Boys From Nowhere

Oblivians- Soul Food

It's not even really an album, just a compilation of previously released singles and filled out with some unreleased material, but this is a monster. Growing up a dirty punk kid along the banks of the Mississippi, weened on oldies radio that at that time meant a lot of doo wop and soul, this is what makes sense to me musically. If I were a people, this would be the music of my people. Greg, Jack, and Eric helped to extend the idea of garage punk to include black rock 'n' roll and Killed By Death punk, helping make the genre what it is today. Seriously, they could've been another Mummies/Billy Childish clone and that would've been alright, I guess. But instead they took what what was going on around them and made their own thing. Even the Gories/'68 Comeback influence gets innovated on. Evolution doesn't always equal progressive.

Redd Kross- Born Innocent

Fuck, I'm tired. It's been a long day, but I drank a lot of coffee and had to deal with bullshit with my (now foremer) employer who wasn't paying me. So, instead I'm listening to this album by Redd Kross. Redd Kross, I guess, fits into the power pop genre, but since nothing exists in a vacuum, they were influenced by the Southern California punk scene they were a part of. "Linda Blair" was on a compilation I heard when I was 13 and is partially responsible for getting me into punk. Or maybe it's punk with power pop influences. You can also hear garage, glam, metal, surf, bubblegum, etc. in their sound. They were truly pop song craftsmen, and not in a lame way like most people would mean when they call bands that.

Redd Kross's official website

Piradical

"Jeppson's Malört has the aroma and full-bodied flavor of an unusual botanical. Its bitter taste is savored by two-fisted drinkers."

A little secret about myself. Sometimes, I drink a shot of Malort when I'm feeling particularly ho hum. Just one shot. No matter how drab I might be feeling, I get a rush of adrenalin, because clearly my body is like, "Dude, what the fuck?!"

OBN III's- Mark On You/Heavy Heart 7"

This is the side project of one of the guys from Bad Sports. And fuck do I love that whole Denton/Austin sound. Bad Sports kinda have that power pop sound, where OBN III's here remind you more of the first Stooges record. Nothing incredibly new. Just perfected.

OBN III's myspace

The Pussywarmers- The Chronicles of the Pussywarmers

Some things get listened to, and then reviewed, simply because of what it's called. This is on Voodoo Rhythm and is as sleazy as you'd expect. Yeah, it's sleazy, but so is Prince at times. What does it sound like? This is some decent new weird America from Switzerland. "Send Me Some" plays like a jug band fronted by Hedwig & The Angry Inch. "Chanson d'amour" reminds me of Jacques Dutronc. "21 marzo" sounds like a Satanic funeral song from a Spaghetti Western. Then some doozies close it out, where they sound like the worst of World Inferno Friendship Society or The Dresden Dolls and all the bad goth make up that brings to mind. What amazes me more than anything, though, is how above average the good songs are. This could've been super lame. Seriously, when doing this type of music it's hard to not sound like some middle age dude's hobby. Thankfully there is nothing too steampunk about this.

The Pussywarmer's Myspace

The Infoiatis- Deep Jungle Safari

The thing with surf rock is the songs never sound like their titles. It doesn't really sound like the devil shot his amp. The guitar tone would be more fucked up than it is on "The Devil Shot My Amp." Or, "Hard Traffic" I suppose could sound like the situation referenced in the title, but so can it like any number of other harrowing situations and topics. The other thing about surf rock, though, is you can't name every song "Cool Surf Rock Song #..." So you pick random names. Man... or Astro-Man? were the kings of this. What you get is nine cool surf rock songs, and some even manage to mix things up while staying true to Ventures-isms. "Mezcal Breakfast" has a ska/reggae undercurrent to it. And no, I didn't try to use a sea related metaphor because it's surf rock. I just so happen to like sea related metaphors.

The Infoiatis' Official Page