5/30/2011

SACRED COWBOYS - Trouble From Providence

SACRED COWBOYS Trouble From Providence cd 1988
Hell Sucks / Blood And Soil / Pacification Organisation / Canned Goods / 44 Blues / Sometimes / Love Factory Blues / Trouble From Providence / We Love You / Highway 61 Revisited / Nailed To The Cross° / Twisted Nerve* / Trouble From Providence (Acoustic Version) / Is Nothing Sacred* / I Am The Walrus*.
Produced by M. Ferrie & T. Doolan except ° produced by M. Armiger & Sacred Cowboys and ** produced by T. Cohen & Sacred Cowboys.
Sacred Cowboys: G. Gray: vocals / T. Doolan: guitars / M. Ferrie: guitars / N.Rischbieth: bass / S. Fidock: drums + M. Hoy (4, 8) & O. Olsen (8): backing vocals / Chris Wilson: (2, 5) / N. McCourt: organ Hammond & sitar: (3, 9) / A. Wednesday: Mirage Synthesis / J. Black: piano (3, 5).
Sacred Cowboys are an Australian rock band active live throughout the 1980s and 1990s,and 2000's.They began playing inner city Melbourne in early 1982. Gary Gray and Mark Ferrie thought of the name after watching "The Groovy Guru", an episode of the classic TV comedy series Get Smart. In it, the Groovy Guru and his rock band, the Sacred Cows, use psychedelic music to control the minds of young people. (The same episode was the inspiration for a Hoodoo Gurus song, "In The Echo Chamber" and Painters and Dockers covered Groovy Guru's "Kill Kill Kill".)
Within six months, the Sacred Cowboys signed with Mushroom Records/White Label and recorded the "Nothing Grows In Texas" single. After their performance of the song on television pop show Countdown, Molly Meldrum said: "this is the worst group I've seen in five years", a title the band wore with perverse pride.
The Cowboys Mark I also released a second single, a cover of Alex Chilton's "Bangkok", a self-titled EP on the White Label, a self-titled album on french label New Rose Rds, and a live/demo compilation named after a Rolling Stones cover, ""We Love You" on ManMade Rds.
After reforming in 1987, the Sacred Cowboys signed to Germany's Normal records and released the classic "Trouble From Providence" album. "Hell Sucks" was the hit from this album and became the Cowboys signature tune. The Sacred Cowboys began recording again in the 1990s. They released a "best of" CD EP called "Black City". The Australian edition of Rolling Stone magazine listed this as one of its Top 100 albums of the 20th century. The "Things To Come" album was released in 1996. Spencer Jones and Penny Ikinger joined Terry Doolan as the band's guitarists, both live and in the studio.
In 2005, the song "Hell Sucks" from "Trouble From Providence" was selected for Clinton Walker's compilation of classic Australian punk and post-punk music, "Inner City Sounds".
When the Cowboys reformed in August 2006, they played a series of shows in Melbourne, and put the finishing touches to the "Cold Harvest" album, which was released on Bang Records.
Founding 1982 members include Johnny Crash (drums) and Mark Ferrie (bass) who were both previously members of Melbourne pop band the Models; Terry Doolan (guitar); Andrew Picouleau (bass); and Ian Forrest (keyboards). Nick Reishbeth joined the group in 1983. In 1987 Stephan Fidock joined on drums.The band's lead singer and lyricist, Garry Gray was previously a member of The Reals (1975-76) and The Negatives (1977-79) and is the only constant in the band's history...
The 'Sacred Cowboys' ride again. G. Gray says: 'It's about time. The world is at high noon and there's gonna be a showdown.' Source: Wikipedia
Buy it HERE!

5/27/2011

HIDDEN CHARMS - Hidden Charms

HIDDEN CHARMS Hidden Charms mini lp 1985
How Do You Know? / I Guess I'm Fallin' In Love / Tip Of My Tongue / The Witch / Why Did You Leave Me? / Shotgun Rider / Girl After Girl / Take Your Clothes Off.
An Authentic production from the deep south of Sweden
Hidden Charms: P. Hägred: vocals, guitars / M. Gustavsson: vocals, guitars / T. Holst: bass / P. Norrman & Sticky Bomb: drums.
Special Thanks to 4-Eyed Thomas
Dedicated To Sky Saxon
The Hidden charms were another garage band of the mid 80's from Malmö in the South of Sweden. They have recorded two lp's: "Hidden Charms" (1985): a solid first lp of pure punk/rock/garage & "History" (1986) a more oriented powerpop album.You can also find the band on a few compilations that contributed to the succes of this nordic garage wave: "A Real Cool Time" (1985), "Raw Cuts - Vol 2 Swedish Beat" (1986), "What A Nice Way To Turn Seventeen" (1986), "Blast From The Hip To The Heart" (1986). Their influences: Little Walter, Them, Link Wray, Alex Chilton, Lyres, Sonics( they covered "The Witch" on the first lp), Roky Erickson & the Cramps for the first lp!
"...Hidden Charms idea of some fun is a shotgun wedding between blistering teen pop and wild rockabilly. They prove their point on a lovable unreleased remake of "Where The Rio De Rosa Flows" and a version of "The Witch" from their first mini album..." liner notes of "Raw Cuts - Vol 2 Swedish Beat"
"The Band took their name from a Howlin' Wolf song also recorded by Link Wray, which says a lot about their musical roots. Inspired by the madmen of rock & roll - from Jerry Lee Lewis to Mono Man - and forever in love with the teen bands of the 60's..." Liner notes from the lp "A Real Cool Time (Distorded Sounds From The North)" which contains an out-take track "Please Give Me Something" from the sessions which led to their first mini-album on Box Records.
Buy it HERE!
You can find "History" the second Hidden Charms album here, on the excellent Wilfully Obscure blog!

5/21/2011

CYRIL & ROY

Click on the picture to enlarge!
Thanks To Fabien for this poster!

5/20/2011

THE LONG GONES - Tear You Apart

THE LONG GONES Tear You Apart 7'' ep 2009
Tear You Apart / Down That Road Before / I'm Movin' On.
Recorded live October 2009 by Johhny Walker & Graig Fox.
The Long Gones: Bryan Dilsizian: vocals / Adam MacAllister: bass / Stace Keeney: guitar/ Andy Jody: drums + Peter Greenberg: guitar.
This record is coming out on Dec 3rd at a show The Long Gones were playing in Cincinnati. There are only 300 copies getting pressed and it will be on multi colored vinyl.
Playing guitar on this record is Peter Greenberg,who was in DMZ, The Lyres, The Customs.. etc...
This was his first studio recording since 1985.
"So there’s this laundromat in Cincinnati called Sudsy’s that has a bar and rock bands rockin’ nightly. The very notion is as all-American as you can get: clean face, icky innards, and cheap beer. Needless to say, it was the second place the Long Gones ever played. The first was a pool party, but we’ll assume that there was enough beer there – and probably free too – to qualify as a righteous premiere. One can only imagine the bruised, stained bikini-ed she-things that might’ve slunk up from Kentucky for a dip… But it was in the All Tempa-Cheer-less confines of Sudsy’s where this gang of greaseballs cut their teeth, and hands, and elbows, and probably a few teeth not their own. But it ain’t so much that the Long Gones were out to hurt anyone. It’s just that when they sprouted, ‘round February 1996, Cincinnati crowds thought the Afghan Whigs were the height of R’n’R, seemingly having forgotten that James Brown cut his earliest best sides down Queen City-way, and the Customs (Cinci’s main contribution to the obscuro-punk pantheon) cut up hooch-room rugs nearly two decades earlier. Okay, admittedly it had been awhile; and coming from one who follows crap-rock shit as if it mattered, Reds-ville has never exactly been a R’n’R hotbed. But the original four lads in the Long Gones had the vision to peer towards the state capital (look it up) and even to Detroit and NYC where a fuming fusion of Stooges riffs, Stones swish, Ramones ritual, and Dwarves crack was becoming the best bawdy thing going…and going fast. Once the Devil Dogs released "Saturday Night Fever", it was all kinda downhill after that, and the Long Gones won that race, while they lasted. They played dream gutter-rock gigs with the Candy Snatchers, the Oblivians, the Dirtys, Murder City Devils, Revelators, Problematics, Loudmouths, and more…A single, a great LP, "Prepare to Burn" on Shake It! (Buy It HERE!), and another guitarist making them a fearsome fivesome all led to one of the brightest blips in the underground punk timeline of late ‘90s garage garrrumph.


By the end of ’98, they were done. Purt much everything they taped – including the remastered album, singles, and unearthed live and demo blasts – can be had and heaved into your earhole via the fine, recently released compilation, "Highway Sound: 1996-1998 (Shake It!)" (Buy It HERE!). But like the jeans you throw in the wash again with vague hopes the stink will come out this time, the Long Gones returned in the fall of 2002. Sadly, two days before the first official reunion gig, guitarist Tom Kohne lost his battle with lymphoma cancer. Obviously down, the band let it go. The spin cycle kicked in again though in 2008. The Customs (whose ol' song “Long Gone” gave this here band its name), were kicking around a reunion idea themselves, and got the Long Gones to do the same. Now, the new streamlined four-piece is back looking to record, booking to gig, and once again hanging most garage punk bands out to dry." Eric Davidson

Buy it HERE !

5/17/2011

CHEROKEES - Rock'n'Roll Control

CHEROKEES Rock'n'Roll Control 7'' 1987
Rock'n'Roll Control / Lookin' At You (live)
Produced by Andy Levine.
From the album"Scalping In The Streets"
The Cherokees (1985/1994) were a punk rock band from Paris.They have recorded two singles & three albums (Scalping In The Streets, Gumbopan & Winchester 73).
Their singer Suspense (aka P. Emery) who has left the band after the lp"Gumbopan" has recorded an excellent solo album
"Rubberband" (1991 Houlala/Bondage Rds) in L.A. Under the name of Suspense, he is also involved with succes since 1996 in Ultra Orange, an electro rock pop band.
Buy it HERE!

CHEROKEES - Cherokee Beat

CHEROKEES Cherokee Beat ep 1985
Sometimes / Do I Need You / Around The Word / Misery.
Recorded by Gil Spectrol.
Cherokees: Boris Cherokee: bass / Suspense Cherokee: vocals / Patrick Cherokee: guitar / Fred Cherokee: guitar / Denis Cherokee: tom-tom.
Hey kids! Voici un combo qui va vous commotionner les idées, vous faire trembler les hanches et vous remettre le Beat là où il faut. A Paname comme ailleurs la guerre est déclarée: ça sentait l'ail et le tabac brun, ça sent le brûlé.
A Beatdom les Cherokees sont les freaks les plus cinglés et les plus dévastateurs...
Mmmmh! QUEL GROOVE!
Alors rock and roll fans tenez-vous prêts, fouillez profond dans vos poches et restez cools:
Le CHEROKEE BEAT est né. Gil Spectrol, liner notes.

Cherokees circa 1985
Buy It HERE !

5/15/2011

THE SKUNKS - The Skunks

THE SKUNKS The Skunks (aka the Purple Album) lp 1982
Questions For Laura / Hurt / Quiet Girl / Let's Get Twisted / For Your Love / You Really Know How To Put The Pressure On / Telewoman / Still The Same / Jesse 's Not Like The Other Boys / Gimme Some.
Produced by Earle Mankey.
The Skunks: J. Sublett: vocals, bass / D. Murray: guitar / G. Murray: drums.
The Skunks were a three-piece rock band formed in 1977 in Austin, Texas.
The band debuted in early 1978 and quickly became a mainstay of the Austin, Texas scene, playing not only venues known for having an open-minded clientele,
but clubs whose audiences crossed the spectrum, including the Armadillo World Headquarters, the Continental Club, Dukes Royal Coach, Club Foot, Liberty Lunch,
and Raul's among many others in the late 1970s and early 80s. The band's music channeled classic garage rock influences, such as The Rolling Stones and The Who with Seventies cult figures such as the New York Dolls and The Velvet Underground, infused with a powerful guitar attack and Sublett's active, up-front electric bass, The Skunks sound is best represented by songs like "Cheap Girl" and "Push Me Around", both of which appeared on the first Austin punk compilation album "Live at Raul's".
The Skunks debuted at Raul's club in February 1978. The original band members were Jesse Sublett on vocals and bass, "Fazz" Eddie Munoz on guitar and Billy Blackmon on drums. After recording their first eponymous album, the so-called "Black LP," Eddie Munoz left for Los Angeles at the end of 1978 and joined The Plimsouls. Jon Dee Graham replaced him on guitar in January 1979, thus forming the definitive Skunks lineup. Their first single release, "Earthquake Shake," was recorded for $10. Copies are known to fetch hundreds of dollars when they appear at auction.

The Skunks were inducted into the Austin Music Hall of Fame in 2008.
Co-Headlining their opening gig at Raul's with a band called The Violators which featured, along with Jesse Sublett, Kathy Valentine who would later join the Go-Go's, Carla Olson and Marilyn Dean. The Skunks and The Violators are generally recognized as Austin's first two punk bands and this gig as the first Austin punk show. The core fan base that formed around Raul's would provide the alternative voice in an evolving Austin music scene that would eventually call its base "The Live Music Capital Of The World," spawning the SXSW and ACL festivals. Some of the other Austin connected punk bands sprouting from this scene included The Explosives, The Dicks, The Huns, The Big Boys, Terminal Mind, Sharon Tate's Baby, and The Butthole Surfers.One of the first Austin punk bands to tour nationally, The Skunks played CBGB's in August 1979 and Max's Kansas City in 1980 and opened for such national and international acts as The Ramones , The Police, Gang Of Four, Ultravox, The Clash, John Cale, The Cramps and many others. During their sets they were often joined on stage by touring artists such as Elvis Costello, Patti Smith, Joe Ely,as well as members of The Clash, Cheap Trick and Blondie.
Founders Jesse Sublett and Eddie Munoz initially played together in the glam blues band Jelly Roll from 1975 to 1977 before recruiting Billy Blackmon and forming the initial lineup of The Skunks. After Munoz's departure in 1978 he was replaced on guitar by Jon Dee Grahm who remained with the band until the summer of 1980 and was replaced by Doug Murray, formerly of Terminal Mind. Blackmon left the band in 1982 and was replaced on drums by Doug Murray's brother, Greg Murray, a lineup that lasted only until 1983 when Jesse fired them and dissolved the band during pre-production of the band's second LP on Republic Records. The Murrays had only received a lukewarm reception from The Skunks core audience.

Austin rock critic M.Moser writes: "In Austin’s punk rock history book, the Skunks are the first page. From the time they played the original alt-rock nightspot, Raul’s, through lineup changes that eventually brought them right back to the beginning, this trio toughed it out. Bassist Jesse Sublett, guitarist Jon Dee Graham, and drummer Billy Blackmon’s muscular power punk is still as potent and danceable now as it was 20 years ago."
Jesse reunited what is considered the classic lineup of Sublett, Graham, and Blackmon in 1985 for a reunion show at Austin's Liberty Lunch. Starting in 2000 this lineup began playing annual reunion gigs at The Continental Club in Austin, Texas. Source
More about the Skunks HERE !
Buy it HERE !

THE GIMMIES - Auto Shut Off...Any Questions?

THE GIMMIES Auto Shut Off....Any Questions cd 2002
Dirty Trick / Not So Easy / Sixties / Give It Up / Boys Can't Stand It / Down To Me / Pretty Flamingo / Sister's Accuse / Shakin' With Her / Beat Me Out / Till You're Down / Get It Right Now / Get Off The Phone (bonus track).
Produced by Matt, Patch & The Gimmies.
The Gimmies: Sora Shitty: vocals, guitar / Kawave: guitar, vocal / Kim: bass, backing vocal / J.J.: drums.
"From Japan comes another onslaught of in your face rock ‘n’ roll. The screaming guitars tap into the Detroit sounds of The Stooges and the MC5..."
"The Gimmies are rock action personified with screaming guitars that tap into the Detroit tradition of the Stooges & MC5 and matched by a cockiness that would put The Pretty Things to shame. Combined with their love of Australian garage rock and their English-as-a-second-language-lyrics, they twist rock music into shrapnel only matched by their Japanese brethren Guitar Wolf, Teengenerate and the King Brothers..."
"The Gimmies live are an adrenalin addiction – take the chance to plug into their power..."
This is the first album of the Gimmies recorded in 2002 on the japanese label Stars Jet Rds & with"Get Off The Phone" like bonus track ! These gentlemen have good taste, for sure...
Buy it HERE!

HOLY CURSE : This could be the Last Time !!!

Après près de 20 ans de bons (pas toujours) et loyaux (toujours) services, The Holy Curse part pour une tournée hexagonale qui pourrait bien être la dernière.
Depuis le temps où vous vous dites "Ah j'irai les voir la prochaine fois", cette fois, ça y est, la prochaine fois est arrivée !
Si nous ne passons pas prés de chez vous, nous en sommes désolés, ce n'est pas par snobisme (car nous avons eu plaisir à jouer dans toutes les régions de France) mais plus par manque de temps et aussi parce qu'il est de plus en plus difficile de trouver des endroits où jouer dans des conditions conformes à ce que vous et nous attendons de la musique.
Les dates et les lieux de la tournée sont à la fin de cet e mail.
Le groupe espère vous voir une fois, deux fois, autant de fois que vous voulez, nous serons disponibles pour signer notre nouvel album ("Take It As It Comes" cd ou lp 6 titres à acheter
ICI), mais aussi pour nous faire prendre en photo avec vous au cas où vous voudriez profiter de votre bon de reduction chez Photobox pour la confection d'un mug ou d'une boule pour la fête des pères.
Si vous nous payez une bière, on la boira aussi avec plaisir car nous essayons de toujours contenter nos fans.
Bon trêve de conneries.
A très bientôt et en attendant, let the good times roll

THE HOLY CURSE LAST CALL FOR DRINKS TOUR

-Jeudi 19 Mai, Les Valseuses, Lannion (22) avec Ultrabullit
-Vendredi 20 Mai, Mondo Bizarro, Rennes (35) avec Ultrabullit
-Samedi 21 Mai, El Camino, Caen(14) avec Ultrabullit et Baya Populos
-Dimanche 22 Mai, Le Kaluma, Cherbourg (50)
-Lundi 23 Mai, 5ème Avenue, Orléans (45) avec x-eater
-Mardi 24 Mai, Les Tilleuls, Toulouse (31)
-Mercredi 25 Mai, Le Mojomatic, Montpellier (34)
-Jeudi 26 Mai, la Machine à Coudre, Marseille (13) avec The Cowboys from Outer Space
-Vendredi 27 Mai, Le Rubens, Clermont-Ferrand (63) avec Ratzinger's Sins
-Samedi 28 Mai, CBGC, Gigors (26) avec Elektrolux, Cheri Cheri, Os Drongos
-Dimanche 12 Juin, Rallye HD et Customs, Mery Corbon (14)
-Jeudi 17 Juin, La Java, Paris (75) avec Ze Rippers

5/08/2011

WILLIE LOCO ALEXANDER & THE CONFESSIONS - Autre Chose Live

WILLIE LOCO ALEXANDER & THE CONFESSIONS Autre Chose Live 2 lp's/cd 1982
Tennesse Waltz / Kids are jagging / Be Bop a Lula / Home is / Killer in a Trenchcoat / Hit & run / Eyes crossed / AAWW / Hit her wid de Axe / Kerouac / Working Hard / Take me away / Autre Chose / Gin / Radio Heart / Dirty Eddie / Close Enough / B.U. Baby.
Recorded live at the Printemps de Bourges, France, April 3rd 1982 by A. Français & mixed by P.Abadie.
W. L. Alexander & The Confessions: Willie Loco: vocals & piano / Mathew MacKenzie: guitar & vocals / Walter Powers III: bass & vocals / Ricky "Rock It" Rothchild: drums & vocals.
In memory of Mathew MacKenzie & Ricky Rothchild.
"...Willie Loco Alexander is a V.I.P. in the underground, a musician whose name has been around since the Sixties. A renegade specialising in a slightly warped rock, he is a man who lives outside of time, fashion and compromise. In spite of that, he keeps on recording discs that pass the test of time and are regularly reissued. The part he played in the very last days of the Velvet Underground is probably one of the facts that carved his name in golden letters in the minds of the "Believers". Luckily for him, there are other chapters in his book. You're holding one of those in your hands.
Recorded during the annual French music festival the "Printemps de Bourges", "Autre Chose "(something else), was first issued in June '82 on the New Rose label. It's an important record, one which concluded a 13-date tour of France, that followed a few months of bad vibes and which was made despite Willie being neglected in his homeland. In another time, not too long ago, France was a real land of opportunity for the tender eyed rockers.
"Solo Loco", the first Willie Alexander lp for New Rose, was issued in October '81. And if "Solo Loco" has such a synthetic sound, it's because the artist wanted to prove that guitar wasn't the only attribute of the binary beat. A tour was then booked with a band baptized the Confessions especially for the occasion. Walter Powers was on bass, along with two ex-Taxi Boys, Ricky Rotchild on drums and Mathew MacKenzie on guitar (the latter had already been part of a blues band with Willie in 72/73, Bluesberry Jam). The tour started with three shows in the capital city, on March 23rd and 24th at the Rex Club, as part of the "Actuel" (a famous underground/leftist French magazine) nights, then at the Gibus on the 25th. It was followed by some ten gigs in France including the "Printemps de Bourges" on April 3rd, recorded for posterity..." Source
"That specific tour was set up by one of the "Printemps de Bourges" bookers, Bernard Batzen. In fact that recording almost never happened, as the previous night Willie Alexander was playing in Toulouse, in a club called Le Pied (the Foot). It's such a nice place it's almost impossible to leave it, specially after enough beers. Which is why in the early morning we missed the train. So we hit the road by car and Willie made it to Bourges an hour before going on stage. Back then there was no highway and we thought we'd never make it there. And as it often happens, these were the perfect conditions for a marvellous show" Source
The Press was unanimous, it's a great record, a "live" that'll stick around and that you can spin again and again. SourceLienBuy it HERE!

5/05/2011

LAST OF THE TEENAGE IDOLS - Satellite Head Gone Soft

LAST OF THE TEENAGE IDOLS Satellite Head Gone Soft lp 1989
Action Man / Spider In My Head / See You After The Show / Looking For A Lady / (She's Got) Big Boots / Teenage Idol / All I Want Is A Piece Of You / Gina / Song For Absent Friends / Pretty Little Red Eyes.
Produced by Last Of The Teenage Idols.
Last Of The Teenage Idols:
Buttz: lead vocals / Hovis Presley: keyboards, vocals / Franco Bianco: drums / Shuff: bass, vocals / Taz: guitar, vocals.
"After his escapades in The Babysitters, Buttz set about getting a new traveling troupe of bawdy marauders under his jolly command then henceforth he did set about rampaging around the country as The Last of the Teenage Idols, most notably supporting the Little Angels on a UK tour. Wow! What a combination. A'righty, so they both used keyboards, but jeez. And what was borne fully formed was to be a rather unique kind of up-market high class call-girl, albeit one that's had a bit too much champers and thus walks in lines as straight as a sheet of Hendrix's guitar tab, to The 'Sitters Kings Cross crack whore. For in this, the sound is a lot more streamlined, heralding supersonic psychoglam stomps like Looking For A Lady and See You After The Show. So the whole package sounds a lot more together and professional, but being The Idols, it's still performed by nutters as daft as a drunk Cocker Spaniel chasing imaginary rabbits in some mystical Isle of Avalon. And all the better for it o' course. But there's a twist in there too, like all the best tales, that comes with a hint of sobriety.
Kickstarting the party with a Queen's English BBC voice from those old World War Two info newsreels -"This...is London" - we are cart-wheeled deliriously and instantaneously across time and thru some seriously strange space and dumped unceremoniously in a dustbin in Buttz's London, electricity crackling everywhere like at the beginning of The Terminator, Buttz dusting himself off & finding his glamrags still just about holding themselves together, after his time as a Babysitter, while as the master of ceremonies he spins his eager audience surreal tales from the seedy heart and sweaty heat of the eighties London Rawk scene, fronting a gladragtastic bunch of gents as they boarded, and gleefully rode into the ground, their own non-stop to nowhere. But at least they left us with this splendiferously tattered rag. Tossed out carelessly almost and passed on to those that should know like a lost relic from the holy land, this'll never grow mould. Almost literally from another world then when it was released into a London long since deserted - The Dogs D'Amour, Quireboys, Dirty Strangers, Kill City Dragons, Soho Roses, Gunfire Dance, Wrathchild I guess, of course The Babysitters and The Idols and many more - like a tidal wave came and washed out the Rock'n'Roll leaving the barren land open to the invading hordes of firstly grungey Mega City Four / Thousand Yard Stare kinda bands...

At the time this got some condescending reviews along the lines of it being kinda funny when you come in from the pub, and that it's funnier the more you drink. Not so. See that was as patently patent as Lux Interior's pants written by an idiot. This is a masterpiece crying out for some one to write about it in the reverential terms it so deserves. The cheesiest keyboards ever? Right in there, baby, snug as a velvet glove. The most inspired widdlesome guitaring ever? Quite possibly, and all present and very note perfectly correct, SIR! (A slight aside dear reader, widdlesome in good wholesome wheatgerm-esque widdlesomeness, think Randy Rhoads if you like rather than Malmsteen or Steve Vai) Some of the most gloriously, ridiculously well crafted and bouncy fun, funny and fantastic flights of Rock'n'Roll fancy ever that still rustles up some warmhearted tearjerking n tender moments? You don't know the answer? Doormen, please gouge out the readers eyes and use them to clean their ears, while of course skullfucking them with a Trafalgar Square poisoned pigeon.
The whole slimy entity is linked together thru the opening "Action Man" ('She wants some Action.....MAN!') commencing a night out on the tiles, to the closer "Pretty Little Red Eyes", kind of an end of the night before trying to find somewhere to stay tune while 'Trying to make the bar with double sight' - rounding events off with 'So this is what I do / If you don't like it you're not supposed to.' 'Action Man' is full of cheap keyboard effects as tho they can't believe the novelty value...oh I'll just press this...sort of like the kids in our junior school, however it does boast a sizzling keyboard solo and for someone who generally despises them apart from Jon Lord on approximately 3 Deep Purple albums, this is no mean feat.
But there couldn't be anything else there really. And, inbetween? Woah, like one of those 22,000 or so calorie sandwiches that Elvis used to gobble, you got it all in here, packed as tight and firm as the Pandora Peroxide covergirl is into her dress and falling out of it in the process. 'Looking For A Lady' - what fucking rocka can't relate to that, being out there looking for a flash sweet thing ('Looking for a lady, she's gotta be a little bit crazy, at the bar she's a Rock'n'Roll star like me') only to have her spirited away by some chancer that's meant to be your mate ('A friend of mine said here's her number let's see if she's everything a girl should be, now I'm waiting for her, here she comes and cor blimey guv'nor, some friend you turned out to be'). 'See You After The Show' should be in some alternate universe Hall of Fame...No fuck it what am I saying scatterbrain it should be in the main one, just get the guys back together again in the guise of removal men and they can go to Cleveland of wherever it is and get the operation done, take out some of the trash and install themselves in there. And while they're at it send another rocket into space with this song on it instead of, brilliant as it is, Johnny B. Goode, for the aliens to rock around to. I don't think anyone ever came up with something so bloody good as this, so right for like going out to, while they were up there feeling famous for a while, having a bit in about wishing bassist Shuff could see him with this girl. See, this is where this record works so damn well, it's all completely real, larger than life, true, but only insofar as it's on a big slab of plastic, it really is the document of a night, or nights, out....that 'No words can describe...'.
Taken at face value this album has often (press, friends, random whoevers) been dismissed out of hand just cos it sounds like cheesy glam and/or too jokey but listen in a bit, from "Spider In My Head" (choice line - 'Meet the band well it ain't no joke / If your bums in shape we'll give it a poke') early on there's a faded glimpse thru the glass of - dunno really mate just found it somewhere, tastes like beer, tho, or maybe whisky n coke, anyway I dunno - nostalgia, regret, whatever.
Maybe it's me and too many nights living like a country song, but at times in this song and in 'Gina' too, there's already a wee bit of sipping from the nipples of nostalgia for times only just gone. Kinda brings to mind Smokey Robinson tunes, sitting dazed on kerbsides with a bottle of vino that's all jagged cos you had to smash the top off not having a corkscrew to hand, arfer you won it in a raffle in Spiders, distant New Years Eve in Hull, rather than just being the drunken singalongs they're all too frequently passed off as.
On the songwriting side alone this hunk o' hunk o' burning rock'n'roll jetsam is absolutely watertight, it'll last the test and stay afloat and around whatever waves pass over it...full of a Thunderbird n Lambrusco drenched heart all too often missing in cliched stuff that merely plods where this fizzes like popped cork topped off like a lil umbrella and a cherry on a stick is in a glass of Asti with the inimitable musings of mainman Buttz, which may well surprise any newcomers, or non-believers, as it's pretty much a cliche free zone.
Lyrically, it does share some barspace, clink the odd glass or two, with the Dirty Strangers and for the complete underside of the anthems for sluiced groups you have to check out the glorious, gorgeous 'Song For Absent Friends', which is still divinely brilliant despite, as I noticed only this very morning (15th Sept '04), having the exact same CC Deville guitar sound as heard on many an awful Poison song, especially the "Open Up and Say Aaah!" album. In the pantheon of sad songs this un rests it's weary heels, and puts it's head in its hands, and tries to rub the tears from it's smoke stung red eyes right up there near the top of that list, only it's so good and real it doesn't realise it's sat safe and secure in that hallway of greatness. Alone in a crowd, alone at the end of a party, alone when it's the last song at the school disco, whatever, beatiful tune, you can taste the spilt booze, the fag ends in the cans and it just soars. Should be picked up for a film soundtrack for a Lost in Translation type film.
Similarly 'Gina', despite it's chantalong choruses has a bleary eyed tinge to it and a bit of a lump in it's throat too and should have been a massive smash hit (can you imagine if these lot were on Top of the Pops? Glory be, they should've been parading around TOTP like the Quireboys got to do a couple of years later) purely for the fact that it's a total slice of genius, and absolutely nothing else, guv.

Like The Dirty Strangers there's a picture postcard, stale chips n trips to Blackpool or Hastings smell about the sound, firing water pistols on the beach, with ringmater Buttz again being a kinda Keith Moon but this time there is that aura of sadness to these mini epics with legendary tales. Perhaps that's just stronger songwriting, and a more complete overall record. Documenting, as it does, a certain nightlife, it's all reflecting on past glories, tho its sense of loopy tongue in cheek fun is impossible to resist, picks you up when you're feeling blue, makes you feel even better when you feel fucking great.
As it's pretty nigh on impossible to find these days it is a great tragedy that this still hasn't been picked up for CD reissue with extra tracks and so on, like The Crybaby's early stuff, say. It would be great if some enterprising label would get this stuff out on wider release, or search the vaults for any unreleased stuff....until then I hope the madcap is still laughing". Stu Gibson (Sleazegrinder blog)
Cd covers by Max !
Buy it HERE!

5/01/2011

THE U.S. MARSHALLS - The U.S. Marshalls

THE U.S. MARSHALLS The U.S. Marshalls Maxi EP 1987
Brand New Today / Halley's Comet / That's That / Fell Off The Wagon / When You're Not Near.
Produced by Peter Gunn, U.S. Marshalls & L. Luddecke.
The U.S. Marshalls: K. Marshall: vocals, keyboards, guitars / K. Marshall: bass, percussion / Eddie: drums + Peter Gunn (Inmates): additional guitars
Back in the early '70s Kenny and Kevin Marshall performed just about every kind of gig imaginable. This, plus an endless number of rehearsals led to their vast repertoire of at least 2000 songs. They are continually adding new tunes, claiming that it helps to keep the creative juices flowing when composing new Marshall originals. It also keeps them from rocking off their bleedin rockers.
Brian Wilson along with the Beatles have been major influences on Kevin and Kenny's music. Playing bills with such well known acts as the Cars and Jonathan Richman and The Modern Lovers, the U.S. Marshalls were on the vanguard of so called "New Wave" music scene.
In 1979, Bomp Records released "You Don't Care" on an anthology called "Waves" wich was made available by London Records. The song received considerable airplay and won the acclaim of Boston's demanding and discerning music critics, disc jockeys and fans. The boys soon had a sizable following in the Greater Boston area.
The next year saw the issuance of the U.S. Marshalls first 45 hit single: "You Need Some Lovin' ".
The song, produced by the venerable Arthur Baker, rode the crest of the Boston music charts for several months. Most recently the Marshall brothers (including their brother Barry) have composed a "Holiday" rock entitled "Sweet Christmas". From the early enthusiastic response it seems the song is destined to become another Christmas classic.
In Boston some folks claim the Marshall brothers are the Everly's of the 80's... a worthy and well respected Rock and Country tradition which the U.S. Marshalls intend to carry on in their future writing and harmonizing.(Taken from the Liner notes of the back cover).
Buy it here & here!Lien

TRIGGER & THE THRILL KINGS

TRIGGER & THE THRILL KINGS Trigger & The Trill Kings mini lp 1986
Cry / I'm The Only One / St James Infirmary* / Tension King / Jealousy / Moanin' Love.
Produced by Trigger & The Trill Kings.
Trigger & The Trill Kings: Truce de Groot: vocals / Danny B. Harvey: guitar / Jim Sclavunos: drums / Charles Leyland & Rick Pailey*: bass.
Trigger and The Thrill Kings was a hard blues, country band with Truce de Groot, a dutch singer, guitarist Danny B. Harvey (Honey Dippers, Twenty Flight Rockers, The Head Cat with Lemmy, Mad Violets and so many more...), drummer Jim Sclavunos (8 Eyed Spy, The Cramps, Alice Texas...) and Charles Leyland on bass.They only recorded this mini lp in 1986 on the french label GMG.

Buy It HERE!