recommended gigs

Saturday Feb 2 - The Astaires at Choices Pub w/Wreck Chords and New World Martyr - CHOICES HAS CLOSED - APPARENTLY THIS SHOW IS BEING MOVED

Monday Feb 4 - Nashville Pussy at Las Vegas Country Saloon

Friday February 8 - The Tinglerz at the Double Down with the Swamp Gospel!

Saturday February 9 - The Psyatics at the LV Country Saloon with the Angry Samoans
Saturday February 9 - Vintage Trouble at Vinyl at the Hard Rock

Wednesday February 20 - Thee Swank Bastards at the Griffin

Friday February 22 - The Psyatics, Crazy Chief and the Swamp Gospel at Motor City Cafe

Wednesday February 27 - Thee Swank Bastards at the Double Down

Saturday March 9 - the Psyatics at the Double Down Saloon

Friday March 15 - Tinglerz / Guttermouth @ LV Country Saloon

are shows slowing down? I haven't heard of anything else lately. Keep me posted!

I'll add more as I hear about them! Friends - lemme know and I'll list gigs here, for what it's worth!

The Swamp Gospel, Left Foot Green, Tara Grace and the Magnetics

Of course, I'm not going to review my own gig, but I do want to say that the Swamp Gospel always enjoys playing the Bunkhouse. Promoter Patrick is fair and also tries to create interesting line-ups with bands that might not know each other but have something in common. The club has a real PA and a real soundman, a position currently held by Noel Calizo, who can also record the band. Support this venue!

This evening we played with a touring band from Boulder, Co. called Left Foot Green with an unusual set-up - bass, guitar, vocals and violin! Both guitar & violin used octave pedals to fill in the bass. And while we were expecting a bit of a roots-rock combo, we were surprised by their heavy modern punk/rock sound. The musicians were all damn good, as was vocalist Russ Kettle, and, apparently from their non-stop touring, they already had some rabid fans here in Vegas. Kudos for an innovative group of nice people who we could easily see making a name for themselves.

Tara Grace and the Magnetics are a local combo - led by (super friendly) actual Vegas natives! - with another different and engaging addition of a cello to the basic rock band formation. Tara is a singer/songwriter with a whiskey voice and a roots-y bent who plays acoustic guitar and opened the set with just herself, Debbie on cello and their drummer (sorry, didn't catch his name). Apparently, Tara also plays under the name Hold Your Horses, and this was a variation of that group. But then she filled out the stage with lead guitar & bass for the more rock feel of the Magnetics. Cool sounds from a seasoned pro who has been making the rounds for a number of years in town.

By this time is was pretty late and we couldn't stick around for Ambush Americana, who appeared to be a more straight-ahead punk band. But, if you're not afraid of eclectic nights, definitely check out the Bunkhouse shows!

recommended gigs

Friday January 25 - The Swamp Gospel with Tarah Grace & The Magnetics (Tarah's birthday!), Left Foot Green (Denver CO), Ambush Americana at the Bunkhouse

Saturday Jan 26 - The Psyatics, The Scoundrels, No Hero and two Cali bands: The Sleeping Sea King and Mammoth Thunderpower! at the Bunkhouse

Sunday, January 27 - The Lucky Cheats at the Triple B - Backstage Bar & Billards

Wednesday Jan 30 Thee Swank Bastards at the Double Down

Saturday Feb 2 - The Astaires at Choices Pub w/Wreck Chords and New World Martyr

Monday Feb 4 - Nashville Pussy at Las Vegas Country Saloon

Friday February 8 - The Tinglerz at the Double Down with the Swamp Gospel!

Saturday February 9 - The Psyatics at the LV Country Saloon with the Angry Samoans
Saturday February 9 - Vintage Trouble at Vinyl at the Hard Rock

Wednesday February 20 - Thee Swank Bastards at the Griffin

Friday February 22 - The Psyatics, Crazy Chief and the Swamp Gospel at Motor City Cafe

Wednesday February 27 - Thee Swank Bastards at the Double Down

Saturday March 9 - Atomic Cossack at the Beauty Bar

Saturday March 9 - the Psyatics at the Double Down Saloon

Friday March 15 - Tinglerz / Guttermouth @ LV Country Saloon 

I'll add more as I hear about them! Friends - lemme know and I'll list gigs here, for what it's worth!

The Psyatics & The Tinglerz at the Griffin, Las Vegas, 1-23-13

It's tough getting me out on a weeknight these days, but when two of my favorite local bands play together, I grabbed an extra Mountain Dew, took the next day off of work and headed on down!

I've raved about the Psyatics a number of times already and they just keep getting better every time I see them - a cliche, yes, but true. Although they are simply a three piece, they manage to do a lot with this basic line-up. Jimmy holds down the back beat with truly creative DJ Bonebrake rhythms while Rob throws a slithering bass line on top of that and Jack then adds guitar lines that compliment and sometimes clash - in a good way! Ball pulls a wide variety of tones from his new Epiphone (and adds some computer-generated between-song "banter" from B-Movies, which fit in with their visual style on their posters and videos) and there are punk references, post-punk dissonance, garage riffs and pure rock'n'roll sounds throughout their tunes. Definitely one of the more interestingly different outfits on the scene, though they don't get so hung up on being "different" that they forget to rock! Somehow fitting that drummer Krah was wearing a Church of the Sub Genius t-shirt!

Another terrific local act is the Tinglerz - also a 3 piece who manage to put out a massive sound, propelled by the aptly-named Turbo on drums, Eric speeding up & down his Gibson Grabber bass (not a common one, but used by my first bassist, so I have a soft spot for them!) and crazed Kei literally throttling his guitar while singing and screaming! These cats are pure high-energy punk'n'roll, but they don't forget to add pop hooks to their songs, they're not afraid of minor chords, and they have influences from 60's garage rave-ups to hard core. Sometimes they remind me a bit of Electric Eel Shock in intensity, though I dig the Tinglerz songs more. They got the small crowd up and dancing and even got a rare-for-Las-Vegas encore!

The Griffin's band room is a fairly tiny back bar (unmanned, for some weird reason) with a small, but powerful PA, and no stage lights (hence no photos from the night). A nice, intimate place to see a band, but I wish it wasn't just on Wednesday nights!

33-1/3 Book Series – The Velvet Underground & Nico by Joe Harvard

While I have generally enjoyed this series, it sometimes irks me a bit that some of the books, like this one, are written by people who learned of the album long after it came out. I realize that even I was a bit of a late-comer, having been turned on to this by fellow Gizmo Kenne Highland in the early 70’s, but Harvard claims that he did not own any of the Velvets albums until 1989! Without hearing this in the pre-punk days, it is hard to comprehend just how bizarre this sounded to the average rock’n’roll listener. While Harvard understands that this contains some avant-garde material, it doesn’t seem as if he gets just how far from the mainstream this was, even in its quieter moments.

In any case, the book is fairly well researched, with interview quotes from all parties involved and even personal interviews with those who were there at the time and were fans, such as Jonathan Richman. Harvard does seem to take some off-hand lines too seriously (Reed saying something to the effect that it took three hours to record the album, which obviously was a smart-ass exaggeration) but does try hard to determine what really happened and who was really involved.

He gives a pretty good run-down of the songs, with personal anecdotes from band members and engineers/producers. Oddly, he doesn’t mention the blatant “Hitch Hike” (Marvin Gaye) steal in “There She Goes Again”, showing their homage to commercial r’n’r, but maybe that’s because he admits that it is his least favorite song on the album.

Joe also tends to talk about himself a bit more than I cared for – a bit of a narcissistic experiment for him – but does give a lot of information. Overall, though, it is a pretty good tale of this truly classic album.

Hound Dog Taylor and the Houserockers

Theodore Roosevelt “Hound Dog” Taylor was born & raised in Mississippi and came to Chicago in the early 40’s, became a full time blues musician by the late 50’s but didn’t have an album released until this one in 1971! He made a name for himself in Chicago by playing constantly and creating a raw bottleneck style. His guitar is fiercely distorted and he plays mostly energetic boogie-blues. His backing would vary, but mostly consisted of the two on this record – Brewer Phillips on second guitar (he plays the non-slide leads here) and Ted Harvey on drums. After this album, his notoriety expanded and he toured throughout the world until his death in 1975.

This album sounds like Taylor must have sounded in concert – live, rockin’, rough, unrefined, sloppy, and exciting as hell! I’ve seen some videos and it looked like Hound Dog had a blast playing – and I’m sure that the audience reciprocated! This is the punk rock of the blues – check it out for some wild boogie!

Bo Diddley – 6 Classic Albums plus Bonus Singles, Sessions & Live Tracks

Are ya kidding me? A 4 CD set of Bo at his best, with extra tracks and all for a discounted price? Of course you should own this! The only excuse not to is if you have all of the original vinyl, because the artwork is not included, which is too bad since Bo was pretty damn distinctive and stylish!

The hits are all here with tons more – lots that I hadn’t heard, though I admit that I’ve never owned a lot of Diddley. I didn’t even know that the Shadows of Knight’s “Oh Yeah” was Bo’s tune – I thought that they were just ripping off “I’m a Man” – I didn’t know that Bo was ripping himself off! Nor did I know that Bo co-wrote Diddy Way Diddy with Willie Dixon, though that makes sense! Some of the tunes are closer to doo-wop/early r'n'r than waht you normally think of when you think of Bo, which is fun. There are 70 (!) album cuts here, and the 4^th CD includes singles, sessions that Bo did for other artists and four mid-60’s live tracks.

This man is a giant and yes, you need to own whatever you can by him! This is an amazing collection and a terrific starting point!

recommended gigs

Thursday Jan 17 - Thee Swank Bastards at the Beauty Bar

Wednesday Jan 23 - Psyactics/Tinglerz at the Griffin

Friday January 25 - The Swamp Gospel at the Bunkhouse

Saturday Jan 26 - The Psyatics at the Bunkhouse

Sunday, January 27 - The Lucky Cheats at the Triple B - Backstage Bar & Billards

Wednesday Jan 30 Thee Swank Bastards at the Double Down

Saturday Feb 2 - The Astaires at Choices Pub w/Wreck Chords and New World Martyr

Monday Feb 4 - Nashville Pussy at Las Vegas Country Saloon

Friday February 8 - The Tinglerz at the Double Down with the Swamp Gospel!

Saturday February 9 - The Psyatics at the LV Country Saloon
Saturday February 9 - Vintage Trouble at Vinyl at the Hard Rock

Wednesday February 20 - Thee Swank Bastards at the Griffin

Friday February 22 - The Psyatics and the Swamp Gospel at Motor City Cafe

Wednesday February 27 - Thee Swank Bastards at the Double Down

Saturday March 9 - Atomic Cossack at the Beauty Bar

Saturday March 9 - the Psyatics at the Double Down Saloon

Friday March 15 - Tinglerz / Guttermouth @ LV Country Saloon 

I'll add more as I hear about them! Friends - lemme know and I'll list gigs here, for what it's worth!

Laura Nyro - Gonna Take a Miracle

This might seem like an odd one for a rocker like me, but I’ve always been a sucker for girl-groups and Nyro was a songwriter for many hits in the 60’s before she decided to make her own records. Here, on her fifth release, she doffs the songwriter hat and creates an album entirely of covers, with nods to doo-wop, Motown and girl groups. This is a sound from my youth – one of my sisters must have had this record - and I did not realize until I got this CD that LaBelle is the vocal group working with Laura, which makes this that much more enticing.

While most of these are familiar tunes, Nyro re-works them with Patti & her group and revitalizes them in an individual style. You’ll know most of the songs from the original takes – “I Met Him on Sunday”, “Monkey Time/Dancin’ In the Street”, “You’ve Really Got a Hold on Me”, the title track and plenty more. The ladies’ four voices blend and weave together and are truly a thing a beauty. Yes, this is kinda singer/songwriter territory, but really well done and with terrific sounds. The CD includes several live cuts, taken from the Fillmore.

Ironic that my favorite record of Nyro’s is this album of covers considering that she has written hits for many other artists throughout the 60’s and early 70’s. She is responsible for Top 40 tunes for Peter, Paul & Mary, Blood Sweat & Tears, 3 Dog Night, the 5^th Dimension and more. A very talented woman who was taken at a too-young age (49) by ovarian cancer.

Vintage Trouble - The Bomb Shelter Sessions

Someone posted a video of Vintage Trouble doing their high-energy soul of “Blues Hand Me Down” and I was pretty blown away! There are a number of groups doing similar styles these days and these cats are doing it right – a James Brown-styled singer with an excellent voice (Ty Taylor) backed by a 3 piece, white rock’n’roll band (Nalle Colt – guitar, Rick Dill – bass and Richard Danielson on drums). They put together a stylish, tight mix of rock, punk & soul that would fit in with groups such as the Bell Rays, The Heavy, Black Joe Lewis & the Honeybears and Sharon Jones and the Dap Kings. VT has a bit more rock in their rock’n’soul (nothing wrong with that!), but still plenty of coolness.

Not everything on the record is as up-tempo as the opener, but all have a great sound and groove. There are some cool steals throughout (nothing blatant, but nice references to older white & black r’n’b tunes) and a number of different feels. “Nancy Lee” is built around a sexy, swinging beat and a bluesy guitar line and they’ve done a steamy video for this one. The ballad, “Gracefully” is not as successful to my ears, but “You Better Believe It” is a nice mid-tempo groover with more cool guitar licks. Unfortunately, this is followed by two more ballads – not that these are bad, but I find myself wanting to rock’n’bop more.

“Jezzebella” is similar in style to “You Better Believe It” – rock riffs, not too fast, not too slow – with some interesting arrangement work. More of rockin’ stomper is “Total Strangers” – one of the highlights of the record! But then they close with still another ballad, though it has some strong guitar work. Again, the slwo numbers are not bad songs, but the band is an exciting, high-energy rock’n’soul band when they want to be, so it is a bit disappointing when they slow it down to a crawl, even if the tunes are good.

All in all, a fine debut, but I think they need to build up the power a bit more and show the world that they are a fun, thrilling, rockin’ dance band. I hope to see them in person soon, so we’ll see how this all translates in a live setting.

The Lounge Lizards (debut)

The Lounge Lizards was the brainchild of saxophonist John Lurie, who created a mix of cool jazz and no-wave noise to form a unique sound. Everyone here are excellent musicians – Evan Lurie on keys, bassist Steve Piccolo , guitarist Arto Lindsay and drummer Anton Fier – and their atmospheric combination of instrumental atonality and swing harkens back to the days on Thelonious Monk (who they cover here) while also, somehow, managing to sound post-punk.

The stark, black and white look of the cover gives an indication of what’s inside, which ranges from the sweet sounds of “Harlem Nocture” to the audio “fighting” in “Au Contraire Arto”. While maintaining a fealty to early jazz, they retain enough of a punk sensibility to keep the tunes short and the melodies memorable. Yes, they riff on the lines that they create, but these are actual songs that explore moods and feelings and are not simply extended improvisations.

I am not an accomplished enough of a writer to adequately describe their sound more than I have, so you will have to check it out yourself. If you are open to jazz excursions with a no-wave edge, then definitely give it a try! Personally, this is one of my favorite instrumental albums ever.

Mississippi Fred McDowell - Amazing Grace

While I am not a believer in any sense, I have come to truly love early gospel music, for the same reasons that I love most music - because it is made with true passion - and that comes through in the best of any style.

Mississippi Fred McDowell is not a virtuoso, but has a terrific bottleneck style that truly does talk to you. Here he is joined by his wife, Annie Mae, along with three other women from the congregation, who performed regularly at their church, Hunter's Chapel.

Fans of Areosmith will recognize where they got a couple of tunes for their Honkin' on Bobo album, "Jesus Is On the Mainline" and "Back Back Train". These versions are much rawer than that rock group (though I really do like what they did with them, as well), with just Fred on guitar and he & the women vocalizing. These are a couple of highlights here.

I will never understand why some overtly religious folks will disdain secular music since the only difference in many cases are the lyrics. It is sometimes amazing just how much - and how closely - gospel tunes have influenced blues, rock'n'roll, doo-wop, country and every other style of secular music. This record is a great example - musically, this is a terrific blues record, but lyrically, this is pure gospel.

Every song here is a real gem - this is one of my favorite buys in recent memory. There is a re-working of the classic "You Got To Move" that is changed dramatically with the extra vocals. When Fred sings by himself, it is haunting, when the women work together, it is invigorating and joyous.

I really cannot speak highly enough of this album - it is pretty damn magical. You will be a better person for owning this!

recommended gigs

Wednesday January 16 - Crazy Chief at the Griffin

Thursday Jan 17 - Thee Swank Bastards at the Beauty Bar

Wednesday Jan 23 - Psyactics/Tinglerz at the Griffin

Friday January 25 - The Swamp Gospel at the Bunkhouse

Saturday Jan 26 - The Psyatics at the Bunkhouse

Wednesday Jan 30 Thee Swank Bastards at the Double Down

Saturday Feb 2 - The Astaires at Choices Pub w/Wreck Chords and New World Martyr

Monday Feb 4 - Nashville Pussy at Las Vegas Country Saloon

Friday February 8 - The Tinglerz at the Double Down with the Swamp Gospel!

Saturday February 9 - The Psyatics at the LV Country Saloon
Saturday February 9 - Vintage Trouble at Vinyl at the Hard Rock

Wednesday February 20 - Thee Swank Bastards at the Griffin

Friday February 22 - The Psyatics & the Swamp Gospel at Motor City Cafe

Wednesday February 27 - Thee Swank Bastards at the Double Down

Saturday March 2 - Atomic Cossack at the Beauty Bar

Saturday Mar 9 - the Psyatics at the Double Down Saloon

I'll add more as I hear about them! Friends - lemme know and I'll list gigs here, for what it's worth!

Classic Blues Artwork from the 1920's: 2013 Calendar (+CD)

I know this is late for most of you, but if you want an amazing calendar for 2013 - this is it! Incredible artwork of the original ads for each month's tune along with daily info on who was born or died on that day. The CD is worth the price by itself - as it says, it has "21 classic blues songs from the 20's" - the songs highlighted each month on the calendar as well as 9 extras! Blind Willie Johnson, Memphis Minnie, Blind Lemon Jefferson, Charley Patton, Blind Willie Davis and lots more! I'm going to be posting some of the cool info that I learn from this calendar on FB and probably here, as well. We are always on the lookout for cool and interesting calendars, but this is one of the best that we've found! Available through Amazon!

200 Motels (movie)

A Frank Zappa production, 200 Motels is an excursion into the twisted minds of rock musicians on the road in a (very) surreal and non-linear way. Unfortunately, it never really comes together, mostly because it is so experimental that it leaves logic and story-telling behind. Made up of some of Zappa's weaker music (though there are some good tunes) and using simple, "psychedelic" visual techniques (LOTS of solarization, stop-motion, reverse-motion, multiple images, etc.), this was apparently made for the stoned-out, hippie audience. But even stoners have their limits and while this has Ringo Starr, Keith Moon, Theodore Bikel and various GTOs (a couple of which shed their clothes regularly), they really can't make this truly entertaining. It is an interesting snapshot of the times, but I wish it wasn't quite so improvised and there was a little more story and a few more strong songs. A bit excessive...

Black Pearls - Blues Queens of the 1920's - Daphne Duval Harrison

In the early 20's, the burgeoning blues genre was dominated by women who were considered "queens" - long before there were "divas"! They would dress flash with sequinned gowns, tiaras, jewelry, feathers, and plenty of style! They were "shouters", "moaners", "crooners" and just damn good singers. The backing varied, but they generally had bigger bands than what we associated with early male blues singers, including horns, pianos, and more of what we would consider "big band" or "jazz". But they paved the way for the evolution of the sound and many of the famous men who followed were very influenced by these queens.

This book is a good overview of these women, without getting into too much detail of anyone's lives. Harrison concentrates more on the sounds they made and the doors they opened for future performers. She explains the performance options available to these women and the adaptations that they had to make (those that could) as times and tastes changed, as vinyl was banned during the war, and as the depression hit.

Plenty here to hold the interest of anyone who cares of early blues, early African-American music, vaudeville circuits and even early civil rights. The story is often more factual (and sometimes a bit dry) than enthralling, but enjoyable none-the-less. I would like to find out more details about many of these women, but this is a good place to learn the basics. Good stuff!

The Lucky Cheats have a video!

Check it out HERE!

The Lucky Cheats/Delta Bombers - Favorites, Jan 4, 2013

Favorites is another cool Vegas dive bar, located near UNLV, with a good stage and PA - and an actual soundman who knows what he's doing (practically unheard-of in Las Vegas) - making it a "favorite" place to see bands. They don't have shows all the time, but hopefully they will be hosting gigs more regularly.

The place was packed when I arrived, which is always unusual for any dive bar gig out here, but the folks had good taste as it was a rockin' night! The Lucky Cheats opened and, as to be expected, tore it up! Great songs, great playing, another special guest spot by ex-Shadaleers singer Shanda (always a treat!) and tons of fun. They got the audience dancing right from the start and kept them there! I've raved about them numerous times already so I think the only thing that needs to be said is - see them! You won't regret it!

The Delta Bombers just returned from another European tour, spreading their own brand of punkabilly to to the old country. Led by singer Chris Moinichan, a blues/r'n'r shouter in the best tradition, he is aided and abetted by Andrew Himmler on guitar, Ozzy Chong on stand-up bass and Nick Lopez on drums. Definitely not trying to be overly revivalistic, they mix punk influences with their 50's to make their own sound. The people were behind them from before they hit the stage and were still raising their glasses in salute at the end of the night! (Unfortunately, I didn't get any decent pictures of them).

A cool show for my first of 2013!

recommended gigs

Friday January 4 - The Lucky Cheats with the Delta Bombers - Favorites
Friday January 4 - The Tinglerz at the Bunkhouse
Friday January 4 - Thee Swank Bastards at the Double Down

Saturday Jan 5 - The Astaires (formerly Acton Town) at the Beauty Bar w/Pet Tigers

Wednesday January 9 - Thee Swank Bastards at the Griffin

Thursday Jan 17 - Thee Swank Bastards at the Beauty Bar

Wednesday Jan 23 - Psyactics/Tinglerz at the Griffin

Friday January 25 - The Swamp Gospel at the Bunkhouse

Saturday Jan 26 - The Psyatics at the Bunkhouse

Wednesday Jan 30 Thee Swank Bastards at the Double Down

Saturday Feb 2 - The Astaires at Choices Pub w/Wreck Chords and New World Martyr

Monday Feb 4 - Nashville Pussy at Las Vegas Country Saloon

Friday February 8 - The Tinglerz at the Double Down with the Swamp Gospel!

Wednesday February 20 - Thee Swank Bastards at the Griffin

Saturday March 2 - Atomic Cossack at the Beauty Bar

I'll add more as I hear about them! Friends - lemme know and I'll list gigs here, for what it's worth!