recommended gigs

                 

Friday 9-26-25 - No Que No, 12 Step Rebels, Santa Muerte, Femaliens at the Griffin

Saturday 9-27-25 - the Minges, Sparkie Plenty, The Naked City Underground at Red Dwarf

Saturday 9-27-25 - Valley of the Sun, Fuzz Evil, Gravity Amplifiers at the Dive Bar

Saturday 9-27-25 - Thee Swank Bastards late night at the Golden Tiki

Sunday 9-28-25 - Thee Swank Bastards at Red Dwarf’s Sunday Brunch

Sunday 9-28-25 - Zombie Rumble at Area 15 with the Shakewells, Cromm Fallon and the P200, Terror Attach, MIA, Guilt by Association, the Dollheads, the McCharmlys, CoDefendants, Manic Hispanic, Voodoo Glow Skulls, Rev Horton Heat

Monday 9-29-25 - Thee Swank Bastards at the Golden Tiki

Saturday 10-4-25 - Thee Swank Bastards late night at the Golden Tiki

Sunday 10-5-25 - Generics Surf Band at Red Dwarf’s Sunday Brunch

Monday 10-6-25 - Thee Swank Bastards at the Golden Tiki

Saturday 10-11-25 - Punk'n'Country, Los Carajos at the Double Down

Saturday 10-11-25 - Thee Swank Bastards late night at the Golden Tiki

Monday 10-13-25 - Thee Swank Bastards at the Golden Tiki

Friday 10-17-25 - Mr. Dark's Pandemonium at the Double Down

Saturday 10-18-25 - the return of the Psyatics to the Double Down! With Three Rounds and Pitch After Dark

Monday 10-20-25 - Thee Swank Bastards at the Golden Tiki

Wednesday 10-22-25 - Gwar at Brooklyn Bowl

Saturday 10-25-25 - The Implosions, Bad Motivator, King Flamingo at Red Dwarf

Saturday 10-25-25 - Thee Swank Bastards late night at the Golden Tiki

Sunday 10-26-25 - Thee Swank Bastards at Red Dwarf's Sunday Brunch

Monday 10-27-25 - Thee Swank Bastards at the Golden Tiki

Friday 11-7-25 - the snares, the violet minefield, the Shakewells at the Usual Place

Friday 12-5-25 - Frank Meyer, the Strains, Nick Oliveri of Queens of the Stone Age and the Shakewells at Red Dwarf

Generic Surf Band at Red Dwarf's Sunday Brunch

 

Our weekends tend to be a blur of errands so it's always nice when we can spare some time to get out and do something fun. Today we managed to do two things - we saw a bit of the Dachshund Derby for Las Vegas' Octoberfest downtown and then headed over to Red Dwarf to catch a set from Generic Surf Band at RD's Sunday Brunch.

Got there just in time to say hello to everyone before they started their second set and we got the special-guest-set, opening with bartendress (along with Sara) Daisy sitting in on bass for a few songs with GSB bassist Eddie playing guitar, our pal Nikki jamming on a couple of tunes with Phil before Phil moved over to bass (think that is his first instrument and he rocked it) before they settled in with their regular line up for the rest of the set.

Drummer Mark is back on track after some serious health issues and this was his return to the throne full time and he wailed! Always cool to see him play - he adds plenty of hip rolls'n'tom fills even when he's not just firing away with machine gun snares and basic surf beats. He locks in with Eddie, who holds down the fort while still filling in with fast frills'n'thrills. Of course, Phil is on top of it all with his classic, reverbed, staccato surf sound.

Always a fun time - see them when ya can! They'll be back for another Surf Sunday Brunch on October 5th!

recommended gigs

                

Friday 9-19-25 - the New Waves at the Golden Tiki

Saturday 9-20-25 - Grand Opening of Goodman Plaza - daytime show with the Dirty Hooks

Saturday 9-20-25 - Thee Swank Bastards at the Golden Tiki

Sunday 9-21-25 - Generic Surf Band at Red Dwarf's Sunday Brunch

Monday 9-22-25 - Thee Swank Bastards at the Golden Tiki

Friday 9-26-25 - No Que No, 12 Step Rebels, Santa Muerte, Femaliens at the Griffin

Saturday 9-27-25 - the Minges, Sparkie Plenty, The Naked City Underground at Red Dwarf

Saturday 9-27-25 - Valley of the Sun, Fuzz Evil, Gravity Amplifiers at the Dive Bar

Saturday 9-27-25 - Thee Swank Bastards late night at the Golden Tiki

Sunday 9-28-25 - Zombie Rumble at Area 15 with the Shakewells, Cromm Fallon and the P200, Terror Attach, MIA, Guilt by Association, the Dollheads, the McCharmlys, CoDefendants, Manic Hispanic, Voodoo Glow Skulls, Rev Horton Heat

Monday 9-29-25 - Thee Swank Bastards at the Golden Tiki

Sunday 10-5-25 - Generics Surf Band at Red Dearf’s Sunday Brunch

Friday 10-17-25 - Mr. Dark's Pandemonium at the Double Down

Saturday 10-18-25 - the return of the Psyatics to the Double Down! With Three Rounds and Pitch After Dark

Wednesday 10-22-25 - Gwar at Brooklyn Bowl

Saturday 10-25-25 - The Implosions, Bad Motivator, King Flamingo at Red Dwarf

Friday 11-7-25 - the snares, the violet minefield, the Shakewells at the Usual Place

Friday 12-5-25 - Frank Meyer, the Strains, Nick Oliveri of Queens of the Stone Age and the Shakewells at Red Dwarf

Neverland Ranch Davidians, Shimmer Bed, Bonnies Casket at the Double Down - Saturday 9-13-25

I've known Tex Mosley, singer and guitarist for the NRD's, at least since his days in the Hangmen, creating iconic riffs for Bryan's cool songs. He's still a riff-master, fine guitarist'n'songwriter and in this new version of the band he is joined by Kevin Keller (on baritone guitar - as a kind of compromise between just 2 guitars, as the previous lineup was, and a guitar/bass set-up) and John Collinson on drums - both from various LA projects, including the Rank Outsiders and Motorcycle Black Madonnas. While there were a ridiculous amount of cool shows going on this evening, we opted for the Davidians at the DD since they don't come out very often and we haven't been to the DD in ages.

Ya never quite know when the set times are going to be at the DD so when we got there Bonnies Casket was already playing. As one could imagine from the name, they were a bit goth/emo, all snazzily dressed in black with red ties - 2 guitars (one alternating on keys), bass, drums and singer. Unfortunately, they were a bit too loud for the space, which made it difficult to hang and watch, although their Bauhaus-ish sound wasn't bad, just a bit too much for the room.

LA's oddly named Shimmer Bed followed and were more to our liking, with an unusual sound which Mel likened to the Pixies while I was reminded of Indiana's Apache Dropout - not that they would be a likely influence here. Lots of noise'n'lots of energy with a female bassist who knew how to attack her instrument, a powerful drummer who wasn't afraid to use machine-gun snare rolls and a guitarist/singer who practically strangled his instrument while using some effects on his vocals to keep things interesting. We were both pleasantly surprised with their sound'n'style and understood why Tex recommended them. Dug their wall of noise, guitars-against-the-amps ending, also!

The Davidian's closed out the night and while Kevin'n'John have just played a handful of gigs with Tex, they sounded great and fit in well while adding their own approach. John's drumming fit it perfectly and Kevin added extra flair with his baritone guitar with a whammy bar, which allowed for some extra wild sounds. Kevin held the songs together and let Tex handle most of the lead guitar work - something that Tex has no problem taking on as I always dug his style. There were a number of new (to me, anyway) songs ("I Fell Down So I Shot Up" being a memorable title) - apparently, they are working on the third NRD album currently - and the tunes from the previous albums - "Stigmata", "Don't Call Me" (I heard a "Badge" steal in this one live), "Signified Monkey", "Swamp Feet" - had a new life with this lineup. I loved the old band, but these cats handled themselves excellently, as well! And Kevin's son even played bass for a finale! Highly recommended! See them any time you can for a primitive blast of soulful, garage-y punk'n'roll with a dash of Suicide/Scientists noise. 

Thanks to the Double Down for hosting this cool night of varied music!

(Photos by Melanie Coffee!)

Sherlock Holmes VS. Cthulhu - The Adventure of the Deadly Dimensions - Lois H. Gresh

 

This book was a random find from our library and I thought it would be a fun'n'silly read that I certainly never would have considered before. I expected it to be cheesy, but Gresh is actually a fine writer and while the concept is a bit bizarre, she managed to pull it off successfully, overall. Not entirely a detective mystery or a horror story, she blends the two in an odd mix.

Holmes and Watson are portrayed properly and remain in character even as they find themselves thrust into exceedingly odd'n'surreal situations that defy explanation, even by the great Sherlock. They still manage to follow clues and defeat the main villain, but they don't know how far-reaching the cult that they investigate really is or what its goal is. 

Apparently, this is one book out a trilogy which might be stretching the concept a bit far - I haven't decided whether to investigate this storyline further or not. Better than I expected although I'm not sure if I would necessarily recommend it other than to the truly curious who want to discover how these ideas could be melded. 

Spinal Tap II - The End Continues

 

Of course, as the good rock'n'rollers that we are, we both dug the original Spinal Tap movie from way back when so we decided to make a rare trek into an actual theater and check out the sequel.

Hard to believe that it's been 40 years since the first Tap flick and this follow-up chronicles their lives since then - with their real-life post-film gigs followed by a hiatus (in real life and fictional, apparently) with bad feelings between Nigel and David (just the fictional characters, I assume). But they decide to bury the hatchet for one finale reunion show and, of course, they make a film of the occasion.

I do believe that a lot of the original film worked because you didn't know the characteristics of the members of the band so the jokes were fresh and so now it's a bit of nostalgia as they rework some of the humor. A number of the original characters make a reappearance, but there are also new faces, as well as mega-guest stars like Paul McCartney and Elton John. I kinda think that the writers relied a bit too much on these names, but then I guess a lot of real-life reunion/final shows do use special guests to make it more of an event. Of course, Tap needs to find a drummer and after some slapstick-ish auditions and online requests to known commodities, they find an excellent, young, female percussionist who revives their spirits. (The actress appears to really be playing and is quite good.)

Various silliness and chaos ensues until their triumphant, packed reunion show, which, of course, ends badly, due to various circumstances that I won't divulge here.

Naturally, sequels rarely hold up to the original and this is obviously a bid for nostalgia, but regardless, it is a bit of fun and fans of the original should see it just for a few giggles.

RIP Bobby Hart

 This doesn't seem to be getting much national media attention, which is very sad, but apparently the ultra-talented songwriter, Bobby Hart, who co-wrote numerous massive hits with his partner Tommy Boyce (who left us back in 1994), has passed away.

Very sad to hear that this duo is no longer with us.

recommended gigs

               

Friday 9-12-25 - Bear Supply at the Double Down 

Saturday 9-13-25 - Cheetah Chrome's Dead Boys, the Shakewells, Bad Days Only, Burn Kit at the Dive Bar

Saturday 9-13-25 Neverland Ranch Davidians at the Double Down 

Saturday 9-13-25 - Thee Swank Bastards late night at the Golden Tiki

Monday 9-15-25 - Thee Swank Bastards at the Golden Tiki

Friday 9-19-25 - the New Waves at the Golden Tiki

Saturday 9-20-25 - Grand Opening of Goodman Plaza - daytime show with the Dirty Hooks

Saturday 9-20-25 - Thee Swank Bastards at the Golden Tiki

Sunday 9-21-25 - Generic Surf Band at Red Dwarf's Sunday Brunch

Monday 9-22-25 - Thee Swank Bastards at the Golden Tiki

Friday 9-26-25 - No Que No, 12 Step Rebels, Santa Muerte, Femaliens at the Griffin

Saturday 9-27-25 - the Minges, Sparkie Plenty, The Naked City Underground at Red Dwarf

Saturday 9-27-25 - Thee Swank Bastards late night at the Golden Tiki

Sunday 9-28-25 - Zombie Rumble at Area 15 with the Shakewells, Cromm Fallon and the P200, Terror Attach, MIA, Guilt by Association, the Dollheads, the McCharmlys, CoDefendants, Manic Hispanic, Voodoo Glow Skulls, Rev Horton Heat

Monday 9-29-25 - Thee Swank Bastards at the Golden Tiki

Friday 10-17-25 - Mr. Dark's Pandemonium at the Double Down

Saturday 10-18-25 - the return of the Psyatics to the Double Down! With Three Rounds and Pitch After Dark

Wednesday 10-22-25 - Gwar at Brooklyn Bowl

Saturday 10-25-25 - The Implosions, Bad Motivator, King Flamingo at Red Dwarf

Friday 11-7-25 - the snares, the violet minefield, the Shakewells at the Usual Place

Friday 12-5-25 - Frank Meyer, the Strains, Nick Oliveri of Queens of the Stone Age and the Shakewells at Red Dwarf

Jesika Von Rabbit at the Usual Place Friday Sept 5 2025

 

Jesika Von Rabbit hails from Joshua Tree's critically popular Gram Rabbit and is now joined by garage legend Lee Joseph (Yard Trauma, Unclaimed, Outside Inside and too many more to name) on bass (live) as well as guitar (studio), along with two costumed dancers for a multi media presentation that also goes under the name JVR.

The music is a mix of techno/dance with psych/pop and bits'n'pieces of whatever else they feel like throwing in. Jesika has a fine voice, which both Lee and the dancers augment at times, and adds keyboards while most of the music is provided by multi-layered backing tracks, other than Lee's growling bass, of course. The dancers appear in various costumes, from go-go dancers to aliens to bunny/bondage outfits to bees, with bubbles and various other antics.

Not my normal style, but JVR has enough variety, real songs (not just one endless dance beat with nothing interesting going on over it as too much techno sounds like to me) and enough psych'n'pop influences that they keep you entertained musically and visually throughout their set.

With First Friday raging a couple of miles away, the Place was not packed, but it wasn't a bad turnout, overall and the crowd was certainly enthusiastic for the Rabbit!

Another fun'n'varied show from the Dirty Rock'n'Roll Dance Party! Thanks to JVR for making a stop in Vegas!

(All photos by Melanie Coffee!)

Ugly Things #69

 

I always rant'n'rave about Ugly Things as Mike'n'Anja Stax always put out quality material - "Wild Sounds From Past Dimensions" indeed! This ish gets a kinda clinical 50th anniversary review of Metal Machine Music (some interesting tidbits but overall a little too clinical), part 3 of David Laing's overview of Aussie's fantastic Saints, part 3 of Mike's massive take on Plasticland, a cool Cheetah Chrome interview, several more articles on more obscure acts and, of course, a boatload of reviews of all kinds of media - prepare your wish list!

Always worth grabbing!

RIP Mark Volman

Mark Volman, Turtles and Flo & Eddie Co-Founder and Singer on ‘Happy Together,’ Dies at 78

 ---

Of course, I was a big fan of the Turtles in the 60's and Flo and Eddie in the 70's - even covered a Turtles song in the Unclaimed! Another sad one....

And we can't forget the amazing work he did with T.Rex!

recommended gigs

              

Friday 9-5-25 - Jessika Von Rabbit, Same Sex Mary, Hassan, Switterbeet at the Usual Place 

Friday 9-5-25 - the New Waves at the Sand Dollar

Friday 9-5-25 - Soft Echo and the Dirty Hooks at Dustland Bar

Saturday 9-6-25 - Thee Swank Bastards late night at the Golden Tiki

Sunday 9-7-25 - Thee Swank Bastards at Red Dwarf's Sunday Brunch

Monday 9-8-25 - Thee Swank Bastards at the Golden Tiki

Friday 9-12-25 - Bear Supply at the Double Down 

Saturday 9-13-25 - Cheetah Chrome's Dead Boys, the Shakewells, Bad Days Only, Burn Kit at the Dive Bar

Saturday 9-13-25 Neverland Ranch Davidians at the Double Down 

Saturday 9-13-25 - Thee Swank Bastards late night at the Golden Tiki

Monday 9-15-25 - Thee Swank Bastards at the Golden Tiki

Friday 9-22-25 - the New Waves at the Golden Tiki

Friday 9-26-25 - No Que No, 12 Step Rebels, Santa Muerte, Femaliens at the Griffin

Saturday 9-27-25 - the Minges, Sparkie Plenty, The Naked City Underground at Red Dwarf

Sunday 9-28-25 - Zombie Rumble at Area 15 with the Shakewells, Cromm Fallon and the P200, Terror Attach, MIA, Guilt by Association, the Dollheads, the McCharmlys, CoDefendants, Manic Hispanic, Voodoo Glow Skulls, Rev Horton Heat

Friday 10-17-25 - Mr. Dark's Pandemonium at the Double Down

Saturday 10-18-25 - the return of the Psyatics to the Double Down! With Three Rounds and Pitch After Dark

Wednesday 10-22-25 - Gwar at Brooklyn Bowl

Friday 11-7-25 - the snares, the violet minefield, the Shakewells at the Usual Place

Friday 12-5-25 - Frank Meyer, the Strains, Nick Oliveri of Queens of the Stone Age and the Shakewells at Red Dwarf

Devo - documentary

 

Everyone's been talking about this new Devo documentary on Netflix so once we had some time to actually sit together and watch something, this was first on our list!

Obviously, I am primarily a fan of straight-ahead 60's/70's garage/punk/rock'n'roll but I have always had a soft spot for the oddities, as well - from the Velvets to Zappa to Captain Beefheart to Roxy Music to the Shaggs and much more. So while Devo was pretty freakin' out there, even by 70's new wave/punk standards, they did also strike a nerve. I was never a full-on fanatic, as they were just a bit too silly visually, but their oddness was still catchy - catchy enough for them to actually have hit songs in the 80's, against all odds.

This doc gives a great background on the band with current and past interviews with everyone and some excellent, vintage video footage. In fact, they declare that they were visual artists before they were a musical entity. Visuals and music and lyrics all went hand-in-hand to the band and they wouldn't have existed without the melding of the three. 

In fact, their initial video is what catch the attention of record executives and while live audiences were baffled to the point of hostility early on, they did build a following even before they were signed and, of course, once they put out their debut album and started touring, they took off, with celebrities extolling their virtues until they did, indeed, hit big.

But, I think that many people did not really understand their message - especially early on when they were Kent State students who survived the 1970 massacre and were truly angry at society and the de-evolution of the human race. I find it fascinating that they were initially influenced by a 1938 pamphlet that referenced "Jacko Homo" and "De-Evolution" and they took it from there - I need to find that pamphlet somehow!

As usual, the early days are the more intriguing and the fact that they have so much video footage of their initial experiments are the highlights of this doc, but the story is strong throughout. Of course, the band, like any and every other band, ran its course eventually, and two members pass away, but the survivors seem to be reasonably happy, content and even thriving.

Absolutely recommended!