The Unwieldies and the Devil's Duo at the Huntridge Tavern, Saturday May 21, 2022
Thursday 5-19-22 - Crimson Riot, Forget Me Nows, Nova Babies at Soul Belly
Friday 5-20-22 - The Psyatics with Complete Disaster at the Dive Bar
Saturday 5-21-22 - The Devil's Duo and the Unwieldies at the Huntridge Tavern
Sunday 5-22-22 - Thee Swank Bastards at Red Dwarf Sunday Brunch
Monday 5-23-22 - Thee Swank Bastards at the Golden Tiki
Friday 5-27-22 - Shanda and the Howlers at Soul Belly
Friday 5-27-22 - Thee Hypnotiques at the Golden Tiki
Friday 5-27-22 - Little Miss Nasty, Gina and the Eastern Block, Dead Posey at the Usual Place
Saturday 5-28-22 - Kepi (Groovie Ghoulies) at Evel Pie
Saturday 5-28-22 - Thee Swank Bastards at late night at the Golden Tiki
Saturday 5-28-22 - Monster Zero, the Nuclear Undead, First or Last, Latest Regrets, Societies Infection at the Double Down
Sunday 5-29-22 - Thee Swank Bastards at Red Dwarf Sunday Brunch
Sunday 5-29-22 - The Devil's Duo play a private party
Monday 5-30-22 - Thee Swank Bastards at the Golden Tiki
Tues 5-31-22 - The Chords UK, the Rebel Set, TV Party, Cromm and the P200 at Taverna Costera
Wednesday 6-1-22 - Franks'n'Deans Weenie Roast with special guests the Pluralses at the Double Down
Friday 6-3-22 - the Psyatics at the Double Down with Thee Swank Bastards and the Way Outs
Saturday 6-4-22 - The Psyatics video shoot at Cemetery Pulp - EARLY! 6:00 pm!
Saturday 6-4-22 - the Souvenairs at the Golden Tiki
Saturday 6-4-22 - Thee Swank Bastards late night at the Golden Tiki
Saturday 6-4-22 - The Pluralses, Stagnetti's Cock, Cadaver Pudding and Battering Ham at Starboard Tack
Sunday 6-5-22 - Thee Swank Bastards at Red Dwarf Sunday Brunch
Wednesday 6-8-22 - Joe Jackson at the Smith Center
Thursday 6-9-22 - Total Chaos, Soldiers of Destruction, Gob Patrol, Endless Struggle at the Dive Bar
Friday 6-10-22 - Sandbox Bullies, the Hideaway, the Devillians at the Dive Bar
Saturday 6-11-22 - Mojave Sun, the Dirty Hooks, Mother Mercury at Soul Belly
Saturday 6-11-22 - The New Waves at the Golden Tiki
Monday 6-13-22 - Thee Swank Bastards at the Golden Tiki
Tuesday 6-14-22 - Babes and Blues at the Usual Place - live music by Thee Hypnotiques and Burlesque
Saturday 6-18-22 - Thee Swank Bastards late night at the Golden Tiki
Sunday 6-19-22 - Thee Swank Bastards at Red Dwarf Sunday Brunch
Monday 6-20-22 - Thee Swank Bastards at the Golden Tiki
Thursday 6-23-22 - Zeke, Soldiers of Destruction, Suburban Resistance, Downtown Death Rattle and Cutthroat at the Dive Bar
Saturday 7-2-22 - The Devil's Duo and the Unwieldies at Cemetery Pulp
Satuday 8-6-22 - Dirty Rock'n'Roll Dance Party presents the Surfrajetts, the Volcanics and the Sheiks of Neptune at the Usual Place
Came across this 1950's book in a kinda roundabout way, via Ray Davies talking about it in the most recent Kinks book that I read. Apparently, the Davies brothers appreciated Sillitoe's rowdy, life-loving, boozin', womanizin', well dressed, pre-Mod, sorta Teddy Boy-ish main character as well as his expressive writing style.
Seemingly at least partially autobiographical, Sillitoe's Arthur loves drinkin'n'women in the evenings, and works hard doing piece work in a bicycle factory during the day, a job that he actually doesn't mind all that much since it is one he can basically do automatically and let his mind roam free while earning the cash for his more earnest activities.
Sillitoe's style is truly engaging, with a great attention to detail while maintaining a fun and flowing storyline. On occasion his British-isms and phonetic depictions of their accents can be a bit much, but nothing that takes away from the story and while Arthur may have some character flaws (he drunkenly vomits over two strangers and beds another man's wife as you first meet him), he comes across as an intelligent, likable bloke who knows his place in the world and does his best to enjoy his lot in life.
Of course, there's plenty of drama - he gets his mistress pregnant, gets a fairly daft recommendation on how to handle it (that somehow works, although there doesn't appear to be any medical reason why it should have), and immediately bed's his mistress' sister, thereby getting numerous soldiers after him simultaneously! Of course, much more goes on, excitement mixed with daily trudgery, as Arthur's life kinda sorts itself out for him.
Great style and an engaging story about "real" people living real lives. I'm going to look more into Sillitoe's writings.
Friday 5-13-22 - Jenny and the Spurs and Dog Party with The Devil's Duo at Soul Belly
Saturday 5-14-22 - Thee Swank Bastards at the Dillinger Block Party
Saturday 5-14-22 - Thee Swank Bastards at late night at the Golden Tiki
Sunday 5-15-22 - Thee Swank Bastards at Red Dwarf Sunday Brunch
Monday 5-16-22 - Thee Swank Bastards at the Golden Tiki
Thursday 5-19-22 - Crimson Riot, Forget Me Nows, Nova Babies at Soul Belly
Friday 5-20-22 - The Psyatics with Complete Disaster at the Dive Bar
Saturday 5-21-22 - The Devil's Duo and the Unwieldies at the Huntridge Tavern
Sunday 5-22-22 - Thee Swank Bastards at Red Dwarf Sunday Brunch
Monday 5-23-22 - Thee Swank Bastards at the Golden Tiki
Friday 5-27-22 - Shanda and the Howlers at Soul Belly
Friday 5-27-22 - Thee Hypnotiques at the Golden Tiki
Friday 5-27-22 - Little Miss Nasty, Gina and the Eastern Block, Dead Posey at the Usual Place
Saturday 5-28-22 - Kepi (Groovie Ghoulies) at Evel Pie
Saturday 5-28-22 - Thee Swank Bastards at late night at the Golden Tiki
Saturday 5-28-22 - Monster Zero, the Nuclear Undead, First or Last, Latest Regrets, Societies Infection at the Double Down
Sunday 5-29-22 - Thee Swank Bastards at Red Dwarf Sunday Brunch
Sunday 5-29-22 - The Devil's Duo play a private party
Monday 5-30-22 - Thee Swank Bastards at the Golden Tiki
Tues 5-31-22 - The Chords UK, the Rebel Set, TV Party, Cromm and the P200 at Taverna Costera
Friday 6-3-22 - the Psyatics at the Double Down with Thee Swank Bastards and the Way Outs
Saturday 6-4-22 - Thee Swank Bastards late night at the Golden Tiki
Sunday 6-5-22 - Thee Swank Bastards at Red Dwarf Sunday Brunch
Wednesday 6-8-22 - Joe Jackson at the Smith Center
Thursday 6-9-22 - Total Chaos, Soldiers of Destruction, Gob Patrol, Endless Struggle at the Dive Bar
Friday 6-10-22 - Sandbox Bullies, the Hideaway, the Devillians at the Dive Bar
Saturday 6-11-22 - Mojave Sun, the Dirty Hooks, Mother Mercury at Soul Belly
Monday 6-13-22 - Thee Swank Bastards at the Golden Tiki
Tuesday 6-14-22 - Babes and Blues at the Usual Place - live music by Thee Hypnotiques and Burlesque
Saturday 6-18-22 - Thee Swank Bastards late night at the Golden Tiki
Sunday 6-19-22 - Thee Swank Bastards at Red Dwarf Sunday Brunch
Monday 6-20-22 - Thee Swank Bastards at the Golden Tiki
Thursday 6-23-22 - Zeke, Soldiers of Destruction, Suburban Resistance, Downtown Death Rattle and Cutthroat at the Dive Bar
Satuday 8-6-22 - Dirty Rock'n'Roll Dance Party presents the Surfrajetts, the Volcanics and the Sheiks of Neptune at the Usual Place
We had a totally fun time playing with the Barnyard Stompers a couple of weeks back and while buying some merch, they were good enough to gift us with their entire CD catalog! Damn nice folks and totally entertaining!
That said, be forewarned that this duo is extremely, almost painfully, non-PC in their lyrics about drinkin', womanizing, killin', stealin'n'beatin'! Their image is proudly "white trash" and hick-ish, although they are sweet'n'friendly and put on a charismatic, entertaining gig.
Lead singer/guitarist Casey has a fine voice, and sings like a cross between Junior Brown and Rev. Peyton (from the Big Damn Band) while doing most of Telecaster wranglin', although his wife, Megan, occasionally moonlights from bashin' the drum kit and handles some git-work done when Casey is busy with some harp playing.
Overall their sound is very country - sometimes more than others - but with a heavy, bluesy, downhome tone mixed in, along with a bit of punk rock rowdiness. The Casey Miller and the Barnyard Stompers CD (the one with the pistol/wagon wheel on the cover) is probably the most traditionally country, with steel guitar on a number of tunes and a fuller sound in general. Songs about Texas, Tennessee, Knoxsville, truck drivin', shotguns, the devil, Jesus and drinkin'n'fightin' kinda checks off all of the proper country subjects while the tunes are melodic'n'countrified, although there's a pure Tex-Mex number in "Tomorrow Ain't Promised", partially sung in Spanish, which was a bit of a surprise.
Goin' Down to Meet the Devil (with the sorta Tenacious D-inspired drawing of them fighting the devil) starts off with more of a cow-punk, high energy sound and is generally a bit harder edged, with plenty of tough, bluesy moments mixing with their own style of country punk and they even go acoustic for "500 miles From Home" and "My Woman's Man". This 2019 release is damn near commercial compared to the loose, purposeful trashiness of some of the others - even the lyrics don't seem to be nearly as confrontational. Pretty darn rockin'!
The Drunk and Dirty live CD is certainly filthy enough simply from the song titles and the lyrics do not disappoint if you're looking for absurdly X-rated numbers with simple, country-ish singin'n'playin'. If this is indeed recorded at a live show, you cannot hear the audience and the drums are a bit buried, but Casey's voice and guitar are plenty prominent and Megan comes through when she harmonizes with Casey. Listening to this one, it hit me that Casey reminds me a bit of David Allen Coe, as well, which I assume he would appreciate. Funnily, most of these songs aren't nearly as offensive as some of their other songs - these are just funny'n'goofy, in a Rudy Ray Moore kinda way.
I dig the simple, stompin' harp-driven "Corn Liquor" that opens Outlaw With Chainsaws Part II, in kinda a chain gang chant kinda way, that moves into their usual bluesy, D-tuned, outlaw country bravado in "Payback", "Roll On", "California Kicker", "Bad Man" and throughout the rest of the album. They go acoustic for the horror movie-influenced "Saw is the Law" and rockabilly for the (I think!) anti-crack "Pipe Hittin' Daddy" and they close with the powerhouse title cut that continues the horror movie theme.
They do an acoustic gospel parody in the opening title cut for "Highway Gospel" before returning to what they do best - down'n'dirty, D-tuned country blues with more tales of chainsaws (yikes!), the devil, fightin', murder, misogyny, sinnin'n'drinkin'. Some fast, some slow, all crazy!
This duo is as nice as can be and totally fun and engaging live, but if you have an aversion to offensive lyrics, this ain't for you! But, if you have a sick sense of humor and dig raunchy country blues, check it out!
Once again, promoter Ralph Carrera of Beau Monde Productions was good enough to add the Psyatics to this fun show at the Usual Place. Being a huge Cramps fan I certainly wanted to check out the touring Teenage Werewolves whether I was playing on the bill or not and the addition of LA's all-femme garage combo Lost Cat, along with hip DJ's and burlesque made it a full night of rock'n'roll insanity.
Unfortunately, the insanity bled over to the scheduling of the night due to unforeseen circumstances, with Lost Cat apparently getting lost on their way from LA and the Psyatics having to take the opening slot, even though we still played at about the time we were originally scheduled for. DJ Cromm was spinning some great cuts before out set and we had a good time with our usual mix of garage/jazzy/no wave/ whatever the heck it is that we do! The crowd was sparse but enthusiastic and a fun way to start the eve.
The headlining Teenage Werewolves came on after us with our drummer Ron once again earning the MVP of the evening by loaning his drum kit to both the TW's and Lost Cat. The Werewolves consist of a dynamic lead singer (Jack) who actually looks like a cross between Lux and Nick Cave (!) and who comes from Lux's hometown, with two guitars (Kent and Roy) - one of which was a cross between Bryan Gregory and Kid Congo while the other actually was made up as a werewolf (!), along with Nick Knox-ian drummer, Louie, and two stunning dancers/percussionists, Kitten (who performed with the Cramps themselves in the past) and Moana adding to the visuals and the mayhem.
The set list was made up of true Cramps classics, including ravers like "Potentate", "Wighat", "Teenage Werewolf" (of course!), "The Way I Way", "Goo Goo Muck", "Garbageman", "Black Leather Lagoon", "Drug Train", "New Kind of Kick" and plenty more. The lovely Kitten actually sang "She Said" - probably the first time I've heard a female cover that one! - and dueted with Jack on another that I can't remember off hand - and she had a fine voice, as well. Encoring with "Human Fly" and "Bikini Girls" - with the bikini clad dancers brandishing light-up machine guns, natch! They pretty much knocked it outta the park from start to finish - - fab playing from everyone, Jack is a terrific Lux-ish frontman, and they all looked cool, too! Definitely highly recommended for a psychotronic good time! (Yes, I took a ridiculous amount of photos - they were certainly highly visual!)
The night was still a barrel of fun despite the looseness and thanks again to Ralph for having us and bringing out quality touring acts!
Once again, this is a book that I simply stumbled upon and as I am not overly familiar with the queer punk rock scene as a scene (although I have obviously known quite a number of people with various identities over my decades playing music in different cities) and am always interested in learning more. As the subtitle implies, this is an oral history with numerous interviews taken from outtakes of a documentary of the same name - which is probably the best way a story like this should be told - by the people who made up the scene in their own words.
The books starts with an "Extremely Forward Introduction" by Lynn Breedlove and Anna Joy Springer that is kinda fun and certainly enthusiastic, but an outsider like me (an older, white cis-male that didn't pay a lot of attention to punk rock in general past the early 80's) was pretty lost and overwhelmed by tons of namedropping with no explanations. Warfield's "actual" introduction does actually introduce the concept of the book and its background, letting you know what you are in for and the parameters that the book is based on.
They first chronicle the late 60's/early 70's NY scene, "led" by Wayne/Jayne County, then move on to the mid-to-late 70's LA/SF scenes, which were, naturally, heavily queer, followed by - to me - an odd juxtaposition into the mid-80's Toronto scene, which apparently was literally a handful of people claiming that a scene existed, which caused one to form! In fact, the book tends to concentrate on Toronto, so I assume that people involved are from that area.
From there the chapters get a little more generic and give more of an overview of how various people dealt with being gay and being punk - which wasn't as easy even in the 80's as it was in the 70's. I have always thought about how hard it must be to find a gay partner in the music scene considering how difficult it was for me as a straight person to find someone and apparently many went outside of the scene for sexual relationships.
Various activism is discussed, of course, and then the formation of all-queer bands - not just bands with queer members, but bands that we all about being queer, which was pretty revolutionary, despite some precedence. It turns out that zines were extremely important and influential, as well, which makes sense in those pre-internet times, as there were zines about pretty much any subject, so something as important as this was kinda inevitable.
Naturally, the goals of the various individuals are unique to those individuals, as well, and are quite varied - and to be truthful, I'm not sure that I completely understand what some were saying (apparently some in the scene do not want things like marriage equality). But, again, I'm an old, white cis-male, so, even if I want to understand, maybe I'm not meant to.
Overall, a well-done, informative read on a specific, passionate scene that doesn't get a lot of overground press.
Thursday 5-5-22 - Shanda and the Howlers and the Rhyolite Sound at the Sand Dollar Downtown at the Plaza
Saturday 5-7-22 - The Psyatics at Garehime Park - daytime show from noon - 4:00 - come down and skate'n'rock!
Later Saturday 5-7-22- The Psyatics at the Usual Place with Cramps tribute band The Teenage Werewolves and all-female combo, Lost Cat!
Sunday 5-8-22 - Thee Swank Bastards at Red Dwarf Sunday Brunch
Monday 5-9-22 - Thee Swank Bastards at the Golden Tiki
Monday 5-9-22 - Goldtop Bob at the Founders Club
Tuesday 5-10-22 - Tigers on Opium and Zach Ryan at Soul Belly
Wednesday 5-11-22 - the Damned and Kid Congo at the House of Blues
Friday 5-13-22 - Jenny and the Spurs and Dog Party with The Devil's Duo at Soul Belly
Saturday 5-14-22 - Thee Swank Bastards at the Dillinger Block Party
Saturday 5-14-22 - Thee Swank Bastards at late night at the Golden Tiki
Sunday 5-15-22 - Thee Swank Bastards at Red Dwarf Sunday Brunch
Monday 5-16-22 - Thee Swank Bastards at the Golden Tiki
Friday 5-20-22 - The Psyatics at the Dive Bar
Saturday 5-21-22 - The Devil's Duo and the Unwieldies at the Huntridge Tavern
Sunday 5-22-22 - Thee Swank Bastards at Red Dwarf Sunday Brunch
Monday 5-23-22 - Thee Swank Bastards at the Golden Tiki
Friday 5-27-22 - Shanda and the Howlers at Soul Belly
Friday 5-27-22 - Thee Hypnotiques at the Golden Tiki
Saturday 5-28-22 - Thee Swank Bastards at late night at the Golden Tiki
Saturday 5-28-22 - Monster Zero, the Nuclear Undead, First or Last, Latest Regrets, Societies Infection at the Double Down
Sunday 5-29-22 - Thee Swank Bastards at Red Dwarf Sunday Brunch
Monday 5-30-22 - Thee Swank Bastards at the Golden Tiki
Tues 5-31-22 - The Chords UK, the Rebel Set, TV Party, Cromm and the P200 at Taverna Costera
Friday 6-3-22 - the Psyatics at the Double Down with Thee Swank Bastards
Saturday 6-4-22 - Thee Swank Bastards late night at the Golden Tiki
Sunday 6-5-22 - Thee Swank Bastards at Red Dwarf Sunday Brunch
Wednesday 6-8-22 - Joe Jackson at the Smith Center
Saturday 6-11-22 - Mojave Sun, the Dirty Hooks, Mother Mercury at Soul Belly
Monday 6-13-22 - Thee Swank Bastards at the Golden Tiki
Tuesday 6-14-22 - Babes and Blues at the Usual Place - live music by Thee Hypnotiques and Burlesque
Saturday 6-18-22 - Thee Swank Bastards late night at the Golden Tiki
Sunday 6-19-22 - Thee Swank Bastards at Red Dwarf Sunday Brunch
Monday 6-20-22 - Thee Swank Bastards at the Golden Tiki
Thursday 6-23-22 - Zeke, Soldiers of Destruction, Suburban Resistance, Downtown Death Rattle and Cutthroat at the Dive Bar
Satuday 8-6-22 - Dirty Rock'n'Roll Dance Party presents the Surfrajetts, the Volcanics and the Sheiks of Neptune at the Usual Place
HOWIE PYRO, D GENERATION Co-Founder And Former DANZIG Bassist, Dead At 61
We're never quite sure where our new combo, The Devil's Duo, fits in, seeing as we're an acoustic guitar/banjolele duo covering tunes ranging from Bessie Smith to Tom Waits to bluegrass to country to acoustic punk rock numbers. So, other than a few friends' combos, we just ask around to see who will have us! I guess maybe we shouldn't worry too much, as I don't mind varied shows in general. In any case, this night turned out to be a fun one!
Our set might have been a little loose, but I thought that we did a good job entertaining the Sunday night denizens with our basic set. We got a good reaction from our version of Eddie Novack/Beast of Bourbon's "Psycho" (the Barnyard Stompers even got up to dance, since Novack is from the same area as they are) and closed the night with a ragged but fun take on the Danzig/Johnny Cash song "13" that we're working up for our gig on Friday the 13th at Soul Belly.