Pussy Galore- SUGARSHIT SHARP ep (Matador Records, 1998)

Matador Records did the world a great service in 1998 when they reissued all of the P.G. records. As cool as i thought the Jon Spencer Blues Explosion was when they first came on the scene in the early 90's I still never thought they held a candle to P.G. Most of their records were issued on Caroline Records and while my favorite full-length of theirs was RIGHT NOW! (which came out before this) this EP was just as hot and maybe hotter as they had streamlined their songs into these garage punk nuggets with plenty of hooks and Spencer's classic, trashy howl. Longtime guitarist Neil Hagerty wasn't in the band when this was recorded but replacement Kurt Wolf stepped in and ably filled his shoes (Spencer and Julia Cafritz also played guitar and ex-Sonic Youth guy Bob Bert was on drums, no bassist). The records starts off with two covers: an earth-shaking cover of German industrial band Einsturzende Nuebaten's "Yu Gung" and a tweaked reading of Devo's "Penetration in the Centerfold." Next up is one of the band's greatest moments , the driving, forceful "Handshake", followed up by the slurry stumble of "Adolescent Wet Dream." Tune five, Sweet Little Hi-Fi" , takes no prisoners while "Brick" speeds up some old blues riff and scores a strike (no spare needed). The record ends with another near-perfect burner in "Renegade." After this the band released a few other (lesser) records and then called it a day. These days Spencer is in Heavy Trash, Bob Bert occasionally publishes the great BB GUN zine (and is most likely in a band or four) and Julia Cafritz is in Free Kitten (andposts daily on Facebook) and I think Kurt Wolf is missing in action but the four oF them made pure magic on SUGARSHIT SHARP.

The Summer Hits- BEACHES AND CANYONS: 1992-'96 (X-mas Records)

not sure how many folks out there remember the summer hits. they weren't around for very long and i'm not sure how many live gigs they ever played (and of the ones they did play, i'm assuming most of them were in the l.a. area....years ago i asked josh at no life records if they were ever going to tour and his reply was, "well, they'd like to but rex does wayyyyy too much acid for that to happen"). and there you have it....but something about this band's tweaked fuzz pop just did it for me. they released a handful of 7"s (i own 3 or 4) and then.....vanished. lucky us though....we have this comp that was released on the defunct x-mas label (run by the rademaker brothers, darren and brent, of further/the tyde/ beachwood sparks fame). oh, wait...let me introduce the band, summer hits was rex "tartarex" thompson on bass/vocals, darren "daddy d." rademaker (from the tyde/further) and josh "warm summer vibe" schwartz who was also in further and and the early version of beachwood sparks but seems to be m.i.a. these days). rex was certainly an interesting individual. he came up to santa rosa once when i booked further in the mid-90's and we chatted for a long time. picture a 6' 4" dude with a shag haircut (think florence henderson) , groovy 60's clothing and a voice that was equal parts jeff spicoli, austin powers and bunker spreckles and you'll be in the ballpark. oh wait, you want to know about the music on this cd? fuzzed out pop nuggets with some of the most oddball lyrics around (sample: "my friend kelly digs the right music, she hates the pigs but never gets busted, ooh yeah, she's a stony creation sha la la la" from the song "Stony Creation"). other song titles include: "carmel feelin'", "groovier drugs", "honey machine", "moto-guzzi" and plenty of others. i'd say it's in your best interest to find this cd. do whatever you need to do: comb records stores, spend hours on ebay, ask darren or brent when it's going to be reissued , just, please, don't steal my copy.

Flying Saucer -"Plastic Fruit" plus 3 (Homestead Records, 1991)

Ok, it's that time. i just dumped all the stuff that was on my (dusty) turntable lid onto the floor and it's time to start playing vinyl again! Been a while.....anyway, this is another one of those terrific late 80's/early 90's band who i'm afraid will be forgotten about (like Salem 66). This NYC trio consisted of Torry Colichio on drums (she was later in Kickstand), Jeff Kryvicky (who I think was also in Kickstand) and guitarist/bassist/vocalist Yasmin Kuhn (who later went on to be in Cobalt), who sings 3 of the 4 songs here. Back in the early 90's they called this stuff "love rock", whatever the hell that meant. This was the bands 2nd single, the first one was on the Teenbeat label and was just ok but the songs on here are really great. The Jeff-sung "Plastic Fruit" wasn't a bad song (equal parts V.U. and Modern Lovers) but the other 3 that Yasmin sings are stellar, especially the very V.U. influenced (as all the songs are) "Sandy Says" which feature Torry's very Moe Tucker like thump a dump drumming and Yasmin's cooing vocals. "A Place", which slows the pace down a bit, is almost as great and the other Yasmin-sung song, "Always Something" is lovely as well. Flying Saucer weren't around for all that long but , with this 7", made their mark on early 90's indie rock. Mike Appelstein often wrote about the band in his terrific zine CAUGHT IN FLUX (and perhaps in his previous zine too , WRITERS BLOCK) but they were pretty low on the radar, even when they were around. If you see this 7" in your local record store pick it up.

Moving Targets-BURNING IN WATER (Taang!- 1986)

i have to say that this is one of the best debuts in indie rock/punk/post punk/whatever history. seriously, the songs are that good. apparently moving targets had been around for quite some time before they recorded this debut with man -about- town-at-the-time Lou Giordano in January of 1986. the band had originally started out as a hardcore band but by the time of BURNING IN WATER most of their peers had either broken up or gone metal (remember those final records by SSD and DYS?) and on this record the 'targets had left the h/c world behind for a more post-punk, melodic sound akin to what bands like husker du and squirrel bait were doing (those two bands get mentioned a lot in moving targets reviews but it is true). the record was getting rave reviews in all the zines at the time and i just had to hear it. from the first tune "the other side" to the last "squares and circles" it was evident that these three (occasionally four) men were truly onto something. first off they were all terrific players leader/guitarist/singer/songwriter kenny chambers mandhandled his axe like no other while bassist chuck freeman was as nimble and versatile as they come and drummer pat brady was a monster, a neal peart (the dude from rush) in disguise who could really hammer. on this record it is evident that the magic just happened. the ultra-melodic opener "the other side" perfectly sets the tone which then rips right into my favorite m.t. song of all time, "faith" a monster mix of tension and melody with one of the greatest guitar leads in indie rock history. elsewhere you have the nearly perfect "less than gravity", the blood and guts of "almost certain/drone", the ripping "mtv", the menacing, epic "coming home", the anthemic "squares and circles" and on and on. there is truly not a bad song on this record. in an interview i did with kenny chambers a few years back he said he was really happy to be recording these songs as most of them were 2-3 years old at that point and they wanted to get them down on tape.

not sure if the vinyl of this is still in print (i know that taang! is still around) but it was reissued as a two0fer on taang! along with their 2nd (good but not nearly as good) record BRAVE NOISE on one cd. the BURNING IN WATER tracks make up songs 14-27 on the cd. stop whatever it is you're doing right now and buy it. seriously.

The Original Sins- "Just 14" b/w "Sugar Sugar" (Bar None)

holy moly you've gotta hear this monster. I had the 7" years ago but must have sold it because i needed money for fritos or something. this bethlehem, pa. band had been around for ages (and still might be for all i know) and released plenty of scorching records but this debut 7" (that was tacked on to their terrific debut cd, BIG SOUL, which is what i have since i no longer have the single) should put these guys in the rock and roll hall of fame. the a-side, "just 14" is about 3 minutes of squeals, squalls, grunts, groans and pure lust where vocalist/leader J.T. (john terlesky) howls about following some girl home from school and how "she's just 14 and i don't care" (except when he says care it sounds like kay-uh). one of the greatest songs of the 1980's, seriously. the flip side is a cover of the archies classic. it's stripped down but still grimy enough to be included on BIG SOUL. the single is long gone but march yourselves down to the bar none office in hoboken, nj and demand a copy of the BIG SOUL cd. blurt out, in your most menacing voice possible, "I NEED TO HEAR "JUST 14" NOW!" go on....do it.

SUB POP FEST (DAY 1) PLUS KING KHAN & THE SHRINES

SUB POP FEST : DAY 1 (THE ONLY DAY I WENT)
Ok, missed constantines (who I heard were great) and eric’s trip (who I would’ve like to see) but of who I DID see:

HELIO SEQUENCE- caught half of their set….sounded great. their latest record is the first one I have liked by them.

PISSED JEANS- positively awesome…..a chaotic grunt of non-stop noise and hilarity. The set ending where the singer took all of the sweaty towels out of his pants and squeezed the juices into his mouth was pure genius (ok, and disturbing too). About mid-set the singer said “ummm…..how much of this stuff do you really wanna hear?”

FLEET FOXES- sub pop‘s new big thing band (like band of horses a few years ago). sounded awesome with killer, sweet harmonies (by why wear flannel shirts and jeans on a 95 degree day?) and the songs from the record sounded even better live.

THE FLUID- denver’s finest came out of their cave. I had not even thought of these guys in well over a decade…..they rocked but I didn’t remember any of their songs from the old days.

LOW- loved their first 2 records from the early 90’s but have barely listened to them since. Live they didn’t do much for me.

MUDHONEY- they still got it! they basically did a greatest hits set (including a set ending cover of the dick’s “hate the police”). New (well, not really new) bassist guy maddison looked like he was having a blast and I have to say, mark arm still has the coolest voice in rock.

THE VASELINES- yes, finally a gig in America ! they had Stevie Jackson on lead guitar (and I think it was belle and sebastian’s bassist, bobby kildea, on bass) and they played all of the hits: “jesus wants me for a sunbeam”, “rory rides me raw”, “molly’s lips”, “the day I was a horse”, etc. etc). frances was hilarious while eugene’s droll sense of humor made them a perfect match.
…and then later on in Portland

KING KHAN & THE SHRINES- Ok, I then high-tailed it back to Portland to catch king khan and the shrines at dantes. they had broken down in Eugene but made it to the gig shortly after midnight and proceeded to play one of the best live sets I have ever seen. Imagine the best garage band ever mixed with bits of the blues brothers and the hip-shakin’ soul of the james brown band (3 piece horn section!) and you’re in the ballpark. They even had a pom pom girl on stage with them and some nifty dance routines . next time they come to town do not miss!

Died Pretty - FREE DIRT (Citadel Records) (also the PRE DEITY ep)

ya' know, i hear a lot of people talk about how great of a record that died pretty's DOUGHBOY HOLLOW is and while i finally did warm up to that record (took a long while though) , anyone who think it's this great Australian band's best has obviously not heard their stunning debut, FREE DIRT (1986). from beginning to end the record is full of stone-cold classics like "blue sky day" (love that mandolin!), the swooping "life to go (landsakes)", the bouncy "stoneage cinderella" and plenty of others. some folks complained about ron peno's vocals but i think the guy had a lot of charisma and soul and add to it brett myer's squirrelly, ringing guitars and that active rhythm section (chris welsh on drums and mark lock on bass.... oh and let's not forget about the keyboardist, frank brunetti) and you have one crackling band. this lineup lasted for one more record (the almost-as great LOST) and then the lineup changes came in to play ( i caught them twice in 1989 and both shows were terrific). to have the whole picture though you also have to have the 7 song ep that preceeded it, PRE DEITY (1985) that included gems like "Out of the Unknown" (one of the best songs the band ever recorded) and "Desperate Hours." not sure what these guys are up to these days , for all i know died pretty could still be active? far too many great records from the 80's band have been all but forgotten but please don't forget about these two.