vocals that are quite surprising. As if self fulfilling, "Turn Up the Heat" matches a little rock ferocity r & b style, a simple melody, and Clem Burke's fabulous beats. At times, one can hear his snare drum stand out, but the buildups, especially before and during the chorus, is proof why he's so sought after. Two songs on Evolver remind me of "Shake Some Action", which I often tell people is the best song ever: "Sha La La" has Cyril's familiar twang, but with a slower beat and a surprising high voice from Paul that takes one back to '64 even though most of us weren't around back then, while "Come And Go" mixes a few different chord effects that sound both raw and with effects, but also combines with a smooth and strong vocal tone that turns it into a song that's somehow hard, sweet, and melodic.

"Tomorrow Never Comes" (notice a second Revolver reference) is one's personal journey, which is a familiar theme in rock that plays out with practically every band that's able to look at themselves, but it also reflects both a personal struggle of trying to move that fits into the title itself. Much different than most songs involving personal journeys, which don't really describe a some sort of change, lyrics like "Clocks are running now...will I ever find the time to get some piece of mind? There's never a way of knowing where or what you will find" emphasize that personal change, which makes it a better story than the familiar lament of a personal identity crisis. Additionally, the longer intro played dually with Cyril and Eddie is a great sounding exchange. Magic Christian ends Evolver on a great high note with the Memphis Blues hued "The Real Thing", complete with stompin' shoes, smokestack lightnin', '60s themes of "You can't do this, and you can't do that", but with encouragement to "come on down the road, it's not what you think you'll see, the real thing, baby!" and experience some down home, raunchy rock Beggars Banquet style, but with a great sounding guitar echo that are loud and clean with a little bit of Andy Summers from The Police's louder, least known Regatta de Blanc. Luckily, the reggae influence is left out.

Evolver should be considered a true rock 'n' roll album. It mixes soul harmonies, dirty blues guitar, a lot of jangle, a little twang, and a strong presence all around. The drumming's incredible, the bass has it's own melodic presence that also compliments the guitar, and the vocals, both group and solo, have a presence that's unrestrained but remain grounded. Evovler is great rock 'n' roll. Then again, that's exactly what one would expect with the combined talents of Magic Christian.

SXSW Appearances

Mar 17 2009 7:30p.m. The Dog And Duck Pub’s 19th Annual St. Patrick’s Day Party Austin, Texas
Mar 19 2009 4:00p.m. SXSW - Dogfish Head Showcase Ginger Man Austin, Texas
Mar 20 2009 4:00p.m. SXSW Day Show Dogfish Head Showcase Ginger Man Austin, Texas
Mar 20 2009 9:00p.m. LITTLE STEVEN’S OFFICIAL SXSW SHOWCASE @ THE RED EYED FLY AUSTIN, Texas
Mar 21 2009 1:45p.m. SXSW Day Show Breakaway Records Austin, Texas
Mar 21 2009 5:00p.m. SXSW Day Show Antone’s Records Austin, Texas

"Out In The Streets"

"All the Stars"

Videos courtesy of vinylrichie

SXSW '09 Pick #11: She Creatures Invade!

2009-03-05T00:04:00.005-06:00

The She Creatures

She Creatures Invade
Not signed on any Earth label!

The look is cool, the vibe is cool, and it's space age garage rock. That's almost enough right there to make anyone submit. Musically, The She Creatures rock like no one else! The opening "She Creatures Invade" is such a bold statement filled with super beats from Elektra Statik, interstellar Vox Continental hits, choppy chords, and the chorus "She Creatures invade! Men, can't be afraid, we'll hypnotize you, yeah, yeah, yeah!" is more than persuasive, but Nancy Raygun deals the final hypno-ray with her strong vocals that remind one of every tough female lead from Grace Slick to Debbie Harry, but with even greater power and seduction akin to Sharon Tandy's vocal on "Daughter of The Sun" that adds a hint of smoothness and range to the likes of Kate Pierson. If that's not enough, the siren's call of The She Creatures singing in unison is going to bring one to their knees on the slow tempo, Motown inspired "Hungry", which is an response equal in musical chops and garage influences to The Fleshtones "I'm Still Thirsty", complete with Princess Slayer's Vox Contintental organ sweeps.

"Radar" has has a harder, louder feel with some great guitar riffs and some handclaps that are long enough to get everyone on their feet. "Moonman" was so full of great stuff that it's hard to get one's hands around. At first, a slow, bluesy number that reminds one of "Needles and Pins", great background vocals, a little bit of "I Wanna Be Your Boyfriend", some awfully loud guitar, the all too familiar lament of "Show me your dark side" and the idea of falling in love in a way that everything is new and full of aching desire and so much unfamiliarity. To expand, it's that feeling of infatuation with someone one's just starting to know and therefore, really does come off as someone from another planet. The closing song "Space Madness" edges towards a sleazy garage punk song complete with fuzzed out chords and a chorus that's going to get everyone screaming along, but it's another pure She Creatures anthem that points to their louder, sleazier garage punk sound with Haley Comet playing both bass and a mesmerizing theramin.

The She Creatures have their own theme that permeates these songs as well as their original '60s sci-fi interplanetary invaders inspired intro and outtro, but what one really finds is that the music is so good that it's light years beyond anything. This is Super rock from The Space Age! South by Southwest had the original intentions of giving exposure to unsigned acts. Although that message has sharply changed to having a few well known artists and a strong showing of already signed indie acts who also deserve more exposure, it's a great way to discover those who you might not hear of otherwise, so the unsigned acts that often have more talent and ability than most. This applies to The She Creatures. In fact, this is one act that one should see at least one performance of. As much as we try to remain gender neutral, The She Creatures display a feminist strength in their persuasiveness and ultimately, their music that should make both genders think twice about roles. This is strength, power, dominance, desire, common vulnerabilities that everyone can identify with, and sex appeal that not only has the potential to remind women of their own power, but to really put those in the male category a still needed step down. This is at first alien in appearance, but is also proof that these invaders studied us less evolved humans well enough to know how to take us over. Not only do these vixens from Venus have the look to make everyone submit, but their music is so powerful that it commands admiration. Prepare to submit, puny Earthlings!

SXSW Appearances

Mar 18 2009 8:00P 2.40pm Sonny’s Vintage - Austin, Texas
Mar 19 2009 8:00P 1.45pm Breakaway Records/11pm Esther’s Follies - Austin, Texas
Mar 20 2009 8:00P SXSW Austin, Texas
Mar 21 2009 8:00P 3pm Cheapo Discs - SXSW Austin, Texas

SXSW '09 Pick #10: The DT's

2009-02-28T17:46:00.004-06:00

The DT's

Filthy Habits
Get Hip Recordings

Given the overwhelming dose of psychedelic garage at SXSW this year, The DT's are a super double shot of balls to the wall, straight up, hard and heavy soul that stand out as a loud shock compared to the rest of this year's lineup of performing acts. Hailing from Bellingham, Washington, these hard rockers were founded on the premise of good time '70s rock with a hard does of soul. Not only do they deliver on it, they bludgeon you with it! The DT's are about being loud, dirty, and nasty. As a perspective before one hears them for the first time, think of the Ike & Tina recording of "Proud Mary" when Tina says "You see we never ever do nothing nice and easy, we always do it nice and rough" and you get the picture. When Diana Young-Blanchard belts out "I'm gonna scratch out your eyes, pull out your hair, put my boot up your ass" amidst Dave Crider's heavy riffs, it's double proof that The DT's are here to give out a rockin' beatdown. Additionally, for everyone who loves saying "More Cowbell", you've got it here! The followup "Mystified" is ample parts Malcolm Young and power drumming from Mike Van Buskirk with the longest, coolest vocal carry from Diana that's going to make every rock 'n' roll fan stand want to shake their fists in the air. This is loud, hard, pure rock 'n' roll "fuck you" attitude. Although their music has commercial appeal in hard rock, The DT's sound almost too real to end up on that route.

"Freedom", which was also recently released on Get Hip Recordings as 7 inch vinyl, embraces what The DT's are all about: Loud, heavy, unrestrained power. In this case, when we hear "freedom from sin, freedom from religion, ain't got nothing to lose", it's a more universal call to "power, self satisfaction, I want it here and I want it now." It feels damn good to look at it in the way The DT's are portraying it instead of the concept of freedom that's been distorted in the last eight years by The Bush Administration to mean one's free as long as they follow and don't question a political idealogy. The kind of freedom The DT's sing about is an open road and a more "Born To Be Wild" sense. This is followed up by the soul rockin' "Crowfinger" with a personal fire of confusion and desperation much like the true theme of soul music in the sacred combined with the profane. The pounding uptempo of "Turn Loose" is another great guitar and drum, take no prisoners brawl that's strong enough to fulfill the lyrical point of being left alone after a breakup.

The slower, dirty blues of "Red Eye" is a standout as a super heavy, early '70s, slow starting rocker that's lyrically the result of "Turn Loose", but by now, a strong picture of Filthy Habits emerges as an album that's all about freedom, getting away, and liberation. In fact, the songs start to feel more like a story than a collection of songs. The Motown influenced "Sweet Words" is a great soul lament with some down south guitar licks and for the first time, some great blues keyboards. In keeping with the unraveling story of Filthy Habits, the awesome beat of "Sugar Pie" is a new romance that feels like both an up front offer and a soul plea. This song is perhaps the biggest reminder that we've had in a long time that rock 'n' roll is about getting some action, but the final song "When The Lights Go Out" fulfills that goal when Diana let's us know "When the lights go out, there's heaven in the dark. And when the lights go out, we ain't gonna talk about much."

Everything about The DT's Filthy Habits is dirty, sexy, loud rock 'n' roll that's blood, sweat, and spit. When one utters the words "rock 'n' roll", this band is a perfect description of it. One sways back and forth, stomps their feet, screams out for it, and feels it. But what makes Filthy Habits a standout in spite of it being so pure is that with a strong female frontwoman, it's more appealing and seductive than the stereotypical male in command of rock and therefore, sex image that most people are accustomed to. In the end the story behind Filthy Habits has more guts, power, and balls than most acts claiming to be hard rock, but what makes it great rock 'n' roll is that it's got more soul than what most people call hard rock. The riffs and rhythm might sound like '70s rock, but the sound and feel is all soul and therefore, a lot harder than what's typically heard. The DT's not only rock, they efinitely roll.

Filthy Habits is available at your local indie record store or online from Get Hip Recordings

SXSW Shows:

Mar 18 2009 8:00 pm Get Hip Records Showcase Habana Calle
6709 E. 6th St.
Mar 19 2009 2:00 pm Unofficial Day Show Cheapo Records and Discs
914 N Lamar Blvd
Mar 20 2009 2:00 pm Unofficial Day Show Breakaway Records
1704 E. 5th St.

SXSW '09 Pick #9: The Broadfield Marchers

2009-02-27T01:28:00.002-06:00

The Broadfield Marchers

The Inevitable Continuing
Rainow Quartz Records

Among its origins, Psychedelic rock could be characterized as an early offshoot of garage rock. Fuzz pedals, Farfisas, and older Rickenbacker guitars with their classic twang integrated into garage rock to take it from basic to freaky. This progression not only took place in the '60s, but also in the '80s once punk bands integrated The Velvet Undergound into their sound, then later The Byrds, Thirteenth Floor Elevators, The Beatles Revolver, and others. That result was bands like The Soft Boys, REM, The Bangles, The Plimsouls, and others. Right now, we're witnessing the third wave of that progression that started in the mid '90s with The High Dials, Asteroid #4, and newer acts like The Urges, who stick to a loud, fuzzy garage rock, but also have integrated small elements of psychedelic rock, The Disraelis, and The Parties. In fact, one could say this is the year of psychedelic garage rock. A relative unknown to this third wave is The Broadfield Marchers, a three piece outfit that carries melodic psychedelia with a raw, lo-fi sound, and a slower tempo. In fact, they're a bit of a standout with the combination.

Considering they're on Rainow Quartz Records, a label long known for picking a lot of the best sounding, highly polished psych pop out there, The Broadfield Marchers are a bit of a surprise since it's not the crisp sound that many of use have come to expect from acts on the label. "Raul" is a strong, slow but heavy blast of low tempo, heavy chords that seem to have more in common with early Pixies than the band's labelmates, but the nearly out of nowhere guitar lick and the buildups to the chorus have more in common with the louder, heavier songs from The 13th Floor Elevators. One also notices that guitar/lead vocalist Dustin Zdobylak has a soft, high pitched voice that stands as a good contrast to his somewhat heavy guitar playing. If one has a genuine affection for lo fi, "Leopards With Empty Claws" is a wonderful fulfillment with it's Peter Buck, early REM style guitar, and although early REM was not exactly top studio production and has a great element of newness in its back to basics approach, The Broadfield Marchers have an even less frills sound.

One can tell The Broadfield Marchers are a basic psychedelic outfit by way of The Byrds and previously mentioned acts, but with the odd, sliding diversions on "Stutter Shaker" and "Watchful Hill People", one notices that The Broadfield Marchers use a good bag of psychedelic touches that are always original, exciting, and just odd enough in their contrast to the rest of a song that show that this band is well above doing anything formulaic. In fact, although "The Inevitable Continuing" is mostly downtempo with little guitar effects, they got quite a response at last year's CMJ showcase, where Dustin wowed the crowd to the point that a few likened them to early Nirvana! Possibly, what makes The Broadfield Marchers is that they've completely eschewed the '90s shoegazer type psychedelia for something much less refined and exciting. That's not to say that the songs border on catchiness, but songs like "Mondo from Growth" carry a much stronger air of rock 'n' roll than lush psychedelia of shoegazer music. Also, the songs just sound like they're being played in a room in front of you. They're great songs that although are quite well done, don't sound like they came from a studio. For example, Mark Zdobylak has a prominent, melodic bass on "Following Minds" that seems to be on its own melody at times and is just complex enough to be interesting. At the same time, Justin's guitar is best described as "active" and never predictable, but his voice possesses a clarity and almost innocence since it's so high that that it makes for a song that one could both sing along to but never be able to predict the music to it.

The combination of a minimalist approach with careful attention to the music itself is hard to come by. In fact, the band that always championed this approach was The Velvet Underground by doing few things and not relying on studio tricks. One of the greatest results of this idea was Loaded, which was an album full of great, basic rock songs that were often slow, but remain fresh and modern with every listen. The Broadfield Marchers have a natural affinity for this sound and approach on "Patterns Of A Glance" and "Eagles Prevail." A personal favorite is "Panic Imposed", with a near '70s beat from drummer Justin Carter and many creative touches combined with some similar decade guitar riffs over Dustin's high voice that seem to communicate a heightened sense of fear when he sings the words "Panic imposed". Another standout is "Rightness of Commands", with an almost familiar melody interspersed with flowing but almost disturbing guitar effects.

The Broadfield Marchers The Inevitable Continuing can best be described as striking. Most of 19 tracks on the album are sharp pieces that don't repeat themselves, but are definitely a great psychedelic trip because the album moves like being in an ever changing world with sharp turns and never knowing what's coming around the corner, but having Dustin's voice as a permanent tourguide. Even the songs that one can easily point to influences carry enough string disturbances to keep one from becoming too comfortable and feeling like they know what The Broadfield Marchers are all about. In summation, this is what psychedelic music should be like: raw, harmonic, but also never predictable and often, unsettling. However, the confrontational elements are never shocking, but some to come naturally as part of their talents. The fact that the songs on The Inevitable Continuing have what can best be described as on overall weirdness to them while retaining a rock 'n' roll sound instead of being experimental are testimony to the fact that The Broadfield Marchers carry a lot of talent in three people that have translated into incredible performances according to the few who have seen them.

If you love rock 'n' roll, a part of that affection is for an element of disturbance because it's a rebellion to something standard and accepted. Unfortunately, most elements of the music that we hold so dearly that once were rebellion are now packaged and sold for it. The Broadfield Marchers play music that is still rock 'n' roll, but psychedelic and somewhat off either in key in certain places or full hits of odd but never contrived noise that they will remain with us and not be co-opted like so many of our favorite acts have been. It's not anarchy, but The Broadfield Marchers create short masterpieces that really provoke thought and appreciation for melodies with more than hints of disturbance to keep one always interested without being musically overbearing. Not only is The Inevitable Continuing a fast paced, psychedelic mindtrip on an unfamiliar and changing path, but their live shows simply cannot be missed.

SXSW Schedule:

Mar 18 2009 4:00Pm Unofficial SXSW Day show: Go Ape @ Sonny’s Vintage Austin, Texas
Also on the bill:
The Hall Monitors
Los Coronas
She Creatures
The Breakers
The Urges
The Right Ons
Eli Paperboy Reid and The True Loves
Powersolo

Mar 19 2009 2:30Pm Unofficial SXSW Day show: Blue Velvet, Austin, Texas
Also playing:
Nagel
The Orchid Highway
The Ripe
The Moog
The Urges
The Telepathic Butterflies
Love City

Mar 20 2009 3:00P SXSW Music Festival @ The Spiderhouse (Day Show) Austin, Texas
(check back for the full lineup)
Mar 21 2009 11:00P

SXSW Music Festival @ BD Rileys 9:00 pm (Rainbow Quartz Showcase) Austin, Texas
Also playing:
The Telepathic Butterflies
Deleted Waveform Gatherings
The Orchid Highway
The Parties

SXSW '09 Pick #8: Outrageous Cherry

2009-02-22T22:03:00.002-06:00

Outrageous Cherry

Wide Awake In The Spirit World: The Best Of Outrageous Cherry
Wicked Cool Records

Detroit's Outrageous Cherry has an impressive pedigree to start with. Frontman Matthew Smith played with Jack White of The White Stripes in The Go currently plays in Detroit's famous country/space rock foray The Volebeats with Detroit guitar legend John Nash (Electric Six) and occasional contributions from The Dirtbombs bassist Troy Gregory, The Volebeats, and has also collaborated with local staples His Name Is Alive, and former drummer Deb Agolli from The Gore Gore Girls. Matthew Smith is also a producer, so his pedigree spins out all over Detroit. Therefore, one could only expect a Detroit Staple to sound like Detroit. Surprisingly, Wide Awake In The Spirit World which is a compilation of their previous releases from Bar None, Third Gear, and Rainbow Quartz. Maybe as no surprise and comparable to numerous known bands from Rock City, Outrageous Cherry is a broader celebration of great rock 'n' roll, although heavily psychedelic.

In great local spirit, Outrageous Cherry is lo-fi psychedelic, meaning there's no studio effects but trippy songs that mostly run under three minutes. One hears a basic song full of muddy chords, acidic lead guitars and combined male/female vocals of The Mamas and the Papas on the opening "What Have You Invented Today," but instead of the semi-optimism of '60s pop for a sharper tongued accusation "Tell me how history works, when it's written by small minded jerks, their eyes on the prize of the lines where we communicate only with lies." One hears this song and know's it's a 60's psychedelic/pop inspired vibe, but the feedback combined with the vocal harmonies is something new because it feels like a DIY approach outside of record labels, which cleaned up the sound of so many great '60s acts to make them appeal to a wider audience. Another piece of feedback/psych perfection is "Why Don't You Stay For A Little While" with an underlied guitar feedback rhythm combined with the style of the late Syd Barrett. It's kind of heavy, but three chord simplicity. Since psychedelia was such a brief musical trend, there aren't many comparisons to draw from. Then again, nobody's come close to a reminiscence of The Beatles staple "Tomorrow Never Knows" like "Girl You Have The Magic Inside of You."

As if the muddy feedback and guitar effects without the overwhelming studio manipulation isn't retro enough, "Pretty Girls Go Insane" introduces a horn section that's ambitious like Love Forever Changes, but again with sharp tongued lyrics and guitar that might be considered as definitively Detroit. The "swirly" psychedelia is traded up for a trippier, Velvets minimalism on downers with "Young and Miserable" that serves as a modern song that would not have been considerable in the psychedelic days. "You're young and miserable, but I like it that way."

Outrageous Cherry is psychedelic. Easier to type, but harder to pin down. '60s psych pop vocals, psychedelic guitars, trippy echoed vocals, but collapsed into mostly short, basic garage rock songs. Maybe if VU played Brian Wilson's songs. "Our Love Will Change The World in to a strange place that we don't recognize when we look into each others' eyes." This makes one think of what bands like The Byrds and perhaps so many other well known '60s LA Rock acts might have played behind the backs of their record labels. In other words, the artists are dictating their music and their attitude without the intervention of the suits and ties above them.

Outrageous Cherry's Wide Awake In The Spirit World: The Best of Outrageous Cherry is psychedelic, but garage rock in the delivery and even more acerbic in it's sarcasm and bite. The music might sound happy at times, but the songs themselves have no optimism, which is pretty cool. It's a better tribute to so many great influences cited above when one considers that people like Arthur Lee or Jim (Rodger) McGuinn were practically forced into using their talents to make music that would sell records instead of putting more confrontational words and chaos into their music like they might have wanted to do at times. The result is that Outrageous Cherry has no compromises. It's great music. Even "New Creature" with it's la la la harmonies and handclaps is somehow rebellious and new. Wide Awake In The Spirit World: The Best of Outrageous Cherry is over 50 minutes of pessimistic psychedelic perfection. A more apt comparison is The Paisley Underground Movement in the '80s, when bands like The Plimsouls, The Bangles, Salvation Army, and Australian counterparts The Stems picked up Rickenbackers and made music against the grain by combining the punk rock attitude with garage rock psychedelia, only Outrageous Cherry takes this a step further with LA Folk Rock harmonies. For many, it's going to sound derivative, but a real listen reveals the depth and originality that's truly characteristic of a real rock band. Matthew Smith and his bandmates' Detroit pedigrees have already spoken for that. Naturally, there's a lot more to it.

For being so sharply critical, Wide Awake In The Spirit World: The Best Of Outrageous Cherry is also a lot of fun. Even more, the influences are obvious but the lo-fi, muddy production communicates a stronger sense of confusion, which has a greater feel of confrontation. As so many of us know, the spirit of confrontation by going against the norm or acceptable formula by taking the basics and twisting it is the cornerstone of what we call great rock 'n' roll.

Our Love Will Change The World

Tracy

SXSW Appearances

Wednesday, March 18 12:00 a.m. Headhunters (720 Red River St (8th St Entrance))
Friday, March 20 8:30 p.m. Red Eyed Flay (715 Red Rever St.)

SXSW '09 Pick #7: Garage Rock Legends The Chesterfield Kings!

2009-02-20T19:54:00.007-06:00

The Chesterfield Kings

Psychedelic Sunrise
Wicked Cool Records

It ain't too new, but it ain't old. So goes good rock 'n' roll. Throw in some mid '60s Stones, the larger than life early '70s sounds of The Who, add the feedback and psychedelia from The Byrds, add a little weirdness from The Electric Prunes, invite Roky Erikson and the ghost of Syd Barrett, then add the energy and volume of The Ramones, and maybe it will add it up to The Chesterfield Kings latest gift to rock 'n' roll, Psychedelic Sunrise. These guys have been around about 30 years forever but are also up and coming 30 years young. They have cult band rock status, but a new lease since Little Steven picked them up, got them the exposure they always needed and deserved, then set them free in the studio to rock, shake, fuzz, and freakout the world. Psychedelic Sunrise is the second platter released on Wicked Cool Records. We all should be thankful for it.

Lead vox Greg Prevost has always had this semi-gutteral voice without much tone, but it's always sounded damn cool. I always loved the decisiveness of his lyric "Out in the darkness, I light my cig-uh-rette" from "I Don't Understand" on 2003's The Mindbending Sounds of The Chesterfield Kings, which was also reissued to much better reception in 2006. That's only proof that The Chesterfield Kings had to wait for the world to catch up to them. The first thing you notice about Psychedelic Sunrise is it sounds BIG. The opening "Sunrise (Freak OUt)" tells you to get ready for something huge and then it hits like the first song at a gig where the band makes their presence known in a larger than life sort of way. Claves on a rock 'n' roll song? Why not? It's just a little touch that makes you think "Wait a minute. This is pretty damn cool." Psychedelic Sunrise is the inevitable outcome of letting loose four serious rockers into a studio toystore full of instruments to play with. On the music credits, each band member plays between 7 to 12 instruments. It's not Smile, though. It rocks and swings too hard to sounds multi-instumental prog/arty. Lucky for us. It gets down and dirty basic with the channeled "Jumpin' Jack Flash" swagger of "Up and Down" and sounds just as cool and groovy. No one can be really sure what they were going for on "Rise and Fall," but you'll probably end up swinging your grog back and forth to it. There's also the baroque swoon of "Inside Looking Out." I'm not much for string arrangements, but we can allow them the indulgence as part II of "My Sweet Lady Jane." They make it work somehow.

One's not going to be able to help drawing parallels on "Spanish Sun" to "Paint it Black." Who cares? It rocks. Besides, Brian Jones rocked on a sitar and so can The Chesterfield Kings! Mike Boise's wall of sound drumming gives the song a little more thunder than it's inspiration. Through all the big sounds, multiple instruments, a few tape effects, multiple hand held percussion instruments, Vox and Hammond organs, a dulcimer (???), and just about everything else that the vans got overloaded with from raiding the high school music room, Psychedelic Sunrise plays like a good 'ol dirty blues rocker that's as much at home in Muscle Shoals or New Orleans as it is in a club in New York or even better, at some outdoor festival in Europe, which like many great rock 'n' roll bands, The Chesterfield Kings have always enjoyed better success in Europe since there's less of a genre barrier and according to many, including The Chesterfield Kings themselves, a greater enjoyment for just rock 'n' roll. The Chesterfield Kings have always drawn comparisons to The Rolling Stones. This is a well earned and deserved compliment and not a generalization since The Stones embraced the heavier Delta Blues sound to make their music a little less clean but more appealing. This approach is perfected on "Stayed Too Long" with it's boogieing piano and outrageously Ron Wood inspired riffs. Good Stuff! You just listen to it and think "Yeah, that's it." They slow down and give a stronger blues treatment on "Gone," but the added organ and '70s classic rock guitar solo give an old approach something new. Even with the southern influences, The Chesterfield Kings and fuzz guitar have always been inseparable terms. They give us a heaving dose of it on "Outtasite!" that lives up to its name- "That's hip, that's cool, that's great, it's outta site, yeah!" The acid rock tinged "Yesterday's Sorrows" that's loud but just trippy enough to put you in London's UFO Club in the mid '60s for a few minutes. But it's all about the rock 'n' roll. "Dawn" is a raunchy howl of a track to end Psychedelic Sunrise, but a confusing in sequence since dawn comes before sunrise.

The second release by The Chesterfield Kings on their Wicked Cool Records, Pyschedelic Sunrise is unashamedly steeped in better known rock influences. There's a lot more to it, though. The best rock 'n' roll, including The Rolling Stones and other legendary acts, was made from mixing a bunch of previously independent influences into something new. That is what they're known for. Rock 'n' roll itself is a mix of blues, r&b, soul, gospel, country, and some other far off influences to varying degrees. It's not an original form of music in and of itself. Most great rock bands have those influences that are easily recognized. That makes great rock 'n' roll. Psychedelic Sunrise is exactly that. Nothing less, but a lot more because it's rock 'n' roll that's tied and true and it's damn fun. In the end, that's really what it's all about and therefore, Psychedelic Sunrise is a quintessential rock album since it's rooted but is good enough to be timeless.

The best way to get the full effect of Psychedelic Sunrise is on vinyl. Additionally, the fine people at Wicked Cool Records the vinyl with the full length CD, which includes four extra tracks. Among them is they heavy, sitar soaked, psychedelic drone of "The Angels Cry", which builds into a full on, stereophonic experience that definitely feels like a trip. This is followed by the equally hallucinogenic drenched "The Wrong Place To Hide", which has great multiple climaxes of full on blues/psych rock. Another surprise is "Stop! Hey! Take A Look Around", which is definitely among their strongest songs built with great, full band vocals, and a strong leaning towards both the jangling trademark of The Byrds, which is not surprising given the lyrical homage to Buffalo Springfield, but also has a foot in more textured neo-garage psych. The final "There's A Time" has a it of a dark sound, but that's quickly forgotten with the interplay of two lead guitars, one of which develops a violin like sound, along with great organ and a deeper beat that would have made made the original garage/psych pioneers feel at home, but wish they could have participated in it. Altogether, the extra tracks a little "trippier" than the original 12 tracks, but at times, more involving. The whole picture of Psychedelic Sunrise is incomplete without the extra songs, which are all dense, hypnotic and highlight a band at their creative peak, where they can draw from all of their influences and come up with something a lot more intense. If anything, The Chesterfield Kings have their own trip going and demonstrate that they can create super heavy psych rock that's still rock 'n' roll, but takes us to a few more places than one would expect.

SXSW Schedule:

Mar 20 2009 1:00P - UG Showcase, The Magical Mystery Mondo Matinee
Antone’s (SxSW) 213 W 5th St, Austin, Texas 78701

March 20 2009 8:00P - Wicked Cool SHOWCASE, Cowboy Angels And Gypsy Pirates A Go-Go
The Red Eyed Fly (SxSW) 715 Red River St, austin, Texas 78701

Up and Down

Stayed Too Long

Chesterfield Kings - Stayed Too Long

One Of The Best Unknown Acts from the '80s

2009-02-20T19:09:00.002-06:00

This one just came up by random chance today while I was doing some video shopping for my future reviews. The Chameleons UK were a band from Manchester, UK. Unfortunately, being chronologically in between Joy Division and The Smiths and mostly releasing material available only in The UK left them mostly unknown. Not surprisingly, their sound falls in between the two mentioned bands as well. The Chameleons were a great band and have a small, but amazing catalog of dark, psychedelic Britpop. I hope you enjoy them.

SXSW '09 Pick #6 and New Act: Choo Choo!

2009-02-20T03:35:00.005-06:00

Choo Choo

...eponymous
subversiv records

Aside from the fact that they're from Switzerland, it's initially hard to tell what Choo Choo is. The songs are almost viral in catchiness, great vintage organ melodies, and definitely a dance beat, but the songs show an affection for '60s Motown vocal groups. There's also great, echoey, definitely crunchy guitar chords with garage rock written all over them. Dan Choo's guitar chord intro on "Your Heart Is Breaking Down" is loud and raw, making them not just a statement, but an announcement. Lilli Choo's poppy, vintage keyboard melody kicks in, Dan Choo's teenage rocker, sweet voice comes in, and it's a pop song with strong influences from '60s Motown vocal groups. However, we're ignoring the music by narrowing it down to that since it's a lot louder. "All I know" has a furious and long drum start that makes me think of Animal, but it's really Sam Choo, human being. It's a tough choice. The songs are instant sing alongs, but the music is garage rock made into pop songs. A few things are prominent for Choo Choo, such as Lilli's keyboard melodies being what one might be humming along to, but the guitar sounds great! It's loud most of the time and with little embellishment other than a few chords, an intense punch, and some very strong familiarity to the ears. Once it's noticed that Jim Diamond (Dirtbombs, White Stripes, Von Bondies, Love Me Nots) at Detroit's famed Ghetto Recorders produced and collaborated on the arrangements, it all makes sense. No matter how different the bands are that he works with, the guitar on songs like "Half As Good" takes on a lot of familiar fuzz that's somehow so perfect that it's simultaneously clean, but still more distinctive for each band that has worked with him. It feels like Detroit Garage Rock and has soul from the same place to back it up, but the songs just stick like sugar; rock candy is a better description, maybe.

The garage rock injection is prevalent, but the songs are short pop songs, too. "You Don't Understand" is kind of new wave, early Blondie, but while the guitar chords carry the song along, one gets bursts of garage fuzz interspersed with the sing-a-long chorus. Although Choo Choo are great vocal harmonizers on top of all this happy ruckus, "Losing Balance" stands out since the harmonies seem to take on a stronger melodic dimension while the overall melody balances slight sadness in a bright package. In many ways, that description fits the combination of two very different acts that Choo Choo notes on their myspace page as among who they listen to: The Monkees and The Sonics. That's really hard to ponder! By extension, one should imagine Neil Diamond playing with The Sonics! Cool picture, isn't it? A modern and more easily understood comparison would be to the '60s garage/powerpop melodies of The Ugly Beats. We're not quite done since Choo Choo's talents come from other directions on songs like "I Hope You Feel" and '80s neo garage on "Tired of Waiting". There's also the faster tempo of the ending "I Ain't Coming Home (No More)" that bridges Motown and early garage to The Paisley Underground bands and slightly beyond in its slight angst.

An overall conclusion of Choo Choo's debut release is that everything about them sounds really, really good. There's no sense of elements missing. It's loud, heavy, catchy, garage rock and dance music with keyboards that also sounds like new wave when it was a term that was cool since nobody really knew what it meant. The results don't make it less heavy, but brighter. Everything sounds perfect! Vocal harmonies, a lead vocal from Dan that sounds young, songs about breakups that sound a little heartfelt, and a rhythm section with power that's not overbearing, but exciting. If you ever wanted to have super fun and sugary powerpop, you'll like Choo Choo. If you like slightly new wave dance tunes that are rock but have a strong melody led by an old keyboard, you'll like Choo Choo. However, if having all that with some strong, echoey, crunchy, empty room guitar and plenty of fuzz that's all Detroit, GARAGE POP is your thing and Choo Choo is your band!

Watch out for them at South By Southwest this year. It's a guarantee that everyone who sees them will love them. This is a band that a lot of people are going to be talking about.

Mar 15 2009 9:00P Lounge on Elm Street Dallas, Texas
Mar 16 2009 11:00P The Mix San Antonio, Texas
Mar 17 2009 11:00P St. Patrick’s Day Show @ Red Scoot Inn Austin, Texas
Mar 18 2009 8:00P SXSW TBA Austin, Texas
Mar 19 2009 9:00P OFFICIAL SXSW SHOWCASE @ BD Riley’s Austin, Texas
Mar 20 2009 2:00P SXSW Daytime Party @ Breakaway Records Austin, Texas
Mar 21 2009 2:00P SXSW Daytime Party/Paisley Umbrella Showcase @ Rockin Tomato Austin, Texas
Mar 21 2009 10:00P Home Party @ College Houses Cooperatives Austin, Texas
May 9 2009 10:00P CHOO CHOO @ Kornhauskeller Waldshut Waldshut, Deutschland
Jun 20 2009 8:00P CHOO CHOO @ 5. Solothurner Sommerfest Solothurn
Jul 6 2009 8:00P Club Mirror Kisses @ Madame Jo Jo’s London, London and South East
Jul 23 2009 10:00P KKL Luzern Luzern, Luzern

See how Choo Choo recorded their debut Album in Detroit with Jim Diamond at Ghetto Recorders!

I Ain't Coming Home (No More)

SXSW '09 Pick #5: Detroit7

2009-02-18T21:55:00.001-06:00

Detroit7

Thirds Star From the Earth and other material
Rudie Records

Japanese rock, no matter what kind of style it is, whether punk, pop, garage, etc. is an animal unto itself. The Japanese seem to take any American cultural phenomenon and then add something to it that gives it more energy that makes it more fun. Japan's Detroit7 is no exception. Although the real exciting part of Japanese rock and roll is a live performance, this band sounds great recorded too. Unfortunately, the language barrier has alway been an obstacle for great bands who either don't sing in English or when they do, it's hard to decipher. That's unfortunate for us but also unfair for them, considering American and English bands are popular all over the world and people in non-English speaking countries will sing along to every word from a band who might only know English. However, not knowing the language also leaves one's ears open to really listen to the music. "Owari wa Hajimari" has a Stooges influence but has the organ addition, which works well. Detroit7 just rocks. It's loud, fully of choppy riffs and great attitude. The band's name definitely applies. The songs have a heavy Stooges influence. Everything is loud and cranked all the way, but the Japanese sensibility puts it all up a new notch and into its own place. It doesn't matter when you can't decipher most of the words to "Raise High" except those two words when it's a feedback laden guitar assault with a fast, tight, but complex beat and Kotajima's bass line that's both subtle but not basic.

One could probably never imagine themselves nodding along to a loud, nasty track that has a chorus of "We're gonna lay in the sunshine," but one just might sing along once they hear it after noticing how tight but original Miyoko's drumming is. "Akai hana" is a great song that makes one think of The Pretenders' more melodic work but with a heavier feel. The only word I could pick up from the song is "Arigato", but the melody and structure are enough to let one know it's a lament that has a universal emotional appeal, although one also hears influences from '90s indie rock in the song. Lead singer/guitarist Nabana has both a great wail and a narrative tone that gives one a strong confidence in her role as front of the band. When she sings "Don't feel so blue, I've got your blessing" and then wails on the guitar in "Beautful Song," one only comes to realize that Detroit7 are the real thing: a great, loud, rock band that stands equal to some of your favorite garage influenced rock bands that really deserve to be BOTH seen and heard.

It's quite a task to review a band when you're not able to understand them, but as cheesy as it may sound, a love of great rock 'n roll is universal. If it weren't, American and British bands would not have a worldwide following, but we'd also not have such influential rock acts from Scandinavia or other places like we do. A lot of us love to see Japanese rock 'n roll bands because they bring an energy and enthusiasm that almost flatters us since they're doing something in a musical language that we can understand but is new to us since we're not familiar with it. Unfortunately, that makes some great bands seem like novelty acts to us. Detroit7 is not a novelty: They're a great band with great music and talented people who stand up and rock equally, if not better to many of our favorites. They really deserve a listen.

SXSW Schedule:

Friday, March 20 1:00 a.m. Elysium (705 Red River St)

Akai Hana

Courtesy of zlobnij

Beautiful Song

Courtesy of kuchiburu3

SXSW '09 Pick #4: The Cute Lepers

2009-02-17T18:11:00.001-06:00

(Reposted from an earlier review with updated show times)

The Cute Lepers

Can't Stand Modern Music
Blackheart Records Group

A Briefs spinoff? Oh, man! I can't tell you how many times I bobbed my head around singing "She's got a knife to my head, alright!" in my cube at work. Seattle's The Briefs have to be one of the funnest bands out there, so a project with Steve E. Nix already has the bar set pretty high. Goods delivered! "Can't Stand Modern Music" is full of catchy beats, handclaps, and some of the coolest new wavy/punk riffs that remind one of how punk/new wave rock used to be fun and just silly in a tongue in cheek sort of way. "Terminal Boredom" is a perfect opener with tribal beats and high pitched chords punctuated by Steve E. Nix's "An hour goes by and....(um, you have to hear it to figure it out)! "Cool City" is a dead on homage to The Circle Jerks with a more narrative vocal, catchy chorus, and melodic riffing. The stuff is punk rock, but catchier and definitely not to be taken too seriously. One kind of can't help it with a lead singer who goes into vocal spasms much like the never taken seriously until he became a composer Danny Elfman from Oingo Boingo. Other tracks 'feel' more of a straight on, early '80s, So. Cal. punk like "out of Order," but the handclaps, Oh-Ohs, and female harmonies are a little too inclusive just to be punk rock.

The Cute Lepers are right. Modern music sucks. The best music out there involves taking the basics from the past and bringing them into the future without cleaning them up. The cleanup is modern. Like Steve E. sings in "Terminal Boredom"-"Aint nothing on the radio, no hope, But that stupid band called chemical...Oh what a mope." The album ends on a semi serious note with an optimistic call to arms on "Opening Up," but the harmonies still rock.

Why does this band have seven members? One can only guess that they wanted to include as many people in the fun as possible. "So Screwed Up," like many of the tracks on Can't Stand Modern Music, is more loud punk rock with harmonies. Somehow those two things don't fit together well. I guess like other reviewers, the focus on good songs and catchy tunes with a guitar base can only be called powerpop, but I think a more apt description is punk rock in its joy and irreverance without regards to conventions, including the sometimes uptight idealism of those who want punk to be considered as serious. Yeah, punk rock was about rebellion, but it had plenty of silliness and fun at the same time. Call it what you want: Powerpop, Pop Punk, whatever. To many, The Cute Lepers are just great punk rock. Although his current whereabouts are unknown, Mojo Nixon is smiling right now.

SXSW Showcase:

Friday, March 20

Red 7 Patio (611 E 7th St) (All Ages)

Devil Dolls Booking

Kepi: The Band 8:30 p.m.
Poison Arrows (GA) 9:15 p.m.
The Cute Lepers 10:00 p.m.
The Dollyrots 10:40 p.m.
The Pink Spiders 11:20 p.m.
The Girls 12:00 a.m.
Teenage Bottlerocket 12:35 a.m.
The Queers 1:15 a.m.

Free Day Show:

Breakaway Records (1704 E 5th St)

Mar 19 2009 12:00 p.m.

afternoon show @ with
The Girls
The Pranks
The Cute Lepers
...and more

Terminal Boredom

So Screwed Up

SXSW '09 Pick #3: The Orchid Highway

2009-02-16T18:39:00.002-06:00

The Orchid Highway

The Orchid Highway
Rainbow Quartz Records

Vancouver, BC has a great connection to the UK. Rain! It's no surprise that band based in '60s Britpop harmonies and psychedelia come from there. The big surprise is that The Orchid Highway is both slow and upbeat. The music grabs you in places, the lyrics do in others, the harmonies get you, the guitars do, or combinations. Like where they're from in the more forward thinking but '60s sense, the album was recorded on analog and has a rich, deep sound that invokes a life spent indoors out of the rain. Great rock 'n' roll can also be about a really good listen. The Orchid Highway is very good ad it. Their self titled filled with enough jingle jangle guitars and a penchant for touches of other instruments akin to Love and Brian Wilson that you'll dig through your closet to find those paisley shirts again. Sofa Surfer Girl is such a great song title to start an album off with. One automatically knows what it's about. Although "getting the girl" is only next to "losing the girl" in common rock themes, a Sofa Surfer Girl is very particular and instantly familiar. Besides, it's an ode to the perfect girl for every guy who's single (or was) and goes out to see live music. Sofa Surfer Girl should take its place as a term from now on.

Medicine Tree is a demonstration of perfect vocal harmonies that have a shimmering quality and a catchiness that's undeniable and a guitar based sound that can only compliment it. If you ever thought what happens when you mix surf rock with grey skies, Let's Stay in Instead is the perfect slow epic for a rainy day, but the added flute gives some optimism for clearer skies. Let's Stay Instead is the walrus running through the strawberry fields.

Next World has an opening psychedelic riff with just the perfect hook to excite you about hearing a great song for the first time, but the cool trip gets a great accentuation with some distant keyboards and a piano thrown in here and there that's a nice touch, but the harmonic psychedelic guitar work keeps one fixed on the song. It's a great one. Other tracks go into a slower territory that's thickly tripped out enough to stick in your brain when your head is too clouded to hear something faster, but the effect has a permanence. The aptly titled Opiate recalls Riders On the Storm by tempo and organs, but with stronger dual guitars with enough blues to make it more exciting than it's comparison. The full length debut from The Orchid Highway is a challenging diversion since down and uptempo songs are mixed enough that the overall tone of the album changes from track to track. Some songs are upbeat and catch you with hooks and harmonies like Pop Tart Girl.

This is still based on what rock 'n' roll is all about. Since it's only from the point of view of the gender preference of whoever's singing, the listener has to apply whatever's appropriate for their preference. It's still the common theme of "Girls!" Put your own preference into that and then everyone can identify with it. This album might be better titled "Songs About Different Kinds of Women." Then again, hundreds of great albums can share that title, too. The influence and power is switched in Tea With Chandra when we're confronted with "She asked me if I want to lose this crowd? She said you know that I'd make love to you here, but I don't think it's allowed!" The story goes to her making our protagonist tea (!!) and advising that the weather will be bad and that she hopes he hasn't made any plans. The rest of the song is open and metaphorical. A tryst? A crash at someone's place? a great time in company without sex? There's a lot of interpretations to make up. It's no suprise that The Orchid Highway is from Vancouver considering that there's a lot of stuff on their full length debut that takes place indoors and involves "new" experiences or ways of looking at them, at least that's part of the album. Afterall, the songs reflect a progressive environmment that definitely has sex but interprets them as open ended experiences instead of the act. It's those experiences that we grow on since they can be positive on so many different levels and ways without being ultimate. Nevertheless, one might think they're songs about girls taking a break from their second year at Evergreen when they decided they needed to "see the world" after reading On the Road. Not quite hippie girls yet, but not the squeaky clean image, either.

Since life is complex and challenging, but rewarding at the same time, rock 'n' roll can have that element, too. The Orchid Highway is both slow and upbeat. The music grabs you in places, the lyrics do in others, the harmonies get you, the guitars do, or combinations. Like where they're from in the more forward thinking but '60s sense, the album was recorded on analog and has a rich, deep sound that invokes a life spent indoors out of the rain. Great rock 'n' roll can also be about a really good listen. The Orchid Highway delivers on this without sounding dated, dull, too complex, or over the top. With a good '60's base that's simple and has its garage rock roots because of it, 12 string psychedelic guitars, British invasion harmonies, great hooks, some blues, and recording on analog tape only with an ear towards not only making a great sounding recording, but one that is very organic in it's cohesiveness musically, The Orchid Highway is a perfect illustration of what The Paisley Umbrella is all about since it takes a broader, more inclusive approach with different elements that make great rock 'n' roll, but leave a slight challenge to go beyond the standard formula. It sounds great and will hopefully have a broad appeal. As far as the experience and elation of a live rock show goes, these guys are well known for their delivery, so their polished sound on their debut release only scratches the surface. Great rock 'n' roll is a discovery. The Orchid Highway is that discovery. These guys are not full of power chords that epitomizes garage rock, but if you love the elements, you'll know it once you hear the results. Like the motto of their label, Rainbow Quartz, it's pure pop perfection: A combination of '60s melodies and hooks with a little bit of complexity to make it interesting without missing the beat.

Saturday, March 21 BD Riley's (204 E 6th St): TBA
With:

The She Creatures
The Parties
Deleted Waveform Gatherings
Broadfield Marchers
Telepathic Butterflies

Next World

SXSW Pick '09: The Black Hollies

2009-02-14T22:40:00.001-06:00

(Reprinted from 3/2008 with minor changes and updated show times)

The Black Hollies

Casting Shadows
Ernest Jennings Records (US)/Rogue Records(Aus/NZ)

The Black Hollies are definitely psychedelic: Lots of garage fuzz guitar, echoes, distorted vocals, Indian influences, and a fair dose of phasing. Casting Shadows starts out with the Cream/Syd Barrett era Pink Floyd inspired “Whispers Beneath the Willows” is recognizable yet so different from anything you’ve heard in quite a while that it demands your attention. The follow up, “Paisley Pattern Ground” has a solid, soul dance beat, fuzz rhythm guitar, and echoed vocals from vocalist/bassist Justin Angelo Morey, with complimentary dual guitar phasing and jams that are loud and just long enough to be interesting without losing itself.

Other tracks like “The Autumn Chateau”, with it’s melody led by a sitar, courtesy of lead guitarist Herbert Joseph Wiley V, bring to mind “Paint It Black,” but heavier at times. The standout track on Casting Shadows has to be “Hamilton Park Ballerina, with its slow intro that dives right into a loud, catchy chorus, settles into a tight, dancing groove, then wows with a brief psychedelic solo, but keeps a solid drumbeat, and a grooving baseline. “That Little Girl” is a fuzz guitar, catchy dance tune that showcases the incredible talent of rumored eight handed drummer Scott Thomas Bolasci, but falls just slightly short of brilliance because it’s missing the visual accompaniment of at least two gogo dancers. The bluesy, wah wah vibed “Running Through My Mind” is going to make you think you’re hearing a performance by five young, black clad Bo Diddley fans from some smoke filled London club around 1966.

The cool hooks, kicks, and grooves just keep coming on Casting Shadows. Instead of cooling off at the end, “Patient Sparrow,” the final track, is a perfect climax with the simple introduction, built up by more hypnotic, rock ‘n roll drumwork, followed up by a perfect sync of Justin’s voice with the sitar, peaking with broad strokes of single note guitar fuzz that builds and then makes it’s sudden exit.

The Black Hollies’ Casting Shadows is psychedelic mod rock in modern terms, but it’s real psychedelic rock since the songs have a great soul base and then start shooting off in all directions, only to meet back with each other in perfect harmony. Although psychedelic rock has a strong notation for clichés such as fuzz guitar, effects, phasing, Indian influences, and some loud, short jams, courtesy of a blues influence, truly good psychedelic rock was all about experimentation, and there were not too many bands that could do it well. The Black Hollies are damn good at it, which means their music will remind one of such greats as The Small Faces, The Master’s Apprentices, The Mickey Finn, The Yardbirds, and a few more notables like the “Flowers” era Rolling Stones or the “Sold Out” era Who. That’s a lot to put into one release, but psychedelic rock had about a good 4 years of existence in the mid to late ‘60s, so it had a brief explosion of great creativity that was followed up by the less exciting, various types of music that it spawned, which were not nearly as fun or inspiring, such as acid, progressive, and the always evil, mind numbing jam rock.

The Black Hollies are the result of what happens when you tape a pair of headphones on kids and play nothing but ‘60s London Underground Psychedelic Rock. They are PSYCHEDELIC ROCK with equal emphasis on both words. Casting Shadows rocks like nothing one’s heard in years. That means you should prepare yourself for a heavy dose of a freakbeat/freakout for their upcoming SXSW appearance. They're easily remembered, like a choice number of bands who still have people talking about seeing them at SXSW from years before.

Casting Shadows is available all over, but notable from Get Hip Distribution

Showtimes:
Friday, March 20 The Independent (501 N IH 35) 12:00 a.m.

Paisley Pattern Ground

The Black Hollies @ The Knitting Factory, June 2008. Courtesy of thecalicowall

Garage Rock: Everything! Nothing Less. The Revellions!

2009-02-14T01:28:00.004-06:00

The Revellions

...eponymous
Dirty Water Records

It's only fitting to write about my true thought that the greatest rock 'n' roll is being made today. I've always known it, and there's more proof of it. We need primitive, nasty rock 'n' roll. The sudden passing of Lux Interior makes it only more evident. That guy had did more than Keith Richards tripled, but also looked a lot beter at it. Everything about Lux was primitive. It was smooth, seductive, but still primitive. Kinky, but not dirty. Therefore, I find myself sharing with you Dublin's The Revellions. Not exactly ghoulish or zombie rock, surf, garage, or garage punk, but a glimpse of perfection somehwere in between. It's nothing less than primitive, but it's a sound. The music itself is steeped in floodlike surf and blues that goes beyond, but with a farfisa! If there's one thing to ascribe to them, it's garage rock.

"Ain't No Fool" gives the heaviest Farfisa out there. It first hints at Strawberry Alarm Clock with darker overtones, but Ali Moore's vocals are scratchy, '60s garage punk. It's somehow melodic, intense, but raw at the same time. One of the common themes in rock 'n' roll is teenage angst no matter what genre, but once we grow past our teen years, we find that slight angst in songs about girls that put us in another time. One can't say The Revellions leave that element intact: they are that element, but James Lister's semi dissonant guitar echoes make the relationship confusion more prominent. On the other hand, the vocal harmonies "Don't say you will" sound early beyond most of our years. Other tracks like "Down On Your Luck" take on "Have Love, Will Travel" with a little bit of Yardbirds, while "It's Up To You" have a tribal beat that takes center stage, but James Lister puts out some great vocal chops that are quite convincing when he shouts "It's up to you". Another thing one notices is something that permeates the whole album: most songs have great backup vocals that lend a wholeness to The Revellions as a complete band.

The following tracks like "I Don't Mind" and "Groundswell" show off the fastest true surf guitar around, but "Groundswell" is so fast and loud that touches on punk! The Revellions don't hesitate to give full effect to Thomas D'Arcy's Farfisa on "Not The Attraction", but the combined howls and guitar are almost heartbreaking. Children of The Cramps, indeed. Reminders of "Human Fly", "She Said", and many others are found throughout The Revellions, but that's also the mood many of us are in. Another standout track is the organ heavy "Have It All" with additional tremolo guitar added, but the song also a great reverb cascade that's nothing less than shockingly good, but a great organ solo follows it that's equally sonic. There's also the Mick Smith's primitive, fast beat of "You're Tellin Lies", a song that falls inbetween ghouly surf, fuzz, and organ swoons. In a final gesture to eeriness, the slow psychedelia of "one Of A Kind" adds either a theremin or a monophonic keyboard and a smooth, detached vocal on slow parts, but the tempo changes and what follows is primitive garage rock much in the spirit of Electric Prunes or 13th Floor Elevators, only with great surf guitar and beats.

The Revellions had their album release party last night in Dublin with the equally talented, fuzzed up countrymen The Urges. It's my honest opinion that this was probably the coolest show to take place anywhere in the world. I'm sad I missed it. The Revellions are fuzzed out surf/garage punk/psychedelia with great beats, howls, and everything else one would want and expect for great garage rock. In fact, the next time anyone asks you what is garage rock, tell them about The Revellions. Blasting surf guitar, loud, primitive beats, great sweeping organ, some psychedelia, and a lead singer who can both scream and sing chills up your spine AND make the your hairs stand up. As if by no surprise, the album was produced by Mike Mariconda and Jorge Explosion at Circo Perotti, where The Urges, Hollywood Sinners, The Cynics and others have gone to make monumental rock 'n' roll. The Revellions are too good (that's an understatement) for anyone to let pass under your radar. If you love garage rock, this is your album.

Presently, the album is available directly from Dirty Water Records and online retailers, but you should all be screaming for it from your favorite online indie retailer or local store.

There isn't much video available, but one good turn deserves another.

Sweetness In A Better Portion: The Cocktail Slippers - St. Valentines Day Massacre

2009-02-11T21:51:00.004-06:00

The Cocktail Slippers

St. Valentines Day Massacre
Wicked Cool Records

As if not to spoil one's appetite with too much chocolate, Wicked Cool Records is offering up a little treat from Norway's all female act The Cocktail Slippers, with a digital single and 7" release only. The title and release date reveal an eye towards the holiday, the Little Steven penned title track has a swirling, carnival like keyboard from Lisa Farfisa that gives one a longing for Summer while the song itself takes on a story line that goes through the year, ensuring the song will outlive the season. The b-side "Heard You Got A Thing For Me" is a great tune. Musically, it carries pure simplicity in a few basic guitar chords from Rocket Queen and Squirrel, evenly spaced by a slow, heavy beat from Bella Donna. However, the timing of guitar and drums combined with Sugar Cane's bass create music that's full of nooks, crannies, and great little subtleties to pick out. Additionally, the keyboard parts give it an '80s neo-psychedelic pop mood, but what's noticed most is the simple but great sounding, '60s influenced vocal harmonies.

The appeal of St. Valentine's Day Massacre lies within its simplicity for great '60s pop songs. It's fun, simple, and catchy, but it's also great music. The release of a single also brings back a tactic used by The Beatles in whetting one's appetite for more. Additionally, the vocal harmonies on "Heard You Got A Thing For Me" are more than impressive in being a great compliment to the first all girl, '60s influenced band The Bangles, who happened to be more talented, played better music, and had better, simple hooks than many of their counterparts. It's a great compliment to see The Cocktail Slippers following in their footsteps, but staying original by rocking out just a little harder.

The Cocktail Slippers will be performing in Austin at South By Southwest Music Festival. Showtimes to be announced.

The Redwalls Aren't From Great Britain

2009-02-01T00:55:00.002-06:00

The Redwalls

...self titled
MAD Dragon Records

What exactly is "British Invasion Music?" There's more than one wave, so it's too much there to pinpoint. The first wave? The punk wave? The new wave? What is it? Ahh, It's Chicago's The Redwalls! Their self titled third album is based on '60s mod beats, catchy vocal harmonies, commanding lead vocals, and some psychedelia. Surprisingly, it sounds modern and not rootsy. The opening track "Hangman" is a dirty guitar, handclapping introduction with a great backing vocal harmony and a scratchy lead vocal from Logan Baren that's both confident and commanding. "Modern Diet" is a three chord hit that sounds like a '70s rock anthem and a great, shakin' beat and verses that get your attention to listen, but the chorus is so catchy that one will be singing along to it immediately. The Redwalls are really on to something here. "Summer Romance" is a tender but very rockin' moment about how for a short time, the world stops and there's nothing but you're romance. It's a wonderful story with a big heart that sings of the perfect moment wrought with meaning that eventually fades with "Time goes on and seasons change, infatuation fades away, the ties that bind begin to fray". If you've every had an intense whirlwind romance, this is going to stick to your chest and the chorus will stay with you long after you hear it.

The basic '60s and early '70s rock is enhanced with great string arrangements on "You Can't Forget Yourself" that hearken to early '90s British psych revival, but the arrangements are much better and the feel is modern. The added instruments give a great texture and reveal more of The Redwalls as a strong band that are not easily categorized, but the following "Put Us Down" leans a little bit towards Strokes territory, although I'm very hesitant to call anything The Strokes do as their own territory. It's got their derivative rhythm but much better and occasionally innovative guitar work. This self titled third release paints an overall picture of a band coming into their own, so the stretches that they make with orchestration once and the addition of very strong slow songs like "Game of Love" are very reminiscent of the early to mid '70s when the influential and popular '60s act started to sound like themselves and less like their influences. "Game of Love" is just heartbreaking, though: "I tried to break her and I don't know why, but she's leaving me today, it's so clearer in the bright sunshine...It's a sad day, when you're losing your friend, you've got to hold out, think of where it began, but you're trying to have it be like it was, but it's so hard, for all the reasons above." As if pulling another card from their sleeves, "Don't You Wanna Come Out" is just loud mod fun.

A little bit of chaotic string arrangements were needed for the aptly titled "Into The Maelstrom". Wait. That song rocks! A great tempo change and a lot of great riffs, but the string melody is dark and oozing. One can't ignore vintage Rolling Stones in The Redwalls, but one can simultaneously point out that it's been a long time since one's heard the blues like on "Little Sister" done so heartfully and true since "Wild Horses". One really can't put these guys into any "sounds like" category despite the easy references. "They Are Among us" is paranoid and definitely familiar, but it just can't be placed. This is how one's roots and influences become one's own sound.

It gets hard to point out song structure or arrangements when one's confronted by The Redwalls. A lot of craft went into this album, but the technicality is overpowered by the fact that all the songs are really good, but at least half of them are great. Songs like "Each And Every Night" are heavy, lush, psychedelic, but also simple. That's the overall impression of The Redwalls. Their songs are meaningful as rock 'n' roll somewhere in between purity, early '70s British Invasion, and using the studio as an art space and not just a work space. If one thinks about what made some of the late Faces and early Rod Stewart solo work so good, the talent of The Redwalls and their music is understood. These are songs that more commercial '60s and '70s influenced acts wish they could do. Some of the influences are easy to find, but not easily at times. In the end, The Redwalls show a love for great bands and great music that never comes off as derivative. The studio production is thick, but never overbearing. One gets the impression that The Redwalls knew exactly what they were doing. This speaks volumes for their followup, but in the mean time, the listener of this album will feel like they discovered something that's fairly accessible, but too good for the mainstream.

The Redwalls and their self titled third album is a pleasure that everyone should indulge in.

One can't talk about The Redwalls without bringing up their record label. Shortly after finishing their album, they were dropped from a major label and taken up by MAD Dragon Records, an independent label run by students and faculty at Drexel University. This is a great symbiosis with the label as a nesting ground for both the artists and those looking to get hands on but real world training for a career in music. The artists and the label are both young and growing with each other. At a time when like everyone else, the music industry is suffering from a terrible economy, this is a new business model that inherently respects personal independence as part of a higher education institution, but has reliable funding and hopefully as a result, some longevity since it's part of an academic curriculum. With this new idea, let's hope that other bands out there with talent and potential will have a chance to grow and become great artists without having to pull apart under the weight of the economy and overall, an industry that's still trying to cling to its old ways of making money for itself and not the artist, but happens to no longer be viable.

Modern Diet

Game Of Love

Hangman

I Want To Hold Your Hand And Go To Hell

2009-01-31T03:05:00.003-06:00

The Kits

Primitive Tales
Dirty Water Records
Available in the US through Get Hip Distribution

"I Want To Hold Your Hand and Go To Hell" is the coolest song of the year. Period. Don't even bother trying! No contest.

I had to get that off my chest. Many make it a point to say that powerpop is garage rock with some Kinks influence and better production, but not garage rock. Melbourne/London's The Kits have managed to carve themselves out a nice little space inbwetween the two things on their full length debut Primitive Tales. It's catchy, loud, and has plenty of snarls, wails, and early punk styled melodic riffs to make one think they're a few decades older. Not quite, but the style of music is very much like Television and The Saints in heavy guitar, but with a little more willingness to at least attempt at having something called a vocal. "Get Closer" has some great adolescent pleads from vocal/guitar Kit Atkinson and a guitar note melody that knocks on early post punk of Joy Division's Unknown Pleasures with a little more power, a lot more heart, and a lot less darkness. Now that's hard to give a picture, so just try to imagine Joy Division without morbid notions and you'll get a Closer idea. It's not all happy, but it's fun. One also hears the metallic gloss of great '80s Aussie garage of bands like Radio Birdman in the melody and bassline, but with distorted powerchords befitting to CBGB's and Mudclub acts of the day. Again, more middleground carved out between.

I've already said what can mostly be said about "I Want To Hold Your Hand And Go To Hell", but the high pitched backing vocals make one think of Pete Townshend's adolescent voice changing at a bad time combined with only the loud parts of Pixies songs.

The combination of a punk rock abrasiveness combined with tight hooks and a good melodic bend on "Don't Want To Lose This Fight" do fall in line again with another act originated from Manchester, The Buzzcocks, but "Dangerous Life" crosses over into a sound enhanced by vocal harmonies and a much harsher, slightly darker take with a stronger, fuller feel. There's a sudden left turn on "She's The Number One" that's a straight up, punked out take on "I'm Waiting For My Man" right down to the rhythm guitar, but with an edge that fits in with older Swedish contemporaries Stupidity. The Kits play rock 'n' roll that sounds like it's made by garage punk veterans. However, they rehearse very often. It's only natural that they ended up as punks with more polish and a strength for good hooks and guitar melody changes and accentuation than a lot of people who never get past three chords. "Not In My House" showcases these talents with quite a few melodic surprises and a tone that hasn't been heard since The Godfathers, but the '20s mob gangster image isn't there. Instead, Kit Atkinson sounds like a snotty punk kid on songs like "City To City" back when punk actually meant something.

These guys are packed in tight on "Automatic" with a an anthem intro and as if by predisposition, Michael Cleverly's high noted, heavy bass melodies are just great! Primitive Tales rounds off well with "Horror Movie" and "Here She Comes." Although both songs bear a lot in common with the volume and delivery of the more polished Swedish garage bands, this is a result of a shared environment in a way since being indoors forces one to practice and it moves one to become tighter sounding. Originally from Australia, The Kits took the raw, Stooges based sound combined with a laid back, surfer attitude and penchant for hooks and catchy tunes that exemplifies Aussie garage rock and moved to London, where being indoors rehearsing often and having the characteristic London Rain dampening their sunny origins.

The Kits are punks. Their music has snot, blood, and spit only magnified by the dreariness of their new stomping ground, but it's disciplined by their own motivation. If anything, The Kits Primitive Tales has it's raw purity intact, but it's also what happens when a garage punk band add some pure punk rock angst and focus every ounce of energy into their music: The body fluids and pain in them take on sharper meaning while becoming a little complex, but Primitive Tales still sounds so young and desperate that it won't (and we hope, the sound never will) become "accessible". That IS garage punk. It can have a melody, it can even have a complex song structure at times, but it's full of goo, fuzz, and other unmentionable matter that make it a little too beyond the mainstream formulas that most people want and need to stay comfortable.

As promised, "I Want To Hold Your Hand And Go To Hell"

Gruesomania!

2009-01-23T15:41:00.009-06:00

The Gruesomes

Gruesomania
Ricochet Sound Recordings
US distribution through Get Hip Records Distribution and Canada/US through Scratch Records

Great rock 'n' roll is not what sells the most but what endures, but garage rock has a unique spin on this notion: Not only does the music endure, but reinvents itself every few years. The bands that spearhead or participate in that reinvention cause new listeners to go backwards and find their influences. As a result, older bands have periodic resurgences. Therefore, it's no surprise that The Gruesomes had a lot of recognition in 2008 that culminated in last month's reissue of 1987's Gruesomania, which not only has the original 14 tracks, but an extra 6 tracks from their Unchained EP.

Although technically siblings, The Gruesomes can be considered to be the love child of a glorious mating between The Ramones and The Fleshtones as a bunch of young punks with an affinity for '60s garage rock. Gruesomania is fuzztacular with the opening "Way Down Below" and the satisfaction of "Ain't Got Nothin', which are "dirty" sounding tunes with two guitars buzzing and Bobby Beaton's signature growl. There's also the mod inspired "Glad For You" with a tough backbeat and clean chords, while the cover "Leave My Kitten Alone" is a bit of a faster tempo with some nice garage guitar licks, but somewhere in all of this, one figures out that The Gruesomes manage to retain their own sonics and snottiness.

Given their "trashy" affinity, the surf sounds of "Whirlpool" is a great surprise. It's really tight, has lead guitar Gerry Alvarez playing a tremolo with a strong echo and some nice reverb, but the ending stereo sound of water is...let's just say The Gruesomes! Other highlights include a slow tempo number "I Can Tell" that reaches into some basic r & b, or the "shaking" cool rhythm and harmonica of "Buzz Off." As if a fitting education, one also finally realises the blunt, scratchy anunciation of r's in French makes those who sing it perfect candidates for garage rock on "Je Cherche", which packs a bit more of a punch than the English translation "I'm Searching", which is included as one of the bonus tracks. One of the endearing qualities of The Gruesomes lies in Beaton's self depreciating humor highlighted on "Why Me": "I ask girls out, but the say no deal, It doesn't really matter 'cause they always say no, I can't take 'em out 'cause I got no dough." Just when one has The Gruesomes figured out, one's given a good blast of punk, Detroit garage guitar solos, and enough howls on "Time's Gonna Come" to thank their lucky Stooges.

The Gruesomes are musically top notch and play their instruments well, which precludes their sound of being low fidelity. Thus, Gruesomania is appropriately in stereo and the mixings are successful overall. One can especially hear the advantage on the familiar story line of "Outta My Mind" and the great guitar fuzz of the ghoulishly cool "You Said Yeah", and the trashed out, bluesy tremolo on "Heartfull Of Pain". The extra tracks on the reissue are all solid covers, including a loud and deep cover of the Bobby Sharp r & b standard "Unchain My Heart", the deep, Rolling Stones bent Master's Apprentices "Buried and Dead", "Santa Claus" by The Sonics, although the latter didn't originally ask for Stretch Armstrong and Gruesomania, and "Got Love If You Want It" by Louisiana swamp blues legend James Moore (aka Slim Harpo).

The Gruesomes overall and specifically, Gruesomania capture the essence of garage rock: When one hears great garage rock for the first time, no matter if it was done today or many years ago, it sounds steeped in the old but still new. Likewise, one always can listen to the older end of the spectrum, but that music somehow sounds new and never dated. As a result, garage rock stands alone compared to all other rock genres because it's a continuum. Gruesomania is forever old in its influences and always new to the ears, no matter how many times one has heard it.

Way Down Below

Beach Patrol from Wisconsin? They Really Do Ride Dinosaurs!

2009-01-16T01:31:00.002-06:00

Beach Patrol

Riding Dinosaurs
Duck on Monkey Records-CD
Wild Honey Records-Vinyl

It's Winter. Beach Patrol? And they're from Wisconsin? Sure, why not? Sure. The land of cheese, football, and brutal code spawned The Violent Femmes, so why not? Riding Dinosaurs has songs like "One More Cigarette", a bittersweet goodbye in the tradition of farther south, chorus laden rockster Tom Petty, complete with a Farfisa that's sure to conjure up Damn the Torpedoes. Other hints of flashbacks to '80s powerpop itself conjure up California since everyone was obsessed with OP surfer clothes and music that had a hook with a hard edge. "Love Away" has a straight line to Pat Benatar's earlier work like "Hell is For Children" with it's power chord riffs and dark tone. To be succinct, Beach Patrol has definitely combed the sand and picked up every little trinket and nugget from bands like Cheap Trick, Elvis Costello, The Nerves and many other memorable power chord heroes.

"On the Road" is about as straight forward, power rock as you can get with some jangly hints and strong vocals from lead Domenic Marcantonio that wink at the song power of fellow Wisconsonites The Bodeans, only not studio manipulated. Other tracks like "A Friend Like You" are a little more riffy and have some nice vocal harmonies, while "This side of 25" has a power and beat that's practically vintage London Calling, but it's also a compliment in parallel time to it since it's expresses strength in somehow making it over 25 years old and like The Clash, had approached that period where they were still a young band but had enough experience under their belt that they sang and played with a certain amount of power and experience to back their music up. Who sings in non-sequitors? Beach Patrol pulls it off on the punky, drummer Preston Ely penned "Preston The Human" with "Shoes, spine, tacos, rhyme, banana chips, car keys, ottomans, late fees!" Nothing relates, but maybe it's a good illustration of the human condition.

As much as we all want to support our indie record stores, Domenic takes the opposite end of Rob Gordon in High Fidelity when he sings "I'm closing up the shop tonight at four...and I ain't going back no more, shitty record store", which holds a closer ideal to a store in the '90s that's too involved in internal politics to be a good store anyway. Other tracks reveal a deeper talent like the blues and psychedelia of "The Lonely One," which stands out as heavier and revealing of a strength in songwriting from Marcantonio that very few can share. In a way, the album title Riding Dinosaurs is perfect for Beach Patrol because they take the ancient and often forgotten but influential history of '80s musc and make it move again according to their wishes.

Riding Dinosaurs is available on CD from Duck on Monkey Records, vinyl from Wild Honey Records, and Beach Patrol also has a full list of retail outlets in their region who sell the release.

The Hosts: Detroit Psychedelics!

2009-01-09T16:17:00.003-06:00

The Hosts

self titled
Unsigned

A great way to honor Ron Asheton and his sad, early passing would be to review a band from Detroit. In a town whose musical heritage and continuous contribution to rock 'n' roll is always in the forefront, The Hosts offer up a strange compliment to the better known, garage rock type music that The Motor City is better known for. On their debut album, The Hosts present what can best be termed as vintage California folk psychedelia. On the opening track "Thunder Boy", Melissa Host takes a vocal prominence that's coupled with jangling guitars and a few tasteful solos that cannot be anything but played on old guitars; one just feels it. There's also some imagery akin to the beach, although it's hard to describe further. Although I can't say "Stripper Girl" hits close to home, I've heard many stories that I'm sure plenty of you could corraborate on "She bums a smoke and she gets free drinks, but the dope ain't free, and her apartment stinks, all the troubles come double, her psychology comes for free." The song is dense with surf/western style guitar playing that enhance am emotion of solitude, but the often and never pleasant melodic violin(?) screetches lend an abrasiveness that somehow communicates flawed beauty in a way that's not to be taken too seriously.

Although the material on their debut is electric folk and psychedelic, the musical tone carries a bright powerpop feel that's a little less emotionally intense as earlier electric/psych/folk bands like Love, but songs like "I Keep Falling Down" are no less instrumentally engaging. The song "Ode To Missy Caldwell" is an almost uptempo song about a pathetic person. If there's a great dance song that's entirely negative, this is it. In true '60s psychedelic fashion, The Hosts create a political protest song, infuse it with jangly guitar licks, background vocals that sound like Tibetan chants, flutes, and some great guitar effects that sound like bee buzzing just to point out the pathetic truth that certain things currently happening make no practical sense on "Buffalo" to create a great piece that's never overbearing or "hippie" (only in the negative sense). Other tracks on their debut look to an early '70s beat with more CCR influence than Byrds such as "Pick Up Your Feet", but the results are no less powerpop and still carry a retropop feel, although slightly bluesy. They're songs push towards early '70s maintream, singer/songwriter folk rock such as "Almost Lost My Way," "Gone", or the less notable "Seize The Moment". Although the sound is not always derived from earlier sources, there's a pervasive, retro jingle/jangle and occasionally surf guitar throught the songs such as the notable "So Hard To Let Go." There's more hidden potential on the more electric tracks like "Devil Dog Road," a Summer of Love, Haight-Ashbury, blues romp that throws one back to Jefferson Airplane at The Fillmore, complete with a light show and acidic guitar solo.

As participants in "The New Paisley Movement", The Hosts are about a feel to the music and not a type of music other than psychedelic. The musical influences on their debut are broad and thus, have an audience to those with a broader musical outlook, but the songs are mostly really good and there are plenty of hidden gems, tasty psychedelic riffs, vintage Vox 12 strings and Rickenbackers to get you jingle-jangle fix, and a few powerpop beats to boot. Aside from that, the album artwork is an acid trip in and of itself. It's been a long overdue task to bring back acid, loveins, paisley, Nehru jackets, and music that's a little weird but still fun. Although in variable styles and sometimes with variable results, The Hosts have done their part to make swirling, colorful music again. One can only imagine their future possibilities.

The debut album from The Hosts is available at iTunes, CD Baby (personally preferred as an indie biz that gives a lot more back to the artists), and Amazon.

Dans La Lune @ Emo's; January 3, 2009

2009-01-05T19:12:00.001-06:00

Cool It Down! Staying Up Late With The Jungle Rockers

2009-01-02T00:54:00.005-06:00

The Jungle Rockers

Cool It Out
Jungle Rock Records

It's a new year. Why not get some howlin' in? Austin transplants via Cleveland The Jungle Rockers give the treatment on the mid 2008 release Cool It Out! This is rock 'n' bar drinkin' music, so it's only fitting to talk about these guys. The title track is a whoppin' double shot of lightening with a twangy rockabilly guitar and a beat that breaks through R & B but throws in a beat that's nothing less than from the jungle! This song is just instantly likeable with lines "I'm gonna walk you to your doorstep, kiss you on your rosy cheeks, I'm gonna squeeze that fanny one more time just to hold me 'til the next day" is going to make anyone wish they could catch these guys playing. "Devil In My Head" has a psych/garage intro beat and Roky Erikson howl, but settles into an r & b strut that just breathes cool. The additional tempo changes with heavy breathing as integrated parts of the song plus a few howls only further impart this musical personality disorder of r & b, rockabilly, and punk with psychedelic overtones. This is the kind of stuff to scare parents into locking their daughters up; the kind of stuff that gets bible belt preachers all riled up about filthy rock 'n' roll! Aren't you glad to know it's alive and well?

The Jungle Rockers enhance their sound on "Big Mouth" with a little bit of jangling guitars and some pure juke joint piano blues, but lead vocal Jason Borkowski throws in a sharp, commanding delivery that stands as a roots rock authority. This is a rockin' band that cannot be ignored. "Guts" has a definite r & b vibe, but a beat that's more "The Way I Walk". Jungle rockin', indeed! In keeping with their name, there's a peculiar musical oddity not usually heard in good rock 'n' roll that shows up in the soul grooved track "Love Trap" called a guiro, which makes a distinctive ratcheting sound that almost conveys a "slithering" groove to the music. It's now time to warn your daughters about these primitives. Come to think of it, The Jungle Rockers wouldn't be The Jungle Rockers if they didn't have some primitive tribal percussion. The guiro is the tip of the iceberg for them. One also hears a vibraslap and a host of tribal instruments mixing in with the basic beat all over this EP. The ending "Lies" is a great tribute to Buddy Holly's not fade away, which is usually credited to Bo Diddley, a definite influence heard in The Jungle Rockers, but "Lies" also mixes in vocal harmonies more like the all female Motown acts from the '60s.

The Jungle Rockers cannot be overlooked on Cool It Out. If one's thinking about early rock 'n' roll music that scared white folks, this is it. The influences are old enough to conjure up greasers and rockabilly, but instead of a country influence, Cool It Out takes on the definition of the best rock 'n' roll out there as "white kids playing black music and doing a horrible job at it" (Little Steven quote), only the percussion is so tribal and older that it will make anyone go heathen. This absolutely needs to be heard. Let's hope The Jungle Rockers have a full length release soon.

Big Mouth

Cool It Out

The Jungle Rockers are opening up free week at Emo's in Austin, Texas on January 3rd. They're sharing the bill with Get Hip Recordings artist and Austin's very own The Ugly Beats, the psychedelic, hard blues of Amplified Heat, and Austin's new '60s mod pop sensations Dan la Lune. If you can think of any better way to start off the new year, I'd like to hear it.

The Ugly Beats at Continental Club: December 26, 2008

2008-12-27T14:04:00.000-06:00

The Paisley Umbrella's Top Ten for 2008

2008-12-26T16:40:00.003-06:00

The Paisley Umbrella's Top Ten Albums of 2008,

Out of nearly 90 reviews this year, here's my top 10. I thoroughly enjoyed listening and writing about everyone, but a whole list would be a little too much. Enjoy.

The Stems

Heads Up!
Shock Records
Available in the US and Canada through Get Hip Distribution

The Stems made some great neo garage music in the mid '80s and then broke up to form other bands such as The Someloves, Chevelles, DM3, and a few others. Heads up! finds Dom Mariani, Richard Lane, Julian Matthews,, and Dave Shaw doing something that's brillaint and seems effortless for them. Guitar driven, melodic powerpop, but much edgier. For some, Heads Up! is a reminder of how much we missed. For others, an introduction to the incredible talents of Dom and Richard. Seeing them live and getting a chance to meet them at South By Southwest this year was a life changing event. For many of you who were lucky enough to see them or at least, heard them for the first time this year, you might feel the same. Go Here for a full review of Heads Up!

The Contrast

Perfect Disguise: Introducing The Contrast
Wicked Cool Records

Middleborough's The Contrast occupy their own space. It's hard to say what they sound like. One hears traces of early REM, Tom Petty, and Paul Weller with their six-string Rickenbacker sound which is so central to the music, but the song timing is odd at times (especially evident on previous releases like Forget To Tell The Time, the song structures different, and on top of that, it's highly polished powerpop. The result is that The Contrast are incredibly distinctive and don't really "sound" like anyone else, but the music remains catchy and accessible. The Contrast is well off the beaten path. Read the original review of Perfect Disguise here.

John Doe

A Year In The Wilderness
Yep Roc Records

I couldn't figure out why I loved this so much. This one really gets a hold of you and pulls you in. It works as a whole piece of work. John Doe is simply incredible, but his history sets the backdrop for his music: L.A. Punk, American music, incredible songwriting. "Hotel Ghost" is haunting, "Golden State" is strangely uplifting but not optimistic, "The Meanest Man In The World" is a pure illustration, "Darling Underdog", which had lyrics that Exene contributed, is just beautiful. A Year In The Wilderness rocks with pure heart and soul. Amazing.

The Fleshtones

Take A Good Look
Yep Roc Records

2008 was the year of The Fleshtones. These guys invented Super Rock, a genre of loud, fun rock 'n' roll that's takes roots from just about every influential three chord rock band and made it fun again. Their songs range from loud and fun ("Shiny Hiney") to a deep Kinks feel ("This Time Josephine") and still retain a sound and feel that's pure Fleshtones. They toured endlessly to support Take A Good Look. Hopefully, most of you finally did. For a full review of Take A Good Look, Go Here.

The Shake

Tripping The Whole Colorful World
Flor Y Nata
Available in the US and Canada through Rainbow Quartz Records

Gijon neo garage rockers The Shake are relatively unknown compared to other '60s inspired bands from Spain. Tripping The Whole Colorful World is a true gem of psychedelic '60s pop that's both melodic and basic at the same time. One hears a lot of Beatles For Sale on the album, but with stronger hints of psychedelic and a heavy soul base. This is a Wonderful find for anyone who loves '60s rock/soul and early psych. At the present time, their new album is complete but release is delayed for unknown reasons. Once you hear Tripping The Whole Colorful World, it will open up a new world. Let's hope we hear more from The Shake in 2009. Go here for their full review.

The Love Me Nots

Detroit
Atomic A Go Go Records
Also
Available in the US and Canada through Get Hip Distribution. Also available in "Farfisa Cream" Vinyl (inquire about availability before ordering)

The Love Me Nots are an ultimate combination of mod, surf, and cool. It's loud! Michael Johny Walker wails some seriously loud surf guitar, Nicole Laurienne packs a vocal dominance that will not only force people to listen, but will make you hang on her every word. Current band members Kyle Rose Stokes on bass and Vince Ramirez (former members Christina Nunez on bass and Jay Lien on drumes for the album recording) on drums round out a top notch combo that's perfect fuzz and farfisa go go, but much louder and tighter than expected. Jim Diamond at Detroit's legendary Ghetto Recorders puts in the knob duties that round out Detroit into an ultimate mod garage tome that's pure mod/surf/garage perfection. Additionally, they've turned down offers from popular garage rock labels in favor of controlling their own destiny, but that's no surprise once one hears them. They're too good to be held down. Check out the full review of Detroit here.

Los Peyotes

Cavernicola
No Fun Records as well as Get Hip Distribution

Listening to Los Peyotes is as much fun as once could possibly have listenint to music. Although originally released in 2005, Cavernicola is now available for the first time in the US. Not only that, but it's available in vinyl and it's worth it just for the vintage type album cover. Los Peyotes are loud cavemen that wield surfy, loud garage rock in all its primitive glory. Not to be passed up.

Paul Collins Beat

Ribbon of Gold
RockIndiana
Get Hip Recordings in the US and Canada

Great, simple, catchy songs that have their own voice and are instantly likeable created by a powerpop icon. Plenty of hints at brilliance from the guy who wrote "Hanging ON The Telephone" on "I Still Want You" and "She Doesn't Want To Hang Around With You", slices of jingle jangle Americana on the title track, and much more. There's no such thing as powerpop without Paul Collins Beat
Go Here for the full CD review.

Thee Vicars

Back On The Streets
Dirty Water Records
Available US and Canada through Get Hip Distribution

Thee Vicars are the undeniable truth of the statemaent "Look what you've created!" They're as much the bastard children of Pete Shelley as they are of Iggy Pop, Billy Childish, and '60s garage rock bands like The Chocolate Watchband. Heavy garage rock played through the brains of teenagers bent on playing loud and snotty. Thee Vicars will take over the world. Read all about them here.

The Ugly Beats

Take A Stand With
Get Hip Recordings

Austin's The Ugly Beats create an infectious mix of up and midtempo hits that lie somewhere inbetween the garage/powerpop forebearing sounds of the legendary Easybeats, some vintage surf, and the more subdued, melodic sounds of The Byrds and L.A. folk rock heroes Love. Take A Stand With is as close as one might get to real '60s rock and this band has made its mark on great rock 'n' roll for years to come. Go Here to meet Jason, Joe, Jeanine, Jake, and JSteve. With the great music in their veins and pouring out of them, it's no wonder that they're the darlings of Get Hip Recordings.

NOTE: Narrowing nearly 90 reviews down to ten was not an easy task. There are so many of you out there that I had the chance to listen to and write about. For those of you not on the list, I can't thank you enough for contributing, but if I name one, I'd have to name everyone and that's a very, very long list! For the most part, I've lived up to my goals. However, there are a few of you out there who I owe reviews to for this year, such as The Hosts, The Jungle Rockers, The Luxury Sweets, and a handful of others. I want to thank those of you not reviewed yet for your patience and understanding. I've written at least 2 reviews per week since I started reviewing in February. It's a hobby and I love doing it, but for a host of different reasons, not everyone got their say yet. This is it for 2008, but I'll have a month or so to catch up with everyone listed as well as some material from great artists that I've recently received. Starting in mid-February, the focus will shift to bands playing the 2009 South by Southwest Festival. The number of reviews I've done combined with those yet to be done is proof of what I've said all along: The Best rock 'n' roll is being made today! The Paisley Umbrella is here not only to spread the word about it, but to catch as many bands as possible and write about them since our information age produces such an overload that a lot of great things fall outside of people's radars. I hope many of you have discovered not only great new bands, but older ones that you might not have had a good listening to the first time around. I love writing about great rock 'n' roll and am lucky to have a growing number of readers and friends. I'm taking a well earned break until January. May you all have a Paisley/Psychedelic/Garage/Rock 'n' Roll, but most of all, a very Happy New Year!

Cheers and Thank You,

Michael from The Paisley Umbrella

Thee Vicars Are Back On The Streets!

2008-12-25T04:05:00.012-06:00

Thee Vicars

Back On The Streets
Dirty Water Records
Available US and Canada through Get Hip Distribution

Along come Thee Vicars, a band not yet out of their teens from the shit town Bury St. Edmunds. They're loud, snotty, and play loud garage punk rock 'n' roll! That's enough for you to go get it, but I'll tell you a little more. Their Dirty Water Records debut Back On The Streets is a celebration of controlled rock 'n' roll noise from start to finish. Although one would hasten to call it garage punk, but garage and punk. It's garage rock with an obnoxious, '70s punk rock attitude. Truthfully, that sounds too academic. "Introducing Thee Vicars" is a chaotic free-for-all of surf guitars, crashing cymbals, and howls from the depths. If ideas of what is good rock 'n' roll can actually be set to music, this is a perfect illustration. Not hard, but finally, someone has the guts to do it. Leave it to the kids to remind us that we're too old! The title track is raw and highlighted with a lot of tasty r & b styled guitar riffs from lead guitar Reuben Kemp. "Why Have You Changed" is just raw and dirty. It would have been cool to hear Mike Whittaker's vocals a little louder, but it's rock 'n' roll that sounds live, setbacks included instead of studio manipulation. "Mindless Squares" is classic garage rock with a short beat, but the tambourine and occasional crashing cymbals from Jasper Kemp range from inventing one's own add-ins to the beat to something out of the book of Animal. "Budget Rock" is great! It's got a faster beat and bass from Mike Whittaker to make the song feel like nothing less than a good '70s British punk kick in the ass, only with more distortion, which results in the rebellion being music, not a message. "Small Town Blues" is almost minimalist with its searing guitar solo and not much blues, but more of a "fuck you!"

"Back On The Streets" has 16 songs. I'm not going to go through all of them, but the overall impression is that Thee Vicars have to be the most talented bunch of obnoxious, snotty kids to come along, but the recording is a little schizophrenic as a stereo recording done in low fidelity, as if Thee Vicars are too fucking good musically but don't want to admit it. However, the sound itself feels like a live show. As much as so many bands over the years have attempted to duplicate the live sound, the distortion on the recording actually does sound live because it's so static and the compromises in hearing what Mike whittaker is trying to say or Reuben's lead guitar sounding louder on tracks like "They Lied To You" just aren't important, although the refrain on it is just perfect! The honest truth is that maybe Thee Vicars have come to play and they don't care if you can hear what they're saying since your ears are going to be too occupied with them already. Besides Mike screams like Iggy did and hasn't done since "TV Eye". The album also has plenty of songs where everything comes together like the double fuzz guitar wail of "I'll Hunt You Down" or the bass heavy "I Don't Wanna Be Like You", which could be a long awaited response to those who used to think "I hope I die before I get old." It's telling many of us that we are old. Sigh.

This is a great time for rock 'n' roll. There is a greater number of awesome garage rock bands out there, but Back On The Streets feels like a warning that Thee Vicars are here, they don't need to be schooled, and they're just getting started. Older, more experienced bands will love them too, but knowing that these guys are going to replace them. Afterall, rock 'n' roll is rebellion, it's for the young. Rock 'n' roll has some simple requirements: It should be loud and it should piss off your parents. So when was the last time we heard something that did those things? A long time, right? Everything is a target market. Punk is for profit. Rebellion is packaged. You can buy Clash shirts at the mall (we miss you, Joe Strummer (21 August 1952–22 December 2002)). In truth, very few things come along these days that grab us by the yarbles and shake us furiously out of ourselves. That's what rock 'n' roll should do. Thee Vicars do that louder than anyone I've heard in a long time, but the beats are way older and the melodies basic on songs like "The Dreaded Day Job" that it's garage rock with straight punk rock attitude and volume. There's no mod coolness here, just older, basic garage rock songs that have more volume, distortion, and rebellion in the noise than anything out there considered "garage rock", but the talent is undeniable. Even on songs like "Leavin' Here" (not the cover), which has a familiar melody that's been duplicated by many for years, Thee Vicars throw it on the floor and take turns kicking it into submission as their own invention.

Back On The Streets is rock 'n' roll. Loud, obnoxious, based on old stuff beaten up in to something new. It's music to piss off your parents, although most of us don't live with them anymore (I hope). Buy it anyway. You'll want your parents to hear it just so you can feel young again.

I Don't Wanna Be Like You

Back On The Streets

Back On The Streets is available from Dirty Water Records
and the US and Canada through Get Hip Distribution

"Tis The Season For Cavernicola!

2008-12-20T13:11:00.001-06:00

Los Peyotes

Cavernicola
No Fun Records

One just can't get enough of Los Peyotes! Fuzz, surf guitar, pure caveman garage rock all the way; teeth necklaces included! Luckily, not only did they release Introducing Los Peyotes(Go here to read the review), a fine collection of recordings from 2001 to 2008 on Dirty Water Records, Their 2005 dubut Cavernicola has been reissued and available for the first time outside of Argentina by No Fun Records! Additionally, it is the first time Cavernicola! is available on vinyl. The opening "I Caveman And You" is garage punk in all its frenzy: A simple blues base, a farfisa, lots of fuzz, and lead screamer David Peyote singing like an obsessed madman driven by only a basic urge to get with a girl. Primitive indeed! "Fuego" (Arthur Brown) is a little more basic, but Victor "La Pantera" takes lead with an all out '60s organ and enough swirls of it to make anyone spin in a frenzy. "Cry Baby" is slow and shares more of a '60s garage tone taken from The Seeds with plenty of fuzz. "Mocker" intoduces an older, basic garage rock sound with harmonica, but the tempo changes are impressive and Rolando Bruno's guitar ranging from tight and surfy to full garage punk chords is nothing less than impressive. In fact, everyone in Los Peyotes sound like garage rock/punk experts that it's really hard to make distinctions on who takes lead roles because everyone is loud and taking the lead. This is kind of a rare thing since great garage rock is all about the beat, being noisy, and having fun, but Los Peyotes deliver the '60s can of goods better than most. Although there's an overemphasis on Electric Prunes style fuzz is on "Satanic Rite", one could equally say that the organ sets the mood or that Pablo Bam Bam lives up to his name by taking every opportunity to play along with each musical part instead of just the beat, which was also something said often about Keith Moon.

One of the two songs on Cavernicola that made it onto Introducing... was "El Humo Te Hace Mal", which effortlessly encourages crowd participation to sing along, but the song also has guitar that's closest to surf guitar with lots of tremolo and David screams and howls his way in perfect time, even down to the first refrain, where his cough really sounds like it belongs in the song! Inevitably, debut albums have their share of covers. Among those on Cavernicola is the Mancini/Lord Sutch "Jack The Ripper", which is the best take on the the song to date with it's ghoulish laughs, fuzz, and Oscar Hechomierda's almost punk bass intro. "Te Pegare" has a Latin beat hint as well as some fancier flamenco style electric guitar playing, but it's still garage rock in all its troglodyte glory of howls and beats, while "The Brotherhood" is a nothing less than primitive r & b garage punk. In fact, that's what one always gets with Los Peyotes. They're proof that '60s garage rock is here to stay and they do it better than most. I'm sure every garage band started off trying to play "Wild Thing" and "The Witch", so it's no surprise that Los Peyotes would have one of those songs on their debut. The tempo is faster and the vocals are desperate, but it's in a slightly higher key than the original and it's a lot more fun to sing along to, even if some of they lyrics are indecipherable from the original song, which only make it sound more fun. Also, there's a b movie type, eerie keyboard track at the end of the cover that further illustrates the band's mastery of all things '60s garage punk. The bonus track is another Sonics song, Psycho. The addition of Farfisa on the song give it a good '60s go-go groove and is more than an honorable interpretation.

For all the cliches and standard instruments, look, feel and sound that epitomizes '60s garage rock and punk, Los Peyotes are it. They're authentic but sound never serious, which makes the music loud and fun. If anything Cavernicola is proof that the best garage rock and punk is being made today. Their stuff is simply essential in its mix of '60s garage like The Seeds, The Electric Prunes, some darker elements that lean towards The Fuzztones and other '80s neo garage acts, and some loud and lonely r & b. Los Peyotes are just too fucking good for anyone to pass up. Additionally, it's got great cover art and the inside cover painting of the band is worth the price alone for the vinyl version. However, Cavernicola on vinyl is selling pretty fast right now.

Fuego

Jack The Ripper

When I Arrive

Cavernicola is a available directly from No Fun Records as well as Get Hip Distribution

The BAcksliders: You're Welcome. Texas Rock 'n' Roll

2008-12-19T00:32:00.000-06:00

The BAckliders

You're Welcome
Unsigned

Texas has a long history as a home for rock 'n' roll that dates back all the way to Buddy Holly. Although it's not always easy to pin down, a lot of bands from The Lonestar State sound uniquely Texan, no matter what genre they or others choose to categorize them in. In many cases I can think of, the "Texas Sound" has to do with adding key elements of genres together. Buddy Holly could be the primary example of playing rock 'n' roll that had a country base to it. Dallas band The BAcksliders are a good case in point: Powerpop, but still Texan. Their new release You're Welcome is a good showcase of Powerpop mixed with classic rock and blues elements. It's not too much of a stretch for powerpop since a lot of it is rooted in what can be generally termed as American Music, so it's not a confusing mix of elements, but a very cohesive one. The BAcksliders came to existence out of vocalist Kim Pendleton from Vibrolux, her husband Chris Bonner from Sons of Sound, and backed with a solid rhythm section made up of Nolan Theis on bass from Little Black Dress and Taylor Young on drums from Young Heart Attack and Polyphonic Spree. The resulting The BAcksliders is a band that has a solid sound that lacks rawness due to the professional experience of their members, but it also results in a solid approach to powerpop that shares elements of new wave, British Invasion, and just a hint of blues. The opening "You're Gonna Miss Me" falls somewhere between Elvis Costello's once controversial "Radio Radio", but with a catchy, repetitive chorus in the vein of "Dreaming" by Blondie. Kim's voice veers from smoothness to a rock 'n' roller's seasoned slight scratchiness, but the background vocals create a fun, new wave feel. "Typically I Don't Mind" takes Chrissy Hynde's style of a strong, faster beat and keeping the guitar as secondary to everything else. That style is perhaps one of the basic styles that defined new wave by re-emphasizing the beat and rhythm that cause many to consider certain new wave bands as making rock 'n' roll fun again. You're Welcome sticks to that basic approach mostly on songs like "I Got Mine". Other offerings such as "Under The Moonlight" take a Smiths take hear and there with a deeper guitar intro and powerchords, but it's a little bit refreshing in steering clear of MOrissey's self loathing. One thing noticable about You're Welcome is how the songs don't have gaps, which results in a certain continuity and given that the songs are so short and keep a basic approach, it's hard sometimes to make out where the songs end until the tempos change. One of the results is that "Under The Moonlight" goes right into "Now They Know", but the initial impression is that it's a melody change and chorus as an end to the previous song.

"Pass On All Your Fears", the first slow song, is a modern rock/blues tome that sounds like it was meant for everyone's moments of post breakup self loathing and solo drinking in a dark and smokey bar. Another surprise is "Fat Girls", with a hint of southern swagger that beats along to "Jumpin' Jack Flash" that's sure to please. The following "Disguise" is a strong, pumping song with flashes of The Gift era Jam, but a bass melody that's a little deeper and took a while to pin down and reminiscent of "Don't Go Back To Rockville". The material is pretty basic and familiar, but it's solid and fun. Despite strongly reconized formulas for You're Welcome, it doesn't mean that The BAcksliders lack originality. We all know how music styles have their basic formulas, so when one has a group of seasoned veterans doing a particular style, it's likely to end up sounding a lot like well known influences, which results in no big surprises, but a guarantee of good rock 'n' roll, nonetheless. The Texan in The BAcksliders comes straight through on the acoustic/country of "someone Has Broken". It's a little of a diversion, but a good one.

You're Welcome is full of strong rock songs that continue with "Serves You Right", which stands out a little more than other songs on the album in that it cannot be placed anywhere, but if there's one thing that many agree on, it's just fun rock 'n' roll with plenty of hooks and a beat you can dance to. One even catches Memphis Blues and echoes of Roy Orbison on "Cry" that is familiar and great. If one loves rock 'n' roll, one just "gets it" and doesn't pay much attention to something being punk, classic, new wave, garage, or whatever. There comes a time just to let it go, see some rock 'n' roll, and have fun. The BAcksliders don't fit into anything but rock 'n' roll. They're powerpop, classic rock, and hints of blues. Not earth shaking, but it will definitely catch you with your guard down and dancing along. They're playing December 19th at Austin's legendary Hole In The Wall, a dive that lives up to its name in size and atmosphere, which has seen everyone from Mojo Nixon, Drive By Truckers, Sons of Hercules, and even Laika and The Cosmonautspass through their doors. It's a place where the college crowd mixes with the old townies and all types. Nobody really cares about distinctions there. They want to hear some rock 'n' roll and kick back a few pitchers. The BAcksliders will fit in perfectly.

Fat Girls

CDs available at www.thebacksliders.com

Tourdates:

Dec 19 2008 10:00P Hole in the Wall Austin, Texas
Dec 20 2008 10:00P Double Wide with Hello Lover and White Drugs (Denton) Dallas, Texas
Dec 31 2008 9:00P New Years Eve at Lee Harvey’s Dallas, Texas
Mar 7 2009 9:00P VZD’s Oklahoma City, Oklahoma

Gerry Alvarez (Gruesomes) Odyssey: Candy Prankster is Colorful Fuzz!

2008-12-13T20:31:00.002-06:00

The Gerry Alvarez Odyssey

Candy Prankster
Ricochet Records and USA through Get Hip Distribution

Who knew that a punk fuzz purist would go completely psychedelic? Founding member/guitarist/singer for Canadian garage kings The Gruesomes created Gerry Alvarez Odyssey and made Candy Prankster in between time with them, and it's quite a contrast. The album has hints of psychedelic pop intertwined with dense, upbeat melodies. The title track has a heavy fuzz riff as an intro, but it's psych rock done with mostly chords. It's really interesting that there's little "psychedelic" effects, and no 12 string guitars. Just a basic song with a good fuzz riff and some great rhythm guitar that's both melodic and fuzzy. In compliment to the guitars that punch in like alternating bursts of colors, one's only left to consider the meaning of "Ratty desert is so dry, hushback clouds are in the sky, candy prankster takes you high". It's not really a trip, but an alternate reality without the hassle of the traveling. "The Prophet" is a little less of a freakout, but it has some nice licks that seem to be an inspiration from George Harrison's "Something". It's easy to say a song sounds like the Beatles, but George was the better guitarist of them, so it's more than complimentary. Can psychedelic rock be a bad trip? Not really. If it were, it would be called crap and not psychedelic rock. "It's Only Just A Dream" breaks the mold because it gives a vivid description of what sounds like a bad trip with "The sky is melting, slowly, it catches in the rainfall, a crowd is standing lonely, the hang their heads inside behind the wall", but the music has plenty of rough fuzz that alternates into acoustic refrains during the chorus, which also has great vocal harmonies. This one's pretty special, but hints start to come in of playing tapes backwards that are obviously Revolver inspired. Then again, we know how this works. Great rock 'n' roll steals from the past, but it's done right when it's stolen from the best. Additionally, it's been an awful long time since someone had the ambition to do that. Great song.

"Fly By Night" takes a little of a straightforward approach, but it relies on the overall theme of Candy Prankster of melodic fuzz songs that are both hard with a pop edge. That's a lot to say. I'm not sure anyone else created something out of those elements. Other standouts are "Urban Shaman", which is lush, but has a slight air of droning much like later works from The Church. "Heaven" is amazing! One is going to feel the obvious inspiration from "Tomorrow Never Knows", but Gerry deeper voice sounds better and has an air of authority. Not only that, but the solo guitar is great and the rhythm guitar feels like a droning, Tibetan chant, which John Lennon originally intented on "Tomorrow Never Knows", but "Heaven" is more convincing in using the effect that's it's hypnotic and mesmerizing, although it might carry a stronger attraction than it's inspiration since the perspective is Western instead of Eastern. Gerry Alvarez also shows a talent for deeper, electric folk music on "Universal Man", which relies on a more country like guitar at times that eventually intertwine with full powerchords to become a loud but still slow rock song. "In The Garden" is obviously similar to "I Am The Walrus" but with stronger vocal harmonies and a background that's psychedelic and instrumental, but the strings aren't as prominent.

Candy Prankster makes no bones about it's inspiration in John Lennon and his early psychedelic period, but the album somehow remains nearly "all about the fuzz" and therefore, has a heavy guitar chord base that is almost always loud and takes the lead, as in reminding one that it's still a culmination of '60s garage influences set to possibly more thoughtful songwriting, although the sky takes a common theme not only on "Is It Just A Dream" and "Heaven", but also "Open Up Your Mind" in its spaceship effects that are definitely somewhere off the ground, while "Time In Motion" causes the thought of anticipating the opening lyric "When the rain comes", but it suddenly feels more abrasive and eventually only shares the affinity to "Rain" with its prominent bass melody. It's also less pop friendly than "Rain" in that it has just a hint of being a little bit disturbing. "The Trail" is a perfect ending in it's gentler tempo that almost sings the listener "goodnight" by the image of riding off into the sunset that has a greater expanse as "a deep, dark ocean." Gerry Alvarez Odyssey take a big leap on Candy Prankster by putting the fuzz into deep psychedlic rock. In truth, "the fuzz" has always been a crucial ingredient to psychedelic rock more than garage rock. In conclusion, they put the fuzz BACK into it! The result is a creative, rock 'n' roll landscape deep in psychedelia but minus the 12 string Rick-o-sound. It's simultaneously basic and heavy pure fuzz all the way. After all, one can't take The Gruesomes out of a Gruesome, but The Gruesomes have a few tricks up their sleeves and Gerry Alvarez Odyssey will get you fuzzed up with Candy Prankster! Like anything great and fuzzy, turn it up to get the full effect.

Candy Prankster

Candy Prankster is available directly from Ricochet Records in Canada and USA through Get Hip Distribution. There's a free download of the companion pressbook The Gerry Alvarez Odyssey: Traveller's Vision, that has photos, articles, and so much more. Even better is the book Candy Prankster: A collection of short stories, drawings, lyrics, poems, and photos that's available as a hardcover book.

Other Gruesomes members Bobby Beaton and John Davis have their own side project, Fuad & The Feztones. Their music is r & b/early fratrock, Boogaloo your socks off music that's as fun as their name suggests. If you'd like to learn more about them and join in on building The Beeramid, there's more info Here. It's also available available directly from Ricochet Records in Canada and USA through Get Hip Distribution.

The Fleshtones: Stocking Stuffer and Vindicated: A Tribute To The Fleshtones!

2008-12-12T02:09:00.003-06:00

The Fleshtones

Stocking Stuffer
Yep Roc

It's hard to write an introduction for The Fleshtones since by now, these hardworking guys from Hitsburg are getting their due and gaining the growing number of fans and praise that they always deserved. However, many of those numbers are the new converted who are likely kicking themselves over not knowing about them for the 26 or so years they've existed. Not only are The Fleshtones among the best, if not the funnest live act, but they have an extensive catalog, most of which is out of print, although one can always add a comment to the bottom of this review begging for those great albums to be given new lives in reissues. Not to worry, though. The past few years have definitely been the second coming for these Super Rock heroes, so as a holiday treat to all of us, we get the second release of the year in the nine song hurrah of Stocking Stuffer, a collection of originals and holiday covers that's nothing short of all the great stuff that we expect from The Fleshtones. Afterall, with that name, we all know it's gonna rock!

The opening "Hooray For Santa Claus" from the 1964 motion picture Santa Claus Conquers The Martians is loud and elated. One's sure to be singing along to the "We Spell" cheer by the second call. However, the movie is known by some to be the worst movie ever made and on par with the work of Ed Wood. Leave it to The Fleshtones to give a song from a C movie into something great. The followup to that is major: The Australian Xmas song Six White Boomers was recommended by Hoodoo Gurus co-frontman Dave Faulkner and includes the phone query to him "Well, what the heck is a boomer, Dave?" His recorded response is funny and a perfect omen for the song with it's powerchords added by Ross The Boss from The Dictators that put the sound right in the middle of the mid '80s Aussie garage rock scene, but with a great dose of AC/DC added. To bridge the inevitable cultural divide since nobody here connects boomers or joeys with Christmas, the sleighbells give out a truly rockin' Yule vibe! The original "Super Rock Santa" is probably the first song about how a saint can be cool with the line "Ho Ho Ho, Whaddya Know?' Peter Zaremba pulls on his crooner shoes for "All I Want For Christmas", which is a great song, but Peter Zaremba's deep, smooth voice on it can open up a can of whup-nog on any crooner out there.

The Keith Streng penned "Champagne Christmas" is a bit confusing. Like the liner notes say, it paints an intimate portrait. That's the confusion. Portrait or description of what many of you out there might be doing with just themselves and a bottle of bubbly on the holiday? Come to think of it, it sounds like a fun thing to do if you have to spend the night alone! Besides, the holidays and even more so this year's season give us constant reminders that things could be worse, such as "Champale And Christmas" or "Boone's Farm and Christmas". The lesson is if you're alone, grab yourself a bottle of semi good stuff and drink up! Like the song says "I got everything, everything I need, champagne Christmas tonight". Ken Fox makes a notable contribution in "Canadian Christmas", a longing for an authentic Christmas somewhere out of the Canadian cities, in the damn under freezing countries where Canadian Christmas is a 'Winter Wonderland". I guess this is a great example of why I'm thankful not to be of the dominant religion in this hemisphere; someone else can go out there and freeze their asses off in a Winter Wonderland, for crying out loud! However, it's still a great tune and I didn't hear "eh" once!

"Mr. Santa Claus," a rousing song from soul/r & b singer Nathaniel Mayer is sung by Keith Streng with all his soul. His scratchy but still toneful voice is a perfect compliment to the song and the person who originally sang it. Unbeknownst to most, Nathaniel Mayer died after having multiple strokes on November first of this year, which was after the Stocking Stuffer was pressed.

The Fleshtones take an approach that's purely youthful with bygone nostalgia on "Christmas With Bazooka Joe" that invokes images of silly fun found in those small comics. Definitely, a cool novelty. There's also a rocking version of "Run, Rudolph, Run". It's no surprise about it "rocking" since it was popularized by Chuck Berry. In fact, the opening guitar sounds like a Chuck Berry tune. Although the tune has been covered by many acts, including Dave Grohl with Billy Gibbons, Reverend Horton Heat, and many others, The Fleshtones distinctive old and new Super Rock treatment is the most complimentary to the song's heritage. In a related note, the song was co-written by Johny Marks, a Jew who also wrote "Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer". Additionally, Irving Berlin wrote "White Christmas". So on one hand, Jews have written some very famous Christmas songs while Adam Sandler wrote the only rock 'n' roll Hannukah song. Lou Reed, Mick Jones, and Paul Westerberg, just to name a few notables of 'The Chosen People', but no Hannukah rock songs? I'd say one is over due.

The Fleshtones recently claimed that they're writing better songs now than they ever have. The originals on Stocking Stuffer are proof of that, with the final song "I Still Believe In Christmas", a great sing along done in their true sing along style with cool keyboards and a swingin' sax. Plenty of rockers do Christmas tunes, but when we think of Christmas albums, the knowingly less rockin' types are known for Christmas albums. I won't name them. You know them already because your parents probably own at least a few and you have to hear it when you go visit them. Stocking Stuffer is Yuletide Super Rock with great originals and some wonderful covers. It's no surprise that it's great, or that Keith, Peter, Ken, and Gordon all play at the top on it since they'd never settle for anything less. It's a damn good thing, too. Stocking Stuffer is the first great rock 'n' roll Christmas album. Besides, it's The Fleshtones! Their name is enough to know it's a great album.

Vindicated: A Tribute To The Fleshtones
Dirty Water Records
UsA through Get Hip Distribution

Tribute albums are usually hit and miss. Some of it's great, some isn't. That's not good enough for The Fleshtones. Their catalog is just too good. As a band, they take the cake for having the largest number of rock 'n' roll songs that are just perfect and give you the feeling that THEY ARE ROCK 'N' ROLL. So chances are, almost anyone can do a good cover since the material is just too good to work with. Again, not good enough for The Fleshtones. Instead, Vindicated: A Tribute To The Fleshtones takes the best garage rock bands from all over, although not known by most, to cover in tribute of super rock that can only be The Fleshtones! From Spain comes Los Chicos with their stripped down, bass thumped cover of 1991's "Living Legends". The powerpop production of Dave Faulkner is replaced with heavy doses of guitar and bass fuzz. What a perfect song (and title) to mark paying tribute to the eternal rock 'n' roll teenagers! The other contribution from Spain is the 1998 tune "Better Days" covered by Dr. Explosion, the band fronted by Jorge Explosion, the head of Spain's garage rock analog studio paradise Circo Perotti, not only home to an incredible vintage instrument collection and analog only recording studio, but also the studio where most of today's great garage rock bands native to Spain record. Philadelphia's legends The Cynics also recorded their recent release with Jorge at the studio. Whereas the original is almost frozen in time as either an acceptance of sad times for someone else or possibly a lament mirroring The Fleshtones status in the music business at the time, the cover communicates hope with it's louder sound recorded in mono. It's no suprise that Spain is represented here. It's a current hotbed for garage rock and has grown bigger in the past five years as a home for rock 'n' roll.

In greater proof of The Fleshtones status as international garage icons, Italy is represented with The Psychotones singing "Hitsburg U.S.A." in dual guitar, hot rhythm glory that tells the world where to go for rock 'n' roll! The U.K. joins in with Scotland's The Primevals adding their special ghoulish touch to "Screamin' Skull" from the 1983 release Hexbreaker, a song that was originally interpreted by Rolling Stone Magazine's Parke Putterbaugh as being about popping pills in East L.A. You be the judge of that. It's guaranteed that you'll be singing along with the first chorus. The other contribution from The British Isles is Richard Mazda with "Hope Come Back" from 1982's Roman Gods. It's on the "crunchy" guitar side with some suprising loud solos and a few synth/keyboard effects that fit quite well with the song's basic r & b base.

A garage rock invasion from Sweden has been taking place under our noses for quite some time now. The Maggots live up to their name by pumping up the Farfisa and clapping along with added guitar distortion, infecting the gloriously silly, repetitive lyrics with an almost nasal tone that brings home the youthful, amateur and fun sing-a-long quality of the 2005 song that ultimately celebrates self acceptance as pure joy. The Turpentines throw their hat in the ring on "The Girl From Baltimore" by lending a powerpop/metal guitar sheen, extended harmonica that brings out the vintage rock feel to the song, but adds a perfectly timed, Spike Jones like stutter resuperrocks a classic that one never tires of. As if to outdo everyone, the legendary Nomads take on American Beat in all its glory with heavier drumming and the anthemic "Can you hear the American Sound?". The added vocal harmony is great, but Handsome Dick Manitoba adds his traditional, over the top self promotion that only he can do and can never be topped or undone.

One doesn't think of rock 'n' roll when they think of France, but the French kids seriously one-upped their American counterparts when it came to The Fleshtones. Having little recognition in The States, they're long time rock stars in France. In fitting recognition of their support, there are four contributions from France. The Slow Slushee Boys turn "I've Gotta Change My Life" into a nugget with an organ led melody and some near pyschedelic vintage guitar that sound like a Vietnam War, Motown hinted self introspective. There's also the minimalist approach but simple chord super rock of Les Playboys "En Balade Avec Les Playboys". The other French Language song is Tony Truant's "La Fille du Noctambule". It just sounds cool in French! The unlisted fact that The Fleshtones are the backing band, but the drumming is heavier and the chords are fuzzier, giving it a more garage rock sound than the original recording. The final French contribution is more of an international coalition with France, Germany, and the U.S. with Snax Featuring Halloween Jack doing "Good Good Crack". It's techno! It's bizarre. The immediate impression is "What the fuck is this doing on here?", but the song topic deserves a pretty "out there" treatment. After all, it's only fitting that one hears techno while hearing "I need it need it, got to have that good good crack!"

We love The Fleshtones over here too, but instead of them elevating to super rock status, they always have and continue to serve as the blueprint of a great band that never gives up, stays true to what rock 'n' roll really should sound like, but also recreate what it should feel like night after night in small clubs and with small, but very happy crowds all across the country. The Fleshtones travel down the same roads and play in the same places every year, bringing back the whole ideal of great rock 'n' roll. Every time they play, one not only gets to see one of the best live acts ever, but ends up with an intimate connection to them as a result of a small crowd. After all, great rock 'n' roll is found in the small dives, punk clubs, and other crowded spaces, not the arena or stadium. Therefore, The Fleshtones are an ultimate guide for bands that are in it just to play their hearts out, regardless of the insignificant, small monetary gain, if there is one. Almost half of Vindicated: A Tribute To The Fleshtones is devoted to American acts. There's the classic garage stomp of "Watch This" recreated by The Havox, the very shakin' and psychedelic freakout of "I Wanna Feel Something Now" from The Insomniacs, the minimalist, Texas Hillbilly approach on "Whistling Past The Graveyard" by Hans Frank, "Headlock On My Heart" from the 2003 release Do You Swing faithfully rendered with blaring guitars and a great lead vocal from The Slickee Boys, desolate surf mixed with Cramps like buzzsaw chords of The Hate Bombs, the brash saxophone lending a '60s spy movie soundtrack feel on "Legend Of A Wheelman" from The Immortal Porpoises, and the Ramones/bubblegum resurrection on "Dreaming About Work" by The Subway Surfers. A special standout is the "Way Down South" by Florida's The Four Shames because it's the only track with a female voice, but it's awfully good and will make one crave for more fried chicken and all sorts of cholesterol laden Southern faire. A final American contribution comes from The Woggles, the Southern garage/soul counterparts of The Fleshtones on "The Theme From 'The Vindicators'.

Finally, Vindicated: A Tribute To The Fleshtones wouldn't be complete without a contribution from longtime friend, and one time producer Dave Faulkner and his hard and soft hitting powerpop legends themselves, The Hoodoo Gurus on "Pickin' Pickin", a super happy romp full of pop style that's always challenged by guitarist Brad Shephard's 'AC/DC Trigger fingers' that hearken back to another rock legend, The Flamin' Groovies.

Three Decades, 19 albums, and here we are. We love The Fleshtones! It's been quite a year for them with two new studio albums and endless touring accross the pond and back, throngs of new fans and regained old ones, and a chance to finally receive some of the praise (and profit) that they so much deserved for so long as among a chosen few bands to never put down the torch of rock 'n' roll in all its teenage dance party glory. 2008 was The Year of The Fleshtones. However, their extensive catalog is mostly out of print. The few copies available of such staples as Powerstance Hitsburg, Angry Years and others are only found on ebay for $80 or more being sold by obvious scum out to make money off of someone else's hard work. Roman Gods and Hexbreaker have about as much of a likelihood being found as Bigfoot! So The Fleshtones are left with a growing number and new and returning fans hungry for Super Rock: "Hitsurg USA", "American Beat", "Screamin' Skull", we all wnat to hear them, but at least for the present time, everything besides their four Yep Roc releases are out of print. It's time for Vindicated: A Tribute To The Fleshtones. They've earned it and as the legend has its long awaited growth spurt, we all want more of The Fleshtones.

It's a lot to take in, but the following \gives the perfect summary:

Feel that the beats back and play it that it happened that way
But you know that to us it was always there anyway
In Boston or New York or way out like in L.A.
Can you hear the American sound
Have your heard the American sound
Don't want to hear you put it down
I'd like to hear it on the radio in my home town

Every summer there's a number that I wanna hear the DJ play
In my room or at the shore man you know it's gonna sound OK
From Boston to Miami or way out in Malibu Bay
Can you hear the American sound
Have your heard the American sound
Don't want to hear you put it down
Hear it on the radio in my home town

Written by Peter Zaremba. Published by My Idea Music.

The Branded Make The Swampiest Garage Punk On Their Debut!

2008-12-09T19:08:00.001-06:00

The Branded

(Self titled)
Dirty Water Records

For our final look into Sweden for the month, we end appropriately with the debut full length release from The Branded, a bare bones garage rock trio based in Maimo that includes Brit Lee Tea, former member of garage/booze thugs Thee Exciters. Recorded in mono, this stuff is so raw and basic that it sounds old in a good way. The opening "I Do As I Please" is nothing less than vintage garage punk with Lee's scratchy voice and little more than a few chords, but there's some Keith Moon madness from drummer Anders Hanson that's over the top. "The Thang" can't be called anything else. Superfuzzed out, howling dive bar garage that's easy even for the uninitiated and sober to sing and shuffle along to. Although their music style is so tried and true that it's easy to note who they sound like, that's still complimentary. The Branded sound like they were reared on strict '60s garage r & b and nothing afterwards. "Dirty Old Me" pulls a louder step from Nuggets like Cuby & The Blizzards while "Shattered" is nothing less or more than growing up with nothing but The Sonics. Although we're not stretching it here, it's no less original. The honest truth is that there's nothing better than some simple garage rock trio pounding out great tunes that one drinks, sings along with, and stomps their feet to simultaneously. Although tried and true, it's only really good if one puts all they have into it and doesn't give a fuck about what anyone thinks. Although many garage rockers do great performances, their recordings often fall short by missing the live vibe. The real proof of greatness is when the band can emit that from a recording. The Branded succeed much more than most acts on this front.

"I'm A Mean Tomcat" is more lowdown and dirty than Chuck Berry's rap sheet, but nobody's a victim except for one's ears. Lee's guitar playing picks up some classic r & b style derived from early greats like Link Wray and Bo Diddley. It's the kind of stuff that early Rolling Stones cut their chops on as the dirty Beatles. Some pysch with a lot of fuzz creeps into the picture with "Black Gold", a faster, garage punk tune, but the fuzz just dominates! A hint of monotonic Easybeats creeps up on the caved-out "Voodoo Love", except the harmony is basic and the song is much more raunchy. The obvious anthem "I'm Branded" makes no bones about it's seedy origins in r & b. Although it's an original song, it sounds and feels like something would would have heard in some little pre-integration blues joint in the deep American South! The Blues is about being down but feeling good about letting it out. With early blues talents being considered to have a deal with "The Dark Side" and good ole' sin, there's nothing more descriptive than being "branded" emotionally, but the physical act points to the earlier origins of those who invented The Blues. It's an honest compliment to the originators in its ability to communicate through the most basic simplicity.

"You Got The Hurt Now" is among the tracks where Lee's voice is clearer and more commanding. However, bassist John Krantz and drummer Anders never take a backseat. Athough lead singer's are usually frontmen, Lee's voice is serves as an important vehicle to communicate the music and thus, the singing is a component, as great as it is. This is obvious on the 1-2-3-4 standard beat of "I Need A woman", the bass is a near drone in contrast to Lee's brighter guitar and Anders' drumming, while the Added vocal's of "I need a woman" provide an echo that's true to common sentiment. "Mother Packed Bag" is a brilliant album ender that's part skiffle, then settles into a nasty and vintage '60s Brit interpretation of The Blues, but ends with a 2nd tempo and melody change as a closer. The ending hoots and dialog give it a great, unrehearsed, live feel that seems to include the listener as an honored guest.

Dirty Water Records has created its own niche in the garage rock pantheon with bands like The Branded, who dip into the earliest past of r & b/garage rock to pull out the rawest bones and bring it into the future. The Branded are a perfect example of this ethos. They're loud and raunchy, but never come accross as anything less than great rock 'n' roll. What makes The Branded notable in the modern state of so many great garage bands in current existence is their full dive into the original influences of garage rock, r & b and its earlier, lonely incarnation in blues. If down and dirty, r & b based rock 'n' roll is your thing, The Branded, full length debut is nothing less than a must own.

The Branded: Voodoo Love

The Branded as well as other Dirty Water Records acts like Thee Exciters, Spanish wildmen The Hollywood Sinners, Argentina's primitive beat Los Peyotes, a few choice others, as well as the essential Vindicated: A Tribute To The Fleshtones, is available in the US through Get Hip Distribution and in The U.K. and Europe directly from Dirty Water Records.

How Does One Write About Stupidity? (It's another review, dumbass!)

2008-12-05T01:55:00.001-06:00

Stupidity

I Need You...Like A Hole In My Head
Go Fast Records

So it's getting cold. Of course, one can always go to Sweden! We'll be here a little while longer. For some odd reason, this place is just full of incredible bands. After all, it's so fucking cold up there that there might not be much more to do. Stupidity is a bit enigmatic in that they're somewhere right in between '60s garage and rockabilly. It's a strange combination of music with little similarity. It works for them well on their debut I Need You...Like A Hole In My Head. "Too Bad" is a straight up mod punk but vocal lead Ernis Orniz/Lundqvist has this burned up biker rasp that's more narrative than singing. The following "Lost" is more a rockabilly guitar melody with a great beat from Tommy Boy Sjostrum that packs more energy into the song, but the line "Sitting on my sofa with nothing to do, thought I'd go to Texas, that's what I should do" is not something you'd hear in a garage rock tune, despite the state's well known place in garage rock history. Even Pa's guitar riffs in the middle are rockabilly. The song burns in enough ways that it'll drive itself to Texas or Hell; whatever comes first.

Miss Anna Palmer's bass on "Wow-Wow-Wee" come straight from Bruce Foxton while Erniz's voice goes low and smooth. The additional horns give it a little bit of lift, which is perfect for the subject matter of going nuts over a girl that's really cute but out of your league. Something that makes Stupidity stand out is the songs are simply 'fun.' It's some weird combination of musical timing with the beat, or maybe the drumming being the lead instrument, that just makes the songs sound cool. This could be all wrong, but this trait seems seems to be prevalent in other garage based bands from Sweden and it definitely makes the music rock hard while having a certain youthful elation in its rebellion of just being loud and fun. This is well illustrated on the Underground Garage Coolest Song in the World "A Girl Named Moe." Ornis/Erniz goes from zombie scratch then to creepie ghoulishness in the ending phrase "I got a girl" that's just cool and eerie while PA's three chords (mostly one) are perfectly simple and straight ahead with the exception of his solo brought on by Ornis/Erniz's command "Guitar!," but Tommy Boy's drumming pounds its way into his own solo parts. It must be the timing. Everything has this feel of sounding perfect in arrangement.

One even finds a touch of dark blues with some great heavier guitar on "Last Night" that seem to shed light (or darkness) as a louder and edgier tribute. The album's title track has Anna's Flying V Bass just thudding away while Mr. Lundqvist let's his voice scratch, carry off into the distance and then approaches Dave Vanian's late gothic Damned phase without sounding as serious or out of place like that forgettable period for The Damned. In many ways, I Need You...Like A Hole In My Head is modern garage rock. It's '60s garage rock basic songs mixed up with neogarage The Cramps and The Fuzztones with a punk drive like 999. This is clear on the rockers "Headache" and "Out of Bounds", although the latter has a little fuzz and some horns thrown in that combine with vocal desperation akin to "Final Solution" by Pere Ubu. There's also a great update of The Standells classic "Sometimes Good Guys Don't Wear White" with a screeching guitar, handclaps, and a slightly faster tempo. With a song title like "California", one would likely think surf, but it's only a beginning on its way to hints of louder Flamin' Groovies, which is awfully cool. "I'm Walking Away Now" is more a simple British Beat based song. Is this the same band? It is. Like any really good garage band, they know were to rob from, only they take a broader approach by drawing from r & b, garage, garage punk, rockabilly, and 70's punk. The result is a strong rock 'n' roll base that's harder to pin down. There's even a strong trace of The Count Five "Psychotic Reaction" on "Move A Little Closer", but it also gets caught up in Billy Childish and The Medway Sound.

"Pure Stupidity" is almost tribal garage beat but throws in harder edged punk guitar and Ornis/Orniz takes lead in scratched up vocal scowling. Lundqvist seems (and sounds) like the slightly older guy who can only rock with young punks because the old ones can't keep up with him! There are so many things going on with I Need You...Like A Hole In My Head that one's not sure what they're hearing, only that it's loud and fun rock 'n' roll that's different enough that one would enjoy hearing it often. That's a good definition for a great rock 'n' roll record. One really couldn't ask for more.

A Girl Named Moe

Too Bad

I Need You...Like A Hole In My Head is available in the U.S. at cd baby. Although there's another internet retailer out there in the US, cd baby only sells music that's sent directly from the artist. The artist also gets up to six times more in return than they would get with a distribution. They have a multitude of sites for Europe. Go to Stupidity for that list.

The Surfites Go Stellar on Escapades In Space!

2008-11-29T01:36:00.000-06:00

The Surfites

Escapades In Space
Double Crown Records

Surf music is all about movement on a seemingly endless substrate. As a logical progression, Sweden's The Surfites take their reverb out of the confines of the waves into a more precarious environment of space on their second album Escapades In Space. It's a new concept, but the attitude of this band make the trip into a a laid back cruise much like surf music make the often unforgiving waves into a cool place to hang. Although not the surf music expert, prerecorded non instrumental parts in surf music are new to me, so the opening 4, 3, 2, 1, Fire! opener on the aptly named "Launch Pad" is an exciting introduction for surf music. What follows is a song so full of reverb to persuade one to envision floating above the earth in their space station/bachelor pad while sipping lots of bubbly. The Following "Comets" tail is a little faster and has the occasional sound of something cruising fast overhead while leaving a trail of fuzzy guitar in its wake, but the keyboard melodies are subtle and perfect. "Space Mover" is a total boss tune that trades off some simple but great tremolo with Henry Karlsson's keyboards, so although it's surf music, it borders on hanging in the martini bar; in one's jams, of course. The Surfites demonstrate a strong ability to musically describe their song titles in creative ways. "Moon Buggy" is definitely a layin' low hotrod track with a strong retro sound and the occasional guitar noise signifying the buggy throwing up clouds of Moon dust on a joyride. "Little Rocket Mill" finds the stellar tour in full swing mode with some tremolo that will bring your tiki hut into full swing should you find yourself without a space vehicle. If one needs further proof of dancing in space, look no further than the hula vibes of "Rainy Day In Space" that moves itself nicely into slight psychedelia.

"Around The Galaxy" is a strong beat track that envisions parties taking place in the exact locations of the song's name while mixing up tremolo with an near sitar sounding reverb, but the beat is boss. It's not all fun and games up there: "Danger Ahead" is a hotrod dream filled with nasty fuzz and some screams that can only be from a rough ride through 'Dead Man's Asteroid Belt' and is the loudest song on this 15+ track offerring. In making itself otherworldly, the cool but kitsch muted reverb dominance on "Space Encounter" is definitely one of the third kind. One thinks they get where The Surfites are going on this Escapade In Space, but the organ breaks and Gunnar Lindholms cool jazz tapping on "Far and Beyond" might take you back to your grandparents' mid century house, complete with the ranch inspired lamps, full bar and cool clock (I'm dreaming. We should all be so lucky), while "Marching Robots" moves along in mechanical fuzz and eerie high notes from the Fjellgren brothers. Although monotonous as the title suggests, it has a neat Twilight Zone feel.

The fun and games on Escapades In Space pick up again on "Mercurian Surf Stomp" that's so full of wet reverb and the occasional tremolo digs to bring out the most primitive of aliens ready to fly through the vacuum of space. The ending phaser shot hints at how that activity might end. "Space Coach" is maybe the closest thing to traditional surf on Escapades In Space with an equal emphasis on reverb and tremolo, but the tremolo combined with the beat have a stronger spaghetti western take that stays well grounded. The remaining tracks "Moon Made" and "Planetary Stroll" are also unique and fresh with the first having a heavier beat while the latter is what it sounds: A nice stroll puncuated by bright tremolo orbs and strumming.

Make no mistake, Escapades In Space is a surf album. The songs all clock in at under two and a half minutes and it's recorded in glorious MONO that helps to accentuate the activity and motion of the waves, only they're somewhere up there. The Surfites are spaced out and focused on their Escapades in Space while not being 'spacey.' The Surfites have succeeded in "Going where no SURF has gone before and have not only prevailed musically, but the packaging artwork and concept is second to none. As if the front album cover isn't worthy enough of cool '60s retro art, the remaining cover art is amongst the most impressive with a full color shot of a Mercury(?) rocket, a foldout of what looks like a nuclear reactor control room with a cartoon version of the band pasted in, and some beautiful vintage black and white shots of a Lunar Lander in a staging area modified with cartoon images of The Surfites, a rocket engine diagram, a great shot of a Moon Buggy on The Moon with a guitar pasted in, as well as a frontal shot of it, although the photos on the CD version are so small that one can't make out if the driver has a drum in front of him, which provides stronger motivation for Double Crown Records to release a vinyl version.

Space Mover

Escapades In Space is available both at Double Crown Records and from Get Hip Distribution

Raw Guitar? Feedback? Female Vocals? You've Got To Hear The Avatars!

2008-11-27T02:17:00.002-06:00

The Avatars

Never A Good Time
No Fun Records

Aaah. Finally! Something that is loud and abrasive, but swinging, catchy, and bubblegum at the same time! Ann Arbor's The Avatars take '60s girl groups, the beat and fun of The Ramones, hints of '80s powerpop like Nikki Corvette (maybe Josie Cotton too), and some seriously loud guitar from X with tons of feedback. They've got a powerpop sound but it's louder and harder at the same time. Not an easy feat. "Honey Do" is a good, catchy powerpop tune that treads on familiar powerpop territory with more guitar fury from axmen Charlie Lorenzie and Chris "Box" Taylor that is always loud and never predictable. In fact, it's hard to imagine a guitar or pair of them sounding better. "Somethin' To Say", the second track, has a raw bass and guitar fury that musically hints to X's legendary debut Under The Big Black Sun. Serious chops indeed, but some extra feedback at the end is toe curling.

Out of all this loudness arises many great memorable songs. The title track "Never A Good Time" has a strong Ramones but includes vocals from lead Mariah Cherem that are both smooth and strong and perfectly compliment an essentially loud rock sing a long. The gears chane on "There Was A Time" to a hand clapping, '60s girl group groove that nicely provides some bass and drums only reprieves for Mariah's voice to really shine. Eric Stollsteimer The Elevations, Mondo Mod) adds some cool vibraphone, too. As if to break one from their own nostalgia, the followup "Revolution Revival" punches in with a faster beat and enough guitar mayhem to damage the ears of a garage rock purist. "Wait" is a classic take on The New York Dolls and other basic but loud glam punk. The songs are loud, they rock, but they're so damn fun. At this point, 5 songs is enough to make one conclude that they'd be an incredible live experience.

"Hey Girl" throws in some great organ courtesy of guest artist Johny Hentch (SSM, The Hentchmen) that lend an older feel again to mix in with a girl's rock anthem. "Sooner or Later" hits a stronger chord with a punk anger in its warning of "You better stop forgiving all the lies that I've been living." "Warm 44" is a shocking surprise as a fast beat dance song with slide guitar and Theresa Keiffer's bass that would be at home on Nick Cave's "The Curse of Milhaven." The rockabilly beat from drummer Claudia Leo does little dissuade this feeling initially, but the crashing cymbals and tempo changes add some impressive complexity. The listed ender "Wondering Why" has a sensibility hits into earlier Pretenders territory back when Chrissie Hynde used to go barhopping, but a saxophone courtesy of Jeremy Abbey (Superdot)? If The Fleshtones can do it, it's worth a shot. Perfect touch, actually.

There's a hidden track that's different from the rest, is really good, and can't talk about it out of not wanting to give away all the secrets of The Avatars Never A Good Time, but this quintet has an album of songs that combine raw garage rock guitar and more ambitious noisy feedback into into crafty but never contrived full buzz rock 'n' roll fronted by a powerful female voice and an equally top notch rhythm section. Every song is just loud fun, but they're all memorable and really, really good songs, too. As if no surprise, Never A Good Time was recorded by Jim Diamond at the legendary Ghetto Recorders. The Avatars are impressive, but one full listen to Never A Good Time is just so good that it will cause the listener to wish they could see them live. Hopefully, that opportunity to do so outside of Michigan will come soon.

Wonderin' Why

Never A Good Time is available on CD & LP from No Fun Records as well as from the home of all great rock 'n' roll, Pittsburg's Get Hip Records

Believe A Word. The Clutters Are It

2008-11-21T01:40:00.000-06:00

The Clutters

Don't Believe A Word
Chicken Ranch Records

I've said it before. I'll say it again. There's tons of great rock 'n' roll out there being made in so many places. However, that means that there's great stuff coming out of places where you'd least expect it. The Clutters are a perfect illustration of that. They're from Nashville! One could come up with all kinds of explanations, but in large cities, maybe access to good music and more competition drive people to create great music. In the case of a less likely locale, maybe one has to be so damn good that they make people stand up and take more notice. The Clutters fit the latter description. Their about as loud and raunchy and fun as it comes, but very distinctive. Unfortunately with all this great music out there, one always doesn't catch wind of it while it's "new", but the great thing about rock 'n' roll is if it's that good, it's going to sound new no matter how long ago it was made. Don't Believe A Word came out in late Spring last year. However, there's always really cool stuff that flies under your radar and you end up kicking yourself that you didn't hear of it earlier. I've been kicking myself an awful lot lately.

Don't Believe A Word is a serious shot in the arm. "9999 (Ways To Hate Us)" is primal garage punk guitar overlayed with Farfisa that sometimes sounds like '60s garage and other times, drifts into '80s new wave/punk with an almost Devo based quirkiness. This is only enhanced by the vocals that pull out one's soul because it sounds nerdy. However, the album doesn't list vocal credits. The smart high school reject (that's me. I hope that's most of you, too) got a band together that rocks harder and is just too damn good for the popular masses. I wish it were that simple. It's not. "Radio" is a perfect new wave offspring of '60s garage with it's distorted powerchords and an infectious chorus that I challenge you to get out of your head, but the keyboard melody is atonal and will automatically draw up the same Devo reference out of it's weirdness but with a loud attitude that went against musical convention and therefore, turned less individualistic tastes off. At the same time, we now recognize a real genius in that because it's a style that very few people did because it's a challenge not only to do it right, but to one's ears unless they really want to hear something different. Although they don't sound anything like them, early Oingo Boingo comes to mind because they were pioneering in adding that musical wierdness of seemingly discordant keyboard and guitar melodies into clever and catchy songs. One's quickly and violently thrown away from that after "Radio." The rest of the album is some of the most abrasive and raunchy garage rock party music one could be subjected to.

"Living Thing" rocks like Detroit with it's buzz guitars and beat heavy onslaught with blues tinges. "Rockaway" offers up a great critique of the rock mainstream that we can all identify with

We came to get down, we came to get down
We heard the word, it was all over town
She said
I want to know what rock 'n' roll was
'cause all you ever gave me was a bit of a buzz

This is of course followed up with a lot of Ramones fun 'Hey Heys' that I can only say are yelled "with feeling." "Fire" is a bit of an oddity with all it's tempo changes and it's slow blues moments followed by fast beats and screams, but then with the lyrics and the overall tone, I felt a sudden hard lump in my throat after realizing it could have been a song that The Gun Club would have been very proud of. One thing that one really can't escape with with The Clutters Don't Believe A Word is that tempo changes, hard beats, and guitars that alternate between throbbing chords and abrasive screeches is Pixies territory, but like it was previously noted, a well known rock 'n' roll style that moves around a center but goes in different directions is very hard to duplicate. Everyone loves The Pixies, but almost nobody can play their basic rock 'n' roll in a loud and obnoxious form that is also complex, so they've had many admirers, but very few duplicates. The Clutters are expert in that approach, but the farfisa/keyboards and heavier drumming make them a lot more fun by adding a much needed breath of fresh air into the whole garage theme. Besides "Temperature" is filled with the loudest, fuzziest bass one could stand to listen to, and it's damn good.

Most songs are surprises on Don't Believe A Word. The styles and influences mentioned above are a good illustration of that. It might not be something that everyone can really understand, but there's a good way of summarizing the approach. If one understands a hint of where someone like Mick Collins is coming from when he plays his special brand of fuzzed out rock 'n' roll that draws in everything from Motown to obscure pop like The Sparks and makes it all his own, one would definitely understand and revel in how great The Clutters are. However, there are plenty of those out there who absolutely love his music but not the influences like he does, so if one just wants to have super '60s garage fuzz with a stronger punk abrasiveness and like to scream out songs and rock out, Don't Believe A Word is perfect for that, too. Otherwise, you'll end up kicking yourself like me for not giving them a better listen to earlier. If you don't take my word, there are plenty of notables who expressed the same emount of shock and enthusiasm on The Clutters.

Don't Believe A Word is available on CD at Chicken Ranch Records and from the label/distributor that has just about every great current indie garage label stuff, Get Hip Recordings.

"9999 (Ways To Hate Us)

"Fire"

Can't Get Enough Dirtbombs? Have You Tried Ko?

2008-11-15T00:41:00.001-06:00

Ko & The Knockouts

Wicked Cool Records

I know, I know. Four full length releases, a double CD of covers, rarities, outtakes, plus a whole lotta vinyl, limited release singles, concert-only merch and you just can't get enough of The Dirtbombs. The economy and yours personally is in the crapper, too. Right? Of course, if you really are that into The Dirtbombs, then you probably have the self titled debut from their ever awesome fuzzy bass woman and her band, Ko & The Knockouts since it was originally released in 2002 on Sympathy For The Record Industry. If not, the kids at Wicked Cool Records reissued it a while back and since nobody gets talked about unless they got a new thing out, I'm going to change that, especially since we're approaching the end of the year and I"ve got a lot of choice stuff that people sent me that I'm going to write about in time for you to expand your CD collection. After all, you can invest in CDs and beer and it's a better return than one of those 401K thingies right now.

Ko is just cool. She rocks, she plays a fuzzy bass in The Dirtbombs. She plays a regular one, too. But a girl's gotta work and Ko & The Knockouts ain't goin' anywhere while Mick Collins is dragging her and the rest of his sweaty band all over creation for a good part of the year wowing us all with some serious rock 'n' roll, but most other members of The Dirtbombs past and present either play in other bands some of the time, so you might see a review sometime of a long past release by other Detroit rockers such as The Come Ons or you might not, but good rock 'n' roll is there to be discovered and rediscovered, ain't it?

It's a little surprising on a few levels. If you haven't noticed, Ko is this sweaty but super cool rocker who plays so loud that she can definitely match up on the fuzz register, but the album is pretty clean. Loud, but clean. Powerpop clean, one could say. British Invasion inspired? Maybe, but still Detroit. Songs like "Cry No More" are catchy, fast, and fun. Others like "Wasted All Those Years" sounds like Diana Ross and The Supremes backing up really early Who with frantic guitar and drums in tact. Another good pick with a more 'shakin' rhythm is "You're On My Mind." If you like punchy guitar chords and singing along, this album's for you. It's not without its surprises. "You Did It" is a swaying lament with more of an r & b feel, for example.

What's really impressive is that Ko packs a powerful voice that's always smooth and has an amazing range. The quickness, timing and simplicity of the songs on Ko & The Knockouts can really hit the heart of a Ramones fan, although with so few chords, the same progression of many of them are in hundreds of songs from others, so much like The Ramones remind one of all their influences, songs like "If I" with its handclaps and harmonies channel "Sheena Is A Punk Rocker" and "Do You Wanna Dance?" at the same time. "I Really Hate You" could probably be remade as a twangy country hit based on its lyrics alone, but the song is more of a stomping, hootenany beat. Good stuff. We even get some good distortion on "I Wanna (See You Again)."

If it hasn't been emphasized by Mick himself enough, the whole 'garage' thing is an ethos instead of a genre. Likewise, Ko & The Knockouts are also NOT garage rock: It's rock 'n' roll. Detroit Rock 'n' Roll. Motown, some blues, r & b, guitars that buzz, churn, and occasionally sputter like the town's namesake "The Motor City," but like all good rock 'n' roll, it's the beat. Yes, rock 'n' roll is meant to be danced to. In fact, "Twistin' Postman" will force you to move. If that doesn't get you moving, nothing else will. Besides, Jim Diamond produced and played on it. That alone is enough encouragement.

The Sonic Avenues Live Up To Their Name! EP Review

2008-11-07T13:53:00.001-06:00

Sonic Avenues

Sonic Avenues
Ricochet Records

The premier label for Montreal legends The Gruesomes has neat little secret in The Sonic Avenues. These guys have great harmonies and are chock full of crunched out powerchords. They live up to their name on the first track "Off The Ground (ready to get back at you)" with super loud dual guitars and some furious drumming. However, the vocal harmonies are intense and provide a great contrast to the controlled assault. One thing immediately noticed is that these guys are really tight. The sound is slightly Jam influenced mod rock, but two guitars make it a hell of a lot louder and definitely different. "Driftin' Apart" takesa a basic, almost Pretenders feel with the prominence of the bass, but the basic sound is unmistakable and rarely heard in that way anymore. It's also a really cool thing when a new band reminds you of a great band that you haven't listened to in a long time.

"Sinful Eye" is just straight-up mod fun. It's so melodically basic, but the no frills approach in guitar and harmonies make it instantly likable in the sense that it's a perfect combination of elements. However, the "Sonic" part of heavier guitars is still there for a surprise. The final track "Close To You" has a slight "Town Called Malice" feel that's updated. This EP is short and sweet. Although one can say it's easier to achieve perfection with a smaller body of work, The Sonic Avenues are presently working on a new album. Given their great introduction with the EP, one can only expect much more on their upcoming new offering. These guys are something to look out for.

Laika & The Cosmonauts Are Literally The Coolest Surf Band In The World. They Also Have A New Album Out!

2008-11-07T13:44:00.002-06:00

Laika & The Cosmonauts

Cosmopolis
YepRoc

As if The Scandinavians didn't give us enough great music already, the lesser known Finland spawned the 'surf' act Laika & The Cosmonauts in 1987. That alone would mean that Laika & The Cosmonauts are literally THE COOLEST SURF BAND IN THE WORLD just by latitude. Luckily for us, there's a lot more to it. They had a track featured on Children of Nuggets that was a surf styled interpretation of the Psycho/Vertigo themes, have garnered praise and attention as a legit surf band even though nobody can surf in that part of the world, have caught the eye of many ranging from Dick Dale, Agent Orange, Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers, and even Al Jorgensen from Ministry. I'm not sure what to say about that one, but I guess everyone's entitled to a moment of clarity. Then again, who can say that they don't like "Jesus Built My Hotrod"? Laika & The Cosmonauts are unlike anything else you've ever heard. Surf guitar, space age lounge grooves, exotica, bossa nova, and '50s UFO movies crammed into a reputation as being a very, very loud band. In celebration of over 20 years together, the good folks at YepRoc have released Cosmopolis, a collection of 'hits', at least as much as they can be for an instrumental surf band, along with a lot of really surprising unreleased material. The stuff is just cool. It's weird, surf, kitschy at times, but it is definitely loud rock.

Cosmopolis packs a lot. 27 tracks, in fact. That's only fitting for a band that's so musically ambitious, though. The first and final tracks are taken from a live music performance accompanying a film viewing in 2005. The tunes are pretty out there. Spacy and eerie. The opening track has enough cymbals on it to create an effect of a neverending introduction with simple guitar, but the closing number takes full advantage of great surf tremolo and builds to a climax with a great beat. I guess that's one thing that really makes Laika & The Cosmonauts stand out is that the beats are a lot heavier. Instead of playing in compliment to give surf guitar a beat, the beat itself drives their songs along. "Floating" is surf muted reverb and tremolo in all its glory, but it also has great melodic guitar flourishes and a 4/5 beat that's much faster than the typical 1-2-4 structure that is inherent in most rock songs. Real surf music from Finaland. Unbelievable. But just when one thinks they 'get' their sound, a track like "Rikki On the Loose" is a little jolt of "Away From The Numbers" from The Jam in intro alone, but gets into an upbeat groove with some great organ that just makes it cool. It's unlike anything you've heard, but it's good enough that you end up just going along with it. That's kind of the effect one gets from every track on Cosmopolis. "The Note Crisis" is a almost a surf/swinging tune that settles at times into more familiar surf guitar style, but the song is swinging tune at the same time that briefly breaks into a ska beat. Among the covers on Cosmopolis is Mancini's "Experiment In Terror", which is noteworthy '60s spy and martini coolness. Although "Global Village" sounds like an awful song title and thus, bad hippie jam music to follow, the keyboard gives it a futuristic from a late '50s perspective. Again, a great beat, though. "Disconnected" is not only bizarre in initially reminding me of "You'll Dance To Anything (Instant Club Hit)" with it's sampling, but it was a creative recording of an attempt to dial up Ministry one night with negative results. This was back in the day when people actually used land lines and operators. Many of you don't remember that, but the pranking and failure to connect is also chronicled in The Beastie Boys first foray from punk into rap, "Cookiepuss" and the theme of not getting the connection goes even farther back to "606-0842" from The B-52s. One doesn't always listen to The Classics, but they left a great mark on music. There's surf guitar in it. Oh, a good melody, too. It's like they took some cheesy elements that is turned mostly into crap by bands devoted to other genres, but they gave those ideas the right music to make something really cool out of it.

"Torquoise" was said to capture a Mediterranean atmosphere, but the first time I heard it, it felt more like Sergio Leone to me, but the flamenco guitar and complimenting beat definitely lends itself more to a beach side siesta. These guys are from Finland? "Surfs You Right!" was a minor hit and has its place on Cosmopolis as a straightforward surf song that can hold its own with any well known one. "Look! No Head!" is just a gift from the farthest reaches of your mind! Ok, it could be Ministry playing surf music! In fact, not only is it the same melody as "Aim! Reload" from Filth Pig, which is the title track of the album that Laika & The Cosmonauts in 1987. That alone would mean that Laika & The Cosmonauts supported them for part of a tour, it's noted as a thank you card to them for being their supporting act. It's definitely loud and the distorted voice reminds me of Killing Joke's "Wardance", but damn! Great surf guitar. This one definitely goes where no one has gone before into a combination of surf and postpunk that will grab one by the throat! The previously mentioned "Psyko" is included and definitely 60's horror/spy/surf coolness in all its glory that never seems to grow old. Another muted reverb hit, "C'mon Do The Laika" is included and will hopefully be something that everyone will be doing for years to come. "Fear" is a Ventures cover, but it's so steeped in '60s organ that you'd never know it. "Boris The Conductor" suggest a more orchestrated approach. Likewise, the surf guitar buildup is somewhat classical, which I'm not a big fan of classical music since it's sow well connected to heavy metal, but this is just so much cooler and gives any longhaired headbanger who's stupid enough to take themselves seriously a good run for their money.

Things get psychedelic funk on "Circumstantial Evdidence" from the percussive beat and funk guitar intro, but progresses into a melodic territory that demands to be heard. Laika & The Cosmonauts are anything but predictable. "Delayrium" reflects a progression into experimental electronica, but it's still bizarre enough to hold one's ears with '60s overtones although the keyboard echoes are definitely modern. NY '79 was an attempt at seeing what they would have sounded like as a NY band in '79. The results are mixed because the song itself is a great standard surf song with a beat that brings one back the Blondie but like surf music, it's musically a lot better. One could imagine that like The Talking Heads in those days, many would have loved them for being so out there, but few would have really got them. A track that could have been a horror movie tune but got its name from a billboard advertising an all nude strip club in Austin, "Expose" is intriguing based on its inspiration, but one doubts that they'll ever hear music this good at a nudie bar. Then again, I've never been to one, so I'm not a good judge of that. There's lounge weirdness in "Get Carter" with a bossa nova beat and great keys. There's also a South Pacific tome of "Fadeaway" that has acoustic slide guitar and is purely hula and tropical drinks. Other tracks like the cover of The Ipcress File evoke spy coolness that sounds like it could be a seductive dance with a woman playing castanets. It's all very early '60s, very surfed out, but very bizarre, cool, and weird at the same time. Unlike a lot of rock 'n' roll, Laika & The Cosmonauts completely break the formulas while still sounding familiar. The result of music that's way out there in sound and rock compared to the rest of one's collection of '60s garage and surf, but simultaneously is something that one can't put down even on the first listen. The music makes one keep listening to find out where it goes, but it goes to places that one has been to before, but not necessarily r seen or fully experienced. It's not just great music. That would make things too easy. It's otherworldly, forward looking, basic, and rock 'n' roll in ways that really can't be placed. There's also elements of lounge and spy music previously mentioned, but it rocks like drinking a martini and getting punched at the same time. If anything, that's the best way to describe Laika & The Cosmonauts because it's familiar but like good rock 'n' roll, it occasionally shocks also.

After over 20 years of proving yet again why some of the best, original rock 'n' roll comes out of The Scandinavian sub continent, Laika & The Cosmonauts are calling it quits and performing their very last shows on Friday and Saturday, 10/31 and 11/1 at The Continental Club in Austin, Texas. That shouldn't stop anyone else from getting their music, though. It's spacey surf lounge and bachelor pad rock for ages to come.

Los Peyotes - Introducing...Loud, Superfuzz Garage Rock From Argentina!

2008-10-27T20:48:00.000-05:00

Los Peyotes

Introducing...
Dirty Water Records with USA distribution from Get Hip Records

Although South America was historically far more civilized than the rest of the world historically, A quintet of tooth necklace, fur vest donned cavemen with music as addictive as their name implies crawled out of Argentina and Peru called Los Peyotes. In a fuzz and farfisa fury, this band wowed audiences at The Primitive Festival in Rotterdam this year and are poised to throw everyone back into The Stone Age. This is serious stuff! Although formed in 1996, our friends accross the pond at Dirty Water Records have given them a proper debut with Introducing Los Peyotes. On the release, these guys pump out music that will turn any occasion into an all out Cro-Magnon clubbing for the '60s surf garage rock and punk faithful, but carries enough energy and fun to bludgeon more unlikely followers!

Simply put, Los Peyotes are superb. "El Corredor Quemado" is a furious surf brawl filled with Dick Dale type tremolo that leans towards The Cramps, but Victor la Pantera's farfisa sometimes feels like the waves rolling in rythmically and at other times feels like an all out pounding. One of the few songs on the album in English, "Action" is a great shot of Sonics inspired beats with more fuzz than you find on month old bread sitting on top of your refridgerator. Surprisingly, it's another fine example that the best garage rock is being made today. "El Humo te Hace Mal" is an all out riot! Forget that one might not know what the lyrics mean, you'll be screaming along to "Yeah!" and trying to sing along with the words and joining in on the screams just because you can't help it! As if it wasn't already good enough, the beat picks up with a true punk rock bass intro courtesy of Oscar Hechomierda in the middle that ends up in a frenzy.

It's not only fitting that around Halloween, one reviews a pack of guys who dress up and play some of the ghouliest, zombie garage rock around, but one also gets the added benefit of "Vampiro," another English song that one can barely discern, but falls somewhere between a good organ groove combined with Pablo Bambam's pounding, a really cool touch of David Peyote's maracas, but an overall feel that's almost "Secret Agent Man" with Rolando Bruno's surf guitar that's just a bit cooler. The treat goes further with guitar/scream frenzy of "Scream" that's enough to wake the dead! The final injection of creepy crawlies is found on the eerie farfisa organ of "La Malvada Creacion del Dr Ilusion" and bolts of guitar fuzz that will put anyone in Frankenstien's lab.

"El Entierro de los Gatos" is a a great surf song, but the punctuation is from the organ. Very '60s, indeed. "Psicosis V" is aptly titled with enough surf tremolo and fuzz to put one into a psychosis. The theramin gives it a magic potion veneer, too. Los Peyotes then get back down to primitive Stones style garage on "Back Come To Me" that's enough to impress even the staunchest of purists, while "I Don't Mind" had a more "Knights of Fuzz" take that only serve to prove that these guys that ought to put anyone into the mood for a perfect freakout.

In fact, everything about these guys is garage freakout! "Serial Killer" plays like a surf zombie movie while "Connection" is an almost British Invasion sound through a tube amp! The closing "No Puedo Hacerte Mia" is about the closest thing one gets to a love song from Los Peyotes, but it's more of a solitary lament on an an empty beach that sounds more like California than anywhere in South America.

Introducing Los Peyotes is a true garage rock fest with ghouls, zombies, surf, and more fuzz and farfisa than anyone could muster into one album. One could only imagine how lucky anyone was to be able to see them. The music sounds raw and a whole lot of fun. As great as the album is, one gets the feeling that the live experience of Los Peyotes is exponentially better. The music is in the spirit of pure fun that I'm sure everyone who saw them fell under a hallucinogenic dance. Los Peyotes are scheduled for their next live show in Buenos Aires in November 15th. Hopefully, as many of us as possible will get a chance to see them in the near future. In the meantime, Introducing Los Peyotes is a slab of '60s style vintage garage rock worth having and playing over and over.

El Humo te Hace Mal

No Puedo Hacerte Mia

The Quarter After - Changes Near is Rickenbacker 12 String Heaven!

2008-10-27T20:39:00.001-05:00

The Quarter After

Changes Near
The Committee To Keep Music Evil"

Changes Near and my introduction to The Quarter After was a chance suggestion by their record label while researching another band on their label, The Asteroid 4. The Quarter After is quite a lucky find for those of you into The Byrds. These guys have the unmistakable Rickenbacker jingle jangle sound, and much like their main influence, the occasional country influence, but the sound is stronger and bigger. The opening track "Sanctuary" has the obvious full sound of a Rickenbacker 12 string from Vox/guitarist Dominic Campanella, but David Koenig's bass give it a heavier feel. The addition of tablas make it even more psychedelic, but the song just sounds FULL. The sound is thick and loud, and the vocal harmonies add a great finishing touch. "She Revolves" is slightly mellower but carries an equal amount of electric guitar surprises. One of those is that one actually hears all the guitar strings strummed instead of a simple chord, but one can only describe what something sounds like. The Quarter After take their musical ancestry to a bigger place. A country rock track "Counting The Score" is twangy beyond belief but it somehow works with great vocal harmonies and dual guitars. It's a lot more forward thinking than most.

"See How It Feels" is upbeat, full of great feedback, and a basic but strong rhythm section much akin to bands from The Paisley Underground era. Overall, The Quarter After have one foot steeped in the L.A. folk rock scene and the other well planted in the psych/garage revival of The Paisley Underground. However, that's just the beginning. The vocal harmonies are stronger, the guitars are louder and more ambitious, thus giving a stronger garage rock feel, but there are also surprises that echo the pioneering spirit of many other bands that seek to really create something new. Luckily, it works well for The Quarter After. "Early Morning Rider" can only make one think of "Easy Rider," but Rob Campanella's Vox Ultrasonic and then the trumpet throws something new into what at first has that basic background already alluded to. The Quarter After is like that: You get hit with a few surprises on each song that challenge convention or what you might expect. Although a "jam" is tantamount to pure evil for me when it comes to music, the otherwise slow, folksy "Something Out Of Nothing" gives off a battery acid solo that's refreshing and bizarre, although just slightly a little too long. Changes Near just sounds great! The Rickenbacker 12 string is bright and instantly recognizable, but there's a pedal steel thrown in on the slower parts, then the song goes into a marching beat out of nowhere with more surprises to follow.

"A Winter Song" is a deep, slow psych pour with enough tamboura and tablas to make George Harrison proud, but also acoustic guitars, a Hammond and a Mellowtron that could put The Quarter After at home with the good vibes of The Grip Weeds. Another standout track is "This Is How I Want To Know You" that psyches out with the jingle jangle sound, but carries some great vocal harmonies and a beat much like The Bangles and then takes a heavier ending much like The Church second album, The Blurred Crusade. The final song "Sempre Avanti (Johny Marr Is Not Dead)" is self explanatory, but then again, The Quarter After is as much about surprises as they're being built around a 12 string Rickenbacker. Changes Near is a heavy musical venture. It's something to hear and listen to on the edge of folk and psychedelic rock, but the sound is melodic, full, soft, but definitely loud at the same time. If you love Rickenbackers, The Paisley Underground, or both, Changes Near can take you back there, but there's more originality to The Quarter After than meet's the eye.