Pony Confederado & los Magna-Tones

Tripa y Acero

(Self-issued)

The three decades of toil Pony has devoted to his craft burst from this barn-burning project's every note. Per his site's account, the contrabajo-slapping singer assembled the Magna-Tones and some 20 additional musicians for Tripa y Acero. The fruit of their combined prowess is a disc of brawny and combustible Rock'n'Roll as was the  originators' fashion. This illustrates that music is best when creators invest their hearts.

Recommended: "Una Chica Cualquiera," "Chupa de Cuero," "Solo te Quiero Abrazar," "Hoy has Salido a Buscarme," "Billy's Blues," "Pequena Mary," "Rockabilly Rebel - En Cristiano"

Video: "Una Chica Cualuiera" 

Site

Facebook

Bandcamp

Admiral James T.

50 Admiral James T. Fans Can't Be Wrong  Digital album

(Self-issued)

"Still unknown since 1994" is how Switzerland's David Langhard characterized himself on Facebook. He waxed 18 LPs as the Admiral before suspending operations in 2014. His return is announced via this disc abrim with captivating Rock'n'Roll charmers of beloved vintage aspect.

The man took up all instruments with redoubtable skill. ("I unpacked my James Burton finger for it" he allowed in an introductory post.)  And he put down these jaunty tracks behind the walls of his own Winterthur studio.

In the main, songs leap and frolic in liberty. But a pair of ballads etch pensive imprints. The Admiral's guitar picking draws generously from tradition's waters. Particular applause is owed his vocal caliber, which shines whether alone or endorsed by his own rich harmony choruses.

It's the unknown's time for spotlight.

Recommended: "From the Get Go," "Broken Seal Of Warranty," "Some Kinda Masterplan," "Where Trouble Began," "Go Or No Go," "Call You When I Fall," "Eager To Please," "Woolen Dress"

Facebook

Bandcamp

The Cryptones

Brand New Start

(Pygmé Records)

Only through Garage contrivance could songs of this peculiar magnetism emerge. Under their mesmeric sway, everyone goes Go-Go epileptic. The discotheque is tilted. Multi-colored strobes flash.  Accessible Pop and Rock inclinations wink broadly as dynamic fuzzed guitar makes common cause with organ sweeps, the two goaded by insistent drum smack-downs. Exuberantly shouted vocals cement the bargain. Something special is happening.

Recommended: "Brand New Start," "Stupid Girl," "Midnight To Six Man," "Shell Of Love," "Mr. President," "I Need You," "New Life"

Video: "Stupid Girl"

Facebook

Amazon

Bandcamp

Wolf Braxton

"Sex Drugs and Politics"  single

(Self-issued)

Wolf's full-throated declamation of electoral and news media reprobates rides hard atop stampeding three-guerilla Rock'n'Roll. The onslaught evinces trademark Punk volatility, and in under three minutes roars the rage all aware feel. "United we stand, divided we fall!" is the ending's group-trumpeted refrain - classical wisdom of evergreen bearing.

Video

X (Wolf last posted here in 2023. No other contact links could be located.)

Amazon (fr)

Apple

se.7digital.com

Little Til & the Gangbusters

In a Peculiar Way

(Rocketman Records)

It was with sharp discernment that Italy's Attilio Malambri (nicknamed "Little Til") selected which standards to revisit. Featured songs are cream, and these reinterpretations crackle as if the material were newly minted. In ballads, Little Til's urbanity enjoys bolstering by grand harmonies. And when stormers roll out, he pounds the daylights out of ivories and exhorts insistently in a manner best characterized as fevered. At every turn, the formidable Gangbusters tear it up without looking back. Rocking is their business, as the Treniers once declared, and the band's virtues cannot be extolled too loudly.

Recommended: "Fools Fall In Love," "Money (That's What I Want)," "Lonely Weekends," "Lovin' Up a Storm," "Rockin' My Life Away"

Video: "Lonely Weekends"

Facebook

Apple

zdigital.com.au

Instagram

Pankrioyo y los Repartidores

Nada Vale, Todo Cuesta  four-track EP

(Self-issued)

From Argentina, with muscle. Group leader Martin Leguizamón told Portal Tortuga last month: "Punk from the mountains is the same as what is done anywhere else, but it has that particular touch that they give it." He cited regional socio-environmental, economic, and political concerns as impactful. The trio packs its brief, high-velocity barrages with world-challenging spiritedness. Members' ardor is proclaimed in each track's outburst.

Recommended: "Me Escabio Todo El Dia," "Adolescencia," "Todo Mal," "29"

Video: "Adolescencia"

Instagram

Youtube channel

Amazon (Canada)

Amazon (fr)

Amazon (Italy)

se.7digital.com

Skeets McDonald

Rock It But Don't Wreck It

(Jasmine Records)

One measure of dirt-road sovereign Skeets's import is the host of notables who joined him at Owen Bradley's Quonset Hut and other studios: Grady Martin, Buddy Harman, Eddie Cochran, Floyd Cramer, Hank Garland, the Jordanaires, and more. 

Another is to recall famed venues whose stage-boards he trod. Their number includes the Grand Old Opry, Big D Jamboree, and TV shows Cliffie Stone's Hometown Jamboree, Ozark Jubilee, and Town Hall Party. 

But for utter convincement, dropping the needle is endorsed. Honky Tonk paradise awaits.

Skeets specialized in sentimental shuffles (his rough-hewed affability imbued these with common-man universality). But he wasn't reluctant to occasionally essay uptempo fare that fit comfortably in the Rockabilly bracket. 

He rose in a simpler age in which an Arkansas kid like himself, recently back from WWII (during which time he earned a Bronze Star), could take his acoustic into honky-tonks and build a career. His maiden recordings and live performances earned him fame during an era when rustic Hillbilly serenadings that featured jumped-up rhythms took good-timing honky-tonk hoi polloi by storm.

 Skeets's 1952 #1 hit "Don't Let the Stars Get In Your Eyes" (Capitol) may today be his most-famed song. It was typical of the backwoods troubadour's signature output: unhurried tales of endearments pledged, abandoned, or achingly unreturned. True-hearted sweethearts were venerated. But just as often so were delicate deserters, memories of whose mascaraed winkings tortured in the night. 

In a dimly lit bygone barroom, a gently picked Skeets McDonald weeper croons from the blinking jukebox. Steel guitar and fiddle lend color. An empty-eyed couple cling to each other as they slowly circle nearby. Along the bar men with forlorn features hunch over foam-topped draws and painted, boffaunt angels alternate between arching and slouching. Some may pair off at closing time in a bid to find one night's respite from loneliness.

There were probably a million dank barrooms matching that description back in the day. And in all of them, Skeets McDonald laments echoed.

Recommended: "Gotta Get You from That Crowd," "Everglades," "Cheek To Cheek With the Blues," "Make Room For the Blues," "This Old Heart," "You're Not Wicked, You're Just Weak," "He'll Let You Live a Little," "Same Old Town," "I Write You Letters," "What a Fool I Was," "What a Lonesome Life It's Been," "Baby Wait," "What Am I Doing Here," "Fingertips," "Welcome Home," "Keep Her Off Your Mind," "You Better Not Go," "Don't Push Me Too Far," "You Gotta Be My Baby," "Fallen Angel," "Heartbreakin' Mama," "You Oughta See Grandma Rock"

Videos: "Gotta Get You From That Crowd" , "What Am I Doing Here" (Town Hall Party clip)

Facebook (fan page)

Facebook

Jasmine