ELECTROCUTES - Steal Yer Lunch Money

ELECTROCUTES Steal Yer Lunch Money cd 1999
Daquiri Jacquerie / Solamente Tu / Assmar / Sno-Cap / Kitchen Floor / Eggnog / Futbol / Miller / Pink Piggies / Doombuggy / Eaga Beava / Hell No / Jasmean / En La Boca.
Electrocutes: M. Ford: bass / T. Castellano: drums / A. Robertson: guitar / B. Anderson: vocals.

In high school, the future members of female punk rockers the Donnas were known as the Electrocutes, and actually recorded an album that was never released during that initial band's existence. Three years after the fact, in 1999, Sympathy for the Record Industry saw fit to exhume "Steal Yer Lunch Money" from the vaults in the wake of the Donnas' breakthrough to a cult indie audience. The Electrocutes don't quite compare to the Donnas, as the group's musical skills were still in the gestational period; still, one cannot deny a certain Ramones-meet-the Shaggs appeal to the proceedings, sloppy though they may get. Source

THE SHOUTLESS - Bowery At Midnight

THE SHOUTLESS Bowery At Midnight lp 1986
On Broadway Tonight / I Tell You Who You Are / Graveyard Stomp / Do The Eye / Stewbummer Waltz / Eat Some Food / Baby's Coming Home / Great Shakes / Baby Come On* / Stay By Me* / Song From A Ditch* / I Don't Want Her*.
Produced by Willy B. & the band.
The Shoutless: J. Liljekvist: guitar, vocals / L. Gustafsson: bass & vocals / Dr Krause: guitar & vocals / M. Rosen: drums & percussion.
"...Tracks on various compilations also exists, like the B-side of their first single that ended up on a ROIR garage-cassette sampler. Another track, "CHANGE MY WAYS" is on a Swedish Nuggets/Pebbles-compilation called "REAL COOL TIME". And then the time is NOW! On December 7, 8 and11th The Shoutless were busy recording and mixing in a studio in Stockholm, together with the two Norwegian producers Willy B. and Bitten F. This visit to the recording studio resulted in three songs, where of one is a flexi with the incredible Swedish mag "THE EYE", whose title is appropriately "BUY THE EYE". A blistering thunderstorm in Stooges-mood, if you ask me, but the two songs on their next single might be considered by many to be even better. The titles: "BABY COME ON", a Beatlesque trasher complete with tremologuitar, feedback and maraccas, and then "STAY BY ME", a rockabilly-number which would have made Dave Edmunds proud (and make his hair turn grey if he heard it!!!). This is probably the very best Swedish rock-single for many years, but The Shoutless have two problems right now. The first is how to get as many gigs as possible in Europe and the rest of the world, the second is: How are they gonna manage to make a follow up to this record??????"Willy B - 1986 Source

Cd covers by Max!

THE SHOUTLESS - Out Of Reach

THE SHOUTLESS Out Of Reach lp 1985
Out Of Reach / 1-2-5 / Move / Pretty Big Mouth / Downhill Run / Mr.Nobody / Sweet Young Thing / Insane* / I Tell No Lies* / Change My Ways*.
*bonus tracks
Produced by The Laughing Stewbummers.
The Shoutless: J. Liljekvist: guitar, vocals / L. Gustafsson: bass & vocals / Dr Krause: guitar & vocals / M. Rosen: drums & percussion.
"THE SHOUTLESS is probably the most unfamous band from Sweden today. Hailing from Solna, the now semi-legendary place outside Stockholm, and maybe THE centre of todays so called garagemusic, they have been going for more than four years now. A few line-up changes has taken place as the years have passed by, but today the quartet is made up of the following four: Janne Liljekvist. Guitar and vocals. 23 years old, and a filmstudent when the music don..t claim all his daily hours. Loves The Hollies, would you believe that while listening to to the frenzy lead guitar on "BABY COME ON"? Lasse Gustafsson. Bass and vocals. 22 years old student. Have been a member of The Shoutless since the beginning. When he..s not on stage with the rest of the band, you might find him on the back of his horse somewhere in the backwoods outside of Stockholm. Doctor Krause. Guitar and vocals. 24 years old and a student like the two above. Have played guitar for years and years, and although he really doesn..t enjoy any records, there is a possibility of making him speak quite nicely about artists like Ry Cooder and The Cramps. Matte Rosén. Drums. 21 years old. Spends his daily hours as a truckdriver, while hitting the skins at night. Started his career many years ago as a drummer in several punk-bands, but plays anything from rockabilly to whereever THE SHOUTLESS might take him. THE SHOUTLESS has been represented on vinyl before. Their very first 45, called "INSANE", had just about everybody in ecstasy, both in Sweden and abroad, from the local "Solna-Sundbybergstidningen" to internationally known mags like "Bucketfull of Brains". A mini-LP followed, where the titletrack "OUT OF REACH" is as highly regarded as "INSANE"..." Willy B. Source

Cd artwork by Max!

THE SHOUTLESS - Song From A Ditch

SINGLES: THE SHOUTLESS Song From A Ditch / I Don't Want Her 7'' 1988
The Shoutless: J. Liljekvist: guitar, vocals / L. Gustafsson: bass & vocals / Dr Krause: guitar & vocals / M. Rosen: drums & percussion.
Produced by Willy B. & The Shoutless.
The Shoutless: J. Liljekvist: guitar, vocals / L. Gustafsson: bass & vocals / Dr Krause: guitar & vocals / M. Rosen: drums & percussion.
"Song From A Ditch" appears on a 3rd lp , also recorded in 1986, "Lust Lubrification" (on Pet Sounds Records).We will post it later ...
You can find the first Shoutless single "Insane" on the new compilation "VA - A Real Cool Time Revisited" Swedish punk, pop and garage rock 1982-1989 (2cd 2010) available here.

Cd covers by Max !

THE SHOUTLESS - Baby Come On

SINGLES: THE SHOUTLESS Baby Come On / Stay By Me 7'' 1986
The Shoutless: J. Liljekvist: guitar, vocals / L. Gustafsson: bass & vocals / Dr Krause: guitar & vocals / M. Rosen: drums & percussion.
Here's the second single by the Shoutless!

Work on covers by Max !

THE SHOUTLESS - Insane

SINGLES: THE SHOUTLESS Insane / I Tell No Lies 7'' 1984
Produced by the Laughing Stewbummers.
The Shoutless: J. Liljekvist: guitar, vocals / L. Gustafsson: bass & vocals / Dr Krause: guitar & vocals / M. Rosen: drums & percussion.
The Shoutless like the Nomads came from Solna, the "semi-legendary place outside Stockholm, the centre of so called garage music". It was in 1984 & the distorded sounds from the North rule all over the world. Today we pay tribute to the fabulous, underrated & forgotten Shoutless !!!

Work on covers by Max !

GREEN ON RED - Scapegoats

GREEN ON RED Scapegoats cd 1991
A Guy Like Me / Little Things In Life / Two Lovers (Waitin' To Die) / Gold In The Graveyard / Hector's Out / Shed A Tear (For The Lonesome) / Blowfly / Sun Goes Down / Where The Rooster Crows / Baby Loves Her Gun.
Produced by Al Kooper.
Green On Red: D. Stuart: vocals, guitar / C. Prophet: guitars, piano, lap steel, crows, vocals / A. Kooper: keyboards, vocals / M. Rhodes: plank & upright basses / G. Wort: bass / D. Hess: drums / H. Stinson: drums / S. Oldham: piano / S. Bush: mandolin, banjo / D. Penn: accoustic guitar / E. Bayer: brushes / Tony Joe White: harmonica.
Always wary of their paisley underground tag, it was only Green on Red's debut EP "Two Bibles" that leaned on the psychedelic sounds of the '60s before they traded it in for a boozy, all-American sound. They have been credited as latter-day forbears to the No Depression sound forged by Wilco and Son Volt. Singer and songwriter Dan Stuart, Chris Cacavas (keyboards), and Jack Waterson (bass) formed their first group in Tucson, AZ, in 1979. After the band relocated to L.A., drummer Alex MacNicol joined up and Green on Red released their debut EP on Steve Wynn's Down There label in 1982. By 1983, they had dumped the trippy psychedelic stuff for "Gravity Talks", their Slash debut. By the time 1985's "Gas Food Lodging" rolled around and the band had added guitarist Chuck Prophet, Green on Red were earning critical accolades, but their greatest success came overseas with the release of 1985's "No Free Lunch" (Polygram). Between albums, Stuart paused to work with Steve Wynn and a smattering of their respective bandmembers under the Danny & Dusty moniker, a side project that allowed Stuart to play on his "drunken bum" persona. Prophet and Stuart continued to hone their darkish, down-and-out loser blues on "The Killer Inside Me" (1987, Mercury) and "Here Come the Snakes" (1989, Mercury), but by the time 1989's "This Time Around" (also on Mercury) came out, interest in their work stateside had ceased.
Cacavas then left the fold to begin what had become a consistent, albeit overlooked, solo career. Prophet and Stuart found an audience for their music in Europe for "Scapegoats" (1991, China) recorded in Nashville with the help of producer Al Kooper on keyboards and "Too Much Fun" (1992, Off Beat), but ultimately traded in the madness of what had become their collaboration for quieter lives. Stuart relocated to Spain and Prophet continued the career he launched in 1990, performing as a solo artist. C. Prophet did join a briefly reunited Green on Red (with a lineup also including Stuart, Cacavas, and Waterson) for a series of shows in 2005-2006. Drummer Alex MacNicol died in 2004. Allmusic

THE HITMEN - Dancing Time '78 - '79

Final and fourth volume in Savage Beat's comprehensive archival series of material by legendary Radio Birdman spin-off band THE HITMEN !
This double CD set includes a demo set and live set from the shortlived Hitmen line-up featuring original Saints drummer Ivor Hay - making it something of a Radio Birdman/Saints summit meeting - as well as an album length demo session recorded only a couple of months after Radio Birdman split. It kicks off with the 3-song session produced by Deniz Tek that resulted in the highly desirable Johnny Kannis 'King of the Surf' single. In all there is well over an album's worth of never-before heard original songs, and a handful of covers of songs by the likes of the Master's Apprentices, Sonics, Remains and MC5.!!!
52 tracks in all !!!
You can download 3 songs here!
Thanks to David Laing of Savage Beat! Records for the songs !
And remember that this double set is an essential listening for fans of Radio Birdman and the Saints (whose drummer Ivor Hay appears on over a dozen tracks here) and the Do The Pops! titles...!!!
You know now what you have to do...
TO BUY IT HERE !!!

LES VIPERES/HOLY CURSE - Rock 'N' Roll Ain't No Solution !

LES VIPERES/HOLY CURSE Rock 'N' Roll Ain't No Solution ! cd 2001

Les Vipères: La première fois / Terroriste / Ma solitude et moi / Rechercher / Blood Airport.

Holy Curse: Streets Of Sleep / Too Much Paranoïa / Nights Of Sin / I Don't Dance / City Kids.

Les Vipères: V. Posadski Vipère: guitare, batterie, voix / S. Vipère: batterie, guitare, voix / F.Vipère: guitare, voix / J. Vipère: basse, voix.

Holy Curse: Eric: chant / Pascal: guitar / Paul: guitare / Manga: drums / Vinz: bass.

Hopefully, I'm not the only one to see the irony in a Canadian band singing in French and a band from France singing in English on this tasty 10-track split album. Then again, maybe it's not such a big irony. French is the dominant language in Quebec (from whence Les Viperes hail) and English is the tongue Holy Curse sing in all the time. Bottom line is that English is the primary language of rock, but both bands could be singing in Swahili and I'd lap this up.

As much as I'd be up to hear a full complement of new songs by either band, the Les Viperes-Holy Curse pairing for this disc is an inspired one. I'm guessing the decision to do a split album grew out of the run of French shows the bands did together a couple of years ago (one of which is reviewed by Barfly Greg "Birdman" Bowen here.) Both bands are an interesting contrast: Les Viperes travel a lot closer to traditional punk/thrash territory, while the Curse have their roots firmly planted in Aussie Detroit soil.

Having said that, they both rock extremely hard. Case in point: "Ma Solitude Et Moi" by Les Viperes rocks away on the back of a swinging backbeat and fearsome buzzsaw guitar. My lack of a grasp of all but rudimentary French makes the lyrics of "Terroriste" unintelligible but the band spits them out like they're on the wrong end of a gun held by some fuckhead in a balaclava. If the name of the split-album is a crib from the X song "Revolution", Les Viperes reach Lucas-like extremities in the vocals on "Blood Airport". Intense.

Tony Slug (ex of the Nitwitz and Lovelsug and currently of the wonderful Hydromatics) reckons Holy Curse is the only real rock band left in France. That may be a slight exaggeration (with the emphasis on "slight") but the five songs here do nothing to destroy that assertion. "Streets of Sleep" fits the mould of this band so well: A driving engine room and gut bucket guitars that fall away to a New Christs-like piece of prose over the outro. The re-worked version of "Too Much Paranoia" crawls along at reduced pace without going too many places its predecessor didn't, while the down but catchy "I Don't Dance" is positively pop dressed in lashings of guitar.

"Night of Sin" gives vocalist Eric a chance to emote as only a Frenchman can against the background of some musclebound guitar interplay by Pascal and new recruit Paul. Truly great cover of the Pink Fairies' "City Kids" too. The Barman i-94 Bar

THE PRISSTEENS - Scandal, Controversy & Romance

THE PRISSTEENS Scandal, Controversy & Romance cd 1998
The Hound / I Don't Cry / Run Back To You / Sorrow / Scandal, Controversy & Romance / What's She Got / I'm Devastated / (I'd Go The) Whole Wide World / Beat You Up / Someday / Party Girl / Let Me Run Wild / Going Out Tonight.
Produced by Richard Gottehrer and Jeffrey Lesser.
The Prissteens: L. Yorkman: lead vocals, bass / L. Day: guitar, vocals / T. Canellas: guitar, vocals / J. Vincent: drums, percussion, vocals.
Good girls don't, so thank heavens for those who do. Growing up in Indiana, L. Yorkman was a model citizen of Carmel High School: cheerleader, student council, tennis team, track team. She was voted best typist in junior high. Then Miss Goodbooks moved to New York, fell in with a good bad element (guitarist L. Day, possessor of a terrifying graveyard scream; guitarist T. Canellas and ex-Devil Dogs drummer J. Vincent), got a tattoo, picked up a big ol' bass and commenced to singing the devil's music. Although the Prissteens' frontline initially had more style and jiz than skill, the quartet was soon packing 'em in to see such surly fun originals as "Beat You Up," "I Don't Cry" and "The Hound," an homage to their manager, writer/indie radio star J. Marshall. The album, produced by Richard Gottehrer and Jeffrey Lesser, is a garage blast that touches on various forms and degrees of noisy punky kitsch (imagine spawn of the Shangri-La's and the Fleshtones) and is — for the most part — wall-to-wall modern fun. (Delving into the actual past, to cover the Merseys' "Sorrow," a '60s song revived brilliantly by Bowie on Pin-Ups, leads the group nowhere good.) Neither cutesy nor overly nostalgic, the Prissteens take their music, not themselves, seriously. Trouser Press
Buy it here!