The Damned

"There's a Ghost in My House"   single

(earMUSIC)

Originally cut in 1966 by R. Dean Taylor for Motown, "Ghost" has been resuscitated by English Punk executives the Damned. (Previous names that assayed same include the Fall and Graham Parker.) In this reading, sternly lashed Rock'n'Roll that graduated from the class of '77 offers quirky contrast to a tale of driftaway love (that memory being the titular bugaboo). The Damned, of striking promise from their salad days, show themselves to have mastered not only chords of disquiet, but also riveting motion and harmonies only possible for skilled artisans. 

This side was exerpted from forthcoming full-length work "Not Like Everybody Else." That tribute to Brian James, the Damned's founding guitar pyro, is set for Jan. 2026 release. Maws world 'round are adrip.

Videos: "There's a Ghost in My House"   live (2025)

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Geoffrey Miller

Everything that Sparkles

(Self-issued)

A Tele-packin' Honky Tonk habitué, with back-home boys along, thumbs to Bakersfield to buy a longhorned Bonneville from a fast-talker with one hulking bodyguard. Finding themselves before a crowd constituted of Old Milwaukee folks and more metropolitan elbow benders, Geoffrey and pals rear back and send out swinging Country that freely twangs what's on its heart and mind (including hard-luck recitations and biographical reminiscences). Whole lotta shufflin' goin' on. Het up folks havin' a high old time, gettin' their en-joys as first chair amblings from quality stock step out. The Bonneville waits at curbside.

Recommended: "Everything that Sparkles," "Heartbreak, Coming Soon...," "Exes and Os," "The Crow Flies," "Crystal Bottle," "On a Bender," "In Pieces," "Okie Road"

Videos: "Everything that Sparkles"   "Crystal Bottle"   "On a Bender"   "In Pieces"

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zdigital.com.au

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Zombina and the Skeletones

In Sinistereo

(9x9 Records)

Last month, guitarist/singer Doc Horror explained to Joyzine: "The impetus behind recording Zombina and the Skeletones' In Sinistereo in the first place was the enormous backlog of unused songs that we’d amassed over the years. Old demos that we loved and always intended to eventually flesh out, but would get passed-over every time we would start recording a new record…"

Though researchers have repeatedly fed these tracks through arcane computerized processes, they remain baffled as to why any were ever discounted. A Horror Punk/Psychobilly graft with Power Pop intuitions, majestic countenance, and arched eyebrows throws back its ebony cape. Mysteriously abandoned songs' compilation in this "quadrilogy" (combined are all tracks from four previous In Sinistereo EPs) totals positive product.

Though dire atmospherics hang like cobwebs, and despite darkness, airs dance entrancingly. Fetching melodies unfurl in spectacle, unleashing mesmeric mistiness whose capacities derive from synth/monster beat/guitar aggressions channeled by calculation. Vocals at once winsome and chilling sound sirens bewitching. And, a smirk playing about his mouth, Baron Von Saxophone sidles from hidden passages' cover.

Rather than squandering energies with laboratory thingamajigs, the eggheads should have shuttered windows and unearthed any Maila Nurmi broadcast.

Recommended: "(All I Wanna Do is) Decompose (with You)," "Phantom with the X-Ray Mind," "I Hate Humans," "Whatever You Do, Don't Fall in Love," "Kill!!!," "Ramon," "The Crawling Love," "The Stakeout," "Stalkin'"

Videos: "Phantom with the X-Ray Mind"   "I Hate Humans"   "Kill!!!"   "The Stakeout"

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Piccadilly Records

Darla

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Demented Are Go

Psychotic Mutilation   limited edition picture disc

(Sunny Bastards)

Just months past, Psychotic Mutilation's CD incarnation rose from the tilted table. And from flat skull top to worm-bitten creepers, it emanated ineffable menace. A graphic 12" embodiment now lurks amongst racks. DAG's infamy as brutalistic violators of ice-boned essence (sharing a wall with P. Paul's rancid cell) was stoutly earned. All songs spin, hack, hector, and guffaw maniacally. Some 14 years have transpired since Welcome Back To Insanity Hall deflowered turntables. But anyone venturing speculation that passing times may have diminished DAG's crazily hopping ferocity needs to hear this at highest volume; the folly of their imagining will immediately become manifest.

The vinyl, which contains "unknown extra tracks," is available in mortuary black and a smattering of more vivid tints. Too, a poster shadows along.

Recommended: "Black Valium," "Out of Reach," "Spoonful," "Chasing Rainbows," "Mr Pharmacist," "Cast a Lonesome Shadow," "Guillotine," "Nasty Cindy," "Don't Take Me Back," "Strange Times," "Wandering Hobo Blues," "Dismembered Hand," "Long Distance Transcontinental"

Videos: "Black Valium"   "Chasing Rainbows"     "Mr. Pharmacist"

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Bad Billy

Sonic Rendezvous

Collectors' Choice Music

Tower Records

Target

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Rockabilly Mafia

Ewigkeit (Eternity)   double LP, gatefold edition

(Crazy Love)

Marauding in all directions is bare-boned Rockabilly that's hip to contemporary gestures, represent 40 years of loved labors, and that boasts capillaries surgent with daredevil vigor. The present writer doubts a rawhide riff or drop-solid beat is unknown to players under this examination. A pint, a fishnetted pin-up, and this here spell overnights propitious.

Recommended: "Scheiß drauf," "Lockdown Bop," "Slide the Bop," "BAM," "Coffin Suit," "Torsby Rock'n'Roll," "Ewigkeit," "Eins," "Streets of Elmshorn," "Wolf," "Rockin' in the Graveyard"

Videos: "Slide the Bop"   "Torsby Rock'n'Roll"   "Streets of Elmshorn" (live)

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Rockin' all Life Long

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Bear Family

Claude Engel

"Rumba Titou Lélé"   digital track

(Self-issued)

Care-free jubilation sprawls across sun-warmed grass. Blue above, green blades between toes. Claude plucks gracefully in a paradis where peers are scarce. Courtly percussive accentings bespeak South American patrimoine. Voicings proffered by Claude and daughter Kim furnish understated elegance. 

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Rocket Revellers

Let's Have Some Fun!   digital album

(Dionysus Records / self-reissued)

Up Vancouver way, the joint is jumpin': A countrified, swinging ensemble up front raises a ruckus every cool dynamo swears by. All kinds of yahoo menfolk and downhome dollies set the woods on fire, ears filled and limbs goaded by sounds birthed in humble barrel houses and barn dances of yore. Window glass shudders in time to swaybacked outpour. Taking turns under the center spot are busy fiddles, animated lap steel, and vocals whose casual drawl indicates unvarnished homefolkness. Couples hoot appreciation, as guitars are sweetly picked and drums do exactly right. Black-and-whites cavort. Joyfulness says closing time can go to blazes.

Recommended: "Let's Have Some Fun," "I Hear You Talkin'," "How Long," "Sweet Talkin' Mama," "I'm an Old Man," "You Ain't Nothin' but Fine," "7 Nights to Rock," "Red Top," "I'm Out"

Videos: "How Long"     "You Ain't Nothin' but Fine (live)   "7 Nights to Rock" (live)   "Red Top"

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