Back
Brent Cooper (guitar) and Richie Rancheros (drums), here joined by new bassist Tom Kennedy, have been doing instrumental music out of Calgary, Alberta since at least 1990, but have not attained nearly the same degree of fame, at least domestically, as, oh, Shadowy Men on a Shadowy Planet (though you can at least still GET Huevos music, and I believe it might be difficult to find the Men's stuff now).
The Rancheros hail back a little more to 50s instrumentals, with their cruder feel and dynamics, than the smoother stuff from the 60s, though they are hardly a retro unit (what DOES that mean, though? If a person plays music that is recognizably influenced by something from the past, is that so wrong? Does ANY artist operate in a total vaccuum?).
This little single opens up with 'Wild Turkey Surprise', a band original that starts off with big power chords, fuelled by generous wanking of the whammy bar. A sort of bluesy shuffle, though with livelier drums, forms, driven by powerfully distorted guitar that occasionally has a bit of metal/crude rock to it, a la AC/DC. Feedback squeals in the background, just kept under control, until the end where it's allowed to wrap up the roughly three-minute ditty. It's quite catchy, though I'm afraid I still miss that added element a voice would bring - I'm so formalist, I know... :) Nevertheless, it's entertaining.
The B-side is a vaguely Middle Eastern, minor-key surf tune by Dick Dale, legend of that early 60s genre. It bursts out with rolling drums a la 'Wipeout' and that speedy zoom down the guitar neck that so many instrumentals from that time period have. It moves along at a good clip with speedy, warped guitar, solid bass and magnificently thumping drums. It's super-cool!
I have to admit that my knowledge of instrumental rock is fairly limited, but this was a diverting romp, and very tastefully performed. I should check these fellows out more...and so should you...
The Spells are Carrie Brownstein from Sleater-Kinney and Mary Timony from Helium (I presume both sing and play guitar; someone programmed the drums on one track (drum machines are getting TOO good - I figured the percussion was 'REAL'), and someone does handclaps on the one cover, 'Can't Explain' (the Who); and there may be some bass, though that could just be guitar with effects pedals).
It's a rather pretty and jangling 7", particularly the eerie 'Octaves Apart' and the vaguely psych-rocking 'The Age of Backwards', and the version of 'Can't Explain' is reasonably faithful, after a slow start that made me wonder if perhaps it was some other song by the same name by Pete Townsend.
It's nowhere near as crucial as either of the women's work in their main projects, but it's very enjoyable and worth the listen).
Quite some time ago, in the opinionated, self-centered rant that is my 'zine, I proposed that, if I were forced to choose between sensitive dyke folk and queerboy dance rock, the former would be my reluctant category. I've become a little nicer since then...though the basic premise still stands...so it's a good thing to see this sensitive fag folk-rock, heavy on the piano and carefully considered words and tasteful arrangements (well, there's evidently a bit of it out there, but it just doesn't reach my redneck of the woods very often).
As I've said, I try to be nicer these days - it has a little something to do with ending my ten year streak as a monk (which, frankly, began the day I signed up and got my toaster oven - evidently, my model was outmoded, and no-one wanted to insert their bread in it - but this metaphor is, perhaps, overextended...). However, I really DO like this CD.
Steve has a pleasantly raspy, but still expressive, voice, and quite a way with words and the, er, ivories (what ARE piano keys made of now? Evidently, ivory is now technically illegal to hunt elephants for...). The material is sensitive, but not wimpy, and not that sort of let's-bang-drums-in-the-wilderness-stuff that scares the hell out of me (yeah - let's get in touch with that masculine side that hangs out in the woods (could a little wooden shack be next?) and talks about how women have oppressed them...my idea of a good, useful time...). I particularly like 'I Want Everything', because, while it does have that Elton John rocky feel, also has a bit of Joan Armatrading's sardonic wit - but all eleven songs are really touching and effective and emo (well, not MUSICALLY emo - but very emotional). 'I Want To Be A Jock' is amusing and poignant (I never wanted to be a jock, myself - I practiced passive resistance in gym glass, personally...but I can see the point...). 'True Love' is a good expose of how the closets, both interior and exterior, can put you in a dark place, and install others in there with you, as is the title track.
It rocks tastefully, and rolls sweetly, and is definitely something I'll be playing a lot (now that my monkhood has been temporarily re-instated *grin*).
The Donnas return with the album which they pretty much had to make. After two albums which were essentially written and produced by a male Svengali, albeit two very good ones, they were pretty much obliged to finally write their own material, seek other producers (Steve and Jeff homesteadonald of Redd Kross, as it happens) and have a hand in the mixing at least, if they were not to be written off by arguably hypocritical critics.
It's pretty good. 'Zero' has a Ramones feel to it (they've been there a few dozen times, but it's still catchy); 'Get Outta My Room' and 'I Didn't Like You Anyway' are appealingly bitchy and hostile; 'You Don't Wanna Call' is an updated 'Hanging on the Telephone'.
However, the songs aren't, as a whole, quite as hooky and lyrically pointed as the earlier material. It could be argued they're just starting out, and that's fair enough...but it was still a bit disappointing (and Donna A, the lead singer, seems a little flat and mixed too low at times).
It's still a collection of grrrl-pop-punk that blows away most of the competition (and is certainly better as a teen modelling focus than Britney Spears!), and I can even forgive them the Motley Crue cover (doing a split single with the Toilet Boys, a glam-rock-trannie outfit, obviously influenced them...).
Plus, the packaging is almost entirely pink, and I HAVE to like that (wonder if the vinyl version is so coloured?)...
Here's a little hint - for the most part, the title is ironic; that is, the songs are good, but, if you're looking for sweet little tunes that will stick in your head forever, keep looking...
Jad Fair, the veritable inventor of geek rock (along with Calvin Johnson of K Records) with his outfit Half Japanese, and his collaborator Jason Willett (also of recent incarnations of Half Japanese) knock out 35 songs of wildly varying sound and style, playing most of the instruments themselves (Jad has been taking drum lessons, it seems, and to hear his twisted guitar work and even his suprisingly accomplished keyboard work is a joy), with a guest drummer on one song.
My personal faves are 'Roll Johnny Roll', a vaguely jazzy swingin' number; the warped (vocally), powerful-back-beat rocker 'Tabatha'; 'You Name This Song', an actual genuinely catchy organ-dominated instrumental; and the early-Half-Japanese-styled (i.e. awkward, bizarrely tuned, and chaotic) 'Sticky Cotton Candy Dress'...but there's a little something for everyone here (except tuneful singing - Jad tends to talk-sing, sort of like a pre-adolescent Lou Reed...but he's just so charming, you can't fault him...or, if you can, you're just mean... ;o) ).
This Michigan all-grrl quartet existed from roughly 1965 to 1968 (and had a prior incarnation from 1963-5 as the Tremelons), and managed to release about seven songs at the time (needless to say, no album). Given that the field of women bands at the time was pretty small and isolated (the Pleasure Seekers and She and Goldie and the Gingerbreads and one or two others were among those who managed to get out records), their relative lack of profile is not too surprising...but heartbreaking, nevertheless.
This project strives valiantly to right that wrong...and does an admirable job, by adding 12 demos and 1 live track to the body of work (Char actively worked to put this together, but sadly died in early 1998, without seeing it completed...).
Frontwoman Char Vinnedge (lead guitar/vocals), along with her sister Chris (bass/vocals); Mary Gallagher (rhythm guitar) and Faith Orem (drums), was a rarity at the time; she wrote most of the songs (though, to her regret, the other members of the band rarely wanted to perform her originals, figuring that they had a hard enough time getting by without being 'pushy'), designed the artwork, drove the van, fixed the amps, essentially managed the band and, in general, was the most ambitious member of the project (and the only one who did anything musically after the band dissolved, albeit only one album which I hope Sundazed will try to re-release, judging from the description of it...).
Her guitar work was ferocious, and her lyrics were tough minded (even when she covers a weeper like the Shangri-Las' "He Cried", you get the distinct impression she doesn't overly care about 'his' manipulative display...). The bass playing is pretty fluid, in a Paul McCartney way, and the drumming is Ringoesque. It's hard to comment on the rhythm guitar, since, except possibly on the cover instrumental 'Scratchy', Char tends to dominate the guitar soundscape.
This could hold its own with, oh, The Shadows of Knight (a band that was on Dunwich along with the Luv'd Ones) in terms of attitude and ferocity of sound. But it didn't at the time...however, there's always the present...so rock out with this too-long-forgotten group of gems...
Neil sent me a very lovely letter and bio, so, much as the packaging of this CD turned me off (okay, so it didn't turn me off - but I just have kind of a thing against gay male art that goes for the predictable buff/suggestive imagery) just a tad, I felt obliged to listen (plus, he DID send it to me, and, contrary to what the writing on the bathroom wall says, I try to be nice to everyone).
His bio suggests a sort of Eurodiscopop interest, and I certainly hear bits of Erasure and Pet Shop Boys, along with American-but-you-wouldn't-know-it types like Book of Love or Magnetic Fields.� In other words, it's electronica, but it never forgets the tunes and the hooks.� Neil's voice is very pleasant and sensual, to boot - not the usual kind of bellowing or empty diva dynamics one often tends to find in dancey/electronic stuff.
The cover tunes are, er, wide afield.� There's 'These Boots Are Made For Walking', in an appealingly campy country/S&M mode; 'Epp Opp Ork' from the Jetsons (I can't say I know the tune, but it's also amusing and entertaining, though I don't know how faithful it is to the original'; and, from 'Cabaret' (yes, I know 'Cabaret' - shoot me!), 'Don't Tell Mama', a song not used in the movie, which is the only version of the program I know, truthfully (it hardly surprises me it wasn't - it's very suggestive, and way too hot to handle for a movie that, for all its pretensions to decadence, is pretty darn conservative).
The originals, such as 'Still Want You Back' (wistful and twisted) and 'Armed For Love' (okay, so it's an overused metaphor, but he knows and plays with it), are just as memorable.� The lyrics, I have to say, are a bit weak here and there, though not fatally so, but I do like the music.� It IS electronic, but well arranged and exquisitely (but not excessively) produced.
An enjoyable little CD that I wouldn't have thought I'd get into.� It's from left field in terms of my listening tastes, but I'll definitely give it a spin or twelve.
As the titles suggest, these are tapes of covers of Talking Heads songs, by people from around the world.
Just as an initial warning - Frank is out of inlays for tape #1, so, if you want it, you'll get it without a list of those appearing on it. He has inlays for #2, however, and there is a CD compilation coming out in the fall of new covers too.
Since, as he more or less puts it, love was more important than technology, the results vary - though most are astonishing and inventive and sometimes even better than the originals (City of Dreams, on tape #2, by USA's The Sperlings, comes to mind).
Tape #1's highlights to me, include TELEVISION MAN, by Peru's Elio Mimbela, a reasonably faithful rendition; MEMORIES CAN'T WAIT, by Canada's Sneeves (almost more disorienting than the original); THE CIVIL WARS by Slovenia's Friends and Enemies (great female vocalist); and FLOWERS by Suonna Kononen from Finland (a folk re-invention of the song); but 23 loving tributes are to be found on the tape, in total.
Tape #2 is graced with highlights such as USA's Manoj R. Sharma's take on SUGAR ON MY TONGUE (a one-man band); a breathtaking THIS MUST BE THE PLACE by USA's Ryan Smith; Argentina's Alegres Por La Cosecha translate 'Air' into their native Spanish; and USA's Rob Smith and Josh Barry turn 'What A Day That Was' into a Residents tribute, unintentionally (this is a compliment). 22 smokin' selections here.
Neat stuff - nice to know I wasn't the only one trying desperately to cover Heads stuff (and not the only one getting the words wrong - and my first language is English, so what's MY excuse? *grin*).
It's on clear, banana-yellow vinyl. Gotta love that...
The Banana Erectors are yet another Japanese band in love with the Ramones, albeit one of the few that has a female singer but does not consist entirely of females (putting them in a slightly different league than the all-grrrl Shonen Knife or the all-arrested-adolescent-boy Teengenerate).
This 13-song LP is just full of toe-tapping gems, like the saxophone-fueled 'Pretzel Eatin' Rocker' or the garage-rocking classic-to-be 'Teenage 3K Worker', and also includes wonderful covers of 'I'm Henry The VIII, I Am' (Herman's Hermits), 'Fun At The Beach' (Canada's own B-Girls - how on earth did they hear THAT!?) and 'I Woke Up In Love This Morning' (some sixties garage-rock band...can't think of who...).
The lead singer/guitarist, Masumi Toshikawa, has an appealingly nasal but projecting voice (I suppose some would find it a bit too cute, but I've never been overly burdened by finding women's voices cute...which may be a shame...), and the other members (Yukata Sasabe, drums; Takashi Okazaki, guitar; Takashi Okutaki, bass) play their instruments with appropriate abandon and Ramonesy drive.
Plus, there are little profiles of each member on the back, which include, among other things, a question on their favourite bands (each one says, of course, 'Other than Ramones').
It's just too darn catchy not to love...
Back
