recommended gigs

Halloween, Thursday Oct 31 - the Swamp Gospel at the Dive Bar with 3 Bad Jacks!

Friday November 1 - Psyatics at the Double Down

Sunday November 3 - The All Togethers at Artifice

Thursday Nov 7 - the Beau Hodges Band - House of Blues

Friday November 8 - Thee Swank Bastards at the Double Down

Saturday Nov 9 - Prophet Greene's Soul Machine, the Unweildies, Jinxemgood at the Hard Hat Lounge

Thursday Nov 21 - The Delta Bombers at the Hard Rock Cafe Paradise

Saturday Nov 23 - the Obits and the Cosmic Beasts - the Beauty Bar

Wednesday Nov 17 - Thee Swank Bastards at the Double Down

Friday Dec 6 - The Swamp Gospel at the Gateway Motel with the All-Togethers

Friday Dec 13 - The Delta Bombers w/ Dick Dale at the Hard Rock Cafe Strip

Thursday Dec 19 - the Delta Bombers - Hard Rock Cafe Paradise

What have I forgotten? Lemme know! Is everyone slowing down for the holidays? Haven't heard about many cool gigs for a while.

Bauhaus - Crackle

Continuing in my Halloween vein, I had to also pull out Bauhaus - this is a "hits" compilation, conveniently putting most of their best known work on a single CD. Certainly a good start for anyone looking into this group.

As one of the original "goth" groups, their sound is macabre and dark, with angular rhythms (courtesy of Kevin Haskins and David J on drums and bass), the deep, growling voice of Peter Murphy, and the atmospheric guitar of Daniel Ash. Of course, the lyrics are suitably "spooky" and fits perfectly with the sound, creating something reasonably unique at the time, although similar to what the original Siouxie and the Banshees were doing.

While most everything on this disc is pretty high quality, of course one of their most famous - and most appropriate for Halloween - numbers is "Bela Lugosi's Dead". Sparse backing with Ash providing a haunting aural landscape over which Murphy sings in a vampiric voice, with lyrics that only remotely refer to Bela, but work in context. Their songs are not so much standard verse/chorus tunes as they are almost soundtrack-ish, which obviously works for them, but I could see that some listeners might be a bit turned off by that.

"Hollow Hill" could easily be the soundtrack to a horror film with the ethereal call and answer of the title along with Ash's strings-section like washes of guitar. They use almost a disco beat for "Kick in the Eye", making that a bit more accessible, but one of their strongest tracks is their cover of "Ziggy Stardust", which, while great, is pretty close to the original. Murphy gets powerfully intense on "Dark Entries" and the oddly-named "Terror Couple Kills Colonel" (taken from a newspaper headline) really works as a story and a song. They mix a loosely, mysterious, hollow sound with an almost funky change in "Burning From the Inside", making it one of their stranger offerings. Conversely, one of their prettier tunes is the highly melodic "Crowds", an incredibly emotional love/hate song, with Murphy painfully singing over a fairly basic piano backing. This is one of their best, if only for the passion delivered.

This is a solid package either for fans looking for a basic compilation of for newbies interested in seeing what the first wave of "goth music" was all about.

Black Sabbath - Master of Reality

Just 6 months after the release of Paranoid, the group put out their third album, Master of Reality. As all three records were recorded and released in less than a year and a half, there are plenty of musical similarities, not that any fan was complaining! This record continues with the heavy guitar riffs, ponderous rhythm section and stoner lyrics that made the first two albums hits with the rabble.

Their most obvious ode to marijuana, "Sweet Leaf", opens with Osbourne actually coughing after taking a hit before he starts the song! This is yet another Sabbath classic, with all of the appropriate entries - lot of licks and rhythm changes behind Ozzy's unique voice. Beginning with some studio tricks (they had a bigger budget by this time, after the success of the first two records), they burst into "After Forever", with Ozzy's most overtly Christian lyrics - especially ironic as they were thought to be devil-worshippers at the time! "Embryo" is a short interlude played on a cello that moves into another blisterer, "Children of the Grave", driven by rhythm section Ward & Butler, with a relentless groove that is guaranteed to get your head banging! Iommi's musical feedback ends the tune and brings us to a first - an acoustic number, "Orchid", sounding almost classical and showing off Tony's versatility.

But we immediately return to the heaviness in "Lord of the World", a song condemning the devil - hardly the fodder for Satanists! Returning to the mellow, the ballad "Solitude" is a quiet number with Tony giving some melodic leads and a flute making an appearance! But, of course, the lads couldn't leave the record at that and come back with "Into the Void", with its guitar/bass riffage that wouldn't sound out of place in any of today's heavy rock bands, showing just who created the template for the style. Iommi's down-tuned guitar just sounds viciously evil as Ozzy sings about a rocket ship trying to escape the end of the world.

One of their shorter outings, but as with all of their first four records, a must-have for any metal-head!

Black Sabbath - Paranoid

As it is almost Halloween, it is time for me to pull out my Black Sabbath albums again and again I am

surprised that I have not written about these records, as they were a huge part of my teenage years. Everyone was into Sabbath at the time - the ultra-heavy guitars and lyrics that mixed hippie sentiments with devil worship really set this apart from the singer/songwriter tunes that were popular at the time. This was the soundtrack for the freaks - long before heavy metal became mainstream.

Opening with "War Pigs" - originally the title track for the album, but the record company balked at the anti-war perspective - this was obviously a continuation of the sound they created on their debut record, with Tony Iommi's guitar extremely present and the rhythm section pounding their heavy sludge. The structure is actually fairly unusual, with long pauses in between the power chords, and at almost 8 minutes, slightly odd for an opening number. But, of course, it became a classic. The actual title track, though, will always be the band's most famous number, as it was their only hit and, as often happens, this was written in the studio because they needed an extra song and was practically a throw-away. Regardless, the iconic guitar riff and powerful backing - along with the somewhat obscure/paranoid lyrics - make this one of the hits of the genre.

Never afraid to also show their mellower/stoned-out side, "Planet Caravan" is a ballad, complete with bongos and echoing guitar lines and sounds almost like something that Traffic would do rather than this heavy metal behemoth. Then they return to form with another of their best known tunes, riffing on the term "heavy metal" and stealing the name of a comic book character (though the lyrics do not seem to have anything to do with Tony Stark), "Iron Man" opens with Iommi down-tuning his guitar and then blasting out one of his patented chord-licks. Lot of riffs and twists and turns, yet maintaining a cool rockin' groove. The dirge-y tempo re-appears in "Electric Funeral", with its cool wah-wah guitar, before Bill Ward propels them into a rave-up mid-section. In "Hand of Doom", the group creates an early take on the now-familiar quiet/loud song structure, showing off their use of dynamics and filling the song to bursting with riffs. "Rat Salad" is a short instrumental that leads into the not-very-politically-correct closer "Jack the Stripper/Fairies Wear Boots", with its bizarre lyrics and multiple time changes.

This is pretty much what you should think of when you think of original heavy metal music - a classic of the style!

Lou Reed American Poet - Live in Hamstead NY, Dec 26, 1972

This CD is from a show promoting Lou's Transformer LP, where the band performed live on the radio, with songs from that album, his solo debut (Lou Reed) as well as a variety of Velvet material. Here he is backed by the Tots, a band he picked up along the way, who I do not believe recorded with him, along maybe part of the group might have appeared on Transformer - I'm not finding much info on them right now and I don't remember what I have read in the past.

The combo rocks up the tunes, kinda giving a preview to what Lou did on Rock'n'Roll Animal, imbuing them with a fun energy that the enthusiastic crowd really appreciated. He bounces back and forth from older to newer songs, opening with "White Light/White Heat", moving into "Vicious" (with the guitarist doing his best to imitate Mick Ronson's lines), "I'm Waiting For My Man", "Walk It, Talk It" and "Sweet Jame", complete with harmonies and even the middle break from the Loaded version. The interview is sometimes a bit vicious, such as when Lou wishes Doug Yule's death and when he denies that he would ever revisit the Velvet Underground, but is informative of his state of mind at the time and talks about "Heroin" being banned but now being able to play it live on the radio.

He does comment that this is the "rock" version of "Heroin" and is similar is style to what later live takes. Still mighty "harrowing" and the lead guitarist does an occasional nice emulation of Cale's viola. "Satellite of Love", "about someone watching TV - a nice thing to write a song about", kinda misses the female backup vocals, but is solid, though the hit, "Walk on the Wild Side" works surprisingly well, despite only having one of the bass lines, naturally. Their take on "I'm So Free" is a bit shambolically rockin' but "Berlin" (from his first solo LP) really works, with some lovely, melodic twin guitar work.  They close, appropriately enough, with "Rock'n'Roll", with more dual guitar leads and a great rave up ending!

No, this isn't as insanely antagonistic as the Velvets, but this is a terrific r'n'r album! Well worth searching out!

RIP Lou Reed

Lou Reed, Velvet Underground Leader and Rock Pioneer, Dead at 71 
---
This is another tough one - far, far too young and still vital. Lou's music has been with me since I was a teen. Of course, "Walk on the Wild Side" was the big hit and Rock'n'Roll Animal was a huge album, but then fellow Gizmos Kenne Highland and Eddie Flowers turned me on to the early Velvets and his crazed noise leads and I was hooked forever.

Damn, a world without Lou...hard to imagine.

The Clydesdale / The All-Togethers at the Neon Boneyard Bash

For their first year birthday bash/fundraiser, the Neon Museum assembled some great local talent to provide the live entertainment. The Swamp Gospel played, which was fitting as our own Rev. Sister Divine ran the Museum pretty much single-handedly for 3-1/2 years, as well as two other terrific Las Vegas acts, the All-Togethers and the Clydesdale.

I have ranted'n'raved about the All-Togethers several times before, and love their brand of prohibition-era, stripped down, acoustic Americana music. While the sound was a little iffy here and there on this night, they still put on a great show with their usual excellent originals and wacky covers, including a Lady Gaga tune (or so I am told). Brian was seated behind a full drum kit for this set, but didn't stray from his bare-bones approach, which suits the acoustic aspect of the music. Ken switches from guitar to banjo to mandolin, giving a variety to the songs and Cindy's stand-up bass always sounds fine as she adds lovely backing vocals. A good time is guaranteed with these folks!

Oddly, considering how long they have been around and how much they have played, I had never seen the Clydesdale before, despite hearing and digging their tunes and the cool video that our friend Stacey Torma did for their song "Dale Torro". This co-ed congregation includes singer/rhythm guitarist Paige Overton, who has a beautiful voice and plays solid guitar, drummer Courtney Carroll, who bashes with the best of 'em, lead guitarist Andrew Karasa and bassist Jason Aragon. Their music is country-flavored rock'n'roll, with an emphasis on melodies. Andrew plays some fine lap steel guitar on a number of tunes, as well as cool leads on his two hand-made guitars. No one gets overly flashy - they concentrate on doing what it takes to make the song work. Really great stuff. It seems like they took a bit of a hiatus for a while, but here's hoping that I will be seeing more of them in the near future.

Cool night in a cool setting for the anniversary of a worthy project. Thank you to the Neon Museum and to the great music that helped the celebration!

recommended gigs

Thursday Oct 24 - Cosmic Beasts and the Cheyenne Saloon
Thursday Oct 24 - The Lucky Cheats at the Hard Rock Cafe on Paradise

Friday October 25 - The Swamp Gospel @ The Neon Boneyard Benefit with the All-Togethers and Clydesdale

Saturday Oct 26 - Thee Swank Bastards - The Dillinger

Wednesday Oct 30 - Thee Swank Bastards at the Double Down

Halloween, Thursday Oct 31 - the Swamp Gospel at the Dive Bar with 3 Bad Jacks!

Friday November 1 - Psyatics at the Double Down

Friday November 8 - Thee Swank Bastards at the Double Down

Saturday Nov 9 - Prophet Greene's Soul Machine, the Unweildies, Jinxemgood at the Hard Hat Lounge

Thursday Nov 21 - The Delta Bombers at the Hard Rock Cafe Paradise

Saturday Nov 23 - the Obits and the Cosmic Beasts - the Beauty Bar

Wednesday Nov 17 - Thee Swank Bastards at the Double Down

Friday Dec 6 - The Swamp Gospel at the Gateway Motel with the All-Togethers

Friday Dec 13 - The Delta Bombers w/ Dick Dale at the Hard Rock Cafe Strip

Thursday Dec 19 - the Delta Bombers - Hard Rock Cafe Paradise

What have I forgotten? Lemme know!

Muddy Waters - Fathers and Sons

In the 60's, Muddy Waters endured several attempts by the Chess empire to "update" his sound for the then-burgeoning white blues audience - the notorious Electric Mud and Brass and the Blues being the two most misguided efforts. Here, though, they got it right!

On this record Muddy was teamed up with a man who accompanied him on many classic recordings, pianist Otis Spann, as well as acolytes Michael Bloomfield (guitar) and Paul Butterfield (harp) - both hailing from the Butterfield Blues Band and both had followed Waters in the early 60's - a then-highly-risky venture for young white men. Drummer Sam Lay had worked with both Waters' chief rival, Howlin' Wolf on some of his biggest hits, as well as the afore-mentioned BBB. On bass, they picked up non other than Donald "Duck" Dunn from Booker T & the M.G.'s, who had also worked with Albert King on his classic "Born Under a Bad Sign" album. There are a few other talents involved in the mix here - harpist Jeff Carp duets with Butterfield on "All Aboard", Buddy Miles sits in on part two of the live take on "Goy My Mojo Working", Paul Asbell plays rhythm guitar on a few tracks and Phil Upchurch sits in on bass on "All Aboard".

While this was meant to expand Muddy's inroads to the white audience, ironically the white players here do their best to imitate their African-American predecessors, which is what makes this so good! The songs all have a great sound and intensity while maintaining the integrity of the originals. Each player gets to show their chops and Muddy even pulls out his stingin' slide guitar again - something that he had set aside for all too long during the 60's and something that provides the numbers with a very distinctive feel. The set - not unlike his later Johnny Winter collaborations - incorporate some of his biggest hits with some lessor known - but still terrific - material.

Of course, I will always recommended his original work first, but this is a terrifically solid set of rockin' blues from one of the biggest giants ever to walk the earth! The CD includes previously unreleased bonus tracks and a booklet with extensive liner notes. Great job!

The Two Timers / Beau Hodges - The Motor City Cafe 10-19-13

Twas a slow night at the Motor City Cafe on Saturday, which means that all too many of the denizens of Las Vegas missed an intimate night of great music by some of the city's finest talents.

Anyone who has ever visited this blog knows that I love the Lucky Cheats and feel that the cats in this band are some of the best players you're likely to see in a club anywhere in this country. On this night Wade (guitar) and Jeffrey (harp) got together as the Two Timers to do a set of hot'n'cool blues without the Cheats' terrific rhythm section. I love early blues artists who were able to kick up some major noise - and create a party - all on their own - sometimes just one man with a guitar - and that is what these two were emulating this night. We were treated to some Cheats' material (like Slim Harpo's "Shake Your Hips") but stuff that I've never heard them do, as well, like R.L. Burnside's "Skinny Woman" (one that I've always thought about covering!), Mississippi Fred McDowells's "You Got to Move" done on a vintage lap steel guitar, and "Play With Your Poodle" (done by so many blues cats and kittens that I don't know who originated it). I love watching these two do their thang since they are both superb musicians (if there's a better harp player in town, I wanna know about it cuz Jeffrey is a master!) and it was fun to see them in a more personal setting. See them any way you can!

 

Also playing was Beau Hodges, of the Beau Hodges Band ('natch!), accompanying himself simply with an acoustic guitar. I've seen his band electric and acoustic but never the man all on his own - and I never saw him play guitar before. This actually worked very well in this setting as Beau has a fantastic voice, with a great tone and full of emotion, and he is a charismatic character and a fine story-teller. He was self-deprecating regarding his playing ability, but I thought he handled it well and it fit the songs perfectly. His music is pretty unique but with plenty of touches of country, blues and folk. Really something to experience. Check him out in any of his incarnations!

Thank you to the Motor City Cafe for hosting these cats and thank you to those who made it out to share the experience!

recommended gigs

Thursday Oct 17 - Thee Swank Bastards at the Velveteen Rabbit

Friday Oct 18 - Thee Swank Bastards at the Double Down
Friday Oct 18 - The All Togethers at E-Strings

Saturday October 19 - Prophet Greene's Soul Machine at the Motor City with the Two Timers (Wade and Jeffrey from the Lucky Cheats) and an acoustic set from the Beau Hodges Band

Thursday Oct 24 - Cosmic Beasts and the Cheyenne Saloon
Thursday Oct 24 - The Lucky Cheats at the Hard Rock Cafe on Paradise

Friday October 25 - The Swamp Gospel @ The Neon Boneyard Benefit with the All-Togethers and Clydesdale

Saturday Oct 26 - Thee Swank Bastards - The Dillinger

Wednesday Oct 30 - Thee Swank Bastards at the Double Down

Friday November 1 - Psyatics at the Double Down

Friday November 8 - Thee Swank Bastards at the Double Down

Saturday Nov 9 - Prophet Greene's Soul Machine, the Unweildies, Jinxemgood at the Hard Hat Lounge

Thursday Nov 21 - The Delta Bombers at the Hard Rock Cafe Paradise

Saturday Nov 23 - The Swamp Gospel at the Double Down
Saturday Nov 23 - the Obits and the Cosmic Beasts - the Beauty Bar

Wednesday Nov 17 - Thee Swank Bastards at the Double Down

Friday Dec 6 - The Swamp Gospel at the Gateway Motel with the All-Togethers

Friday Dec 13 - The Delta Bombers w/ Dick Dale at the Hard Rock Cafe Strip

Thursday Dec 19 - the Delta Bombers - Hard Rock Cafe Paradise

What have I forgotten? Lemme know!

Tiger Sex / the Rosalyns - The Dive Bar Oct 11, 2013

Anyone who knows me or who has ever read this blog knows that I am a huge fan of local band Tiger Sex and their wild guitarist Kei (formerly of the Tinglerz, another local fave). Kei and his wife Kelly have teamed up and created this punk'n'roll combo that is tearing it up all over Vegas and the west coast.

Joined by powerhouse drummer Chris, they now have a new bassist (didn't catch his name and I don't see it on their FB page - get on that guys!) who isn't quite as maniacally active as their previous 4-string mangler, Brian, but he holds down the fort with Chris so that Kei and Kelly can go crazy! She's not afraid to get down'n'dirty - literally, in this case, as the floor was still a mess from last week's Mapes show! She opened the show in a rather conservative (but cool) suit and literally tore most of it off by the end of the set!

They have several new songs since the last time I saw them and some cool covers, such as the Stooges "TV Eye" and Johnny O'Keefe's "Wild One", by way of Iggy & Joan Jett. As with the best in punk'n'roll, they're not one-dimensional and mix us speeds, rhythms and guitar tones throughout the set, giving us variety while never sacrificing power.

Lovers of Detroit r'n'r, Johnny Thunders and groups like the Hellacopters need to check out these cats and kitten! You won't regret it!

Las Vegas got a special treat with one of the 4 shows that all-female garage combo the Rosalyns are playing on this current mini-tour. After knocking 'em dead at the Ugly Things anniversary show over Memorial Weekend, the ladies had so much fun that they needed to do it again! A virtual super-group of garage rock, the Rosalyns are made up of Anja Stax (currently of the Loons, formerly of the Diaboliks and Thee Cherylinas) on bass and vocals, Diane Death (of Chinese Rocks, a Thunders tribute, as well as El Vez and other bands too numerous to list) on guitar and vocals, Amy Gore (Gore Gore Girls and  Amy Gore and her Valentines) on guitar and vocals, Birdy Bardot (guitar in the New Kinetics) on organ, harp, percussion and vocals), and Lety Beers (the Schizophonics and El Vez) on drums.

These five lovely lasses wear matching pink mini-dresses - shades of the Pleasure Seekers, whose "What a Way to Die" was their opener this night! The set was all covers - but what covers! - and the band are all super players. I didn't catch all of the tunes, but they did the Yardbirds "Putty in Your Hands", Cindy and Bert's "Der Hund Von Baskerville" (a German version of Black Sabbath's "Paranoid") with Anja singing (since that where she hails), Fleur de Lys' "Hold On", the Shangri-Las' "Great Big Kiss", Bo's "Diddley Daddy", a spot on "48 Crash" with Amy sounding exactly like Suzi Quatro, and ending the set with their namesake, "Rosalyn" (Pretty Things) before encoring with the Belles' "Melvin" - the female take on "Gloria".

It was so great to hear all this super-cool music, done by real professionals, who were obviously having a great time. All four front women sang leads and harmonies - when they all came up to the mics together it sounded fabulous! - and Amy and Diane did some cool dual leads, as well as trading off on solos. Anja and Lety are a great rhythm section and Birdy's multiple instruments added the icing to the r'n'r cake!

As of right now they are only doing two more shows - tonight in San Diego and tomorrow in LA, but hopefully we will be seeing and hearing more from these rockin' chicks!

recommended gigs

Thursday Oct 10 - Bogtrotters Union/Pietasters - Hard Rock
Thursday Oct 10 - The All Togethers at the Velveteen Rabbit

Friday Oct 11 - The Rosalyns with Tiger Sex - Dive Bar
Friday Oct 11 - Black Camaro at the Gold Spike
Friday Oct 11 - The All Togethers - Dillinger
Friday Oct 11 - the Delta Bombers at Bar 702

Thursday Oct 17 - Thee Swank Bastards at the Velveteen Rabbit

Friday Oct 18 - Thee Swank Bastards at the Double Down
Friday Oct 18 - The All Togethers at E-Strings

Saturday October 19 - Prophet Greene's Soul Machine at the Motor City with the Two Timers (Wade and Jeffrey from the Lucky Cheats) and an acoustic set from the Beau Hodges Band

Thursday Oct 24 - Cosmic Beasts and the Cheyenne Saloon
Thursday Oct 24 - The Lucky Cheats at the Hard Rock Cafe on Paradise

Friday October 25 - The Swamp Gospel @ The Neon Boneyard Benefit with the All-Togethers and Clydesdale

Saturday Oct 26 - Thee Swank Bastards - The Dillinger

Wednesday Oct 30 - Thee Swank Bastards at the Double Down

Friday November 1 - Psyatics at the Double Down

Friday November 8 - Thee Swank Bastards at the Double Down

Saturday Nov 9 - Prophet Greene's Soul Machine, the Unweildies, Jinxemgood at the Hard Hat Lounge

Thursday Nov 21 - The Delta Bombers at the Hard Rock Cafe Paradise

Saturday Nov 23 - The Swamp Gospel at the Double Down
Saturday Nov 23 - the Obits and the Cosmic Beasts - the Beauty Bar

Wednesday Nov 17 - Thee Swank Bastards at the Double Down

Friday Dec 6 - The Swamp Gospel at the Gateway Motel with the All-Togethers

Friday Dec 13 - The Delta Bombers w/ Dick Dale at the Hard Rock Cafe Strip

Thursday Dec 19 - the Delta Bombers - Hard Rock Cafe Paradise

What have I forgotten? Lemme know!

The Pluralses, The Maxies, Paul Collins' Beat, Thee Mapes - the Dive Bar, Oct 5, 2013

This truly wacky night at the Dive Bar began with a new band from Kurt of Thee Mapes, the Pluralses (dig the name!). Stylistically, this trio is basically the Mapes without the costumes and the mayhem. Short, fast, catchy punk-pop with incredibly juvenile, potty-mouth lyrics. Fun and amusing, but maybe they shouldn't play on the same bills as the Mapes since musically they are so similar.

Up next was the Maxies, who hail from Orange County and claim to be from Greenland and apparently have a rotating membership led by singer "Maximum Maxie". They dress up in (more or less) matching outfits and sing punk-pop ditties about clubbing seals to death. Silly, visual and fun.

Following the Maxies was the star of the night, the legendary Paul Collins of the Beat and the Nerves. Paul is definitely starting to look his age (though he's still in pretty good shape) and his voice was hoarse - either from his current tour or from too many shows over the years - but he still blasted through his great power-pop anthems with a hot band of young hipsters behind him. Sharing the bassist of the Maxies, his guitarist (on an old Univox Mosrite copy) and drummer helped with the vocals and harmonies while they duplicated the sound and style of the tunes with a rockin' good energy. I hope that Paul's voice isn't permanently shot, but he still put on a great show with all of this hits and more! He currently has a new single that he shares with the Maxies (who he is touring with), but they packed up the merch before I could check it out.

Of course, the reason that everything was packed up so quickly was Thee Mapes. After apologizing for the mess the last time they played the Dive Bar they were told that it wasn't any problem and they could "make a bigger mess next time", so they took them up on the challenge. The stage was covered with bags, coolers, pinatas, toilet-paper and who-knows-what-else before the band started and the audience members helped themselves immediately to the goodies. The air was filled with flour, powdered sugar and assorted other delicacies before the first song was over. Oddly, the band sounded better than ever with this madness surrounding them - as if they need the insanity in order to function on all fuses. Their sound is, again, kinda poppy-punk, and with grade-school humor lyrics, but well done and highly entertaining live - even without the trash! Soundman Kirby got his own protective screen and by the end of the night the entire club's floor was covered with inches of debris.

Thanks to the Dive Bar for bringing in cool touring bands and pairing them with fun, local acts! I hope that the club can recover from this night before the next show!

The Lazy Cowgirls - Third Time's the Charm - Again

This CD is a compilation of tracks taken from a Grown Up Wrong 12" EP, a Sub-Pop 7" and live tracks taken from KCSB and KCPR radio. So, real fans may have some of the tunes, but unlikely that you would already have everything.

The studio cuts are from the mid-80's, about the same time as the Radio Cowgirl record, which is why this has some of the same tunes (in "studio" form) - "Losin' Your Mind", "Meat Shop" - as well as "Dye'n'Red", "A Lot to Learn", and the Pagans' ode to Larry Flint, "Reborn". The Sub Pop record included "Loretta" and "Hybrid Moments", while the KCSB tracks are "Rock of Gibraltar", and "Jungle Song" and the tracks from KCPR are "Anymore", "What Are You Talkin''bout Baby?", and "Tearful Pillows", all from their debut, as well as "Justine" and "Bullshit Summer Song".

Again, it's the Cowgirls - if you don't already know and love them, then you should, and either way you should grab up whatever you can by them!

The Lazy Cowgirls - Radio Cowgirl

Because the band had created such a name for themselves as a dynamic and vibrant live act, it seemed natural to put out a "live" album, and with an appearance at KCSB Santa Barbara resulting in some high quality recordings, this was the result. There are also some "live in the studio" tracks recorded at Present Time Studios, both with the original band and with a line-up including Len Keringer (Creamers/Marlowes) and Johnny Esposipo on bass and drums (as bonus tracks for the CD).

The set list here includes plenty of originals and tons of cool covers, ranging from the Ramones' "Carbona, Not Glue", the Saints' "Know Your Product", 50's rocker "Slow Down", the theme from "Green Acres", "Heartache", 13th Floor Elevators "You're Gonna Miss Me" (before everyone in the world started covering it - and pretty damn manical), the Dolls' "Who Are the Mystery Girls". Jerry Lee's "Crazy Arms", the Kinks' "This is Where I Belong" and lots more - all done in the high-energy Cowgirls' style. Of course, there are some super originals, as well: Lose'n Your Mind", "Meat Shop", "Mr. Screwdriver", "Goddam Bottle", "The Long Goodbye", to name a few.

Hey, it's the Cowgirls, it's high-quality high-energy! You should own all of their releases!

The Lazy Cowgirls - Tapping the Source

After hearing the Lazy Cowgirls on the soundtrack of the Border Radio movie, I realized that I hadn't listened to their early records in quite a while. Unfortunately, I don't have their first LP on CD (so I can't listen to it right now) but while that album had some terrific songs, the production (oddly, by Chris D., who didn't bring out their better qualities at all) is lacking. Here, on their follow-up, they get much closer to their wild'n'ragged live sound, with D.D. Weekday's guitars prominent in the mix and with their high-energy intact.

This set includes some of their early classics - "Can't You Do Anything Right", "Bullshit Summer Song" (with its great chanted "heys!"), "No Name" (with drummer Allen Clark's backing "oohs" and DD mangling his guitar in his "Johnny Thunders wielding a chainsaw" kinda way), "Left" (with the terrific bridge "you're scary and you're lonely and you're full of shit!"), and cool covers like Jim Reeves' "Heartache" (Pat Todd always had a major love for country music), and the 50's rockers "Yakety Yak" and "Justine", done as a medley, with guest saxophonist Marc Mylar making wonderfully wild noise. Clark's "Reacurring Thang" and Todd's "Goddam Bottle" are a couple of their best - both have catchy choruses and both co-written by Weekday (under his real name Phillips). The record is completed by "Allen Says" and "Mr. Screwdriver", a diatribe against a drunkard, admonishing him to "put that orange juice and vodka away!"

The Cowgirls really did have their own sound - a mix of the Ramones, Johnny Thunders, C&W and anarchic, on-the-edge playing. They became a hit in LA shortly after moving there from Indiana and Pat Todd (now with his Rank Outsiders) still reigns there today.

X - Unclogged

Right from the start, there was always something special about X. The mix of styles and talent in this band made them stand out, even at a time when "punk rock" could include bands ranging from the Zeros, Black Flag, The Blasters, Suburban Lawns, the Nuns, the Screamers and lots more. Drummer DJ Bonebrake was - and still is - one of the best, most creative, pounders around, Billy Zoom was rockabilly stylish and handsome with his silver sparkle Gretsch guitar, John Doe was also one that the ladies would swoon over while he played interesting runs on his bass and sang with one of the better voices in the scene, which was countered by Exene's witchy/bag lady/punk styling and wild wailing. Besides all of this, there were the songs, that were real songs, with poetic lyrics, melodies and creative progressions. There were some changes throughout the years, stylistically and in the personnel, but the quality was always there.

This quality really stands out on this record, where they strip the songs down to - mostly - acoustic numbers, showing that the tunes did not rely on power and flash. At this point, guitar duties were handled by Tony Gilkyson, who added a new dimension to their sound. This set begins with one of my favorite tunes of theirs, "White Girl", which shows right away that their songs weren't all power chords and high energy - this sweet melody shines through and John and Exenes' off-kilter harmonies work, even in this quieter setting. DJ's multi-layer talents appear when he pulls out a marimba for "Because I Do" and John's country leanings show up in "Lying in the Road", with Gilkyson adding some nice electric lead bits. The marimba is particularly, hauntingly effective on "Unheard Music", where it is the predominant instrument (along with some quiet acoustic guitar), changing the entire feel of this number - in a very cool way. "I Must Not Think Bad Thoughts" is not as thoroughly changed, but works wonderfully in this quieter setting, highlighting the vocal interaction between John and Exene. I always thought that Tony brought with him more of a country influence (a slight difference from Zoom's rockabilly slant) and here "Burning House of Love" is treated like an early Johnny Cash song, with his electric leads counterpointing with the melody and acoustic guitar.

Although "The Stage" is not one of their classic tunes, it also works well in this manner, but this is followed by one of their strongest melodies in "See How We Are" - beautifully powerful and this version, highlighting the lyrics and vocals, is especially terrific. They lighten the mood with "True Love" followed by the cool-country of "Have-Nots" before moving into another radical re-working for "The World's a Mess, It's In My Kiss", making it almost unrecognizable, but still good. Again, "I See Red" is not one of their best, but it does lend itself to this treatment and Gilkyson gets to bust out some fine riffs in "What's Wrong With Me", the "official" closer, though there is a short, hidden track of marimba music.

Not for purist punk-rockers, but personally, I love these re-workings and think that they make the songs even more personal and heartfelt.

Border Radio (DVD)

I arrived in LA in 1979, so caught the last year or two of the hip punk rock scene in small clubs before things deteriorated into horrible, boring hard core (which helped me move into the garage scene, but that's another story). I got to see bands like X, the Blasters, the Flesheaters, and hundreds more in dive bars like the Hong Kong Cafe (which appears in the film - very nostalgia inducing!), Blackies, Club 88, etc., but I never got to know most of that crew. There was a real clique with these bands, and many members worked together in side projects and, obviously, hung out at parties, as well as shared stages. This film, while essentially portraying a fictional story, also documents this scene, with actors including John Doe, Phil Alvin, Chris D. (Flesheaters/Divine Horsemen) and music from their bands, as well as other locals such as the Lazy Cowgirls, Green on Red and Los Lobos.

Co-directed by three UCLA students, Kurt Voss, Dean Lent, and Allison Anders, the movie is filmed in black and white and contains some truly lovely shots of Southern California and Mexico. The story is pretty flimsy and not very linear, and the acting has been described as "ramshackle", but it is a nice remembrance of these days. Funny to see just how shabby most of these early punk rockers dressed (not in what was to become the punk uniform, but just in torn jeans and t-shirts), but the music is undeniably good. Besides the aforementioned, we also get bit parts by Iris Berry, Texacala Jones, Eddie Flowers (of the Gizmos/Crawlspace) and many more, as well as some great location shots.

The DVD includes a number of extras (which I haven't seen yet), including a "making-of" and some deleted scenes. Very cool for fans of the early LA scene.

recommended gigs

Thursday Oct 3 - Thee Swank Bastards - Wolf Theater

Friday Oct 4 - The Psyatics with Rev. Horton Heat at LV Country Saloon
Friday Oct 4 - Midnight Clover/Jinxemgood - Artifice
Friday Oct 4 - Lucky Cheats @ Mickey Finnz on Fremont

Saturday Oct 5 - the Mapes with Paul Collins' Beat! at the Dive Bar
Saturday Oct 5 - Lucky Cheats @ Mickey Finnz on Fremont
Saturday Oct 5 - Jinxemgood @ LV Country Saloon w/Wayne Hancock and Whiskey Breath
Saturday Oct 5 - Thee Swank Bastards - the Gold Spike

Wednesday Oct 9 - Tiger Sex at the Griffin

Thursday Oct 10 - Bogtrotters Union/Pietasters - Hard Rock
Thursday Oct 10 - The All Togethers at the Velveteen Rabbit

Friday Oct 11 - The Rosalyns with Tiger Sex - Dive Bar
Friday Oct 11 - Black Camaro at the Gold Spike
Friday Oct 11 - The All Togethers - Dillinger
Friday Oct 11 - the Delta Bombers at Bar 702

Thursday Oct 17 - Thee Swank Bastards at the Velveteen Rabbit

Friday Oct 18 - Thee Swank Bastards at the Double Down
Friday Oct 18 - The All Togethers at E-Strings

Saturday October 19 - Prophet Greene's Soul Machine at the Motor City with the Two Timers (Wade and Jeffrey from the Lucky Cheats)

Thursday Oct 24 - Cosmic Beasts and the Cheyenne Saloon

Friday October 25 - The Swamp Gospel @ The Neon Boneyard Benefit

Saturday Oct 26 - Thee Swank Bastards - The Dillinger

Wednesday Oct 30 - Thee Swank Bastards at the Double Down

Friday November 1 - Psyatics at the Double Down

Friday November 8 - Thee Swank Bastards at the Double Down

Thursday Nov 21 - The Delta Bombers at the Hard Rock Cafe Paradise

Saturday Nov 23 - The Swamp Gospel at the Double Down
Saturday Nov 23 - the Obits and the Cosmic Beasts - the Beauty Bar

Wednesday Nov 17 - Thee Swank Bastards at the Double Down

Friday Dec 6 - The Swamp Gospel at the Gateway Motel with the All-Togethers

Friday Dec 13 - The Delta Bombers w/ Dick Dale at the Hard Rock Cafe Strip

Thursday Dec 19 - the Delta Bombers - Hard Rock Cafe Paradise

What have I forgotten? Lemme know!

Duane Eddy Anthology - Twang Thang

Duane Eddy's work is familiar to anyone who has ever heard r'n'r instrumentals and the songs are the
basis for many later genres, most notably the 60's surf sound. Working with Lee Hazelwood as producer, Eddy's guitar was recorded through a 2000 gallon water tank (used as an echo chamber) to accentuate his "twangy" guitar tone. His first single in 1957, "Movin' & Groovin'" was a minor hit (taking a riff from Chuck Berry as the intro), but his follow up, "Rebel Rouser" was a smash and his career took off from there.

This 2-disc set is chock full of tunes - his hits are included, of course, but lots of other great, and some not-so-great, numbers. I don't have any liner notes with my copy of this CD, but I am assuming that the songs here are at least reasonably in chronological order, making "Stalkin'" most likely the B-Side to "Movin' & Groovin'" and it is a terrific, sinister soundtrack that any villain would be proud to call his own! "Rebel Rouser", naturally, is a great monster, and "Ramrod" continues in a similar vein. He pulls out some quality, reverbed blues in "Three 30 Blues", and "steals" the melody from the traditional "Frankie and Johnny" for "I Almost Lost My Mind". The wailin' sax is nearly as important as the twangy guitar on many of the tunes, like the wild "YEP!" and "Forty Miles of Bad Road", another hit combing these two instruments with background whoopin' and yellin'! He adds his guitar to the Sharps "Have Love Will Travel" (not the Sonics classic) while "Quiniela" is mellower and practically jazzy.

Of course, nowadays, "Peter Gunn" is totally ubiquitous, having been covered by everyone in the world multiple times and used in countless movies, TV shows, etc., but in 1960, this was one of the most exciting sounds around! A simple, painfully catchy riff, "yackety" sax and cool groove, this cannot be beat for instrumental sounds! There is some schmaltzy crap though, like "First Love, First Tears" - truly terrible, giving a major counterpoint to magic like "Peter Gunn". "Tiger Love and Turnip Greens" is an over-the-top screamin' hillbilly stomp while "Trambone" is a quieter, country-ish incidental-music number and "Route #1" sounds something like an Alka Seltzer commercial! Another soundtrack, "Because They're Young", is good, but nothing like the rocker that was "Peter Gunn", the strings in "Kommotion" are simply a distraction and "Pepe" is again, nothing special.

Disc two opens with a novelty number, "Dance With the Guitar Man", that still holds some nice licks, and this style continues in "Boss Guitar". While there is some of this annoying "singing" in "Sugar Foot Rag", Eddy's playing shines on this bluegrass classic. He serves up a country ballad in "The Window Up Above" and mellows out Jerry Lee Lewis' "Crazy Arms" before giving us a nice, bluesy "One Mint Julep", though the horn section and cheesy organ takes away from the coolness of the number. "Hard Times" is a bit more of a return to his classic roots, though with a more modern (at the time) sound. But he gets corny again in "Swanee River Rock" and then goes folk-rock, complete with electric 12-string, but with a dash of country, for "Buckaroo". Another campy atrocity is "Play Me Like You Play Your Guitar", but when the producers just let him play his guitar, like in "Roadhouse Boogie", you get high-quality instro-rock again. Though "Zephyr Cove" and "Road Race" are pretty decent, they lack the urgency and fire of his best, rockin' works.

The Art of Noise re-mix of "Peter Gunn" just adds annoying sounds and effects to this masterpiece, diluting its power and genius. I guess enough of the original shown through, though, as this aberration was a worldwide hit! So, what do I know?! This weird mix of cool and crap continues in "The Trembler" and "Rockestra Theme" - you can tell that these could be good songs (the former better than the latter), but the production does its best to cover it up.

This collection is worth it for disc one - and disc two could have been left off completely, though obviously Duane wanted to show that he was still active. When it's good, it's great, but when it's bad, it's pretty damn abysmal. But, any guitarist can - and should - learn from this man!

The Tinglerz - TINGLERZ

The Tinglerz recently split up so that mighty guitarist Kei could concentrate on his new project with his wife Kelly, Tiger Sex, but but anyone who ever experienced the group will never forget them! This CD of 6 studio and 4 live tunes is a cool document from one of the best punk'n'roll bands ever to come out of the Las Vegas valley!

Here Kei was the singer as well as guitarist and was backed by manic bassist Eric and alternatively drummer-about-town Turbo Proctor (on the live cuts, as the most recent percussionist) and Dusty Watson (on the studio numbers), all providing a powerhouse sound. This is punk'n'roll they way it is supposed to be - a cross between crazed punk rock, garage, 50's rock'n'roll and whatever else the guys could think to throw in! Real songs, high energy and hot playing!

The CD opens with the studio cuts, starting with the garage/punk "Fever Hell". Taking cues from the Del-Vetts "Last Time Around", Kei shrieks until he voice is raw in this wild pounder. I really don't think that I am just referencing their shared ethnicity when I say that this reminds me of Electric Eel Shock - same kind of delivery and power, though I think I like these songs better. "Get it On" continues to exploit their garage roots with its chord-riffs, catchy chorus and Johnny Thunders-styled leads. The boys get downright poppy in "Into the Sun", sounding like a rawer Undertones - proving that they weren't afraid to add melodies to the madness. Back to the growlers with "Fancy Heart" - if cavemen got r'n'r instruments this would probably be what they would come up with! They slow things down a bit for "Revenge Beer" - kinda their take on something like the Stooges "Dirt" in feel - far from copying that classic, but that idea. Lots of terrific noisy/feedback-ing leads on this one! Their masterpiece here is "Die Tonight" - amazingly crunchy Heartbreakers punk rock that moves into garage/pop - complete with tremeloed guitar - and back again. Watson is damn maniacal here and he propels this through the roof!

The live numbers are just as terrific - and sound just as good. "Merlin Bay" opens, showing a variety of guitar tones and dynamics within one tune. The garage madness continues in "When You Got No Shoes" with more cool guitar licks, and "Coyote Walk", with its truly interesting chord progressions, minor-key accents and Kei's guitar-strangling solos. The whole she-bang concludes with "Escape From the Moon", where Kei really shines, while Turbo and Eric provide some cool dynamics and everything finally explodes into a rave-up worthy of the Yardbirds!

I was really sorry to hear that these cats broke up as they were one of my faves, but make sure that you follow Kei as he tears it up in Tiger Sex!

Huddie Ledbetter - The Mount Everest of Blues Singers

I believe it was Woody Guthrie that gave Lead Belly the appellation used for the title of this compilation and I suppose that is as appropriate as any. Woody was a great admirer of Ledbetter's and was part of the folk scene in NYC when Lead Belly arrived as a guest of Alan Lomax, a mutual friend. Guthrie appears on a couple of tunes here - the first two where they approximate chain gang workers: "Pick a Bale O'Cotton" and "Whoa Back Buck". Other locals from the folk scene makes appearances, as well - Sonny Terry and Brownie McGhee, Cisco Houston, and George "Pops" Foster. I don't have the list of personnel on all of these songs, where he is accompanied on most of the numbers, unlike the other Lead Belly CD that I have where he mostly performs solo. Obviously, the extra performers give this recording a different feel than his solo work (although there are cuts here where he is by himself, as well).

This set is jam-packed with tunes, from more folk-ish numbers like "Midnight Special", "Easy Rider" and "Alabama Bound" to more traditional blues such as "Good Morning Blues", "Leaving Blues", "T.B. Blues", "Red River" to plenty of just "songs", sung in Lead Belly's powerful voice with his simple and effective guitar backing. I love the "chain gang" acapella numbers ("Ham and Eggs" and his trilogy "Looky Looky Yonder/Black Betty/Yella Woman's Doorbell") but everything here is high quality. "Black Girl" is credited to Ledbetter, but it is the much-covered (and great) "In the Pines" under another name. He also does an instrumental dance jig by Blind Lemon Jefferson and there is a cut here that is just Lead Belly dancing (with his feet mic'd)! Of course, his "Goodnight, Irene" is included, though I think that is one of the lesser tunes here - maybe because I've heard it so much. There is definitely overlap with the other collection I mentioned (including his accordion-driven "John Hardy") but lots of variety, as well.

A fine selection of tunes and well worth owning!