“Return of the Body Politik” (Consolidated, Downset, Public Enemy, 1994)

Consolidated’s Business of Punishment (London Records)
Downset’s downset. (Mercury Records)
Public Enemy’s Muse Sick-N-Hour Mess Age (Def Jam)

Has it really been a mere twenty years or so since socio-political commentary was an integral part of rock music? Growing out of the protest songs of the early sixties, mainstream rockers picked up the lyrical mantle handed them by their folk-song singing brethren, utilizing their talents to lyrically attack every subject from racism and poverty to women’s rights. Somewhere along the way, though, as rock became a business, poetic commentary faded from the charts, sliding subterranean, only to surface every now and then in the angry words of hardcore punks or raging metalheads.

Rap music can be thanked for bringing a new awareness of social consciousness to popular music. The commercial success of artists like Public Enemy, Ice Cube and Ice T has served to open the doors to some dangerous thought processes being captured on disc. In this new Victorian era where garden-variety liberalism is impotent and the mainstream media is nothing more than a corporate whore for conservative philosophy, the radical left is finding its heroes among the artists of the underground.

Consolidated are one of those truly alternative, radical musical outfits. A Bay-area trio with a rapidly-growing cult following that is threatening to boil over into the mainstream, the band’s latest release, Business of Punishment, may well be the catalyst that pushes Consolidated past the 212-degree mark. These guys could never be accused of ambiguity; indeed, they proudly wear their sincerely-held beliefs on their proverbial sleeves. The band is radical to an extreme, pushing an activist party-line that is pro-feminist, pro-vegetarian, pro-choice, pro-animal rights...you know, the kind of godless commies that would give Rush Limbaugh nightmares. They’re a sorely needed artistic antidote, however, to the sort of right-wing mindset that preaches life while practicing death.

Business of Punishment treads much of the same lyrical ground as previous Consolidated albums, albeit with a bit more wisdom and experience under their belts. Over an instrumental background that incorporates elements of rap, punk, hardcore techno, and even a bit of soul along with random samples, found vocals and audience commentary, Consolidated deliver brutal rhymes that place a progressive spin on the issues of the day. “Born of A Woman” presents an insightful look at women’s roles in society while “Butyric Acid” tackles folks like Operation Rescue with its unrelenting chorus of “if you don’t want an abortion don’t get one.” 

“Dog + Pony Show” skewers the recording industry even while damning the “alternative” elitism that exists in music while the brilliant “Today Is My Birthday” takes a sad look at AIDS. There are fifteen thought-provoking cuts in all on Business of Punishment, every one guaranteed to slam dunk your frontal lobes, disturb your status quo and shake up the very core of your beliefs. Musical activism is alive and well and its name is Consolidated.

Downset are the new kids on this block, but they’re fully-grown and fully-loaded. This West Coast posse kicked out an impressive EP on Metal Blade a year or so back, even having the cajones to cover Public Enemy’s “By the Time I Get To Arizona.” They’re back, larger than ever, with their self-titled debut and believe me, it’s one mean mutha....

Like a nightmarish vision of Winston Smith, the cover of downset. features a painting of John Q. Citizen all trussed up, gagged with the flag while the constitution burns in the background. No greater truth in labeling has ever been plastered on an album jacket. Downset hail from the police state that is L.A. and that’s the turf they explore lyrically on this powerful collection of songs. 

Musically, they’re somewhere slightly to the left of Body Count, with Rey Anthony Oropeza’s rhymes backed by the twin monster guitars of Rogelio Lozano and Ares, thrashing with abandon, slinging molten riffs while the message is one of freedom and brotherhood in the face of oppression. From women’s fear of rape to the powder keg that is most of L.A., from racism to economic injustice that fosters poverty, Downset explore the socio-political edge of lyrical themes with the language of the street but with a wisdom and insight that defies their relatively young ages.

That Public Enemy should resurface with a new album that is at once both fresh and familiar should surprise no one. That Chuck D. still has an important message to relate, something important to say, should also come as no surprise. These greybeards of rap still have a lot of life left in them, and they’ve got a trick or two to show the young ‘uns.

Muse Sick-N-Hour Mess Age is Public Enemy’s most adventurous effort to date, a conceptual album set in one of many possible futures. Racism has become institutionalized and a bigot sits in the White House. The environment is in shambles, the Black community is a soulless plantation and violence, natural disasters and hate threaten man’s very existence.

Review originally published by R.A.D! zine, November 1994

Archive Review: The Ramones’ Acid Eaters (1993)

When the generally useless Guns ‘N’ Roses went to the well to draw forth an album of covers to record, they turned mostly to 1970s-era punk and metal in illustrating their somewhat shallow roots. Even though bands like the Damned, Fear, and the Germs produced some great music, the first rule in remaking a song is to improve upon it; failing that, honor it by playing it as close to the original as possible. G’N’R did neither, instead merely coming across as tired poseurs cranking out an album to meet contractual obligations.

The Ramones’ Acid Eaters

Now along comes Acid Eaters, the Ramones’ entry into this covers circus. That the foursome from Queens should do an album of cover tunes should really come as no surprise to longtime fans of the band. It certainly came as no surprise to this critic – the handful of brief interviews that I’ve had with frontman Joey Ramone have always degenerated into drunken discussions of old records. That Joey, et al should reach into their record collections and pull out such a handful of musical gems is a testimony not only to their collective tastes, but also to the hidden talents of a band most often dismissed as ‘one dimensional.’

Whereas the aforementioned chart idols predictably championed the ‘70s as their main musical influence, the Ramones turn to the ‘60s godfathers and forebears of punk for their cover selections, including on Acid Eaters a number of expected choices and more than a few pleasant surprises. There’s really not a bad cut to be found on Acid Eaters, as the Ramones provide their typical edge and three-chord manic energy to such oldies as the Who’s “Substitute,” the Stones’ obscurity “Out of Time,” or Love’s “7 and 7 Is.” 

Quite surprising is the inclusion of John Fogerty’s CCR classic, “Have You Ever Seen the Rain,” a Byrds-influenced rendition of Dylan’s “My Back Pages,” and an inspired nod to the Animals with Eric Burdon’s “When I Was Young.” Covers of the Yardbirds, the Amboy Dukes (the 17-year-old Ted Nugent’s first band), the Beach Boys, Jefferson Airplane, the Troggs, and Sky Saxon round out Acid Eaters.

The Reverend’s Bottom Line

At its best, recording an album of other people’s songs should showcase an artist’s roots, the influences that served in creating his or her own work. At its worst, an album of covers still managed to introduce young fans to the work of older artists. With Acid Eaters, the Ramones accomplish both, and do it well, opening new musical doors for its young listeners even while the band pays their respects to their elders and peers. No higher praise could be given... (Radioactive Records, released December 1st, 1993)

Review originally published by R.A.D! zine, March 1994

The Ramones photo by Danny Clinch, courtesy Fox Broadcasting

 

Book Review: Cat Taylor’s Music Row Rejects (2026)

Despite the fact that there’s been a thriving Nashville rock scene for better than four decades, there’s still the widespread notion that the ‘Music City’ is more country music than not, an oversight not helped by the glut of country-flavored celebrity tourist-trap bars on Lower Broadway. It’s a bit of an illusion, actually, as the best country artists (i.e. ‘Americana’) are everywhere but in Nashville. The money-making genre’s corporate infrastructure of offices and studios in the mid-city enclave known as ‘Music Row’ is a sterile construct, cranking out assembly-line music that is homogenized by producers and record labels to appeal to the largest number of middle-aged, middle American housewives as possible.

Rock ‘n’ roll has always had a rough slog in Nashville, Elvis Presley’s adventures in RCA Studio B notwithstanding. There was little or no local rock scene in the city during the mid-‘70s apart from R. Stevie Moore and his friends, who altogether combined for something like 100 different bands. But Stevie split town for Jersey and D.I.Y infamy after releasing 1978’s Phonography album, and it would take another year or so before bands like David Olney & the X-Rays, Cloverbottom, File 13, and CPS (Committee For Public Safety) would pick up the torch and start lighting stages like Springwater or the long-gone Phranks ‘n’ Steins on fire.

If rock music received a less-than-friendly reception from the “powers that be” on Music Row, punk rock was disdained, if not overlooked altogether. Still, as writer Charles “Cat” Taylor documents in Music Row Rejects, his extensive discography and history of the city’s punk scene, punk has been an integral part of the city’s rock scene since the 1980 release of Cloverbottom’s Anarchy In The Music City 7” vinyl EP. A profusely-illustrated 104-page “bookazine” (not quite a book, not quite a zine), Music Row Rejects is a welcome guide to the city’s often overlooked punk scene, which has run not-so-quietly beneath the more mainstream rock ‘n’ roll currents for decades.

It took me six years of research and writing to put together my 600+ page doorstop of a book, The Other Side of Nashville, An Incomplete History & Discography of the Nashville Rock Underground 1976-2006, which was published in 2012, so I know all too well the risks of taking on a project like Music Row Rejects. Taylor took on an immense task and acquits himself nicely. His efforts were helped, no doubt, by his own participation in the city’s ever-evolving punk rock scene over the years as the lead singer for two popular punk outfits, Rednecks In Pain and Fun Girls From Mt. Pilot, as well as a contributor to the House O’ Pain zine and indie record label.

Cloverbottom

With Music Row Rejects, Taylor documents the scene with an impressive discography of close to 200 recordings by a 100 or so bands (I’m guessing), providing release info and track lists (when available) for a wealth of punk, hardcore, and punk-pop records, CDs, and cassette tapes that represent the scene as it existed from 1980 through 1997. In many instances, he has tracked down band members to provide their perspective, or at least share some rowdy stories of their rock ‘n’ roll daze. Taylor fills it out with cool graphics like show posters, band photos, and such. It’s a fun read, and I can’t imagine the book being much more comprehensive, as there are dozens of bands that I’ve never heard, and I was covering the scene at the time for numerous publications (including my own music zines).

The Nashville punk scene’s halcyon days can be assigned to the tenure of Lucy’s Record Store circa 1992-1998, where popular bands like Jack, Fun Girls, Java Christ, and Teen Idols were booked by Lucy’s owner Mary Mancini and House O’ Pain’s Donnie and April Kendall (who had been promoting “Migraine Matinee” all-ages shows at the local club Pantheon) alongside touring national acts like They Might Be Giants and Guided By Voices. But Taylor also digs back into the early ‘80s with entries for early punk outfits like the aforementioned Cloverbottom and CPS as well as like-minded bands such as the Resistors, Placid Fury, and the Ratz. 

By the late ‘80s, bands like the popular hardcore gang F.U.C.T., Rednecks In Pain, Caustic Solutions, Tommyrot, and Zero Hour, among others, were making exciting and adventuresome music and setting the stage for the Lucy’s Records era. Taylor ends Music Row Rejects right around the time that Lucy’s closed down, which did seem to be a sort of death knell for an independent punk scene at the time. Although other all-ages clubs would open and close throughout the 2000s and since, never again was the scene as much a community than it was at Lucy’s. Two Nashville punk/hardcore bands broke out from the local scene, Teen Idols and Today Is the Today making records for indie labels with significant distribution and worldwide reach.

Cat Taylor’s Music Row Rejects is more than a mere discography of the city’s punk scene, the author providing a narrative of the scene’s creative aspirations. Many of the bands listed in the book released but a lone single or cassette, but a surprising number of them managed to produce a small, albeit impressive catalog of music, often releasing it themselves on tape or seven-inchers that have since become pricey acquisitions for well-heeled punk collectors. More than a Discogs/eBay wish list for punk rock fans, Music Row Rejects is an invaluable reference and history of a Nashville punk scene that persevered despite the obstacles presented by the city’s staid music industry. (self-published, released January 2026)

Get yer own copy o’ Music Row Rejects, email Taylor at catidball@gmail.com or check out their Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/musicrowrejectszine 

If you’re in Nashville, get you a copy at The Great Escape, Phonoluxe Records, Vinyl Tap, or Grimey’s Music...you’ll be glad that you did! 

 

Archive Review: The Pagans’ The Blue Album (2008)

Formed in the industrial wasteland that was late ‘70s Cleveland, Ohio, the Pagans were the result of the same disturbing musical zeitgeist that spawned the Dead Boys, Rocket From the Tombs, and Pere Ubu. Although their original run was short, but explosive – they first broke up in ‘79 – the Pagans have crawled back up out of the gutter more than once over the past 20 years, always fronted by growling vocalist Mike Hudson and buzzsaw guitarist Mike Metoff.

The Blue Album is the result of one of those reunions, the Pagans captured live in some dive in Madison, Wisconsin in ‘88. The sound ain’t half-bad, considering the crude recording, and the performance is the epitome of raw power: drunken, sloppy, and loud, with plenty o’ feedback, distortion, attitude, and crackling energy. More than a mere archival document, The Blue Album offers a balls-to-the-wall, first-gen punk-rock experience. (Smog Veil Records, released 2008)

Review originally published by Blurt magazine...

 

 

Archive Review: Descendents’ Cool To Be You (2004)

Foreshadowed by the excellent ‘Merican EP a few months ago, the first Descendents’ album in eight years certainly does not disappoint. Featuring the band’s trademark melodic punk, ramped up and amped up to keep up with singer Milo Aukerman’s madcap and slightly geeky vocals, Cool To Be You nevertheless offers up a more mature worldview than previous Descendents albums. Eight years is a lot of time in the life of a band and during the Descendents’ lengthy hiatus, the band’s sound has been co-opted by younger “punks” like Blink-182 and Sum 41. The four band members aren’t angry young punks anymore, but age and experience has added a vital edge to their anger…

Descendents’ Cool To Be You

Evidence “’Merican,” the centerpiece of Cool To Be You and as blistering a piece of social commentary as you’re likely to hear this election year. A brief and damning history of the United States, bassist Karl Alvarez’s lyrics hit your ears like an out-of-control chainsaw: “I come from the land of Ben Franklin, Twain and Poe and Walt Whitman/Otis Redding, Ellington, the country that I love” Milo sings approvingly. The darker side of America is not overlooked, tho’ – “But it’s the land of the slaves and the Klu Klux Klan/The Haymarket riot and the Great Depression/Joe McCarthy, Viet Nam” states the singer, concluding “it’s the sickest joke I know.” 

There are more such moments on Cool To Be You, real adult angst and anger and frustration forcing the question, what do teenagers have to be pissed off about anyway? It’s adulthood that sucks, whether it’s illustrated by the strange mating rituals of “Dog and Pony Show” or the extreme alienation of the title cut, the lyrical protagonist “counting scars in the land of the smiling knives.” Cool To Be You isn’t all pissed off lyrics and downer vibe, tho’, Milo standing up to be counted with the geek anthem “Mass Nerder.” A broadside leveled at the seemingly endless mass of hipper-than-thou posers and mall culture manufactured dissent, Milo proudly sings “I’ll read you under the table with my thick specs!” while “Maddie” addresses the realities of adulthood and relationships, concluding that “punk rock won’t pay the bills.”

The Reverend’s Bottom Line

Descendents are blessed with not one but three above-average wordsmiths in Aukerman, Alvarez and drummer Bill Stevenson, while guitarist Stephen Egerton lets his playing talk for him, driving each song with perfectly-placed riffs and slashing leads that are typically overlooked by critics in awe of flashier axemen. Egerton is a damn fine guitarist, though, playing just what is needed and nothing more, each Descendents’ song a carefully crafted and deliberate mix of melody, energy, humor and anarchic spirit. In eight years, the band hasn’t lost a step – in fact, listening to Everything Sucks, the Descendents’ previous album (1996), it seems like the chemistry between the four is even better, each song meshing lyrics and instrumentation for total effect. Cool To Be You is punk rock as it was always meant to be – intelligent, entertaining and, at times, thought provoking. (Fat Wreck Chords, released 2004)

Review originally published by Alt.Culture.Guide™ zine...

CD Review: CBGB: A New York City Soundtrack 1975-1986 (2026)

A ratty, dank, dark dive of a bar, CBGB in New York City has nevertheless earned its own chapter in rock ‘n’ roll history. A biker bar originally known as “Hilly’s On the Bowery,” owner Hilly Kristal changed the club’s name to CBGB + OMFUG (i.e. “Country, Bluegrass, Blues & Other Music For Uplifting Gourmandizers”) and began booking rock bands to try and attract beer-drinking crowds. Less than a year and a half later, the first and arguably finest generation of punk rock innovators debuted on the CBGB stage with Television, the Ramones, Patti Smith, Blondie, and the Talking Heads all establishing massive local followings before going on to various levels of worldwide fame and fortune.

With the ‘Pandora’s box’ of punk rock blown wide open by these most famous of CBGB bands, a plethora of sounds and styles would follow in their wake and onto the stage: the city’s infamous “no wave” bands like Sonic Youth, DNA, and Bush Tetras; post-punk outfits like Ritual Tension and Suicide; oddball funksters James Chance & the Distortions; rhythm & blues crooners Mink DeVille; power-pop bands like Sorrows, the dB’s, the Shirts, and the Paley Brothers and, finally, the hardcore punk regiments of Bad Brains, Minor Threat, Agnostic Front, and Murphy’s Law, among hundreds of other bands. Everybody who was anybody in the late 1970s and early ‘80s (The Damned, The Police, Elvis Costello, The Beastie Boys, et al) played CBGB.

The club eventually became a brand, spinning off a record store (CBGB Record Canteen) and combination art gallery/performance space (CB’s 314 Gallery) and continued to book cutting-edge bands until its closure in 2006. Two decades later, “CBGB” t-shirts remain ubiquitous among punk rock fans. The club inspired numerous live recordings and several books, the best of which – Roman Kozak’s highly-recommended 1988 tome This Ain’t No Disco – was recently reissued by Trouser Press Books, as well as lofty pop culture references (including an homage by The Simpsons TV show, the ‘Holy Grail’ of cultural gatekeeping) and even a tawdry 2013 biopic by filmmaker Randall Miller. 

CBGB: A New York City Soundtrack 1975-1986

Patti Smith

CBGB also spawned a number of various compilation albums, beginning with 1976’s Live At CBGB’s - The Home of Underground Rock, which was curated by Kristal; as well as the 1990 Japanese import CBGB “Off the Board” and 2001’s scant UK import 25 Years of CBGB’s: 1976-2001, both of which are totally and ignorantly unrepresentative of the club and the overall NYC punk scene in the 1970s and ‘80s. One of my least favorite of these comps is Ocho Records’ 2002 CD CBGB’s and the Birth of U.S. Punk. Featuring 18 tracks selected by British rock critic Johnny Chandler, the tracklist resembles an academic essay rather than a true documentary, featuring bands like the Velvet Underground, the Sonics, the 13th Floor Elevators, and the Seeds that never actually played at the club, but rather “influenced” those that did. Bollocks!

So, when I saw that archival experts Cherry Red Records in the U.K. was releasing a massive four-CD box set, CBGB: A New York City Soundtrack 1975-1986, I hoped for the best. I needn’t have worried, as the 91-track box set is every bit as detailed and entertaining as the label’s recent Motor City Is Burning: A Michigan Anthology 1965-1972 and Steppin’ Out: The Roots of Garage Rock 1963-1965 box sets. Sure, you’ll find the same ol’ familiar faces that defined the “CBGB’s sound” (insomuch as there was one…) that pop up on every single damn punk rock anthology, although some aren’t singing the same old song: The Ramones (“Beat On the Brat”), Patti Smith (“Free Money”), Television (“See No Evil”), the Heartbreakers (“Born To Lose”), the Dead Boys (“Ain’t Nothing To Do”), and Blondie (“Picture This”), et al. But these four CDs offer so much more!

The realities of booking several nights of live entertainment several nights at any club – even in New York City – are challenging, at best. Out of necessity, CBGB had to book a diverse lot of rock ‘n’ roll outlaws, and this perspective shows itself on CBGB: A New York City Soundtrack. Aside from the aforementioned bands that are most strongly identified with the club, you have such frequent performers as Mink DeVille (“A Train Lady”), Tuff Darts (“Fun City”), James Chance & the Contortions (a raucous live cover of “Jailhouse Rock”), Bad Brains (“Banned In D.C.”), The Cramps (“Garbage Man”), Wayne Country & the Electric Chairs (“Fuck Off”), Cherry Vanilla (“Hard As A Rock”), and Richard Hell & the Voidoids (“The Kid With the Replaceable Head”) all represented across the box’s four CDs. It’s the lesser-known and truly obscure artists that really tickle my fancy, however, and the box has those guys ‘n’ gals in spades.

Kenny Gordon & Pure Hell

The CBGB’s Sound

A lot of artists who brought their individual muse to the CBGB’s stage never got a chance to make a record, or only released a single seven-incher or underpromoted LP for posterity but, in my estimation, quite a few of these talents deserved a shot at the brass ring. The Magic Tramps (“S&M Leather Queen”) were one of these, as unique a band to hit the Bowery stage as you’d find back in the day, with a sound that welded punkish intensity to the endless musical possibilities of prog-rock with a blowtorch. Stuart’s Hammer’s name sounds like a prog band, but they’re were really a rowdy bunch of rockers with wiry guitarplay and a sly sense of humor. Sonny Vincent’s Testors are a late discovery of mine, and Sonny has recently released a great compilation LP of the band’s high-octane brand of punk as displayed here by the livewire “You Don’t Break My Heart.”

Helen Wheels

Largely because of Kenny Gordon’s (no relation) endless advocacy, Pure Hell are beginning to get their due as the “World’s Only Black Punk Rock Band,” and they deserve every accolade tossed their way. The band’s “I Feel Bad” is an unrelenting curb-stomp of powering guitars and crashing rhythms, and their 2006 Noise Addiction compilation is highly recommended for old-school punk fans. Milk ‘n’ Cookies is another outfit getting a chance to shine as collectors have picked up on their ahead-of-their-time glammy punk vibe as evidenced by the joyful “Not Enough Girls (In the World”). Helen Wheels (née Robbins) was a NYC scene mainstay during the ‘70s, and her “Roon To Rage” shows the heart of punk with raging vox, a mean melodic hook, slicing fretwork and thundering drumbeats. Shrapnel, fronted by Dave Wyndorf (who would later form stoner rock outfit Monster Magnet) and guitarist Daniel Rey (famed Ramones producer) deliver the goods with “Combat Love,” a rollicking power-pop tinged rocker heartily endorsed by no less an authority than Joey Ramone. 

The dB’s would go onto a modicum of fame as one of the ‘80s finest college rock outfits, and their “Black and White” offers a glimpse of where the band’s punk-influences pop/rock sound would land while New Jersey natives the Bongos’ “Telephoto Lens” strides across similar sonic power-pop turf but with a quirkier adventuresome style. The Raybeats’ instrumental “Tight Turn” mixed surf-rock with Memphis soul (think Booker T. and the M.G.’s) for an entirely unique vibe while the Beastie Boys’ “Egg Raid On Mojo” is their pre-rap hardcore mosh classic. Singer/songwriter Jesse Malin is better known these days for his lyrical rock ‘n’ roll fare but his hardcore band Heart Attack’s “English Cunts” is more closely aligned with British bands like Crass or Discharge than with Springsteen. 

The Reverend’s Bottom Line

With four CDs comprised of over five hours of music, I’ve only scratched the surface of the CBGB: A New York City Soundtrack 1975-1986 box’s depths. There’s still plenty of cool, and sometimes great music here from unmentioned bands like Sonic Youth, Minor Threat, the Dictators, Talking Heads (a rare live take of “A Clean Break”), Genya Ravan (with Lou Reed), the Paley Brothers, Non Hendryx, the Laughing Dogs, Material, Richard Lloyd, Sorrows, Reagan Youth, and James Blood Ulmer that roars out of your speakers. Offering a wealth of largely out-of-the-mainstream music and detailed track-by-track liner notes, CBGB: A New York City Soundtrack is the only compilation of the legendary rock scene that you’ll ever need to buy. (Cherry Red Records, released January 30th, 2026)

Buy the CD box set from Amazon: CBGB: A New York City Soundtrack 1975-1986

CD Review: The Damned’s Not Like Everybody Else (2026)

Almost 55 years of listening to, collecting, and writing about music have taught me to be suspect of “cover songs.” Far too often, the song being covered is less an homage to the original artist – ostensibly beloved by the person doing the ‘covering’ – than a coldly-calculated, computer-generated, demographic-tested and corporate-approved ploy for airplay and sales by tying a sinking band or solo artist to a former chart favorite in a desperate attempt at relevance. 

On the other hand, I usually dig entire albums of cover songs like David Bowie’s Pin Ups, Metallica’s Garage Days Revisited, Willie Nelson’s Stardust, or the Ramones’ Acid Eaters. If an artist takes enough time to arrange and record enough songs of material they truly love to fill out an entire album, there’s usually a good bit more passion behind the project than just a ‘Hail Mary’ at scoring a hit single. Featuring ten red-hot and ready to roll covers of classic rock songs by folks like the Yardbirds and the Stones, the Damned’s recently-released Not Like Everybody Else is a covers album unlike anybody else’s.

The Damned’s Not Like Everybody Else

British rockers the Damned have spent nearly five decades defying everybody’s expectations. With better than a dozen albums to their credit ranging from pioneering punk (Damned Damned Damned, Machine Gun Etiquette) and trailblazing Goth (Phantasmagoria) to new wave (The Black Album) and good ol’ rock ‘n’ roll (Strawberries), the band has dabbled in garage-rock, British pop, psychedelia, and other forms of musical expression. Not Like Everybody Else is more than merely a ‘covers’ album, however, but rather a tribute to their fallen comrade and band co-founder Brian James (dead at age 70, March 2025). The album is a heartfelt collection of some of James’ favorite songs, from the artists that influenced and helped shape his chainsaw guitar style.

As such, Not Like Everybody Else is a stroll backwards in time to relive the glorious ‘60s through the decade’s groundbreaking music. Some of the covers here are easily recognizable to even the most casual rock fan while others – like the album-opening R. Dean Taylor track “There’s A Ghost In My House,” co-written by Taylor with the legendary Holland/Dozier/Holland team at Motown – are obscure even by the Reverend’s lofty standards (tho’ it was a big U.K. hit in 1974!). Damned vocalist Dave Vanian’s sonorous baritone wraps around the words like a moth-eaten blanket while the instrumental clamor behind him bangs and crashes like a car crash even while keeping the melody intact.

Summer In The City

The Lovin’ Spoonful’s “Summer In the City” (a chart-topping hit in 1966) plays it fairly straight, although Vanian’s vox will never be mistaken for Spoonful frontman John Sebastian. The band revs up the arrangement, so the song rolls by at a comfortable 90mph, with a few urban street noises thrown into the mix for authenticity. Although reasonably obscure stateside, the Creation was an extremely influential band in the U.K. Their “Making Time” is a cult favorite, if only for the impactful opening riff, and it’s since been covered by folks like Das Damen, Television Personalities, and the Circle Jerks. The Damned rock out like it’s still ’66, with Captain Sensible providing some hot git licks and good ol’ Rat Scabies banging the cans with reckless abandon, delivering a pulse-pounding performance.

The Stooges had an outsized impact on bands that followed in their wake, and the Damned are no different. “Gimme Danger,” from the Stooges’ 1973 Raw Power album, is tailor-made for the Damned, Vanian’s low register vocals reminiscent of Iggy’s while keyboardist Monty Oxymoron adds some spooky keyboards to what is an unbridled (and possible unholy) marriage of gonzo Motor City rock and British Goth. Sensible’s low-slung guitar solo is mid-way in the mix, but leaps out of your speakers like a pirate with a knife in his teeth nevertheless. 

Damned guitarist Brian James

Heart Full of Soul

Pink Floyd’s “See Emily Play” is a great song, and the band provides their version with plenty of psychedelic instrumentation and swirling notes. Sensible’s vocals are a bit wan but are just good enough to stand out against the busy musical backdrop. The Kinks’ “I’m Not Like Everybody Else,” from which the album takes its name, was the B-side of the chart-topping 1966 single “Sunday Afternoon” (later included on the Face To Face album), but soon took on a life of its own to become an enduring Kinks fan favorite. 

Written and sung by Dave Davies, the song’s defiant lyrics and musical stance make it an influential punk touchstone, so it’s no wonder that the Damned cover the song with cacophonic aplomb. Vanian’s vocals here are the best on the album, while the vocal harmonies, eerie keyboard hum, subtle but biting fretwork, and booming drumbeats make a powerful statement. The band’s cover of the Yardbirds’ 1965 hit “Heart Full of Soul” (Top 10 in both the U.S. and the U.K.) is delivered with a similar fervor, the Captain building on Jeff Beck’s intricate raga-spiced guitar lines to take the song into another universe. 

The Last Time

Representing the core of Not Like Everybody Else, these two songs deliver on every promise the Damned have ever made. You’d think that following up these two stunning performances would be difficult, but then the band offers a truly obscure cover with a delightful performance of Fred Cole’s “You Must Be A Witch,” recorded in 1968 by the Lollipop Shoppe. The Damned’s version does the song’s garage-bred psychedelia proud with scorched earth guitars, thunderclap drumbeats, and a spirited vocal performance. 

One would think that a cover of the Animals’ 1966 single “When I Was Young” is a bit too on the nose, but the song only achieved modest success in the U.K. (Top 20 in the U.S. though…). The cover version is somewhat perfunctory, with Vanian’s vocals sounding a little too much like Eric Burdon’s, although the instrumental textures behind him are pretty groovy. The album-closing cover of the Rolling Stones’ 1965 chart-topper “The Last Time” is an inspired choice, and features Brian James’ razor-sharp guitarwork from a previous live recording. It’s a banger, to be sure, with lively vocals, Scabie’s trainwreck drumming, and a heavy bottom end that all spirals into chaos at the end.

 

British punk pioneers The Damned

The Reverend’s Bottom Line

  
Not Like Anybody Else features The Black Album (1980) band line-up of vocalist Dave Vanian, guitarist Captain Sensible, bassist Paul Gray, and drummer Rat Scabies, the same guys that recorded the pop-psych classic Strawberries LP two years later. Keyboardist Monty Oxmoron (a/k/a Laurence Burrow) hooked up with the Damned for 2001’s Grave Disorder and has been with them ever since, providing a bit of gravitas and classical influence to the band’s Goth-punk ‘Sturm und Drang’. With Not Like Anybody Else, the Damned have provided a raucous, rockin’ tribute not only to Brother Brian but also to those artists whose influence helped make the Damned one of the most enduring bands in rock ‘n’ roll history. (E.A.R. Music, released 2026) 

Buy the CD on Amazon: The Damned’s Not Like Everybody Else

Archive Review: The Ramones’ ¡Adios Amigos! (1995)

As the Ramones pass their twentieth anniversary together, the Queens, New York foursome that was long considered a one joke, “here-today, gone-tomorrow” band has managed to outlive most, if not all of their critics. During the past two decades, the Ramones have been no more or no less consistent than any other artists during the same time period, and the fact that they’re still alive and kicking in 1995 says something about the band’s genuine love of music than many of their more “serious” artistic peers can lay claim to. That the Ramones can still kick out the proverbial jams with an album as hard-rocking and vital as ¡Adios Amigos! after all of this time is a further testimony to the fountain of youth that is rock ‘n’ roll.

¡Adios Amigos! draws heavily on material penned by former bandmate Dee Dee Ramone, with six of the album’s thirteen songs either written by or co-written by Dee Dee. The manic energy of these songs, with their pop culture obsessions and slightly off-kilter sense of humor is matched perfectly with the band’s current musical mix of high-energy, three-chord punk rock and slightly more complex, metal-edged hard rock. “The Crusher” is, perhaps, the best rock tune ever written about pro wrestling, while “Cretin Family” and “Born To Die In Berlin” revisit various periods of the band’s history, their 1970s roots and their more cynical ‘80s material, respectively. Avid record collector and 1960 pop devotee Joey Ramone contributes a wonderfully innocent slice of psychedelic-edged bubble gum in “Life’s A Gas” while Marky offers the wonderfully offbeat “Have A Nice Day.” A secret bonus cut tacked onto the end of the CD has the band running through an electric cover of the ‘60s-vintage theme to the Spiderman animated Saturday morning cartoon.

Most telling, however, is the inclusion of Tom Wait’s “I Don’t Want To Grow Up” as the opening cut on ¡Adios Amigos! Much has been said about a rumored Ramones break-up, that after twenty years of constant touring and studio work that the band has run its course. From their very first early ‘70s performances at New York’s legendary C.B.G.B.’s, the Ramones have been a staple of youth culture, a major influence on the hardcore scene of the 1980s as well as the current pop punk artists of the ‘90s. As the various members of the Ramones approach middle-age, however, it’s got to be harder and harder for them to get energized for another tour or another album. The song’s line “how the hell did it get here so soon?” easily becomes much more than a rhetorical question when sung by frontman and founding member Joey Ramone. With its fierce denial of the inevitable passage of time, “I Don’t Want To Grow Up,” is a song particularly suited to the seemingly ageless icons that are the Ramones. (Radioactive Records, released July 18th, 1995)
   
Review originally published by Review & Discussion of Rock ‘n’ Roll (R.A.D!) zine...

Book Review: Dave Thompson’s London’s Burning (2009)

British music journalist Dave Thompson is a veteran author of rock ‘n’ roll biographies, penning dozens of books on folks like Iggy Pop, Kiss, Nirvana’s Kurt Cobain, and the Red Hot Chili Peppers, among many others over the past couple of decades. As frequently as he has turned his insight towards dissecting the life and art of others, however, this is the first time that Thompson has used his undeniable talent to look inward at his own life and experience.

Subtitled “True Adventures on the Front Lines of Punk 1976-1977,” Thompson’s excellent London’s Burning is, as he calls it, a “memoir” without “too much me” included. Ostensibly the story of a year in the life of British punk rock, the teenage Thompson had a front seat to the birth and evolution of punk from a provincial underground phenomenon to a worldwide cultural revolution.

Dave Thompson’s London’s Burning

To tell this tale, Thompson relies on his own memories, and those of the many musicians that he has interviewed through the years, as well as those he spoke with specifically for the book. Beginning with the death of the glam-rock era and the lingering descent of pub-rock into obsolescence, Thompson’s personalized history of the first stirrings of punk is developed from his youthful vinyl obsession and eager attendance at dozens of shows by early versions of bands like the Sex Pistols, the Adverts, the Stranglers, and the Damned, as well as his friendships with many of the music-makers.

Thompson marks the flashpoint of British punk rock with the first performance of American rocker Patti Smith, her powerful, primal sound launching a hundred bands. Although the story touches upon many of the aforementioned and better-known punk outfits, Thompson takes great care to include obscure (but no less talented or fondly remembered) bands like the Arrows, Radio Stars, and Heavy Metal Kids in his exploration of the music. Sometimes his stories are funny, sometimes poignant, and sometimes even harrowing as Thompson describes the racism present in mid-to-late-‘70s England, as well as the violence that would come to be leveled against anybody perceived as being a “punk rocker.”

Thompson is being only a little disingenuous when he calls London’s Burning a memoir without too much “me” because, in truth, it is the presence of his younger self, and that experience that is central to the book’s immense charm. In remembering his youthful love of the music, and unbridled enthusiasm for the changes wrought by punk’s ascendance, Thompson also reminds us of why the “Class of ‘77” was so important in the overall evolution of rock music. The stories and memories of the assembled musicians are vital to the story here, but it is Thompson’s interaction and role as a documentarian that drives the book.

The Reverend’s Bottom Line

British punk rock circa 1977-79 has been covered in abundance, almost to the point of absurdity, by dozens of books and hundreds, if not thousands of magazine articles and even compilation albums. Few have the firsthand knowledge and experience of Dave Thompson, though, and the talent to express it so succinctly and in an entertaining manner. Nobody has the stories that Thompson has accumulated, making London’s Burning the final word in ‘70s British punk rock. If you’re an old-school punk fan, you should definitely check this one out… (Chicago Review Press, published May 1st, 2009)

Review originally published by the Trademark of Quality (TMQ) blog…

Buy the book from Amazon: Dave Thompson’s London’s Burning

Archive Review: The Suburbs’ Viva! Suburbs! (1994)

Way back when, during the glory days of American alternative rock, in the early moments of a Reagan era that seemed to spawn such things, came forth legendary bands like Hüsker Dü, The Replacements, and Soul Asylum. Preceeding all of these, however, was the Suburbs. The first of many bands to come from the much-vaunted early ‘80s Minneapolis music scene, The ‘Burbs were a product of both English new wave and good old-fashioned U.S. punk. A handful of albums on a like number of labels brought the band heaps of critical acclaim but only modest commercial success. The Suburbs sadly faded away before the end of the decade.

History seems to have passed the Suburbs by. As lesser lights get their own tribute discs and homage paid them by the cream of the pop charts, the Suburbs’ influence is heard, more than felt, in the present-day world of alternative music. The band mixed punkish intensity with new wave sensibilities and were never afraid to cross musical genres, throwing in a white-hot funk number here, a soulful horn arrangement there, every song always delivered with a great deal of energy and vigor.

With the release of Viva! Suburbs! (Live At First Avenue), the band has come back to Twin Tone Records where they began, and you fanboys are afforded a second chance to grab onto one of the greatest unknown bands of the last decade. Recorded live at the legendary First Avenue Club in Minneapolis during a 1993 reunion, this 20 track, hour plus set includes all of The Suburbs’ best-known material as well as a pair of brand-new, never-before-heard cuts.

The Suburbs’ built their own little myth around songs like “Waiting,” “Every Night’s A Friday In Hell,” “Love Is the Law,” and “Rattle My Bones,” and they run through this set of songs like it was 1983 again and they were on top of the world. Viva! Suburbs! is highly recommended...grab it before some wet-behind-the-ears alternative band covers “Cig Machine” or “Drinkin’ With An Angel” and all that old Suburbs’ vinyl now gathering dust in the $1 bins begin fetching collector’s prices. Don’t come cryin’ to me when it happens... (Twin Tone Records, released 1994)

Review originally published by Review & Discussion of Rock ‘n’ Roll (R.A.D!) zine...

Archive Review: Dead Kennedys’ Mutiny On the Bay (2001)

The Dead Kennedys never released a live album during their brief yet notorious career as America’s favorite hardcore bad boys. The legendary punk outfit’s incendiary live performances have nevertheless been well represented by a handful of bootleg albums and videos, the best of which is probably Jello’s Revenge (Armed Response Records), culled from San Francisco club shows in 1979 and 1985. Mutiny On the Bay is the first “authorized” DK live disc, part of Manifesto’s reissuing of the Dead Kennedys’ catalog under the aegis of band members East Bay Ray, D.H. Peligro, and Klaus Flouride and against the wishes of vocalist/songwriter Jello Biafra, who has disavowed the reissues.  

Dead Kennedys’ Mutiny On the Bay

Mutiny On the Bay presents not a single entire performance but rather pieces of four different shows that date from 1982 and 1986. The original soundboard tapes have been digitally remastered but manage to retain a fair degree of their original energy and grunge. I hate to disagree with my old buddy Jello, who has publicly dissed Mutiny On the Bay, but this is a hell of a collection. A veritable “who’s who” of DK’s greatest hits, this fourteen song set offers those of us who never got to witness the band live a taste of what bootleg videos only hinted at.

Almost all the great DK songs are here, from “Police Truck” and “Kill the Poor” to “Hell Nation” and “MTV – Get Off the Air.” The energy in these tracks is undeniable; Biafra’s warbling, operatic vocals jumping out of the speakers above East Bay Ray’s slashing six-string work. One of the band’s signature songs, “Holiday In Cambodia,” offers some fiery fretwork courtesy of East Bay Ray while the Flouride/Peligro rhythmic assault that opens “California Uber Alles” provides powerful punctuation to Biafra’s angry vocals. The production seamlessly stitches together the performances; often tying songs together with Biafra’s onstage comments and smoothing out the rough edges so that the entire collection sounds like one lengthy performance. Perhaps some of the spontaneity is lost in this digital translation, but the quality of these performances shine through nonetheless and there is plenty of feedback and stage noise present for the purist.

The Reverend’s Bottom Line

There are some good Dead Kennedys’ bootlegs still circulating around in trading circles, but Mutiny On The Bay puts most, if not all of them to shame. If all you know of the Dead Kennedys is their reputation, then Mutiny On The Bay, coupled with the band’s incredible debut, Fresh Fruit For Rotting Vegetables, are perfect introductions to the band’s legacy. Let’s hope that Manifesto has some other live material of this quality stashed away in the vault for future release. The Dead Kennedys were one of the most influential hardcore punk bands of the 1980s; their importance based on live performances like those captured by Mutiny On The Bay. Let’s hear some more! (Manifesto Records, released 2001)

Review originally published by Alt.Culture.Guide™ zine

Archive Review: Corporate Avenger’s Freedom Is A State of Mind (2001)

With the departure of Zach de la Rocha from Rage Against the Machine, the other members of the band are left merely whimpering at the machine while other outfits steal the thundering sound they made their bones with. Although the musical landscape is littered with the corpses of a thousand and one metal-tinged hip-hop Rage wannabes (Fred Durst, your 15 minutes are up buddy…), the band’s social consciousness and politikal rage lives on in Corporate Avenger. With the explosive Freedom Is A State of Mind, Corporate Avenger lyrically tackle the gamut of social issues, matching their incendiary lyrics with muscular riffs, ringing chords and blistering rhythms.

Corporate Avenger’s Freedom Is A State of Mind

Fueled by the powerful twin lead vocals of the Corporate Avenger (Spike Xavier) and Adawee the Wind, Corporate Avenger is a conceptual band, mixing radikal politics with extreme performance art and musical chops that include elements of heavy metal, hard rock, rap, and punk. I hear strains of Black Flag, Govt. Issue, and Public Enemy in these grooves, the music created by Mike Kumagai and producer Daddy X from the Kottonmouth Kings. Like no band since Public Enemy, Corporate Avenger blazes new trails, creating a sound that is both familiar and totally unlike any band that you’ve heard before. Raucous and obnoxious, Corporate Avenger throws caution to the wind with wailing guitars, lightning-quick turntable scratching courtesy of DJ Hall of Records, anarchistic samples, big beats, and monster rhythms.

It’s the band’s lyrics that capture the imagination, though; perhaps the most controversial anti-capitalist screeds ever committed to a musical treatment. Although a major label deal allowed Rage Against the Machine to bring the band’s radikal worldview to a mainstream audience, there was always an uneasy vibe around their act, a feeling that they might have watered down the message to slip it past their corporate masters. There’s no such feeling with Corporate Avenger – this is the real shit, as hardcore as a Molotov cocktail and as dangerous as a rabid Doberman. Freedom Is A State of Mind leaves no sacred cow unslaughtered, bludgeoning the listener with sound and imagery that preaches an undeniable message of tribal brotherhood even while it damns the system that keeps people poor, confused, and uneducated.

An Alternative History Lesson

The songs on Freedom Is A State of Mind are intelligent, well researched, and articulate. The band doesn’t merely mouth leftist platitudes, but explain the reason for their perspective with their lyrics. Whether singing about the oppression of the Native American (“Christians Murdered Indians” “$20 Bill”), the corrupt nature of organized religion (“The Bible Is Bullshit”) or the social injustice and racial implications of the “war on drugs” (“FBI File”), their lyrics are consistently challenging and though-provoking. Sometimes they seem to purposely piss people off, like with “Jesus Christ Homosexual” which asks if the so-called savior might have been a homosexual. By mixing two mythological Christian icons (Jesus and the degenerate homo) in one song, Corporate Avenger manages to bait the fundamentalist Christian right while providing food for thought for the rest of us.  

Every track here is like an alternative history lesson as given by Noam Chomsky or Howard Zinn, Corporate Avenger cramming more academic information into a four-minute rock song than many young listeners walk away with after four years of college. As the band states in the liner notes to Freedom Is A State Of Mind, “the songs are written in the language that we speak every day, it is not intended to be offensive. While this message is for everyone, this record may not be.” The controversy surrounding the band has led hypocritical Christian groups like the Promise Keepers and the American Family Organization to work towards pressuring retailers to keep the CD out of their stores. The band currently receives 10 to 20 death threats each week, no doubt from these “good Christians,” and several cable networks, including MTV and Comedy Central have refused to air advertising for the album.

The Reverend’s Bottom Line

Although Corporate Avenger is making the right enemies, their message deserves to be heard. Critics usually dismiss politikal rock bands out-of-hand, stating that music and politics don’t mix and lyrics don’t influence anybody, anyway. I strongly disagree with this perspective. Freedom Is A State of Mind is a turning point for rock music, a revival of social consciousness after too many years of mindless pop bullshit and corporate-crafted “modern rock.” With Freedom Is A State of Mind, Corporate Avenger is providing a soundtrack for the new millennium, one that is aggressively pro-human being and anti-government and anti-corporation. This is music to riot by and this is one critic who is ready to throw the first stone. (Koch Records, released 2001)

Review originally published by Alt.Culture.Guide™ zine 

 

Archive Review: Jello Biafra & the Melvins’ Never Breath What You Can’t See (2004)

Over the past decade, punk rock icon Jello Biafra has become known by young audiences more for his incendiary spoken word performances than for the ground-breaking, earth-shaking rock ‘n’ roll that he once created with his band the Dead Kennedys. While you won’t see a DK reunion as long as Biafra and his former bandmates remain estranged and some former child actor fronts the band, with the Melvins backing him on Never Breathe What You Can’t See, who needs the past?

Jello Biafra & the Melvins’ Never Breath What You Can’t See

It’s good to hear Biafra jump back into the fray and kick out some righteous rock ‘n’ roll jams once again. While disciples like Anti-Flag and Corporate Avenger have taken the politically-edged punk that Biafra helped define to new extremes, Biafra remains a master of his craft. Never Breathe What You Can’t See cuts to the bone, Jello’s acerbic lyrics, skewed sense of humor and manic vocals providing a rush of fresh air that blows away the foul stench of “W” and his cronies. Biafra has never been afraid of baiting the powers that be, and his work here with the Melvins is no exception. What other rocker today would have the cajones to open a song with lyrics like “Thank you, Osama/You are the savior/Of our economy today” as Biafra does on “McGruff The Crime Dog?” Questioning the false sense of security provided in our homeland by color charts and anti-terror legislation that only fattens the corporate bottom line, Biafra asks “Why not hire half the country/To spy on the other half?”

The Melvins

 

The rest of Never Breathe What You Can’t See follows much the same line of thought, Biafra’s razor-sharp, wickedly satirical lyrics tackling such heady subjects as Christian fundamentalism, Conservative politics, America’s fawning consumerism and fascination with the wealthy. Jello’s bombastic verbiage wouldn’t hit nearly as hard if the music wasn’t strong; in the Melvins Biafra may well have found the perfect foils for his high-voltage performing style. Veterans of the early ‘90s great northwestern music industry gold rush that killed Kurt and cloned Eddie, the Melvins know a thing or two about creating a joyous noise, and they do so behind Biafra. King Buzzo’s guitars dance and sting like a horde of angry hornets while the explosive backing rhythm blasts out of your speakers like rubber bullets from a riot squad’s rifles.

The Reverend’s Bottom Line

    
It’s interesting to note that Jello Biafra and the Dead Kennedys burst onto the hardcore punk scene at the dawn of the conservative Reagan era, mocking the institutions that America held dear with blistering three-chord abandon and reckless lyrics. With “King George” re-elected to another four years in office, now – more than ever – we need Jello Biafra and the unflagging spirit of defiance that his music represents. As biting as acid on the tongue and as relevant as tomorrow’s headlines, Never Breathe What You Can’t See is exactly what the doctor ordered to chase away your post-election blues. Hopefully this will be but the first of several collaborations between Biafra and the Melvins. (Alternative Tentacles, released 2004)

Review originally published by Alt.Culture.Guide™ zine...

Rock ‘n’ Roll Farm Report: Collage, The Exploding Hearts, Los Straitjackets, Me First and the Gimme Gimmes, Paul Stanley (December 2006)

December 2006

The “Rock ‘n’ Roll Farm Report” was a short-lived review column that ran on our Alt.Culture.Guide™ website for almost a year until we closed the site, not due to lack of readers, but from lack of time and money to continue the project. Still, as these columns show, we reviewed a diverse range of music...

COLLAGE – Changes
Further proof that progressive rock is a worldwide phenomenon, Poland’s Collage is one of the most innovative and interesting bands in the genre. Formed in 1985 by students of the Frederic Chopin Academy of Music in Warsaw, the band released its first album, Basnie, in 1990. It was with the release of their 1993 sophomore effort, Nine Songs of John Lennon, which features Collage re-imagining classic Beatles and Lennon solo songs as exotic prog-rock compositions, that the band really caught on with audiences from Europe to Asia. They followed up that album with the melodic, pop-oriented Moonshine in 1994.
    Originally released in 1995, Changes revisits Collage material circa 1985 through 1992 with new vocalist Robert Amirian (who sung on Moonshine), including re-recorded songs from Basnie and previously unreleased songs. Even with lyrics sung in Polish, there is no denying the power of the music. Guitarist Mirek Gil is an inventive and skilled six-string maestro, while the rest of the band weaves a dense, multi-textured tapestry of sound behind Amirian’s lofty and passionate vocals. More than merely prog, Collage produce art-rock of the highest degree, dreamy and mesmerizing music that demands that the listener pay attention. Highly recommended for fans of the Flower Kings or Spock’s Beard, Collage is guaranteed to provide the same thrill of musical adventure as those legendary bands. (Metal Minds/MVD Audio)

THE EXPLODING HEARTS – Shattered
One of the most exciting and promising young bands to hit the scene in a generation, the Exploding Hearts literally came and went in a flash. The band released its excellent debut album, Guitar Romantic, in early 2003, the disc showcasing a brilliant mix of ‘60s-styled garage rock and vintage ‘70s power-pop, influenced by ‘80s-era punk and UK rock. Guitar Romantic was well-received by both critics and the ever-critical punk community, and the Exploding Hearts became a big draw on the west coast club circuit. In July 2003, however, fate struck in the form of tragic accident that took the lives of band members Adam Cox, Matt Fitzgerald, and Jeremy Gage.
    In a fitting tribute to the band, Dirtnap Records has assembled the appropriately named Shattered from the odds and ends of the band’s too damn brief career. Shattered collects the band’s early (hard-to-find) singles, various demos, unreleased songs, and alternative mixes from Guitar Romantic under one roof. The album offers a glimpse at a band that had the potential to become really big, one that drew its influences from a myriad of impressive sources, forging a distinctive and electric sound that was entirely its own. Shattered stands well on its own merits as a highly entertaining rock ‘n’ roll collection; coupled with the essential Guitar Romantic, it bookends the legacy of this fine band. Discover them now, boys and girls, ‘cause you’ll be paying mucho dinero for these recordings in ten years or so when the Exploding Hearts become a much-coveted cult band. (Dirtnap Records)         

LOS STRAITJACKETS – Twist Party
Twenty-something years ago, when guitarists Danny Amis and Eddie Angel launched a surf-rock band called the Straitjackets and began playing the honky-tonks and rock clubs of Nashville, who would have believed that these guys would still be grinding it out here in the new millennium? Yet here they are, Mexican wrestling masks intact, hooking up with vocalist/saxmaniac “Kaiser” George Miller for Twist Party. Taking their inspiration from the early ‘60s dance craze, Twist Party finds Miller and the Straitjackets pounding out 16 infectious tunes, all with a “twist” dance theme.
    Of course, this is the kind of riff-driven, tremolo-fed, Dick Dale-inspired soundtrack that the band can really sink its teeth into. From the hilarious “Twistin’ Gorilla” and the soulful “Twistin’ Out In Space” to the B-movie horror-flick theatrics of “All Back To Drac’s,” these tunes rock with a joy de vivre that transcends the ultra-cool retro-rock vibe that is the band’s trademark. Twist Party comes packaged with a bonus DVD, providing visual dance lessons courtesy of the beautiful and, apparently, “world famous” burlesque trio the Pontani Sisters. Somehow, I think that Chubby Checker would approve… (Yep Roc Records)

ME FIRST AND THE GIMME GIMMES – Love Their Country
You’d think that after five albums that this joke would have gotten tired, run its course, and been discarded. Not on your life, pal! The premise is simple, really – punk rock royalty (members of NoFX, Lagwagon and No Use For A Name) get together in the studio to torture other people’s songs. To date, the Gimme Gimme boys have tackled show tunes, R&B classics, and pop music, and with Love Their Country, they give the punk treatment to Willie Nelson, Dolly Parton, and even the Dixie Chicks. Funny thing is, the gimmick still works ‘cause the guys have a genuine fondness for the material that they reinvent.
    This means that they have a hell of a lot of fun while punking up such inherently country songs as “(Ghost) Riders In the Sky” and Hank Williams’ “I’m So Lonesome I Could Cry” (tilting towards Celtic punk here). Other highlights on Love Their Country are the blazing cover of Dolly’s classic “Jolene,” a metallic interpretation of the Eagles’ “Desperado,” and an almost joyous reading of Kris Kristofferson’s “Sunday Morning Coming Down.” Always good for a laugh or two and a half-hour’s entertainment, you can never go wrong with Me First and the Gimme Gimmes. (Fat Wreck Chords)
 

PAUL STANLEY – Live To Win
The problem with Live To Win, Kiss frontman Paul Stanley’s first solo effort in nearly three decades, isn’t in the uber-slick production afforded these cheesy slices of nerf-metal composed with help from lite-rock scribe Desmond Child. No, the problem is in the high expectations afforded the legendary frontman of one of rock’s larger-than-life bands. Whereas Kiss managed to wrestle ‘70s metal from the grip of stoned proto-slacker adults and deliver it back into the greasy hands of stoned proto-slacker teenagers where it belonged, Stanley does little on Live To Win to challenge the sluggish new millennium musical status quo. The singer’s pipes are in fine form, Stanley’s vox on tunes like “Wake Up Screaming” and the title cut amazingly supple considering 30+ years of hard rock histrionics.
    Although Stanley would never be mistaken for, say, for Frankie Marino, his guitar playing is often underrated and overshadowed by standard Kiss theatrics; on Live To Win he delivers a passable performance as a modern rock axeman. What troubles me, perhaps, is that provided the opportunity (and budget) to create any sort of recording that his heart desired, Stanley chose to choke up the potential of Live To Win with creeping mediocrity and tortured cliché. When the album shoots for the moon – as it does with the anthemic “Bulletproof” or the soaring “Where Angels Dare” (with guitarist John 5) – Live To Win fulfills its promise. Otherwise, it’s mostly inoffensive and mildly entertaining filler. Kiss fans be warned…this Paul Stanley album has very little in common with his work in that great band, but it stands well enough on its own. (New Door/Universal)

Rock ‘n’ Roll Farm Report: Jeff Beck Group, The Buzzcocks, The Church, My Morning Jacket, Only Living Witness (November 2006)

November 2006

The “Rock ‘n’ Roll Farm Report” was a short-lived review column that ran on our Alt.Culture.Guide™ website for almost a year until we closed the site, not due to lack of readers, but from lack of time and money to continue the project. Still, as these columns show, we reviewed a diverse range of music...

THE JEFF BECK GROUP – Beck-Ola
No longer provided solo billing – they were a “group,” you know – this 1969 follow-up to Truth is no less entertaining if a wee bit less innovative. Beck and crew, which at this point still included charismatic frontman Stewart and sidekick Wood as well as pianist-to-the-stars Nickey Hopkins and bombastic drummer Tony Newman (who would later go on to form May Blitz), turn up the volume and deliver a red-hot slab o’ “heavy music.” “Heavy” as in heavy guitars, percussive rhythms, and explosive vocals, with Stewart shouting out the tunes like his life depended on it. Beck must have had Elvis on the brain at the time, covering not one, but two of the King’s tunes in “All Shook Up” and “Jailhouse Rock,” both slight departures from otherwise heady material like the riff-happy “Spanish Boots” or the chaotic “The Hangman’s Knee.”
    The handful of bonus tracks on this sonically-restored reissue include the ultra-bluesy “Sweet Little Angel,” recorded sometime after Truth sessions with drummer Waller and featuring some smokin’ Beck solo work, and the dramatic “Throw Down A Line,” which showcase’s Stewart’s soulful vocals at their best. Beck-Ola is a solid exercise in UK blooze-rock and a fitting bookend to the classic Truth. Beck’s fast track to stardom would be derailed shortly after the release of Beck-Ola, however, an auto accident putting the talented guitarist on the shelf for over a year, during which time Stewart and Wood defected to the Faces. As these two recent reissues illustrate, however, Beck was an innovative and exciting guitarist that deserves a better reputation, his skills equaling Clapton’s, his artistic vision easily surpassing that of his fellow Yardbirds’ alumni. (Sony Legacy)     

THE BUZZCOCKS – Flat-pack Philosophy
Never as nihilist as the Sex Pistols, nor social realists like the Clash, the Buzzcocks’ immense reputation was built on the band’s appropriation of the three-minute pop song for the punk milieu. Frontman Pete Shelley’s acute observations on the teenage condition, coupled with an undeniable sense of melody and a biting instrumental tact – courtesy of guitarist Steve Diggle – made the Buzzcocks one of the most influential bands to emerge from the class of ’77. If, after all this time, they’re not exactly a household name in the US, well, dammit, they should be!
    After breaking up in 1981, the Buzzcocks reformed a decade later around Shelley, Diggle, bassist Tony Barber, and drummer Philip Barker. This line-up has now been around longer than the original band, and they have released music every bit as memorable as those now-legendary early albums. Flat-pack Philosophy is a perfect example of Buzzcockian rock; Shelley’s matured songwriting underlined by a fast-and-loud delivery and bold, bright instrumental hooks. Although Shelley no longer shares a teenage perspective, his romantic inclinations are no less clumsy, and songs like “Sell You Everything,” “Credit,” and “Between Heaven and Hell” showcase a wider, intellectual worldview. Altogether, Flat-pack Philosophy blows across the current musical horizon like a gale-force wind, proving that punk rock can grow old without losing amperage, fury or attitude. One of the year’s best rock ‘n’ roll albums, Flat-pack Philosophy stands proud alongside works like Love Bites and A Different Kind of Tension. (Cooking Vinyl)         

THE CHURCH – Uninvited, Like the Clouds
For better than a quarter-century, Aussie shimmer-pop kings the Church have suffered roster changes, label changes and fickle trends in popular music. Throughout it all, though, the creative core of Steve Kilbey, Marty Willson-Piper, and Peter Koppes have found a way to keep making music the way they want make music. That’s no little feat, either, as proven by Uninvited, Like the Clouds. The Church do more than crank out a few tunes…they carefully craft each song out of gossamer and melody, creating an aural soundscape unlike anybody else in the history of rock’s storied “pop music” wing.
    Uninvited, Like the Clouds delivers more of the same for fans of the Church. In other words, lots of shiny, ringing guitar tones; thick textured production; Kilbey’s somber vocals caressing his oblique lyrics; and an overall sound that is prettier and more mesmerizing that just about anything else you’ll hear these days. Although the Church is unlikely to win many converts to their sonic signature with a new album at this late date, nobody does it better than these guys, guaranteed. (Cooking Vinyl Records)  

MY MORNING JACKET – Okonokos
Friends, acquaintances, and various industry insiders have passed along word that Kentucky rockers My Morning Jacket are nothing less than freakin’ awesome onstage, a claim only partially proven with the release of Okonokos. A two-CD live set reprising much of the band’s excellent 2005 release Z as well as 2003’s It Still Moves, the static recording medium only partially captures the textured nuances of the band’s performance, methinks. My Morning Jacket’s hybrid of jam-band-styled instrumentation, traditional country, SoCal folk lyricism and larger-than-life, ‘70s-influenced classic rock roots fits them extremely well.
    Vocalist/guitarist/songwriter Jim James’ lofty, haunting vocals rise above the heady mix of guitar flash and pounding rhythms, and the band has the chops and the courage to pull off a sound that is at once both seemingly stylistically mismatched and courageously adventuresome. Okonokos showcases some of the band’s best songs – “Off the Record,” “Mahgeetah,” “What A Wonderful Man” – as well as a handful of early fan favorites, the band delivering a stellar performance that shines through the CD’s slick production and total lack of presence. Until the anticipated first wave of bootleg recordings force the band’s label to kick out a more honest representation of MMJ’s live show, Okonokos is an entertaining and lively collection of songs that will both please fans and attract new listeners to this excellent and exciting band. (ATO Records/RCA Records)

ONLY LIVING WITNESS – Prone Mortal Form/Innocents
Less a thrash band than apocalyptic sonic annihilators with an eye towards raising some hell, Only Living Witness were one of the unheralded icons of the dark days of ‘90s metal. While the rest of the world was enamored of Nirvana and Pearl Jam and all things grunge, Only Living Witness released Prone Mortal Form in ’93. A brewed-in-hell harbinger of Sabbath/Pentagram-styled HEAVY metal and brutal, unyielding, riff-manic tunes, the album plods across your stereo and out of your speakers like a rabid T-Rex with a hard-on for all things good and decent. Undaunted by a mid-decade mainstream music fan that preferred the pop-punk of Green Day and the Offspring, OLW released Innocents in ’96, further pushing the envelope of metal’s potential and laying the groundwork for bands like Mastodon and Meshuggah to plow the fields a decade later.
    Innocents carried forth the unrelenting musical bludgeoning of the band’s debut, adding blood red to its artistic palette with expanded, almost spacious instrumental passages fueled by Eric Stevenson’s vastly underrated and imaginative six-string pyrotechnics. Vocalist/lyricist Jonah Jenkins excelled at both, his vox as strong as, say, Chris Cornell’s, but with more soul; his wordplay every bit as poetic in the same eerie, angry, angst-ridden, and oblique way as Cobain’s. The explosive rhythm section of bassist Chris Crowley and drummer Craig Silverman kicks ass in so many ways that I won’t go into them here; suffice it to say that Only Living Witness was a band a good ten years before its time. This inspired reissue pairs the two OLW albums together in a single two-disc package as God and the Devil intended, with another album’s worth of cool bonus tracks tacked onto the end of each disc. If you’re a monster metal fan and you’re not listening to Only Living Witness, what the hell are you waiting for? (Century Media)