The Subversive Sounds . . .

LET'S DO THIS....

2012-01-13T15:53:00.003-05:00

http://sonofthesubversivesounds.blogspot.com/

Really? My site has been listed as an "Attack Site"?

2012-01-09T13:57:00.001-05:00

Ridiculous. I come back to start posting for a new year and this is what I get?

New blog and new link above.

Back soon

2011-11-15T10:51:00.002-05:00

Really busy this time of year. Hope to be back soon...

PSYCHOMANIA - Original Soundtrack

2011-10-28T08:44:00.000-04:00

Psychomania - Original Soundtrack
(Trunk Records 1971) Out of Print

01. Psychomania Front Titles
02. The Frog
03. Cross Over To The Other Side
04. Secret Of The Living Dead
05. The Cross
06. How Do The Dead Come Back?
07. Secret Of The Locked Room
08. Locked Room And Mirror Sequence
09. You’ve Got To Believe
10. Motorcycle Mayhem
11. Cat And Mouse With The Fuzz
12. Tom’s Last Ride
13. He’s Coming Back
14. Riding Free
15. Up From The Grave
16. Tom’s Return
17. Carnage At The Pub
18. First Of The Deaths
19. The Empty Coffin
20. Truck Destruction
21. Hanging Jane
22. It’s Evil
23. I’m Coming With You
24. One By One
25. Abby’s Nightmare
26. Morgue Line Up
27. Morbid Substitution
28. The Trap
29. Breaking The Bargain
30. The Decision
31. Turned To Stone
32. Psychomania End Credits

File Under: Cult Soundtracks
RIYL: Cult Soundtracks!, Strange Music, 70s Exploitation, Psychedelic

Here’s a strange one. This is the soundtrack from one of my favorite cult films (and where I got my avatar from). It’s a movie about a motorcycle gang called The Living Dead. I won’t give away the plot, but you can watch the movie on YouTube right here.

Random Review: This is the first time the soundtrack for this (ahem...) semi-legendary 1971 British horror/biker flick has been released. Devotees of those late-night showings of laughably poor horror films on ITV or BBC will be no doubt be familiar with this ‘item’ but I won’t enlighten those in the dark. Suffice to say, it never won a BAFTA (or whatever it is they had back then).

However, this music bought to you all here by Trunk is a whole different kettle of frogs. It was composed and recorded by John Cameron (the man also responsible for the excellent “Kes” soundtrack) using a collection of session musicians and assorted jazzers. The tracks themselves are mainly instrumental and can only be described as an eclectic mixture of 60’s pre-punk garage-band, dark-edged psychedelia, and blaxplotation-style funk, all seasoned with subtle touches of ecclesiastical music and even (heaven help us) a dash of early prog. But it all gels very well to produce a dark and disturbing artefact.

Ok, true, the week this was recorded, the local guitar shop must have been having a special offer on fuzz, overdrive and, most noticeably, wah-wah pedals, because the music here is SATURATED in those tools of the gutarist’s trade. But those who like their music acoustic and a little more gentle are not totally forgotten, because in the middle is a hippy-ish funeral song that is rather drippy, but should be seen as a product of its time.
And (as stated in the brief liner notes)the audio quality does suffer in places, but it’s not too bad at all, considering it was compiled from old & deteriorating analogue tapes.

Despite this, it mostly works pretty well and I’d even say that the music is light-years better than the film it was made for.

So, if you’re a fan of musical oddities or a collector of the more off-the-wall, weirder soundtracks, then this will keep you as happy as a very happy thing indeed.

Psychomania - Original Soundtrack

10. Motorcycle Mayhem

LOWLINE - Monitors (video)

2011-10-28T08:34:00.000-04:00

First single by this new Manchester, UK band. Sort of an Editors/White Lies vibe but a little more upbeat and rocking. Looking forward to hearing more.

PETE TOWNSHEND - Who Came First

2011-10-27T10:07:00.000-04:00

Pete Townshend - Who Came First
(Ryko Disc 1972) Out of Print CD

01. Pure and Easy
02. Evolution
03. Forever’s No Time at All
04. Let’s See Action
05. Time Is Passing
06. There’s a Heartache Following Me
07. Sheraton Gibson
08. Content
09. Parvardigar
10. His Hands
11. The Seeker
12. Day of Silence
13. Sleeping Dog
14. The Love Man
15. Lantern Cabi

File Under: Classic Rock, Singer/Songwriter, Alt.Country
RIYL: The Who, Ronnie Lane, Faces

The Who were on of my first musical discoveries as a kid. Right after the Beatles. This is Pete’s first solo album and was pretty hard to find in the early 80s. I had exhausted all of The Who albums and what I thought was Pete’s only solo album Empty Glass. I had read about Who Came First but was never able to track it down until the day I found it on 8-track in a cut-out bin at Woolworth’s. Of all places. I grabbed it without hesitation. I was disillusioned at first listen - this wasn’t the rocking Pete with the windmills that I was so familiar with. Some of these tracks were almost country and the closest I could come to a comparison was some of the songs on The Who By Numbers. But I kept listening and came to love this album. Some of these songs eventually made it onto Who albums, but this is where they belong. These aren’t demos like the stuff that ends up on Pete’s Scoop releases - this is a wonderful thematic album.

AMG: Pete Townshend’s first solo album was a homespun, charming forum for low-key, personal songs that weren’t deemed suitable for the Who, as well as spiritual paeans (direct and indirect) to his spiritual guru Meher Baba. Who fans will be immediately attracted by the presence of a couple of songs from the aborted Who concept album Lifehouse (much of which ended up on Who’s Next), “Pure & Easy” and “Let’s See Action.” The Who did eventually release their own versions of both those songs. But Townshend’s own versions aren’t the highlights of this record, which shows a folkier and gentler side to the Who’s chief muse than his albums with the group. “Sheraton Gibson” is a neat tune about rock & roll road life, and “Time Is Passing” takes very subtle inspiration from Baba. Most of the rest of the album contains some of the most unusual pieces Townshend has released: his acoustic cover of Jim Reeves’ “There’s a Heartache Following Me” (recorded because it was one of Baba’s favorite tunes), “Evolution” (which is actually pretty much a solo track by his buddy Ronnie Lane of the Faces), “Parvardigar” (adapted from Baba’s Universal Prayer), and “Content” (a philosophical poem by Maud Kennedy that Townshend put to music).

Pete Townshend - Who Came First

05. Time Is Passing

THE TOLL - Jonathan Toledo (video)

2011-10-27T09:36:00.000-04:00

Columbus, OH legends The Toll performing live at the 700 Club in 1992. I saw New Model Army there the same year!

Various Artist - BEYOND PUNK!

2011-10-26T10:31:00.000-04:00

Mojo - Beyond Punk!
Mojo Presents 15 Tracks Of Post-Punk Noise 1978-2005
(Mojo Magazine 2005)

01. Pere Ubu - Non Alignment Pact
02. A Certain Ratio - Choir
03. Cabaret Voltaire - Silent Command
04. The Futureheads - Park Inn
05. Essential Logic - Aerosol Burns
06. Mission Of Burma - Academy Fight Song
07. Death From Above 1979 - Better Off Dead
08. Kleenex - You
09. Wire - Kidney Bingos
10. The Human League - Almost Medieval
11. Siouxsie & The Banshees - Mirage
12. Bird Blobs - Billy
13. The Fall - The Classical
14. Scritti Politti - Skank Bloc Bologna
15. Radio 4 - State Of Alert

File Under: Punk, Post-Punk, New Wave
RIYL: Any of the bands on this comp.

Another hit or miss compilation. I was a little surprised to see this one since Mojo usually concentrates on more classic rock. But then again, some of these tracks are over 30 years old. Does that make Pere Ubu classic rock? Hardly. There’s a couple of classic post-punk bands here, the previously mentioned Pere Ubu, Cabaret Voltaire, Wire... But I question some of the newer bands. Are we still calling it post-punk 30 years after punk? Is it Neo Post-punk?

Random Review: Well look, it’s another one of those free compilations that come with those great MOJO magazines and yet usually sells individually for a few bucks (or more) at record shops. Lucky for us, some of these can be found cheaply here and there.

No, I imagine you’re not shocked that this compilation has the word ‘punk’ in it and I bought it, but you may be surprised that I still held this record with hesitation. I have to say that I am not a huge post-punk fan and, if I am going to be honest, the Siouxsie song I’m most familiar with is “Peek-a-Boo” that I heard a lot of from watching Beavis and Butthead. Yeah, I know, my credibility just took a hit there (even if I scored major points with the mundane humor crowd!) Therefore, this record reads like a list of bands that I should know more about, so I suppose that the choice to pick it up was even more obvious.

Post-punk, by definition, really does mean ‘beyond punk’ when put in context of the time. Punk was getting played out and musicians were trying to be more creative with elements of punk but without resorting to the typical thrash and yelp that was common in most punk outfits. What you get on this compilation is a wide array of sometimes complicated, sometimes noisy tunes that won’t always necessarily mesh with your tastes. However, there are quite a few great tunes on here, like Mission of Burma’s “Academy Fight Song” (mislabeled on this comp) which is a classic song that is right up there with their “Revolver” tune in greatness. Wire, my favorite post-punk band, gets their soothingly enjoyable yet essentially nonsensical “Kidney Bingos” on this disc, which highlights their later period of music more than their earlier raucous.

Siouxsie and the Banshees’ “Mirage” comes across as the most punkish tune, with the speed and hard riffs required to cause a bit of pogo-ing. The band that I had hoped would be great is Bird Blobs, if only because their name is rather amusingly curious. However, they are rather noisy without being memorable, which I suppose appeals to some. A few more modern bands, like Radio 4 and Death From Above 1979, get a tune on this record due to their post-punk style in the more modern day. It’s too bad that the latter have disbanded and the former hasn’t put out anything particularly good since 2002. Those two groups, once promising in 2005, are now just another addition to the post-punk back catalog.

Unlike some other genres, I’m not sure if there are many people out there who like everything that is post-punk, but this is a great introduction to the sound of the genre. Some of the artists on this compilation are still putting out music, like Mission of Burma and Siouxsie Sioux, but it’s mostly a collection of tunes from time gone by. One would have to check out some post-punk revivalists like A Place to Bury Strangers and the Walkmen to get their modern day fix these days, but that shouldn’t be too much of a chore since I can vouch for the Strangers’ excellent live show. Still, is there any chance we can rewind a few decades to when the music scene was utterly fantastic?

Mojo - Beyond Punk!

06. Mission Of Burma - Academy Fight Song

TOMMY STINSON - Teenage Kicks (video)

2011-10-26T09:48:00.000-04:00

The Replacements are one of my all-time favorite bands. Here's ex-Replacement Tommy doing a cover of one of the greatest punk/new wave tunes ever - Teenage Kicks by The Undertones. That's Dave Pirner of Soul Asylum smashing the guitar.

THE TOLL - Stick & Stones And Broken Bones

2011-10-25T08:22:00.001-04:00

The Toll - Sticks & Stones And Broken Bones
(Geffen - 1991) Out Of Print CD

01. Tongue-Tied River
02. Boys Are Bustin’ Bricks
03. One Last Wish
04. Something ‘Bout the Struggle
05. Hear Your Brother Calling
06. War Is Release
07. Standing on the Ledge
08. American Mess
09. Happy
10. Never Enough
11. Colorblind
12. Sweet Misery

File Under: Rock, Alternative Rock

By request... The Toll were an institutional in Columbus, OH and The Ohio State University campus in the late 1980s and early 1990s. It’s always been tough to describe their music. It had a combination of a lot of sounds and influences. Their first album, ‘The Price Of Progression’ which is pretty hard to find now combined hard rock with the sensibility of The Doors. Three songs passed the ten minute mark. Probably due to record company pressure, the band reeled it in on their sophomore effort which was more of a straight ahead rock sound. The songs were shorter, but much more focused, and maybe not as inspired. I had the fortune to witness The Toll many times, in many venues and they always gave more than anyone else. Those are some of the times when I wish I was more aware of what I was watching.

Geffen Records Bio
Fan Page

Here’s one of the few write-ups I could find about the band, unfortunately it predates this album:

The Toll - The 100 Club, London, 13 March 1989
I was looking at Brad Circone’s eyes. You can tell a lot from people’s eyes. Some look depressed, dull, enveloped in mediocrity. In Circone’s case, they’re not so much windows into his soul as opaque enigmas. They only allow you to glimpse patches of the rage, unpredictability and sheer frustration the man must be feeling. The Toll, you see, are victims of their own circumstances. Whenever you try and interpret your own thoughts and ideas into something tangible others can relate to (be it on paper, on canvas or onstage) then inadequacies will always arise. The more depth and electricity there is to the idea, the greater that feeling of frustration. Circone (vocalist/guitarist/pianist with The Toll) is a remarkable man. Someone for whom the art of communication is perhaps the most frustrating thing of all. He wants people to listen to his tales of pain, dishonour and betrayal through the likes of ‘Jonathan Toledo’, ‘Word of Honor’, ‘Living In The Valley Of Pain’ and ‘Anna-41-Box’. But they only stand and stare, waiting for him to do something manic, something outrageous, something off-the-wall. Einstein came to lecture, but all they wanted were the jugglers! Maybe I’m being rather too cynical. However, when I see a performer as unique and magnetic as Circone reduced to climbing on tables and amps simply to get attention, then I feel saddened. To me, it was the look in his eye, the threat in his voice and the imposition of his personality that mattered tonight. That made me feel at the end of the evening that The Toll are remarkable and special, not the circus clowning. Some might wish to compare The Toll to Jane’s Addiction. I’d say that Circone has the genius, but JA have the talent. Some might want to suggest The Doors or U2 and I wouldn’t dispute these frames of reference. But tonight, I saw The Toll. But I’ve a feeling most of the others here weren’t watching... and that disappoints me. This band will be huge... but on whose terms? Brad Circone and his troops (guitarist/vocalist Rick Silk, drummer/vocalist Brett Mayo and bassist/vocalist Greg Bartram) are out on their own. They have to weigh integrity against commercial pressures. I hope the compromise isn’t too damaging. - Malcolm Dome - ‘RAW’ Magazine issue 16 (April 5-18 1989)

The Toll - Sticks & Stones And Broken Bones

07. Standing on the Ledge

PETE TOWNSHEND - Give Blood (video)

2011-10-25T07:58:00.001-04:00

From the White City album. I'd like to see Pete put The Who to bed and go on tour playing only tracks from his solo albums.

ABC - The Lexicon Of Lust

2011-10-24T08:41:00.000-04:00

ABC - The Lexicon Of Lust
(Soundboard or Broadcast Recording)

February 2, 1983, Musichalle, Hamburg, Germany
1. Show Me
2. Many Happy Returns
3. Tears Are Not Enough
4. Date Stamp
5. The Look Of Love
6. I Wish I Were In Love Again
7. Poison Arrow (solo piano)
8. All of My Heart
9. Poison Arrow (full band reprise)

File Under: New Wave, New Romantic, Synth-Pop
RIYL: Roxy Music, OMD, Spandau Ballet, Human League, Depeche Mode

The Lexicon of Love was one of the greatest and most successful albums of the new wave era. This concert is from the height of ABC’s popularity. It’s not a guilty pleasure. It’s just a pleasure. Martin Fry is so suave I would have enjoyed seeing him working on a project with Bryan Ferry. That may have been too cool for many...

AMG: One of the most popular new wave bands of the early ‘80s, the British group ABC built upon the detached, synthesized R&B pop of David Bowie and Roxy Music, adding a self-conscious, campy sense of theatrics and style. Under the direction of vocalist Martin Fry, the group scored several catchy, synth-driven dance-pop hits in the early ‘80s, including “Poison Arrow,” “Look of Love,” and “Be Near Me.”

During the late ‘70s, Fry ran his own fanzine, Modern Drugs, while he attended Sheffield University. ABC formed in 1980, after Fry interviewed Vice Versa members Mark White (guitar) and Stephen Singleton (saxophone) for his fanzine. The two musicians asked Fry to join their band as a vocalist, and he soon became part of the group; the lineup also featured drummer David Robinson and bassist Mark Lickley.

Soon, Fry had taken control of the electronic band, steering them in a more pop-oriented direction and renaming the group ABC. By the fall of 1981, the band had signed a record contract with Phonogram Records, which agreed to distribute ABC’s own label, Neutron. ABC released their first single, “Tears Are Not Enough,” in November; it peaked at number 19 on the U.K. charts. Before they recorded their second single, Robinson left the band and was replaced by David Palmer in early 1982. Two singles, “Poison Arrow” and “The Look of Love,” became British Top Ten hits in the spring, paving the way for their debut album, The Lexicon of Love, to enter the charts at number one. “All of My Heart” also became a Top Ten hit in the fall of 1982.

ABC - The Lexicon Of Lust

8. All of My Heart

THE HIVES - Tick Tick Boom (video)

2011-10-24T08:22:00.001-04:00

The Hives were one of the funner shows I've seen in the past five years. They really put on a show in concert. About time for a new album too.

LIFE IN THE EUROPEAN THEATRE

2011-10-21T10:59:00.001-04:00

Various Artists - Life In The European Theatre

(Elektra/Asylum Records 60179 - 1982

01. London Calling - The Clash
02. Little Boy Soldiers - The Jam
03. I Am Your Flag - The Beat
04. Man At C & A - The Specials
05. Living Through Another Cuba - XTC
06. I Don’t Remember - Peter Gabriel
07. Peace Frog - The Doors
08. Grey Day - Madness
09. Psychedelic Eric - Bad Manners
10. Nuclear Device - The Stranglers
11. It’s Going To Happen - The Undertones
12. All That Jazz - Echo & The Bunnymen
13. Diet - Au Pairs
14. Reasons To Be Cheerful Pt.3 - Ian Dury

File Under: New Wave, Post-Punk
RIYL: Any of the bands contained within

Face it, most comps suck. Unless it’s one you made yourself. There’s always something that throws the flow off. Or a track that makes you think ‘what the hell is this doing on here?’ Life In The European Theatre isn’t one of those. Released in 1982 to raise awareness in opposition to Nuclear Power and Nuclear Arms, it’s a virtual who’s who of early post-punk/new wave... but The Doors and Peter Gabriel? Believe it or not, it works. Add the Jam and The Clash and those were the only bands I was familiar with on the tape - But I ended up loving every track and have held onto this cassette for over 25 years. As far as I know, it’s never been reissued or released onto compact disc, so I eventually sought out digital sources and compiled this cd. If you’re not familiar with some of these artists, every band is worth exploring more. The Ian Dury track was not on the North American release, it was substituted with The Doors. I’ve included the track for completists. Something I just noticed - On the cover art it's spelled "Theater" while on the spine it's spelled "Theatre." LOL... suppose they were trying to appeal to both sides of the pond.

AMG: The Doors are the only non-United Kingdom act on the album, which is dominated by new wave rock, with nods to Two-Tone bands Like the No Nukes and M.U.S.E. movements in the States, the mainly British musicians here express their opposition to and fear of nuclear power while donating royalties from the album’s sales to anti-nuke causes. Unlike the California-dominated, touchy-feely approach of Jackson Browne, Graham Nash and James Taylor, these guys really kick the nuclear industry right in the pants -- starting with the impassioned “London Calling” by the Clash. the Specials and Madness. European Theater is worth having, even if some of the sounds are dated to the 1980s and the threat of nuclear annihilation isn’t what it used to be.

Life In The European Theatre

10. Nuclear Device - The Stranglers

THE BEAT - I Am Your Flag (video)

2011-10-21T09:59:00.000-04:00

First heardthis song on the Life In The European Theater compilation. Still one of my favorite comps. It exposed me to a lot of great, unheard music.

ELECTRAFIXION - Burned

2011-10-20T09:20:00.000-04:00

Electrafixion - Burned
(Elektra 1995) Out of Print CD

01. Feel My Pulse
02. Sister Pain
03. Lowdown
04. Timebomb
05. Zephyr
06. Never
07. Too Far Gone
08. Mirrorball
09. Who’s Been Sleeping in My Head?
10. Hit by Something
11. Bed of Nails

File Under: Alternative, Indie, Grunge (?)
RIYL: Echo & The Bunnymen, Nirvana (?)

As a huge E&tB fan, this was a must have. It had been seven years since Ian and Will had worked together and expectations were high. What we ended up with is a Bunnymen album on steroids. Listening to this now, I’m amazed at how LOUD the guitars are. This is a stomping album. Nothing subtle here and that seemed to be the main criticism of many. The Bunnymen were as much about atmosphere as anything else and that doesn’t exist here. These are aggressive, in-your-face rock songs. Having said that, I love it and think it’s brilliant that it wasn’t a Bunnymen album. It gave them the freedom to crank it up a little without having to fly the Bunnymen flag. Will’s signature guitar is still hear, it’s just turned up to 13. And Ian’s voice is in fine form. If this was the bridge to get them back together as E&tB, great. I believe they release several eps with live tracks and if you collected all of them, you had the complete concert - I’ll have to try and track that down...

AMG: When something promises a lot given the participants, the expectations understandably ratchet up as well. So that’s why Electrafixion’s sole album comes across as an experiment in frustration more than once. The prospect of Ian McCulloch and Will Sergeant working together for the first time in around seven years revived the hopes of the Echo & the Bunnymen fan base that the pleasant but not often striking solo and side projects in the interim would be left behind for something more distinct. That Electrafixion was, but Burned still disappointed as much as it pleased. A lot of it had to do with McCulloch’s wholehearted embrace of Nirvana and grunge -- Burned isn’t Nevermind redux, per se, but the wickedly entrancing combination of voice and guitars from Echo days turned into a full-on rock stomp. Sergeant, essentially, is wasted -- while his playing can’t be faulted, much of the time he’s playing feedback-heavy mega-rock riffs that sound like somebody trying to prove he’s still with it. McCulloch, meanwhile, often has an unpleasant whine in his distinct vocals that also sounds like somebody trying far too hard to impress. If this was a totally new band, these elements might be overlooked (or even celebrated), but given the duo’s past history, everything comes across in comparison to that past, often poorly. It’s a mistake to say that Burned is a complete wash, by any means, as both still have strengths aplenty and quite often play to them. Lead single “Zephyr” actually kicks some major butt with style, with a classic spiraling-up Sergeant riff amped to the max and a gutsy performance from McCulloch. Meanwhile, the two tracks rescued from McCulloch’s abortive collaboration with Johnny Marr also appeal, especially the comparatively sly and strong “Lowdown.” “Who’s Been Sleeping in My Head?” is a classic McCulloch title, while the song itself has a nicely drugged-out atmosphere. By and large, though, Burned is an opportunity missed.

Guitarist Will Sergeant and singer Ian McCulloch formed Echo & the Bunnymen with bassist Les Pattinson in Liverpool in 1978. The group later replaced a drum machine with Trinidad-native Pete de Freitas, and became one of the most important British indie bands of the ‘80s. Ian McCulloch left for a solo career in 1988, and his debut album Candleland proved successful. Meanwhile, his former band imploded after 1990’s Reverberation, recorded with a McCulloch imitator named Simon Burke.

In 1992, McCulloch’s second solo album Mysterio flopped, and he reconciled with Sergeant two years later. Sergeant and McCulloch recruited bassist Leon de Sylva and drummer Tony McGuigan and toured England as Electrafixion. Crowds and the press approved of the group’s groove-heavy update of Echo & the Bunnymen’s moody, slightly psychedelic, indie-pop. In November 1994, Electrafixion released “Zephyr” on their Spacejunk label, and followed with the album Burned in late 1995.

Electrafixion - Burned

05. Zephyr

LIVE - Pain Lies On The Riverside (video)

2011-10-20T08:58:00.000-04:00

This song has been running through my head for about two days now. First time I ever heard the band was this video on MTVs 120 Minutes. Still one of my favorites by the band.

DEAD BOYS - Younger, Louder and Snottier

2011-10-19T08:59:00.000-04:00

Dead Boys - Younger, Louder & Snottier (The Rough Mixes)
(Bomp Records 1989) Out of Print CD

01. Sonic Reducer
02. All This And More
03. What Love Is
04. Not Anymore
05. Ain’t Nothin’ To Do
06. Caught With The Meat In Your Mouth
07. Hey Little Girl
08. I Need Lunch
09. High Tension Wire
10. Down In Flames

File Under: Punk, Post-Punk
RIYL: Pere Ubu, Rocket From The Tombs, Lords of the New Church, The Damned, Stooges

The Dead Boys were one of those bands, like The Sex Pistols and The Jam, that I always read about but never heard. You didn’t hear this stuff on the radio and you couldn’t download it. Either you knew someone who had it and you made a cassette copy or you bought it. And try finding a Dead Boys album at the National Record Mart in eastern Ohio in the early 1980s. It wasn’t going to happen. Eventually, like what usually happened, I had it special ordered without ever hearing a track. I bought a lot back then just from reading a review or looking at an album cover. Listening to Young, Loud and Snotty threw me off completely. At this time I was pretty immersed in British ‘punk’ like The Jam and The Buzzcocks - I just didn’t listen to US punk. Probably because Trouser Press, the magazine I got all of my recommendations from usually seemed to concentrate on UK music. So I wasn’t sold right away. But it was one of those albums that I kept going back to until I did appreciate it. I never did get into US hardcore, it always seemed so nihilistic compared to the British counter parts. So this release is a collection of early takes of that original Dead Boys album. It’s even more raw and sloppy than the official release.

AMG: The Dead Boys’ debut album, Young, Loud & Snotty, stands as a superb document of the original late-’70s punk rock movement, full of nihilism and rage and just plain bad taste. These are the original rough mixes done by lead singer and punk rock poster boy Stiv Bators, guitarist Cheetah Chrome and engineer Bob Clearmountain before Genya Ravan was brought in to clean things up. What emerges from these alternate mixes is something akin to history reversing itself and the “Bowie mix” of Raw Power coming out 20 years later. There are plenty of useless overdubs that would later get scrapped for the released version, but the largely effect-less guitars are full of sheet metal, as opposed to metal, tonality. Everything on here sounds crispier, more wired, and so treble-accented that it ends up embellishing the offensiveness of the material itself, full of punk energy and electric scrabble for the chemically enhanced set. Even the tunes that were originally slagged by punk critics as sounding “too metal” emerge here sonically sounding more like Stooges outtakes, especially “Caught With the Meat In Your Mouth.” Given the meager recorded output of the band, this will easily find a place in the collections of the band’s old fans.

Dead Boys - Younger, Louder & Snottier (The Rough Mixes)

01. Sonic Reducer

DEAD CONFEDERATE - The Rat (video)

2011-10-19T08:47:00.000-04:00

Southern psych. This is from their 2008 album Wrecking Ball. Nice, hypnotic tune...

LIVE - The Distance To Haag

2011-10-18T08:18:00.001-04:00

Live - The Distance To Haag

December 2, 1999, The Statenhal, Den Haag, Holland
01. Where Fishes Go
02. Operation Spirit
03. All Over You
04. Selling The Drama
05. The Distance
06. Shit Towne
07. Sparkle
08. Pillar Of Davidson
09. The Dolphin’s Cry
10. Lakini’s Juice
11. Imagine
12. Run To The Water
13. Dance With You
14. They Stood Up For Love
15. I Alone

File Under: Alternative, Indie, College Rock, Post-Grunge
RIYL: REM, U2, Public Affection

IMO Live always got a bad rap. Besides always being called a poor-man’s R.E.M. (I never got that reference), they were continually accused of being ‘over-earnest.’ Imagine that. Being criticized for singing about hope. In the age of Limp Bizkit, and 2nd generation grunge, they were a welcomed respite. They didn’t want to “fuck you like and animal.” They didn’t have “a pocket full of shells.” And they didn’t “do it all for the nookie.” They “stood up for love.” But apparently that wasn’t cool. So here’s a fantastic recording from the Distance to Here tour. I had the opportunity to see them perform many of these songs before the album came out at the Woodstock 99 fiasco. They were one of the highlights of that abysmal weekend. Apparently LIVE is no longer together. Ed left for a solo career and the other guys picked up the lead singer from Candlebox to form The Gracious Few.

AMG: After the tepid reaction to the subdued, over-produced Secret Samadhi, Live took some time off to rethink their direction. For their fourth full-length studio album The Distance to Here, the band called on producer Jerry Harrison to recapture the raw energy and emotion that fueled Mental Jewelry and Throwing Copper. A self-conscious response to Secret Samadhi with plenty of guitar riffs, thunderous tempos and a mystical aura, The Distance to Here emerges from their last album’s swirling, numbing stupor and regains some of Throwing Copper’s aggressive intensity. But Live doesn’t just meld their last two albums for this release; it’s a livelier, lighter collection. Though the group is slowly evolving their sound -- Ed Kowalczyk’s vulnerable-turned-angry vocals have become freer, more confident and more expressive, while Chad Taylor’s background vocals add needed depth and harmony - they’re retracing their steps before making any major changes. Live made its name by combining brutally honest, searching lyrics with equally intense and emotive music, but the fine line between genuine soul-searching and heavy-handed preaching is in the eye of the beholder. With The Distance, this line sways on individual songs: “Feel the Quiet River Rage,” “Sparkle,” “Meltdown,” “Sun,” and the title track -- reflect Live’s evolution, but the lumbering “Face and Ghost (The Children’s Song)” and the gushy “Dance With Me,” aim too high for their own good. This doesn’t make for a failed or bad album, just an uneven one. Overall, Live continues to plunge into dramatic, emotional, and spiritual realms, but the band needs to be more adventurous musically to complement its ongoing spiritual journey.

Live rose to chart success on the strength of its anthemic music and idealistic, overtly spiritual songwriting, two hallmarks which earned the group frequent comparisons to U2. Live first formed in the early ‘80s in their hometown of York, Pennsylvania, when future members Chad Taylor (guitar), Patrick Dahlheimer (bass) and Chad Gracey (drums) began playing together under the name “First Aid” while attending middle school. After losing an area talent contest, they decided to enlist singer Ed Kowalczyk, and as a foursome the group played under a series of names before settling on Public Affection.

After earning a rabid local following, in 1989 Public Affection released a cassette, The Death of a Dictionary, on their own Action Front label. After graduating to CBGB and other famed New York clubs, they earned a demo deal with Giant Records which proved unsuccessful; the completed demo earned them a deal with Radioactive, however, and before drawing their new name out of a hat, Live recruited Talking Head Jerry Harrison to produce their 1991 debut, Mental Jewelry. A collection of songs based on the writings of Indian philosopher Jiddu Krishnamurti, the record made Live one of the key players in the post-Nirvana alternative music scene thanks to singles like “Operation Spirit (The Tyranny of Tradition)” and “Pain Lies on the Riverside.”

Three years later, Live returned with the muscular Throwing Copper, which lingered a number of months on the charts before pushing the group into the rock mainstream; after a series of popular singles like “Selling the Drama” and “I Alone,” the album’s slow build climaxed with the funereal “Lightning Crashes,” which propelled the album to the top of the charts and paved the way for the hits “White, Discussion” and “All Over You.” Secret Samadhi, the third Live LP, followed in early 1997, but failed to match either the commercial or critical success of previous efforts. The band resurfaced two years later with The Distance to Here. Through 2003, the band continually refined their ambitious, spiritual sound; both 2001’s V and 2003’s Birds of Pray cracked the Billboard Top 30.

Live - The Distance To Haag

05. The Distance

OCEAN COLOR SCENE - Hundred Mile High City

2011-10-18T08:02:00.000-04:00

OCS were always the more trad rock of the Britpop bands. Half the time they looked like a band of Steve Marriott clones. But their three albums from the 90s - Mosley Shoals, Marchin' Already and One From The Modern are trad/Britpop classic.

GENE - Libertine

2011-10-17T09:14:00.000-04:00

Gene - Libertine
(Contra Records 2002) Out of Print CD

01. Let Me Move On
02. Does He Have a Name?
03. A Simple Request
04. Yours for the Taking
05. Is It Over?
06. O Lover
07. With Love in Mind
08. Let Me Rest
09. From Georgia to Osaka
10. We’ll Get What We Deserve
11. Walking in the Shallows
12. You
13. Spy in the Clubs

File Under: Britpop, Indie
RIYL: The Smiths, Blur, Pulp, Marion

Gene always received the unjust comparisons to The Smiths. How do you survive that? You can’t. Their first two albums, Olympian and Drawn To The Deep End are Britpop classics. Rossiter does have more in common with Morrissey than Gallagher. Libertine, a slight return to form from their lackluster previous release Revelations, was to be their last release of new recordings.

AMG: Though not quite back to the high plane of their first two monumental albums, Libertine is an improvement over 1999’s Revelations. Producer Hugh Jones (who really should be knighted by now) has corrected the rare small botch he made of Revelations, restoring the dollops of shiny radiance and vigor. If the band still seems more world-weary than in their beginnings, when their songs were hung on greater exuberance, Libertine is still the most soulful record since Ken Stringfellow’s Touched. And whereas Revelations’ most emotional, astounding song came too late for many, at the finale, this time the three that break 1,000 hearts -- the sort of wildly emotive feeling this band gives at its best -- mostly come at the onset. The first, the seven-minute epic opener “Does He Have a Name,” features the pungent rage and helplessness of a left-behind lover contemplating his ex’s next. Likewise, the five-minute soundtrack-spectrum single “Is It Over?” backtracks to the sticky endgame of that deteriorating romance. What lies in the valley betwixt these mountains? Namely, a greater predilection to classic ‘60s soul influences in a modern, post-Smiths pop context than listeners have seen previously. There’s a few lesser songs that don’t rate, but the more up-tempo tracks -- like the nimble bounce of “Walking in the Shadows” and the late-period Jam-ish “Yours for the Taking” -- are spry winners, and the eerie, desperate “Spy in the Clubs” is the sort of haunting, worried beauty that was once Gene’s staple. Libertine is the sort of LP that is rarely made by anyone anymore: one that engages every ounce of empathy one possesses.

Gene will forever be haunted by comparisons to the Smiths, especially since lead singer Martin Rossiter favors the same strangled croon and tortured loneliness of Morrissey. Nevertheless, under the direction of guitarist Steve Mason, Gene developed a tougher sound than the Smiths, drawing not only from the fey tradition of British indie-pop, but also from the three-chord raunch of the Faces, the working-class punk of the Jam and the soulful stomp of Motown. Most critic s didn’t hear such subtle differences, and opinions on the group’s worth were fiercely divided upon the release of the group’s first single in 1994, with the band earning as many detractors as supporters. Amidst such divided reaction, Gene developed a devoted following which helped them become one of the leading artists of the Britpop second tier in 1995, even if the band had trouble breaking into the States.

The roots of Gene lay in a band called Spin, which featured guitarist Steve Mason and drummer Matt James. Spin disbanded after their career was sidetracked by their bassist’s injury in a car crash, yet Mason and James continued playing together, recruiting bassist Kevin Miles through a mutual friend. The trio eventually met Welsh native Martin Rossiter, and the quartet formed Gene in 1993. Over the course of the next few months, the band wrote a batch of songs and had performed a number of concerts by the end of the year. A pair of music journalists, Keith Cameron and Roy Wilkinson, formed the Costermonger label in order to release Gene’s debut single, “For the Dead,” in April 1994. Nearly every copy of the limited-edition release sold out within the first week, and Gene soon became favorites of the British music weeklies. That July, “Be My Light, Be My Guide” became a number one hit on the indie charts, and Gene had emerged as one of the leading new bands of the burgeoning Britpop movement. Major-label interest beckoned, and the group signed with Polydor, who subsidized Costermonger in the U.K. An acclaimed third single, “Sleep Well Tonight,” followed in September, and in January of 1995, Gene was named Best New Act at NME’s Brat Awards.

Until the release of the group’s debut album, Olympian, in the spring of 1995, Gene had continued to build momentum, partially because Martin Rossiter had adopted Morrissey’s technique of giving articulate, outrageous and witty interviews. Olympian, however, was greeted with mixed reviews, and although the group had a sizable fan base -- the album debuted in the Top Ten -- they were soon overshadowed by the legions of groups that popped up in the wake of Blur and Oasis’ success. Even so, “Haunted by You” and “Olympian” both became Top 20 hits. Early in 1996, To See the Lights, a collection of B-sides and BBC sessions, was released in England. For the remainder of the year, Gene was quiet, preparing their second album, Drawn to the Deep End. “Fighting Fit” was released as a teaser in the fall and became a Top Ten hit, but Drawn to the Deep End didn’t follow through on its success. Although it debuted in the Top Ten upon its release in early 1997, it was greeted with decidedly mixed reviews and quickly fell down the charts, although the group’s core audience remained loyal. By the new millennium, the band was without a label. They founded Contra and issued the live set Rising for Sunset: Live at the Troubadour in 2000. The album went almost unnoticed among the indie scene, however a true comeback loomed ahead. In mid-summer 2002, Gene emerged with Libertine, their strongest material since Olympian. A late summer/early fall trek across America coincided with the release.

Gene - Libertine

04. Yours for the Taking

EMF - Unbelievable (video)

2011-10-17T08:58:00.000-04:00

Silly, goofy song... but it was a lot of fun in it's time. To many drinks, t-shirts, trainers, whistles... hard to believe this was twenty years ago.

RANK & FILE - Hot Wind At The Blue Note

2011-10-14T12:51:00.004-04:00

Rank & File - Hot Wind At The Blue Note
(Soundboard Recording)

December 2, 1985, The Blue Note, Boulder, CO
01. Introduction
02. Conductor Wore Black
03. She Said Dont Go
04. Hot Wind
05. All I Had To Offer
06. White Lightning
07. Golden Age
08. Long Gone Dead
09. One Big Thing
10. Black Book
11. Pistol Down
12. Sound Of The Rain
13. Nothing Thats Lost
14. Unlucky In Love
15. Rank & File
16. Amanda Ruth
17. audience
18. Sundown
19. Im An Old Old Man
20. audience
21. Tell Her I Love Her
22. Sweet Jane

File Under: Cowpunk, Alt.Country, Hillbilly
RIYL: Long Ryders, REM, Jason And The Scorchers, True Believers, Lone Justice

Another footnote of the 80s. Their first two albums are classic, their third and final, not so much. This seems to be a sanctioned recording that was never released. At one point one of the brothers says the show is being recorded for a live album (which never materialized). When you look at the pedigree and associations these guys had: The Dils, The Nuns, Lone Justice, Alejandro Escovedo and the True Believers - it’s hard to understand how the Kinman brothers aren’t better known. Their influence can be heard on a lot of the alt.country movement that included bands like Uncle Tupelo, Whiskytown, Ryan Adams, Wilco and Son Volt. Contrary to the review below, the brothers did go on to release a few traditional old-school country albums under the name Cowboy Nation (check the links on the left).

AMG: Formed by brothers Chip and Tony Kinman after they split up their hardcore punk band the Dils (who recorded the great L.A. punk single “Class War”), Rank and File were, at times, a dazzling roots rock post-punk band that stumbled early in its career, only to flame out much too quickly and finally collapse with an embarrassing thud. Their debut record, Sundown, was a gem of tuneful, Byrds-ian pop, with a healthy dollop of Gram Parsons and Merle Haggard to boot. The Kinmans’ singing was distinctive; they weren’t traditional harmony singers à la the Everly Brothers, but rather sang synchronized upper and lower octaves. The songwriting was wry, heartfelt, and cliché-free; the band (which at the time featured the guitar of the immensely talented Alejandro Escovedo) rocked with gusto, but never bombastically, preferring nuance and subtlety over volume and simplicity. In fact, the Kinmans were so into cowpunk and so far from their hardcore punk beginnings that they even landed a spot on PBS’s revered country music showcase Austin City Limits. The sophomore record, Long Gone Dead, was an excellent follow-up, but the self-titled third album (it’s never a good sign when a band releases a self-titled record three records into a career), recorded three years after Long Gone Dead, was absolutely awful; the songs went nowhere, and the singing and playing, which had previously been so precise and artful, was now buried under a thicket of clichéd hard rockisms. After listening to side one, you knew these guys were done for. Sad, really. In a stunning repudiation of Rank and File’s roots rock style, the Kinmans’ next project was the execrable Blackbird, an ill-conceived try at synth pop that went a long way toward making them laughingstocks. Former guitarist Alejandro Escovedo formed the excellent (but also short-lived) True Believers with his brother Javier, and since their breakup has recorded a number of interesting solo records.

Rank & File - Hot Wind At The Blue Note

04. Hot Wind

LEONARD COHEN - Hallelujah (video)

2011-10-14T09:49:00.000-04:00

Leonard Cohen's Hallelujah via Jeff Buckley has become an American/Pop Idol, X-Factor standard. Too bad. Buckley without a doubt made it his own, but here's how it was meant to be sung, by the man himself.

THE ALARM - King Biscuit Flower Hour

2011-10-13T12:21:00.000-04:00

The Alarm - King Biscuit Flower Hour
(King Biscuit Flower Hour 1999) Out of Print CD

01. For Freedom
02. Marching On
03. Reason 41
04. Up for Murder
05. The Deceiver
06. The Stand
07. Blaze of Glory
08. 3rd Light
09. Tell Me
10. Across the Border
11. Sixty Eight Guns
12. Unsafe Building
13. Marching On
14. We Are the Light
15. Bonus Interview

Here’s a quick one. Nice early recording from the western wear big hair punk days. Essential if you are an Alarm fan.

AMG: Recorded at Boston’s Paradise Theatre in 1983, King Biscuit Flower Hour is a typically passionate performance by the Alarm, which was broadcast on the titular syndicated radio program. Even though the group had yet to issue a full-length album in the United States, their frequent U.K. single releases already provided a vast majority of the material needed to fill out a standard-length concert. The band’s performances strike a nice balance between tight professionalism and raw vigor, and their commitment to the material is total (if unsubtle), making this an exciting listen for devoted fans.

The Alarm - King Biscuit Flower Hour

10. Across the Border

HUSKER DU - Live at Camden Palace 1985 (video-complete show)

2011-10-12T14:51:00.001-04:00

I've been under the weather the last few days, but here's a good one to tide you over. A complete Du show from 1985.

FATAL FLOWERS - Younger Days

2011-10-07T10:02:00.000-04:00

FATAL FLOWERS - Younger Days
(Atlantic - 1986) Never On CD / Out Of Print

01. Deep Inside
02. Good Enough
03. Ballroom
04. Nowhere To Lay My Head
05. Younger Days
06. Well Baby (pt.2)
07. Gimme Some Truth
08. Blackspot
09. For Christ’s Sake
10. Here’s Your Song

File Under: Nederbeat, College Rock, Alternative, Indie
RIYL: Long Ryders

This was a nice surprise. Judging by the cover and band name, I was expecting some fey synth-pop. I was wrong. This is actually a really cool ‘college rock’ type album that I probably would have played the hell out of back in the 80s. The production is pretty tight, but still retains some nice rawness. And it doesn’t have that big fake ‘rawk’ sound that ruined a lot of rock albums in the 80s (i.e. Neil Young). This is a pretty nice find and a solid vinyl rip. Give the sample a listen.

AMG: On Fatal Flowers’ second album the lineup consisted of Richard Janssen, Marco Braam, Henk Jonkers, and Dirk Heuff, who had just replaced Erwin Wolters on guitar. Upon entering the music scene, they all had agreed to put all of their time and effort exclusively into the band, something which was not regarded as common practice by most of their colleagues. Their iron discipline resulted in a repertoire of catchy rock songs and an exciting live performance. With Younger Days they did more than improve upon their debut mini-album, Fatal Flowers. Although the sound is at times a little over-produced -- Vic Maile wasn’t able to catch their energetic live appearance -- it still offers the blueprint for the band’s creativity. Part of Younger Days reminds of the Dutch “Nederbiet” movement. However, the influence of the ‘60s shouldn’t be overexaggerated, for their sound showed just as much familiarity with the ‘80s. For instance, the classic rock of the title track (a minor hit in the Netherlands) is placed beside the new wave bliss of “Ballroom.” The latter is among the best tracks on this album, which further includes the desperate plea of “Nowhere to Lay My Head” and the “murder-ballad” “Well Baby, Pts. 1 & 2,” a second single drawn from Younger Days which failed to make the charts. Much like Daryll-Ann during the ‘90s, Fatal Flowers made Dutch rock music exciting and most relevant outside the Netherlands.

Fatal Flowers is a must hear for music fans who are even slightly interested in ‘Nederbeat’ (or Dutch rock music from the late sixties). Since Rhino included some of these gems on their Nuggets II, people outside The Netherlands should be aware of the existence of bands like The Outsiders, The Motions and Golden Earring. To a certain extent they proved an influence on the ambitious and short-lived Fatal Flowers. At first it seemed Dutch critics had difficulty to reach a unanimous verdict, but by the time the band split they had to agree Fatal Flowers were in fact the country’s most important band of the 1980s.

One of the first bands to evolve from the Dutch punk scene, together with likewise legendary and still existing Claw Boys Claw, Fatal Flowers belonged to what was then called the ‘Amsterdam school of guitar’. Core members Richard Janssen and Henk Jonkers formed the band in 1984, after recruiting bass-player Marco Braam and Erwin Wolters on guitar. The latter remained only temporarily and was soon replaced by Dirk Heuff. Shortly thereafter, the band got signed by major Warner and in the summer of 1985 released their mini-album Fatal Flowers. On account of the exceptional guitar playing of Heuff and the punk inspired rhythm-section of Jonkers and Braam, the debut earned them some fair reviews. Together with Braam, Wolters was credited for “Crying over Sin”, arguably the best song on the album which earned them a contract in the first place.

After releasing the second album Younger Days, the band’s popularity grew on a national scale. Especially live, Fatal Flowers were practically invincible and made endless appearances on Dutch radio broadcasts. In 1987 they were the opening act of the renowned Pinkpop-festival and received an Edison (Dutch equivalent to a Grammy Award) for their second album. Although their fulltime commitment to touring and practicing bettered their skills, in the end it would also kill the initial enthusiasm of some of the members. Braam was the second to leave, shortly after the title track “Younger Days” hit the Dutch singles chart in early February 1987.

After replacing Braam for Geert de Groot, Fatal Flowers left for Woodstock to record with admirer Mick Ronson. The outcome Johnny D. is Back! was the first record to capture some of the energy of their live performances. A little help of John Sebastian (adding acoustic guitar and harmonica on a couple of tracks) and backing vocals of Ann Lang helped Fatal Flowers to enlarge their reputation as the best Dutch band of the moment. Critics and music fans alike called 1988s Johnny D. is Back! a Dutch classic. Sadly though, upon returning to The Netherlands Heuff quit the band. René van Barneveld of Urban Dance Squad filled in for him at the remaining Dutch gigs.

Near the end of 1988 a more permanent replacement for Heuff was found in the promising, young, self-taught guitar player Robin Berlijn. His contribution made the fourth Fatal Flowers album their ultimate statement. Again with Mick Ronson in the producer’s seat, elements of the new wave like Younger Days and the soulful Johnny D. Is Back! were combined with a more aggressive play style. Through 1990s Pleasure Ground Fatal Flowers planned to make it outside of The Netherlands as well. Unfortunately singer Janssen left the band in the summer of 1990, disillusioned about their new label Phonogram’s neglect to properly promote the band abroad. One of the most promising Dutch bands of the era fell apart. Separate members remained active within the music business, with Janssen forming Shine in mid-‘90s.

Not much was heard of Fatal Flowers until July 2002, when the band joined for the first time in twelve years to promote a greatest hits album Younger Days -- The Definitive Fatal Flowers. There appeared to be no upcoming reunion plans.

Fatal Flowers - Younger Days

04. Nowhere To Lay My Head

THE (INTERNATIONAL) NOISE CONSPIRACY - Capitalism Stole My Virginity

2011-10-07T08:22:00.001-04:00

20% of the people in the United States own 93% of the wealth. That leaves 7% for the other 80% to share... Interesting fact. Whatever your political leanings, T(I)NC rock.

BOYS FROM NOWHERE - The Bridal Album

2011-10-06T12:42:00.000-04:00

Boys From Nowhere - The Bridal Alum
(Skylab/Young Lion 1990) Out of Print CD

01. Beyond The Time Barrier
02. My Chequered Past
03. Viet Namese Baby
04. All Tied Up
05. Cyclone Death Machine
06. Bring Me The Gigli Saw
07. The Art Beret
08. Back Of My Mind
09. One Of Those Days
10. Rocket To Nowhere

File Under: Garage, Indie, College
RIYL: The Sonics, Fleshtones, Cynics, Stiv Bators

The Boys From Nowhere were a mid-80’s to early 90’s band based out of Columbus, OH. And they kicked ass. Led by lead singer and band constant Mick Divvens, they released three of the most ferocious 45s your gonna hear. This is their one and only album. While it’s not as great as those 45s, it’s still pretty barbaric. Mick Divvens, who for all intents and purposes was TBFN lives in my hometown and I’ve talked to him a few times on Facebook, trying to see if he has any live stuff lying around. Nothing so far. Play this stuff loud!

There’s not a lot of information out there about TBFN, but check out this 1991 interview/article with Mick Divvens.

Boys From Nowhere - The Bridal Album

08. Back Of My Mind

IAN BROWN - Keep What You Got (video)

2011-10-06T08:52:00.001-04:00

Ian used to sing in the Stone Roses. This is a song off of his Solarized album, written by Noel Gallagher of Oasis. Always like this one. There's an official video with Noel in it but I can't seem to track it down.

JOHNNY MARR & THE HEALERS - Boomslang

2011-10-05T10:39:00.000-04:00

Johnny Marr & The Healers - Boomslang
(Artists Direct Records 2003) Out of Print CD

01. The Last Ride
02. Caught Up
03. Down on the Corner
04. Need It
05. You Are the Magic
06. Inbetweens
07. Another Day
08. Headland
09. Long Gone
10. Something to Shout About
11. Bangin’ On

File Under: Indie, Britpop, College Rock
RIYL: The Smiths, Stone Roses, The Verve, Charlatans

If you’re here, you know who Johnny Marr is. Here’s his fist offering ‘on his own’ and not as someones side-kick. It’s Johnny’s voice and guitar on this one. The result is an amalgamation of everything that came before: The Stone Roses, Charlatans and Verve can all be heard haunting this disc. That’s not a bad thing though, especially if you like those bands. It’s not a classic, but definitely worth having. And I’m sure you’ll play it more than that other band by John Squire but maybe not as much as Music of the Spheres...

AMAZON: Musician, heal thyself. Having lived with advanced sideman syndrome ever since his glory days in the Smiths, Johnny Marr finally steps into the spotlight with his full-length frontman debut. So how do Marr and the Healers stack up against alma maters the Smiths, The The, and Electronic? Boomslang is a rock-solid collection of dreamy, droning, sublimely melodic pop offerings. Marr makes little attempt to match the languid solipsism of Morrissey, the existential dread of Matt Johnson, or the enigmatic electro-pop of Bernard Sumner. Instead, from the hypnotic rock of “The Last Ride” to the reflectively pastoral “Something to Shout About,” Marr’s songs are as unaffected, his singing as mellifluous, as the tastefully expressive guitar work that’s earned him a place among rock’s most acclaimed instrumentalists. Already together for three years, Marr, Zak Starkey, and Alonza Bevan form a tight rock trio that knows when to loosen up, not least on the seven-minute “You Are the Magic.” While cohort Sumner’s career trajectory from Joy Division guitarist to New Order frontman was decidedly faster, the cofounder of Manchester’s other best known band has made a two-decade journey from codependency to creative control that, in its own unassuming way, is no less satisfying.

AMG: The supple, ringing guitars of Johnny Marr helped establish the Smiths among the most acclaimed and enduring bands of the 1980s. Born John Maher in Manchester, England, on October 31, 1963, he played in such little-known groups as Sister Ray and Freaky Party before forming the Smiths with singer Morrissey in 1982. In the years to follow they emerged among Britain’s most successful acts, but in 1987, following sessions for the LP Strangeways, Here We Come, Marr dissolved the group, claiming their musical approach had gone stale.

In the wake of the Smiths’ demise, he made cameo appearances on records by the likes of Talking Heads and Kirsty MacColl before joining Matt Johnson’s The The for 1989’s Mind Bomb. Marr also teamed with New Order’s Bernard Sumner and Pet Shop Boys’ Neil Tennant in the alternative supergroup Electronic, scoring a hit with the single “Getting Away With It.” Apart from a handful of guest appearances, he kept a relatively low profile during the 1990s, most notably lending his talents to The The’s 1993 effort Dusk and Electronic’s long-awaited sophomore record, 1996’s Raise the Pressure.

Marr returned to music three years later on Electronic’s third album, Twisted Tenderness, which wasn’t released in the U.S. until fall 2000. He also spent time working with his new band, the Healers, playing dates across England. The next few years saw a time of redefinition and reflection for Marr. He finally assembled his Healers with ex-Kula Shaker bass man Alonza Bevan and Ringo Starr’s drumming son, Zak Starkey, in 2002; a deal with ARTISTdirect’s iMusic followed before the end of the year. Fans of this legendary guitarist were treated to Marr’s proper singing debut in early 2003 with the release of Boomslang. In 2007 Marr appeared on the Washington band Modest Mouse’s album, We Were Dead Before the Ship Even Sank, and toured with them as a member.

Johnny Marr & The Healers - Boomslang

01. The Last Ride

MOBY - That's When I Reach For My Revolver (video)

2011-10-05T10:10:00.000-04:00

This is Moby doing a pretty convincing cover of Mission of Burma from his 'punk' album Animal Rights. I remember when this came out in 1996 and all of the rave/dj/techno kids were ready to cut their wrists. "Moby sold out!" Really? They started yelling "sell-out" as soon as he signed to Elektra and released Everything Is Wrong, one of the greatest albums of the genre. Wonder what they thought when he licensed every track from Play? LOL...

LONE JUSTICE - Cowpunk Adolescence

2011-10-04T09:05:00.000-04:00

Lone Justice - Cowpunk Adolescence

01. Rattlesnake Mama
02. Working Man Blues
03. Grapes Of Wrath
04. Jackson
05. The Highway Song
06. This World Is Not My Home
07. Cactus Rose
08. When Love Comes Home To Stay
09. Cottonbelt
10. Nothing Can Stop My Loving You
11. Dustbowl Depression
12. Soap, Soup and Salvation
13. Sweet Jane (w/Bono)

There are very few bands I like with female front women. The Pretenders, X, Concrete Blonde and Lone Justice being the exception. Maria McKee could kick your ass in concert. I remember seeing them open for U2 on the Unforgettable Fire tour in April of 1985. They didn’t even have an album out yet and I didn’t know one song, but I was sold. It seemed like months until their debut finially hit the racks. It didn’t disappoint when it finally hit my turntable - “Should I go north?!” blasting out of my cheap speakers. I’ve always heard from critics how the albums never captured their live shows. Well, that’s why you go see them live! I saw them again in 1986 at a small club and they blew the roof off the place. I’m not sure that could be captured on vinyl. So here’s a collection of early demos and outakes with the original line-up. Some of these appeared on the posthumous album This World Is Not My Home in one form or another. Yeah, Lone Justic were a band with a female lead singer that could have blown a lot of guys off the stage...

AMG: The roots rock band Lone Justice was formed in Los Angeles by guitarist Ryan Hedgecock and singer Maria McKee. The half-sister of Bryan MacLean, a member of the seminal psychedelic outfit Love, McKee’s involvement in the L.A. club scene dated back to her infancy; at the age of three, she joined MacLean at a performance at the famed Whisky-a-Go-Go and was befriended by Frank Zappa and members of the Doors. As a teen, she studied musical theater, and briefly performed in duos with MacLean and local blues singer Top Jimmy. McKee and Hedgecock first met while dabbling in the L.A. rockabilly scene, and their mutual affection for country music inspired them to found Lone Justice in 1982. Initially, the group was strictly a cover band, but the additions of veteran bassist Marvin Etzioni and Don Heffington, a former drummer in Emmylou Harris’ Hot Band, prompted McKee to begin composing original material inspired by Dust Bowl-era balladry.

Gradually, elements of rock began creeping into the Lone Justice sound as well, and soon the band became a local favorite. At the urging of Linda Ronstadt, they were awarded a contract with Geffen Records; their self-titled debut appeared in 1985, followed by a tour in support of U2. Still, despite good press and media hype, Lone Justice failed to sell; slickly produced by the band’s manager, Jimmy Iovine, it failed to connect with either country or rock audiences. In the record’s wake, Hedgecock, Etzioni, and Heffington all exited the band, leaving McKee to lead Lone Justice alone. After enlisting guitarist Shayne Fontayne, bassist Greg Sutton, drummer Rudy Richman, and keyboardist Bruce Brody, Lone Justice recorded their second LP, Shelter. Shortly after the record’s release, McKee broke up the band for good and went on to a solo career. Heffington became a successful session drummer, while Etzioni recorded under the guise Marvin the Mandolin Man. After a decade removed from the music industry, Hedgecock returned in 1996 as half of the duo Parlor James. A posthumous Lone Justice retrospective, This World Is Not My Home, followed in early 1999.

Lone Justice - Cowpunk Adolescence

03. Grapes Of Wrath

R DEAN TAYLOR - Ghost In My House (video)

2011-10-04T07:17:00.000-04:00

Was listening to a Northern Soul Compilation on the way to work this morning. Here's a classic from 1967.

THE WATERBOYS - Dream Harder

2011-10-03T10:08:00.000-04:00

The Waterboys - Dream Harder
(Geffen 1993) Out of Print CD

01. The New Life
02. Glastonbury Song
03. Preparing to Fly
04. The Return of Pan
05. Corn Circles
06. Suffer
07. Winter Winter
08. Love and Death
09. Spiritual City
10. Wonders of Lewis
11. The Return of Jimi Hendrix
12. Good News

File Under: College Rock, Celtic, Alternative, Big Music
RIYL: The Alarm, U2, Levellers, Sinead O’Conner, Simple Minds

I haven’t listened to this one for awhile and was pleasantly surprised to hear how good still sounded. I always preferred their early albums of ‘Big Music’ as opposed to their more traditional Celtic sounds. This was a return to that ‘Big Music’. Albeit, Mike Scott was the only Waterboy left, but there’s still a passion in the music. Opening track The New Life is almost a declaration. I think the AMG review below misses the mark when he compares Dream Harder to Fisherman’s Blues. They are not the same and were never meant to be. Is it This Is The Sea or A Pagan Place? No, nothing since has been or will be. But for me, The Return Of Pan brings it full circle. There is at least one cringe inducing track - Corn Circles.

AMG: After two albums of neo-traditional Irish music, Mike Scott brings The Waterboys back to the big rock sound of earlier albums like This is the Sea. Coming after the remarkably accomplished Fishermen’s Blues and Room to Roam, Dream Harder is a bit of a disappointment. Its best material doesn’t carry the same weight as compositions from Blues -- compare the simple beauty of Fishermen’s Blues’ “Has Anyone Hear Seen Hank” to Dream Harder’s overblown “The Return of Jimi Hendrix.” Scott can still bang out some good songs, but on Dream Harder there aren’t as many as on previous efforts.

Led by the literate singer/songwriter Mike Scott, the group’s sole constant member, the mercurial Waterboys formed in London in 1981. Born December 14, 1958, in Edinburgh, Scotland, Scott first became involved in music as the creator of the fanzine Jungleland and later played in a series of local punk outfits. After college, where he studied English and philosophy, Scott and his band, Another Pretty Face, moved to London; following the group’s breakup, he formed the Waterboys, so named after a line in the Lou Reed song “The Kids” but wholly appropriate given Scott’s recurring lyrical fascination with sea imagery.

A newspaper advertisement calling for musicians led to a response from multi-instrumentalist Anthony Thistlethwaite; along with drummer Kevin Wilkinson, the Waterboys issued their self-titled debut in 1983. Keyboardist Karl Wallinger and trumpeter Roddy Lorimer joined for the 1984 follow-up, A Pagan Place, which expanded the group’s rich, dramatic sound while further exploring Scott’s interest in spirituality. With 1985’s This Is the Sea, the Waterboys reached an early peak; a majestic, ambitious record, it earned the group a significant hit with the single “The Whole of the Moon.”

However, after the album’s release, Wallinger departed to form World Party, which prompted Scott and Thistlethwaite to relocate to Ireland and begin with a clean slate. When the Waterboys returned in 1988 with the acclaimed Fisherman’s Blues, they were joined by traditional Irish players like fiddler Steve Wickham, drummer Dave Ruffy, keyboardist Guy Chambers, and bassist Marco Weissman, resulting in a stripped-down, folky sound that was continued on 1990’s Room to Roam.

In 1991, Scott moved to New York without Thistlethwaite or any other bandmembers; the release of 1993’s Dream Harder, cut with session musicians, marked a return to an electric, more rock-oriented sound. Soon Scott moved back to Scotland, where he began a lengthy stay at a spiritual commune; there he recorded the folk-tinged Bring ‘Em All In under his own name, apparently putting the Waterboys to rest for good.

The Waterboys - Dream Harder

01. The New Life

DEAD OR ALIVE - You Spin Me Round (video)

2011-10-03T09:41:00.000-04:00

A new wave, dance floor classic. I guess the chorus and melody has recently been lifted by rapper Flo Rida. Of course vulgar lyrics had to be added : :You spin my head right round right round when you go down..." Whatever. This will continue to be a classic long after Flo Rida is forgotten.

THE PRETENDERS - US Festival 1983

2011-09-30T09:22:00.000-04:00

The Pretenders - US Festival 1983

May 5, 1983, Glen Helen Regional Park, Devore, CA
01. My City Was Gone
02. Message Of Love > The Adultress
03. Talk Of The Town
04. Stop Your Sobbing
05. Private Life
06. Time The Avenger > Mystery Achievement
07. The Wait
08. Middle Of The Road
09. Up The Neck
10. Precious
11. crowd noise
12. Back On The Chain Gang
13. Brass In Pocket
14. Money

File Under: Punk, New Wave, College Rock
RIYL: The Clash, Elvis Costello, The Kinks, Iggy Pop, X

I've always liked The Pretenders. I remember buying a tape of Learning To Crawl from the stoner who worked at National Record Mart. He would 'borrow' tapes and sell them for $3. The first time I saw them was in the mid 80s with Iggy Pop opening! Anyhow, this is a classic bootleg and a nice FM broadcast. Grab it.

WIKI: The US Festivals (US pronounced like the pronoun, not as initials) were two early 1980s music and culture festivals sponsored by Steve Wozniak, formerly of Apple Computer. The first was held Labor Day weekend in September 1982 and the second was Memorial Day weekend in May 1983. Wozniak paid for the bulldozing and construction of a new open-air field venue as well as the construction of an enormous state-of-the-art temporary stage at Glen Helen Regional Park near Devore, San Bernardino, California. (This site was later to become home to Blockbuster Pavilion—now San Manuel Amphitheater—the largest amphitheatre in the United States as of 2007.) The festival stage has resided at the Disneyland theme park in California since 1985 and has operated under various names and functions as the Videopolis dance club, the Videopolis Theatre, and the Fantasyland Theatre.

AMG: Originally from Akron, OH, Hynde moved to England in the early ‘70s, when she was in her twenties. British rock journalist Nick Kent helped her begin writing for New Musical Express; she wrote for the newspaper during the mid-’70s. She also worked in Malcolm McLaren’s SEX boutique before she began performing. After playing with Chris Spedding, she joined Jack Rabbit; she quickly left the band and formed the Berk Brothers.

In 1978, Hynde formed the Pretenders, which eventually consisted of Honeyman-Scott, bassist Pete Farndon, and drummer Martin Chambers. Later in the year, they recorded a version of Ray Davies’ “Stop Your Sobbing” produced by Nick Lowe. The single made it into the British Top 40 in early 1979. “Kid” and “Brass in Pocket,” the group’s next two singles, also were successful. Their self-titled debut album was released in early 1980 and eventually climbed to number one in the U.K. The Pretenders were nearly as successful in America, with the album reaching the Top Ten and “Brass in Pocket” reaching number 14.

During an American tour in 1980, Hynde met Ray Davies and the two fell in love. Following a spring 1981 EP, Extended Play, the group released their second album, Pretenders II. Although it fared well on the charts, it repeated the musical ideas of their debut. In June of 1982, Pete Farndon was kicked out of the band, due to his drug abuse. A mere two days later on June 16, James Honeyman-Scott was found dead of an overdose of heroin and cocaine. Pregnant with Davies’ child, Hynde went into seclusion following Honeyman-Scott’s death. In 1983, two months after Hynde gave birth, Farndon also died of a drug overdose.

The Pretenders - US Festival 1983

13. Brass In Pocket

DAVE SHARP - Lookin' This World Over (video)

2011-09-30T08:44:00.000-04:00

Dave Sharp used to be the guitarist for the Alarm. Seems he still plays live. The last studio album of new material was Downtown America released in 1996. Since then he's released a few live albums and compilations of demos and outakes.

THE STAR SPANGLES - Dirty Bomb

2011-09-29T08:40:00.000-04:00

The Star Spangles - Dirty Bomb
(Tic 2007) Out of Print CD

01. Take Care of Us
02. Tear It to Pieces Girl
03. Make Yourself Useful, Babe
04. This Side of the Sun
05. Gangland
06. I’m on a High
07. Gimme an Answer
08. Tell Lies
09. ‘Nother Weight to Hold Me Down
10. Revolver
11. I Told a Lie
12. Bash Your Brains Out
13. Someone in You

File Under: Punk, Garage, Indie
RIYL: Hives, Strokes, Stooges, New York Dolls, The Replacements

Here’s the Star Spangles second (final?) release. If I remember correctly, the thing that turned me on to these guys was a review that said “Which of the Two of Us Is Gonna Burn This House Down? is the best Replacements song not by The Replacements.” And considering The Replacements are probably one of my favorite all-time bands, I had to check it. And damn if they weren’t right. The track smokes! I could actually picture the Mats on stage making a wreck of this. Brilliant. Give this NY bunch a try, you’ll probably like it. Grab their first album here.

Random Review: Last time the Star Spangles landed - back in 2003 (fuck, was it really that long ago?) - we all instantly fell head over heels in love with their NY ‘street appeal’, snappy threads & sneering melodies - & duly thanked our lucky stars that their dads earned considerably less per anum than the Strokes’ fathers. We bought in: hook line & sinker! - Tommy’s incendiary guitar slinging, Ian’s moody Nick Cave as Garage Punker strop, the bubblegum classics, the cool city manner – eventually taking Rat Scabies along to see them at their Virgin Megastore LP Launch (where, incidentally, we encountered a geeked-up Robin Hitchcock queuing patiently behind much younger Spangles fans - in line to get his copy of “Bazooka!” signed by the group!).

Since those heady days, the Global General Public (GGP) have spectacularly failed to elevate the Star Spangles to superstardom on just about every level imaginable. What they may have lacked in instant success, however, the Spangles have more than made up for in extra-curricular activities: rumours of Tommy & Ian’s habits/issues have allegedly tested the resolve of those around them to the point of distraction.

There have been casualties along the way: it’s not exactly hot news to discover that Joey Valentino (drums) & Nick Price (bass) have both departed – in fact even Nick’s replacement – Pud Reznifoff (possible made- up-name-alert!) – has since vacated – but it is bloody good to have them back!

“Dirty Bomb” is the title of the second Star Spangles full-length outing – due to drop on May 1st on Tic Records. Recorded, mixed & produced by Jason Carmer, the record was recorded in San Francisco & mastered in NYC late last year. The album was supposed to have come out on Capital Records some time ago - but they either unceremoniously dropped the Spangles - or went out of business – one or the other (you do the math!). So the Spangles set up Tic Records – guaranteed to bug ya! (registered trade mark – copyright reserved!).

“Dirty Bomb” effectively picks up where “Bazooka!” left off – but with a generous dash of added m-a-t-u-r-i-t-y. If the latter sounded like it was recorded in a genuine garage somewhere on the Lower East Side, “Dirty Bomb” sounds like it was recorded in a bigger garage just off E-Street. A slug of “Darkness On The Edge Of Town” era Brooce & a toke of early Tom Petty & His Heartbreakers have been added to the joint this time out. Expansive, as opposed to expensive. Sew in a few nods to more recent Jesse Malin material, & you’re just about there: a-good-time-in-a-bottle.

“Dirty Bomb” opens with a quality 1-2-3-4-5-6 shuffle (like Jonathon Richman on “Roadrunner”): “Take Care Of Us”, “Tear It To Pieces”, “Make Yourself Useful, Babe”, “This Side Of The Sun”, “Gangland” & “I’m On A High”. To the uninitiated, that means an opening gambit of 6-total quality songs on the bounce – something you don’t get that often in the populist arena of a rockin’ & a rollin’! By the time you get to “Gangland” you may well be making preliminary arrangements for the Star Spangles to become your ‘favourite-new-group-in-the-entire-universe’, forthwith. You may well have your mobile phone in your hand with Zane Lowe’s phone number on repeat dial. You may even be outside Pat Long’s house, lobbing Locust LPs at his window, demanding something real in place of platitude.

If we bunched the above up & called it side-1 – we wouldn’t be that far off the mark. That’s how they used to make LPs, you know? They had a beginning - & an end - & they knew full well the ups & downs that needed to happen along the way to make the ride worth pimping!

Side-2, should we chose to accept the construct, fairs no better, no worse. You don’t get this far down the hill only to discover you’re crap after all: “Gimme An Answer”, “Tell Lies”, “Another Weight To Hold Me Down”, “Revolver”, “I Told A Lie” & “Bash Your Brains Out” do exactly what you’d expect them to considering fully what they’ve followed. “Dirty Bomb” is in a class of it’s own! The class of ’76: the class that refused to accept ‘bullshit’ as the only answer to every question.

The spell is finally broken by the acoustic tremblings of “Someone In You” – the tender acoustic lament that closes the LP. Many of us thought the Star Spangles would never make another LP – yet alone one as rounded & finely honed as “Dirty Bomb”. If you liked “Bazooka” - you’ll love “Dirty Bomb” – it’s everything its predecessor was - & so much more. The Star Spangles are untouchable in their genre-pool. The rest of you playing this kind of schtick should be very, very disappointed with yourselves. As Joey Ramone would doubtless attest: you don’t come close!

The Star Spangles - Dirty Bomb

02. Tear It to Pieces Girl

JESUS & THE MARY CHAIN - Head On

2011-09-29T08:24:00.000-04:00

It's probably not hip to admit that one of TJ&MC's more pop songs is also one of your favorites. Oh well, this song is pretty great and the fact that William Reid is wearing a shirt of the band 'Love' makes it even cooler.

THE ALARM - All The King's Horses

2011-09-28T08:15:00.000-04:00

The Alarm - All The King’s Horses
(Soundboard Recording)

May 5, 1984, Hamburg, Germany

disc one:
01. Intro
02. Declaration
03. Marching On
04. For Freedom
05. Shout To The Devil
06. Reason 41
07. The Deceiver
08. Tell Me
09. Third Light
10. Across The Border
11. Where Were You Hiding When The Storm Broke
12. Only The Thunder
13. One Step Closer To Home
14. Howling Wind
15. Blaze Of Glory
16. The Stand
17. 68 Guns

disc two:
01. encore break
02. A Legal Matter
03. Lie Of The Land
04. encore break
05. Unsafe Building
06. We Are The Light
07. encore break
08. Bound For Glory

File Under: College Rock, Alternative
RIYL: U2, Big Country, Midnight Oil, Mike Peters, New Model Army

This is probably one of my favorite Alarm recordings. A complete soundboard show from 1984 on the Declaration Tour. These were the days when the big hair and the western garb was in full effect. I remember seeing them on Dick Clark’s American Bandstand that year; they stood in the middle of the dance floor and lip-synced 68 Guns. The complete middle interlude was omitted! I remember talking to Mike Peters in the mid 90s about this and he just started laughing and talking about all the kids trying to dance to it. This was a time when The Alarm, Big Country and U2 were all just waiting to break out. I always group those three together back then. U2 became the biggest band in the world while Big Country remained a cult act. The Alarm had minor chart success, with Sold Me Down The River becoming their only top 50 US hit. You can still hear Rain In The Summertime occasionally on alternative radio. So grab this one. It’s got all of the early tracks, great live versions of b-sides and even a Who cover.

AMG: With idealistic spirit, a powerhouse live show, and bigger than big hair, the Alarm were part of an early-’80s wave of bands (the Call, Big Country, and the Waterboys among them) who dealt in soaring anthems inspired by the righteous idealism of punk. Clearly influenced by the impassioned political fervor of the Clash, the Alarm also worked in a mostly acoustic, folk-punk vein that provided a counterpoint to their hard-driving guitar rockers. Their stage look was unquestionably a product of the ‘80s, with enormous spiked-up hair accompanying a cowboy/old-time cavalry wardrobe. Yet the numerous comparisons to U2 in the press were not unfounded; despite a more conservative sonic palette, the Alarm had much the same earnest intensity, the same messianic ambitions, even the same vague spirituality. Likewise, the Alarm seemed to covet a mainstream breakthrough in the vein of The Joshua Tree’s conquest of the pop charts, and polished up their sound accordingly, with mixed creative results. The British music press habitually savaged their records as derivative and pretentious, but this meant little to their zealous following who supported the band to the tune of over 5 million sales worldwide and 16 Top 50 UK singles.

The Alarm was formed in Rhyl, Wales in 1981 by vocalist/guitarist Mike Peters, who’d started out in a local punk band called the Toilets along with Alarm drummer Nigel Twist (b. Nigel Buckle). When that band broke up, Peters -- then playing bass -- formed a new outfit called Seventeen (after the Sex Pistols song) with guitarists Eddie MacDonald and Dave Sharp (b. Dave Kitchingman), both local scenesters and longtime friends. Seventeen was initially influenced by the Pistols, the Clash, the mod-revival punk of the Jam, and the punk-pop of ex-Pistol Glen Matlock’s Rich Kids. As their songwriting interests grew more socially conscious, and in early 1981, the group reinvented itself as the Alarm, taking the name from a Seventeen song called “Alarm Alarm.” Later that year, they moved to London and self-released their debut single, a Peters/MacDonald-penned political rocker called “Unsafe Building,” backed with Sharp’s folk-punk tune “Up for Murder.” By this time, MacDonald and Peters had switched instruments, with Peters taking up rhythm guitar and MacDonald moving to bass.

In 1982, the Alarm signed with IRS and issued another single, “Marching On.” On the strength of their live shows, U2 tapped them to open their 1983 supporting tour for War, which helped make the group’s next single, the Stephen King retelling “The Stand,” into an underground hit. The Alarm’s self-titled debut EP appeared later in 1983, compiling previous single releases, and setting the stage for the release of their first proper album, Declaration, in 1984. A Top Ten U.K. hit, Declaration spun off several popular singles, including the Seventeen holdover “Sixty-Eight Guns” (which made the pop Top 20), “Where Were You Hiding When the Storm Broke?” (which just missed), “The Deceiver,” and the live staple “Blaze of Glory.” Non-LP singles followed in a cover of “The Bells of Rhymney,” the new wave dance tune “The Chant (Has Just Begun),” and the British Top 40 hit “Absolute Reality.”

The Alarm - All The King’s Horses

05. Shout To The Devil

THE PRETENDERS - Message Of Love (video)

2011-09-28T07:48:00.000-04:00

Here's a nice find - Andy Kaufman introducing The Pretenders on the ABC variety show 'Fridays.' This clip from February of 1981 includes original members Pete Farndon (who seems to be working a Johnny Thunders vibe), James Honeyman-Scott, Martin Chambers and of course Chrissie Hynde. Within two years, Farndon and Honeyman-Scott were both dead of drug overdoses...

MARION - The Program

2011-09-27T09:03:00.000-04:00

Marion - The Program
(Ffrr 1998) Out of Print CD

01. The Smile
02. Miyako Hideaway
03. Sparkle
04. Is That So?
05. What Are We Waiting For?
06. Strangers
07. The Powder Room Plan
08. The Program
09. All of These Days
10. Comeback

File Under: Britpop, Indie, Glam
RIYL: Suede, Manic Street Preachers, Gene, The Smiths, Mansun

This is the follow-up to This World and Body. And it’s just as good - there’s no sophomore slump here. If anything, they have progressed beyond the brit-pop glam of their debut and it’s influences. A great lost band and tragic that they were never able to fulfill their potential...

AMG: Shuddering in with a roiling solo guitar and a slow, doomy rhythm before amping up the energy and activity in the rest of “Smile,” The Program makes for a strong second effort from Marion. Arguably it’s a much more successful record than This World and Body, keeping the immediate, sudden joys of that album with a much more nuanced performance from Jaime Harding in particular. His higher registers aren’t as overwhelming, and his singing in general sounds far more natural, knowing when to breathe and relax as much as when to shoot forth. The Tony Grantham/Phil Cunningham guitar team still sounds great; there are more than enough moments to show that they might be among Britpop’s least appreciated fretbenders. If not quite on the same level of Radiohead’s Jonny Greenwood in terms of tweaking with their chosen instruments, their performances throw in a wide array of sudden surprises, building on their earlier efforts with attractive results. Johnny Marr’s production work likely helped on these and other fronts; the sound is generally warmer than Al Clay’s earlier work without sacrificing visceral impact. “Miyako Hideaway,” the lead single, is a fair effort with a slightly dreamy midsection highlighted by a gentle echo for Harding’s singing, but the best songs are elsewhere on the disc. “What Are We Waiting For?” in particular is a treasure. With an opening guitar figure that could be from a Cocteau Twins song and a fine vocal from Harding, it leads into a repetition of the title at the end over a soft but propulsive arrangement from the band as a whole. It’s true subtlety from the band at last, and it works wonders. Other winners include the brisk acoustic/electric guitar combination on “Sparkle,” which unsurprisingly was released as a single later (admittedly only in Japan), and the low-key energy of the title track.

One of the might-have-beens of the mid-’90s Britpop explosion, Marion made for a slightly inconsistent but often quite striking band. Based out of Manchester, the five-piece took declared inspiration from earlier musical giants of the city such as Joy Division and the Smiths (in the case of the latter, to the extent where they recruited that band’s old manager Joe Moss to handle their affairs). Strong hints of older rock & roll crept in as well, from the Beatles to the Buzzcocks, making for a sometimes captivating blend topped off by frontman Jaime Harding’s passionate (almost to a fault) singing. Harding and guitarists Phil Cunningham and Tony Grantham had known each other since they were teenagers, but Marion as a “proper” group only began in 1993. Drummer Murad Mousa, an acquaintance of the three, and bassist Julian Philips, later replaced by Nick Gilbert, filled out the original lineup of the group. Early singles via Rough Trade and other labels, as well as an increasingly high profile series of opening slots for the likes of Morrissey and Radiohead, lead to a full deal with London Records. Possibly pushing the Smiths connection a bit, some pre-album singles were recorded with Stephen Street, but Al Clay did the production honors on their debut This World and Body, which appeared in 1996.

While the album made a minor splash and the group gained a reasonable enough profile, even winning an American release for This World and Body, at the end of 1996, Marion withdrew into the studio to record its follow-up The Program, which ended up not appearing until late 1998. In perhaps the ultimate sign of a tribute back, Johnny Marr produced The Program, but neither the album nor its associated singles made a splash in the now-imploded Britpop music scene, though the band pulled off a well-received series of festival appearances. The quintet even did a one-off concert in Los Angeles due to the passion of fans based out on the West Coast, but 1999 saw only a series of confusing rumors regarding a new American deal surfacing and the departure of Grantham. By the middle of that year, Marion had essentially collapsed with the formal announcement that the members had all gone their separate ways. Grantham’s next projected effort was termed Chalk, while Harding kept the rights to the Marion name and set about forming a new band with guitarist Wayne Ward. As of early 2001, however, nothing has been heard from Marion Mark Two.

Marion - The Program

02. Miyako Hideaway

PAUL WELLER - Peacock Suit (video)

2011-09-27T08:10:00.000-04:00

No solo Weller here? I couldn't believe it either. This is from one of my favorite Modfather albums, Heavy Soul. That's Steve Craddock of Ocean Colour Scene on the white Rickenbacker. The other guitarist sort of looks like Ronnie Lane of the Small Faces circa 1966.

MUSSOLINI HEADKICK - Themes for Violent Retribution

2011-09-26T09:42:00.002-04:00

Mussolini Headkick - Themes for Violent Retribution
(Wax Trax! Records 1989) Out of Print CD

01. Your God Is Dead
02. Europe
03. Space to Breathe
04. Forgotten
05. Jesus Collects
06. Plain Unhappy
07. The Eagle Has Landed
08. Death Path
09. Europe [Radio Mix]

File Under: EBM, Undustrial, Electronic
RIYL: Front 242, Nitzer Ebb, Nine Inch Nails, KMFDM

If you’ve followed this blog for any time, or just looked at the list on the left, you’ll see that my musical tastes are all over the place. I like a lot of different music. Most of it you don’t hear on the radio and you can’t buy at the mall. Musollini Headkick were one of those bands. This is their first album and was released on the classic Wax Trax! label. I was really into the EBM/Industrial scene in the late 80s/early 90s. Whenever I’d visit Chicago I’d always hit up Club Neo, Exit and Aftermath. With the success of NIN every ‘heavy’ band tried to incorporate industrial rhythms into their sound - Motley Crue, Metallica and most washed up metal bands. It became harsher and more metal, forgetting the hypnotic rhythms that were the foundation of EBM (Electronic Body Music). The genre still exists, but in my opinion most of the bands are mundane or just regurgitating all that came before them. Their second album can be grabbed here.

AMG: This band seems to hail from Belgium, but sounds like the British on a rampage. They have a trendy avant-industrial/noise type of name, but they rock out like T. Rex meets Depeche Mode on “Jesus Collects.” Their cover is starkly angry and ugly, but they have an elegant way of handling keyboards and drum machines, they have pointed lyrics sung in a deadpan monotonous fashion, and yet, by the end of side one, they’re noodling around in a structured morass of sampled sounds that could be the soundtrack for an installment of A Nightmare on Elm Street. A very strange band indeed, one that’s hardly afraid to experiment with a variety of ideas without getting caught up in any of them for the entire album. It makes them very difficult to pigeonhole; after a while, certainly, you get tired of the identikit sounds, so the segue from the power rock of “You God Is Dead” to the filtered inverted synth-funk of “Europe” shouldn’t faze listeners (along with the fact that “Jesus Collects” and “The Eagle Has Landed” are mis-listed on the sleeve and the label). “Europe” is half about Europe’s changes and half about the ugly American. Here they howl the lyrics over, of all things, a CB mike. Later, you have “Forgotten,” a song about age and neglect and death that makes you feel all those things.

Belgian/American industrial band, considered a bit more accessible than most bands in the genre. Members include the Revolting Cocks’ Luc Van Acker and King Butcher’s John Butcher. The lyrics, as can be inferred from the group’s name, are largely political, with a military bent. While there are the pounding beats and distorted, repeated vocals typical of industrial music, the band experiments with verse-chorus song structures on some tracks.

Mussolini Headkick - Themes for Violent Retribution

01. Your God Is Dead

NITZER EBB - Murderous (video)

2011-09-26T09:29:00.000-04:00

On of the greatest EBM/Industrial bands of the 80s/90s. Classic underground dance club anthems. This was a lot of fun back in the day...

JUNK MONKEYS - Five Star Fling

2011-09-23T09:24:00.000-04:00

Junk Monkeys - Five Star Fling
(Metal Blade 1990) Out of Print CD

01. Sad Letters
02. Marigold
03. Everything Remains the Same
04. I Don’t Mind
05. Skippin’ Stones
06. Like a Firecracker
07. Time on Hand
08. A Quick One, While He’s Away
09. Everyone Can See You
10. Wig Shop

File Under: Minneapolis Sound via Detroit, Punk, College Rock
RIYL: The Replacements, Soul Asylum, Husker Du, Goo Goo Dolls

I’m a little surprised I haven’t shared this one yet. This may well be my favorite Junk Monkeys release. I first became aware of The Junk Monkeys on July 13, 1993 when they opened for Tommy Stinson (of The Replacements) new band Bash & Pop, at Staches, in Columbus, OH. Bash & Pop didn’t even have an album out yet, but because Tommy used to be a Replacement, they headlined. I think the Junk Monkeys blew them away. Here’s timeless indie rock and roll in the tradition of countless other bands of the era, but what sets these guys apart is, they had the songs. It’s not about speed, screaming or being the most out of control. It always comes back to the songs. If you don’t have that, you eventually get called on it. Paul Westerberg knew that. The Mats did everything they shouldn’t, but they always had the songs to back it up. So did The Junk Monkeys. Suffice to say, if you like real rock and roll in the spirit of The Replacements, this band captured that spirit more than any other without being a facsimile. In my opinion of course. Love these guys...

AMG: Formed in the mid-’80s by singer/guitarist David Bierman, guitarist Dave Boutette, bassist Kevin Perri, and drummer Dan Allen, Dearborn, MI’s Junk Monkeys evolved from a previous band named Mystery Girls (no, not those Mystery Girls), and cut their teeth in Detroit clubs before finding an unlikely home with L.A.-based Metal Blade Records. Unlikely because Junk Monkey albums like 1989’s Soul Cakes, 1990s Five Star Fling, and 1992’s Bliss featured hook-laden power pop/punk inspired by ‘70s legends like Cheap Trick, Big Star, and the Flamin’ Groovies; but not so far-fetched when one remembers Metal Blade had also signed the Goo Goo Dolls around the same time. In any case, just as the latter only managed to score mainstream success towards the end of their relationship with the label, the Junk Monkeys too failed to find an audience beyond Michigan and Midwestern borders during their tenure at Metal Blade, eventually departing to record a final live album in 1995’s Follies Review before going their separate ways.

Junk Monkeys - Five Star Fling

03. Everything Remains the Same

MOLOTOV JIVE - Paint The City Black (video)

2011-09-23T07:52:00.001-04:00

For such a small country, Sweden can really knock out the garage rock indie bands. Just discovered these guys and I'm liking them a lot.

NORTHERN PIKES - Gig

2011-09-22T13:05:00.000-04:00

Northern Pikes - Gig
(Virgin 1993) Out of Print CD

01. The Way You Are
02. Girl With a Problem
03. Believe
04. Unimportant
05. Things I Do for Money
06. Teenland
07. Worlds Away
08. Hopes Go Astray
09. Why Cry
10. Dancing in a Dance Club
11. She Ain’t Pretty
12. Everything
13. Twister

File Under: Alternative, Indie, College Rock
RIYL: Goo Goo Dolls, Blue Rodeo

Things I Do for Money was an MTV 120 Minutes staple back in 1987. It was on every week. That winter I went to see The Alarm on their Eye of the Hurricane tour and the Northern Pikes opened. I was impressed. They put on an enthusiastic and tight show - especially for an opening band that most people had never heard of. This is their first live album and is a lot more aggressive and rocking than their studio recordings.

Wiki: Gig is the first live by The Northern Pikes released in 1993. This album was recorded over two nights during the tour to support Neptune. Following the tour, the band would dissolve until reforming in 1999. The live album is a combination of two “gigs”: June 10, 1993 at the Le Spectrum in Montreal and June 11, 1993 at The Music Hall in Toronto. The shows were also released on video in VHS format, but this is long out of print. The band was supported on the tour by Universal Honey, a band formed by Johnny Sinclair and Leslie Stanwyck both formerly of The Pursuit of Happiness. Leslie Stanwyck joined the band on stage to sing co-vocals on the song “Worlds Away”.

AMG: The Northern Pikes were founded in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan in 1983 out of the relics of three Canadian prairie bands -- the Idols, Seventeen Envelope, and Doris Daye. The band released two self-financed independent albums, The Northern Pikes and Scene in North America, which attracted the attention of Virgin Records Canada, then in the process of expanding and looking for Canadian acts. Signed to a six-album international deal in 1985, their major-label debut was Big Blue Sky, which contained the singles and videos “Teenland” and “The Things I Do for Money.” In that same year, the band opened on tours by Duran Duran, David Bowie and the Fixx, vaulting them into international stardom. The band’s next album, Secrets of the Alibi, was ignored by critics and given less than complimentary reviews, but British pop star Robert Palmer saw potential in the band and had them as opening slot on his 1989 North American tour. In 1990, Snow in June became their third major release; this album was sort of a comeback, boasting three Top 40 hits in “She Ain’t Pretty,” “Girl with a Problem,” and “Kiss Me You Fool.” This album pulled out all the stops with mixes by Hugh Padgham and Bob Clearmountain and production by Rick Hutt, Fraser Hill and the Pikes themselves. The album also had an impressive roster special guest performers, including Garth Hudson (the Band) and John Sebastian (Lovin’ Spoonful). Despite all of the attention the album received, Virgin America passed on its U.S. release, and the band ended up having it released by Scotti Brothers in 1991. The album would go on to sell double platinum, much to Virgin’s loss. In 1992, the band released the album Neptune to very little fanfare, as their popularity began to dwindle. The album sank without a trace, but at the end of 1993 they released a live album called Gig, with songs taken from a set of the band’s last shows together. In 1993, bandleader Jay Semko quit in frustration and the Northern Pikes were no more.

Northern Pikes - Gig

10. Dancing in a Dance Club

PETER & THE TEST TUBE BABIES - Banned From The Pup (video)

2011-09-22T12:40:00.001-04:00

Just picked up their Best Of... today. Here's their classic from 1982.

R.E.M. - TGIF... (Live 1981)

2011-09-21T09:09:00.002-04:00

Odd... I posted this on the day they announced their break-up. Before it was announced.

R.E.M. - TGIF...

November 6, 1981, Friday’s, Greensboro, NC (soundboard)
01. Just A Touch
02. Burning Down
03. Ha (We Get Paid For It)
04. Shaking Through
05. (Don’t Go Back To) Rockville
06. There She Goes Again
07. Permanent Vacation
08. Pretty Persuasion
09. That Beat
10. Mystery To Me
11. Carnival Of Sorts (Boxcars)
12. Rave On
13. Ages Of You
14. Can’t Control Myself
15. Laughing (cut)
16. Romance
17. Chained To The Wall
18. Sitting Still
19. Wolves, Lower
20. Gardening At Night
21. 9-9
22. Windout
23. Radio Free Europe

R.E.M. needs no introduction. This is a pretty special soundboard from recording from the birth of one of the most important alternative/college bands of the 80s. With exception to perhaps U2, their 80s output was without peer. Listening to this show recorded at Friday’s, a pizza shop in Greensboro, NC, you can almost smell the pizza and beer. Nice audience participation and Michael Stipe is pretty interactive. Grab this if you don’t have it.

Random notes: Often listed as March 31, 1981. ‘Ha (We Get Paid For It) is the arbitrary title of this song, it’s unknown what the true intended title was, as it was quickly dropped from the set and wasn’t recorded in the studio ~from an interview by David Fricke with Peter Buck on 15 November 1990 taken from The Rolling Stone Files book (pg. 114): “There was a place in Greensboro, North Carolina, called Friday’s. It was a pizza parlor, and the guy had bands play. It was an L-shaped room; you could see through the bar to the ovens, with the guy with the long stick with pizzas on it, and see us, too. He’d charge a dollar, we’d get 150 people in there, and we’d get the door. People would let us sleep on the floor. There were clubs like that in every city.”

R.E.M. - TGIF...

05. (Don’t Go Back To) Rockville

REDONDO BEAT - Full Moon Child (video)

2011-09-21T07:48:00.000-04:00

Just discovered this German band. Looking forward to seeing them live in a few weeks. Their debut album, Meet Redondo Beat is out on Dionysus Records now.

MENSWEAR - Nusiance

2011-09-20T10:01:00.001-04:00

Menswear - Nuisance
(London 1995) Out of Print CD

01. 125 West 3rd Street
02. I’ll Manage Somehow
03. Sleeping In
04. Little Miss Pinpoint Eyes
05. Daydreamer
06. Hollywood Girl
07. Being Brave
08. Around You Again
09. The One
10. Stardust
11. Piece of Me

File Under: Britpop, Indie, Neo-Glam
RIYL: Gene, Bluetones, Cast, Oasis, Suede, Blur

Menswear were never really taken seriously and considered more of a guilty pleasure than Britpop contenders. They took the best parts of Blur, Oasis and Pulp and spit them back out on this, their first album (which holds up a lot better than many acclaimed releases of the era). This album perfectly captures the disposability of many bands of the Britpop scene - a time when every label was looking to sign the next Blur or Oasis and being more interested if they fit the look than if they had the tunes. It’s not Parklife or Definitely Maybe, but it’s still pretty fun.

AMG: Perhaps Menswear was always destined to be a footnote in pop history, a product of the heady good times of London in 1994 and 1995. Reportedly signed after only three shows, the band was never given the chance to fully develop before they recorded their debut album, Nuisance. At the time of their first single, they appropriated the sound of Blur and the style of Pulp; by the time Nuisance was released, they also incorporated the sound of Elastica and Oasis, making the band a virtual Cliff Notes of Brit-pop. Naturally, Menswear doesn’t quite have the skills or panache of any of their idols, but that doesn’t mean they are lacking in charm. Like Oasis and Blur, Menswear appropriates sections of pop history, claiming them as their own. However, they aren’t half the songwriters that Noel Gallagher and Damon Albarn are, which means many of their ideas are never developed. Nevertheless, when they assimilate them fully -- like the intoxicating rush of “Around You Again” or the sweeping ballad “Being Brave,” which lifts the intro to Pink Floyd’s “Comfortably Numb” -- the band is an undeniable guilty pleasure. When pressed, the ‘swear can come up with irresistably infectious pop gems, from the frazzled Monkees pop of “Sleeping In” to the flat-out great single “Daydreamer,” which sounds more like Wire than Elastica, only funnier, even if it may be unintentional. Even funnier are Johnny Dean’s lyrics, from the groupie saga of “125 West 3rd Street” to “Stardust,” a silly attack on Primal Scream’s Bobby Gillespie. In all, Nuisance is the perfect product from a band that is better known for being seen than being heard.

Menswear signed a record contract before they played more than five gigs. That alone tells you everything you need to know about the band. Menswear were an outgrowth of the post-Blur pop scene in London, England, a group of charming, handsome young men that wanted to be in a pop group more than they wanted to play music. Consequently, they received their fair share of detractors, but the band weathered the storm, becoming one of the most popular Brit-pop bands of 1995.

The members of Menswear -- vocalist Johnny Dean (b. December 12, 1971), guitarist Simon White, guitarist Chris Gentry (b. February 23, 1977), bassist Stuart Black, and drummer Matt Everett -- told everyone around Camden, London that they were in a band before they had actually rehearsed. Toward the end of 1994, they decided to actually start playing music, choosing the name Menswear and writing Elastica and Blur-inspired pop songs.

The group’s first single, “I’ll Manage Somehow,” received good notices in the NME and Melody Maker, and their second single, “Daydreamer,” peaked at number 14.

Menswear - Nuisance

01. 125 West 3rd Street

PAUL REVERE & THE RAIDERS - Kicks (Video)

2011-09-20T09:14:00.000-04:00

Look past the costumes. These guys rocked with their fuzzed out guitars. And behind the mask is a pretty dark song about drug addiction. Probably one of the more overlooked bands of the era because of their dress. They've just released a two disc 'essential' package that's worth picking up.

NEUROTIC OUTSIDERS - Neurotic Outsiders

2011-09-19T10:09:00.001-04:00

Neurotic Outsiders - Neurotic Outsiders
(Warner Brothers 1996) Out of Print CD

01. Nasty Ho
02. Always Wrong
03. Angetina
04. Good News
05. Better Way
06. Feelings Are Good
07. Revolution
08. Jerk
09. Union
10. Janie Jones
11. Story of My Life
12. Six Feet Under

File Under: Punk, LA Style Hard Rock

Steve Jones (Sex Pistols) + John Taylor (Duran Duran) + Duff McKagan (Guns ‘n Roses) + Matt Sorum ( G’nR, The Cult) = Neurotic Outsiders. The parts look pretty good, but unfortunately this is an instance where the sum isn’t better. It’s a pedestrian effort that is enjoyable enough as you listen, but it’s not going to leave any mark or impression. I guess if you were hanging out on a hot summer day in the mid 90s with chicks in bikinis, big hair and some Budlights this could be the soundtrack. As it is, it’s more of a forgotten artifact.

AMG: An odd 90s supergroup started as a lark playing gigs at the Viper Room in Hollywood, Neurotic Outsiders found surprising enthusiasm for their punk-edged paeans to sex and the dark side of rock, resulting in a tour, extended stints at the Viper Room, and this album. Made up of the unsung members of some of the best bands of the last three decades, the band boasts Steve Jones of the Sex Pistols, John Taylor of Duran Duran, Duff McKagan of Guns ‘N Roses, and Matt Sorum of G’nR and The Cult. Steve Jones and John Taylor, responsible for nearly all the writing, make no mistake about where they are coming from. As grunge and its vague angst and politics fizzled out in the mid-90s, Neurotic Outsiders in spirit are a lot closer to poseurs and playas of the decade’s rap scene. However, their odes to nasty sex and bad women are tinged with tongue-in-cheek campiness. As expected, this band has a fabulous rhythm section. John Taylor’s hyperkenetic basslines paired with Sorum’s machine-gun drums are a treat. McKagan and Jones turn in surprising guitar work, and all members do a respectable job sharing vocal duties. Of course, a punk album born in the Viper Room sports some in-your-face lyrics about sex in all its rock and roll forms. “Jerk” is so obnoxious it’s impossible to dislike it. “Angelina” is a slightly campy “stripper wants to escape” romp with big-80s guitar and a disarmingly catchy chorus about “Angelina,” the queen of misdemeanors.” Whether it’s sex, drugs, or music, every track has a dark undercurrent, giving a surprising bit of depth to the record. “Revolution,” “Good News” (the bad news is your dying/the good news is I’m alive), and “Six Feet Under” are frenetic, anthemic, mixes of punk and GnR style hard rock. Jones’ song writing talents are intriguing. “Better Way,” a rolling power ballad, is an astute meditation on going and staying straight, and finding fulfillment. “Union” recounts the rise and fall of the Sex Pistols. Fittingly, the band nods to their collective musical past with a superb, fiery cover of the Clash’s “Janie Jones.” Fans missing punk, pre-grunge hard rock, or the musicianship of any of the bands that fed into Neurotic Outsiders, will appreciate this record.

A supergroup formed in Los Angeles the mid-’90s consisting of B-list guys from A-list bands, Neurotic Outsiders picked up an unexpected following when a one-time charity concert at the Viper Room led to a house-band engagement. Steve Jones of the Sex Pistols, John Taylor of Duran Duran, Duff McKagan of Guns N’ Roses, and Matt Sorum of the Cult and Guns N’ Roses spent most of those early gigs playing punk covers. As enthusiasm for the band increased, they were signed to Maverick Records, releasing one album, the self-titled Neurotic Outsiders, in 1996. Jones wrote most of the songs, while Taylor wrote the remaining songs and the other members collaborated on some tracks. Jones and McKagan shared guitar duties, and all members contributed vocals. A frenetic, slightly dark blend of punk and pre-grunge Guns N’ Roses-style hard rock, the band garnered some radio play with the explicit single “Jerk.” After the album’s release, they embarked on a national tour of club dates. Upon returning from their tour, Neurotic Outsiders continued to play as a once-a-week house band at the Viper Room for a brief time, taking a hiatus in 1998. The hiatus is likely permanent, as Matt Sorum rejoined the Cult in 1999 and John Taylor rejoined Duran Duran in 2001.

Neurotic Outsiders - Neurotic Outsiders

07. Revolution

THE CREATION - Live In Concert 2002

2011-09-19T09:49:00.000-04:00

I've had a lot of request for this and finally had an opportunity to dig the disc out of my closet this weekend.
The Creation - Live In Concert
(updated link on Creation page)

PETER MURPHY - Cuts You Up (video)

2011-09-19T09:38:00.000-04:00

This was an alternative dance-club anthem back in the day. Hopefully it's still being spun in the dark clubs. Release the bats...

MATERIAL ISSUE - Destination Universe

2011-09-16T08:53:00.000-04:00

Material Issue - Destination Universe
(Mercury 1992) Out of Print CD

01. What Girls Want
02. When I Get This Way (Over You)
03. Next Big Thing
04. Who Needs Love
05. Destination You
06. Everything
07. Ballad of a Lonely Man
08. Girl from Out of This World
09. So Easy to Love Somebody
10. Don’t You Think I Know
11. The Loneliest Heart
12. Whole Lotta You
13. If Ever You Should Fall

File Under: Power Pop, College Rock, Indie
RIYL: Cheap Trick, Weezer, Matthew Sweet

More Material Issue by request. I was lucky enough to see Material Issue three times; once in a club, once in a bar where they played unannounced after a show and once on New Years Eve in Chicago. I’ve never been the biggest fan of power pop (I still don’t get Big Star - and I’ve tried), but these guys were always a lot of fun. This is considered by many to be their best album, but I don’t think it ever reached the popularity of International Pop Overthrow.

AMG: Led by frontman Jim Ellison, Material Issue produced some of the ‘90s most memorable power-pop moments by combining the best elements of Cheap Trick and Shoes. Destination Universe, the band’s sophomore effort, showcases their talent for punching out three-minute sonic bursts of energy. Each song packs irresistible hooks, crunchy pop guitars, and soaring vocals into brief odes to love both lost “Ballad of a Lonely Man” and found “Next Big Thing.” There’s not a whole lot of variation here, but when the formula works, on tracks such as “What Girls Want,” “The Loneliest Heart,” and “Don’t You Think I Know,” it’s difficult to argue. Though not their most commercially successful release, Destination Universe may be Material Issue’s most consistently satisfying album.

Chicago power pop trio Material Issue married the tight and melodic commercial appeal of acts like Cheap Trick and the Knack with the jangly guitars and cockiness of early-’90s Britpop. Formed in the late ‘80s as a songwriting vehicle for guitarist/lead singer Jim Ellison, the band included bassist Ted Ansani and drummer Mike Zelenko. In 1987, after doing time in and around the Windy City club scene, the group released an eponymous EP that resulted in a contract with Mercury Records. Their major-label debut, the rock-solid International Pop Overthrow, found itself a place on modern rock radio with the raucous single “Valerie Loves Me,” and thrust the group to the front of the burgeoning alternative rock movement. Produced by ex-Shoes member Jeff Murphy, the album’s electrifying blend of teen angst and rock & roll confidence won over critics and fans alike, resulting in the band’s immediate return to the studio to craft their follow-up, 1992’s Destination Universe. Once again produced by Murphy, DU didn’t sell nearly as well, despite being almost identical to their impressive debut.

In 1994 the band released the excellent -- and sadly underrated -- Freak City Soundtrack. Produced by Mike Chapman (Blondie, the Knack, Sweet) and featuring a guest appearance by Cheap Trick’s Rick Nielsen, it seemed that Ellison and crew could do no wrong in critics’ eyes, yet the public remained oblivious, prompting their inevitable departure from Mercury. Polygram put out the live album Goin’ Through Your Purse that same year, and the band began recording what was to become their final album. Telecommando Americano was released posthumously by Rykodisc in 1997, just one year after Jim Ellison committed suicide in his garage by poisoning himself with the carbon monoxide from his moped.

Material Issue - Destination Universe

THE KNICKERBOCKERS - Lies (video)

2011-09-16T08:40:00.002-04:00

If that's not the best pre-Rubber Soul Beatles inspired song ever, I'd like to hear what is. And the Lennon voice is dead on. This song will get into your head and play over and over for days. Beware. Great performance too, with the dancers, head bopping and all. And the go-go mod girls are fit!

THE CALL - Live Under The Red Moon

2011-09-15T07:46:00.000-04:00

The Call - Live Under The Red Moon
(Conspiracy Records 2000) Out of Print CD

01. Floating Back
02. A Swim in the Ocean
03. This Is Your Life
04. I Don't Wanna
05. You Run
06. Family
07. Same Ol' Story
08. Even Now
09. Red Moon
10. Oklahoma
11. You Were There
12. I Still Believe (Great Design)
13. Let the Day Begin

File Under: College Rock, Alternative, Passionate, Earnest
RIYL: U2, REM, Smithereens, Waterboys, Peter Gabriel

Finally tracked down a copy. Nice set list too - not the typical greatest hits package. I think this wraps up all of the official Call releases.

AMG: The Call's performance on Live Under the Red Moon can't be faulted. Vocalist Michael Been sings with the explosive passion Call fans are accustomed to, and the band sounds just as big outside of the studio. Then why is Live Under the Red Moon so unsatisfying? A rather lackluster set list is the culprit. With an epic title suspiciously like Under a Blood Red Sky, a classic live record from their heroes, U2, Live Under the Red Moon opens rather weakly with "Floating Back," certainly not one of the Call's high points. Unfortunately, the group meanders further with the generic swamp rock of "A Swim in the Ocean." Where are "The Walls Came Down" and "Everywhere I Go," two of the band's biggest -- and best -- alternative radio hits of the '80s? The exclusion of "The Walls Came Down" might have to do with the rights belonging to Mercury Records, but the absence of "Everywhere I Go," a pulse-pounding anthem with earth-shaking basslines, makes the album feel empty. "I Don't Wanna" is reminiscent of Joy Division's "Love Will Tear Us Apart" with its heartbroken keyboards and Been's anguished vocals; it's a powerful track that could've been the group's "With or Without You." It's the first song on the CD that shows why many critics consider the Call to be one of the most shamefully overlooked bands of the '80s. Sadly, six of the tracks were originally on 1990's disappointing Red Moon. Forgettable material can't be elevated by playing it live. Luckily, the group did choose to include "Even Now," a deeply moving song about unrequited love from 1986's superb Reconciled. Been doesn't seem as despondent as he did on the Reconciled version; however, Tom Ferrier's cathartic guitar solo still resonates.

Despite great critical acclaim due to their literate, passionate rock; praise from some well-respected contemporaries; and a string of strong releases, the San Francisco band the Call never quite escaped cult status. The predicted breakthrough to a wider audience never quite materialized. Formed in the San Francisco area in 1980, the quartet, led by vocalist/guitarist Michael Been, released their self-titled debut in 1982 and earned positive reviews. The following year, the band issued Modern Romans and managed to broaden their fan base when “The Walls Came Down” became a minor hit single. In 1984, keyboardist Jim Goodwin replaced bass player Scott Freeman to round out the lineup for the release of Scene Beyond Dreams, which despite receiving more critical acclaim, failed to build on their commercial momentum. Reconciled followed in 1985 and featured guest appearances by Peter Gabriel (who had once referred to the band as “the future of American music”) and Robbie Robertson. Both “I Still Believe” and “Everywhere I Go” achieved significant airplay on college rock and AOR stations, giving a boost to the band’s profile.

The Call scaled back a bit from the anthemic feel of Reconciled for Into the Woods, but managed to score again at college rock outlets with the somber “In the River.” Been took time out from the band in 1988 to appear as the apostle John in Martin Scorcese’s Last Temptation of Christ. The band switched labels from Elektra to MCA in 1989, edging back into more radio-friendly territory with Let the Day Begin. The rousing title track became their biggest hit to date; topping the AOR charts and reaching number 51 on the pop charts, propelling the album to become their highest-charting release as well. Despite the success, when they returned with Red Moon, the Call had scaled back their sound, embracing an organic, more roots-oriented sound that recalled the Band (not surprising, as that act’s Garth Hudson and Robbie Robertson had both guested on earlier albums).

Perhaps their most mature and fully-realized album, Red Moon made little impact beyond the Call’s core audience (despite Bono lending vocals to “What’s Happened to You?”). Been tested the waters as a solo artist and released the harder-edged On the Verge of a Nervous Breakthrough in 1994, managing to gain a bit of airplay with “Us.” The Call was given the compilation treatment on a couple releases in the ‘90s, and reunited for Heaven & Back in 1997 and a tour. They subsequently issued a live record, Live Under the Red Moon, three years later. In 2010, Been died of a heart attack while touring (and working as a soundman) with Black Rebel Motorcycle Club, founded by his son Robert Levon Been.

The Call - Live Under The Red Moon

11. You Were There

THEE ATTACKS - On The Move (video)

2011-09-15T07:33:00.000-04:00

Thee Attacks just uploaded this new old video. Spanish TV 2009. Watch this in black and whiy=te and it's 1966 all over again!

PUBLIC IMAGE LTD. - Rockpalast 1983.

2011-09-14T10:07:00.001-04:00

Public Image Ltd. - Rockpalast 1983.

‘Rockpalast’ - October 31, 1983, Zeche, Bochum, Germany
01. Public Image I
02. Annalisa
03. Religion
04. Memories
05. Flowers Of Romance
06. Solitaire
07. Chant
08. Anarchy In The UK
09. This Is Not A Love Song
10. Low Life
11. Under The House
12. Bad Life
13. Public Image II
14. Interview

File Under: Post Punk, New Wave, Noise, College
RIYL: Gang Of Four, Birthday Party, Wire

By this time Keith Levene and Pete Jones have left the band. This show was recorded a few months after the official Live In Tokyo album. I believe most of the Rockpalast shows were broadcast, so the sound here is excellent. I like this show a lot, although many PIL fanatics consider this period the beginning of the end with the departure of two founding members. Martin Atkins (Ministry, Pigface, Nine Inch Nail, Killing Joke, REM) drummer extraordinaire is still with the band band though. The inclusion of Anarchy In The UK is interesting, but has none of the power of the Pistols - it’s too... musical. The first time I saw PIL was in a small club in 1989 with Flesh For Lulu opening. One of the few things I remember is Johnny had on a neon suit and mooned the audience. That’s about it...

AMG: Public Image Ltd. (PiL) were originally a quartet led by singer John Lydon (formerly Johnny Rotten, born January 31, 1956) and guitarist Keith Levene, who had been a member of the Clash in one of its early lineups. The band was filled out by bassist Jah Wobble (John Wordle) and drummer Jim Walker. It was formed in the wake of the 1978 breakup of Lydon’s former group, the Sex Pistols. For the most part, it devoted itself to droning, slow-tempo, bass-heavy noise rock, overlaid by Lydon’s distinctive, vituperative rant. The group’s debut single, “Public Image,” was more of an uptempo pop/rock song, however, and it hit the U.K. Top Ten upon its release in October 1978. The group itself debuted on Christmas Day, shortly after the release of its first album, Public Image. Neither the single nor the album was released in the U.S.

Metal Box, the band’s second U.K. album, came in the form of three 12”, 45-rpm discs in a film canister. It was released in the U.S. in 1980 as the double-album Second Edition. (By this time, PiL were a trio consisting of Lydon, Levene, and Wobble.) The third album, not released in the U.S., was the live Paris au Printemps (1980). Lydon and Levene, plus hired musicians, made up the group by the time of The Flowers of Romance (1981), the much-acclaimed fourth album, which reached number 11 in the U.K. In 1983, PiL scored their biggest U.K. hit, when “This Is Not a Love Song” reached number five. By this time, however, Levene had left, and the name from here on would be, more than anything else, a vehicle for John Lydon (though with a comparatively steady lineup). A second live album, Live in Tokyo, appeared in England in 1983.

The following year saw the release of This Is What You Want...This Is What You Get, only PiL’s third album to be released in the U.S., though by now the group had six albums out. It marked the start of Lydon’s move toward a more accessible dance-rock style, a direction that would be pursued further in 1986’s Album (also called Cassette or Compact Disc, depending on the format), notably on the hit “Rise,” as well as on Happy? (1987) and 9 (1989). In 1990, PiL released the compilation album The Greatest Hits, So Far, and in 1991 came the new album That What Is Not. After completing his memoirs in late 1993, Lydon decided to put PiL to rest and pursue a solo career. The career-spanning box set Plastic Box arrived in 1999, but otherwise the band seemed truly dead until 2009 when Lydon announced he was reviving the project for a short set of gigs in the U.K. The new PiL, featuring Lu Edmonds, Scott Firth, and Bruce Smith, were so warmly received in their homeland that a U.S. tour followed in 2010.

Public Image Ltd. - Rockpalast 1983.

THE RIFLES - Tangled Up In Love (video)

2011-09-14T09:05:00.000-04:00

Freedom Run is the new album due out this month from one of my favorite newer bands, The Rifles. Here's the first single. A little mellower than their previous releases, but still a quality pop/rock track.

RUSS MEYER - Motor Psycho / Mudhoney / Finders Keepers

2011-09-13T10:12:00.000-04:00

Russ Meyer - Motor Psycho/Mudhoney/Finders Keepers
(QDK Media 1996) Out of Print CD

01. Three Weirdos
02. Better Things to Do Than to Talk About Three Weirdos
03. Who’s Trailing Who
04. Trapped in a Hellfole
05. What Is a Nice Girl Doing inPlaces Like This
06. Hallucinations
07. Psycho Brahmin
08. You’ll Do Allright Anywhere
09. Whiskey Mash
10. Long Blonde Chase
11. Calif and Eula
12. I’m Sick of You
13. Night Song
14. One Man’s Evil Can Becomthe Curse of All
15. Finders Keepers Song/ Topless Bar
16. Flowers
17. Chunky
18. We’ll Haveto Find Something in Life That’s Intrests You Besides Sex
19. Kelly
20. Midnight Swim
21. Finders Keepers (Reprise)

File Under: Soundtracks, Exploitation, Garage, Psychedelic

Always expanding the horizons! Here’s a crazy exploitation soundtrack from the mid 60s. Crazy beats, psych and dialogue interspersed throughout. As you listen to the tracks you wonder “what the hell is going on?” It actually makes you want to see the movie. Groovy...

German release on Q.D.K. Media, a 74 minute long compilationon a color picture CD featuring music & soundbytes from three of the infamous director’s cult faves/ white trash epics: 1965’s ‘Mudhoney’, 1968’s ‘Finders Keepers Lovers Weepers’ & 1965’s ‘Motor Psycho’. Housed in a gatefold digipak, it also contains a 28 page book with color and black & white photos from all three flicks. Both the cover &the booklet contain explicit female nudity.

Russ Meyer - Motor Psycho/Mudhoney/Finders Keepers

02. Better Things to Do Than to Talk About Three Weirdos

SUICIDE COMMANDOS - Burn It Down (video)

2011-09-13T09:23:00.000-04:00

From the punk-rock mecca of Minneapolis-St. Paul came the Suicide Commandos! Check out one of their albums here.

THE STEMS - Terminal Cool (Anthology 1983-1986)

2011-09-12T09:20:00.000-04:00

The Stems - Terminal Cool (Anthology 1983-1986)
(Get Hip 2006) Out of Print CD

01. She’s a Monster
02. Make You Mine
03. Tears Me in Two
04. No Heart
05. Can’t Resist
06. Love Will Grow
07. Under Your Mushroom
08. Just Ain’t Enough
09. Jumping to Conclusions
10. On & On
11. For Always
12. Terminal Cool
13. Don’t Let Me
14. All You Want Me For
15. Mr. Misery
16. Sad Girl
17. She’s Fine
18. Can’t Forget That Girl
19. Lon Chaney Juniors Daughter
20. Spaceship
21. Let Your Head Rest

File Under: Garage, Australian, Indie Garage Revival
RIYL: The Saints, Fuzztones, The Lyres, Fleshtones, Woggles, Lime Spiders

I go through a lot of musical phases. Therefore awhile all I listened to was garage revival. For a good sampling pick up Rhino’s Children of Nuggets. The Stems have a couple of tracks on there. Along with their Aussie peers The Lime Spiders, The Stems were one of the best of the revived garage genre. Tears Me In Two is probably my favorite track - it has that sick organ waaaay up front and it just kills! I posted the video awhile ago and you can check it out here. This is one to play loud.

PopMatters: Anyone wise enough to have gotten his or her hands on last year’s Children of Nuggets box know what a useful jumping-off point for exploring the second garage scene (1976-1995) that set is. Australia’s the Stems have two songs featured in that box—“She’s Fine” and “Love Will Grow”—and both are pop gems that demanded further investigation of the Stems’ back catalogue by discerning garage fans. Enter Get Hip Records, which is more often than not, uh, hip to the needs of those fans, with a burgeoning roster of quality acts and now, with the Stems’ Terminal Cool: Anthology 1983-1986, Get Hip trolls the archives, sharing great, long-forgotten music that stands the test of time.

Admittedly, the Stems—singer/guitarist Dom Mariani, singer/guitarist/keyboardist Richard Lane, bassist Julian Matthews and drummer Gary Chambers—haven’t been completely consigned to the Jukebox of History, having been anthologized as recently as 2003 (Mushroom Soup: The Citadel Years), but that’s a hard-to-find import (at least, it is stateside) and Get Hip’s version boasts four tracks not on Mushroom Soup (though it omits “Power of Love”). Whether another anthology was truly necessary is debatable, but to these eyes and ears, the scale tips in favor of Get Hip. That said, two grumbles: The liner notes of Terminal Cool are riddled with typos and lack discography information—release dates, album/single/EP covers, etc.

The big question, of course: How does it all sound? The Stems’ body of work has held up well. They were always a band out of time—they emulated ‘60s garage and psychedelia in early ‘80s Australia, after all—so tunes like the fast ‘n’ fuzzed-out “She’s a Monster” and jangly “Make You Mine” (the band’s first two singles) sound just as good in 2006 as they would have in 1986 or even 1966. That said, the Stems’ m.o. is decidedly retro, - down to garb; lots of mop tops and paisley shirts in the liner note photos—so if an hour or so of fuzztone guitar, organ flourishes and three-minute long nuggets about girls loved and/or lost is not your idea of a good time, you should probably stop reading this review now.

Everybody else: Groove out to the psychedelic “Under Your Mushroom” (“There’s a world that’s up here too,” frontman Mariani reminds a too-blissed-out friend, in an odd bit anti-psychedelics psychedelia); the bluesy, barroom stomp of “On and On”; and the surf-rock/horror movie instrumental “Lon Cheney Juniors Daughter” [sic]. And, yes, “She’s Fine”, a little-more polished sounding than some of their other tunes, will always be their finest pure pop moment—it’s like the La’s “There She Goes” if that song was actually about a girl, instead of heroin—and it’s one of the revival scene’s best songs.

By and large, a lot of the Stems songs sound the same, but the band was never out to reinvent rock music. If anything, the Stems are important and enduring because they helped, along with the Hoodoo Gurus and Lime Spiders, to introduce ‘60s garage rock to an entire continent. Unfortunately, intra-band strife on the eve of their 1987 European tour hastened the Stems’ demise and scuttled any plans for world domination the band members might’ve secretly harbored, but Terminal Cool is still a great snapshot of a band that, for three years at least, did their best to spread the gospel of garage rock to the masses.

The Stems - Terminal Cool (Anthology 1983-1986)

01. She’s a Monster

MERTON PARKAS - You Need Wheels (video)

2011-09-12T08:59:00.001-04:00

The Who's Quadrophenia movie halped kick off the mod revival of the late 70s and early 80s. The Merton Parkas were at the forefront. That's Mick Talbot on the keyboard who went on to play with Paul Weller in The Style Council.

THE STONE ROSES - Garage Flower

2011-09-09T11:09:00.000-04:00

The Stones Roses - Garage Flower
(Phantom Import Distribution 1996) Out of Print CD

01. Getting Plenty
02. Here It Comes
03. Trust a Fox
04. Tradjic Roundabout
05. All I Want
06. Heart on the Staves
07. I Wanna Be Adored
08. This Is the One
09. Fall
10. So Young
11. Tell Me
12. Haddock
13. Just a Little Bit
14. Mission Impossible

File Under: Britpop, Indie, Madchester
RIYL: Charlatans , Happy Mondays, Inspiral Carpets, Blur, Oasis, etc...

I wasn’t even aware of this release until recently. Listening to these early sessions you can hear what the Stone Roses are going to become. Especially in I Wanna be Adored and This Is The One. I won’t go on and on, but suffice to say, if you are a fan of the Roses or britpop, you should grab this one...

AMG: The widely collected bootleg of early sessions is finally released officially. Apparently, the Stone Roses are appalled and didn’t sanction this, which accounts for the lack of notes about these recordings. If various old sources are correct, the tracks are from demos they set down in 1985, probably with late producer/legend Martin Hannett, who produced their debut single. Thus, this is three or four years before they recut these looks at “I Wanna Be Adored” and “This Is the One” for their stunning debut LP. For these two tracks alone (and the three songs re-recorded for their first two singles), Garage Flower is history of the most illuminating kind! The songs are the same, but this would be around the time they changed their name from “English Rose” and gave up being a mod band. Thus, the playing (and recording) is harsh, primitive post-punk, closer to Killing Joke and their earliest days as the Clash-inspired “the Patrol” than anything else! The attitude and the songwriting are already well in place, and their louder attack has gallons of spunk. (Bassist Andy Couzens, co-writer of nine of these 14 songs, is also more punky than his replacement, Reni.) It’s the eight unreleased songs that made so many fans clamor for the bootleg. Most are of the usual high caliber. “Heart on the Staves” is downright dynamite; John Squire points toward his later guitar genius with stabbing, ripped chords that slash the night, setting up one of Ian Brown’s most acerbic vocal performances. “Getting Plenty” is almost as dramatic, “Trust a Fox” hammers toward the shouted, sneered “hello” chorus, and Reni goes wild on “Tradjic Roundabout.” “All I Want,” “Fall,” “Just a Little Bit,” and “Mission Impossible” also make this a “Savage Early Stone Roses LP.” sensation, countless other groups in the same vein became popular, including the Charlatans UK, Inspiral Carpets, and Happy Mondays. However, the Stone Roses were never able to capitalize on the promise of their first album, waiting five years before they released their second record and slowly disintegrating in the year and half after its release.

The Stone Roses emerged from the remains of English Rose, a Manchester-based band formed by schoolmates John Squire (guitar) and Ian Brown (vocals). In 1985, the Stone Roses officially formed, as Squire and Brown added drummer Reni (born Alan John Wren), guitarist Andy Couzens, and bassist Pete Garner. The group began playing warehouses around Manchester, cultivating a dedicated following rather quickly. Around this time, the group was a cross between classic British ‘60s guitar pop and heavy metal, with touches of goth rock. Couzens left the group in 1987, followed shortly afterward by Garner. Garner was replaced by Mani (born Gary Mounfield) and the group recorded its first single, “So Young,” which was released to little attention by Thin Line Records. At the end of 1987, the Stone Roses released their second single, “Sally Cinnamon,” which pointed the way toward the band’s hook-laden, ringing guitar pop. By the fall of 1988, the band secured a contract with Silvertone Records and released “Elephant Stone,” a single that set the band’s catchy neo-psychedelic guitar pop in stone.

The Stones Roses - Garage Flower

07. I Wanna Be Adored

ROYAL CRESCENT MOB - Mob's Revenge

2011-09-08T15:13:00.000-04:00

The Mob in 1987 at the 9:30 Club, Washington, DC. Badass!

WHIPPING BOY - Submarine

2011-09-08T10:31:00.000-04:00

Whipping Boy - Submarine
(Liquid 1982) Out of Print CD

01. Safari
02. Beatle
03. Sushi
04. Favourite Sister
05. Astronaut Blues
06. Bettyclean
07. Buffalo
08. Snow
09. Valentine 69
10. Submarine

File Under: Alternative, Indie, College, Irish
RIYL: U2, Catherine Wheel, Echo & The Bunnymen

Here’s another one of those bands that for some reason fell through the cracks. Their albums received critical high praise with 1995’s Heartworm receiving 4.5/5. But like some many bands before and many after, that did not translate to commercial success. This is their first release and subsequently is much different than the two albums that followed. Submarine seems to be more about the sonics than the actual songs. There are walls of guitar here and the vocals are held in check for most of the album. Maybe there was a confidence factor that wasn’t there yet. For the most part these are not verse, chorus, verse songs. Have a listen.

WIKI: Whipping Boy were an influential Irish rock music band who were active in the 1980s and 1990s. The band reformed briefly in 2005 for a series of shows. 2011 has seen Whipping Boy emerge again, this time without Paul Page and Myles McDonnell. The Whipping Boy Periscopes Up tour summer 2011 will see Joey(bass) and Finn(guitar) replace them and long time live guitarist Killian McGowan will complete the line up.

Whipping Boy formed in Dublin in 1988, the band comprising Fearghal McKee (vocals), Paul Page (guitar), Myles McDonnell (bass, vocals), and Colm Hassett (drums). They initially performed cover versions of songs by The Velvet Underground and The Fall, and went by the name Lolita and the Whipping Boy, shortening their name when their female guitarist left. After a couple of EP’s on the Cheree label, they released their low-key debut album, Submarine in 1992 on Liquid Records. Their live performances raised their profile, with McKee known to cut himself with broken glass on stage. The album was critically acclaimed though commercially unsuccessful, and led to a deal with Columbia Records, who issued the band’s second album, Heartworm, in 1995, along with three minor hit singles. Heartworm received much critical acclaim, with Allmusic calling it “an earth-shatteringly powerful experience”. The group split up in 1998 after being dropped by Columbia, leaving a third album unreleased. The eponymous titled album was eventually released in 2000 on their own Low Rent label.

The band reformed in September 2005, announcing several Irish dates and mentioning the possibility, which never materialized, of recording another album.

Whipping Boy - Submarine

01. Safari

THE CLASH - Straight To Hell (video)

2011-09-08T10:08:00.001-04:00

A lot of hardcore fans considered Combat Rock to be a sell-out. If this is a sell-out it's one of the most self sabotaging sell-outs ever. This album had funk, dub, reggae and rap before most even knew what it was. Red Angel Dragnet, Death Is A Star, Inoculated City sellouts? I think not......

LORDS OF ALTAMONT - To Hell With The Lords

2011-09-07T11:07:00.001-04:00

The Lords Of Altamont - To Hell With The Lords
(Sympathy For The Record Industry 2002) Out of Print CD

01. The Split
02. The 7th Day
03. Too Old to Die
04. Three
05. Lean on Me
06. Come On...
07. Twisted Love
08. Come on Up
09. Dementia Are Go
10. Knock Knock
11. Stripped Down
12. Born to Lose

File Under: Garage, Indie, Punk, Grease
RIYL: Fleshtones, Lime Spiders, Cramps, Fuzztones

Don’t remember how I came across the Lords, probably from their album covers which look like biker exploitation posters from the 60s. Which I thought was pretty cool. This is some greasy, dirty, slimy, rock and roll. Enjoy.

WIKI: The Lords of Altamont takes the raw power of 1960’s punk and brings it into today to crank out rock n’ roll the way it was meant to be played, loud, fast, and out of control. Front man Jake “The Preacher” Cavaliere, commands crowds with his garage-god vocals and a tendency to either leap onto his Farfisa organ or light it on fire. Guitarist, John “Big Drag” Saletra plays an impressive axe, while bassist Shawn “Sonic” Medina and drummer Harry Drumdini (formally of The Cramps) form an unholy rhythm section that defies reckoning. Add a few fringe-tossing go-go dancers and a light show reminiscent of science lab blood cell slides memories from an acid trip and you have the genuine, real-deal rock and roll experience that is The Lords of Altamont.

The Lords released their first critically acclaimed record… To Hell With the Lords on Sympathy For The Record Industry, 2004, and followed it up with their eagerly anticipated second full length album, Lords Have Mercy, 2006, Fargo Records in Europe and Australia and Gearhead Records in North and South America. Soundsxp opined: “There’s not a touch of subtlety or originality but for a rabble-rousing 35 minutes, or as the soundtrack to The Wild One, this can’t be beat.” The band has been featured on numerous compilation CDs, most notably with the lead track on MOJO’s Hendrix tribute, snake-charming listeners with a Lords-style version of Can You See Me. They have toured extensively, including a performance as part of the 2006 SXSW festival.

The Lords of Altamont’s new album, “Midnight To 666” was released in March 2011 by Fargo Records.

The Lords Of Altamont - To Hell With The Lords

02. The 7th Day

VERTEBRATS - 1982 TV Segment (video)

2011-09-07T10:30:00.000-04:00

The Vertebrats were a power-pop/punk outfit hailing from Champaign/Urbana, IL. Their biggest 'hit' was probably Left In The Dark, which was covered in concert by the Replacements for years.

JUST CAN'T GET ENOUGH : New Wave Halloween/Christmas

2011-09-06T08:47:00.000-04:00

Just Can’t Get Enough : A New Wave Halloween/Christmas
(Rhino 1994) Out of Print CDs

A New Wave Halloween
01. Rocky Horror Cast - The Time Warp
02. Ministry - Everyday Is Halloween
03. B-52’s - Devil In My Car
04. Oingo Boingo - Dead Man’s Party
05. Ramones - Pet Sematary
06. MX-80 Sound - Theme From Halloween
07. Comateens - The Munsters Theme
08. Dave Edmunds - The Creature From The Black Lagoon
09. Siouxsie & The Banshees - Halloween
10. Dream Syndicate - Halloween
11. Sonic Youth - Halloween
12. Dead Kennedys - Halloween
13. Misfits - Halloween
14. Mudhoney- Halloween
15. Roky Erickson & The Aliens - Creature With The Atom Brain

A New Wave Christmas
01. Three Wise Men - Thanks For Christmas
02. Squeeze - Christmas Day
03. Pogues - Fairytale Of New York
04. Los Lobos - Rudolph The Manic Reindeer
05. Pretenders - 2000 Miles
06. hrowing Muses - Santa Claus
07. Miracle Legion - Little Drummer Boy
08. Root Boy Slim & Sex Change Band w/Rootettes - Xmas At K-Mart
09. David Bowie & Bing Crosby - Peace On Earth/Little Drummer Boy
10. Captain Sensible - One Christmas Catalogue
11. Timbuk 3 - All I Want For Christmas
12. Wall Of Voodoo - Shouldn’t Have Given Him A Gun For Christmas
13. They Might Be Giants - Santa’s Beard
14. Buzz Of Delight - Christmas
15. Chris Stamey Group - Christmas Time
16. Sun 60 - Mary Xmess
17. Mono Puff - Careless Santa

File Under: New Wave
RIYL: New Wave

Here’s the two missing volumes from this mondo new wave set. The other volumes can be found here.

Wiki: Just Can’t Get Enough: New Wave Hits of the ‘80s is a series of compilations issued by Rhino Records, on both CD and audio cassette, featuring various artists from the new wave era 1979-1985. The series contained 15 volumes. The first five were released on 21 June 1994, volumes 6-10 on 18 October 1994, and the last five volumes on 20 June 1995. Rhino Records discontinued the series, due to rights issues and with no future plans to re-release them. Many of the songs in the series are mastered from the 7” single masters. The series includes some songs making their first CD appearance (in some rare cases, their only CD appearance).

A New Wave Halloween
A New Wave Christmas

02. Ministry - Everyday Is Halloween

12. Wall Of Voodoo - Shouldn’t Have Given Him A Gun For Christmas

MANDO DIAO - Sheepdog (video)

2011-09-06T08:09:00.000-04:00

Good one from their first album, Bring'em In.

THE STAR SPANGLES - Bazooka!

2011-09-02T10:34:00.001-04:00

The Star Spangles - Bazooka!
(Capitol 2003) Out of Print CD

01. I Live for Speed
02. Which of the Two of Us Is Gonna Burn This House Down?
03. Angela
04. I Don’t Wanna Be Crazy Anymore
05. Stay Away From Me
06. I’ll Get Her Back
07. L.A.
08. Science Fiction/Science Fact
09. If We Can’t Be Lovers
10. In Love Again
11. Crime of the Century
12. Stain Glass Shoes
13. The Party

File Under: Punk, Garage, Indie
RIYL: Hives, Strokes, Stooges, New York Dolls, The Replacements

Alright... seems like I have a little garage punk them rolling here... so here’s the Star Spangles. If I remember correctly, the thing that turned me on to these guys was a review that said "Which of the Two of Us Is Gonna Burn This House Down? is the best Replacements song not by The Replacements." And considering The Replacements are probably one of my favorite all-time bands, I had to check it. And damn if they weren't right. The track smokes! I could actually picture the Mats on stage making a wreck of this. Brilliant. Give this NY bunch a try, you'll probably like it.

AMG: On their debut album Bazooka!!!, the Star Spangles mix of the poppier side of late-’70s punk with the college rock and power pop of the early and mid-’80s, borrowing from such luminaries as the Only Ones, Cheap Trick, and the Replacements. It’s hard to fault a band for having such good taste in music, but for most of the album it feels like the Star Spangles are more focused on re-creating the greatest hits of their record collections instead of crafting something distinctive from their influences. Indeed, the album features a straightforward cover of “Crime of the Century,” originally by Gang War, a collaboration between the New York Dolls’ Johnny Thunders and the MC5’s Wayne Kramer; the relative obscurity of the song wins the band some credibility points, but “I’ll Get Her Back,” which is basically a rewrite of the Hoodoo Gurus’ classic “I Want You Back,” promptly deducts them. More troubling than the fact that the Star Spangles’ debut features one-and-a-half covers is that those songs happen to be among the album’s most distinctive tracks. The band’s songs revolve around girls, rock, hanging out, and rebelling -- the purest elements of rock songwriting -- but instead of sounding timeless, songs like “I Live for Speed,” “Angela,” and “Science Fiction/Science Fact” end up sounding contrived. Sometimes, though, the Star Spangles’ scruffy charm is winning enough to override the fact that most of it is borrowed: “Which of the Two of Us Is Gonna Burn This House Down” may have its loping rhythms and singalong/shoutalong choruses on loan from the Replacements, but it’s still appealing in its own right; likewise, the sweetly awkward ballad “In Love Again” and tougher songs like “Stay Away From Me” and “If We Can’t Be Lovers” hint at a more personal voice emerging in the band’s music. For most of Bazooka!!!, the Star Spangles sound like a rowdy bar band just playing a set of songs they love. That’s both a blessing and a curse, but it’s possible that the earnestness the band displays on this album will make their next one more distinctive.

Not exactly like their fashionably cool post-grunge counterparts, The Star Spangles are equally appealing when it comes to presentation--musically and personally--for these New York hood rats give enough guff and swagger a plenty with their own garage-rock sound. The Star Spangles, which is comprised of vocalist Ian Wilson, guitarist Tommy Volume, bass player Nick Price, and drummer Joey Valentine, initially came together when Wilson and Volume met in the ninth grade. The upstate small-town of Brewster was beyond boredom for the two friends and grunge had already had its way, so they decided to do something about it. They moved to Manhattan and basically starved while writing songs. They frequently borrowed amps and other instruments, for Wilson and Volume didn’t own any equipment, but as luck would have it they made their debut appearance at the Gershwin Hotel in 1998. Three years later and a little fatter, The Star Spangles welcomed the Czech-born Valentine and Price, a kid from New Hampshire. On a strict diet of pizza, beer and The Ramones, The Star Spangles got their stuff together to record a single. “I Can’t Be With You” was issued on the Spanish label, Muenster and shortly thereafter, the rowdy foursome impressed the majors. Capitol inked them a deal in summer 2002 and after three U.K. tours, The Star Spangles headed into the studio to work with Ramones producer Daniel Rey. The end result was the sweltering, rough-edged debut Bazooka!!!, which appeared in August 2003.

The Star Spangles - Bazooka!

02. Which of the Two of Us Is Gonna Burn This House Down?

SATELLITERS - Lost In Time (video)

2011-09-02T10:08:00.000-04:00

This is brilliant! Fake 60s video and all. Satelliters are out of Germany and make some really top garage/mod sounds. You can grab one of their albums here.

THEE ATTACKS - That's Mister Attack To You

2011-09-01T12:05:00.001-04:00

Thee Attacks - That's Mister Attack To You
(Crunchy Frog 2010) Hard to find CD/ Japan Only?

01. Love In Disguise
02. Can You Do It
03. Won't Break Me
04. Le Freak
05. Shelter
06. Rip My Heart Out
07. Love In The City
08. On The Move
09. Red Light
10. It's Alright
11. Twirling Around
12. Are You?

File Under: Garage,Indie, Rock, Mod
RIYL: The Hives, The Who

I usually don't post stuff this new, but this disc is hard to find ($35 import!) - and it rocks. some dirty rock and garage. Check it out!

MOJO: Thee Attacks are a mod-looking four-piece from Aalborg in north Denmark. Soulful vocals complement a '65-era Townshend guitarist, who whacks out Have Love, Will Travel-style riff after riff. So good - and with no covers - they'll easily move beyond the garage and could crossover to become a successor to The Hives. Primitivist über-producer Liam Watson is here and smiling along.

Thee Attacks - That's Mister Attack To You

01. Love In Disguise

DANDY WARHOLS - Godless (video)

2011-09-01T11:24:00.000-04:00

I listened to this about three times in a row on my bus commute this morning. Creepy video, but the song has a nice mellow, morning groove.

UPDATED LINKS:

2011-09-01T08:33:00.002-04:00

Cowboy Nation - A Journey Out Of Time
Oasis - Live At Metro
Coloursound - 8-Track Demos

MENSWEAR - Hay Tiempo!

2011-08-31T08:49:00.001-04:00

Menswear - Hay Tiempo!
(Polydor Japan 1998) Out of Print CD - Japan Only Release

01. Every Sounds a Melody
02. Wait for the Sun
03. Silver Tongue
04. Lower Loveday
05. Shine
06. Coming Home
07. I'll Sing for You
08. Inside the Dream
09. Holding Tight
10. Tomorrow

File Under: Britpop, Indie
RIYL: Gene, Bluetones, Cast, Oasis

Menswear were never really taken seriously and considered more of a guilty pleasure than Britpop contenders. They took the best parts of Blur, Oasis and Pulp and spit them back out on their first album Nuisance (which holds up a lot better than many acclaimed releases of the era). They were viewed as being more about fashion than music and by the time they got around to their sophomore album three years later, they had been dropped by everyone except their Japanese distributor/label. So many have never heard Hay Tiemo! If you're looking for more Britpop, move along. This album could not be further away from their debut. Gone are the glam aspects to be replaced by more traditional rock elements. This release has more in common with Ocean Colour Scene's more mellow songs than the glam of Suede. Shine even reminds me a little of The Verve. Give it a listen...

AMG: To most, Menswear's 1996 one-off single We Love You was the band's swan song. However, despite being dropped by their record company in every country but Japan, Menswear still managed to release their second album, Hay Tiempo, in that country. This record, however, was hardly what anyone would expect from them. More or less abandoning their stylized, loud pop formula, Hay Tiempo is much more rooted in trad rock, with no less than three five-plus minute opuses in the middle of a ten-song cycle. The disc is a textbook sophomore slump; Menswear was essentially a singles band, yet there are not many standout tracks here. The more aggressive songs, for the most part, sound bland and uninspired, with the sole exception of "Waiting for the Sun," which evokes some of the joys found in their debut. The songs that do stand out are mostly the ballads, like the orchestral opener "Every Sound's a Melody" and the excellent "Coming Home," essentially a rewrite of the previous album's "Being Brave." "Coming Home" is not only the best track on the album, but was unfortunately also the band's subtle wave goodbye; shortly after the release of Hay Tiempo they permanently disbanded. This disc does have a few virtues, however, the most notable being that it does, surprisingly, hold up better upon repeat listens. This alone makes it a worthwhile buy for hardcore fans of the band, even though the price and relative obscurity of each copy is a sizable obstacle. Hay Tiempo may not have been the best way for Menswear to say goodbye, but it is a set of ten songs that may please die-hard fans.

Menswear signed a record contract before they played more than five gigs. That alone tells you everything you need to know about the band. Menswear were an outgrowth of the post-Blur pop scene in London, England, a group of charming, handsome young men that wanted to be in a pop group more than they wanted to play music. Consequently, they received their fair share of detractors, but the band weathered the storm, becoming one of the most popular Brit-pop bands of 1995.

The members of Menswear -- vocalist Johnny Dean (b. December 12, 1971), guitarist Simon White, guitarist Chris Gentry (b. February 23, 1977), bassist Stuart Black, and drummer Matt Everett -- told everyone around Camden, London that they were in a band before they had actually rehearsed. Toward the end of 1994, they decided to actually start playing music, choosing the name Menswear and writing Elastica and Blur-inspired pop songs.

The group's first single, "I'll Manage Somehow," received good notices in the NME and Melody Maker, and their second single, "Daydreamer," peaked at number 14.

Menswear - Hay Tiempo!

05. Shine

THE LAST SHADOW PUPPETS - The Age of the Understatement (video)

2011-08-31T08:19:00.000-04:00

Alex Turner (Arctic Monkeys) & Miles Kane (The Rascals) are The Last Shadow Puppets. I think I actually like this album more than any release by their proper bands. These songs have a larger scope and sound much more... epic. This track almost reminds me of a spaghetti western.

JUST CAN'T GET ENOUGH : New Wave Hits of the 80s (Vol. 1-15)

2011-08-30T08:29:00.011-04:00

Just Can’t Get Enough : New Wave Hits of the 80s
(Rhino 1994) Out of Print CDs

Full track list HERE

File Under: New Wave
RIYL: New Wave

Here's another huge set of 80s new wave, post-punk and about everything in between. Like most collections, this can be spotty, but there is more than enough quality here to make it worth your while.

Wiki: Just Can’t Get Enough: New Wave Hits of the ‘80s is a series of compilations issued by Rhino Records, on both CD and audio cassette, featuring various artists from the new wave era 1979-1985. The series contained 15 volumes. The first five were released on 21 June 1994, volumes 6-10 on 18 October 1994, and the last five volumes on 20 June 1995. Rhino Records discontinued the series, due to rights issues and with no future plans to re-release them. Many of the songs in the series are mastered from the 7” single masters. The series includes some songs making their first CD appearance (in some rare cases, their only CD appearance).

Just Can’t Get Enough : New Wave Hits of the 80s, Vol. 1
Just Can’t Get Enough : New Wave Hits of the 80s, Vol. 2
Just Can’t Get Enough : New Wave Hits of the 80s, Vol. 3
Just Can’t Get Enough : New Wave Hits of the 80s, Vol. 4
Just Can’t Get Enough : New Wave Hits of the 80s, Vol. 5
Just Can’t Get Enough : New Wave Hits of the 80s, Vol. 6
Just Can’t Get Enough : New Wave Hits of the 80s, Vol. 7
Just Can’t Get Enough : New Wave Hits of the 80s, Vol. 8
Just Can’t Get Enough : New Wave Hits of the 80s, Vol. 9
Just Can’t Get Enough : New Wave Hits of the 80s, Vol. 10
Just Can’t Get Enough : New Wave Hits of the 80s, Vol. 11
Just Can’t Get Enough : New Wave Hits of the 80s, Vol. 12
Just Can’t Get Enough : New Wave Hits of the 80s, Vol. 13
Just Can’t Get Enough : New Wave Hits of the 80s, Vol. 14
Just Can’t Get Enough : New Wave Hits of the 80s, Vol. 15

Vol. 10 - Track 3: RED ROCKERS - China

THE REPLACEMENTS - Another Girl, Another Planet (video)

2011-08-30T08:00:00.000-04:00

Tommy Stinsons has a new album out today - One Man Mutiny. Check it out. This is a cover of the great, should-have-been big late 70s early 80s band The Only Ones.

MARION - Are You Missing Her

2011-08-29T09:09:00.000-04:00

Marion - Are You Missing Her

March 1996 | Melkweg, Amsterdam, Holland
01. I Stopped Dancing
02. The Only Way
03. Wait
04. Time
05. Vanessa
06. Sparkle
07. Your Body Lies
08. The Collector
09. Let’s All Go Together
10. Toys For Boys
11. Sleep
12. Fallen Through

January 1996 | Maida Vale Studios, London
13. All For Love
14. Time
15. Sparkle
16. Fallen Through

April 1996 | Maida Vale Studios, London
17. Your Body Lies
18. The Collector

File Under: Britpop, Indie, Glam
RIYL: Suede, Manic Street Preachers, Gene, The Smiths, Mansun

Had some really good response from my previous Marion post so here are some live shows I tracked down awhile ago. Nice radio broadcast quality. Look for their second and final album, The Program soon. Enjoy...

AMG: After a string of slightly inconsistent singles, Marion pulled it all together for This World and Body, a fiery and thrilling blast of rock with some fine hints of delicacy cropping up throughout. The neo-Smiths comparison that the band won for itself -- and just as arguably created for itself -- makes a certain sense, mainly through the guitar work. Grantham and Cunningham combine into a fine team, and if together it’s not quite Johnny Marr reborn, the two balance full, blasting riffs, clipped rhythm sections, and abbreviated, crisp soloing, acoustic and electric guitars both regularly used. It’s not so original that it’s immediately recognizable, but it’s really good, inspired playing from both track for track that draws on any number of styles to make a great end result. The rhythm section is agreeably frenetic as well, Mousa’s drumming a clear step above timekeeping thrash and bash. Harding is another matter -- while there’s no doubting his sheer bravura and desire to throw himself into his singing, sometimes the effect is unpleasant. “Let’s All Go Together,” which should be a totally triumphant charge, is almost ruined by his extreme yelping of his lyrics in the verses, a clear case of loving his voice not too wisely but too well (the overwrought words don’t help much). Other examples could be cited, but thankfully it’s not endemic through This World and Body; often the band, helped by Al Clay’s solid, lively production, and Harding combine just right. The re-recorded “Sleep” makes the best case for the album and band, the musicians bursting with energy right from the opening riff to the galloping conclusion, Harding riding the song with vim and controlled passion. Other definite highlights working seeking out include “Your Body Lies,” which shows Harding can tone things down where appropriate, and the moody crawl into louder thrash of “All for Love.”

One of the might-have-beens of the mid-’90s Britpop explosion, Marion made for a slightly inconsistent but often quite striking band. Based out of Manchester, the five-piece took declared inspiration from earlier musical giants of the city such as Joy Division and the Smiths (in the case of the latter, to the extent where they recruited that band’s old manager Joe Moss to handle their affairs). Strong hints of older rock & roll crept in as well, from the Beatles to the Buzzcocks, making for a sometimes captivating blend topped off by frontman Jaime Harding’s passionate (almost to a fault) singing. Harding and guitarists Phil Cunningham and Tony Grantham had known each other since they were teenagers, but Marion as a “proper” group only began in 1993. Drummer Murad Mousa, an acquaintance of the three, and bassist Julian Philips, later replaced by Nick Gilbert, filled out the original lineup of the group. Early singles via Rough Trade and other labels, as well as an increasingly high profile series of opening slots for the likes of Morrissey and Radiohead, lead to a full deal with London Records. Possibly pushing the Smiths connection a bit, some pre-album singles were recorded with Stephen Street, but Al Clay did the production honors on their debut This World and Body, which appeared in 1996.

While the album made a minor splash and the group gained a reasonable enough profile, even winning an American release for This World and Body, at the end of 1996, Marion withdrew into the studio to record its follow-up The Program, which ended up not appearing until late 1998. In perhaps the ultimate sign of a tribute back, Johnny Marr produced The Program, but neither the album nor its associated singles made a splash in the now-imploded Britpop music scene, though the band pulled off a well-received series of festival appearances. The quintet even did a one-off concert in Los Angeles due to the passion of fans based out on the West Coast, but 1999 saw only a series of confusing rumors regarding a new American deal surfacing and the departure of Grantham. By the middle of that year, Marion had essentially collapsed with the formal announcement that the members had all gone their separate ways. Grantham’s next projected effort was termed Chalk, while Harding kept the rights to the Marion name and set about forming a new band with guitarist Wayne Ward. As of early 2001, however, nothing has been heard from Marion Mark Two.

Marion - Are You Missing Her

09. Let’s All Go Together

CANDIE PAYNE - One More Chance (video)

2011-08-29T08:56:00.000-04:00

The last post before I took a hiatus was Candie Payne. Here's another track. I really Like this album a lot - Dusty, Mod, 60s, eyeliner and a sweet voice. Nice. Unfortunately, her 2007 album I Wish I could Have Loved You More was the only thing she has released. In 2010, she formed The Big House with guitarist Paul Molloy of The Zutons. AFAIK they have not released any music yet.

MATERIAL ISSUE - Grant Park 1991

2011-08-26T12:15:00.001-04:00

Material Issue - Grant Park 1991

July 4, 1991 - Grant Park, Chicago, IL
01. Introduction
02. International Pop Overthrow
03. Chance Of A Lifetime
04. The Loneliest Heart
05. Renee Remains The Same
06. The Very First Lie
07. Crazy
08. Diane
09. Valerie Loves Me
10. Ballroom Blitz

File Under: Power Pop, College Rock, Indie
RIYL: Cheap Trick, Weezer, Matthew Sweet

I was lucky enough to see Material Issue three times; once in a club, once in a bar where they played unannounced after a show and once on New Years Eve in Chicago. I’ve never been the biggest fan of power pop (I still don’t get Big Star - and I’ve tried), but these guys were always a lot of fun. This venue and date is probably more famous for being the last ever live performance of The Replacements. Material Issue and NRBQ were the openers and all three sets were broadcast on WXRT radio. Vocalist Jim Ellison committed suicide five years later...

AMG: Chicago power pop trio Material Issue married the tight and melodic commercial appeal of acts like Cheap Trick and the Knack with the jangly guitars and cockiness of early-’90s Britpop. Formed in the late ‘80s as a songwriting vehicle for guitarist/lead singer Jim Ellison, the band included bassist Ted Ansani and drummer Mike Zelenko. In 1987, after doing time in and around the Windy City club scene, the group released an eponymous EP that resulted in a contract with Mercury Records. Their major-label debut, the rock-solid International Pop Overthrow, found itself a place on modern rock radio with the raucous single “Valerie Loves Me,” and thrust the group to the front of the burgeoning alternative rock movement. Produced by ex-Shoes member Jeff Murphy, the album’s electrifying blend of teen angst and rock & roll confidence won over critics and fans alike, resulting in the band’s immediate return to the studio to craft their follow-up, 1992’s Destination Universe. Once again produced by Murphy, DU didn’t sell nearly as well, despite being almost identical to their impressive debut.

In 1994 the band released the excellent -- and sadly underrated -- Freak City Soundtrack. Produced by Mike Chapman (Blondie, the Knack, Sweet) and featuring a guest appearance by Cheap Trick’s Rick Nielsen, it seemed that Ellison and crew could do no wrong in critics’ eyes, yet the public remained oblivious, prompting their inevitable departure from Mercury. Polygram put out the live album Goin’ Through Your Purse that same year, and the band began recording what was to become their final album. Telecommando Americano was released posthumously by Rykodisc in 1997, just one year after Jim Ellison committed suicide in his garage by poisoning himself with the carbon monoxide from his moped.

Material Issue - Grant Park 1991

08. Diane

THE TEARS - Refugees (video)

2011-08-26T09:07:00.001-04:00

After the demise of Suede, Brett Anderson and Bernard Butler put aside their differences to release an album of new music as The Tears. It's a fantastic album (IMO) and gives a glimpse where Suede may have gone if Butler stayed with the band. As one of the first Britpop bands, it's interesting to consider who Suede have influenced over the years - Mansun, Marion, Gene, Menswear, Placebo, etc...

MARION - This World and Body

2011-08-25T08:24:00.000-04:00

Marion - This World And Body
(London/Mercury 1995) Out of Print CD

01. Fallen Through
02. Sleep
03. Let’s All Go Together
04. Wait
05. The Only Way
06. I Stopped Dancing
07. All For Love
08. Toys For Boys
09. Time
10. Vanessa
11. Your Body Lies
12. My Children

File Under: Britpop, Indie, Glam
RIYL: Suede, Manic Street Preachers, Gene, The Smiths, Mansun

Here’s another album I bought before hearing any of the music. This was one of my free selections from BMG Music Club. I used to join those all the time. Buy one get eight free then cancel and do it again. This was one of their suggestions where if you like that you might like this. I liked that so I got this. And I did like it! This is much more on the glam/rock side of Britpop and opposed to the more classic dadrock of Oasis. It’s a shame they only released two albums, but it sounds like chemical abuse may have played a part in their demise. Especially considering their second and final album is called The Program. Look for that one soon.

AMG: After a string of slightly inconsistent singles, Marion pulled it all together for This World and Body, a fiery and thrilling blast of rock with some fine hints of delicacy cropping up throughout. The neo-Smiths comparison that the band won for itself -- and just as arguably created for itself -- makes a certain sense, mainly through the guitar work. Grantham and Cunningham combine into a fine team, and if together it’s not quite Johnny Marr reborn, the two balance full, blasting riffs, clipped rhythm sections, and abbreviated, crisp soloing, acoustic and electric guitars both regularly used. It’s not so original that it’s immediately recognizable, but it’s really good, inspired playing from both track for track that draws on any number of styles to make a great end result. The rhythm section is agreeably frenetic as well, Mousa’s drumming a clear step above timekeeping thrash and bash. Harding is another matter -- while there’s no doubting his sheer bravura and desire to throw himself into his singing, sometimes the effect is unpleasant. “Let’s All Go Together,” which should be a totally triumphant charge, is almost ruined by his extreme yelping of his lyrics in the verses, a clear case of loving his voice not too wisely but too well (the overwrought words don’t help much). Other examples could be cited, but thankfully it’s not endemic through This World and Body; often the band, helped by Al Clay’s solid, lively production, and Harding combine just right. The re-recorded “Sleep” makes the best case for the album and band, the musicians bursting with energy right from the opening riff to the galloping conclusion, Harding riding the song with vim and controlled passion. Other definite highlights working seeking out include “Your Body Lies,” which shows Harding can tone things down where appropriate, and the moody crawl into louder thrash of “All for Love.”

One of the might-have-beens of the mid-’90s Britpop explosion, Marion made for a slightly inconsistent but often quite striking band. Based out of Manchester, the five-piece took declared inspiration from earlier musical giants of the city such as Joy Division and the Smiths (in the case of the latter, to the extent where they recruited that band’s old manager Joe Moss to handle their affairs). Strong hints of older rock & roll crept in as well, from the Beatles to the Buzzcocks, making for a sometimes captivating blend topped off by frontman Jaime Harding’s passionate (almost to a fault) singing. Harding and guitarists Phil Cunningham and Tony Grantham had known each other since they were teenagers, but Marion as a “proper” group only began in 1993. Drummer Murad Mousa, an acquaintance of the three, and bassist Julian Philips, later replaced by Nick Gilbert, filled out the original lineup of the group. Early singles via Rough Trade and other labels, as well as an increasingly high profile series of opening slots for the likes of Morrissey and Radiohead, lead to a full deal with London Records. Possibly pushing the Smiths connection a bit, some pre-album singles were recorded with Stephen Street, but Al Clay did the production honors on their debut This World and Body, which appeared in 1996.

While the album made a minor splash and the group gained a reasonable enough profile, even winning an American release for This World and Body, at the end of 1996, Marion withdrew into the studio to record its follow-up The Program, which ended up not appearing until late 1998. In perhaps the ultimate sign of a tribute back, Johnny Marr produced The Program, but neither the album nor its associated singles made a splash in the now-imploded Britpop music scene, though the band pulled off a well-received series of festival appearances. The quintet even did a one-off concert in Los Angeles due to the passion of fans based out on the West Coast, but 1999 saw only a series of confusing rumors regarding a new American deal surfacing and the departure of Grantham. By the middle of that year, Marion had essentially collapsed with the formal announcement that the members had all gone their separate ways. Grantham’s next projected effort was termed Chalk, while Harding kept the rights to the Marion name and set about forming a new band with guitarist Wayne Ward. As of early 2001, however, nothing has been heard from Marion Mark Two.

Marion - This World And Body

02. Sleep

THE TOUCH - Shut Up and Dance (video)

2011-08-25T08:09:00.001-04:00

How does this even exist? This is a local band that played in my area when I was in high school in the early 80's. I used to work at McDonald's with the drummer and the guy on backing vocals! I always thought this was a really catchy pop-new wave song and used to play it at college parties after everyone had a beer or ten. No one knew who it was, but they always jumped around. This video and song takes me right back to 1984...

MUSSOLINI HEADKICK - Blood On The Flag

2011-08-24T10:57:00.000-04:00

Mussolini Headkick - Blood On The Flag
(Antler-Subway 1990) Out of Print CD

01. War Drum
02. Empire
03. Naked and Bleeding
04. Get Out
05. Kabul
06. Cracking Up
07. Holy War
08. Under the Eye
09. Homeland

File Under: EBM, Undustrial, Electronic
RIYL: Front 242, Nitzer Ebb, Nine Inch Nails, KMFDM

If you’ve followed this blog for any time, or just looked at the list on the left, you’ll see that my musical tastes are all over the place. I like a lot of different music. Most of it you don’t hear on the radio and you can’t buy at the mall. Musollini Headkick were one of those bands. I was really into the EBM/Industrial scene in the late 80s/early 90s. Whenever I’d visit Chicago I’d always hit up Club Neo, Exit and Aftermath. With the success of NIN every ‘heavy’ band tried to incorporate industrial rhythms into their sound - Motley Crue, Metallica and most washed up metal bands. It became harsher and more metal, forgetting the hypnotic rhythms that were the foundation of EBM (Electronic Body Music). The genre still exists, but in my opinion most of the bands are mundane or just regurgitating all that came before them.

AMG: Belgian/American industrial band, considered a bit more accessible than most bands in the genre. Members include the Revolting Cocks’ Luc Van Acker and King Butcher’s John Butcher. The lyrics, as can be inferred from the group’s name, are largely political, with a military bent. While there are the pounding beats and distorted, repeated vocals typical of industrial music, the band experiments with verse-chorus song structures on some tracks.

Mussolini Headkick - Blood On The Flag

01. War Drum

MARION - Fallen Through (video)

2011-08-24T10:28:00.000-04:00

Marion were a Manchester band that got lost in the crowd of the mid-90s Britpop explosion. They were more towards the Suede side of the isle than Oasis even thought they rocked slightly harder than Brett Anderson and Bernard Butler. They released two really good albums; This World and Body and The Program. It looks like they may both be out of print so maybe I'll try and post them soon.

PLANET OF THE APES - 1968 Soundtrack

2011-08-22T11:25:00.000-04:00

Planet of the Apes Original 1968 Soundtrack - Gerry Goldsmith
(Project 3 1968) Out Of Print CD Version

01. Main Title
02. The Search
03. The Clothes Snatchers
04. The Hunt
05. A New Mate
06. The Revelation
07. No Escape
08. New Identity
09. A Bid For Freedom
10. The Forbidden Zone
11. The Cave

File Under: Soundtracks, Planet of the Apes
RIYL: Instrumental, Soundtracks, Percussion

This is really off the beaten path... but I love it. I’ve been a huge fan of the PoTA series every since seeing it on television in the early 70’s. I’ve seen each move so many times, that when I listen to this soundtrack, I can picture what is happening on the screen. Beyond that, I think it’s some pretty cuting edge music with elements of ambient and some really impressive percussion. Even if you don’t like PoTA, check this out.

AMG: Jerry Goldsmith’s eerie, percussive, occasionally atonal score for the original 1968 Planet of the Apes is one of his best in a long career filled with great soundtracks (for not-always-as-great films). It manages to pull off the tricky feat of looking backward to a primitive past and forward to an apocalyptic future without sounding schizophrenic. Goldsmith would go on to score countless other science fiction, horror, neo-noir, and other films, including Chinatown, Star Trek: The Motion Picture, and The Omen, for which he received an Academy Award (Planet of the Apes represents but one of his many nominations). Unfortunately, this Project 3 edition is only 25 minutes and 43 seconds long, so it doesn’t offer much bang for the buck, although Goldsmith has claimed to prefer shorter soundtracks -- even if the tendency in recent decades has been toward longer ones (60 minutes and up). This edition also omits music credits and a track listing (other than on the disc itself), which makes 1997’s Varese Sarabande reissue the superior effort as it features newly remixed and remastered tracks from the original session tapes; previously unreleased material; Alfred Newman’s “Twentieth Century Fox Fanfare”; new cover art; liner notes by Charlton Heston (the film’s Taylor); and a suite from 1971 sequel, Escape from the Planet of the Apes. Intrada, Intercontinental, and Volcano have also released versions of the soundtrack, most of which feature 11 tracks to Project 3’s ten (which omits “The Hunt”). The Varese edition features 18 tracks (counting the fanfare and suite).

Planet of the Apes Original 1968 Soundtrack - Gerry Goldsmith

10. The Forbidden Zone

DONNIE IRIS & THE CRUISERS: Ah Leah! (video)

2011-08-22T10:57:00.000-04:00

One of the greatest pop/rock songs of the 80s. This was a huge regional hit in the Pittsburgh, PA area when I was growing up. Still a great song. I'm guessing this was recorded at The Blossom Music Center in Cuyahoga Falls, Ohio (Outside of Cleveland.

NEW MODEL ARMY - The "Roly" Instrumental Sessions - Archives Vol.7

2011-08-19T09:31:00.000-04:00

New Model Army - The “Roly” Instrumental Sessions
(Archive Collection Vol.7)

01. 24 Hours
02. Roly
03. Crash
04. Whirlwind
05. Ballad Of Bodmin Pill
06. 225
07. Archway Towers
08. Waiting
09. I Wish
10. Tension
11. Coasters
12. Lights Go Out
13. The Damn

File Under: College Rock, Folk-Punk, Indie
RIYL: Alarm, U2, Pogues, The Cult, The Clash

It’s Friday. Another collection of New Model Army demos. This will about wrap it up for the NMA Archives Collection.

AMG: New Model Army was formed in the Yorkshire town of Bradford in 1980. In keeping with the band’s intellectual bent, their name was taken from Oliver Cromwell’s antiroyalist military force, whose hierarchy was based on ability rather than social class, and which temporarily succeeded in toppling the monarchy in the mid-1600s. Early on, guitarist/vocalist/bandleader Justin Sullivan adopted the nom de punk Slade the Leveller, which despite its aggressive ring was an esoteric reference to the Levellers, a radical democratic faction of Cromwell associates. The concept for New Model Army grew out of a meeting between Sullivan and writer Joolz Denby, who went on to become a respected poet, novelist, and spoken word artist in her own right; the two also became lifelong romantic partners. Bassist Stuart Morrow was the first to sign on, and after a rotating succession of drummers, Rob Heaton became a permanent member, as well as Sullivan’s frequent songwriting partner. Denby, for her part, served as the band’s manager early on, and while the job ultimately proved too time-consuming, she continued to design the band’s cover art and occasionally provided backing vocals in the studio.

New Model Army - The “Roly” Instrumental Sessions (Archive Collection Vol.7)

08. Waiting

THE BLACK ANGELS - Bad Vibrations (video)

2011-08-19T09:21:00.000-04:00

Love these guys. Getting ready to see them next month. The first time I saw them was in a bar before their first album came out. I had their ep, which I really liked so I decided to check them out. There were maybe 30 people there. I'm sitting at the bar and I ask the guy next to me what time The Black Angels go on. He said "We are going on first, so probably in about 20 minutes." It was Alex Maas, the vocalist. He was excited that someone was actually there to see them and talked to me for about 20 minutes. I recorded the show and may post it if I get a chance. Check them out if you like garage/psych/drone.

THE CALL - Violent Times (live 1983)

2011-08-18T08:52:00.001-04:00

The Call - Violent Times

May 15, 1983, My Fathers Place, Roslyn, NY
01. Heavy Hand
02. Tremble
03. War Weary World
04. All About You
05. Turn A Blind Eye
06. Scene Beyond Dreams
07. Modern Romans
08. Who’s That Man
09. Back From The Front
10. The Walls Came Down
11. There’s A Heart Here
12. Destination

File Under: College Rock, Alternative, Passionate, Earnest
RIYL: U2, REM, Smithereens, Waterboys, Peter Gabriel

One of the most underrated bands of the 80s (or any period for that matter). I came upon this live recording recently and it is amazing. It sounds like an official release. About the only information I could find was that it was recorded by King Buscuit - so odds are it was originally a radio promo release. That being said, this is probably an era of their career that has been somewhat ignored. This was the tour for their second album, Modern Romans. You can really hear how they evolved over the years from almost slightly prog rock to more of an alternative rock. But you can also hear what’s on the horizon, especially with The Walls Came Down, their earliest ‘hit.’ I believe most of their catalog is out of print and the first three albums have never appeared on cd. Which is criminal IMO.

AMG: Despite great critical acclaim due to their literate, passionate rock; praise from some well-respected contemporaries; and a string of strong releases, the San Francisco band the Call never quite escaped cult status. The predicted breakthrough to a wider audience never quite materialized. Formed in the San Francisco area in 1980, the quartet, led by vocalist/guitarist Michael Been, released their self-titled debut in 1982 and earned positive reviews. The following year, the band issued Modern Romans and managed to broaden their fan base when “The Walls Came Down” became a minor hit single. In 1984, keyboardist Jim Goodwin replaced bass player Scott Freeman to round out the lineup for the release of Scene Beyond Dreams, which despite receiving more critical acclaim, failed to build on their commercial momentum. Reconciled followed in 1985 and featured guest appearances by Peter Gabriel (who had once referred to the band as “the future of American music”) and Robbie Robertson. Both “I Still Believe” and “Everywhere I Go” achieved significant airplay on college rock and AOR stations, giving a boost to the band’s profile.

The Call scaled back a bit from the anthemic feel of Reconciled for Into the Woods, but managed to score again at college rock outlets with the somber “In the River.” Been took time out from the band in 1988 to appear as the apostle John in Martin Scorcese’s Last Temptation of Christ. The band switched labels from Elektra to MCA in 1989, edging back into more radio-friendly territory with Let the Day Begin. The rousing title track became their biggest hit to date; topping the AOR charts and reaching number 51 on the pop charts, propelling the album to become their highest-charting release as well. Despite the success, when they returned with Red Moon, the Call had scaled back their sound, embracing an organic, more roots-oriented sound that recalled the Band (not surprising, as that act’s Garth Hudson and Robbie Robertson had both guested on earlier albums).

Perhaps their most mature and fully-realized album, Red Moon made little impact beyond the Call’s core audience (despite Bono lending vocals to “What’s Happened to You?”). Been tested the waters as a solo artist and released the harder-edged On the Verge of a Nervous Breakthrough in 1994, managing to gain a bit of airplay with “Us.” The Call was given the compilation treatment on a couple releases in the ‘90s, and reunited for Heaven & Back in 1997 and a tour. They subsequently issued a live record, Live Under the Red Moon, three years later. In 2010, Been died of a heart attack while touring (and working as a soundman) with Black Rebel Motorcycle Club, founded by his son Robert Levon Been.

The Call - Violent Times

10. The Walls Came Down

IC1s - Not Perfect (video)

2011-08-18T08:23:00.001-04:00

These guys are building a buzz in the UK. I don't think they have even released a single yet. But I like what I've heard so far.

60 Ft. DOLLS - The Big 3

2011-08-17T08:43:00.001-04:00

60 Ft. Dolls - The Big 3
(Geffen 1997) Out of Print CD

01. Happy Shopper
02. Stay
03. Pig Valentine
04. The One
05. Hair
06. Talk to Me
07. Streamlined
08. Loser
09. New Loafers
10. Good Times
11. No. 1 Pure Alcohol
12. Terminal Crash Fear
13. Buzz

File Under: Britpop, Indie, Punk
RIYL: Oasis, Buzzcocks, Cast, Stiff Little Fingers, The Rifles, The Enemy

There was a time in the 90s when I grabbed anything associated with Britpop. I was never a fan of grunge and to this day ahve never owned a Pearl Jam album. I read Q, NME and Melody Maker religiously - and that was paying the import price. I used to see this cd in the used/promo bins of my local indie music shop (Used Kids Records). I’d always pick it up and look at it because the cover looked so damn cool. It was finally marked down to $3 one day so I grab it. And I’m glad I did. It’s an album I still listen to frequently thirteen years later. It’s a little punkier than most of what would be considered Britpop at the time. But if you like the current wave of UK guitar bands like The Rifles and The Enemy, you’ll probably enjoy this.

AMG: 60 Ft. Dolls’ debut album The Big 3 is an unfocused but frequently invigorating collection of punk-pop. While the group doesn’t have the melodic exuberance of Ash or the wild, otherworldly sense of pop style of their Welsh contemporaries Super Furry Animals, 60 Ft. Dolls can rock very, very hard, bashing their chords out in a frenzy. Those three-chord romps are viscerally exciting, but the group is at their best when they slow the tempo down slightly and concentrate on writing songs as catchy as the Jam-like single “Stay.” Even with its inconsistent songs, The Big 3 shows considerable promise, and it’s refreshing to hear a young band in the late ‘90s rocking this hard with such little pretension.

The Welsh band 60 Ft. Dolls smacked themselves into the mid-’90s post-grunge surge and enjoyed moderate success in the U.K. They never fully got off the ground enough to mold something more defining. Hailing from the working-class suburb of Newport, Wales, Richard Parfitt (vocals/guitar) and Mike Cole (bass) met on the dole, striking up a friendship over music. Both shared an interest for the Who, the Clash, and the Jam, as well as a fondness for Motown, so the two opted to musically tinker around. Six months of playing around was a little shaky, but with the addition of drummer Carl Beven in 1993, 60 Ft. Dolls was complete. Beven, who is the son of Rockin’ Reverend Ray Beven, was a jazz and soul enthusiast and cited John Bonham and Keith Moon as influences. His style was a perfect mold to the punk-influenced trio, and together they built a rowdy following around Wales. “Happy Shopper” marked their debut single in 1994, and follow-ups such as “Pig Valentine” and “Stay” pushed them into the press. A year later, the 60 Ft. Dolls found themselves opening for Veruca Salt on the New Musical Express Brat Bus tour and a deal with DGC soon surfaced. The Big 3 was their proper studio full-length, issued on the U.K. label Indolent in 1996 and on DGC in the U.S. in 1997. Festival gigs across Europe consumed the 60 Ft. Dolls for the remainder of the year as well as small shows in North America. A second album Joya Magica was released in 1998 shortly before the 60 Ft. Dolls were dropped by Indolent. A year later, the band split.

60 Ft. Dolls - The Big 3

01. Happy Shopper