One of my top 2007 finds (and perhaps yours as well – the word is most definitely out) is a young band from Huntsville, AL called THOMAS FUNCTION. Reminscient in so many ways of a stripped-down, keyboard-augmented, less grandeur-bound TELEVISION, two of their three 45s are among the finest & most deceptively catchy records of our aging decade so far. (I say 2 of the 3 because I haven’t heard the new one yet – the label says it’s “in the mail”). I think the main guy’s vocals come off as so much more real than others looking to recreate a pre-punk history for a post-punk world, and THOMAS FUNCTION are the sort of band that’s going to appeal equally aging record dorks like myself and the new gaggle of teenage hipsters. Apparently the garage punk congnescenti dig ’em too. See you what you think by downloading two of their best so far.
After a domain name debacle with dubious providers, I am back!!
So, am I the only person out there that finds the new Queens of the Stone Age album cover to be bizarre? Things would be different if the band was some mid-90’s Estrus/Sympathy for the Record Industry garage rock never-were’s, but this is a radio-rock, girls-gone-wild, superband. This art reminds me of something in my parent’s matchbook collection, a giant jar commemorating visits to weird little water holes during the 60’s and early-70’s. Maybe I’m losing my touch.
In the limited universe of 1980s garage-revival bands who’re any good, THE MORLOCKS are the ones that stand mophead-&-slumped shoulders above the rest, on this single EP’s merits alone. “Emergeâ€Â is a total monster, a record that pre-dated the hallowed early 90s let-it-rip garage punk by almost a full decade. It’s the razor’s edge of that overloaded, screaming 60s punk made famous on “Back From The Graveâ€Â, updated for 1985 stylings by a gaggle of cretinous San Diegans who absolutely lived 1965 in every way, shape and form. Most of the time bands that dress the part just blow. The Morlocks did not. “Emergeâ€Â is easily their high-water mark, and it’s a stone drag that the only other full-length LP they put out was a live record. We hate live records! (Though rumor has it that it was a fake live record – it sounded like dog dribblings nonetheless). I also don’t care much for the GRAVEDIGGER 5, the loins from which the Morlocks sprang. But that’s me. This guy Leighton, the lead Morlock, with bangs obscuring just about everything save his chin, was quite a mod/punk scene hero among the mod/punks I met around & after this time. I heard lots of Leighton drug and Leighton drinking stories — in fact, the San Francisco house I moved into in 1989 was said to have been recently vacated by The Morlocks, who did in fact move to SF after this record to do more drugs and toughen their sound, as if that was possible. They died there as well — figuratively — and I never found out if Leighton was truly shagging birds in what later became my bedroom.
“Emerge” has some covers of 60s punk staples that stack up extremely well against the originals, and given that the originals — MURPHY AND THE MOB‘s “Born Loser”, THE ESQUIRES‘ “Judgement Day”, “By My Side” by (I forget) — are some of the most ferocious rock firebreathers ever, that’s not half bad. But it’s an original howler called “In The Cellar” that made this band’s rep in 2 minutes flat — an overmodulated, fuzz-filled catastrophe that goes way, way beyond “in the red” and into something very deep crimson. It’s really ugly, and I mean that as the highest of praise. If you crossed some of the Japanese fuzz/noise bands of relatively recent vintage with, say, THE SONICS, you might get a sense of how boss this is. Hopefully someone will get busy and put this 8-song 12″EP onto a CD, and dig up any other hot Morlocks tracks that never made it out during this era. Hey, how about you?
PS – I know they’re actually still playing music under this name, but I’m a curmudgeon. What they did 22 years ago is just enough for me.
They will be comprised of a very simple question, presented openly, to a band/artist/writerÂÂ or others that I deem worthy. These questions will not be accusatory or fun-poking. They are honest inquiries.
DROP THE FLAG!!!
1. An open question to the members of the band, Vietnam. Why did you chose the word “Vietnamâ€Â as a band moniker?
This 45 from a late 70s New York group called the HAND GRENADES has been fooling “puntersâ€Â for years who mistook it for a British DIY record from the same era, myself included. When I found out these dudes were from “the Appleâ€Â I was incredulous. I guess I still am. But here you go – a really great, lost-to-time stark and strange inepto-garage record from a band who have very pleasing elements of the Swell Maps, Wire and Steve Treatment. Enjoy!
Tomorrow morning I’ll head off to the station and get on a train to Amersfoort, in Holland, where I’ll transfer to another train and wind up in Utrecht. Not exactly my top pick for a holiday spot, but it has several advantages. First, a couple of friends from the States I haven’t seen in years have done a house-exchange with some people in the suburbs there, and they were nice enough to buy me a ticket to come join them. Second, it’s the time of the annual Early Music Festival in Utrecht, and, although I don’t have a press pass (boy, is it hard to sell stories like this!) there are plenty of free fringe activities with some younger groups, and that should be fun. Third, we’ll go to Amsterdam for a couple of days and I get to show my friends around a place I actually do know something about (I’ve only been to Utrecht twice and didn’t leave the station the second time, because the nightclub Jon Dee Graham was playing in was actually inside the station). And fourth, it’s demonstrably Not Berlin. This will be my first trip out of the city limits since March.
I’m going to try to blog from the festival, and I’ll be taking the camera along, although I won’t post any photos until I get back here on Wednesday. Okay, maybe Thursday. Meanwhile, if anyone knows anything to do in Utrecht between concerts or knows any good restaurants there, let me know!
I reviewed the new Liars album in the September issue of Spin. For readers that are not writers, I want to stress how hard it is to compose a decent 90-word review, if “decentâ€Â is in fact what I managed. It’s an art I have yet to master.
Maybe it’s old hat to you, but I just heard this 1981 EP from arty, goth, big-haired doomkings THE VIRGIN PRUNES this month, and I gotta say, one song in particular just knocked my friggin’ socks off. That would be “Twenty Tens (I’ve Been Smoking All Night Long)”, the lead song of their debut EP, the rest of which is just abominable. A stuttered, totally wacked-out PUBLIC IMAGE-esque dance macabre, with this whomping bassline & creepy-crawl guitar that’s near-perfect. I remember these guys found a home in the hearts of some hardcore punk heavyweights back in the day – Jimmy Johnson at Forced Exposure & Tesco Vee of Touch and Go fanzine – and now I know why. It certainly can’t be for the other stuff. The haircuts – maybe.
I can dimly recall the kerfuffle this particular fake-o xenophobic stomper generated back in the early 80s, thus proving how successfully the joke was employed. WHITE PRIDE – now there’s a name to get the typewriters tapping – were roundly criticized for the “Peace My Ass” EP in the pages of Maximum Rock N Roll and virtutally everywhere else, and taken literally, that’s understandable. My take is that the knuckle-draggers responsible for this, who included amongtheir number Mike Doskocil (later of DRUNKS WITH GUNS), probably were very anti-PC before their time, and chose to “make mirth” with the concept by going ridiculously over the top, all the better to stir up the hysteria of the anti-Reagan left so stridently strident at the time. A bonus is that the song itself is funny – at least to a humorless reactionary like myself. It’s also a meatheaded punk/metal romp somewhat reminiscient of POISON IDEA as they slowed down, with barked, eye-bulging vocals that are a gutbuster in & of themselves.
Then again – covering myself here – if it was serious? Well, it’s just too stupid for words, as are most current commentaries of the subject. As a supporter of “the money machine”, I say: Tear down the walls, baby! Let ’em in!
“There were a few people who picked up on me very early before my first record, when I was playing solo at Max’s Kansas City,” Bruce Springsteen said about Paul Nelson, “and he’s the one who stands foremost in my mind.”
From 1975 to 1982, Paul wrote a series of infrequent but expansive meditations about Springsteen, his music, and his remarkable relationship to a rapidly burgeoning audience. How accurate were Paul’s perceptions? “Oh, they could come out right now,” Springsteen said, “and they’d be right on the money. That was my job the way that I saw it, and he perceived it. That’s quite a connection to make.”
I spoke with Springsteen Tuesday afternoon, an interview that, by the time all was said and done, took eight months to arrange. In the interim, Springsteen wrapped up his tour with the Sessions band and released a live album documenting it; recorded a new studio album with the E Street Band, Magic, due out October 2nd; and suffered the death of his longtime friend and assistant, Terry Magovern, who passed away in his sleep on the night of July 30th.
As an interviewee, Springsteen was open, funny, and philosophical without being pretentious. And on the subject of Paul Nelson, he spoke eloquently.
Paul entered Springsteen’s life in 1972 when the young singer/songwriter (who was then 22 or 23) would take the bus from New Jersey into New York City to play the opening half of double bills at Max’s Kansas City. Paul was impressed enough to keep coming back, bringing with him other writers and artists (including Elliott Murphy) and turning them on, too, to the New Jersey phenom.
Everything Is an Afterthought examines Paul’s friendship with Springsteen (mostly in Springsteen’s own words) and how the artist’s special brand of rock & roll represented for Paul more than just music. The book will reprint all of Paul’s articles and reviews about Springsteen, presenting for the first time Paul’s preferred texts, based on his original manuscripts. (For instance, Paul’s review of The River is considerably different than what got published in 1980 and which can be found online.)
Documenting Springsteen’s early career, Paul’s writings reflect not only his fondness for the man but how he had to come to terms with his friend’s music when it took turns down alleyways both unexpected and dark.
Copyright 2007 by Kevin Avery. All rights reserved.
One of my top 2007 finds (and perhaps yours as well – the word is most definitely out) is a young band from Huntsville, AL called THOMAS FUNCTION. Reminscient in so many ways of a stripped-down, keyboard-augmented, less grandeur-bound TELEVISION, two of their three 45s are among the finest & most deceptively catchy records of our aging decade so far. (I say 2 of the 3 because I haven’t heard the new one yet – the label says it’s “in the mail”). I think the main guy’s vocals come off as so much more real than others looking to recreate a pre-punk history for a post-punk world, and THOMAS FUNCTION are the sort of band that’s going to appeal equally aging record dorks like myself and the new gaggle of teenage hipsters. Apparently the garage punk congnescenti dig ’em too. See you what you think by downloading two of their best so far.
