BLIND JACKSON
Stop The Clock
Album Sampler (both Deadskool; CD)
Shindig's favourite neo-artschool rockers are back – or will be, anyway. 'Stop The Clock' was released back in May 2004 and the three track sampler pertains to a mini-album
that's coming out in January. The single is the usual high calibre quirky pop (a description © everyone who ever reviewed XTC circa 1979) and includes beefed up (remixed? re-recorded? not sure, but they sound different) versions of two previous singles, 'Keep On Running' and 'Where Did You Sleep Last Night?'. The sampler bodes well too, particularly 'Mess It Up', which I reckon could be covered really, really well by Girls Aloud. Yes, that is a compliment. We'll draw a discreet veil over lone duffer 'In The Club', as the Jackson have by now more than earnt the benefit of the doubt. All tracks are available on their website, where you can also be regaled by delightful tales of in-studio diarrhoea. Enchanté, I'm sure!
www.blindjackson.com
Jane Farrell
EXPLODING FUCK DOLLS
Crack The Safe (Disaster; CD)
I felt principle-bound to like this overview of the EFD's career. They're a band formed by two really hot guys who happen to be twins – yowzah! As a sexist of long standing, I
firmly believe that hot guys in rock should receive nothing but encouragement. However, the compilation's patchy quality makes my lecherous task a little tricky. The Fuck Dolls have had a variety of lead singers since forming in 1991, and as one of them was the great Duane Peters, the others tend to look fairly pallid by comparison. 1997 (and current) vocalist Kris Swanson does indeed sound (as the Godoy twins point out in the sleevenotes) like Joe Strummer, but his efforts are scuppered by the weedy production of that era. This is very basic Sex Pistols/early Clash style punk rock which relies on power rather than tune, so if that goes, it becomes fairly point-free. EFD have never – and presumably didn't want to - develop much musically from their early sound, but when the producer is up to it, they do what they do well.
www.explodingfuckdolls.com
Betty Chienne
THE DETONATIONS
Static Visions (Alive; CD)
Now THIS is what's been lost in the age of CD: rocking out and then getting out before
one's welcome has been royally outstayed. The Detonations have the same laudably single minded approach as Raw Power-era Stooges, paring everything down to pure driven riff. The most acute example is 'Victim', where the single chord piano could have come straight from the Iggy's finest moment (nope, that ain't Funhouse – and apparently Henry Rollins will back me up on this, so no arguing at the back). And in keeping with their spirit, this review won't include any extraneous bullshit about the band's background, history or inside leg measurement. All you need to know is that Static Visions rocks like a bitch. Get it.
www.thedetonations.com
Betty Chienne
THEE LORDLY SERPENTS
Thee Lordly Serpents (Pro-Vel; CD)
A short visit to Thee Lordly Serpents' website puts a swift end to idle musing on why this album displays such reverence for garage-psych year zero 1966. There's a strong
possibility they remember it well - this trio sure ain't no spring chickens. The press release claims the band sound like early Who. I'm here to tell you that they most certainly do not. Ye shall have but one God, and his name shall be Roky Erickson. The umpteenth cover of 'You're Going To Miss Me' is even trotted out as the final track. [Look, can we PLEASE have a moratorium on any more bands doing that song? The Elevators did it first, they did it best, and if you aren't going to bother with the electric jug, there's just no point]. Purists may baulk at the fact that they've used a (get behind me Satan!) laptop to record what is otherwise a seriously retro-sounding work, and teachin' Jon Mills won't be impressed by the band's too cursory approach to sartorial detail. But TLS's main aspiration is obviously to create music that sounds just like the stuff made back then. And they've been damned successful.
www.theelordlyserpents.com
Betty Chienne
MAGIC CHRISTIAN
Magic Christian (Repeat Records; CD)
From out of the deep recesses of the place where Tony Bennett left his heart comes Magic Christian, a band presumably named for the delightful Peter Sellers/Ringo Starr film and who, very unpresumably, have honed a style that unfailingly calls to mind both The
Rolling Stones and The Flamin' Groovies, the latter unsuprising when you consider that all the songs are written by one Cyril Jordan, who also offers his lead guitar chops.
In fact, Magic Christian is a supergroup of sorts, as it also features long time Tubes drummer Prairie Prince, Sneetches bass player, liner note writer and archivist extraordinaire Alec Palao, and organizer of the renowned Baypop festival (at which luminaries like The Chocolate Watchband and The Beau Brummels performed) Paul Kopf, whose Jagger-esque lead vocals lend credence to all of the tracks herein. The band, as you can imagine, is as tight and authentic as a the Nehru jacket you used to wear, and the tunes will never fail to make to you shake it on the dance floor of your mind. Songs like 'Too Close To Zero' and 'Angel' most closely echo The Stones, the former being almost a perfect hybrid of 'Let's Spend The Night Together' and 'Under My Thumb' and the latter's aching beauty most recalling 'Ruby Tuesday'. Others like 'Here She Comes', 'Some Day Soon', and 'Ride The Light' could have been snuck onto The Groovies' Shake Some Action album without anyone ever finding out they didn't belong, and 'No Time To Cry' and 'Things She Said' will have you screaming “Have Mersey!”.
As a bonus, Magic Christian includes a full disc of live material from a show the band did this past April 1 (no foolin') at The Great American Music Hall in San Francisco. The bulk of these songs are those that ultimately would end up on the proper album, along with a nifty cover of The Easybeats' 'Made My Bed' and all are performed with style and energy. Magic Christian is one of the better albums of 2004, to be sure.
www.repeatrecords.com
David Bash
THE THANES
Evolver (Rev-Ola; CD)
As the liner notes by garage music historian and Ugly Things publisher Mike Stax proudly point out, while there were scads of neo-garage bands coming out of the early '80s, The Thanes are one of the few who are still around, and still making fine music, which is one of the reasons Evolver is an apropos title for this collection. Evolver features 27
tracks, chosen by Thanes main man Lenny Helsing, and, perhaps ironically, not presented chronologically.
What you get is some of the most authentic sounding '60s influenced garage music you'll ever hear, and unlike most bands who have gone this route, The Thanes can never be accused of overdoing it; every track is powerful, boasting all of the hallmarks of classic garage music, including generous helpings of Farfisa, harmonica, and fuzz, but always maintaining just the right level of restraint. The band does every style within the genre equally well; from ravers like 'Antenna Surprise,' 'Don't Let Her Dark Your Door Again,' (great title!), 'Baby Come Back,' (not The Equals tune), and 'None Of This' to folk-rockers like 'Before I Go' and the wonderful 'Lost Or Found' to downright perfect
Pebbles classics like 'Lazy Bones' and 'Buzz Buzz (Yeh Yeh),' your jones for those awesome garage sounds will be fulfilled. Most of these songs were written by Helsing, with contributions by the equally capable Bruce Lyall, Angus McPake, and Alan McLean, the latter of which wrote what is perhaps Evolver's best track, the brooding 'Days Go Slowly By'. There are also nifty covers of The Kinks' 'Who'll Be The Next In Line' and a very beefed up version of The Guess Who's 'It's My Pride'.
Perhaps the most striking element of these tracks is the authentic recording quality, which almost never gives away the fact that they were recorded in the '80s and '90s, and not 1965.
The aforementioned liner notes by Stax, along with song annotations by Helsing and an inteview with Helsing by Shindig's own Jon 'Mojo' Mills round out this wonderful package. Evolver is not meant to serve as a legacy, but rather as a reminder that Edinburgh's best garage band is still going strong.
www.revola.co.uk
David Bash
