Rodney & The Tube Tops - I Hate The 90's

By Request! Sorry it took so long.

It has the makings of something truly great. Thurston Moore, Eric Erlandson (Hole's guitarist) and KROQ's punk/Indie-friendly L.A. DJ Rodney Bingenheimer all conspiring to put out some sort of cool album. (Rodney is the guy in between Moore and Erlandson, looking like a really nice and polite version of Iggy Pop)

Eh. Not quite what I was hoping for. Sometimes we wish too hard. While it does make fun of the 90's, which deserved it, (and yes, I got tattooed during that time...) it could have been better. Rodney's delivery kinda brings it down. I guess that's why he became a radio DJ instead of a singer, just as my jumbled fingers on my SG's fretboard have me (poorly) typing this now instead of playing in some club tonight.

A: I Hate The 90's
B: Tube Tops Forever/Cell Phone Madness
Enjoy!

Big Black - He's A Whore

Big Black's last single features an unlikely mix of covers. The A-side is an early, obscure Cheap Trick song, the B-side is a Kraftwerk song. As you'd expect, they nail them both in their own way. I prefer these versions to the originals. "He's A Whore" is a fairly obscure Cheap Trick song. It's fantastic. Cheap Trick really had a sense of humor, and I think the obscurity and nasty bit of comedy of this song made it a perfect cover for these guys.

As always, it's impeccably recorded, (it ripped incredibly well) and the album art can't be beat, with Big Black miming the covers from the original bands' albums. They really nail Cheap Trick's (and Kraftwerk's on the B-side) look.

A: He's A Whore
B: The Model
Enjoy!

Sebadoh - Special Elitist Mail-Order Single

Picked this up a while ago, but forgot that I hadn't posted it yet.

Released right before Harmacy, Sebadoh seemed to be making fun of Sub Pop with this one. Despite the name, it was not part of any Sub Pop Singles Club, or anything like that.

It's a strange release. Not much Lou, really. Two Jason songs, and unusual covers on the B-Side. Jason's "Princess" is quite good, one of his best songs. The B-side is all covers of surrealist/experimentalist 70's New Orleans band The Residents. They're strange. "Act Of Being Polite" has some sort of quirky cool thing that fits with Sebadoh's sound.

A: Princess, 1/2 Undressed
B: Act of Being Polite, Moisture, Suburban Bathers

Enjoy!

Not quite dead...

It's been a while since I've posted. Busy these days. Lots of long hours at work, and I'm trying to get in shape for a road race later this summer for charity. Running is great, but man, it takes up a lot of time. Driving is so much easier.

Anyway, there is some new stuff on the way. Check back next week, I'll have fulfilled another request (Rodney & The Tube Tops) and should have a full-length album by a legendary Boston band ready to go. I've also added to my Sebadoh 7" collection.

The Unband - Chung Wayne Lo Mein

I had always intended for this to be a vinyl-only enterprise. But something very unexpected made me change my mind. While I was away, it seems that Anthony Bourdain did a "No Reservations" show about the grittier, working class side of Boston, which we DVR'd while we were away and just got around to watching last night. Tony ate and drank his way through Southie with Mike Ruffino. "Who is Mike Ruffino?" you're probably asking. In fact my wife asked me. And I knew I that I knew that name from somewhere...

He played bass in The Unband, and wrote a book about their wild, excessive, yet low-rent not-quite-rock-star life. These guys were huge in Northampton when I was there in the early 90's, famous for playing (and trashing) the Bay State regularly. I caught them playing at a party in some apartment above Main St. once. Great show. Of course, the cops came and ended it. I think that's how a lot of their shows ended.

Anyway, I picked this up when it appeared in local shops in 1994. The internet will tell you it came out in 1996, but the internet is wrong. It came out on some tiny NoHo label in 1994 before a moderately larger indie label from W. Mass picked it up later. It's incredibly obscure, long out of print and hard to find, and it's one hell of a fun CD. Full of mindless loud fun like "Drop Out!" and "ABCDEFUCK" and of course, their mantra,  "We Like to Drink and We Like to Play Rock n' Roll". So, inspired by that show, and remembering what a little gem this CD is, I figured I'd break my vinyl only rule, and make sure a few more people know who Mike Ruffino is and who the Unband were.

Enjoy!

STP - Smoke 'Em

By request.

I want to thank biopunk for the recommendation. This rocks. An all girl band started by a former member of Pussy Galore, and produced/managed by Don Fleming and Kim Gordon. Could be great, could be crap, right? It's really good. "Hey Bastard" is a kick ass 1 minute long song that doesn't fuck around. Certainly worth a listen. Sadly, other than a couple of compilation tracks, this is it for their recorded material. They fell apart immediately.

Also, the singer is a dead ringer for my ex-girlfriend, the one with all of the Riot Grrrl stuff that appeared in this blog. Very strange. The resemblance is eerie.

Anyway, starting to get back to normal now that I'm home, but I'm running out of good material. I've got to go record shopping soon. Keep the requests coming. It's been fun to find these obscure bands and throw them up here. Anyway, things will be slow for a while while I restock.

Also, I've been given something quite unusual to rip for a friend- it's way outside of the normal scope of this blog, but will be fun to rip anyway, and I don't think he'll mind if I throw it up here. If anyone has anything to donate to this blog, let me know. I'll send it back!

A: Hey Bastard, Walkin
B: 25 Miles/Safer
Enjoy!

Brief Hiatus - back from Germany

Only in Germany will you see stuff like this...

I'll get back on track over the weekend. Was in Germany for a couple of weeks (my last couple of posts were on autopilot), and now that I'm home, I keep falling asleep before I can post. I've got a 7" from STP by request (No, not Stone Temple Pilots...) to rip and get up here.

I missed out on that very cool looking shop loaded with vinyl in Munich, which I'm kicking myself over. Just didn't have time, and the place was closed on Monday, and opened too late on Tuesday for me to get in there. Oh well.