recommended gigs

Friday Jan 31 - Dead Dolls at Rusty Spur
Friday Jan 31 - Goldtop Bob at the Sand Dollar

Saturday Feb 1 - The Unwieldies and Pitchfork at the Gold Mine Tavern
Saturday Feb 1 - Fuckface, Blvd Bullies, 3 Rounds at the Double Down
Saturday Feb 1 - Thee Hypnotiques at the Golden Tiki

Sunday Feb 2 - Burly Q Revue with johnny Zig and the Force at the Double Down

Monday Feb 3 - Surfer Joe with Thee Swank Bastards at the Golden Tiki

Wednesday Feb 5 - Frankie and the Infernos with Jerk! At the Double Down

Thursday Feb 6 - The Swamp Gospel, The Psyatics, The People's Whiskey, the Heroine, Mojave Sun and Sheiks of Neptune at the House of Blues

Saturday Feb 8 - the Unwieldies at the Dillinger

Tues Feb 11 - the Reeves Brothers at Saddle'n'Spurs
Tues Feb 11 - the Double Whammys at the Golden Tiki

Thursday Feb 13 - Tacocat, Inidgo Kid and the Negative Nancys at the Bunkhouse

Friday Feb 14 - the Unwieldies with Big Like Texas at the Huntridge
Friday Feb 14 - Shanda and the Howlers at Sean Patrick's Pub

Saturday Feb 15 - the Swamp Gospel, the Psyatics, Cromm Fallon and Scaper at the Double Down

Sunday Feb 16 - the Horror Pops, Franks'n'Deans and the Quakes at Fremont Country Club

Friday Feb 21 - The Psyatics at the Double Down

Saturday Feb 22 - Rayford Bros and Cherry Rat at the Sand Dollar

Sunday Feb 23 - Lord Dying, Sonolith, Plague Doctor at the Bunkhouse

Monday Feb 24 - the Capsouls and the Van Der Rohe at the Fremont Country Club

Friday Feb 28th - the Rhyolite Sound with the Bobby Kingston Band at Saddle'n'Spurs

Sunday Mar 1 - the Hypnotiques at the Golden Tiki

Saturday Mar 7 - The Swamp Gospel with the Implosions and Fuzz Solow at the Huntridge Tavern

Saturday Mar 14 - Thor at Evel Pie
Saturday Mar 14 - Shanda and the Howlers, the Dirty Hooks, If They Love You They'll Kill You at the Sand Dollar
Saturday Mar 14 - the Souvenairs at the Golden Tiki

Friday Mar 27 - The Psyatics CD release show with the Pine Hill Haints, Fuzz Solow and the Jagoffs at the Double Down

Wednesday April 8 - the Delta Bombers, Cherry Rat, Lady Luck Lexy at Backstage Bar

Wednesday April 22 - Jesse Daniel with the Rhyolite Sound at the Bunkhouse

Friday April 24 - The Psyatics with Fur Dixon's WTFukushima, the Implosions and VJ Atomic at the Double Down

Saturday May 9 - The Swamp Gospel at the Huntridge Tavern

Saturday May 16 - The Psyatics at the Double Down

What have I forgotten? Lemme know

Wire - Pink Flag

I bought this record when it came out but for numerous reasons (oddly, not the least being that it comes towards the end of the alphabet and those records get put away separately), it was never a big hit with me. I found the CD recently at a reasonable price so I thought I'd give it another chance in a format that I can listen to at work, in my car, etc.

Known for their brevity in their songs (some make Ramones tunes look like opuses) and their stripped down sound, they move through a number of different styles throughout the 21 song (!) album. There's plenty of emotional, late 70's punk sounds, a touch of pop'n'harmonies here'n'there, minimalist pre-no-wave, and even some pre-hardcore.

Of course, the closer "12XU" is one of their best known numbers from this time, a ferocious, somewhat low-fi slice of chant-along punk mania, but this is almost the exception to their oeuvre rather than the rule. The throbbing, power-chord-drenched opener, "Reuters", is a stand out, the helter-skelter rhythms of "Field Day for the Sundays" and "Three Girl Rumba" flash by before you know it, but the influential "Ex Lion Tamer" (often covered and a band named themselves after this title) is a bit more straight-ahead punk/rock'n'roll, while they get more moody'n'edgy with "Lowdown", a bit further oft-kilter in "Start To Move" and even lift a "Sister Ray" stomp for "Strange". They move between these styles, and combine them, throughout the rest of the quirky record.

Not exactly catchy, and not something that I would listen to regularly, but a neat bit of early early punk rock, when it wasn't regimented and had innumerable influences.

RIP Bob Shane of the Kingston Trio

Bob Shane, Kingston Trio Co-Founder, Dead at 85 
---

Pink Floyd - Music From the Film More

I was an early fan of Pink Floyd, mostly the super-trippy, pre- Dark Side of the Moon albums, but once punk rock hit and then I became immersed in the 80's garage scene, I was rarely in a stoney mood and didn't revisit their records very often. My pal Lee Joseph turned me onto their most heavily rockin' number, "The Nile Song" (we even covered it at some point, in some collaboration), from this soundtrack record but I never found any version of the album until now, with this CD reissue.

As their third studio album and the first full LP without Syd Barrett, this soundtrack utilizes their usual sonic soundscapes of tripped-out ambient sounds, effects, open spaces and echoed notes. There are hints of Beatles-esque psych in "Crying Song", a touch of jazz in "Up The Khyber", acoustic folk, with flute and piano, in "Green is the Colour", some psych-pop in "Cymbaline", there are psychedelic instrumental sequences (not remarkable for a soundtrack), and a bit more straight-ahead hard rock in "Ibiza Bar", some flamenco influence in "A Spanish Piece" and more Floydian psych for the ending "Dramatic Theme".

If ya dig early, post-Syd Floyd, you will certainly dig this and the couple of heavy tunes should be a nice surprise. Glad I finally found this one!

Chicago Blues Band

This one was an impulse buy while visiting our local Zia Records. Laser Light Digital produced this cheapo release and the liner notes are so minimal that there is not even a recording date for this live show. Apparently it was cut in the "late 1960's" on a European tour, which makes sense as those package tours gathered a number of the best blues performers and they all played together in order to minimize costs. John Lee Hooker's name is the big draw on this one, but the band is exceptional - Sunnyland Slim on piano, Johnny Shines on guitar, Willie Dixon on bass and Clifton James on drums! A dream team, to be sure!

Hooker takes front'n'center on the bulk of the record, doing his own "Crawling King Snake", "Dimples", "It Serves You Right To Suffer", "Maudie" and "Boom Boom", while the band vamps on "Chicago Boogie Style" before Sunnyland takes the lead on "She's Got a Thing Goin' On". Master songwriter and bassist Dixon sings his own "29 Ways", James vocalizes on "Wee Wee Hours" and the great Johnny Shines (I have ranted'n'raved about his several times) gets three originals, "I Do Believe", "Fat Mama" and "RE Boogie", where he accompanies himself on electric guitar (with the full band backing him) - the first I have heard from him as he normally plays acoustic, Robert Johnson-ish country blues!

This is a surprise package, but a solid set from masters of the Chicago (area) Blues scene and again, a super buy at its discounted price.

Blind Willie Johnson - The Complete

While I already have Johnson's Dark Was the Night compilation, I am a sucker for "complete recordings" comps and picked up this one at a discounted price, and it is well worth it!

Willie Johnson was imbued with incredibly gruff but powerfully emotional vocals and provided his own fine slide guitar accompaniment that unfortunately is all too often buried in the mix due to the live recording techniques of the time. But, the songs are strong and impassioned, gospel tinged and occasionally accompanied by a female singer (usually one of his wives, Willie B. Harris), offsetting the rawness of Johnson's voice. At times, he is truly haunting, as in the wordless "Dark Is the Night", sometimes uplifting, as in "Let Your Light Shine On Me", sometimes sorrowful ("Motherless Children Have a Hard Time") and always spiritual ("Jesus Make Up my Dying Bed", Bye and Bye I'm Going to See the King", as examples).

You'll recognize some numbers that have been covered famously, such as "It's Nobody's Fault But Mine", "Lord I Just Can't Keep From Crying", "The Soul of Man", "If I Had My Way" and plenty of others. This is 30 tracks of raw, intimate, minimalist gospel blues from this Texas master that also includes a comprehensive booklet with an overview of Willie's life along with detailed song listings, personnel and anecdotes. Fantastic package!

recommended gigs

Friday Jan 24 - Thee Swank Bastards, Stagnetti's Cock, Sector 7-G and VJ Atomic at the Double Down
Friday Jan 24 - Goldtop Bob and the Moanin' Blacksnakes at the Sand Dollar

Saturday Jan 25 - Johnny Zig and the Force at Tiki di Amore
Saturday Jan 25 - the Swingin' Johnsons at the Mint
Saturday Jan 25 - Lean 13, the Jagoffs, Gob Patrol, Societies Infection at the Double Down

Sunday Jan 26  Girl Haggard at the Pioneer Saloon

Monday Jan 27 - Thee Swank Bastards at the Golden Tiki

Wednesday Jan 29 - Thee Swank Bastards at the Double Down

Friday Jan 31 - Dead Dolls at Rusty Spur
Friday Jan 31 - Goldtop Bob at the Sand Dollar

Saturday Feb 1 - The Unwieldies and Pitchfork at the Gold Mine Tavern
Saturday Feb 1 - Fuckface, Blvd Bullies, 3 Rounds at the Double Down
Saturday Feb 1 - Thee Hypnotiques at the Golden Tiki

Thursday Feb 6 - The Swamp Gospel, The Psyatics, The People's Whiskey, the Heroine, Mojave Sun and Sheiks of Neptune at the House of Blues

Saturday Feb 8 - the Unwieldies at the Dillinger

Tues Feb 11 - the Reeves Brothers at Saddle'n'Spurs
Tues Feb 11 - the Double Whammys at the Golden Tiki

Friday Feb 13 - Tacocat, Inidgo Kid and the Negative Nancys at the Bunkhouse

Friday Feb 14 - the Unwieldies with Big Like Texas at the Huntridge

Saturday Feb 15 - the Swamp Gospel, the Psyatics, Cromm Fallon and Scaper at the Double Down

Sunday Feb 16 - the Horror Pops, Franks'n'Deans and the Quakes at Fremont Country Club

Friday Feb 21 - The Psyatics at the Double Down

Saturday Feb 22 - Rayford Bros and Cherry Rat at the Sand Dollar

Sunday Feb 23 - Lord Dying, Sonolith, Plague Doctor at the Bunkhouse

Monday Feb 24 - the Capsouls and the Van Der Rohe at the Fremont Country Club

Friday Feb 28th - the Rhyolite Sound with the Bobby Kingston Band at Saddle'n'Spurs

Saturday Mar 7 - The Swamp Gospel with the Implosions and Fuzz Solow at the Huntridge Tavern

Saturday Mar 14 - Thor at Evel Pie
Saturday Mar 14 - Shanda and the Howlers, the Dirty Hooks, If They Love You They'll Kill You at the Sand Dollar

Friday Mar 27 - The Psyatics CD release show with the Pine Hill Haints, Fuzz Solow and the Jagoffs at the Double Down

Wednesday April 8 - the Delta Bombers, Cherry Rat, Lady Luck Lexy at Backstage Bar

Wednesday April 22 - Jesse Daniel with the Rhyolite Sound at the Bunkhouse

Friday April 24 - The Psyatics with Fur Dixon's WTFukushima, the Implosions and VJ Atomic at the Double Down

Saturday May 9 - The Swamp Gospel at the Huntridge Tavern

Saturday May 16 - The Psyatics at the Double Down

What have I forgotten? Lemme know

RIP Monty Python's Terry Jones

Terry Jones, Life of Brian director and Monty Python founder, dies aged 77 
---

The Swamp Gospel, the Psyatics, the Holy Smokes at the Double Down Saturday Jan 18, 2020

For the first Swamp Gospel revival of the new decade, we brought in our pals (and my second band) the Psyatics along with the terrific Holy Smokes to our local dive bar/clubhouse, the Double Down for a night of garagey/noisy/bluesy/punky/what-the-heck-ever rock'n'roll.

As usual, the Gospel opened the night to a reasonably full club of sinners'n'saints who joined in the festivities - laying of hands, strychnine sippin', dancin'n'debauchin'! It was a good time all around, with brand new songs joining the old standards and Rev. Sister Divine and Brother Lenny drivin' the backbeat and everyone joinin' in for a raucous start to the evening.

With a change of clothes, I then joined the Psyatics for our set of dual guitar garage-noize. Mark powered the beat from behind the drums while Rob - even with some bass-amp technical difficulties -  provided the snakey low-end lines and crooned'n'snarled as Jack and I laid some feedback-laden guitars over the top of it all. Jack continued to get into the faces and onto the tables of everyone within reach while my new wireless let me prowl the club. Plenty of new tunes from our just-recorded album mixed in with classics from the other albums and covers from the likes of the Scientists and the Banana Splits!

(Above SG & Psyatics pix by Nikki Ruffling)

The Holy Smokes made a rare appearance of their blistering garage/blues led by harp-maestro Jeffrey and bass-groover Luke - both on vocals - with original Telecaster terror Joel joined by "newcomer" Turbo on the stormin' drums. With swingin' bluesy originals, covers ranging from Billy Boy Arnold ("I Wish You Would") to the NY Dolls via Bo Diddley ("Pills") to the Stones ("Miss You"), they got the late night crowd on the feet and on the dance floor! I love these cats and hope that they will do more in 2020 and hopefully we will be joining them again soon!

Once again, thank you to the Double Down and their fantastic crew and to everyone who played and especially to everyone who made it out!

recommended gigs

Friday Jan 17 - Fuckface, the Dead Dolls, Stagnetti's Cock, Skeleton Crew at the Double Down

Saturday Jan 18 - the Swamp Gospel and the Psyatics and the Holy Smokes at the Double Down

Sunday Jan 19 - Judas Priestess with Dinner Music for the Gods, Tyrants by Night and Vile Child at the House of Blues
Sunday Jan 19 - LV Blues Society Jam at Saddle'n'Spurs

Monday Jan 20 - Thee Swank Bastards at the Golden Tiki

Friday Jan 24 - Thee Swank Bastards, Stagnetti's Cock, Sector 7-G and VJ Atomic at the Double Down

Saturday Jan 25 - Johnny Zig and the Force at Tiki di Amore
Saturday Jan 25 - the Swingin' Johnsons at the Mint

Sunday Jan 26  Girl Haggard at the Pioneer Saloon

Monday Jan 27 - Thee Swank Bastards at the Golden Tiki

Monday Jan 29 - Thee Swank Bastards at the Double Down

Saturday Feb 1 - The Unwieldies and Pitchfork at the Gold Mine Tavern

Sunday Feb 2 - Thee Hypnotiques at the Golden Tiki

Thursday Feb 6 - The Swamp Gospel, The Psyatics, The People's Whiskey, the Heroine, Mojave Sun and Sheiks of Neptune at the House of Blues

Tues Feb 11 - the Reeves Brothers at Saddle'n'Spurs
Tues Feb 11 - the Double Whammys at the Golden Tiki

Friday Feb 13 - Tacocat, Inidgo Kid and the Negative Nancys at the Bunkhouse

Friday Feb 14 - the Unwieldies with Big Like Texas at the Huntridge

Saturday Feb 15 - the Swamp Gospel, the Psyatics, Cromm Fallon and Scaper at the Double Down

Sunday Feb 16 - the Horror Pops, Franks'n'Deans and the Quakes at Fremont Country Club

Friday Feb 21 - The Psyatics at the Double Down

Sunday Feb 23 - Lord Dying, Sonolith, Plague Doctor at the Bunkhouse

Monday Feb 24 - the Capsouls and the Van Der Rohe at the Fremont Country Club

Friday Feb 28th - the Rhyolite Sound with the Bobby Kingston Band at Saddle'n'Spurs

Saturday Mar 7 - The Swamp Gospel with the Implosions and Fuzz Solow at the Huntridge Tavern

Saturday Mar 14 - Thor at Evel Pie
Saturday Mar 14 - Shanda and the Howlers, the Dirty Hooks, If They Love You They'll Kill You at the Sand Dollar

Friday Mar 27 - The Psyatics CD release show with the Pine Hill Haints, Fuzz Solow and the Jagoffs at the Double Down

Wednesday April 8 - the Delta Bombers, Cherry Rat, Lady Luck Lexy at Backstage Bar

Wednesday April 22 - Jesse Daniel with the Rhyolite Sound at the Bunkhouse

Friday April 24 - The Psyatics with Fur Dixon's WTFukushima, the Implosions and VJ Atomic at the Double Down

Saturday May 9 - The Swamp Gospel at the Huntridge Tavern

Saturday May 16 - The Psyatics at the Double Down

What have I forgotten? Lemme know

RIP Steve Caro from the Left Banke

The Left Banke’s Steve Martin Caro Dies 
---

The Quick - Mondo Deco Expanded Edition

I have, of course, been aware of the Quick and their influence on the early LA punk/new wave/power pop scene, but, other than a song or two here'n'there, I had never heard their full album. This Xmas gift (thanks Mel!) finally rectifies that and I have learned 2 major lessons - the Quick were huge Sparks fans (Sparks guitarist Earle Mankey even produced them!) and LA fave Celebrity Skin based almost their entire act on this band (not a bad thing in any way - I loved Celebrity Skin and am, if anything, more impressed by them with this revelation!), and Redd Kross' and The Dickies' power pop hits are highly influenced by them, as well, and both have covered the Quick, as did CS, of course.

Hooking up with Kim Fowley turned out to be both a blessing and a curse (as was often the case with Fowley) - he got them a record deal with Mercury (as he did with the Runaways) but when they dared to ignore his demands in the studio, he promptly ignored them, concentrated on the Runaways, and let them flounder, leaving the record to essentially go nowhere.

Now, whether or not early-to-mid 70's masses would appreciate their Sparks-like quirkiness is up for speculation (although I think, if anything, these cats might be more commercial than Sparks, but that's kinda hard to say), but it is a shame that this record was buried for so long. This CD release has the Mondo Deco album as well as the Mercury Demos (many of the same songs but a couple of surprises) and an unreleased outtake of their song "Anybody".

The album features a very Sparks-like take on the Beatles' "It Won't Be Long" (with a touch of the "William Tell Overture" just for kicks), followed by a self-admitted variation on the 1877 piano waltz "Chopsticks" (who knew they were so classically oriented?) titled "No No Girl" (a little "nah-nah-nah-nah-nah" on the guitar), they also admit to the Kimono My House influences in "Playtime", "Hillary" (a shame that Clinton didn't use this during her campaign) has more of the quirky rhythm section starts'n'stops with plenty of melodies'n'harmonies riding over the top of it all, and the supremely catchy "Anybody" (damn, who covered this one? I don't remember) with its super-live, ringing, trash-can-ish, driving drums and simple, sing-along chorus backed with power chorded guitars galore and a wildly noisy ending.

"Hi-Lo" is a piano-dominated semi-ballad, a bit reminiscent of Sparks version of "Do Re Mi", to me, at least! Interesting production, though, with some backwards tracking and harmonic interplay, which leads into their take on "Rag Doll", of all things, with more production tricks and a nod to Nazareth, oddly enough, with Brian May-like guitar work and nice rhythmic backings. With "Last In Line" they get a bit abrasive in their chord progressions while still maintaining the poppy edge, while their "My Purgatory Years" is the record's "anthem" - practically a teenage opera - their mix of the Who, the Move and Sparks. But, "Don't You Want It" is really more memorable and was their show-stopper, complete with incongruous props, which was turned against them by Starz fans at the Santa Monica Civic, per the liner notes!

The Mercury demos has somewhat different takes on "No No Girl" (a bit rawer with a edgier middle break), the non-LP "Teacher's Pet", which they say the fans liked more than they did, but I'm with the fans on this one - this is a great tune and a self described mix of the Nice and the Who! "Hi-Lo", "Hillary", "Rag Doll", "My Purgatory Years", "It Won't Be Long" all follow and then they channel Marlene Dietrich for the great non-LP number "Heaven on Earth" and then an amazing snippet of "Born Free" (!!) before one more run through of "Don't You Want It" and "Anybody".

The group consisted of Billy Bizeau on keys (the last to join but pretty damn indispensable, if you ask me), Steven Hufsteter on guitar, Danny Wilde vocals, Ian Ainsworth bass and Danny Benair drums, many of whom who continue to make a name for themselves in the LA scene in one form or another. A truly fantastic, relatively unsung (despite the cover versions) piece of Hollywood History. Get this!

Sam Phillips - The Man Who Invented Rock'n'Roll - Peter Guralnick

Unusual for many rock'n'roll biographies, Guralnick actually knew Sam Phillips and had many discussions with him before he started this project and began to "formally" interview him - which, apparently, wasn't a "normal" interview process. Phillips was a story teller that could move from tale to tale and time to time, so it seems like it might have been a challenge to put this bio together in a coherent and entertaining manner.

But that he does. Sam grew up in a small town with a loving, supportive family and a love of music, although he never thought that he would be a musician himself. Instead, he got involved in the more technical aspect of it all and, after moving to Memphis - a big city that immediately captivated him when he first visited it - he landed jobs in radio, and worked hard and learned how to record and produce sound, which, naturally, led him to want to start his own recording studio. His plan was to capture the sounds of the music that was largely being ignored - particularly gut-bucket blues - and created the Memphis Recording Services to do this. Of course, he took other jobs in order to pay the rent - recording shows for radio, conventions, etc. as well as - this was particularly creative - funeral services for souvenirs for the loved ones!

One of the first musical adventures of note was when he was asked to record B.B. King - then still a radio DJ who performed locally but was gaining popularity. He worked with BB on a few sides but nothing really clicked with the public - as opposed to his work with Ike Turner's Kings of Rhythm which resulted in the smash hit, "Rocket 88". Unfortunately, this hit did not guarantee more studio work and while he did generate a few more big numbers (Howlin' Wolf recorded his first hits at Sam's studio), there were many ups'n'downs, including an aborted early attempts at Sun Records, managing his artists and even starting a radio station. But, it all came together for Sam when he finally decided to give a greasy-haired kid a try with Scotty Moore and Bill Black backing him and Elvis broke through a hepped-up cover of Arthur Big Boy Crudup's "That's All Right" backed with a similarly upbeat take on "Blue Moon of Kentucky". With similar successes with Carl Perkins, Johnny Cash and Jerry Lee Lewis, Sun Records finally seemed to be getting on solid ground.

Things changed quickly, though, as they do in the rock'n'roll business, but Sam always kept busy with numerous ventures - most pronounced being radio, although he kept his studio even after selling Sun Records - and his life continued to be colorful and creative. A good portion of the book concentrates on Sam's life after Sun Records, which, while colorful - his affairs alone could fill a book, it seems - is not as interesting to a rock'n'roller as his early work. But, it is an epic life lived by a larger-than-life figure and Guralnick does his best to capture Phillips' essence of devil-may-care attitude, passion, excitement and love for music and for his friends and family.

Again, I feel that a large portion of the book detailed less interesting times (comparatively) of Phillips' life, but Guralnick was a part of that life and was involved in many project featuring Sam besides this book, including a documentary and some recording sessions. All in all, a nicely informative book, despite my nit-picking criticisms. Where would we all be without Sam Phillips? Not a place that I would want to be!

It Came From Memphis (CD)

Of course, Memphis has always had a place in my heart as the home of rock'n'roll, with Sun Records recording and releasing Elvis, Jerry Lee, Carl Perkins and more, as well as the pre-rock'n'roll bluesmen like Howlin' Wolf and B.B. King. When I visited there in 2014, I damn near fell in love with the city - its history combined with a great current r'n'r community, excellent food, and amazing sites all blended together in a siren call attempting to keep us from ever leaving!

Since then I have learned more about the city from multiple books including Robert Gordon's compendium to this CD, also titled It Came From Memphis (some editions of the book included the CD, although mine did not, unfortunately - I just got this for Xmas - thanks Eileen!). This record compiles many of the characters that Gordon referenced and revered in his book, from legendary wacko r'n'r DJ Dewey Phillips to local rockers to old school blues artist to photographer William Eggleston, who closes the album with an ambient audio piece.

I love the variation included here, from the wild, high energy, soul/blues/rock'n'roll of Mud Boy and the Neutrons (one of the many outfits that includes mythical Memphis musician Jim Dickinson) to the  fantastic 1 string guitar bluesman Moses Williams (with a baby crying throughout the entire performance), to the acapella Sid Selvidge to the well known old school blues cat Furry Lewis, to the Jason and the Scorchers-ish Flash and the Memphis Casuals to the tremelo'd guitar and organ-fueled moody garage rock from the Avengers.

From there we also get numbers from Cliff Jackson and Jellean Delk with the Naturals doing a hilariously terrific blues, pure noise (in a good way) from Drive Inn Danny with the Killers From Space, amazing one-woman blues from Jesse Mae Hemphill (love all of her stuff!), pure mania from Ross Johnson, Booker T and the MG's-styled soulful grooviness from the Martinis, Shaggs-like outta tuneness from Leesa Aldridge, wonderful fife'n'drums from Othar Turner (as a side note, I knew nothing about fife'n'drums recording until the first Panther Burns LP and am now sorta fascinated by its oddness), kinda chaotic 70's rock from Moloch, Bobbie Gentry-like crooning from ex-Panther Burns/Hell Cats Lorette Velvette, and rockin' organ-driven funk from Big Ass Driver!

There's a fantastically detailed booklet included - also from Robert Gordon, natch - with crappy Xeroxed photos laid out in early punk rock style, but with tons of hip info. Both the book and this CD are highly recommended!

Johnny Shines - The Blues Came Falling Down Live 1973

Born in 1915, Shines picked up the guitar as a teenager and soon was playing the blues for a living - even earning the title "Little Wolf" after performing some Howlin' Wolf tunes during a break in the big man's set. He also met and toured with none other than the master himself, Robert Johnson, who would remain a major influence on Shines for the rest of his life. He made some recordings that went nowhere, backed up a number of major players and eventually retired until he was rediscovered in the 1960's blues revival.

Here he is captured live at Washington University in St. Louis in 1973, primarily just his voice and acoustic guitar, although he is joined by Leroy Jodie Pierson (who I am not familiar with) on a few songs. Most of the tunes are originals, although he plays several Robert Johnson numbers, as Johnson was certainly a major name and influence on the university blues scenes throughout the country. His playing is excellent - and absolutely is reminiscent of Johnson at times - and he has a terrific voice with a wide range, from a Robert Johnson-esque higher register to a low-down, Howlin' Wolf-ish baritone growl, and is always passionate and powerful in his delivery. Being a simple acoustic recording, his voice at times overpowers the guitar, which is a shame, but that is the way that these songs were played.

In any case, this is a superb document of a highly talented blues guitarist/singer, who has his roots firmly in the origins of the music. Well worth owning!

Year End 2019

I don't always do year-end wrap-ups on this blog, but it's oddly slow at work at the moment (though that could change at any second) so I thought I'd start something...(Of course, it got crazy at work the minute I started this and now weeks have gone by!)

As is to be expected with any year, there were many ups'n'downs throughout 2019, but the good definitely outweighed the bad this time out, for which I am extremely grateful.

Of course, the Swamp Gospel continues to preach the word to the sinners of Las Vegas and we had some terrific revivals in 2019 with the Fleshtones (a flashback to the 80's, when we played together numerous times in LA), the Implosions, a Cramps tribute show, the All Togethers, the Sheiks of Neptune, the Peculiar Pretzelmen and too many more to list..Thank you to everyone who has played with us and a special thanks to everyone who has supported us over the years.

I also debuted as second guitarist for the Psyatics this year (Feb 23) and we have played some super fun gigs, as well. A huge thank you to everyone who has been encouraging of my work with the Psyatics and thank you to the band for inviting me along on their r'n'r journey - I will appear on their new album coming out in early 2020!

The Gizmos played an amazing gig in Detroit for the Outer Limits Club's Stroh Down Festival that was jam-packed with terrific bands like Jack Oblivion, Timmy's Organism, Tin Foil and tons more. Great scene there at the Outer Limits and we both loved Detroit (we even got to Motown!)!

And naturally, there have been some amazing shows that we have simply been spectators for - The Dragons in San Diego, the Flesheaters in LA, the Fleshtones (still fabulous after more than 40 years!), the Pine Hill Haints twice in Vegas, Nashville Pussy, Powersolo, the Peculiar Pretzelmen, WTFukushima, Amyl and the Sniffers (wild live show!), the Holy Smokes, the Sin Eaters, the Rhyolite Sound, the Panther Burns (always amazing), Kid Congo and Slim Cessna's Auto Club (one of Vegas' best shows of the year!), Delta Bombers, Shanda and the Howlers, the Heiz (always crazed fun!), the Darts, Redd Kross (another major highlight), the Double Whammys, the Sheiks of Neptune, the All-Togethers and I'm sure many more that I've missed.

Of course, kudos go to Thee Swank Bastards for the incredibly joyful annual Basstravaganza, which is Vegas' start to the holiday season, as well as their regular residencies throughout the city.

Of course, a (mostly) non-rock'n'roll trip to London and Paris was a major highlight of the year, and we did make a point of seeing some historical r'n'r sites while we were there.

Far too many rock'n'roll related deaths through 2019, far too many to name, but all are mourned.

I'm grateful for all of the wonderful books and records that I've devoured in 2019 and I already have plenty of great new stuff for 2020.

And thank you to everyone who has visited this blog, which will celebrate its 15th (!!) year anniversary this May and which already has over 2500 entries! Yowza! Thank you to Nurse Nikki and Freelance Curmudgeon Jw for joining the ranks of the r'n'r rants'n'raves contributors!

Keep checking this out for more new writers, more new bands, and go out and support Vegas's live music scene!

recommended gigs

Thursday Jan 9 - TV Party Tonight showing Texas Chainsaw Massacre with live music by Chainsaw Fight at the Double Down

Friday Jan 10 - Thee Swank Bastards at Tiki di Amore
Friday Jan 10 - the Sheiks of Neptune, Guttermouth, Callshot, Happy Campers, Lean 13 at the Dive Bar
Friday Jan 10 - Monk and the Po Boys at Frankie's Uptown

Saturday Jan 11 - Franks'n'Deans matinee show at Golden Tiki at 2:00 pm
Saturday Jan 11 - the Unwieldies at Dillinger
Saturday Jan 11 - Johnny Zig and the Force at GOAT

Sunday Jan 12 - Stagnetti's Cock at Island

Monday Jan 13 - Thee Swank Bastards at the Golden Tiki

Tuesday Jan 14 - the Double Whammys at the Golden Tiki

Friday Jan 17 - Fuckface, the Dead Dolls, Stagnetti's Cock, Skeleton Crew at the Double Down

Saturday Jan 18 - the Swamp Gospel and the Psyatics and the Holy Smokes at the Double Down

Sunday Jan 19 - Judas Priestess with Dinner Music for the Gods, Tyrants by Night and Vile Child at the House of Blues
Sunday Jan 19 - LV Blues Society Jam at Saddle'n'Spurs

Monday Jan 20 - Thee Swank Bastards at the Golden Tiki

Monday Jan 27 - Thee Swank Bastards at the Golden Tiki

Monday Jan 29 - Thee Swank Bastards at the Double Down

Saturday Feb 1 - The Unwieldies and Pitchfork at the Gold Mine Tavern

Sunday Feb 2 - Thee Hypnotiques at the Golden Tiki

Thursday Feb 6 - The Swamp Gospel, The Psyatics, The People's Whiskey, the Heroine, Mojave Sun and Sheiks of Neptune at the House of Blues

Tues Feb 11 - the Reeves Brothers at Saddle'n'Spurs

Friday Feb 14 - the Unwieldies with Big Like Texas at the Huntridge

Sunday Feb 16 - the Horror Pops, Franks'n'Deans and the Quakes at Fremont Country Club

Friday Feb 21 - The Psyatics at the Double Down

Sunday Feb 23 - Lord Dying, Sonolith, Plague Doctor at the Bunkhouse

Monday Feb 24 - the Capsouls and the Van Der Rohe at the Fremont Country Club

Friday Feb 28th - the Rhyolite Sound with the Bobby Kingston Band at Saddle'n'Spurs

Saturday Mar 7 - The Swamp Gospel with the Implosions and Fuzz Solow at the Huntridge Tavern

Saturday Mar 14 - Thor at Evel Pie
Saturday Mar 14 - Shanda and the Howlers, the Dirty Hooks, If They Love You They'll Kill You at the Sand Dollar

Friday Mar 27 - The Psyatics at the Double Down

Wednesday April 8 - the Delta Bombers, Cherry Rat, Lady Luck Lexy at Backstage Bar

Friday April 24 - The Psyatics at the Double Down

Saturday May 9 - The Swamp Gospel at the Huntridge Tavern

Saturday May 16 - The Psyatics at the Double Down

What have I forgotten? Lemme know

The Briefs - Platinum Rats

We first caught the Briefs when their first album cam out - shit, has it been about 20 years, now?! - and were blown away by their super catchy 70's punk rock'n'roll and by their fun, throw-back 70's punk rock looks. With great vocals, catchy hooks, cool choruses and simply effective guitar lines, they were an update on the original punk rock that we always loved - with style and hip tunes!

After a hiatus of a number of years in which the guys worked on various projects, they are back and sound as good as ever! This record has superb production, the guitars are punchy and rockin' (once again, I'm kinda reminded of the Vibrators sound when Chris Spedding was working with them) and the rhythm section smokes, while the vocals are catchy as hell with plenty of nicely done harmonies.

The songs blast from one to another without so much as a breath intake in between, just like rock'n'roll shows should be! We got the vinyl version with side one giving us "Bad Vibrations", "Shopping Spree", "Nazi Disco", "She's the Rat", "GMO Mosquito" (my fave so far, excellently constructed with more hooks than a tackle box) and the very Vibrators-esque "Underground Dopes". For Side Two we are treated to "I Hate the World" (who can't relate these days?), "The Thought Police Are on the Bus" (super poppy), "Dumb City", "Out of Touch", "Kids Laugh At You" (hip breakdown, reminding me a bit of the Damned)  and "Terrible Vibes" (a clever bookend to the opening "Bad Vibrations"!).

The Briefs are what punk rock should sound like! Get it!

The Cavemen - Nuke Earth

Saw New Zealand's The Cavemen a couple of nights ago and were knocked out by their super-fun, super agitated live show and picked up this LP to commemorate the eve.

Lots of old school punk rock references throughout but with trashy, low-fi gutter punk sounds, some garage influences, some 70's rock'n'roll and even a little bit of pop melodies here'n'there! The sound is fast'n'furious, sleazy'n' raunchy, but with some catchy hooks, as well. The songs blend right into each other without a split second to catch your breath, a little outta tune, a little sloppy, super-short, but just in the right tawdry r'n'r spirit.

Here we get "Lust For Evil", "Criminal Love", "Janey" (the closest thing to a pop song they have), "Batshit Crazy", "Chernobyl Baby", "7 Day Weekend" (an original, not the Gary US Bonds number, or any other that have used that title), "The Night Jimmy Sevile Died", "Concrete Town", "Don't Wanna Hang", "Gimme Beer of Gimme Death" (riffy and sing-along-y), "Elvis is Alive" (totally appropo when they played here in Vegas), "Thug" (sung by guitarist Jack, with fun call'n'answer chorus) and "Speaking in Tongues" but unfortunately their live hit "I Wanna Do Drugs With You" does not appear!

Nick (bass, keys and Killer Kane-styled jumpsuit) and Jake (drums) are a pretty damn killer rhythm section, Jack is a master of simple trash guitar and Paul provides the proper Iggy/Stiv/Monoman vocals on top of the mayhem. Totally fun, loose'n'wild, outta control punk rock - don't come here looking for tight'n'clean'n'controlled! You absolutely should see them live, and this is a fun souvenir of the show!

I gotta add that the album cover and lyric sheet insert are both throwbacks to cheap-ass, Xerox'd punk rock flier/zine layouts with jaggedly cut photos strewn on town of each other in a semi-haphazard way, giving you a good idea of what is to come inside!

Thee Saturday Knights - Life of Crime EP

We caught these Reno, NV cats the other night with New Zealand's The Cavemen and were pretty damned knocked out by their brand of 70's punk rock. Led by ex-Vegas-ite Noland on lead vox and guitar (aided here by two Tim's and an extra guitar now on live shows), TSN's are an attitudinal, high energy mix of the Dead Boys, the Vibrators, the Humpers and their own snotty punkiness. This 5 song 7" has plenty of loud guitars and rockin' rhythms on their own shout-along tunes "Life of Crime" (not the Weirdos number), "Love Bomb", "You Got a Man", "Shoot to Kill" and "Shit Where You Eat". They certainly don't take themselves too seriously but they're also not goofy/jokey punk rock that seems to permeate the scene these days.

Damn fine stuff - excellent live and this EP really does capture a good portion of their energy. Check 'em out!

The Cavemen, the Van Der Rohe, Thee Saturday Knights at the Bunkhouse, Thursday Jan 2, 2019

We're always hep to checking out up'n'coming punk'n'roll combos, especially when they - like New Zealand's The Cavemen - are getting plenty o'hype for being a wild'n'wolly, untamed live act. Throw in a couple of other hot'n'happenin' opening groups and an early start time at a good venue with a real stage and sound system and we couldn't resist!

Making the trek down from upstate in Reno, Nevada, Thee Saturday Knights are led by ex-Vegas-ite Noland on lead vox and stun guitar and a hot-shot group of reprobates on bass, drums and second lead git. 70's-styled punk rock (you know - the good kind) swathed in leather'n'denim, cheap guitars, pointy shoes, sunglasses and toothpicks wedged in their teeth, these cats had attitude to spare as they stormed through a set of Vibrators/Humpers inspired rock'n'roll. Solid songs with simple rockin' leads, buzzin' guitars, a stompin' rhythm section and chant-along songs. Truly impressive and a fantastic way to start out the night.

I've ranted'n'raved about the Van der Rohe numerous times here as they remain Vegas' premier stylish garage rock'n'roll combo. Led by singer Will (also in the rockabilly combo Will and the High Rollers) and guitarist Cromm (who is working on his solo project - P200 - as well as who knows what all else), their longtime primitive - in the perfect way - drummer Omar is joined by a somewhat more recent addition on bass, whose name I still don't know! Noisy as hell, maniacally energetic, and filled with a set of terrifically punk-infused garage rockers, they crashed through the night and filled the club with fuzz, stompin' rhythms and even balloons! Fan-about-town Carlos joined in on tambourine'n'dancin'n' vocals'n'a bit of chaotic fun! Always a good time from a band that plays all too seldom! Oh, and ex-member Noland couldn't help himself and jumped onstage to add some extra backing vocals on some of the songs he used to play with them.

I did not really know what to expect from The Cavemen, other than I had heard that they had an uninhibited stage show and that they were a kinda/sorta garage/punk combo. They hit the stage in appropriately r'n'r gear - long hair, Killer Kane styled jumpsuit, golden shirts and western wear - and immediately became a blur of bouncin', throbbin', flailin' motion! The songs were a bit more simple punk rock'n'roll than garage, although there were elements of that, as well, and the rhythm section were smokin' the entire time while the guitar churned out fuzz-filled riffs'n'chords and the singer did his best Iggy/Stiv/Mono Man impressions. Everyone was incredibly animated the entire time - non-stop action - but center of attention was usually held by singer Paul and his Iggy-isms - mixed with his own personality, of course. The music is super fun, high energy songs with silly lyrics about drugs'n'Elvis'n' alien abductions'n'hell-if-I-know what else! An unexpected encore of Gun Club's "For the Love of Ivy" kinda hit home how ubiquitous that band has become, but damn if their songs aren't great and these cats did a fine, stripped down version. Certainly a band to see!

Once again, thank you to Brian Moy's Dirty Rock'n'Roll Dance Party and the Bunkhouse for hosting this night of wild rock'n'roll! Vegas needs more of this!