DC Larson's JUKEBOX JURY: September 2024

Sunday, September 15, 2024

Ray Black & the Flying Carpets

Downtown Ride

(Rhythm Bomb Records)

Swingin' like a gate, from the Land of Chocolate. Sign on the door: No Squares Allowed. Straight from the fridge, they clearly learned to move their bones at the Gene S. Institute. Now givin' out licks that cram hardwood.

From DJ Wildgoner's liner notes: "To simply call them a Rockabilly band wouldn't do them justice, as they also draw their musical influences from 1950s Rock'n'Roll, early 1960s Garage/R&B, and early 1960s Country."

Recommended: "Downtown Ride," "Hornet Bop," "That's What I'd Do," "Speed King," "Big Ol' Spark," "Rockin' In Baghdad," "When the Sun Comes Up," "Burning Lips," "I Never Felt This Way"

Video: "Speed King"

Joe Flip

Home Sweet Home

(New Folk Records)

Many are those of the pick who have studied venerable Blues masters and can not only replicate their gestures, but do so with spiritual fraternity. Know that slide-artisan Joe ranks among them. But he is no soulless emulator; whether plugged in and loosing passion's flames or hefting a gut-box to touch off silken passages with deft digits, he laces each outing with distinctiveness.

A $10 package (reduced from $25) includes the Home Sweet Home CD, autographed album art, digital download, and sticker. It can be ordered directly. See below.

Recommended: "Home Sweet Home," "Just Friends," "Mississippi Country Road," "Jimi Swing," "Toxic" (feat. Swanny Rose), "Anna Lee," "Mess Around," "Whipping Post," "4th Street Alley," "Lenny" (live), "Invictus"

Videos: "Home Sweet Home" "Whipping Post"

Louvin Brothers

Satan Is Real LP

(Bad Billy Records)

Bad Billy offers this 1959 classic on red vinyl; copies are limited to 300 units.Veteran critic John Morthland (whose early 1970s Creem writings impressed) observed professional songcraftsmen penned some tracks, here. (One of several exceptions being the title cut, written by the crooning brothers). I don't know whether 'just a job' insincerity was implied. And accounts of mandolin-picking Ira's addictions and combustability also suggest conflict. But just as he and Charlie are now hailed as among vocal-duo elites for their stratospheric, high lonesome stylings, wooden pews once teemed with country folk for whom Divine spirit embodied each tranquil passage. And for those good souls, that meant everything.

Recommended: "Satan Is Real," "There's a Higher Power," "The Christian Life," "The River Of Jordan," "The Kneeling Drunkard's Plea," "Are You Afraid To Die," "He Can Be Found," "The Drunkard's Doom," "Satan's Jeweled Crown," "The Angels Rejoiced Last Night"

Videos: "Satan Is Real," "The Kneeling Drunkard's Plea" (This standout song was written by Mother Maybelle Carter and several of her daughters, of the storied Carter Family.)

Bad Billy

Rick Larson: Greatness at the margin

A guitar is buried in Marshalltown, Iowa. This is why:

A flash point is possible in live music. An organic, vital moment in which emotional and sensory phenomena coalesce in a connected soloist's muse articulation. The spark surges through the crowd, electrifying the atmosphere and leaving listeners viscerally touched.

Skin crawls. Grins erupt. Shouts ring out. And all is right with the world -- at least for that moment.

Marshalltown, Iowa's Rick Larson found his way into that magical moment of greatness -- more than once, if truth be told -- as had so many unsung beat champions before him.

My brother, he knew his life's purpose from an early age. He got his first guitar when 12 and devoted himself to single-minded pursuit of earthly calling.

Stevie Ray Vaughn, Keith Richard, Chuck Berry, Buddy Guy, Joe Strummer, Pete Townsend - these were his influences. He played the music that spoke to him, and it became important to his audiences.

No prisoner of stylistic convention, he was as likely to rock the house as finesse a melody. He made all the right stops, from red-hot jumpin' to cool-blue orating. His intoxicating soloing interpreted heartache, passion, and kick-out-the-jams exuberance. Lesser players were made conscious of their limitations.

The demands of post-teen life typically compel young players to eventually pursue day jobs, relegating live music to weekend hobby status, if even that.

But Rick never stopped. Because he and music were of a piece. And to him, no other pursuits mattered.

He never cut an album, shot a video or graced a magazine cover. What he did was infinitely more important. A veteran of America's bar-band culture, he helped keep Blues and Rock'n'Roll alive before average people every night.

For them, plagued by trials throughout the work week, the release and revelry offered by live bands is salvational. A person can be put down by a boss during the day, but be ten feet tall on the midnight dance floor.

Songs to which grassroots blue-collar crowds today shout and thrill have roots in America's rich cultural mosaic and wonderfully diverse heritage. Tempos, melodic inclinations, and engaging rhythms from a score of shores met here and became new and as one.

American songs derive from the Appalachian Mountain country and humming streets of Chicago. They hail from the highways that crisscross the nation and from the farmlands. From the cities, swamps, and suburbs. And they are born from common experiences, telling of human struggles, aspirations, pains, and triumphs.

It is through the efforts of anonymous players that folk stories and voices survive from generation to generation. A country's music serves as both popular record and expression of national character.

Rick was professionally active in central Iowa from the seventies through the mid-nineties. Indeed, the area live-music circuit was richer for his indefatigable participation.

He co-founded numerous central Iowa groups: Amo, Armed and Dangerous, Party House, Ice Age, the Vipers, Commotion. And too many more to mention. Singer/harp player Mark Goodman and drummer Frank McDowell were usually in the mix. Accompanying players included keyboardist Doc Lawson and guitarist/vocalist Dave Taylor.

Sometimes, formal band names or line-ups were not even needed. If a sudden gig opened up or a last-minute party jam presented itself, Rick would be there. Guitar in hand, amplifier on.

He had something crucial to worthwhile musicianship: an absolute and unfeigned direct line between his heart and his art. He believed in each note he touched.

True, a few of the better chart songs sometimes crept into the late- night sets. But only the better ones. For Rick, ignoring his instincts and selling out his musical integrity were simply not options. The gold ring mattered less than the music. The moment.

Devoted rank-and-file bar musicians like Rick who keep music alive -- who realize that all-important moment -- are infinitely more significant to real world listeners than is the trendy WRIT LARGE corporate music-product industry that takes listeners for granted.

For every transient and fabricated chart sensation, there are innumerable unsung authentics. And greatness belongs to them, too. Probably most of all.

For it is indeed possible to reach greatness in isolation from the "big picture," without the whole world's being aware.

Rick did.

His guitar fell silent in 1998. We laid to earth with him the cherry wood-grain, Gibson SG Standard that had been his earliest performing guitar. It was only right that they remain together into perpetuity. Together, they had realized the moment.

That is how I know that greatness can flourish at the margin.

And that is why a guitar is buried in Marshalltown, Iowa.

The foregoing essay was excerpted from my 2017 book, Flesh Made Music (Retro Riff).

Rick and longtime singer Mark Goodman.

Tuesday, September 10, 2024

Doyley and the Twanglords

Planet Twang

(Diablo Records)

Doyley ranks among the preeminent Psycho/Surf/Rockabilly/Exotica fretboard-acrobats presently spanking planks. Encyclopedic knowledge enables him to tear off exactly right riffage, sometimes at thrillingly high velocities.

His crisp platter recalls one-lung filmic ventures of Ed Wood, Roger Corman, Phil Tucker, William Castle, and related behind-lens schlock auteurs. It emits identical other-worldly spirit; imagine big-headed extraterrestrials monkeying in a darkened movie house.

Doyley dedicated Planet Twang to Duane Eddy. ("I was lucky to meet the Twangmaster King," the pomped acolyte wrote on Youtube.) It is to be issued later this year in various formats. Details are specified on the Bandcamp page.

Recommended: "Twangster," "Interception of Gamma Rayz," "Shell Shock," "Destroy All Humans," "Psychord," "Turo Oxide," "Planet Twang," "Spies In Space"

Video: "Planet Twang"

Isaac Rother & the Phantoms

"Like a Wolfman" b/w "Ghost Party" single

(Outro Records)

The Terrifying Return Of... full-length release

(Rock N Rhythm Records)

Lon Chaney, Sr. is said to have remarked that man is the only animal that scares himself. These songs summon to mind images of kids squealing delightedly as rubber-visaged bugaboos lurch across matinee screens. Isaac's reeling, wigged-out sprees fuse such garish scarification to 1960s-rooted, hypno-coin shindigs. The arrow spins from the Fun meter. The man's growled declarations, sometimes befriended by "ah-ooing" girl choruses, are so attention-seizing as to almost distract from his six-string wizardry. Almost.

Isaac Rother and the Phantoms will perform and vend at the mid-September Famous Monsters Fest, in Pennsylvania. In a recent Facebook post, the caped frontman said: "This is such an honor to be included given the incredible legacy of Famous Monsters. In the pre-internet world, Famous Monsters Of Filmland was THE place to learn about horror movies and its legacy is unmatched."

Videos: "Like a Wolfman" "Ghost Party"

Recommended, The Terrifying Return Of...: "Haunted Castle," "Crystal Ball Baby," "Fairytale," "Eye Of the Storm," "Kiss Of Death," "Born Blue," "Possession," "13th Wave Of the Phantom," "Left Hand Path," "Yip Yip Sharaw," "Hitman"

Videos: "Haunted Castle" "Kiss Of Death"

Miguel and the Living Dead

Alarm!!! (2021 remaster)

(Bat Cave Productions)

Per one representative, the Warsaw/London-based group will issue a new release in early 2025. In anticipation, consideration of the 2021, remastered (black or blood-red) vinyl manifestation of their 2005 debut seems appropriate.

In darkly atmospheric passages, Punk-poisoned guitar, goth preoccupations, and lashing-whip drumwork coalesce. Measured tempos allow for sinister explication. As if from shadows, low-register, ominous narration emanates. At once fearsome and oddly dignified, vocal tones echo. Psychobilly peculiarities stream down cracked walls.

Recommended: "Miguel and the Living Dead," "Aliens Wear Sunglasses," "Graveyard Love Song," "Salem's Lot," "Killer Klowns From Outer Space," "Black Magic Sex Terror," "Sexy Velvet Shadow," "Ghostmaniac"

Video: live in 2022 (1:09:11)

The Shivvies

Punk Boys

(Shield Recordings)

In 1974, when a handful of Forest Hills boychiks lugged second-hand equipment into Hilly's dive, they surely didn't envision their eventual style would attain subgenre status. But "Ramonescore" now thrives. And in the hands of this Netherlands gang, the intoxicating amalgam of bubbblegum and buzzsaw-chording bombards to high effect. Originality appears in the form of lyrical particularity. (Sax-enriched Pop ballad "Crying All the Way Home" haunts long after its conclusion.)

Recommended: "Fighting Chance," "Runaway Girl," "No Can Do," "Rainbow," "Nobody Cares About Me," "Punk Boys," "I Don't Just Wanna Have Fun," "Weapon Of Mass Destruction," "Party All Night," "Outer Space," "SM 046," "Crying All the Way Home"

Videos: "Nobody Cares About Me" "Crying All the Way Home"

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Sunday, September 8, 2024

Nekromantix

Demons Are a Girl's Best Friend

(Cleopatra)

Cleopatra has remastered this 1996 effort and added two bonus tracks. (It was the trio's fourth release). Purchasers can select either red or orange vinyl versions. Kim Nekroman's triad project has always dealt in unpalatable topics indigenous to Psychobilly, but with careening flair and a wink that discloses show-business disposition. That personality -- and talents unfurled by the revolving cast of adept accompanists Kim enlisted -- secured lofty stature long ago. For this chapter, he was abetted by drummer Tim Kristensen and guitarist Søren Petersen.

Recommended: "Demons Are a Girl's Best friend," "Night Nurse," "Sea Of Red," "Technicolor Nightmare," "Hypnotized," "Wanted"

Video: "Demons Are a Girl's Best Friend"

The Cherry Coke$

Love Thy Drunx

(Caffeine Bomb Records)

Only because these adventuresome souls are possessed of sprawling musical attentions and remarkable instrumental prowess are they able to traverse dissimilar idioms with fluency and ease. Punk projectiles hurtle and accordion-enriched old-world sea chanteys roll out as if buffered on placid waters. When one learns the Cherry Coke$ have put shoulders to these wheels for two-plus decades and that this disc is their tenth, the spring-heeled cohesiveness seems only logical.

This CD can be purchased separately or as part of a boxed set that also includes a Cherry Bear Doll, bottle opener, tumbler, post card, and logo sticker. That set has been limited to just 500 units. Glow-in-dark keychains are also available on a first-come/first-served basis.

Recommended: "Risky Dreams," "Peace Island," "Farewell Youthful Light (feat. The Morito)," "Nancy Whiskey," "Last Train," "Wayfaring Man," "Drunken Sailor," "Cheer Song," "Bring Me a Beer"

Videos: "Peace Island" "Wayfaring Man"

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The Old Time Rags

One More Rag

(Self-issued)

It's disheartening that many today are unaware a wealth of G-rated American musical novelty once trundled down dirt roads, cavorted on hardwood Vaudeville stages, blared from primitive walnut-cabinet radios, and gagged it up on now-mostly disintegrated b/w celluloid.

Just for maintaining that splendid tradition, the merrymaking Old Time Rags deserve laudation. Like medicine-show wagons of old, their van (with attached stage) traverses the countryside. And their gleeful presentation teems with the whiz-bang lilt and whoopee that enchanted bygone regular folk.

The spark plugs creditable for this jolly uproar take their gladsome frolic to all manners of festivals and events. And more than delightful Americana airs are offered: tap dancing, clownery, gusset-busting gesticulations, and down-home harmonizing make for top-drawer entertainment.

Laurence Marshall and Phoebe Ophelia are sometimes joined by bass fiddle-wrangler Adam Richards. Songs roll forth with the spiritedness of traditional melodies bounding and capering in unimpeded abandon. The disc is so zestfully carbonated that it transforms living rooms into knee-slapping sideshows.

"We hope you enjoy the music as much as we enjoy playing it," is Laurence's message to fans.

Recommended: "Alabama Jubilee," "Sweet Loving Old Soul," "Old Fashioned Love," "Junco Partner," "Coney Island Washboard," "Security," "I Like You Best Of All," "Ain't Nobody's Business"

Video: "Alabama Jubilee" (live) promo

Back In the Day, 1981

Ray Campi

The Rollin' Rock Singles Collection 1971 - 1978

(Rondelet Music & Records)

In 1971 California, Italian emigre Ronny Weiser was stunned to learn '50s Texas legend Ray lived mere blocks away. Ronny enticed Ray, who was by then a high school English teacher (and had been for some 24 years) , to abandon the chalkboard and return to music via Weiser's garage-located Rollin' Rock. Thus began a collaboration that endured for decades.

Ray's rollicking efforts bopped jauntily, always drawing on the unvarnished Country he'd grown up hearing in the Lone Star State. Though a gutbox-slinger in earlier years, at Rollin' Rock he grabbed hold of the double-bass that became his trademark.

Younger Rockabilly singers may have mastered de riguer affectations, but Ray's singing spoke of old-school honky-tonk seasoning that had been earned the hard way. His drawl, back-of-throat inflections, heartsore tenor, and jittery histrionics were characteristic of the genre's pioneer rank.

This 1981 compendium wax was issued in the UK.

Recommended: "Eager Boy," "Dobroogie," "Tore Up," "If It's All the Same To You," "Pan American Boogie," "Sixteen Chicks," "A Lil' Bit Of Heartache," "Booze It!," "Wrong Wrong Wrong," "Rockin' At the Ritz," "Quit Your Triflin'," "Rattlin' Daddy"

Videos: "Pan American Boogie" "A Lil' Bit Of Heartache"

Friday, September 6, 2024

Grå vardag

Ragnarök EP

(Self-issued)

The heady trait tracks share is free-of-leash onrush that at once impresses on listeners their own brash agency and goads them to new uproar. "Smash It Up," was how the Damned put it. Chords jab and pummel, skins are bashed relentlessly, and hollerings are full-throated. A four-barrage affair, Ragnarok spotlights energies presently hacking Sweden asunder.

At this writing, the full 13-song set is only on vinyl. But it will soon also be available in digital format.

Recommended: "Ragnarök," "Fienden närmre," "Narcissist," "Vackert lik"

Video: "Ragnarök"

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Daniel Meade

Carry Your Own Coffin EP

(From the Top Records)

Roll back rugs for dissolute revelry. Daniel carries on with the joyful abandon of a man seized by bacchanalian spirit, as he attacks 88s and roars delightedness into wee hours. Pixilated celebrants merge scandalously. Bold brass and handclaps dive into raucous merriment that leaves chandeliers swinging and carbonated relish flooding the joint. Beer-spattered walls shake so violently that their tumbling seems imminent, though few would care or even notice.

Recommended: "Carry Your Own Coffin," "Got a New Piano," "Hip Hip Hooray, I'm An Addict," "Lke Your Woogie Boogied"

Videos: "Carry Your Own Coffin" "Got a New Piano"

Grippers

Complicity Is a Weapon

(Potencial Hardcore)

It's just as well that no sedate ventures appear, as such would likely be crushed by the headlong scramble typical of extant tracks. Combative guitar barrels in the vanguard. Even rare (slightly) measured numbers are pregnant with implied menace. The line-up is a skeletal one, featuring guitar, electric bass, drums, and defiantly shouted vocals. As is abundantly manifest, no more is required to mount scorched-earth strafing.

Recommended: "Keep On Rollin'," "Defiance," "The Fool," "Never Surrender," "The Flame," "Black Tears," "The Void," "Squad"

Videos: "Keep On Rollin'" "The Fool" "Broken Boots"

Wildcat Rose

On Fire!

(Self-issued)

Owing to a factor beyond the present scribe's influence, this review must open with an ending: Wildcat Rose played its final gig in September of last year. With originals penned by deft guitarist Skky Phoenix (who also evidenced agreeably common-man vocal stylings), Wildcat Rose made merry in both Country and sterner Rock'n'Roll idioms; it was not unusual for rousing material to draw from both wells. (Songsmith Phoenix even immortalized a chucklesome Brady Bunch semi-regular.) Clearly not one to take anybody's hot mess, main singer Marieke Havoc proved herself equally capable of mellifiuous elegance.

When one door closes, though, another opens: In a Facebook message posted after the concluding Wildcat Rose performance, future endeavors by individual members were pledged. Phoenix and Havoc were joined by bassist Kirsten Ballweg and drummer Mike Fitz. (Fitz had replaced Aimee Zoe, who played on On Fire!)

Recommended: "Broken Bones," "I'm Goin' Down," "Sam the Butcher"

Videos: "Sam the Butcher" (live excerpt) "I'm Goin' Down"

Wednesday, September 4, 2024

MusTwang

"Country Punk" "Hammered" singles

(Braden Israel)

Before us is an instance of something pretty damn special that percolated at grassroots level, only to now burst onto greater stages with the chops and poise of marquee standouts. The remarkably cohesive, nimble instrumental trio cooly deals admirable passages filled with six-string articulations of top-drawer character. Members Braden Israel, Gary Frey, and Casey Summers were joined on "Country Punk" by seasoned multi-instrumentalist David Spires on steel guitar. Delight unspools.

Videos: "Country Punk" "Hammered"

Deuces Wild!

In Bed With...Deuces Wild!

(No Tone Records)

Big Daddy Powers and Pebbles Van Herzen openly wield Link Wray and Cramps influences -- not in lieu of idiosyncratic tendencies, but as sparkplugs for them. There's a vulgar belligerence to the duo's beat-down, growling output; it's as if a garage spewed finger-snapping venomousness. And in every moment, bones quake.

Recommended: "Going To the Deuce," "Bikini Twist," "(Shake It) Til the Cows Come Home," "Black Mamba Sauce," "Tight Leather Pants," "Deuces Swag," "Too Sexy For Jail," "Fool No Mo'," "Hillbilly Heroin"

Video: "Jack the Ripper" (non-LP, live)

The Balboas

The Pandemic Singles

(Burn & Surf Records)

Strings on fire absorb every time. Here, they rage equally in vigorous, wordless sprees and rock-ribbed endeavors featuring declarative vent. Digits blur amid conflagration.

Recommended: "Insanity Pepper," "Dead In One Hour," "Karrot Water Mind Kontrol," "Forbidden Zone," "Impaler," "Penetration"

Videos: "Insanity Pepper" "Dead In One Hour"

Outta Hand

Buzz Pop 3024 EP

(Self-issued)

That they open with a "Teenage Wasteland" reference signals good taste extending further back than whatever's presently blaring from earbuds. Their songcraft and blazing dispatch mark them as worth sustained regard. Wisely, the members take care that felicitous hooks, winning as they are, never becloud high-speed demolition -- indicating they've learned from Joey and the boys as well as the Townsend contingent.

Recommended: "It Was My Clone," "Robot Devil," "No AA 4 U BB"

Video: "It Was My Clone"

Sunday, September 1, 2024

Monkey Madness

Cruel Jungle

(Dirty Trash Fuck'n Show)

As attested to by several alacritous entries, Monkey Madness agitators can certainly ramp up bombardments. But it is in a deliberate gear that they most often weave blunt narratives. And those combust in sparks-flinging spectacle.

Recommended: "León," "Drunk In Bagdad," "Golden Shower," "Suzie Q.," "El Cumpleaños Del Sapo," "Still Ready To Dance"

Video: "El Cumpleanos Del Sapo" (live)

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Fastbacks

For WHAT Reason!

(No Threes Records)

Even in its salad days, Power Pop was seldom this full-frontal nor so enchanting. Crank the party. Though they lolled for some 25 years, the Fastbacks still punch like flaming youth. There's even a red-balloons-up-in-the-blue Seekers revisitation.

Recommended: "The End Of the Day," "Come On," "I'll Never Find Another You," "Nothing To Do," "So You Know," "A New Boredom," "A Quiet Night," "The Answer Is In Gray"

Video: "Come On"

La Banda de la srta asteroide

La Marea Tecnicolor (feat. Mario Solano)

(Self-issued)

Illustrates that imaginative music can declare vibrancy in the absence of human tongues. No indulgent introductory passage -- an immediate blast off zooms through jazzy spy/sci fi heavens with rock agressiveness abloom and adventurous brass storming freely. The coinage of composer/guitarist/music teacher Mario Solano. For all the arrangement's intriguing variegation, the three minutes + seem to vanish in a twinkling. Replay recommended.

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V/A

Rockabilly låtar

(Atenzia Records)

As is always so of worthwhile multi-artist compendiums, variety is the magnet. Selected for inclusion were flat-gone rockers, urbane swingers, and back-country wranglers. Each tune compels in particular manner.

Recommended: "Eliza Jane" (The Playtones), "Lucy Diamond" (The Kingbees), "Hey Pretty Baby" (Simon Crashly and the Roadmasters), "Like It That Way" (Pepita Slappers),"Mac Attack" (Cherry Tess & Her Rhythm Sparks), "Gonna Rock'n'Roll Tonight: (Jack Baymoore and The Bandits), "Little Ol' You" (Tupelo Highshots), "It's All About Groove" (Kingen), "When I See Ya!" (TT Grace), "Good Lookin' Woman" (Snakebite), "Rock'n'Roll Woman" (Linus Zander), "Crazy In Love" (Pat C. Miller and the Tailshakers), "Heading Home" (Kent Ford and the Hep Jump Stompers), "Just My Chevrolet" (The Hotrods), "Help Me Out" (The Hotlips), "New Stage" (Willie Lee's), "I'm Movin' On" (Tennessee Drifters), "Make Like Rock'n'Roll" (Jesse James and his Gang), "Dark Of the Moon" (Black Knights), "Be My Girl" (Blixterz), "Grandaddy's Rocking" (Blue Valley Boys)

Videos: "Mac Attack" "Heading Home" "Just My Chevrolet"

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