Land of the Lost

It’s 2008, right? Fucking hell. And here I was kinda hoping that, by now, I’d have found one of those ever-elusive Sleestak pylons to catapult me right back to ‘62, ‘77, ‘83 or even ‘91 for christ’s sake. Ah well. While I continue my search, let’s talk about recent releases that have been taking up my headspace lately:

1. BOILED IN LEAD – Silver (Omnium Records, 2008) – Big comeback record by the best Celtocentric rockers ever to call America their home. Original singer Todd Menton has returned to the helm, bringing renewed focus and lotsa great Irish tunage with him – and effectively shaking off the kinda bogue world-explorer sound that gummed up their 90’s records. These guys play tight and inspired – not unlike how Richard Thompson might, if he decided to ditch the professionalism, crank up the decibels/distortion a good 3 or 4 notches, and hit hard at trad material again. Pick of the bushel is the opener “Apple Tree Wassail” – in these environmentally uncertain times, it’s nice to know someone’s taking time to rock in a bountiful harvest. As good as their late 80’s From the Ladle to the Grave highwater mark? Maybe.

2. THE HELLACOPTERS – Head Off (Wild Kingdom/Psychout Records, 2008) – I’m pretty easy when it comes to radio-friendly rock: if you’ve got energy, some catchy tunage, a wild singer and decent drummer – I’m probably game. So you won’t hear no bitching from me about your FOO FIGHTERS, or your MUSEs, or even your OK GOs. Nor about THE HELLACOPTERS, whose SONIC’S RENDEZVOUS BAND bywayof THE KNACK thing sounds totally comfortable coming outta my radio this morn.

Yeah there was a time when they seemed to fetishize post-STOOGES Detroit R&R just a little too much for my taste. It was downright morbid – like they had little shrines built to Rob Tyner and Scott Ashton in their bathrooms! But this new rec, made up entirely of songs penned by their actual peers (THE NEW BOMB TURKS, THE BELLRAYS, THE POWDER MONKEYS, DEAD MOON, etc.) feels way more honest a statement than covering, say, RADIO BIRDMAN. Coulda used a ballad or two for a change of pace, but hey what’s here is hot and dandy. Not something I wanna think too much about, but listen to? Yep, and frequently.

3. YOKE SHIRE – Witching Hour (Zygo Records, 2007) – Ray’s Realm got me curious about this, and dammit if it ain’t still holding my attention – albeit for alotta the wrong reasons. This PINK FLOYD/JETHRO TULL inspired epic sprawl from Boston is so frickin’ cut off from anything I grew up with (i.e. punk, hc, top 40 powerpop, newwave), I’d almost believe it was conceived in a prog test-tube lab deep beneath Steve Howe’s tennis court! That two brothers could be responsible for damn near every sound on this 2-CD set is pretty impressive. But that it’s all so consistently compelling and imaginatively rockin’ is positively jawdropping. Horrendous graphic art BUT HEY this could be the very best tunage you ever hear pumped outta the stereo whilst browsing your local magickal/pagan bookshop – a true accomplishment, methinks.

4. WISHBONE ASH – First Light (Talking Elephant Records, 2007) – I was in Glastonbury recently and noticed flyers all over town advertising current shows by these English warhorses. No, no – I didn’t go see em play, but I did search the web for soundclips of their recent material, which sounds exactly what I figured a bunch of rock dinosaurs might get up to 35 years on (this is not a compliment). But then I discovered this amazing disc: their first known recording from 1969 recorded as a demo to garner label interest. And it was apparently played on homemade/rebuilt instruments! This illuminates all that was once great about this band: their dancing/piercing dual gtr leads, their rich melodic material, and their nimbly rockin’ bass/drum combo of Martin Turner and Steve Upton. Easily blows away their first proper self-titled disc, IMO.

5. THE DOORS – Live in Pittsburgh 1970 (Rhino Records, 2008) The horrors that THE DOORS’ original output has been dragged through – via endless flogging on “classic” rock corporate radio, on car commercials, and in lame boomer-directed flicks – is ultimately a fate worse than, say, CLAPTON’s reinvention into an incidental soundtrackist for elite fashion runway shows. These days, it’s really, really tough to listen to a DOORS tune and not be at least a little bit disgusted.

But really, that shouldn’t detract from what they were groovin’ on all them years ago. And this cavernous live recording is where you’ll find a way back in. The blues here is one loooong black train that keeps up a relentless modal howl all night long. Jim’s sober, and hence not hogging all the limelight; Robby K.’s playing gtr with a depth Cippolina always wished he had; and dammit if Manzurek ain’t burping and belching with the best rock keysmen (and NEVER have I paid that man a compliment). You wanna know where Jeffrey Lee Pierce got the idea for his voodoo blues from? Right here bub.

6. MOTORPSYCHO – Little Lucid Moments (Stickman Records, 2008) Thanks to Wordy Diva for the heads-up on this one. Positively staggering progtastic jams from this Norwegian modern rock institution. People have compared these lengthy (12 – 21 minute) cuts to YES and Meddle-era PINK FLOYD, which are valid touchstones I suppose . . . but what I’m hearing clearest sounds like Daydream Nation-era SONIC YOUTH ripping out an hour long tribute to the best Welsh rockers ever, MAN. Just try and tell me the high-pitched vocals and chiming gtr harmonies (not to mention the insistent drumming) don’t get you thinking this, too, was recorded Live at the Padget Rooms, Penarth!

Now, I’m not sure if everyone’s gonna understand a record like this: it isn’t explicitly bell-bottom retro like WITCHCRAFT, nor is it overtly post-modern in heaviness ala BORIS. So it’s gonna confound those looking to “place” it easily. But that’s all to their credit; MOTORPSYCHO is doing their own thing so fucking well, it refuses simple catagorization. For anyone still interested in how powerful modern Scandinavian gtr rock can be, look no further.

7. KURT VILE – Constant Hitmaker (Glutcher Records, 2008) A full year into this blog thing, and I finally get some promos sent to me, unsolicited, for “review consideration”. They asked for it, so here goes:

The first track here gets me thinking how TOM PETTY’s “Don’t Come Around Here No More” might’ve sounded recorded on a C-60. Elsewhere, I’m hearing any number of quietpop/slop superstars . . . BECK, AMERICA, New Zealand’s ALISTAIR GALBRIATH, KENNY frickin’ RANKIN for christ’s sake – all filtered through an ancient, wind-swept Teac 3340S recorder for that “feel” we’ve come to associate with indie dweebs in the 90’s. The relative merits of this, I’m gonna leave up to you, mate. You’d be is good company calling this “homespun, futurist folkpop”; you’d have the support of many others by referring to it as “retardass neo-emo crapola”. Yes I can readily admit THIS AIN’T MY BAG, but does that mean it sucks? Nah, not really. But there is a clueless head-in-the-sand thing happening here that kinda worries me. Like, I don’t wanna be anywhere near this VILE guy when the shit really starts coming down. And we all agree it’s comin’ down fast, right?

Thanks to The Right Reverend Enik for the neato Land of the Lost gif

Heart Attack & Vine

This blog thing is a real trip sometimes.

The letter reproduced here was once sent out into the world by me as part of my search into the hydra-headed serpent known as Hollywood punk rock, apparently back in Jan. 1987. Now I don’t actually remember sending it, or if I ever received a response at the time. But inexplicably it’s returned, boomerang-like. And I’m staring at the damn thing again. WTF?

Well, ya see: the recipient Jon, aka JB – he discovered this blog early on. There’s a comment from him on my very first post. He recently let me know I’d queried him by mail about a handfull of p-rock records, 21+ years ago as a dorky 16 yr. old. And a couple weeks back JB “kindly” forwarded this scan to chez PS Recon. Fucking hell, man! What comes around sure as shit goes around. Especially within the claustrophobic, skinnyhead world of California punk rock record collecting.

Which is all to let you know I’m back again to sling around more ill-thought out opinions about all your Hollywood punk heroes. Read the first or second posts in this series if you must, and then: 1-2-3-4 let’s g-g-g-go . . .

1. Best RIK L RIK-led effort: Garbage Hearts – The Lost EP (2007) Yes heavy drug use clipped RIK’s artistic fingernails to the bloody quick, but dammit if he didn’t record a dimebag full of minor-key, SLEEPERS-inspired glamour punk gems, some of which dated from up near his death in 2000. Shit I actually had a difficult time picking a favorite RIK moment. This man’s F-WORD album is generally considered the first Hollywood punk LP to see the light of day. His “Outback” cut – as heard on my first punker purchase ever (Rodney On The Roq, Vol. I) – was also the very first song I ever taught myself on bass gtr. And his cuts on the Beach Blvd comp. impressed the hell outta me – at least until I heard the earlier, NEGATIVE TREND EP versions.

But ultimately, this long-lost EP of early 90’s NEW CHRISTS-like material may be his very best. Certainly, it’s some of his most coherent, and I love the way his baritone soars over the din. Check it out if you haven’t – and long may the kids remember RIK’s barefoot croon.

2. Best BLACK RANDY & THE METROSQUAD effort: Pass the Dust, I Think I’m Bowie LP (Dangerhouse Records, ‘79) – Talk about sidespilting – these cads still slay me 6 ways to Sunday. Any JAMES CHANCE/WHITE comparisons will definitely hold water. But remember: unlike James, Randy wasn’t actually musical, just an irresponsible prankster dead-set on exposing some of the sillier/staider aspects of “the scene” at the time. There’s room in my heart for such types, fr sure – even when they’re trying to pants me.

Hey, where’s that tweaked live snippet of “Ziggy Stardust” that graced the original Dangerhouse LP? It didn’t seem to make the cut on the Sympathy For The Record Industry reissue CD. Copyright complications perhaps? C’MON Long Gone John, this was fucking BLACK RANDY – he coulda punked out the Thin White Duke in no time flat.

3. Best FEAR effort: Saturday Night Live ‘81 – As huge as they were around LA in the early 80’s with young, suburban cropped-hair dudes, FEAR (not unlike, say, the ANTI-NOWHERE LEAGUE) always hit me as ersatz HC punk, a patent-leather version of the real deal. Which isn’t to say they weren’t good – they were, and I do like alot of tunes on the first Slash LP, despite the thin/compressed production. But it’s why I’ve chosen this SNL clip: FEAR always seemed to have their sights set mainly on that other, film-industry Hollywood, and Lee hits ya best when he’s on camera. Look hard, and you’ll spot Ian Mackaye in the audience! (BTW: the first single is probably their best studio moment, but I never did turn up that rarity . . .)

4. Best ANGRY SAMOANS effort: Queer Pills 7″ 45 (Homophobic Records, ‘81) Another band of far-from-authentically hardcore types who the HB strut contingent went absolutely gaga over. Had these kinda older, wordy fanzine scribes been anywhere else in the US, no doubt they’d have put out records that sounded like THE GIZMOS or THE SCREAMIN’ MEE-MEES or something. But they came to fruition in SoCal in the early 80’s where BLACK FLAG and THE CIRCLE JERKS were calling the shots; hence, the violent brevity of their cool, bonehead tuneage. This release of Back From Samoa demos came out under the QUEER PILLS moniker in hopes of throwing off the scent of LA DJ Rodney Bingenheimer, who’d they’d already alienated every which way but loose. It didn’t work and also meant that most of these 45s didn’t sell at the time, only to flood into record stores in the late 80’s. The record collector geek in me thanks the gods for this small karmic retribution.

5. Best THE GERMS effort: (GI) LP (Slash Records, ‘79) Will anyone ever come up with a record this transcendent in the name of punkrock again? I don’t fucking think so. Yeah I’ve always kinda felt this record belongs nestled up against, say, yr COIL and POPOL VUH discs. Even now, listening to it transports me someplace far outside my body, where gtrs ring out hidden universal keys and a wordless growl makes the most complete sense in all the world. That these speed-fueled, teenage crybabies came up with something so timeless blows away all known laws of physics. I, for one, don’t like to imagine what Darby would’ve come up with had he’d hung around this Earth any longer (Blowhard new wave? New-Ro balladeering? ugh), cause he wasn’t never no kinda singer, nohow. What Darby was, was a truly potent wizard of cosmic proportions.

Much thanks to JB for his lifelong hoarding tendencies

GreateSST Hits

No, this is not the start of a new SST Records-related series of posts. It’s just today’s fleeting desire to gab about a few nearenuf, shouldabeen, honest-to-god almost hits from the SST RECORDS family, ca. world domination period (‘86-’92). Yeah you probably cried sell-out back then, but in 2008, with 20-20 hindsight? Well listen again:

1. DOS – “Taking Away the Fire” – (Dos LP, New Alliance Records, 1986) The early DOS song you’d hear spun the most on LA’s KXLU radio, probably since it’s got vocals. The wiggly, prog bass harmonics were totally haunting & singular ringing out amidst the bland sea of tunes by THE CULT and SISTERS OF MERCY they was pushing hard back then. And I’ve always interpreted the lyrics as Kira struggling to come to terms with her drastically less intense, post-BLACK FLAG existence. I admit I was one of the last to truly get the awesome power of DOS, but once I did . . .

2. ANGST – “Some Things (I Can’t Get Used To)” (Mending Wall, SST Records, 1986) Frank Fucking Black covered this, but forget about that for a sec. ANGST was this cool mid-80’s SF trio whose strummin’ sound harkened back to mid-60’s political folkrock as often as their vocals summoned up the blunted tonal palette of amazing, recently deceased Bay area bands like THE SLEEPERS and NEGATIVE TREND. All their records have a handful of rueful, biting keepers on em. This was their most serious contender in the Reagan-era, personal-is-political sadcore sweepstakes.

3. ALWAYS AUGUST – “Flatlands” (Geography EP, SST Records, 1988) Not actually a hit by any stretch but it’s the one I most-associate with these Virginia hippie jazzbos, as a pal of mine spun this rec alot back then. Dig that fretless bass! It’s the very best DEAD-inspired coalescing on a label that was infamous throughout the land for a burning, heretical DEADication. For a moment there, I actually believed this kinda freeform, barefoot sound was gonna REIGN SUPREME over the underground for the next decade. Boy, was I ever wrong. This tune along with a whole gaggle of wildly disparate, Ginn-approved tunage can also be found on the quaintly-titled SST Godhead Storedude In-Store Play Device #5 cassette, freely available for public bemusement/befuddlement here.

4. GRANT HART – “2541” (2541 EP, SST Records, 1988) Out of all the early SST signings, HÜSKER DÜ interested me the least. Maybe it was because I had no line on em – they were a 1000 miles away in Minneapolis, not a 15 minute drive down PCH in Hermosa Beach. Or maybe, it was their drug choice (heroin) that rubbed my then hyper-caffeinated metabolism the wrong way. Whatever, I shied away for years – until it was just about over and bitchen solo projects like Grant’s Intolerance started to emerge (read what the astute Aussie blogger at Lexicon Devil had to say about that period here). “2541″ saw Grant revisiting his early HD years via a cool, Tom Pettyesque pop rock tune that suits his ernest vocals like a homeknit sock. Me, I suspect he could’ve eventually out-Westerberged ol’ Paul, if only the music industry had cut him some slack.

5. ALL – “She’s My Ex” (Allroy’s Revenge, Cruz Records, 1989) Goofy as you may think this one-time college radio staple is/was, this comes from the very-best ALL record of alltime (Allroy’s Revenge), an LP every one of you so-called rocker types should explore in fine detail before you die. While this particular track is pure pop pabulum, the rhythmations that Bill Stevenson, Stephen Egerton, and Karl Alvarez get up to elsewhere on this rec are unparalleled, especially given how damn radio-friendly so many of the tunes are. And if this is just too embarrassing for you to revisit, try this: pretend singer Scott Reynolds is singing in Swahili, and this will go down like a 6:00 am whiskey flip.

6. JACK BREWER BAND – “Why Did God Create Assholes” (Harsh World, New Alliance Records, 1992) He had songs I liked better, but after a handful of beers, few punch lines sounded more right on. This was the one the audiences (ok, me) cried out for more than any other, “Dog’s Liberation” aside. And boy, Jack loved to give audiences what they loved – when he wasn’t making them feel kinda worried/uncomfortable, anyway. Saw him do this live opening for SONIC YOUTH on their Daydream Nation tour, in all his clutzy glory. He nearly brought down the house.

Thanks to lasvegashardcore for the photo

Mister, You’re Playing Guitar Like You’re Cleaning My Teeth

Now this might now mean much to you, but just imagine my excitement when I recently stumbled across this set of YouTube clips all taken from guitar hero Henry Kaiser’s Eclectic Electric – Exploring New Horizons for Guitar and Improvisation instructional video issued by Backstage Pass in the early 90’s. I’ve wanted to see this damn thing since Henry advertised it on the back cover of his great Hope You Like Our New Direction LP (Reckless Records, 1991). At the time, I couldn’t really justify the purchase – I didn’t actually play guitar! But now, I can get in on some of the ear-piercing action I missed out on way back then. I’ll let Henry introduce things:

Wait . . . the weirder side of the blues? Unorthodox effects? Derek Bailey?!? And here, all I wanted was to learn how to play the lick from “Dark Star”. Dammit.

Yeah, yeah Henry – ya don’t haveta go and get pedantic on us. Anybody who bought your vid in ‘91 would’ve known most of this already, too. It’s like he’s aiming this at all those random schmucks just popping in the gtr shop to buy a new set of Ernie Ball strings! Sheesh.

Yes Henry: gtrs can be used to maintain dental hygiene, but I don’t really recommend it. Especially grafted atop a ZZ TOP riff.

“More fragile harmonics can survive in a vacuum tube, where they seem to be eliminated or squashed in a solid-state crystal lattice”: obviously, big Dr. D is assuming your ears ain’t already blown by waaaay too much loudass rockandroll. The vacuum/solid-state debate is totally meaningless in my hearing impaired world, but thanks for the clarification.

This is more like it. Three balding fellas in jeans and white tennis shoes attempting to recreate the MAGIC BAND ca. ‘69 (admittedly, sans some of the gritty, distorto-blues trudge) on a pro soundstage lost someplace in the San Fernando Valley. How great it would’ve been if EVERY boomer musician had been this goddamn peculiar, all the time.

Thanks to Memetoto for the YouTube uploads

LA Hippie, Caught On Film

It is said that at any point in time here in London, you’re never more than 10 feet away from a rat. Now, if I’m gonna believe that one, then I’m also gonna believe that in LA, you’re never more than 10 feet from some rodent-like fella with a camera angling to get into the movie biz. These clips be proof, ca. ‘67-’72:

CLEAR LIGHT – “She’s Ready to Be Free” 1967: Ah, to stumble across a dashing young rock band this idiosyncratic amongst the canyons of LA. Is this taken from The President’s Analyst? I don’t know jack about CLEAR LIGHT, other than they put out one LP on Electra in the wake of THE DOORS with future CSN&Y drummer Dallas Taylor. This psych fragment – with that manic gtr chickenscratchin’ – makes me wanna explore more.

CAPTAIN BEEFHEART – “Electricity” 1968: I’m guessing this is a studio take overdubbed here, but WHO CARES! It’s a young Beefheart & band on the beach, for christ’s sake – looks like Santa Monica to me. And in mismatched hats no less! – ya just gotta admire em. LA freak was waaaay more at odds with SoCal’s idea of itself than hippie ever was in relation to SF’s identity (BLUE CHEER excluded). This created a cluster of LA outcast artists who were more tough/ornery, more individualistic, and ultimately more inspiring than their NoCal counterparts. Give me the Straight! Records crew any day of the week.

KALEIDOSCOPE – “Lie To Me” 1969: This live version beats the pants off the still-rankin’ studio version found on their Incredible! LP. Jimmy Page called these guys his favorite band, and I’m starting to believe he was on to something special here – what a talented group. And if only the flashing colors along Sunset Blvd. were still anywhere near this eye-popping . . .

THE BYRDS & EARL SCRUGGS – “You Ain’t Going Nowhere” 1971: You may have seen this already; I sure haven’t. Industry pressure kept these BYRD guys kinda tame in their early career, but man the times they did a-change and eventually they were free to fly with the best of em. Later BYRDS gtrist Clarence White has always been a string-bending favorite of mine, although here that young guy to the right of Earl (Earl’s son?) turns in a pretty dang talented solo, too.

MU – “Nobody Wants to Shine” 1972: Merrell Fankhauser’s MU chiseled out the absolute pinnacle of Westcoast hippie rock on their first self-titled LP in 1970, recorded during their LA period. There remains nothing like MU’s glorious MAGIC BAND meets GRATEFUL DEAD musical vibeology found anywhere on this still-beautiful planet (Lemuria included). This silent clip – filmed up near San Luis Obispo someplace, but so what – is the only film I’ve ever seen of em. Watch closely, and ya just might learn a thing or to about how to actualize one of those alternate psychedelic realities we all know exist, but seem at a big, big loss to find in 2008.