Very Close to, if not actually in, the CD player:
seen/heard ° stream album ° buy
seen/heard ° stream album ° buy
seen/heard ° listen ° preorder
seen/heard ° listen ° preorder
Waxing Proctologically/Somebody Nicked My Motor
Holy schnack there's a new Fleshtones (myspace) record. Take a Good Look! It's a blast, natch, the Queens-born band mixing jokes and rants and some matter-of-fact street balladry. Dropping wisdom, trou. In "Going Back to School" there's the wonderful "I gotta get me an edumacation/I gotta learn some final thing/And then I'll write a little poem for you." Peter Zaremba screeds in the title track about "living in the middle of a hipster overspill" and how the "tattoo-covered goateed sarcasm-wearing motherfucking friend" you're talking to "Doesn't know nothing! Nothing at all! Nothing at all!" And then there's this:
The Fleshtones - Shiney Hiney (mp3) (buy)
"Make it like the Fourth of July!"
Saw singer-guitarist Keith Streng in the crowd at the second-to-last night at CBGB's (where his band made its debut in 1976), just about the nicest guy you could ever talk to. And when the bands came on he was jumping around screaming like a fanboy. I'm sure there were push-ups a-plenty at the record release party they had at Manitoba's last night.
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Chicano power! A couple garagier treats from the 1960's East L.A. Brown-Eyed Soul boom, just for fun.
The Romancers - She Took My Oldsmobile (mp3) (buy)
Thee Midniters - Whittier Blvd (mp3) (buy)
The Romancers were the godfathers of the movement, with bandleader/songwriter/rhythm guitarist Max Uballez ushering other groups into the studio (he produced the scene's biggest hit, Cannibal & the Headhunters' break-out version of "Land of a Thousand Dances"). "Oldsmobile's" hot stuff: Always wear a condom, always hide your car keys.
Thee Midniters had the most lasting success; "Whittier Blvd." evolved from a jam on The Rolling Stones' "2120 South Michigan Avenue." Ronny Figueroa is credited with "Organ, Conga, Hysterical Laughter."
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Oh noes! I was only kidding.
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David Thomson on Daniel Day-Lewis in There Will Be Blood: "It is a frightening thing to see the beast set free."