The Uptight - The Uptight (Off The Hip Records 2003)

Surely they are the sons of Bo-Weevils…! Ok, this is obviously not true but The Uptight are as fab as The Bo-Weevils were in their first recordings, especially in “The Vortex Took Them” mini-album in 1987. I believe what I just mentioned is more than enough for the Cavemen and Cavegurls who like the Bo-Weevils… For the rest, I only have to say that this is one of the best garage punk albums that came from Australia the last years. Top songs of the album, which includes 12 in overall are “Fun”, “Stop Stop A Go Go” (great shakin instro), “Among The Flowers” (moody songs that reminds me of the Vietnam Veterans!), “Can’t Dig That Scene” (BFTG punker). Dig the fuzz!    -Source

There's a fine line between inspired borrowing and parody, after repeated listenings it's not clear which side of it these guys and gal are on.
The Uptight are a Farfisa-driven, '60s punk outfit from Sydney who are cartoonish clods rather than authentic, Voxx-toting, pudding-bowl haircut-wearing wannabe throwbacks. That isn't neccesarilly a bad thing: Being authentic for authentic's sake sometimes carries with it a lack of heart. The Uptiight's ranks are filled by veterans of a myriad of garage/'60s punk/frat band acts who probably have almost as many Nuggets/Pebbles/Back From The Grave/Boulders/Mindrocker compilations in their collections as Greg Shaw.
Best description of the bloodlines is to say The Uptight are close relatives of Sheek the Shayk but that's where the comparison ends. In The Uptight's world, the fuzz quotient is turned right down on most tracks (with the exception of "But Then One Day", "It's True" and "Return to Pismo", the latter boasting the much-travelled Steven Danno guesting on, uh, Pismo guitar). Gigi Rydell's prominent keyboards gives The Uptight a distinctive feel that few bands on the local scene are using.
Vocals are a shared assignment between guitarist Phillip Wigglesworth (if I told you his real name, I'd have to kill you) and Gigi. Herr Wigglesworth plays it for larfs, pushing the envelope on a song like "The Man in the Green Fez", which sounds like the late, departed Thurston Howlers reprising a bad '60s spy thriller's theme music, and "It's True".
Camped up as it is, it works for me in a weird sort of way (but I've been listening to way too much '60s punk stuff lately). Bottom line is that many of those '60s garage bands were inept 15-year-olds with Beatles/Stones pretensions and just enough or Dad's money in their pockets to buy a reel-of-tape and a bus ride to a pressing plant. The Uptight aren't taking things as seriously as that and assessed on that level, this is an enjoyable enough trip.    -The Barman

 The Uptight - The Uptight (Off The Hip Records 2003) FLAC    320

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The Deadvikings - Electric Demon (Zodiac Killer Records 2012)

High energy R`n`R !!! from JPN !!

 

They might not be Japan’s most prolific rock and roll band but The Deadvikings’ two full-length albums each pack a considerable punch. This one dates from early in their 11-year history and delivers their Hellacopters style jams in spade-loads.

The Deadvikings toured last year’s “Libertatia” in Australia - well, in Sydney - and they're back in 2018, confusingly pushing their first CD from 10 years ago. Ours is not to reason why... 

"Electric Demon" has some wayward moments (the ragged "The Ripper" and the low-key opening title track, which sounds underdone) but for the most part, it's surging high-energy rock songs. They're clearly in the thrall of the 'Copters and their Scandi Rock contemporaries, but this is hardly a bad thing when done right. 

The Deadvikings have a bit of groove in their songs and when it kicks in on a brash MC5-style barn-burner like "(Baby) Let's Do The Twist", it clicks. "The Song For Deadbeat" is another place where guitar pyrotechnics lock in with the pliable but powerful engine room and generate sparks. Vocalist Ken Deadviking sings in English and has a passable guitar player's voice, but his intertwining interplay with six-string partner Shogo Deadviking is where the action is. 

"I Will Save Rock and Roll" sounds like a response to the Dictators - and it might just be. Ken's vocal finds its furtherest limit, but there's no mistaking the intent of the straffing guitar licks and riffs. These Western ears also love an accented lyric that celebrates "lock and loll".   

It's a pity The Deadvikings' second Australian visit isn't taking them further afield than Sydney (the dates are here) because there's a broader audience for the Rock Action that they're selling, even if their level of touring doesn't pay handsomely these days. Catch them if you can and pick up a copy of this...    -The Barman

I usually expect the grimier side of the rock’n’roll spectrum from Zodiac Killer records. This is not grimy. The label must be trying to diversify. It works. This CD has all of the mandatory, rollicking rock energy. I don’t want to say it’s clean, because it’s not clean. Maybe it’s more focused. Maybe it’s more precise. The Deadvikings know exactly how to use their weapons. Not a single bass line meanders. The drums are going to beat on you so hard you’re not going to be able to stop nodding your head. You’re going to get slapped in the face with some rollicking guitar solos, and you’re going to beg for more. You’ll probably even try to sing along, and it will sound terrible. But you’ll keep doing it, because you love it and you can’t stop.    -Source

The Deadvikings - Electric Demon (Zodiac Killer Records 2012) FLAC    320

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The Primordials - Fourteen Prime Numbers (Screaming Apple Records 2007)

Primal sounds abound as Screaming Apple introduces the first-ever LP of THE PRIMORDIALS, a tight-trousered foursome from the caverns of Canada. ‘Fourteen Prime Numbers’ beats on the freak with an extra-large baker’s dozen of British, Continental, Colonial and Antipodal big-beat shouters, tearing a new one out of songs by the RATTLES, the SORROWS, the ATTRACTIONS, Tony Barber, the ECCENTRICS, and even the KRAVIN’ A’s. Recording in glorious Living Mono, Ryan, Dave, Shawn and Robbie pound out a tribute to some of the finest unsung heroes of the mid-sixties, giving you an excuse to dust off your winklepickers and give your mojo a workout!

This wax platter comes packed with crunchy guitars, seventh chords in the wrong place, two-fingered solos, and helium huffin’ harmonies guaranteed to satisfy the most discerning Beatkeller-dweller. Swingin’ 60’s mod-beat hasn’t sounded this soulful since those glory days of bands like the ACTION, the ARTWOODS or the V.I.P.’s. Start your next wild dance craze NOW with fourteen instant floorfillers by the fabulous PRIMORDIALS. You read it, now GET it!    -Source

Freakbeat, das ist jene wundervolle Mischung aus lauten Gitarren, engen karierten Hosen, bunten Popart-Hemden und spitzen Stiefeln, die ca. 1966 die Dominanz der fröhlichen Mersey-Harmonien durchbrach, und für ein bis zwei Jahre, bevor der Hippierock sein bärtiges Antlitz offenbarte, einige wunderbare Singles und LPs hervorbrachte.

Allerdings ist der klassische Freakbeat ja ein rein europäisches Phänomen geblieben, so dass es nun schon spannend klingt, wie sich eine kanadische Band des Genres annimmt. Die PRIMORDIALS, bestehend aus Mitgliedern der Garagepunk-Truppe MIDWAYS, hat nun ein Album mit 14 brandheißen Freakbeat-Fegern zusammengestellt.
Crunchige Vox-Amps, Siebener-Akkorde an den unmöglichsten Stellen, zweifingrig zusammengefiedelte Soli und Heliumharmonien gibt es hier zur Genüge. Und dazu eine heiße Parade der wildesten Floorfiller von Bands wie den RATTLES, SORROWS, den SMOKE-Vorläufern SHOTS, ECCENTRICS, CRAIG, ATTRACTIONS oder den FAVOURITE SONS.
Und auch eine "zeitgenössische" Band, die Medway-Beater KRAVIN A'S wurde gecovert. Schönes Album, authentisch, detailversessen, leider keine eigenen Songs. (9)    -Gereon Helmer

The Primordials - Fourteen Prime Numbers (Screaming Apple Records 2007) FLAC    320

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The Tyme Society - When I See Her Eyes EP (Butterfly Records 2001)

The Tyme Society were a strongly sixties - oriented combo with strong garage & folk psych influences, fronted by Massimo del Pozzo (the Others, Misty Lane fanzine). They grab inspiration from american garage beat and the melanchonic sound of New England bands and East Coast americana with a hint of dutch folk beat psych. They have a debut ep out on Psych Out Records and have included one song in the EXPO 2000 ep witch include also tracks of the Chocolate Watchband, the Thanes and the Rookies.
This new three songs EP included two great U.S. midwest garage folk punk songs (very much into Love / Enfields) and one superb instro Psych.    -Source

The Tyme Society - When I See Her Eyes EP (Butterfly Records 2001) FLAC    320

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The Giljoteens - Get A Head (Teen Sound Records 2004)

Surely as long as fresh new bands like the Indikation, The Hara-Kee-Rees and the Giljoteens keep on showing up and making records, I will be enjoying garage punk music till the day I die…(Probably thereafter I will be listening to that stuff again…!). So, thanks to the fab Teen Sound Records, here is the long awaited debut album of these Swedish lads that have already put out three splendid 45s in the near past: one single on Loser Records, one EP on Screaming Apple and their latest EP on Teen Sound too. As for the content of the album, in simple words “Get A Head” is one solid garage punk record already entered in the all-time classics of the genre! 13 authentic songs including just one cover of “Leaving Here” and original killers like “Things Have Been Bad”, “Empty Soul” (which appeared in the “They Came From The North” CD on Zorch Records last year), “One Track Mind” and the moody punker “Point Of No Return”… What else would you expect from an album that the liner notes of the sleeve are written by Mans P. Mansson and Jens Lindberg…? If this album was released on vinyl it would be the great too, right Mass?    -Source

THE GILJOTEENS play garage punk, but they aren't simply a nostalgic retro act. Because where many bands like this are only about reproducing a sound and rely on covers from compilations like "Back From The Grave", THE GILJOTEENS also add the most important piece of them all - talent and a knack for writing killer originals! The melodic yet raw vocals, perfect in yer face attack of the drums, reverbed and sometimes fuzzed out twang of the guitar, the rolling bass and the great atmospheric farfisa organ all combine together to a great & original listening experience. For fans of PRETTY THINGS, MAHARAJAS, DEE RANGERS, MANDO DIAO, CAESARS & MAGGOTS.    -Source

The Giljoteens - Get A Head (Teen Sound Records 2004) FLAC    320

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Thee Oh No's - Out Of The Garage And Into The Shed (Ski Mask Records 2002)

This 7-song gem is a fast, fun slab of garage punk goodness! 

In an era where originality and freshness of style are extremely rare, Thee Oh No's, epitomize all that is imaginative in the garage rock idiom. These four young men, who hail from Tempe, Arizona, have captivated the attention of almost every musically minded individual around these United States. They mix their musical talent with an exciting stage presentation that is so necessary to suceed. The current lineup is Mr. Moto Oh No (guitar/organ/vox), Drain Oh No (guitar/vox), King Sunny Oh No (drums), and Sumo Oh No (bass). Their music is a blend of 1960's garage, bands like The Sonics, The Imperials, The Frantics, etc and more current garage bands like The Mummies, and The Gravedigger V. Thee Oh No's have released their self titled CD on their own "Skimask Records".

These guys deserve a giant high five. Thee Oh No's play catchy, fast-paced straight up garage rock. The organ thrown in makes you want to pick up your feet and dance dance dance! Not only is the music amazing, but the lyrics are laugh out loud hilarious. DEFINITELY A MUST HAVE!    -LN Deathbot

 

Thee Oh No's - Out Of The Garage And Into The Shed (Ski Mask Records 2002) FLAC    320

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Cardboard Villains - Cardboard Villains (Ghost Highway Recordings 2013)

Cardboard Villains is a Swedish five piece that write and perform modern songs with a retro feel. Fans of 60's garage rock or vintage pop will find plenty to love about this album. Formed in 2010 by Linus Wallin (vocals and guitar) and Magnus Nordin (bass), this band quickly started writing songs and playing together with drummer Magnus Magnusson and keyboard player Mats Sjöblom. Magnus Ellsveden (guitar) joined shortly afterwards. The band has released one single and one LP on the Spanish vinyl lable Ghost Highway Recordings.   -Source

Ghost Highway have just released the first album from the swedish band Cardboard Villains. After a good single in 2012, repressed in green or purple this summer, the lp is in the same vein of modern poppy garage with great rocking tunes: "Right behind you" with a chorus that reminds me an Only Ones song or "Move It On" drived by the organ and the fuzz, and also good ballads, "Noble art" would reminds another great lost swedish band, The Playmates...    -Source

Cardboard Villains - Cardboard Villains (Ghost Highway Recordings 2013) FLAC    320

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(Lana) Loveland - Order To Love (Vinyl, Groovie Records 2011)

The Lana pulls off a very difficult work that only a handful of Garage Psych revival bands will even bother with by writing songs that go beyond mere cult of vintage melodies. Is debut album “Order To Love”, on Groovie Records is more than the collection of hooky singles that honestly was waiting. It's a real album, with a composite laminate, which I'll continue to listen for an extended period in order to really know and not just because I am addicted Garage and Psych highs. The first two tracks, “Black Glove” and “Missing Illusions”, previous release on a 7’’ at Butterfly Records are, the first a “catchy poppier” and the second a sweet  psych jams. “Theater Of Dreams” is an 80’s revival 60’s song, as “Nervous People” is a stunningly successful piece of vocal feminist and organ-driven, terminating in psychotic state. Of course, that “Missing Link” is easily the album's best track, a topic about staying true to yourself. These songs are part of a surprisingly good argument for screwing the idea of the Garage as a way to always be an emotional realness. Then there’s “Paranoia” a songs that would work well as a basement garage sing along songs, but “Silence Everywhere” and “Constant Furs” show that Lana Loveland can write the kind of catchy, super concentrated psych garage that could leave everybody askin' they weren't able to do this.  

Get this album, learn all the lyrics of all the songs, and then go to the streets and spread the words, peace, love and Loveland.    -Source

 

Wo andere zwanghaft retro sind, wartet die Berlinerin Lana LOVELAND mit immenser Credibility auf: Nicht nur, dass sie bei den FUZZTONES orgelt, sondern auch in Los Angeles unter der Ägide der Sixties-Underground-Helden THE BONNIWELL MUSIC MACHINE. Was sie gemeinsam mit ihrem Bruder Lenny für diese Scheibe unter eigenem Namen fabriziert hat, ist nichts weniger als ein Trip zurück in der Zeit, der seinesgleichen sucht.  

Schweineorgel und beschwörende Stimme stehen im Mittelpunkt der vordergründig überschaubaren, aber tatsächlich verschlungenen, vor Details strotzenden Kompositionen. In „Theater Of Dreams“ etwa ist man sich für Rhythmuswechsel nicht zu schade, und statt ständig dieselbe Stimmung zu verbreiten, schlingern LOVELAND zwischen sexy („Paranoia“) und schummrig („Nervous People“ mit Surf-Anleihen), freudig ( „Waiting“) und melancholisch („Silence Everywhere“) hin und her. Beeindruckend sind dabei die Fingerfertigkeiten sowohl der Frontfrau als auch der Saitenfraktion, die von JARABE-DE-PALO-Drummer Alex Tenas klasse zusammengehalten wird.

Loveland, die mitunter wie Grace Slick (höre das treibende „Missing Link“) klingt, gibt abgesehen vom schleichenden „Bandit“ beim Songwriting den Ton an. Das nölende „Constant Furs“ gehört am Ende zu den besonders eingängigen Stücken eines ohnehin hittigen Albums, dem drei Live-Bonusstücke anheimgestellt wurden. Diese machen Lust auf ein Konzertdarbietung dieser im Vergleich zu den jüngsten Erzeugnissen von Lanas Hauptband stärker zwingenden Zusammenstellung von am Flower-Power-Sound orientierten, aber dennoch aktuell oder zeitlos (Texte!) klingenden Liedern.

FAZIT: „Order To Love“ ist ein Fest für Freunde nicht nur der DOORS, sondern begeistert auch Kenner der Materie Sixties-Garage: Stichwort Linda Pierre King, Jeanne Hatfield und so weiter.    -Source

(Lana) Loveland - Order To Love (Vinyl, Groovie Records 2011) FLAC    320

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Cheeks - I Know What You Did Last Summer EP (Beyond Your Mind Records 2007)

This German five-piece employs a near perfect blend of organ, skewed pop harmonies and guitar to come up with a killer EP. Apparently their last album on the same label was a psych-pop thing but this updates the '60s beat genre with their own stamp. Singer Rono has a warm vocal that sits perfectly with their sound. They sound like an agreeable cross between The Strollers and The Stems. How they stayed under my wire so long (their first long-player was on Screaming Apple in 1997) I don't know but I want to hear more. You should know that Lana Loveland of The Fuzztones guested on organ and the black vinyl they pressed it on is thick enough to be a manhole cover.    -Source

Tracklist 

A1 - I Know What You Did Last Summer

A2 - Memory Line

AA1 - On A Night Like This

AA2 - The Ballad Of Will-O-The-Whisp

The Cheeks - I Know What You Did Last Summer EP (Beyond Your Mind Records 2007) FLAC    320

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The Hatepinks - Plastic Bag Ambitions (TKO Records 2005)

 

Sixteen-and-a-half minutes of self-described "maximum minimalist garage-punk” are offered up here from this French four-piece, courtesy of California’s TKO Records. The obvious musical reference point would be the Briefs, or pretty much anything else on Rip Off Records for that matter. A sweet amalgamation of new wave, power pop and ’77 era punk rock that results in a spazzed-out, messed-up, downright dirty and deliciously dysfunctional musical style. Not that it matters, but the lyrics are printed in French, yet sung in gargled and garbled English, so who the heck knows what songs like "Tupperware Love” or "Kissing Cops With My Ass” are about. In summation: hook-laden punk rock that is snappy, snippy, snide and snotty. Pogo!    -Source

 Un, deux, troi, quatre - hier sind Franzosen am Werk. THE HATEPINKS entstammen dem französischen Garage/Punk Underground und zeigen auf "Plastic Bag Ambitions" was in ihnen steckt. TKO Records hat sich dem Quartett angenommen und das spricht in der Regel für ordentliche Punkrock Qualität.

Nun ja, mit anspruchsvollen Texten haben es die Franzosen nicht gerade, denn auf ihren 13 Tracks, die niemals die 2 Minuten Marke auch nur annähren touchieren, kann man beispielsweise über weite Strecken hören, wie die Franzosen bis vier zählen. One, two, three, four hallt es aus den Boxen und da man im Deutschunterricht aufgepasst hat wird auch mal eben ein Song auf Deutsch ausgezählt. Aber mal Spaß beiseite, "Plastic Bag Ambitions" ist ein Album, das Spaß macht. Die rotzige Garage trifft auf kunterbunten Bubble Gum Power Pop und 70er UK Einflüsse. Die Mixtur ist frisch, geht schnurstracks nach vorn und ist nach 16 Minuten 28 Sekunden auch schon vorbei. Was bleibt ist der Finger auf der Repeat Taste, denn das ging einfach viel zu schnell.    -Source
 

1. PLastic Bag Ambitions
2. Razor Lips
3. I Am A Divorce
4. Microwave
5. Girl Migraine
6. Fashion Is A Crime
7. Tpperware Love
8. Kissing Cops With My Ass
9. I Piss In Your Swimming Pools
10. Broken And Kaputt
11. Hate Le Pink?
12. We Are The Fucks
13. Motherfuquer! 

The Hatepinks - Plastic Bag Ambitions (TKO Records 2005) FLAC    320

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Exploding White Mice - Exploding White Mice (Normal Records 1990)

 

This is the bands selftitled second album from 1990, it's a half-studio, half-live thing and was released in Germany on Normal Records. Here we have the CD-version with two bonus-tracks (= the b-side of their "I Just Want My Fun EP").


Exploding White Mice eponymous second album possesses quite the impressing explosive momentum – exactly as the band name can suggest. The songs are full of punk energy and vividness. And instrumentation shows a lot of fuzzy guitars so that at times it seems that the band is ready to proceed to shoegaze territory.   -Source

Taking their name from a scene in The Ramones‘ Rock & Roll High School movie (1979), Adelaide’s Exploding White Mice hit Sydney in 1985. Their old-school sound – equal parts Radio Birdman and The Ramones – arrived just in time to wow a younger audience who had missed out on the fun the first time around.
Fuelled by blazing twin guitars which had the tone and attack down better than just about anybody (second guitarist Giles Barrow was a Birdman freak who played the Rickenbacker that Chris Masuak had worn on the cover of the overseas version of Radios Appear), the Mice started life as a living garage/punk rock jukebox – covering The Saints, New York Dolls, Heartbreakers, Stooges and ’60s punks like The Shadows of Knight – and always wore their influences proudly.

Amongst their own songs, when they came, were some gems. Burning Red from their debut mini-LP Nest of Vipers was tough and melodic, and the equal of anything from The Ramones’ then current Too Tough To Die album.

The band was the most successful to come out of Adelaide in the 1980s, thanks in no small measure to the support of hometown label Greasy Pop.

They achieved true longevity as well, with guitarist Jeff Stephens and drummer David Bunney leading a line-up of the band into the new millennium.    -Source

Exploding White Mice - Exploding White Mice (Normal Records 1990) FLAC    320
 
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Tripwave - Tripwave (Tripwave Records 2005)

 

From New York City, Tripwave's 6-song 30 minute CDEP is a real trip back to the glory days of garage rocking psychedelia. A key member of the band is Dino Sorbello, who many of you may remember from Laughing Sky and Blacklight Chameleons, both bands who played similar 60's styled psych songs. The disc opens with "Psilocybe" a mind-bending space rocking psychedelic song created with liquid acid and fuzzed guitars and classic 60's organ. "Razzled By The Dazzle" is similar, but with sitar injecting a cool tripped out vibe to the already rocking psychedelic proceedings. "Freedom Afterwards" is an excellent garage psych rocker with playful verses that bring to mind an ultra psychedelic take on The Who. The fun continues with "Another Sip" and "Back to the Stone", both genuine in-yer-face power psych tunes with searing acid guitar licks. And rounding out the set is "Bardos", an example of Tripwave performing live. The song consists of sitar, guitar and rhythm section jamming along in flower power raga land. The band jam along for a while until peaking with a power jam that features both sitar and guitar rocking out. Wow, probably the trippiest song of the set.

The magic of Tripwave is not just the retro psychedelic style of music they're playing, but the songs themselves are well written and really outstanding, and the production is impeccable. Seeing these live with a liquid lightshow must be quite a happening. I hope they're working on a full length album. If you long for the sounds of yesterday you can't do much better than these guys. Mandra Gora Lightshow Society is probably the best analogy that comes to mind, which gives you a pretty decent idea of what to expect. Intrigued? Check 'em out.    -Source

For more information you can visit the Tripwave web site at: http://www.tripwave.com.

Tripwave - Tripwave (Tripwave Records 2005) FLAC    320

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The Riviera Playboys - Ambassadors Of Rock-N-Roll! (Screaming Apple Records 2005)

It's time to introduce you to the new ambassadors of rock'n'roll and believe us, we're talking about the real thing! Here comes this band that has captured the musical phenomenon which came creeping out of millions of garages from the late 50's to the mid 60's and carries it forward into today's dreary world of lame mainstream rock and inedible lo-fi bullshit.  

Calling Rochester, New York their home, THE RIVIERA PLAYBOYS represent the epitome of a new breed of 60's garage rock'n'roll combos. The band that includes ex members of THE CHESTERFIELD KINGS, THE PROJECTILES, THE INSIDERS and SUSAN & THE SURFTONES delivers timeless music that has a powerfully menacing quality, and is best described in their own words as "raw, electrified r'n'r!". Driven by fuzz & reverb drenched guitars and wailin' organ sounds, all their songs got this distinctive primal approach, but the music still has this veritable melodic content and amazing vocal harmonies. 

They guide us through their wonderful own little musical world, a place where you can still find those primitive garage-punk rituals done by prehistoric cavemen banging big rocks together, a place where people still wiggle to the classic sixties beat, a place where the beauty of twangin' folk sounds is still respected, a place where people don't have to be ashamed to be devoted to traditional r'n'r. 

If you can't get enough of all the "pebbles" and "nuggets" from the roaring 60's and you adore the early CHESTERFIELD KINGS and the MAHARAJAS, you certainly don't wanna live without this masterpiece of the "ambassadors of rock'n'roll", the mighty RIVIERA PLAYBOYS!    -Source

Die CD-Version auf Jargon Records aus den USA ist ja schon seit Ende 2004 raus, jetzt legt Screaming Apple Records das Vinyl nach, allerdings nur mit 14 statt 18 Songs. Und seinerzeit schrieb ich: Die Garage-Rock'n'Roll-Veteranen aus Rochester, New York haben ein neues Album am Start, und auch dieses erscheint wieder auf Jargon Records, dem Label von Bassist Dave Anderson.
Nicht wirklich überraschend dürfte die Feststellung kommen, dass die Herren, die auf eine imposante Liste von Ex-Bands verweisen können (THE INSIDERS, HIDDEN CHARMS, THE PAWNS, THE PROJECTILES, SUSAN & THE SURFTONES, MC FADDEN'S PARACHUTE, SWING SET, CHESTERFIELD KINGS) sich mit den 18(!!!) neuen Songs nicht wirklich verändert haben.
Gitarren mit ordentlich Fuzz und Reverb stoßen auf herrlich harmonischen, mehrstimmigen Gesang, Schellenkranz und klassisches Rock'n'Roll-Drumming sorgen für den lässigen Beat - da weiß man, warum man im Zweifelsfall einfach auf die Genre-Klassiker setzt, auf Musiker, die diesen Sound mit der Muttermilch eingeflößt bekamen und ihn seit zig Jahren perfektioniert haben.
Mögen Jungspunde wie MANDO DIAO oder KINGS OF LEON auch größere Töne spucken, das hier ist der "real shit", der authentische Sixties-Garage-Sound, mit den besseren Songs und der höheren Halbwertzeit.
Hört euch einfach nur mal einen Schmuser wie "She used to be my girl" an, und ihr wisst, was ich meine. Drauf geschissen, dass die Haare weniger werden und die Falten um die Augen immer mehr, denn wozu gibt es Sonnenbrillen?"    -Source

The Riviera Playboys - Ambassadors Of Rock-N-Roll! (Screaming Apple Records 2005) FLAC    320

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The Riviera Playboys - ...Go Primal!!! (Jargon Records 2003)

2003 CD release! 9 garage rockers featuring the Hit single "I can't understand" plus covers of THE LEAVES, MOTIONS, OTIS REDDING and a bunch more! Man...that version of THE STARFIRES "I never loved her" smokes!!!!

The Riviera Playboys - ...Go Primal!!! (Jargon Records 2003) FLAC    320

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The Riviera Playboys - The Wild, Untamed Sounds Of... The Riviera Playboys (Jargon Records 2002/2003)

In this day and age of slick pop music, "alternative rock" and all the other catch phrases used to describe the music of today's young people, it is truly refreshing to find a group who says "screw you" to conventional wisdom and delivers a truly heartfelt album of music that defies all categories. That group is The Riviera Playboys, a bunch of guys who really "let it all hang out" on this, their latest offering.What is it that makes them so different from the rest of today's pop music sheep? Well aside from their deadly good looks (Dan Frank was voted one of Rochester's top 10 most eligible bachelors !!), perhaps it is their ability to unleash a raw, yet tight and controlled delivery of their sonic mayhem. Take for example their rendition of "Make Me Laugh", what was once a flower pop gem, is now a wild, burning mover of a tune that will send goosebumps crawling over the epidermis. But they are not limited to bending and shaping others songs. No, they are also a very creative bunch, offering up no less than five new original songs that are destined to move up the charts of today's jaded hit parade!

So here you have it, the new LP from Rochester, New York's finest group, The Riviera Playboys. Don't forget the asbestos gloves and fire extinguisher. This baby is HOT ! ! !

-Alex Apphedeus (editer Smash Hits! Magazine)

 

Note: The date of release differs, on the CD it's indicated with 2003, on the tray card with 2002 - take what you want!  

 

The Riviera Playboys - The Wild, Untamed Sounds Of... The Riviera Playboys (Jargon Records 2002/2003) FLAC    320 

 

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The Riviera Playboys - Greatest Hits! (Raw Electrified Rock & Roll) (Gee-Dee Music 1997)

The Riviera Playboys got together around 1995 to play 1960's Garage Rock 'n' Roll in the Rochester tradition of The Heard and The Invictas and then reborn with the Chesterfield Kings in the late 70's. Former Projectile's Dan Frank and Dave Anderson teamed up with ex-Swing Set member Judd Williams (currently drummer for THE AMAZING CROWNS). With limited resources (mainly return deposits from Genessee Beer cans) Dan and Dave finally got enough dough to fly Judd in from his residence in Boston and record their first disc "Riviera Playboys Greatest hits".   -Source

Riviera Playboys - Greatest Hits! (Raw Electrified Rock & Roll) (Gee-Dee Music 1997) FLAC    320 

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The Surfadelics - Bad Little Girl 12'' EP (Media Burn Records 1986)

The Surfadelics were a garage beat band of the early 80’s from East London, fronted by Mark Lee, who became a well known act in the garage and mod scene in England. He was later in Thee Pickles and the Honey Machine and released several solo efforts.

The Surfadelics were challenged with a garage pulled and impetuous, the sound firmly of the '60s but the spirit imbued with punk. They released a 12'' EP in 1986, ''Bad little girl'' on the long-defunct (and sadly missed) Media Burn label - a rare chunk of Surf & Trash.

They got a little fame after the title "Bad Little Girl" became part of the iconic garage series “Battle Of The Garages” on Bomp! / Voxx Records (Vol. 4: Tomorrow The World!).

The Surfadelics - Bad Little Girl 12'' EP (Media Burn Records 1986) FLAC    320

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Hysteric Narcotics - From The Desolation Where The Greasewood Grows (Raffscallion Records 2010)

American Garage Psychedelic Rock 'N' Roll Band from Livonia, MI, formed in the mid 80's. This is a collection of previously released material & rarities.

Straight Outta Livonia:  The Abbreviated Story of the Hysteric Narcotics

The Hysteric Narcotics burst onto the Detroit rock and roll scene in 1983.  With their first gig at Paycheck’s Lounge opening for the phenomenal Bootsey X and the Lovemasters, the four-man version of the group made an indelible splash on the city that is now more famous for its music than it is for its automobiles.

With a few personnel changes, the Narcotics lasted until 1989 before calling it quits except for the rare reunion show.  It was a long, strange howl in between that had the band visit the East Coast twice and the West Coast once.  In that span of time, the band released their only vinyl LP, “Batteries Not Included,” and released four singles.

Loud, boisterous, truly hysterical, and smitten by the bugs of musicality, hijinx, and harmony, the Hysteric Narcotics must have played hundreds of shows during that six-year-period and thereafter, but, apart from a few regrets (too few to mention), things ended on a good note.  Cloistered at the end in a beat up and rusty Dodge van, it should be noted that their beginnings were shaded by a different kind of insularity.

Livonia, an incubator suburb west of Detroit, seemed just right for babymaking and bandmaking. A boring, centerless, burb with plenty of high schools, two major shopping centers, a race track, and basements and garages galore, Livonia was noted as a rock n’ roll wellspring during the highly-combustible punk rockstrosity of the late 1970s.

Mark Niemenski (bass), Charles “Chip” Sercombe (drums), Sean Curran (guitar), and Mike Murphy (vocals) had all been part of the once-vibrant punk scene that primarily blared from Bookie’s Club 870.  By late 1983, the four original members of Hysteric Narcotics added keyboard/guitar player David Feeny, and searched for something new.

Turned out they managed to make something old new again.  Equipped with a slightly obsessive penchant for 1960s garage rock brought on by the 1970s appearance of Lenny Kaye’s Nuggets and Greg Shaw’s then-dawning Pebbles series, they wrote originals in the spirit of the bygone era when seemingly every teenager across the country was in some kind of garage band.

Then, in short order, Sean Curran left the band to pursue a degree in occupational therapy.  Mark took over on guitar, and Keith Soucy joined the band as bass guitarist.

The Hysteric Narcotics watched with wide eyes as already established and likeminded bands such as the Fleshtones, the Lyres, the Three-O-Clock, the Vipers, and the Pandoras grew in popularity.  They ran into local bands like the Frames and the Vertical Pillows who mined the same fuzzy bedrock that bled into both 60s punk and white trash R&B.

The band also answered an ad for a light show and snatched it up.  It turned out to be the same light show used at Detroit’s legendary Grande Ballroom.  That colorful spectacle combined with the raw energy and wild trousers of the Hysterics psychedelicized both the band and its Detroit-area audience.  The group hit the road, in order to turn the rest of the country onto their unique brand of garage-punk-psychedelia i.e. rock and roll.

In the matter of three years, the band picked up a decent following in the Detroit area, but its line-up shifted radically.  Chip graduated from college and finally settled into a real day job and Dave left to create the Orange Roughies.  Drummer Jerry Barterian and keyboard player Lawrence Ulrich replaced them respectively.

Although the Hysteric Narcotics remained very popular in Detroit-area clubs, they could not seem to master the art of touring, and a tour of the Western states did more damage to the band than good.  It was simultaneously a wild ride and a rude awakening, and shortly thereafter, the band officially broke up but kept up its presence in the Detroit area by playing annual reunion shows, which came to a halt in 1996.

Apparently still not done, the band reformed in 2008 to play friend Jim Shaw’s birthday party, and reformed again in 2010 for a revival to boost the release of their 25-song retrospective CD, “From the Desolation Where the Greasewood Grows.”  Newly revived, they may not be finished yet.    -Source

Hysteric Narcotics - From The Desolation Where The Greasewood Grows (Raffscallion Records 2010) FLAC    320

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PS: Here is an interview from What Wave #11. I found this here.