SMASHIN' TRANSISTORS

Wednesday Photo by Dale: The Blue Water Bridge

2012-01-18T12:29:00.033-03:00

The Blue Water Bridge, which connects Port Huron, Michigan to Sarnia, Ontario is one of the iconic structures of the this area. There have been countless photos taken of it from when it was built in the 30's. That was made double when the 2nd span was built in the mid 90's.
Because of it being a constant model for who knows how many photographers it has usually not been one of my main subjects as I have chosen to usually take pictures of other things around the area. The other morning though the sun was rising and I had some time to kill before I went out gainful employment seeking and my college classes. The sky looked right, the angles caught my eye and I popped off a few photos.

I always find it interesting how just over a few minutes the skies at dawn (and at dusk too actually) can totally change. In the winter time that effect seems even more so.

As an added bonus Blue Water Bridge picture here's on of it from this past summer about 10 minutes before a major thunderstorm rolled in.
I have been asked by people in the past if I have considered making prints of some of the photo's I have taken and sell them or let them be used for commercial purposes. With the economy being as tight as it is (especially in this area) and always having use for some extra income to provide for my family as well helping with my school expenses-the answer is yes. Those interested in such things can contact me at this email address

Radio Slaps "Music Is A Mistake" Cassette

2012-01-16T01:00:00.079-03:00

     Now that punk rock has been around for 35 years (using 1977 as years zero though I know we could split hairs about it all day of when the technical start of it actually was) there's lots of wells that have been tapped.
     Some of them have been sucked dry while others are still flowing for a band to find hydration. From each well the water tastes different and it's always good to have variety.
     Elements of the early Rough Trade-ish DIY aesthetics, especially the wonderfully inept plonk of the Desperate Bicycles, comes to mind. Combine that with a bit of the 90's blurring into the 00's garage punk blasts served up by English denizens such as the Real Losers amped-up yowl and Black Time's everything from 60's french films to the kitchen sink swing & clang this with a little bit of the trash-pop-art-screech of things like Times New Viking, this London UK band has found wells they like very much to a point where they not only take a sip from them but submerge their entire heads too.
     Keyboard blurps that leave one debating whether that are awesome in their cheese or perfect in their obnoxiousness. The covered in fuzz guitar playing sounds it like was just learned to be played a few weeks ago, just found a third chord and has no intention of learning anymore because it has found it's bad attitude sweet spot and the drums believe the in the same ideas with a trash can tappity tap tap bash. Yelping "we have no time for harmonies-we just gotta say what we want and say it loud" girl/boy vocals top it all off.
     Some of the ten songs here sound so agitated that they might not only rattle themselves but tape player they're being played on apart. All of them though have that making noise in the basement punk rock spirit that lives and yells in a world beyond mall stores and giganto marketing schemes that pass off as summer touring festivals that place at baseball stadiums all over this country.
https://www.facebook.com/pages/Radio-Slaps/181423821913129

JOHNNY ILL BAND "In The Wintertime" 7inch EP

2012-01-10T13:53:00.083-03:00

There have been many a time when someone who is from a mild of weather climate has visited Michigan during the winter months and have asked "How do you deal with this?"

      "Well, there's sledding, ice skating, snowmobiling, making snowmen, going out and doing 360's on freshly snowed roads as long as the car has rear wheel drive. Also, lots and lots of beer, whatever is on TV and cursing the weather outside comes into play. That helps us deal with the snow shoveling, getting stuck in snowbanks an the months on end of grey skies. And besides, it helps us appreciate the nice weather, when it comes around again. Basically, we don't like either but we've learned to deal with it. It's not usual to put it in song though. Well, that is until fellow Michiganders, the Johnny Ill Band, did such with their newest out on the X! label
     Opening with strummed guitar and Jonathan Richman punk rock nephew croon about not wanting to go outside because it's too cold and there's no sunlight-"In The Wintertime" then kicks into Swell Mapsian DIY downstroke chug. A twinkly toy piano adds accents that resemble how the snow sparkles at dawn after a super frigid evening. Sure, that always looks pretty but anyone who deals with it knows that doesn't necessarily mean the blanket of white stuff covering the ground is all soft and fluffy. It could also mean it's hard and crusty and has left patches of those son of bitches all over the streets known as black ice.
     Yes, it is true-No one really likes the winter though some pretend they do. You can't play really baseball or have a picnic in the wintertime and have to wear boots and gloves and sometimes scarves. Johnny Ill isn't sugarcoating it. They're just plain and simple telling you how it really is.

The two tracks on the b-side, "Matt Larson" and "Doug Braun", are about two dudes they know from around town. The former hitting the Tyvek when they lock into a Wire groove. The latter is like that as well but splattered with a bit of wheezy, broken carnival calliope organ sounds.
http://johnnyill.com/

Chocolate Robots, Instant Party and Dorothy's Hazarai at the Roche

2012-01-09T09:42:00.029-03:00

The Chocolate Robots (see S/T's review of their latest album here) haul their noisemakers across the Blue Water Bridge to entertain the people on Saturday January, 28th at the Roche Bar at 405 Quay Street in downtown Port Huron. Also on the bill the distorted destructo-pop grooves of Detroit's Instant Party and blues/folk-rock in a pressure cooker sounds of Sarnia's Dorothy's Hazarai. Yours truly along with Franck Nowak (and possibly some others) will be spinning records between bands. No cover, 21 & over and the show starts around 10pm. Hope to see ya there.

https://www.facebook.com/events/327220933966796/

Wendesday Photo By Dale: Greasy Santa

2011-12-21T01:35:00.002-03:00

There's this greasy spoon restaurant that has been downtown since the 50's (as all greasy spoon grill joints should be). It's located between the two watering holes I usually frequent. Every Christmas season they put this plastic Santa up by the glasses and cups by the grill. It's been the same Santa that has been put up there since I was a little kid and would eat there with my grandma. In the day time he doesn't look so ragged and greasy but at night he really turns on the charm.

Atwater Lager

2011-12-14T19:14:00.107-03:00

Lager. Because of all the bastardized and bland rice/cornwater that brewing monoliths have pushed on the people for so many years now-trying to convince your usual beer geek to try one out is the same as trying to convince a serious foodie that a drive though restaurant chain that advertising every at least every 20 minutes on every TV and radio station is making a top of the line gourmet burger.

It's totally understandable too. I wear my beer geek badge proudly and as a somewhat foodie too-every time I've tried some new meat sandwich a burger chain is trotting out to the buying public always has me saying "It's like a weak processed version of the one I had at (fill in blank of a locally owned place that makes a far stellar burger...and makes them with care and one at time). So, when a new lager is introduced, even it's by a little guy brewer, it may get overlooked or purchased as a novelty or gag gift.

Personally, I have never been impressed with anything from Detroit's based Atwater Brewing Company before. Drinking a few at their brewpub is decent but anytime I've tried anything they've made out of a bottle something is serious awry be it the taste or some ridiculous carbonation where each and every bottle fizzed like mad and half the beer is wasted even before it is even tasted. The latter happened every time I gave an Atwater "another chance" over five or six times over a year so it just wasn't a one time occurrence.
A few weeks ago though I was getting together some friends to see what kind of noise we could make together on our instruments in a basement. The three of us are beer snobs but being on a very tight budget personally and slamming & quaffing brews straight from it's vessel is always more conducive in jam session situations than pouring it into a glass and sipping. Besides, we're playing at loud volume, and though breaking glass is punk rock, it was figured there would be less clean up mess if any cans rattled off the top of the amps from vibration and crashed to the floor than glass. The store, which is one of the main places I go in town for both selection AND price, had some 12 packs of cans of Atwater's Lager on the shelf. I liked the way the designed looked in it's white, gold, black and red colors. Reminded me of the old Stroh's design (back when it was still brewed in Detroit) or one of the other "old guys" beers me and friends of mine would sneak out of our grandparent's garage fridges back when we were teenagers. It's price point was nice too as it was cheaper than Bud and what have you. Seemed like though even if wasn't the most awesome, ultimate choice it would at least serve the purpose and had to at least have some more flavor than Busch or some other cheap swag.

It ended up being a hit. Enough so where we went and bought more of it because the first 12 went down really fast. I ended up hiding one can in my guitar case so I could take it home to pour on into a glass and give it a little more thorough of an investigation.

Translucent and gold in color as always expected from any lager but a bit more shiny and bright in it's color than most macro's of the same sort. A strong two fingered snow white head holds on tight with a good bit of retention before it finally melts away leaving a faint bit of lace behind. Sweet malts come to forefront on the nose followed by a touch of fresh baked bread and a little bit of honey too. Not one touch of boiled corn or rice either like almost every other lager that some one hands me usually has. Nice.

On the tongue and in the mouth the first thing that is noticed is a crisp, bubbly thing that is light and effervescent but not all thin and watery. A strong but not bulky caramel like backbone carries the weight for the tinges of lemon, pepper and grassy hop nuances to make their appearances giving the beer an overall pilsner thing to it. It finishes clean and refreshing leaving just a slight tang behind.

Needless to say, it has slightly changed my opinion of, at least of a couple things, Atwater beers. A person could session on these all day.

The store I got them on has been put on notice to now keep these in stock regularly as now they are not the go-to beer for band practice but something I like to have on hand for those mood where I just want a beer while cooking dinner, sit down to do a bit of writing or when some friends come over and will just knock back whatever is on hand (as long as it's mine most of the time it seems). The Mrs., who is a one beer maybe twice a week, kinda gal has also taken a shine to these too. Hey, Keeping her happy, still supporting a Michigan based company and that she doesn't give me guff for remembering to get beer but forgot something like dish soap is a-okay in my book.

http://www.atwaterbeer.com/

the CHOCOLATE ROBOTS "Pizza Face" LP

2011-12-08T20:08:00.267-03:00

     "Wiggly Indie-Rock that is quite astute to the craft of constructing a great pop song."
   It's not uncommon to see something of the same effect as above in the blogosphere describing a myriad of bands out there. They release a clever and catchy debut that ear worms many and has them anticipating future sounds by the band in question. Problem is though a lot of those bands put their eggs all in one basket or shoot their entire load the first time around to as where their follow up seem just a revisiting of everything that they've already done with no expansion or they change their idea/approach so much that they lose what charmed listeners in the first place.
   Sarnia, Ontario based trio of the brothers Giresi (Mike, Matt and Marcus), The Chocolate Robots, recently released their second full length, Pizza Face, and with it have cast any worried of the dreaded sophomore slump aside. Their first album, Purr Quality, seemed geared for both the head as well as the dancefloor (the mechanical rock of Brainiac, Girls Against Boys and Servotron rubbing up against those late period T. Rex albums and 60's bubblegum came to mind at moments). This new one aims an brightly colored arrow straight for the heart and lands a direct bullseye.
   Recorded in their basement on (mostly) analog equipment that was left over from their dad's days of recording Canadian-Italiano pop music in the 70's-Pizza Face, an homage/dedication to their straight gig of working at their family's pizzeria (and because, well, we all know how pizza and rock music go hand in hand not to mention the only pizza place I know who uses songs by Personal and the Pizzas for their on hold music), is like ordering like a pie with the supreme toppings. Where the results could be overwhelming in some other hands though all the little nuances from sweet to spicy and textures from crispy to gooey come out and enthuse the flavor receptors here.
   The warm, fuzzy and, thankfully. lacking too much pro-tooled post production tricks that turns a lot of like-minded projects into a piece of plastic coated mush recording cradles sleepy eyed but smiling singing, rubbery and twinkling guitars, door knock and disco beat drums, thick bass and more squiggly & elastic keyboard sounds that should sound very out of place but somehow work since the last time Devo made a really good record.
     The heyday of AM radio sunshine sound and Brian Eno's pop star phase (Y'know Here Comes The Warm Jets, Taking Tiger Mountain (By Strategy) and so on) meld into the modern post whatever they call in now melodicism of bands such as the Pixies and the Strokes shine brightly not only on the should be an international sensation (which technically it is if you're take in the Port Huron and Sarnia are international neighbors) "Young Love" but also on songs such as the robots are playing slide whistle squiggliness of "Impossible Princess", "Line" with it's "I can't dance all that good but I sure try" feeling, the sugarbuzz pusher at the small town summer parade "Cotton Candy" and the long walk to think about stuff because it's a nice day mood of "Soul Shoes".
   A childlike whimsy runs though the record and like children they aren't afraid to get all noisy as the Creation frolic with Phil Spector's tape machine "Funny Feeling" and "Ratical Power" which sounds like Hawkwind if they were picked to do an episode of Yo Gabba Gabba prove.
     Round out the album with a couple of citrus soda neo-psychedelia tracks like the Brian Wilson if he was asked to produce Roxy Music (they we go again with that Eno thing I guess) mood that is going on with "Dumb Angel" and you have a POP album your much cooler than thou pals won't scoff if they see it sitting out in the front of the record stack.
http://www.chocolaterobots.com/

Wednesday Photo by Dale: Bell's Brewery

2011-12-07T19:32:00.001-03:00

Mmmmm. Beer. Here's a few shots from inside the Bell's Brewery in Comstock, Michigan.

And there ya go. Some behind the scene's look of one of Michigan's most well known craft brewers. Beer! Beer! Glorious Beer! http://www.bellsbeer.com/

VACATION CLUB "Gettin' Man" 7inch EP

2011-12-02T17:33:00.000-03:00

     Another High School year was coming to an end. I had plans of going to away for the summer as a Counselor In Training at a Y-Camp up north but plans fell through.
   I just wanted to get out of town. I had my lifeguard certificate but didn't want to work at any of the local beaches or pools because all the female lifeguards in town were all stuck up and seemed kinda dumb and the guy ones all looked like Ted McGinley and fancied themselves as being David Lee Roth types (but without the charm or jokes).
     A girl that I fancied suggest I apply to this "vacation club" her family frequented a couple counties up the coastline.
     "They've got a pool, an in-land lake, tennis courts, horses and a place to live all summer. I know they need a lifeguard this summer. My dad's on the board of directors. Let me talk to him."
      Seemed like a deal to me. A week later there I was. Little did I know until the second day there that it's was some kind of Jesus Vacation Club. Not just any regular Jesus vacation either. It was one of those weird and creepy Baptist Jesus Vacation Clubs!
     Glossolalia abounds (and this outside of it going on at the three church service we were expected to attend everyday) and guys in the bunk house trying to initiate circle jerks.
     I decided I was no longer smitten with that girl and maybe working in my town for the summer wasn't such a bad idea so I snuck out the third night and started to hitchhike my way back down home. It was only around 100 miles. Took my just a day to get back home. My parents friends rang for weeks after with messages for me saying Jesus loves me.
   Whenever I hear any reference to a vacation club ever since it, needless to say, doesn't bring up the best of memories. My hands were sorta trembling when I put this platter on the turntable. I mean, what if it was those crazy Jesus and they found me after all these years and this was just some clever trap?
     "Gettin' Man" is a suburban teen jangle blowout/hillbilly footstomper with squeaky/nasally soul shouting vocals that lands the song somewhere between the Black Lips at their flowery punkest and/or the Strange Boys smoking weed and getting lost in a cornfield. The flip kicks it out with the hyperactive "Feeling Bad" oiled all up in blasty treble and blown out low end. It is followed by the drink in my hand/toes in the sand/lemonade spiked with something glass in my hand/Nothing to do but daydream all day long, man feeling of "Beach Flowers".
   I sure hope this isn't some creepy trap put together by those creepy Jesus vacation camp freaks of you're cuz if they keep doing records they may find me wanting to find out how well the once smitten with girl has aged.
http://vacationclubforboys.tumblr.com/

Wednesday Photo by Dale: Port Huron

2011-11-30T02:15:00.000-03:00

Here's the 3 photos I contributed to a calendar contest to raise money for a summer party the citizens of town love to throw in conjunction with the annual Port Huron to Mackinac Boat Race, one of the longest fresh water yacht race courses in the world, each summer.

This one is of the "Super Moon" that appeared in March of this year. It was around 10pm and I just happened to be at the right place at the right time.

This is pretty much taken from the exact same spot as the one of above. The difference is that this one was taken in July of this year. It was the morning of the annual yacht race. The party people had all gone to sleep and the racers were just starting to wake as the sun was just starting to make it's morning presence known.

     Another early morning shot. This one from August of this year. While the other two show Black River, which leads into to the St. Clair River, this is a few miles north of those two showing Lake Huron in a relaxing, quiet summer mood.

     All entrants were allowed to enter 3 pictures. There were a lot of great pictures and photographers in the contest. Of course only twelve pictures could win. The people voted and the first two pictures above two of the biggest vote-getters. I was the only photographer two land two pics in the contest. Pretty cool.

     The calendars are now out at local merchants around town as well being available to order online. More info on that at http://www.bluewaterfestival.com

CRUDDY "Negative World"

2011-11-27T19:38:00.094-03:00

As people get older their musical tastes, like most other things, tend to get set in their ways. I have one particular friend who is a prime example of that but perhaps not in the usual way.
Y'see, with him, it seems that he is flipping out a little bit that he is not getting any younger. He's always listened to a wide variety of music but over the last couple years or so he's worried that if he gets caught listening to something that could be considered mellow or toe-tapping catchy he's gonna called out on it and sent to pasture.

     Whenever he stops by my house to hang out in my basement he wants me to play him the latest and most "punk" rock thing I've listened to lately. Usually, what I land on him is "way not punk rock enough" and then talks about the days of when we "listened to Black Flag and Crass and smashed stuff" (I listened to lots of Black Flag...Crass-not so much, and I only smashed stuff on a very rare occasion. He feels the need to romanticize it all though I guess. Maybe he was off smashing stuff and listening to Crass when he wasn't hanging out with the rest of us). There are those rare occasions with him now though that I'll put something on that makes him act a fool, knock over his drink (usually breaking the glass on the basement floor) and waking up my wife and kids who are two flights up by turning the stereo up as loud as it will go when I turn my head for a second.
     Big on Black Flag disgust for almost everything, Germs glorious ineptitude and Urinals minimalistic jitter skronk this Texas trio's slab of two minute or less rusty steak knife stabs sound as if they're about to fly off the rails but at the last minute grabs on tight and scream bloody murder. Strangulated vocals that sounds like it eats pieces of roll insulation for breakfast, guitars that buzz like a hornets nest at times, slither like agitated snakes at others and drums that play straight on and simple bash & thrash beat. It's all right up and in your face and doesn't give itself or you a chance to ever catch your breath. Along with their own blasts of rage they give the Suicide Commandos "Burn It Down" a well deserved roughing up too.
     This IS HARDCORE! Y'know, like the old "I'm a reject and I don't need your stupid world" hardcore before all the meathead jocks and palm muting metal dudes starting coming around and stinking up everything.
     Since the first time I listened to this album a couple weeks back I have thought about calling him up, inviting him over and watch him loose his mind. First though I think I should probably move everything breakable out of the room (and out of his sight) because I believe it will make really want to smash some stuff. I mean, I don't want to deny the guy going through his 2nd childhood or anything but I'd rather have him smash his own stuff and, besides, I'm the one that is going to end up having to sweep broken glass of the floor when he send his drink tumbling to the floor anyway.
     He wanted punk rock. This punk rock is going to kick him in the face. If it doesn't-I'm gonna call his "I just want to be punk rock again" thing just bullshit talk.
http://www.12xu.net/

FUNGI GIRLS "Some Easy Magic" LP

2011-11-26T09:05:00.011-03:00

In nature, fungi is used as a reference to mosses, molds and mushrooms. They thrive off moisture and a lot of times develop in darker hours of the day.

   Describing the overall sound of this album by this Texas combo description phrases like music for dusk and words earthy, grassy and wet come to mind so their chosen band name seems apropo.
   Wrapped in reverb, bathed in full moonlight and swaddled in a misty early morning haze the Fungi Girls, who aren't even of age to drive a car without a parent or legal guardian in the vehicle in most states, sound like old souls with young hearts that have the brightest color of red table wine pumping through their veins.
   Sad eyed shoegazing gets battered and washed ashore by fractured surf music ripples on songs like "Honey Face". "Hevrole" and "All Night Blues".
     Worshipping of clever and cannabis enhanced 80's "college rock" bands like the Feelies and Rain Parade is given the once over twice before rinsed in algae clouded water, put through the ringer and set out to dry in the sunshine on the album's basement-psych title track, "Doldrums" jangle boogie and the pretty flowers growing in the middle of landfill feeling of "Lucie".
     "Velvet Days" pricks the ears like the Cramps living in a snow capped mountain village instead of dwelling in that neighborhood of Hell where all the best jukeboxes and cocktail lounges are and sunshine pop shines on a swamp on the album's closer "Little Miss Flora".
      Music for both early morning wake up motivation and late evening cemetery walking.
http://losfungigirls.blogspot.com/

My first attempt at stop action animation

2011-11-25T16:00:00.003-03:00

     One of my regular gigs is being a jack of all trades at the local college station 91.3fm WSGR in Port Huron. My title is program director but this is a small town so such a position means much more than making a schedule and being responsible for the overall sound of the station but heading the music department, searching for underwriters, making sure everybody at the station is keeping everything legal, doing publicity stunts and so on.
     On Monday of this week I was given a "what if" scenario. It was "what if there was a local TV station that we could advertise on" and given a 72 hour deadline to come up with some basic ideas and do a rough visual draft of what the ad may look like and post it on Youtube. I've wanted to do some sort of stop action animation for awhile so figured this assignment would be as good as a project as any to give it a first time try. This is what I came up with.

   To say it's was done and the most minimal of budgets is not just bragging and claiming "Lo-Fi". The pictures were shot on a 4 year old Nikon Coolpix L15 point-n-shoot as I did not have one of my better cameras with me at that particular moment (I keep that camera in my car for just in case situations such as this). I thought there was some kind of movie maker program in my computer at home but when I went to look realized I had none. I ended up downloading some minimal basic free one from the internet. The audio was recorded on a Sansa Fuze MP3 player, edited and sweetened a touch in Audacity then synced as best as I could with in such a short time with the video.
     All-n-all. It was fun to do and I want to make some more. Now that I've had a first go at it future ones can only get better, right?
https://www.facebook.com/WSGR91.3fm

Wednesday Photo by Dale: M.O.T.O at the Roche

2011-11-23T18:00:00.000-03:00

I'm pretty sure to most readers of this Smashin' Transistors thing that M.O.T.O. aka Mr. Paul Caporino needs no introduction. If he does though I believe his Wikipedia page will fill in all the blanks. It's rare that this sleepy city has a bona fide genius of a pop song writer (who's songs never get played on "pop" radio or covered by so called "pop stars") but in June of this year we had one when Paul and his drummer rocked the Roche Bar. He treated the crowd to over two hours of his classics, dropped a bunch of one liners are flirted with all the girls in the crowd. He would've played even more but the last call lights got switched on. Everyone went home with smiles on their faces and a sway in their hips.
https://www.facebook.com/pages/MOTO/108047032562126

CRISIS HOTLINES "(Don't Wanna Go To) No Jail" 7inch EP

2011-11-22T16:01:00.048-03:00

Austin, Texas has given the world some pretty bad ass music through the years. When a group of those bad ass music makers form a gang things get even more bad ass.

     Crisis Hotlines are a prime example of that.
     With members of Love Collector and the Horribly Wrong (who weren't an Austin band but a member or two ended up down there and formed totally rockin' Lost Controls) this band sure does know how to whip up a racket.
   The dumb fun and sick kicks of KBD punk and leaning heavily against the walls that bands like the Dicks and the Ramones kicked holes in-this grimy wax sliver takes punk rock back to a place that should be remembered by the kids today but instead is passed over the eyeliner and bottled water endorsements the offer up for playing the Warped tour.
      Four tracks of quick, to the point, REAL punk rock with oafish, pissed off singing, lots of razor blade guitar sounds but no time for frills like solos and middle eights. Listen to this and be prepared to get kicked out of all the popular kids parties.
http://crisishotlines.bandcamp.com/album/dont-wanna-go-to-no-jail

Wednesday Photo By Dale: The Overnight Lows

2011-11-16T16:56:00.009-03:00

Though I am no pro I've been taking pictures for a lot of years now. A lot of them have been lost due to many moves I made over the years, some have been given to friends and family, others tossed away and a whole bunch sitting in boxes where one day I will eventually go through them.
     Some are of the bands and other thing things that have I've traveled to see, others of bands that have traveled through this little hamlet to rock out and some are of things in this little hamlet itself. The last couple of years I've been sharing some of the ones I took of a more recent vintage with my Facebook pals. Family and friends (both of the real and cyberspace world) have suggested that I should let a more general audience have a peek at some of them and not just the pictures of beer of have shot.
     Finally, I have decided "Hmmmm. you know what? They are right" so each Wednesday from now to who knows when I will share SOME of them with the Smashin' Transistors readers (too see all of them you'll have to make it through the maze that is finding them on my personal Facebook page. I wish you luck with that. I suppose if you find me there and make a friend's request I may oblige.)

     The first installment series is of Jackson, Mississippi band the Overnight Lows. In 2010 they released the very rockin' album "The City Of Rotten Eyes" and in early 2011 embarked on a US tour. They needed help filling a night up here Michigan way and I gladly obliged them with an evening at the Roche Bar here in Port Huron. Here's some moments my camera caught (click the pics to see them larger).

One thing a bunch of us take seriously in this town is our homestate pride for the beer that is made here. Marsh and Daphne Overnight Lows were interested in trying some. Here the two make a toast with some Shorts brewing company stuff. Daphne has the Soft Parade and I believe Marsh is having a Pandemonium if my memory serves correctly.

More info the Overnight Lows can be found at Goner Records and the band's Facebook page.

BLASTED CANYONS s/t LP

2011-11-15T12:42:00.124-03:00

     Surrounded by black mold encrusted strangeness, jagged garage punk YEEEOWWW and a penchant for thunder in a tin shed drum rat-ta-tat-tat-n-boom-this album conjures up the feeling of the simple thrills of watching something burn and the fear of possible repercussion of what my happen for disturbing a grave.
     On tunes like the guitar splattered, shout along twists of "Blood On The Wall", the Casio keyboard adorned "Fries Yr Eyes" Psychedelic Horseshit digging on spaceman bubblegum vibe, the minute-n-change drunk on cheap wine/buzzed on cranked wide open gain knob Chrome clatter of "Lasers VS. Lizards" and the rattling locomotive pace of "I Know A Dude" it's as if they're an art punk band with all the filler banished making an album for Rip Off Records.
   Though the glorifying of overloaded/red lined sound of magnetic tape pushed to it's limits is de rigueur here the punk rock blast shoots into some sinister space-trip more with "Death and A Half" resembling Syd's Pink Floyd riding meteors of fiery grime and using rocket fuel fumes as oxygen and the twisted B-Movie of alien witch cults and the blood thirsty voodoo hippies who die in the process scree of "Ice Cream Man".
   Rounding out the album are three brain rattlers (save for the outro piece) the Spaceman 3 discovers grindcore epic "The Artist Formally", another trip into space but this time to play a dance party of "Pentagon Gone" and "Consider Drowning" road music for driving through another urban wasteland.
     Cranked to the max, sick lo-fi bliss!
http://www.myspace.com/blastedcanyons

Dogfish Head Burton Baton 2011

2011-11-07T00:23:00.084-03:00

     There are some rare "occasionals" the breweries whip that make me say "Woo!" Then there are SOME that make me say "WOO! HOO!" and punctuate with the feeling of total beer geek bliss and flavor nirvana with a "HOT DAMN! YES!"
     Dogfish Head's Burton Baton is one that always goes into the latter camp.
   The first impression of any beer is how it looks and the hazy, slightly burnt orange color of this, topped with a one finger sized fizzy, cream colored head that melts away at a moderate pace to a constant cap that sticks by all the way through. It's pretty much announcing that there's gonna be a good number of complexities to take in through the sipping so get yourself ready now.
   Aromas of orange peel, vanilla, caramel all wrapped by a woodsy oak cask project itself boldly out of the glass. There's a dint of alcohol in the smell too but not overwhelming considering the brew's 10% abv potency. DAMN! It's been well over a year since I've last tasted one of these (and this only the 2nd beer I have revisited ever in this blog so far) so enough of these pleasantries and let's get down to some sipping.
   The sweet/buttery/malty meets the citrus pucker power of Dogfish Head's 90 Minute IPA is here in spades on the initial sip. It's followed by a bit of honey then a bit of woodsy, whiskey nuances in the middle. The finish starts with a bit of an orange tartness but is mellowed out again with something that I can only describe as a smokey vanilla thing. At the very tail end of it all the more top end of the alcohol spectrum comes out but still subtle enough to not realize how potent this brew is.
   A very, very limited amount of these hit this area (word was two cases for the entire county) and the beer merchant I picked them up at had their allowance of them reserved for those of us who have professed our love to them. I have two bottles left out of my 4 pack. I'm gonna hide those down in my beer cellar for at least a few months and see what happens.
http://www.dogfish.com/

MONDO RAY "Hynotized" 7inch

2011-11-05T20:05:00.067-03:00

     To call this Munich, Germany band "Euro garage with a flair for the power pop thing" would be simple enough to do and then call it a day but it would be selling what is going on in the two songs of this little slab of plastic a bit too short.
   First off, the description of "Euro-garage" is, usually, at most, a backhanded compliment and most times a nice way of saying "Their hearts are in the right place but they just don't have IT enough to be convincing."
   Secondly, "the power pop thing, leaves it open as to what kind of power pop. After all, some of the music coined that sounds like its running on a couple of triple A batteries while others actually have some get up and go to them.
      Mondo Ray sound convincingly revved up. "Hypnotized" could almost be passed off a unreleased track from the Saints Eternally Yours for it's amped up dirty white boy take on soul power rock (minus the horns though but twice the noise as the guitars and distorted organ sounds lock gang up tightly with the rhythm section and throw down a pummel that last throughout the song).
   The B-side's "Nothing" plays it a bit more straitlaced and cleaner, hence where the blessed or dreaded, depending on which side of the fence you are, power pop badge comes in to play, but the band inject an enthusiasm into it that sounds honest and direct. The fat bass tones and spikey blasts of twanged out guitar all over the song show that these guys aren't afraid to walk on on stage with wrinkles in their shirts.
http://www.windianrecords.com/

DIRTY BEACHES "Badlands" LP

2011-11-02T19:30:00.004-03:00

"Dark! Seductive! Disturbing!"
It could be printed in bold across a old exploitation poster from the 50's. It could also be used to describe the overall mood that this record puts across.

     A very mysterious film noir type of air hangs over the entire proceedings from the use of darkness, shadow and smoke that appear in the cover shot of the band's mastermind, Alex Zhang Hungtai, to the use of the same and the making the best of a B-movie budget and equipment that goes with it of the music within.
     On tracks such as the ballads like the treated and looped piano laded "God Only Knows", which on a recent radio show of mine I declared "the darkest make out song in quite awhile" (when hearing it one might wonder if it's written for an imaginary David Lynch movie where it plays during a seduction scene and then again while someone lies bleeding and dying) and the 50's weeper (down to the falsettos) gone goth "True Blue", it's as if Leonard Cohen gave up wine for tall glasses of codeine cough syrup then sent Martin Rev a telegram stating that he had some demons he needs to free.
The Suicide references (the band not the act-though there is a very dark and depressive place nature looming like an entire year of dark clouds all over the album) don't just stop there as it even exists on the more "upbeat" songs.
     The echoey metallic clang of "Speedway King" is like the story of Frankie Teardrop if he was a hot rod racer if he had had a preference for the OVH 390 cu in Cadillac engine and the plot line of the story was left a bit more open ended. That same clang makes a lot of showings in "A Hundred Highway", which sounds like something between a gravedigger humming Little Peggy March's "I Will Follow Him"on a rainy night at work and a track that didn't make it to the Godz (the New York freak band of the 60's-not the Ohio hard rock band of the 70's) 2nd album for being just too minimal.
     "Horses" has a beat that sounds like it was created by the undead soul of the world's gloomiest rockabilly drummer collaborating with Lux Interior and John Cale for the title track of an unreleased Russ Meyers horror flick and if there's such a thing as surfer goths they prowl the coldest and lonely spots for tasty waves and confused girls in their hearse converted into a woody while listening to "Sweet 17".
   Round it out with two atmospheric "noise" tracks and watch pyschobilly dudes leave the room pissed, make them admit that they do that they still have their Nitzer Ebb and Nine Inch Nails cassettes (and listen to them when no one is looking) or realize that most of that psychobilly stuff they listen to isn't really psycho at all and is in reality just cartoon cock rock.
http://dirtybeaches.bandcamp.com/

JACK OBLIVIAN "Rat City" LP

2011-10-25T00:50:00.118-02:00

     Each time Jackie O'Yarber releases a record it's like hanging out in a used record store that doubles as a greasy spoon eatery. So not only selling music they serve up cooked in beef tallow french fries, the juiciest burgers for miles around and when you ask for a Coca-Cola they don't tell you "We carry Pepsi products". Instead inform that you've got the choice of RC Cola or a Boilermaker.
   Unlike a lot of record stores too that have their selection somewhat divided up into genres-Jack's used record emporium and grill sometimes don't even bother having them filed in alphabetical order. Forgotten Memphis soul sides of the 60's find themselves leaning next international cheeky pop hits of the 70's, million sellers classic rock standards sandwiched between basement rock and garage punk bands that pressed 300 copies of their only record before fading into obscurity and all but forgotten save for a few collectors of such things and pure country & western slabs find themselves neighboring with synth laden/funny hair driven new wave 12 inches.
   This has resulted in Memphis Jack Oblivian living by the adage of what Pablo Picasso (or was it someone like David Lee Roth) said that "Good artists borrow, great artists steal" and his latest album, Rat City, is no different. Jack processes all of the sounds that has passed through his brain through the years, be it a lick here, a lyric there, and assimilates them into his own brand of musical barbecue sauce. Listening to it can raise some interesting and mostly likely ridiculous conversation amongst collectors of arcane and fans of music that's not so popular with regular everyday people these days.
   For instance would the ghosts of Lightnin' Hopkins and Hound Dog Taylor give Jack the keys to a phantom Cadillac for keeping their boogie alive on the record's full of fuzz title track and the cracked ribs barroom dance beat bottom'd "Old Folks Boogie" or would the pissed and pull out a gun for him not giving them co-writing credit as well doing adding a bit of punk rock mess to the proceedings? A similar question could be raised with the Stax foundation that it sounds "Caboose Jump", a tune about it beinga long time but, baby, she's still looking fine, that would instantly fill dance floors in a more perfect world, is built upon.
Is the opening line "Yeah, What are you gonna now' of the Jonathan Richman if he wasn't afraid to fight country rock charmer "Girl With The Bruises" inspired after hearing Clash's "Clampdown"? And what happens if you take another country rock charmer, grafted it with some of the vibes that Stiv Bators Disconnected was going for could you get much better results than "Dark Eyes"? I'm thinking mostly likely not. Consult your own Magic 8-Ball if you feel the need though.
   Does Jack hide his copy of the Talking Heads Remain In Light album when company is over because he doesn't want to get cracked on for liking that goofy new york art disco but now is letting the secret out for the goofy new york art disco gets soaked overnight in butter and black pepper with "Crime of Love".
   If Tom Petty heard "Girl On The Beach" and "Jealous Heart" (which opening line has gotta be a subtle nod to Alex Chilton with it's "I'm free to do what I want" and where the songs protagonist goes from working in a gas station in the bad part of town to getting a gig as a late night radio disk jockey. Talk about total American rock! You can't get it much more than that) would he think "I remember when I wrote songs like this. And people still like him" then call Jeff Lynne to curse him for all those plastic coated production jobs he's been doing forever?
Is it a good thing that Jack doesn't have some disgruntled ex-manager that would try to take him to court over the reasoning that "Mass Confusion" sounds like the dirty funky blues that he's been doing since the Oblivians (but with an, ahem, "more studio rock session guys" rhythm section.)
   With all that said not only are Jack's records a fun time listen but can be a fun game of playing Spot The Difference. Party record of the year!
http://biglegalmessrecords.com

Spend a Sunday evening at SEX CHURCH

2011-10-13T14:41:00.077-02:00

     With a band name like Sex Church some people might be expecting some blatant nudie girl worship thing going on. You know, something silly with a logo that has a wanna porn chick dressed up as a hot zombie nun straddling a cross and a sound band members themselves would consider "Industrial Dance Metal with a White Trash-A-Billy twist" and would tell you so with a straight face.
   Instead of sounding like they have daily dalliances with undead disco dollies though the music of Sex Church is wrought with desperation, depression and daydreams of a handful of downers. The guitars sometimes blare with a wet BLLAAANNGGG of the Cramps living in the dingiest of of windowless basements, at others work up a choir of drone up to the dark skies like Spacemen 3 on a thunderstorming weekend and occasionally howl a Stooges grind. Above it a voice, disconnected and discontented, brays soliloquies of not the best of times. This clamor of celebration of what is electricity electricity is solidified by thudding bass notes & boom-boom drums locked into a throb-n-nod rhythm that nods to the ticking of the motorik heartbeat as well as wiped out surf swinging.
   Featuring Wisconsin expat NickG (Catholic Boys and Strong Come Ons) and Levon (of Ladies Night and some other ridiculousness I can't recall at the moment) Vancouver B.C.'s Sex Church have previously released records on the Hozac and Sweet Rot labels. Their new full length LP, Growing Over, came out on the venerable LOAD records in the past couple of weeks and the band is taking their death trip on the road. They'll be holding an special early Sunday evening sermon/eardrum sacrifice here in Port Huron on October 23rd at the SchwonkSoundStead. Paint may peel, minds may blow, punk rockers may break into hippie dancing.
http://soundcloud.com/sexchurch

HEAD ON ELECTRIC "Ghost Hunter" 7inch

2011-10-01T01:35:00.120-02:00

     Once upon a time it was considered a compliment to say a band sounded like they were influenced by Nirvana. That was many years ago before douchebags like Creed and Nickelback took the basic sound, wiped out all the subtleties, dynamics and nuances out of it, launching a still non-stop parade of other douchebags unimaginatively following in their steps, flooding the ears with a soundtrack appropriate for shopping for a new black t-shirt at Walmart (You know-for "church & shit"), being lame and, when turning it up loud so the neighbors can hear, showing the rest of the world that the average music "fan" not only minds the taste of baloney that has sat on the kitchen counter for three days-they savor it.
Milwaukee's Head On Electric takes us back to the days when being compared to Nirvana meant something good.
     Full of tension building soft to loud dynamics held together by thick hooks that bring to mind some of the thick and terse moments of In Utero (Nirvana's best album in this writers opinion) and the bad dream daze haunting's of Sonic Youth's EVOL. Much, much more tasty than the wading in a river of mud and Corona Light effect pedal setting that a lot of radio rock bands who THINK they are touching on the same sounds have.
It's not just the approach they take with the guitar sounds and so on that make them sound like they could've come out of the golden period of "Alternative Rock" in the "years before punk broke". With bands who dream of being heard on the local modern rock station sandwiched between something off Metallica's "Black" album and Theory Of A Deadman-the vocals tend to sound like Emo Phillips with constipation. Head On Electric's are that of a disjointed, moody croon wrapped loosely in a blanket floating in & out around the music instead of a whiny grunt autotuned to high hell and right in your face.
   I suppose it's not really fair to even make such comparisons between what Head On Electric and what some bozo's with a PRS Guitar and Line 6 endorsment deals are doing but all it takes is that ONE SONG to get a band from lugging/plugging it in and out in local dive bars to headlining rock festivals all over the world. This one sided 7inch only hosts one song (they make up for it with some pretty fancy handmade packaging though. There's also a trippy video that goes along with the tune) but it's the first time in a long time where I've said "They remind me of Nirvana" about a band and wasn't ripping on them.
https://www.facebook.com/pages/Head-On-Electric/182335031791838

WOMEN IN PRISON "Strange Waves" 7inch EP

2011-09-09T16:48:00.001-02:00

     I was at the mall earlier today. It was not by choice but I needed something and in this two cow city where the downtown shopping district is pretty much knick knack & trinket shops, a handful of eateries/drinkeries and empty storefronts I had no other choice.
     As we all know the mall is a good place to people to watch. It's also a good place to find something to vent about.
     "YOU KIDS NOT PUNK ROCK AT ALL! YOU ARE ALL BOUGHT AND SOLD! YOU ARE ALL BRING LIED TO! THE PERSON THAT SOLD YOU THAT DEAD KENNEDYS T-SHIRT AT HOT TOPIC DOES NOT GIVE A SHIT ABOUT YOU! HELL, THE DEAD KENNEDYS DON'T EVEN GIVE A SHIT ABOUT YOU! THEY JUST WANT THE MONEY YOUR PARENTS ARE LETTING YOU SPEND!" and so on goes through my mind on a regular basis on the rare times I set foot in the place seeing all "the kids" walking around like zombies with their tattoos (how rebellious and individualistic are they anymore when insurance salesmen sport full sleeves of ink and grandma's have tramp stamps? You aren't bikers, rock stars or longshoremen. You live in a Pulte built home on a cul-de-sac.), piercings that make the dude from Skid Row's lip to nose chain thing look less like a jackass and filling their faces with Taco Bell (which apparently is more "punk rock" than Hot Dog On A Stick, the Flaming Wok or Burger King judging judging by the fat asses wearing Anarchy t-shirts standing in line, asking for extra sour cream and the largest cup for Mountain Dew Baja Blast available "and we get free refills, right?" Free refills are punk! Long live anarchy!).
   Listening to this Women In Prison single I like to believe that whenever band members have to go to the mall though they are armed with butcher knives and flamethrowers with the intention of doing much more than just thinking vitriol and venting to themselves. And, yeah, they do sport tattoos (a lot of them as a matter of fact) but they're bona fide dirtbags not just weekend rebels.
   The sound is that of jackhammer to a cesspool this Austin based band take the template of things like '81 era Black Flag and splatter it like brains all over the windshield in a car crash with the falling into a vat of battery acid search and destroy punk rock of Chicago's Functional Blackouts. The latter makes sense though as Women In Prison are fronted one time FB's snarly throatman Brian Nervous (now operating under the name of John Bondage). All three tracks here pummel the ears to a pulp with chainsaw violence punk rock that are glazed with echo that doesn't sound like it's some studio trickery as it does like it was recorded in a cave filled with bat shit and coyote carcasses.
http://www.facebook.com/pages/WOMEN-IN-PRISON/34957120381

Creemore Springs Premium Lager

2011-09-03T12:05:00.123-02:00

Located about just a little bit south from Georgian Bay (the Lake Huron region, not the city itself-that's about an hour and half to the northeast) in quaint little town Creemore, Ontario sits the Creemore Spring brewery which, according to what info I could glean from the internet, is the largest employer in that particular area.
   It's color is nice amber shade accented with a right amount of carbonation to give a bit of a sparkle when drinking it out of glass in the afternoon sun. It's not too big but not too small head is a bit on the tan side filled with bubbles that when it fades leaves a light lace around. Looks good and that's always a good start. The aroma is strong but does have a nice bouquet of caramel, a bit of nuttiness and some citrus and grassy notes to top it off.
   Tastewise it's pretty interesting. It starts off with a bit of a creamy sweetness from the malts, followed by a little bit of hop and then finishes clean. It's light and refreshing but also full bodied and well rounded all the way through.
     I shared a couple of the cans (I was only able to score a sixer from a Canadian friend and fellow beer and music geek who brought them over for me to check out) with my wife and a friend of of ours while sitting out and enjoying the sun on an 85° afternoon this past August. All three of us almost at the same time "It's too bad this isn't available in Michigan because I could easier see this being something I would want to drink all through the summer." Summer is fleeting though but I think even through the autumn months (and probably even into the winter) these would still hit the spot.
http://www.creemoresprings.com/

the MIDWEST BEAT "Gone Not Lost" LP and "Back To Mono" 7inch EP

2011-08-25T17:55:00.081-02:00

     What exactly is the beat of the Midwest?
   Is it the sound of flannel shirts sitting around a bonfire sipping on cans of beer that may not be exactly cold?
   Is it about trying to find the happy medium between being blasted with two to ten foot snowfalls in sub arctic temperature winters and scorching, humid, sweat drenched summers?
Is it the sound of rust belt wonders revving up outside the corner store mixed in with sound of freighters chugging across the Great Lakes and their can be heard for miles horns?
     Is it the sound one hears while humming to their self at their favorite fishing hole or the songs going through their head being accompanied by the clang of factory noise of the third shift one has to do to make ends meat in these tough times?
     Is it the sound of sound of the country music that rural elders and first cousins listen too which is then filtered through growing up on parents and grandparents favorite songs on the oldies station and "weird" records friends and family acquired during their college years which they then brought home to have them neglected until one decided to look for some kind of new inspiration and give them a spin?
     Is it a sound that could be of naivety of what the world is trying to tell you what is cool and hip but a determination of what it's in the heart and mind musically is more important than some new flavor that'll be discarded in a year or so?
   Who knows for sure but the band the Midwest Beat sound as if they've got a bit of everything from the above rolled up into one nice package.
Budget beer basement bash find it's way to a Wall Of Sound where harmonies soar like unwashed angels over a musical bed of what sounds like a perfect summer day. The album kicks off with the hyper jangle and squeaky wail of "Ain't It Strange" and then swerves around in plenty of different places. Stoned country rock lounging around listening to the Ohio Express looms large on tracks like "Too Late To Care" and "All Night Long", while others, such as "When She Came To Town" suggest the Walker Brothers raised on hot dogs and Hamm's beer taking a 3 day weekend trip to the Upper Peninsula. They also don't shy away from doing a campfire sing-a-long with the likes of Miss Besty from the Sugar Stems ("Crawling Back"), fiddling with a 50's rock ballad structure ("Firefly") and just wanting to make people dance ("Spent Love" and "Sister Mary Katherine").
   The "Back To Mono" single is exactly that. Tight and concise pieces of guitar pop bliss recorded (side one by Kyle of the Motorz, the flip taped by the band themselves) without any extra adornments or an overindulgence of flourishes. All four tracks on it are just as good as anything they've released in the past, but even if they weren't, the single would be worth the price of admission for their peaches and cream take on the Hussy's rough and tumble "Sexi Lady".
https://www.facebook.com/pages/The-Midwest-Beat/15907127759

DAY CREEPER "Problem At Hand" 7inch EP

2011-08-24T04:32:00.003-02:00

At first impression here, if Columbus, Ohio based Day Creeper wanted to, they could be sporting girls pants, Rod Stewart haircuts and killing it in front of power-pop festival audiences all over the world. Loud, catchy and kinda toe tapping kinda stuff is what the first think the ear tells the brain it's hearing.It's the following though where both the ear and brain notice something a little more than standard songs about cars and girls structures going on. It sounds like if the band would ever want to play for throngs of popsters, who are waiting for all the original members of the Spongetones or whoever to take the stage, it would be to confuse or frustrate them.

The reason why is because instead of spending weeks practicing harmonies that would make the Beatles blush from such idolizing or taking a guitar solo the way Rick Neilsen does this is much more plug in, see what happens and go for broke here. What results is something much more rag-tag, comfortable and broken in on the four songs here than studied and starched.

The sound is that of the Midwest where 70's punk rock buzzsaw downstrokes the same rust belt environs of 60's teenage jangle and where handclaps and snotty singing are commonplace. Think if during the recording of their album Hootenanny the Replacements spent time wanting to be a machine bent of perpetual motion instead of wanting to sounding like poetic wino's with their hearts wrapped in flannel or bands like the Yolks and Home Blitz laying sloppy kisses all over the Gizmos and you're in the same bar that has Black Label for a dollar a can that Day Creeper call a home away from home.

https://www.facebook.com/pages/Day-Creeper/119929404710560

CONSPIRACY OF OWLS s/t LP

2011-08-08T09:37:00.043-02:00

     At a first and somewhat casual listen I was thinking about counting how many records over the past couple years have been declared Pet Sounds for the modern age. After running out of fingers but before taking off my shoes to keep the tabulation straight I put the album on again. It made me realize that if I was going to start the review off on some kind of "You're not Brian Wilson" rant I would be off base and would look the fool (not that it would be the first time that's happened...but still). All Beach Boys references that can be made about this album would be from some of the things they made after that always touted holy grail of pop music. Y'know, like 20/20 and Sunflower. Even some people that consider themselves "big Beach Boys fans" those are albums that don't really ever come up much in conversation. It was a period when Brian Wilson's influence and musical vision on the band had become diminished due to his brain teetering on the edge of a cliff which left the others scrambling to keep something somewhat cohesive in the sound they had established with their fans. The problem with that though was pop music at the time was growing by leaps and bounds. The band did their best to stay loyal to their original sound while also attempting to keep up to minute. That's not to say those records didn't have their good moments but there were also a lot of things that just fell flat or were trying to hard.
     Taking a wild stab in the dark it sounds as if members of Detroit's Conspiracy Of Owls (which includes cats who've done time in the Go, Rocket 455 and Human Eye just to rattle off a small bit of their lineage) must all own copies of both albums (and at least a couple of them having copies of Wild Honey and Friends in their record collection) and have had them on their turntables on a regular basis.
     Making these comparisons aren't just because the Conspiracy Of Owls, dressed in cut off shorts, tank tops or unbuttoned shirts, hair that looks it needs to be washed with beards to match look like that era of the Beach Boys either. Two songs out of more than a few on the record that particularly show more than a nod to that wilderness period of the Wilson family and friends here are"Tower Of Diamonds" and "The New Me". The former, a song about the days of yore, except in this case not being about malt shops it's about things like when K-Mart was the main discount retail chain and they had a Frozen Coke machine always close to the front door, Sir Graves Ghastly was still on Saturday afternoon TV and video arcade we're located inside bowling alleys and roller rinks, has a cheerful about being melancholy Carl Wilson vibe. The latter about reawakening but without all that creepy Mike Love transcendental meditation hooey and his later rubbing shoulders with the Reagan's and money grab tricks.
     To say that the brain into only clicks into just Beach Boys deep cut referencing while to Conspiracy Of Owls, though it does loom large over the entire album, would be short selling it. For example, the record's lead off track, "Puzzle People" would not sound out of place on Hawkwind's Quark, Strangeness and Charm while other tracks such as "Raving Mad" nods to Syd Barrett, mid-70's AM radio and "The Lesson" is a fine Flaming Lips from Soft Bulletin that the Flaming Lips didn't write.
   Going in to this record expecting some crazy, wild and loud "Detroit Rock" record based on the members lineage could bum out to downright pissing off some listeners but for those looking for well crafted, harmony laden and clever psych-pop-this record is one that will make them smile.
https://www.facebook.com/conspiracyofowls

APACHE DROPOUT s/t LP

2011-08-07T23:07:00.093-02:00

Album of the year?

Is it too early to declare such things?

So far, it's been a pretty decent year for releases. A lot of things have found themselves on my turntable and in my portable Mp3 playing device when I'm in the car, riding the bike, mowing the lawn, going for a walk, hanging out the beach and so on. Then there are those that find themselves staying there for a much longer time.

This Indiana trio, who took their name from the classic Edgar Broughton band song, and feature a former member of soul punks John Wilkes Booze (who's song "Whiskey and Pills" is still a standard I whip out on dj nights), have released a debut album that definitely falls into the later category.

   It's a sound of after being cooped up in a humid, claustrophobic cinder block box finally getting out and ready to do a swamp shimmy and hoot & holler. Why are their clothes all bloodstained in the morning though? The don't know and everyone that watch what went down would rather pretend they didn't see what happened.
   Part murder blues finds a back woods baptism, part post Oblivians/Gories slobbering over the bible that the Velvet Underground wrote bonk and all pressure cooker ready to burst tension.
     Sounding like the Good Earth era Feelies battling the Cheater Slicks in a loser the leave town match that ends in static-the album's opener, "I'm So Glad", throws the ears into a world of nervy, dripping in cold sweat sound that works for both shaking the hip or drowning sorrows in poison. Carnival organ accentuates a train chug on the, in a more perfect world, angst anthem "Teenager" and the super-agitated Cramps throwing the distortion into the deep red line of "Nothing In My Hand."
     Legendary records label proprietors and obscure record collector/even more obscure music historians get named checked too. The former with the acid boogie of "Sam Phillips Rising", the latter with a the caffeinated rooster rhythm of "God Bless You Johan Kugelberg".
     I could go on about each and every track extolling it's execution and at moments sounding CCR covered in used motor oil while practicing fuzz-fest voodoo or some other attempt at rock-crit lit wit but I'd rather just listen to the record again and again as much as I have been these past few months.
Album of the year? So far I am thinking so.
https://www.facebook.com/pages/Apache-Dropout/124872621463

PEOPLE'S TEMPLE "Sons Of Stone" LP

2011-07-17T15:58:00.052-02:00

     I'll never forget the first time I heard the Grateful Dead. It was my first year of my first go 'round of college. I was getting heavy into the Paisley Underground thing, it's forefathers (especially the Byrds and the Velvet Underground), some Euro Neo-psych stuff like Echo & the Bunnymen and the Teardrop Explodes (if neo-psych was even what they were considered, the Nuggets and Pebbles comps (Back From The Grave hadn't entered my orbit yet), the 13th Floor Elevators, the dark part of the mind drifting vibes of Spacemen 3 and the stoned sun baked lackadaisical sound of the Meat Puppets Up On The Sun.
   Having worked at my high school high school radio station and a bit of summer stringer work at a commercial one I fell right into a gig at the one at my college. For the most part the people at the college station were pretty straight laced. They wanted to play Eddie Money, Pat Benatar and Journey but had to begrudgingly let any weirdos do shows and especially those that had come from the high school program. Basically "the weirdos" were anyone who didn't want to play Eddie Money, Pate Benatar and Journey.
     It also so happened that the "weirdos" were usually the ones that were the partiers or, GASP!, the stoners.
     Well, hanging out at the beach or around a bonfire drinking and smoking always appealed to me more than associating with a bunch of Eddie Money, Journey and Pate Benatar fans who's idea of fun dressing up in theme costumes because it was time for a TV party because one of them had all the episodes of M.A.S.H. on videotape. One night while hanging out with the crowd I chose I was asked to put a tape in. It had a bunch of the things mentioned above on it. One guy, everyone called him Redman but I never found out why because he wasn't Native American, a ginger nor did he chew the tobacco of the same names, listens intently to the first few songs and asks me "You ever listen to the Grateful Dead."
     "I've seen the name so many times but I don't think I ever have"
     "Here, man" he says first handing me a joint and then a cassette copy of Terrapin Station "Smoke this and then put this in next. It's a lot along the lines of what you're in to. It's gonna blow your mind."
     I did. And you know what?
     It blew something but it wasn't my mind. IT SUCKED.
     It sounded like some overplaying jazzbo's trying to invent a genre they were going to call prog-country. In ways what the Meat Puppets were doing at the time could be considered the same kind of thing (save for the jazzbo part) but it was like a really overplayed, overblown, longwinded and, well, really crappy version of that sound even if it did come out 10 years earlier. It didn't blow my mind it just blew. It also sounded so far from being right up my alley that it was at the other side of the county.
       Listening to Lansing via Perry, Michigan based People's Temple debut album (after a handful of singles for various labels), Sons Of Stone, I would like to think they would react the same way in the same situation. There are elements of the bands that are mentioned in the first paragraph on this record mixed and matched that fit the band just right.
     Since we've covered that though there is no reason to reiterate it so let's describe the People's Temple sound in colors.
     They would be green, silver, black and burning red. The green of the rolling hill vistas of up-north Michigan summer vacations and high grade weed, the silver and black from laying on your back during the same summer trip while staring up at the night sky and red from an intensity that fires up when they crank the distortion or just simply all get into a zone where they're not a much thinking about the music they are playing as the music has taken them over and they are locked in to a zone. It's a zone that doesn't wander off into noodleland land though. It's a zone that is straight focused. It's likes to take a scenic route but doesn't find taking every side road and cow path just because it can. It knows when and where it's destination should wind up so they don't waste time looking for each thing no matter how boring it may be to everyone else that has hopped along for the ride. The People's temple may be jangly and folky at times but never longwinded, showing off jazz chops or thinking they're transcending space and time with some 15 minute drum solo or a million other unnecessary bits. They are first and foremost a rock-n-roll band and they know that's really all that matters.
Check out Smashin' Transistors interview with People's Temple here.

Frog Island Castle Bravo IPA

2011-07-10T22:26:00.052-02:00

     Named after the bomb a thousand times more powerful than the one's the US dropped on Japan in World War II this double IPA from Ann Arbor's Frog Island brewing claims on the side that it's "the taste the frightened Eisenhower". Now, I consider myself somewhat of a 20th century US history buff. I know our country's 34th president used to smoke four packs of cigarettes a day but I don't recall ever reading anything about his take of craft brews, let alone double IPA's, so we'll just leave that claim to bravado for now and get down to the eyeing, sniffing and sipping.
   A cloudy maple syrup in color with a two finger fluffy head that melts fairly face leaving a consistent lace all the way down the glass. It's aromas are a bit earthy with some sweet malt, rolled oats and a dint of lemon peel.
   The first thing announced in the flavor is something woodsy. Almost an oak aged thing is what reminds be of with a touch of of malty almost brown sugar sweetness that flirts slightly with something akin to a Dogfish Head 90 Minute IPA. Next this chewy but fluffy/soft but full textured brew takes on a little bit more caramel flavors that still don't really give a hint that it's hitting at an 11% abv. It finishes with a burst of citrus With the average amount of stickiness one would expect from a DIPA. Not more and not less. Just right down the middle.
     Castle Bravo is the first Frog Island beer I have tasted and though my mind (or tastebuds, as the case may be) weren't exactly blown away making me declare "This is one of the best DIPA I've had ever" it was still quite decent (much better than what the first takes on Beer Advocate have been on it at least) and has now piqued my interest on trying some of the other things they have to offer.
http://www.frogislandbeer.com/

The Hussy, No Bails and Sros Lords-Saturday, August 6th at Roche Bar in Port Huron

2011-07-05T19:07:00.024-02:00

The Hussy-A two piece rock-n-roll band from Wisconsin that you can both drink and dance to.

Featuring Dutch from the Menthols and Mr & Mrs UFO Dictator-No Bails like beer and punk rock.

The Sros Lords claim they're from Detroit but sound like they are from outer space.

I'll most likely be spinning records between bands too. Things start around 10pm or so. The Roche Bar is located at 405 Quay St in downtown Port Huron, Michigan.

Here's the Facebook event page thingy too.

SPIDER FEVER "Whatcha Gonna Do?!" 7inch

2011-07-02T15:42:00.043-02:00

     In a recent installment here we went over what was meant to be played SUPER FREAKIN' LOUD and what was Punk "Fucking" Rock.As we learned in that lesson-the two are not necessarily components of each other.
     This San Diego four piece, featuring former Team Alva skater and drummer from bands such as Earthless, the Sultans and, most recently OFF!, Mario Rubalcaba on guitar/vox and John Ries's little brother, Dean, who Mario did a stint with in the Sultans, on bass do PUNK ROCK that is made to be played SUPER FREAKIN' LOUD.
   "But, other than it made to be played at some ridiculously high volume, what kind of punk rock is it?" you may be asking.
   Basically one of those good old kind of punk rock going on here. A-side's "Whatcha Gonna Do About It" scrambles Radio Birdman's eggs in cast iron pan that the Weirdoes found in the dumpster, scorches them til their all black and crusty then throws it in the face of anyone who says it's too loud. The guitars sound is more than just amplified by electricity. It sounds as if the guitar strings are made of power lines and when the songs goes over the cliff with a blood curdling scream to end-everything been zapped to a crisp.
   Flip it over for "Party Girl" and the beast rises from the ashes left from side one as a pop band. Pop in the way Sonic's Rendezvous Band, the Zeros and the Gears could be considered pop. Thick guitars that chug like a locomotive at top speed and a chorus that even the tone deaf can shout along with.
http://www.facebook.com/pages/SPIDER-FEVER/129516360409286

Sunday Sonance at the Raven in downtown Port Huron July 3rd

2011-06-24T14:59:00.004-02:00

Join Franck and yours truly, Dale, for a night of tunes, drink, eats and conversation. Each July edition happens close to my birthday. This one is two days shy of it. You are welcomed to bring gifts.
http://www.ravencafeph.com/

OBN IIIs "Running On Fumes" 7inch EP

2011-06-22T00:01:00.078-02:00

     There are some records that are made to be played loud. Then there are records that need to be played SUPER FREAKIN' LOUD!
   There are also records that are punk rock and then there are those that are Punk "Fucking'" Rock.
   The thing is though that a record that is made to be played SUPER FREAKIN' LOUD will always live up to such a declaration. Records considered Punk "Fucking" Rock have tend to have some problems though when it still comes to living up to that claim times later. There's many times where records dubbed that sound, well, kinda like a yoke some years down the road (if they weren't donned with the title as one to begin with).
     These Austin, Texas gruel mixers have no problem with the former and have no problem with the later either. If this is punk rock of any sort it's the best kind. You know the kind. The bottles flying/girls crying barroom rock-n-roll kind.
     Stones swagger. Stooges sickness. Dolls decadence. Dead Boys drunk and disorderly. It's all balled up and thrown into a pot of chicken grease and bad attitude juice here and boiled on high til the entire town smells of it. This isn't the not the macho, thrust the chest out so the can see this is a VINTAGE AC/DC t-shirt, Leather booted on the monitor for the 8th guitar solo in the last 5 minutes RAWK or Heavy Metal Fonzies stuff that you couldn't throw a Les Paul copy without hitting ten of them that overran the landscape a decade or so ago. Four juicy cuts of meat eating, stinking of beer sweat, slob celebrating ROCK-N-ROLL. Play this record SUPER FREAKIN' LOUD and be prepared to have it kick your ass all over the place.
http://www.facebook.com/OBNIIIs

TRENT FOX & the TENANTS "Mess Around" 7inch EP

2011-06-21T11:24:00.006-02:00

If this just showed up as a random unsolicited record in my mail box and I took one look at the cover I wouldn't give it much more thought other than to put it in the pile of the "maybe I'll get around to listening to it someday" pile and there it would sit for quite a long time. C'mon, Sepia toned color, old timey Wild West lettering and a dude sporting a sombrero? First impressions would be "Oh, man. Not another jackass cow-punk band."
That's right, not a good cow-punk band (which do happen from time to time) but one of those jack ass ones. And oh, there are so many. Throw in the edges of the sleeve burned for a little more character and it could be another band playing songs about how they want to be smoking weed with the Supersuckers while listening to Hank III and talking about the devil.

"Sorry, man. I doubt ya do it good" and there in that pile the record would sit.

That's not the case here though because this slab is courtesy of Kind Turkey records in Wisconsin. The label is headed up by Bobby of the always loud, always a blast beer drunk garage duo the Hussy. He's a rockin' dude and to my knowledge has never written a song about smoking pot with the Supersuckers while listen to Hank III. I trust his tastes. If he decided these guys were cool enough to put a record out by 'em I know it's gonna garner some listens here at the Chez Transistorsmash.

Once the needle hits the groove here any worries of Trent Fox & the Tenants doing songs about smoking pot with the Supersuckers while listening to Hank III and talking about the devil are quelled. Instead, spry rock-n-roll with one foot planted in a bucket of "Good Times! Great Oldies" goo, the other in a catbox of 90's garage punk mess is the call to (rock) action here.

The Beach Blanket Blowout beat of "Mess Around", a not so cautionary tale of boy telling girl she better behave while he's gone or there will be trouble, kicks this 5 song EP with a hip moving beat, splattery guitar twang, maniacal laughs and more sing along "YEAH! YEAH! YEAH!"'s than I thought was even allowed anymore.
With such a high revved up opener some records drop the energy a bit in the next couple songs but these Wisco-revelers keep it going with the hyped on caffeine and pizza Country-Soul turned up to 12 "Outta Mind" and side closer, the three chorded soon to be party favorite "Jokes".
The songs on side two, "Old Lady" and "Sounds Fine To Me" were recorded 10 months later. They show a little bit of "maturity" in the song writing but it's not like it's comparing the Seger System's Mongrel to ol' grandpa Bob's Fire Inside or something as the band is still spun up and at punch weight. Both tracks remind me of the night at a party when the Deadly Snakes convinced some Black Lips they you could snort No-Doz and challenged them do it. Now, if they only would've went in to a studio that night (sans horn players) and cut two on fire tributes to the Replacements and the Real Kids.
http://www.kindturkeyrecords.com/

Thursday, June 30th-M.O.T.O. and the 7th Day Creeps at the Roche Bar in Port Huron

2011-06-10T13:26:00.019-02:00

Punk pop (not pop-punk.There IS a difference) legends M.O.T.O. and local monster rockers the 7th Day Creeps. Yours truly, Dale Merrill, will spinning rock-n-roll records before and between bands. Thursday, June 30th at the Roche Bar, 405 Quay St. in Downtown Port Huron, Michigan.

PINK REASON "Desperate Living" 7inch EP

2011-05-27T23:06:00.078-02:00

     Anyone familiar with Pink Reason's nodding out from a diet of downers while listening to Royal Trux/Skip Spence/Joy Division sound of their previous releases may find themselves taken a little back by this record.
     Maybe even blown back and pinned against the wall from the volume and impact it causes that is going on even.
   Side one's "Empty Stomach" is supported by a thick wall of guitar fuzz accentuated with large doses of Sonic Youth/Dinosaur Jr loud feedback squalls and fat booming drums that take, something is usually a bit of an anomaly for a Pink Reason songs, a rock-n-roll drum break/fill. Without warning the tracks starts to hemorrhage profusely into a tempo shift and off it goes into the artsy leaning hardcore of "The Song With No Name" that ends almost as quickly as it started but not before driving a steak into the songs heart with the funniest but most bad ass trash metal guitar solo these ears have heard in ages.
      If side one doesn't push away the goth tendencies Kevin gets pinned on him all the time (and though I haven't heard the "sister recordings" to this record, the Shit In The Garden ep, yet as of this writing imagine they will still pop up from time to time still will) the cover of V3's "Your Girlfriend" put more of a shove to get them even farther away. It has much more a thing for a taste of blood it's mouth that Christmas breath from chain smoking clove cigarettes.
     Starting out with a stumbling false start then diving head first in Kevin's usually brooding voice sounds as if he's been swallowing fiberglass as he blurts out the words over an all fist cleaned and swinging backing of wrung out, raped by the gain knob guitar noise and pummeling drums. The dust clears with an over a minute guitar duel that is all about room clearing feedback and distortion.
http://www.almostreadyrecords.com/

Kuhnhenn Bourbon Barrel Fourth Dementia

2011-05-09T20:05:00.008-02:00

     Even in the world of Michigan beers where specialty and seasonal brews can become rare just a few days of being released, Warren based Kuhnhenn Brewing Company's things are done in such small and limited batches one might be better to find a needle in a haystack at time. Their 4th Dementia is a prime example of such and this, the bourbon aged version ever more so.
   Just popping the gold foiled cap of this hazy chestnut mare colored/minimal headed bourbon barrel aged old ale release a rather complex aroma of figs, caramel, vanilla, tobacco and, naturally, a whole lot of wood mellowed bourbon. As it sits to breathe in the glass four feet away from me it's all I can smell in the room. WOW! I'm thinking "Wow! This is really something else" and haven't even tasted it yet.
   First sip IS a total WOW! too. Very silky and thick in texture. The woodsy bourbon flavor comes right on front and center but is not over powering as it curves through many different things though it's flavor profile. Vanilla, black molasses and a hint of maple syrup take the first turn. Then there's another swerve through some very rich chocolate, dark fruits, a little bit of pepper and anise and then finally returning to the bourbon flavors that started the trip but not before it throws a little bit of a Port wine thing into the mix.
    With all that though the finish is one of the most interesting things about it. Having a pretty top end alcohol content, after all, we're looking at a 13.5% abv here, is that there isn't much of a hotness to it as one would expect until each sip has cleared the taste buds and bring out a warming effect through the entire body. Let me say it again one more time-"WOW!"
     I'm five sips into this and each one has me smiling more and more. Good thing I don't have much to do the rest of the evening as I think this is one great beer that you just can't down in a glass in a short period. It is definitely one that's worth taking one's own sweet time with.
http://www.kbrewery.com/

That Damn Polecat!

2011-05-06T16:51:00.001-02:00

You ask Dale "The Polecat" Beavers some questions about what it was like jammin' with cats like Junior Kimbrough, Cedell Davis, Nathaniel Mayer and Dale Hawkins and the guy will tell ya his life story. Read all about what he told me one night over at Smashin' Transistors home base.

Fairweather Friends, Riverside Shakes and Speedy Greasy-Saturday, May 21st at the Roche Bar in Downtown Port Huron

2011-04-21T16:22:00.006-02:00

Kicking off the summer month's in Rock-n-Roll style Smashin' Transistors proudly presents...

Milwaukee based The Fairweather Friends are Jordan of the Mystery Girls new band.
http://www.facebook.com/pages/Fairweather-Friends/133369176675065

Speedy Greasy are a rock-n-roll band from Detroit.
http://www.myspace.com/speedygreasymusic

The Riverside Shakes are one of Port Huron's favorite bands

http://www.facebook.com/pages/Riverside-Shakes/167386949959710

Saturday, May 21st at the Roche Bar in downtown Port Huron.

R.E.M. "Collapse Into Now" LP

2011-04-02T23:00:00.030-02:00

The fire that burned bright for R.E.M. for many years found itself starting to flicker and die down during the mid 90's. Their songwriting and sonic palettes suffered, and the albums that followed seemed more like exercises in meandering

walks in the woods, instead of sounds from a band that if not was a least monumental in inventing the alternative rock genre, influenced an era of musicians and songwriters that followed it.
In 2008 the band released their 14th studio album Accelerate. R.E.M. sounded rejuvenated, like they had found their way out of the woods and, though maybe squinting from the glare, were ready to stand in the light again. While that album showed that the band, who will be celebrating their 30th anniversary as a unit this year, could still throw sparks even if they were still rubbing the sleep out of their eyes. Their new release Collapse Into Now finds the band not afraid to use a little gasoline again to get flames to reach higher.
Lead off single "Mine Smells Like Honey", the semi garage-rock rave up “That Someone Is You” and tongue twister "Alligator Aviator Autopilot Antimatter" are blasts of jangle-n-roar meeting sing along choruses that would not sound out of place from their golden era IRS days. Others, like accordion and mandolin fortified psych-country weeper “Oh, My Heart” and the lilting “Every Day Is Yours To Win”, hearken back to the days when the band would balance their college rock storming the arena anthems with quieter songs that could be introspective and pretty but not, for the most part, boring.
To say that Collapse Into Now rivals some of their best material would be a slight bit of a stretch. They're a bit long in the tooth and have took many way wide sidesteps the past 15 years or so for that. As a gateway band for me (I was in high school when Murmur came out-listening to it then in turn got me to listen to a lot of things such as 60's garage rock as well as other "underground" bands that were around at the time) and to hear them remember what made them one of the most important bands of the last 30 years and act on it again it shows they still have some fire in their belly and are not yet to be written off as a classic rock band merely going through the motions.
http://remhq.com

Founders KBS (2011 edition)

2011-03-23T20:58:00.117-03:00

A week or so ago when we had temp's in the 60°F range I told friends and family "I have to finish up whatever straggling stouts I have kicking around. The warm weather is here to stay and it's time for warm weather beers. These thick stouts just ain't the kind of thing that cut it in that kind of climate."
"What about KBS" It'll be in stock in a few days" a buddy who orders the beer at one of my go to party store's in town asked.
"Well, that doesn't count because it's not just a stout but something close to pure manna" I said to him "but even after that NO MORE STOUTS til the old man winter weather returns."
Then last night BOOM! ANOTHER FREAKING WINTER STORM. Mean, thick, heavy sleet fell down. It was some back breaking work digging the car out of the nasty and wet mess that had dropped from the skies out but it had to be done. KBS had arrived to the area. It's a rare bird and is not something that can be put off picking up "sometime later in the week" because it doesn't last long on the shelves after it's released and when it's gone IT'S GONE FOR A WHOLE 'NOTHER YEAR (unlike this freaking snow though it seems).
A thin but hearty coffee with cream colored head sits on top on what has the be the darkest stout brew on this and, though it melts a bit, still hangs on all the way through the session. The aroma is first and foremost bourbon and oak wood due to it being casked in whiskey barrels for over a year. Other scents that follow it are coffee, chocolate and vanilla.
The scent alone is enough to make one smile and the flavor bursts open the tastebuds senses in ways the aroma was just hinting at. The bourbon characteristics warm the tongue and body even faster than they did the nostrils. Warms the heart of a serious beer lover too as it is making me smile despite no matter where I look outside I see a six inches of cold and clumpy mass covering everything.
The bourbon flavors don't overtake everything in this velvety and thick brew though as the sweetness from the chocolate and vanilla flavors and coffee bean bitters come in and balance each other out. Compared to other years this finishes with a slight hop hotness but it works incredibly with the bourbon warmth that goes along with it.
Other brews attempting the same kind of thing that Founders is doing with this may try to come close but none of them can match the twists of complexities that are going on here. There's a reason why KBS gets ranked one of the top end beers of the world in places like Beer Advocate (where it currently ranks as #4). Utterly amazing stuff here. No doubt about it.
http://www.foundersbrewing.com/

the BABIES s/t LP

2011-03-17T17:06:00.141-03:00

Not to be confused with the band from a few decades back that featured John Waite and future members of Journey but still the proposition here wasn't enough to get me all that enthused. First thing is that it's one of the guys from Woods. Their sound has just not set well with me. Too "oh we're so clever and weird with what we're doing with hippie folk rock, huh?" thing going on
y'know? The concept of Jandek joins the Grateful Dead aided and abetted by some tape effected manipulations may sound good on paper to some ears but not in practice to these (especially when it's sounds like it's trying too hard to be clever or odd.)
The second thing was that made me shrug and think "Yeah, whatever" is that it's another Vivian Girls side/new project. I'm not a Vivian Girls hater by any stretch (I'm at an age where I don't bother to keep up with most backlashes these day) but in the last year or so there's been so many "featuring Vivian Girl..." projects coming out, doubled with marshmallow clouded female voice mixed with Jesus and Mary Chain goo releases coming out what seems every week (The Vivian Girls are the now like the Ramones or Nirvana in that respect it seems) these days it's hit a saturation point.
Imagine my surprise then when there wasn't much fake outsider freak folk going on AND the digital reverb is used but kept under control from getting too ridiculous. Instead, hints of the Modern Lovers with less "maybe he has Down's Syndrome" singing show up in tunes like "Sunset" and on tracks like "Wild 1" and "Wild 2" it's akin to Syd Barrett's Madcaps Laughs if he sounded more wide awake and not so far at the end of his rope. Songs like the wake-n-bake before for the day can be seized "Meet Me In The City" (not the Junior Kimbrough song) walk through Black Lips shambling neighborhood while others like the albums opener "Run Me Over", the slightly off key harmonies laden "Breaking The Law" (not the Judas Priest song) and the waiting for the sun to burn the morning fog off feeling "Sick Kid" sound like the Vaselines hobnobbing with Clinic. Bedroom pop that knows when to get loud but also doesn't mind zoning out when the time is right.
http://www.myspace.com/thebabiesnyc

DANIEL JAMES GANG "Nothing I Can Do" 7inch EP

2011-03-13T20:01:00.106-03:00

What is it with it these days that when bands look towards the 1970's for hard rock inspiration they tend to take themselves so seriously and lack the main ingredient of honest to goodness fun? It seems not all that uncommon any more for a band to come along with the kind of riffs a person would want to crank out of a '73 Dodge Charger but after a few times around it just becomes another tune that gets ya thinking "Whatever?"
Is it because of Gene Simmons who fancies on thinking he invented hard rock then wrote the book on the business of it and looks as fun as just something needed for the ledger line in a marketing plan? Or is it douche bags like the clowns in Buck Cherry who try so hard to make everyone dumb enough to believe they are total poon magnets by reminding whoever will listen to them that they mention it every song. It's not even like they are singing about the poon itself but how cool they are for getting the poon. Freaking overcompensating to make the mooks jealous I guess. Y'know, the kinds of bands that will mention the New York Dolls and the Sex Pistols as being major influences but don't really like the Dolls other than in theory and are more influenced by the well past expiration date era Motley Crue or Megadeth cover of "Anarchy In The UK" (in which they probably had to look up word Anarchy in the dictionary after hearing the song) than the Sex Pistols themselves.
Luckily there are band's (though rare) that can do the hard rock thing, infuse it with a proper amount of punk rock and sound like they're having actual fun just acting like they are. Wisconsin's Daniel James Gang is one of those kind of bands. Dragging glam into the garage, and though they are far the best looking boys on the block, leave the make-up, hairspray and bedazzled with studs spandex get ups out in the yard, this gang kicks it the sound around giving it some must needed dings and bruises, have fun and even score some poon along the way too.
Instead of listening intently to some Gene Simmons lecture they get kicked out of the party after bringing up Ace Frehley's name when Gene asks "What is the soul of the music". It's no big deal them though because while keying Gene's cars on they're way out to the street Ace drives up in yes, a '73 Charger, and asks them if they need a ride. They get along so well, Ace not only lets them drink all his booze but then gives them cash to go out and pick up some more.
http://www.danieljamesgang.com/

OVERNIGHT LOWS (JACKSON, MS) and DALE BEAVERS at Port Huron's Roche Bar Sunday March 3rd

2011-03-07T00:03:00.005-03:00

The manic punk-n-rock roll sounds of Goner Records recording artists the Overnight Lows and Dale Beavers deep blues stomp will be making a Sunday night in sleepy city of Port Huron go all nuts.
http://www.myspace.com/theovernightlows
http://www.myspace.com/dalebeaversmusic
http://www.facebook.com/rochebar

Smashin' Transistors Fave 20 Albums of 2010

2011-03-05T21:11:00.264-03:00

Yep. This is waaay late but, hey, life gets in the way sometimes. Because of the distractions, diversions and duties 2010 laid down on me I was not able to give a chunk of the albums listed here a "proper review" posted up even though I listened to them quite a bit. For those I jotted down some scattershot thoughts. For those I did actually manage to get something posted about in the year that just passed-follow the link the revisit the review. Now without further ado and ranked in alphabetical order here's THE 20 albums (and five honorable mentions) from 2010 that stuck to Smashin' Transistors ear holes the most.

BESNARD LAKES - ....Are The Roaring Night (Jagjaguwar) Lushly orchestrated but not bombastic. Brooding but not alienating. The sound of angels singing above crashing waves or a unforgiving thunderstorm on a otherwise pleasant summer day.
http://thebesnardlakes.com/

BEST COAST - Crazy For You (Mexican Summer) Loud and (even the quieter songs) swimming in echo girl voiced mid-fi pop that brings some sunshine into the otherwise long dark shadow that's been cast since the post Vivian Girls sweepstakes.
http://bestycoasty.blogspot.com/

the BLACK ANGELS - Phosphene Dream (Blue Horizon Ventures) Though their previous album's of Roky E and Spaceman 3 worship were find and dandy for what they are-this Austin, Tx band has really hit their stride this go round. A rollercaster ride of reverberation, days in the park and spooky dark corners.
http://www.theblackangels.com/

BLACK MOUNTAIN - Wilderness Heart (Jagjauwar) Smashin' Transistors review of it here.

ISOBEL CAMPBELL and MARK LANEGAN - Hawk (V2) Lee and Nancy...Serge and Jane...Johnny and June. They've all been bandied around when talking about Campbell's heavy sweet cream coo meets Lanegan's parched whiskey and mud croon. With tracks ranging from dirtroad folk blues and country tinged jangle rockers to 70's style slinky and string laden RnB love jams all the descriptors fit but that's not to say these two don't have their own thing on.
http://www.isobelcampbell.com/

JOHN WESLEY COLEMAN - Bad Lady Goes To Jail (Goner) This is the 2nd solo album from Golden Boy Wes and for those who like their reckless and weird Americana will find this just the right thing when they want it but a bit louder, looser, stripped down and loud. The album reeks of booze, weed and sweat dripping all over the tape machine it was recorded on.
http://johnwesleycoleman.blogspot.com/

the GOODNIGHT LOVING - The Goodnight Loving Super Club (Dirtnap) To call this Wisconsin combo's sound Alt-Country seems a little short sighted. It's not like their trying to ape some "Imagine Merle Haggard fronting AC/DC" thing or sing with a nasally down south I grew up on a farm twang when they actually lived at at the end of a cul de sac in a prefabbed subdivision. Country Rock is not on the mark either because some might think they sound like the Eagles. To call them a true blue American rock band in the tradition of CCR, the Byrds, the Replacements and Big Star might work though. GnL has had a great track record so far and this is one of their best yet.
http://www.facebook.com/pages/Goodnight-Loving/84398543385
My label, Bancroft put out a record by the Goodnight Loving a couple years ago. I still have a scant few copies of it. If you'd like to purchase one let me know.

GRINDERMAN - 2 (ANTI) Most dudes hitting their mid life crisis stage usually go out and buy a hot rod or some shit to compensate. Nick Cave doesn't need all that though. With Grinderman as his time away from being Mr. Bad Seed he gets all the fulfillment he needs. Crotch stuffed raunch rock gets tweaked and mutilated into a bloodied stomp, crawl and creep with Nick the Strippers tells stories from seedy hotel rooms and brothels located between churches and graveyards.
http://www.grinderman.com/

GUINEA WORMS - Sorcererers of Madness (Columbus Discount) People have been calling Dick Clark the world's oldest teenager for something like two hundred and forty eight years now. Is there anyone in the running for the world's oldest drunk poet college sophomore? And so-is it Guinea Worms main dude Will Foster? Lots of libido, lots of leering, lots of inappropriate pick up lines, lots of intellectual references fueled by lack of sleep and the last beer in the fridge backed by hippie blues one minute, difficult jazz punk the next and some stadium sized hip-hop damaged heavy pettin' garage punk sing-a-longs thrown in for good measure.
http://www.myspace.com/guineaworms

IDLE TIMES - Idle Times (Hozac) Smashin' Transistors review of it here.

JAILL - That's How We Burn (Sub Pop) A Wisconsin supergroup if you know their background or current associations but we're here to talk about THIS album. Like how some college rock bands of the 80's took a 60's feeling and sound but brought it into the now while still staying faithful to the feeling and spirit Jaill is talking their cue from those college rock bands. Not lo-fi but also not overadorned jangle and harmony from guys who can stay up til the beer and pop is all gone BUT also do smart things like read books and talk philosophies. Not to be confused with the band from Halifax, Nova Scotia that were on Sub Pop in the early 90's called Jale.
http://www.subpop.com/artists/jaill

JOE KILE - Southern Beauty Queen (Eastern Watts) Smashin' Transistors review here.

the MENTHOLS - Michigan Works (UFO Dictator) Smashin' Transistors review of it here.

SCOUT NIBLETT - The Calcination Of Scout Niblett (Drag City) The much bandied descriptions of Scout's music is "the illegitimate daughter of Kurt Cobain and PJ Harvey". Though it's a lazy/easy description her songs are sparse, her guitar can be all quiet then perforate an eardrum with sick feedback and her voice goes from a cracked whisper to heartbreaking wail-it's somewhat accurate. The princess of the New Weird Blues.
http://www.myspace.com/scoutniblett

OVERNIGHT LOWS - City Of Rotten Eyes (Goner) This is one of those punk rock-n-roll albums that flies fast out of the gate with hyperactive energy and it's 12 songs in 22 minutes don't let up til the record finishes to a dead stop. Think the Marked Men raised on a steady diet of catfish or a less nerdy and much more pissed off Wax Museums and you be coming close to getting an idea on what these Jackson, Ms. rabble rousers are putting down.
http://www.myspace.com/theovernightlows

the PLEASURE KILLS - Bring Me A Match (Polypore) It's like the guitar player from the Rezillos never left to hang out with the Human League, Blondie decided to speed things up after Eat To The Beat instead of trying to appeal to suburban moms or the members of the Go-Gos never discovered high limit credit cards, young republican courters and heroin. Bubblegum smacking dancefloor filling new wave party rock. Seeing their full on energy live show seals the deal cuz the band plays hard and Lydia can really belt them out.
http://www.myspace.com/thepleasurekills

the SUGAR STEMS - The Sweet Sounds of...(Dusty Medical) Another Wisconsin band who's lineage and "Featuring members of..." thing I could go on about for days but know I already have done that somewhere else in public as well as the internet so no need for that now. Glossy and sparkling bright rooted in 60's girl groups and 70's power pop and guitar solos that nod to both James Burton and Rick Neilsen at the same time.
http://www.dustymedical.com/
Betsy and Stef Sugar Stem are also in the Flips. My label, Bancroft, put out a record by them awhile back. If interested in picking up a copy drop me a line.

SUPER WILD HORSES - Fifteen (Hozac) Smashin' Transistors review of it here.

WHEELS ON FIRE - Liar, Liar (Alien Snatch) Smashin' Transistors of it here.

WHITE WIRES - II (Dirtnap) During the height of the whole pop-punk explosion I wonder if the Ramones ever weighed in on their take on it and if they did were they pissed about it. I imagine Johnny was but, then again, judging from the End Of The Century doc when wasn't Johnny pissed or miffed at something. I would hope though that they'd tell all those bands to realized what the Ramones reference points were and look for those as inspiration instead of, well, just aping the Ramones (and, for the most part, not doing it all that well). It's practically impossible to doubt that Ottawa, Ontario's White Wires haven't listened to the brudders from Forest Hills albums but for them it's a jumping off point instead of having their (Converse High Top) shoes cemented in the foundation. Ramshakled but right catchy buzzsaw rock-n-roll songs that nod to good times/great oldies and the 90's garage punk and have you humming the hooks right after the first time you hear them. Their first album was a charm and this follow up is even better. This ain't pop punk. Punk pop perhaps?
http://www.dirtnaprecs.com/

Honorable mentions: Ty Segall Melted, Sleepy Sun Fever, Superchunk Shredding Majesty, Tyvek Nothing Fits and the Vaselines Sex With An X.

Goose Island Pere Jacques

2011-03-01T21:51:00.011-03:00

The first couple of Goose Island brews I tried a couple years back left me unimpressed so I laid off trying any of their other things til about a year ago when Jordan of the Mystery Girls brought over some of their saison take, Sofie, for me to try last spring. I liked it quite well and have intended on trying some of their other takes on Belgium styles but with so many other things and brews taking precedent it wasn't until tonight that I've really had a chance until tonight.
Rich ruby with gold highlights in color with a slight head that fades fairly quickly. Lots of warm dark fruits such as black cherry and raisin up front in the scent which are then followed by LOTS of caramel malts and bready yeast notes. Quite a few different nuances come out in in the flavor. Up front it has a cherry tartness along with some dates, peaches and a bit of woodsiness, towards the middle it takes on some green apple and grape nuances then towards the end a bit of cinnamon along with a touch of maple syrup. There's a bit of warmth to the end but nothing to really make one think it's over the 8% abv it sports.
None of the flavors are overbearing which makes all of it's complexities understated and interesting while working well and in tandem with each other. I'm kinda bummed I only have one bottle of this at the moment because I wouldn't mind having another as I could sip on this all evening.
http://www.gooseisland.com/

I'm not ignoring you but....

2011-02-14T21:46:00.010-03:00

...between school, working when we can, family/home life and basically trying to keep my head above water-there haven't been all that many updates here at the ol' Smashin' Transistors. I appreciate your patience. Even though a lot of records we have received have not been discussed on this blog they have, are and will be getting spins on WSGR 91.3fm in Port Huron (I am the program/music director there) so your kindness of promo'ing has not gone to waste. We have not gone into full blown hibernation as much as we are taking a nap. Hoping to bring you some more reading material/internet time wasting soon. Thanks for bearing with me.
-Dale

Friday March 4th-Mardi Gras Party at the Roche

2011-02-02T16:57:00.014-03:00

This is gonna be a PARTY!
The Facebook Invite Thingy (if you're into that kind of thing)

Bell's Hopslam Ale (Year 2011 issue)

2011-02-01T00:12:00.006-03:00

It's been not even a month since Bell's Hop Slam 2011 edition hit the shelves and here we are in the midst of what is said to be the nastiest blizzard to hit the Midwest in 5 to 25 years depending on the source you get such information from. In an effort to stock up on supplies in case of a few days being snow bound I thought I would look around a couple local stores today to see if I could find a six pack still hanging around. Nope, Not even here in Michigan does it seem there are any orphaned sixers or mini-kegs someone hasn't noticed and snagged already. I guess it's a good thing when it first came out a few weeks back I made sure I stockpiled a few extras because, even though previous years it's been great, this year's batch seems to be the best one yet.
Lush, rich amber in color with just the right amount of bubbly head that takes it's time to melt away leaving waves upon waves of lace behind. Right at first opening and pour it's aroma is already fills the room. At a distance it's smell of bright citrus and pine. Once it's held a little closer to the nose though apricot, peaches and honey really come to the fore.
The taste of the hop profile brings out all the scents above along with a bit of pineapple and mango. Then it's all tied together with hints of honey. There's so many levels here and it all bursts with so much flavor. It's sweet and tarty calling card is then finished out with white pepper bitters and a warming all through the body courtesy of the 10% abv.
There has been quite a bit of hype surrounding Hopslam in previous years and this year it seemed more fevered than ever. The reason? Because it lives up completely to it reputation. Seriously one of most favorite beers in the world.
http://www.bellsbeer.com/

Short's The Wizard

2011-01-22T18:08:00.005-03:00

Here I am a few weeks into a new year and, DAMN!, it's already seeming to fly by. Full time student, full time parent and full time job seeker. Then factor the program director gig along with the mundane day to day things likes laundry, making dinner and trying to fix up an old rickety house that has two new problems for every one that gets fixed and it all makes leisure time a rare commodity. Tonight though I have found some and Bellaire, Michigan's Short's Brewery has released a barley wine called the Wizard so dammit I am going to sit, sip and contemplate what kind of magic it has going on.
The color is on the darker end of the barley wine scale with it's mahogany and ruby shade. The head is minimal and recedes into a constant collar and slightly cloudy cap that hangs on through the entire glass with slight, spotty lacing. Nothing unusual for a barley wine in respects.
What is unusual is almost everything else about it. Short's fancies themselves in making things that are out of the ordinary and this is no exception. For this they've decided to tweak the standard barley wine recipe by adding raisins in to the brewing process. Instead of the green apple and apricot aromas that usually show up as the dominant backbone of most barley wines I've tried in the past this Wizard bears more of a scent along the lines of black cherries and molasses that sends a warming sensation up through the sinuses. One of the most interesting things about the way it smells though is that it's not uncommon to detect the higher end of the alcohol content that barley wines sport but here, even with an approximate ABV of 11%, it's boozy bottom is hardly even noticeable.
The raisin show up first in the flavor. They seem to bring a dark oak like nuance to the brew while throwing in a curve ball of vanilla bean in as an accent. Through the middle and end it's shifts several times on the palette first with a walnut and dark chocolate qualities then ending slightly astringent with a hoppy floral bite. There is quite a warming effect in the finish where otherwise well hidden alcohol content comes out to say hello.
As an introduction to barley wines I would most likely not suggest this to a beginner as it's not the most traditional take on the style but for a veteran looking for something different that can be done with it I'd tell them to put this at the top of their list.
http://www.shortsbrewing.com/

The Febuary Sonance

2011-01-20T23:21:00.004-03:00

The first Sunday of every month Mr. Franck and yours truly drop the needle on some tracks at the Raven Cafe in downtown Port Huron. Our next one is on Feb 6th. If you're in the area stop on in for food, drinks and, of course, some great tunes.
More info at http://www.ravencafeph.com/

GENTLEMAN JESSE and his MEN "You've Got The Wrong Man" 7inch

2011-01-12T13:35:00.005-03:00

Sporting a broken nose splint across his face and Jim Croce rivaling 'stache above his lip on the cover of this single it almost as "Gentleman" Jesse Smith is sending a message to the current batch of power pop resurrectionalists that it takes more than a cheeky Paul McCartney smile and a skinny tie to play the game and be taken seriously about it (or at least make the girls dance NOT just because their boyfriend is the band). For one, having at least a cupboard full of hooks that can be added to stew. Not only does it seem like Jess and dudes got all the right fixins' but have a few special recipes to go along with them.
While listening to either song on this record-the antsy surf riff tempo'd and many layered vocal harmonies of "You Got The Wrong Man" and "Stubborn Ghost", which resembles the Boys getting their best Raspberries on-it's as if the River Mersey (you know, the one with the beat) ran through the sweltery, sticky summer weather of 2010 Georgia instead of the damp springs and autumns of 1960's Liverpool. Playing respect to the Rickenbacker jangling spectres and power-pop chewiness Gentleman Jesse and the Men know they aren't reinventing the wheel but have done their own customizing to the ride it sits upon. Hop in.
http://www.myspace.com/gentlemanjesse

STEP DADS "Deja Vu" 7inch EP

2010-12-28T22:33:00.005-03:00

Bad attitudes and totally obnoxious. They're both ingredients that should be included in all punk rock recipes. Some try to skimp on them though (which means they're not really punk rock at all) but not this band. It sounds like they even had a little extra so made a big mess in the kitchen. The band itself is based in the catchy buzzsaw punk rock-n-roll vein (Sex Pistols, The Zeros etc) which is all fine and dandy but it wasn't enough for them. Cue gravel throated ill-tempered belter railing off about power sluts and the Grim Reaper here. Crank the distortion to make his sandpaper grunt even more blown out and pile on an amount of ridiculous echo and it cooks something to break teeth on.
Deep South USA white trash cousins of German beer bottle breakers the Moorat Fingers or Bathory pounding some nails into power pop? Well, that's for you do decide.
http://www.myspace.com/getmeabeerson

Sunday Sonance For January 2011

2010-12-26T11:03:00.001-03:00

Well, The speculations that the first Sunday of every Month gig Franck and myself have been doing for close to two years now at the Raven Cafe were going to come to an end ending up being just rumors. Join us the night after New Years Day for eats, drinks and, of course, tunes.
More info at http://www.ravencafeph.com/

Brother David's Triple Abbey Style Ale

2010-12-22T22:05:00.007-03:00

From the solar powered Northern California beer maker Anderson Valley Brewing Company come this series of "Big Beers". They are the people behind one of the best Oatmeal stout's on the planet (Barney Flats Oatmeal Stout to be exact) so I was anxious to give one of them a taste. As luck would have I was visiting one of my usual beer cellar haunts and the man behind the counter said "Dale, I have a gift for you."
"Free Beer? Yes!" It must've been my lucky day it seemed.
A slight bit darker than some Tripel Abbey ales I've seen and drank in the past. It's almost brown in it's shade even when held up to the light. The head was modest and faded out fairly quickly but a good bit of lacing all the way down. Notes of caramel apples along with a big blast of alcohol show up in the scent. There are the banana, spices and hint of honey thing in the flavor that are common for the style but they seem to get bossed around by too much of a grainy malt. As it warms the malts do step away somewhat but what seems to be left is something slightly lacking as far as a complexity as well as a little thin as far as the body is concerned too. One thing I did find interesting is that though the alcohol comes on quite strong in the scent it is hidden very well in the taste til you get almost to the very end. "Almost" because there is a hotness that comes out right at the tail that will bite you if you're not ready for it.
Since this was gifted to me I can't really complain much about it but considering some of the goodness AVBC can serve up I was somewhat disappointed.
http://www.avbc.com/

BRAINCAR "Rock-n-Roll Bologna" 7inch EP

2010-12-16T23:29:00.005-03:00

WHAT A BUNCH OF BALONEY! No, I'm serious. The front cover come with a piece of bologna with the words ROCK-N-ROLL cut into it in a zip lock bag glued to the cover. And, well since we're always way behind here when it comes around to giving records to be reviewed a listen that piece lunchmeat has taken on looking like a science experiment of lunchmeat grease and mold.
"Lunchmeat grease and mold". I kinda like that because it fits the sounds that is going down on this record. Five slimey and sick tardcore dirt-fi punk tracks that are over almost as soon as they start. Reference points as far as classics are concerned for this reviewer would be Drunks With Guns and Flipper while comparisons of more modern things are along the lines of The Mahonies and Holy Shit. This is not a record to have in your collection that will gain you friends. Just like serving up a rancid piece of balogna wouldn't either. But if you want to bogue out or annoy people out-show them the sleeve to this (especially if it's taken on it's particular life of microcosms as the copy I have sitting here) and play it loud and often.
http://www.myspace.com/braincar

Moylan's White Christmas Spiced Winter Lager

2010-12-13T22:48:00.005-03:00

Ahhh, the Christmas season. A time for peace on earth. good will toward man, stressing out, being depressed and dealing with hustle and bustle to the point where you want to burn down everything within a couple miles of the shopping epicenters of the area you live by. It's also a time to give a try to a seasonal ale or two that maybe you haven't before. Moylan's just started being available in these parts I live in and since I have tried a couple of other things they brew that I found pretty decent I figured it was worth giving a shot.
Gold with reddish highlights in color and somewhat bubbly with a modest but fluffy head that leaves a snowdrift like lace behind. The nose is predominantly lager yeasts and malt along with bit of hay. There some are spice characteristics to it but with the variety of ones used (orange zest, mace, cinnamon, coriander and white pepper) none stand out from the others-they all blur into each other.
The spices, primarily the coriander and some dints of the orange spice up front and some slight pepper taste in the finish, do come out in the flavor but as in the scent none of them really stand out. The spices seem like they were added an afterthought than something infused to compliment the flavors. It's not bad (especially compared to some stinkers in the Christmas/Winter ale style that have hit my tastebuds in the past) but it just lacks that "something special".
http://www.moylans.com/

IDLE TIMES s/t LP

2010-12-10T19:47:00.002-03:00

This band's bed of damaged pop is sturdy which is a good thing because when they invite odd bedfellows of sonic attraction to romp, jump and roll around-it would probably collapse elsewise. "Working On Something" opens the album up sounding like You're Living Me All Over Me era Dinosaur Jr posing as a Buzzcocks tribute band. An instant hit for those who appreciate instant hits because of their whir-n-fire and not because of some overblown recording techniques. From there tracks like "Here Those Bells" and "Prison Mind" pick an under the influence of low budget opiate high fights with the last couple of Black Lips albums, swim through a swamp of cough syrup and Roxy Music's For Your Pleasure on "When You Wish", mix glass chips with Strawberry Bubblicious for "There You Go", get beat up and thrown out of country bar because some dickwipe in a Kid Rock t-shirt told them they weren't really country and to which they replied "Neither is that shit you listen to" on "I'm Gone" and bum out peace and love hippies the way Hawkwind did (and surely would again if the tape machine they were recording on sounded like it was being held together by electrical tape while the record knob was kept in it's position by the cardboard flap from a crush proof pack of cigarettes) with "I Don't Believe You/X-Tina". "Hey Little Girl" also takes notes from those kinda space rock and motoriks then pulls it out behind the garage to have their way with it.
http://hozacrecords.com/

the TOUCH ME NOTS "Keep Talking Like That" 7inch

2010-12-06T22:45:00.012-03:00

Some people say "Don't mess with success". Ya know if something works say with the formula and don't tweak it. Damn, that can get boring though. Doing the same thing over and over no matter how good you are at it and all that. Sometimes you gotta shake it up and change things around here and there. After all, variety is the spice of life, right?
For the last half decade or so Andrew and Kelly put out a solid collection of singles, 10 inches and LPs of 1950's tinged, hayseed steeped and garage tainted rock-n-roll. Stripped down to the essentials of voice, guitar and drums worked well for them but they still couldn't resist throwing the occasional curveball at the listener like, say, taking a stab at a Broadway show tune for instance. This go round they supplement the bottom end with the addition of Clark from Killer's Kiss on bass and Greg Ashley putting down some bits organ as well as doing the knob twiddling and it really adds something to their spartan but splendid sound. Both "Keep Talking Like That" and "Hard To Forget" have a certain small town rootsy feeling to them that the band had flirted with in the past and completely score this time around. Country-rock (but not in an Eagles or fake affected nasal twang college crowd/trust fund thing that seems to be on eight out of every ten "alt/country" released someone tries to push as the "real deal" way) songs about love's fire coming close to going out but there's still some glowing red embers. Reminds me of being a kid and listening to the radio in my dad's car. Back then they'd play Waylon Jennings and the Bay City Rollers right after each other. Not that I am hearing that when I listen to this but there is a certain dust filled room meets a shiny soda pop machine vibe...And that's always good to me. COUNTRY-ROCK SINGLE OF THE YEAR!
Classic Bar
An ages old interview Smashin' Transistors did with the Touch Me Nots
Andrew's Food Blog

WHEELS ON FIRE "Liar, Liar" CD and "Cherry Bomb" 7inch EP

2010-12-01T22:45:00.001-03:00

I'm taking a wild guess here but it's more than likely these Athens, Ohio boys and girl sound is the product of a couple "weird/cool" uncles that played them a bunch of records growing up. The older of the two uncles played them things from the early Stiff Records roster and telling them "None of these bands would've amounted to nothing if it wasn't for Nick Lowe AND THAT GOES DOUBLY FOR ELVIS COSTELLO!"
The younger uncle was all about 90's garage punk. He regaled them with stories about how many times he saw the New Bomb Turks and so on, but the band he drilled into their head was the Oblivians simply for the reason "Beneath the scum there's some classic pop song moves there. One day the rest of the world will figure that fact out."
It seemed to make an impression on the band especially in the both Nick Lowe and the Oblivians took standard "rock" foundations, in former's case country music and 60's radio pop and the latter with primal blues and teenage garage gunk, and they've manage to meld all of it into the tunes that rock all over both these releases. A snappy backbeat and sticky organ provide the foundation for the two guitars to switch between bashin', janglin' and throwin' out hooks that dig into your back and pull you up & move you around while Jack O'Yarberesque vox of the brothers Chaney sing/shout tales of young lust and all the things go with it.
The album, Liar, Liar, is jammed full of loud pop gems like the beach ball bouncy "Bad Lie" and "Losin'", bubblegum found in a box of dirt sounds of "Looking At You" and "Sarah" and the Modern Lovers tinged "Stick Around" and "I Wanna Know." The single on Kind Turkey is more of the same but a just little bit more scruffy with some soul music infection and some doo-wop nods thrown in for good measure.
http://www.myspace.com/wheelsonfire
http://www.aliensnatch.de
http://www.kindturkey.com/

The Holiday Sonance

2010-11-30T19:46:00.001-03:00

The first Sunday of every month Mr. Franck and yours truly drop the needle on some tracks at the Raven Cafe in downtown Port Huron. People come in to listen and enjoy the food, drinks and folks while they are there. Conversations, fun and games always happen. Our next one is on December 5th. If you're in the area stop on by and say "Hi"
More info at http://www.ravencafeph.com/

Hue Blanc's Joyless One "Live On WSGR" (10/26/10)

2010-11-15T18:55:00.001-03:00

A few weeks back Hue Blanc's Joyless Ones came through Port Huron and did a live set on WSGR. Here is all it's glorious red lining glory. I did absolutely nothing to sweeten or trash the recording. This is how it sounded going over the air. Two mics in a room about the size of a walk-in closet.

Dogfish Head Olde School

2010-11-05T22:56:00.003-03:00

Ohhhh man. Barley wine! They're a rare treat around here in Smashin' Transistors land. One reason is that they're not something you see just at any random store. Another reason is that they're usually an occasional or season thing for most breweries. Usually packed with sweetness and a high alcohol count they can be thick and syrupy laying down some major hurt the next day. Moderation is the key as usual but doubly when it comes to them.
When it comes to suggesting a barley wine to a first timer Olde School from Dogfish Head is always at the top of my list. It is sweet but not way to syrup like, packs a 15% abv and sports one of Jon Langford's country music art pieces on it's label (which makes it 100% more bad ass than any other barley wine out there just based on it's cool factor alone). We're talking on of the kings of the style here.
Deep and clear amber color and a fizzy head and some serious lacing clinging to the side of the glass all the way through. Quite a few levels in the aroma. Apricot, green apple, toffee, sweet malts, some piney hops and, yes, many an alcohol fume on the nose. Reminds me some really fancy brandy or something like that.
The thing that jumps out the most on an initial sip is a bittersweet sting and a whole lotta warmth that doesn't seem to come from the alcohol but from the blast of flavor that comes out all the way through the glass. When it's cooler malt, caramel and sour fruits lays it down heavy then as it warms it takes on more of a dark fruit and spicy, hinting at a Belgian Quad ale or almost a cognac, flavor. It's finishes full and bold but it's stickiness doesn't coat the tongue and the back of the throat too thickly. We had a slight bit of snow flying around this evening. I'm looking out the window, sipping this and smiling because even if the heat wasn't turned on this is keeping me warm.
http://www.dogfish.com/

the MENTHOLS "Michigan Works" LP

2010-11-01T11:24:00.008-03:00

Space rock? Nah, that doesn't sound right. Saying space rock makes people think things that is, well, spacey. Floating off and all that. Hmmm. Space Punk? Yeah! That's might be a little more fitting to describe what these Kalamazoosters are up to here. It doesn't go drifting through a weird galaxy much as it does swirling through some non gravity place lit by balls of fire in whatever the space version of a oil leaking, exhaust spewing battered but still (somewhat) reliable mid 80's Econoline is. It's not a jet age smooth ride. It can be somewhat bumpy but when as it picks up to wanted cruising speed it's a lumbering might that gets things to move out of it's way.
If Lemmy would've forced Dave Brock out of Hawkwind (instead of vice-versa), brought in a couple dirtbags with a penchant for a chug-chug-chug velocity instead of navel gazing wandering, burned the Michael Moorcock books and replaced them with written works Stan Lee, baseball card stats and Penthouse Forum for lyrical themes-the Menthols would have all the albums in their collection.
Cuts like the smeared with a "Land Of A Thousand Dances" flammable goo opener "B-OK", the mutated borrowings of 70's FM Rock riffs (think ZZ Top jamming-as in around the time Degüello came out NOT something like "Rough Boy"- with Evol era Sonic Youth)"Long Time Coming" or in a sorta same but different thing "Loose Lips" sounding like the Wooden Shjips gone full tilt chooglin' and "Between The Dots" and the album's final track, the ring modulation orgy called "Fire, Fire, Fire" fade in and then take off to weird parts of the head. Others, such as "That's All You Got" and "Don't Give Up Yours" hammer out things like Feedtime hanging in a cold & damp Michigan basement where they depend on Little Caesars $5 Hot-n-Ready Pizzas and cans of Four Loko for nutrition.
http://ufodictator.com/

North Peak Siren Amber Ale

2010-10-31T22:44:00.002-03:00

Pretty sure I've gone off to some extent before about how I am on the fence with most amber ales. There's usually something about them that just doesn't strike my fancy with them. Either they're just bland or take the other end of the spectrum and end up to spicy or something. I guess it's one of those curses of macrobrew making something to get the mainstream beer audience to think they're purchasing something fancy or craft brewers flexing their know how and righting some wrongs. One of the things Traverse City's based North Peak Brewery seems to be shooting for is something traditional and true to the original pre-adjunct grains days-making something good but not going over the top with tweeking and experimentation.
Nice, reddish gold transparent color with a very minimal head from a medium pour. A slight ring of foam forms around the top of the glass leaving a spotty lace pretty much through the bottom of the glass. On the nose the malt is quite robust and earthy with some green apple and smokey notes. Slightly sour apple characteristics come out all through the flavor mixing well with the malt on the front of the tongue. It finishes up with a flourish of hop tinge. Not sticky but not buried either.
If you are looking for some amber that will blow your mind or filled with levels of flavor complexity this probably isn't going to be the one but if you are looking for a simple and solid one that is quite sessionable it's worth giving a try. Besides, with those stubby bottles and retro label design that have become a North Peak trademark you can invite an old-timer over and share a couple with them. It may get them telling some stories of the good old days.
http://www.northpeak.net

November's Sunday Sonance Shenanigans

2010-10-28T19:36:00.001-02:00

The first Sunday of every month Mr. Franck and yours truly drop the needle on some tracks at the Raven Cafe in downtown Port Huron. People come in to listen and enjoy the food, drinks and folks while they are there. Conversations, fun and games always happen. Our next one is on November 7th. If you're in the area stop on by and say "Hi"
More info at http://www.ravencafeph.com/

Short's Bloody Beer

2010-10-23T21:01:00.002-02:00

Just in time for Halloween. Nope, not pumpkin beer. I just had to pass on all those this year because I've had more than my share in the past but figured something called Bloody would work well for the seasonal theme and mention instead. What you have here is those crazy beer makers up in Bellaire, Michigan combining the ingredients that go into a Bloody Mary which in this case is Roma tomatoes, tellicherry peppercorns, celery seed, fresh horseradish and dill, brewing it up and bottling it. I'm all about a Bloody Mary almost as much as I am about great beer and judging from the ingredients it seems that they know what goes into a superb Bloody Mary so I was pretty curious about trying this.
There's an obvious red tint in the color from the tomatoes. No head to speak of but there is a somewhat of a runny and spotty lace that doesn't stick around much.
The scent of dill is really strong on the nose along with some slight notes of ground pepper and tomato juice. There is a slight thickness in the beer but hey-WE ARE talking about tomatoes here. The thing is though the flavor of tomato in the brew itself seems a little overrun by the domination of the dill that is all over the place. Letting it breath and adjust to room temp does take a slight edge off that, bringing some of the peppercorn and horseradish hot end but not by much. Dill everywhere.
Now, I can munch on some pickles while enjoying some suds but something here just ain't working for me. I do admire Short's for all their crazy experiments they do with beer. They deserve much credit for their ideas and innovations and but sometimes their things seem to fall into a novelty category. They have many things that get up and throw a no hitter-to these taste buds though, this is not one of their best days on the mound.
http://www.shortsbrewing.com/

JOE KILE "Southern Beauty Queen" LP

2010-10-22T11:14:00.009-02:00

Getting pinned as a "singer-songwriter" can be either a blessing or a curse. To most people means denim shirt wearing Mr. Softee's like James Taylor and Dan Fogelberg. It's a pleasant and pretty and doesn't scare off grandmothers and little kids. And of YOU KNOW they're singing from their heart because you can hear their voice that doesn't ever crack clearly in the big soft comforter production. Of course those in that camp music is a remedy to fall asleep that is just effective as a couple shots of NyQuil PM with Wild Turkey chaser. But that's besides the point. After all "Just listen to their self confessional sensitivity'.

Then there's the other camp. The one that has Townes Van Zandt, Gene Clark, Daniel Johnston (well, in his "True Love Will Find You In The End" period at least) and Uncle Lou Reed during the last couple Velvet Underground albums. While all the first camp sounds like they're wearing cable knit sweaters in front of some cozy fireplace in a Colorado mountain cabin or staring at a mountain of blow in some Laurel Canyon hideaway and, in either setting, a blonde with with ironed straight hair-the second sounds dressed in faded and frayed clothes and playing for tips in some broken down coffee house or a dive bar that's usual clientele is there not to hear some songs but because the place has the cheapest cheap draft beer and well whiskey prices in town. They'll listen to the sorrow as they drown their own. The person giving the six string accompanied confessionals love probably works behind the bar but she isn't there tonight and isn't answering her phone either. That's the camp New Orleans based Joe Kile has set up tent in.
Owning a voice that sounds like old wax paper, a surface that is smooth but sports some discoloration from age and somewhat brittle & will crackle Joe Kile's songs sounds as if they were recorded at 4am and as hushed as he could be as to not wake the others dwelling around a pay by the week efficiency apartment and to be listened by those nursing a very melancholy Sunday morning hangover. Accompanied mostly by a weather beaten guitar save for the occasional second guitar, some pump organ sounding wheezes and a couple drinking buddies supplying a few seconds of call and response the songs touches on loves losts, lusts wanted, bad luck and many mentions of winter. They all sound as if they could fade off into distance at any given moment so they're songs that are made to be listened close as they could just disappear. When doing so there's slight rays of light trying to fight their ways out of the overcast.
http://www.easternwattsrecords.com/

SUPER WILD HORSES "Fifteen" LP

2010-10-21T23:03:00.003-02:00

"Four chords, One finger, All feeling...." That was the consensus of my friend Brian when I showed them the video of these two Australian gals tune "Golden Tow n". Another friend Lon said something to the extent of "Wow! They make a lot of sound with such a limited set up" when seeing the same video. For both of them it was their first introduction to the band. I told them nothing other than a note saying "Check this out" and link. Both of their comments could pretty much sum this album into a nutshell but since I gave them both credit now I guess I just can't plagiarize what they said and call it a day on this review now can I? Besides, the record has been spending plenty of time on my turntable since it arrived I have a few things I would like to add to what they had to say anyway.
With just the right amount of drone complimenting the melody in the guitar lines, a voice that that sounds like sweet and soothing honey that was then aged in a gun powder keg and then rolled in talcum powder with their mixture of sweetness and volatile swings and a drummer that isn't afraid to bash the hell out of the kit (and I don't mean "...for a chick" either. I mean if the drums were a living creature they'd be without hardly a drop of blood left in them after the pummeling. I mean she's no Keith Moon or anything but she also and pussyfooting either) Super Wild Horses make every other band dubbed in every other blog page as "the next Vivian Girls but better" sorta pointless. It seems a lot of those bands that have been called that were looking for that exact description as where this band sound like they have much better things on their mind.
Bits of late 70's DIY-punk, perhaps an idea or two gleaned from a scratchy hand me down Jesus and Mary Chain record (but without the total over the top ridiculous reverb on everything sound that a lot of the apparent modern day JAMC apers go all ga-ga on), one string melody buzz that stick in the brain like a peanut butter and jelly sandwich does to the roof of the mouth if there's no glass of milk around to wash it down make for a listen here that asked to played flipped over again and again as each side end.
http://www.myspace.com/superwildhorses

BadAss American Lager

2010-10-15T00:46:00.007-02:00

Michigan Brewing Company out of Webberville gets in cahoots with Kid Rock. He tested and approved this beer. Tastes like a fresher Bud Light.
http://www.americanbadassbeer.com/

MMOSS "i" cassette

2010-10-12T18:23:00.012-02:00

With a sound that hits more on London's UFO club circa 1967 than probably what is usually coming out of whatever rock dives they haunt in their home base of modern day New Hampshire USA-Mmoss make psychedelic music that smears that fine line of where a "normal pop sensibility" ends and the "what are these hippies experimenting with" questions begin.
With the basic guitar, bass and drum foundation being adorned by the band members multi-instrument know how of flutes, organs, cellos, glockenspiels, dul-sitars and ship bells (to name just a handful listed in the tape cover's j-card) the songs & sounds here can range from sublime and scenic to downright peculiar and stormy.
While some songs like "Grown Down", "So Below" and "Hedge Creeper" lean towards a Britania meet the Byrds in Syd Barrett's garden there's also the tinkering with Krautrock/Drone Trip on tracks like "And I Do Set My Bow In The Clouds" and "Epistle To Shon" as well as speculating on what it would it would sound like Big Star 3rd came out in '66 and had a seriously influence on the Small Faces on things like "Kitty Sorrow".
For those that find themselves playing some of the modern psych bands like the Black Angels and Sleepy Sun will be doing themselves a favor if they were to check their father's basement or thrift store for a functioning cassette player (or hell, even the junkyard so you can have one in your car) and then score a copy of this tape.
http://burgerrecords.webs.com/

Founders Nemesis 2010

2010-10-10T23:54:00.003-02:00

As a music fan and working in various degrees of the business involved around it for years I used to get a laugh out of the obsessive collectors. You know the type, The ones that have to have every single released format variation of their favorite artist. Never satisfied with having the music in one form they'd have to have the 12inch, the 7inch, the import 7inch on colored vinyl, the picture disc 7inch, the 12inch with a different color variation than the other 12 inch, the CD single because the mix is slightly different than the one on the import 7inch of colored vinyl and on and on. They would haunt record stores, distributors, trade lists etc on a daily (and in some cases an hourly) basis scaring up copies. It would get to a point where you'd see them, make eye contact and just give them a nod of the head to let them "No, we don't have it yet" and save the breath of telling them so.
Nowadays, things are different. With the internet and a paypal account they can usually end up finding whatever record you're looking for and, if price is no object, possess their very own copy to add to the shrine. I was always like "Hey man, I just want it for the music. What's the big damn deal." Then I became a beer geek.....
With almost all of Founders specialty brews I scoured the county for at least one bottle of this years Nemesis. My trusted beer sellers were just as frustrated as I was about not being able to get any (because they love GOOD beer too) and then would make comments about the local distributor of Founders only being good at keeping up on things that come in cans and are advertised on the Super Bowl. I ended up scouring the next county over and following an anonymous tip rolled into a particular store. Lo-and-behold there was one lowly bottle sitting on the shelf. She's been sitting in my fridge ever since taunting me. Until tonight.
Brown/almost black in color while sitting in the glass and a deep mahogany when held up to the light I'm a little taken back because I'm am more used to barley wines looking a bit more of an amber color than this. I know they style can variate in color and all that but I guess I've just haven't seen many this dark. Very minimal head but a millimeter or so size ring hangs tight all through the glass leaving some spotty and running lacing behind.
Lots of chocolate come out first in the scent followed by aromas of date nut bread, cherries that have been soaking in bourbon for a couple of months and some slight coconut. Not much notice of alcohol to this nose which is surprise because of it hitting a 12% abv. The taste has a very interesting complexity to it. A dark like licorice and tart like grapefruit hop bite comes out that then is wrapped cozy by coffee, maple and bourbon flavors. With each sip it's the same experience-here comes this bite then it's surrounded and softened up. The finish gives the hops some hang time again with some coffee hanging in the background. Founders always does a good job covering up their higher end alcohol content and here is no exception. Very mellow. It's different than the Nemesis of the past but each year tweak has never been a sidestep. If you see one on the shelf-snatch it, sip it and savor it. It's gonna be another year til they're spotted again.
http://www.foundersbrewing.com

Short's Key Lime Pie

2010-10-03T22:05:00.005-02:00

It seems that every week now there's a new limited "weird beer" (Smashin' Transistors blanket term for all the odd and interesting experimental brews that use ingredients outside of you usual hop, malts and so on) made by up-north Michigan brewery Shorts. Almost too many. It's hard for this humble reporter to even keep up at times. On the label of this one it informs the potential drinker that it's brewed with mashmallow and lactose with lime and graham crackers added. Definitely not something the average beer drinker would think is "normal" wouldn't you say?
Burnt orange in color (not lime green but then again that might just be a little too weird) and clear with average sized off white fizzy head that fades somewhat quickly but leaves fair amount of spotty lacing. Lime peel and sweet bready notes (the graham crackers perhaps?) in stick out quite a bit scent. The taste first gives off a sweet milk cream flavor up from followed by a sour candy. There is a creamy texture all the way through the sips of the brew giving it a very soft feeling in the mouth. The lime flavor is noticeable but seems to stick out a little more towards finish even though it gets enveloped again by the sweeter cream flavors. There also seems to be a slight rye tinge in the aftertaste too.
Is this one of my most favorite "weird beers" from Shorts that I have tried? Not really. My vote still goes with their Soft Parade, Nicie Spicie (which is their summer wheat which I have to say kicks Bell's Oberon butt) and Strawberry Shortcake. Is it interesting and drinkable? Yes, for a couple of bottles it is at least. Give it a shot and share it with friends if you see some around. It'll make for some interesting conversation.
http://www.shortsbrewing.com/

Dogfish Head Burton Baton

2010-09-29T22:50:00.000-02:00

Ahhh, those occasional/rare brews that some of this nation's fine microbreweries produce. As a beer dork you have to get them when you see them sitting on the shelves without hesitation because who knows when they'll be spotted again. This double oak aged IPA from Dogfish Head is one of those one's where, at least in these parts, multiple 4 packs of them are purchased at once so they can cherished and sipped on while others are saying "I didn't even get to try those this year."
Cloudy amber in color and a good sized head that hangs on for quite a long while leaving a thick lace all the way though. Caramel scented malts is the first thing that tingles the nose followed by citrus, campfire smokiness and a dint of booze (but at 11% abv not as much as expected).
The mouthfeel of the brew is chewy but creamy and the flavor is packed with a whole bunch of complexities. The sweet warmth of the candied dark fruit flavored malts and tart grapefruit bite of the 90 Minute IPA are the first thing most, if they are familiar with that Dogfish Head flagship, will notice. The oak aging gives it a twist of vanilla and spices as well as a slight smokey twist. As it breathes the bitters do mellow a bit and you find yourself not believing, or at least surprised the higher end alcohol content this has....that unless you've sat down having a few and try to stand up a little to quickly.
One of the best brews of it's type and always worth waiting for it to come available again.
http://www.dogfish.com/

BLACK MOUNTAIN "Wilderness Heart" LP

2010-09-27T15:04:00.013-02:00

Radio, for the most part, sucks. Yeah, it's not some great statement of any kind and it sure ain't no secret to people (or at least I hope it's not) but having not only having a LP copy of this for home and when out on DJ night missions there has been a CD copy of this album in my car for a couple of weeks now. It been getting played an awful lot when I'm out driving. Every time it comes to and end I eject it while looking for something else to pop in. Usually one of the commercial rock stations (be it the one that plays what they claim is "alternative/modern", "hard" rock or "just the best" rock). The keyword is ROCK. Downtuned and autotuned ROCK which knowledge and history of groove, feeling and structure may go back a few decades but stops at anything before Nirvana and sounds like all the other fake angst ridden douchebags that have appropriated that sound then "improved" upon it by making it more strip club and sports bar friendly. Yep, it's ROCK but it has no ROLL.
"Dammit" I yell at the radio. It's all I can do really because there's little sense in calling the station to rant on the dj because more than likely it's prerecorded voice tracked or satellite fed and even if there is someone live in the studio it's not their job to have any discerning taste or pick what to play as it is to pretend they actually enjoy playing shit with names like Hinder, Breaking Benjamin, Crossfade and on and on. I would like to think though that if they did have a choice though they would play ROCK that has some ROLL and Black Mountain would be jamming all over the nation's ROCK (and roll) radio airwaves.
A 3 way marriage of Deep Purple, Black Sabbath and Hawkwind happens on tracks like the album's lead single "Old Fangs" with it's hotboxed organ sound and total joyriding the country roads guitar riff (and who's title may or may not be a play on a Them Crooked Vultures tune from a year or so ago called "New Fang"), the psych-boogie of the album's title track and take the slamming pace of the Purp's "Highway Star" and headbang against some boulders on "Let Spirits Ride" (which also features some of the most sinister sounding singing co-singers Amber Weber and guitarist Stephen McBean have laid down to date in the band's 5 year career).
Other tracks like the folky but funky (as in grooving-not stinky) "Hair Song", "Way To Gone" and the campfire country finds a psychedelic orchestra tinged "Buried By The Blues" could make the an otherwise super annoying hippie party tolerable for their 4 or so minute run times. "Radiant Hearts" and "The Space Of Your Mind" have a more than a slight "Yes, Roger Waters is the brains behind Pink Floyd but I am the star" thought process that David Gilmour probably still has going though his head but greet the ear with a warm and friendly embrace than cold and overblown isolation.
Nope, Rock radio will probably not add any of the songs. Not because they don't ROCK but because they not only ROCK AND ROLL but show a whole lot more personality and ideas than what they choose to spin these days. That might challenge the listening audience...and radio programmers don't want to do that at all, do they?
http://www.facebook.com/BlackMountainOfficial

SUNDAY SONANCE October 3rd at the Raven Cafe in Downtown Port Huron

2010-09-26T16:45:00.002-02:00

Join yours truly and Franck Nowak for an evening of all kinds of grooves for your listening pleasure. We had to skip last month due to the Labor Day weekend but we are back 100% vinyl spinning for 3 hours.
http://www.ravencafeph.com/

HUE BLANC'S JOYLESS ONES "LIVE" at the Roche Bar in Port Huron Tuesday Oct 26th

2010-09-24T14:17:00.002-02:00

Twisted and gnarled sound blasts of two guitars and two drummers from Algoma, Wisconsin (population 3,357).

Check this interview with them
http://smashintransistors.homestead.com/midwest_gentlemen.html

Read a review of their album from a couple years back on Victim Of Time
http://www.victimoftime.com/articles/breaking-sounds-hue-blancs-joyless-ones-arriere-ga/

Listen to some of their music here
http://www.myspace.com/hueblancsjoylessones

DRUGS DRAGONS "DRGSDRGNS" 7inch EP and TONY SAGGER ONE MAN BAND " Lies" 7inch EP

2010-09-14T20:18:00.010-02:00

Somewhere in the magical and mystical world called HARD ROCK LAND there's a road only marked by a weird and twisty oak tree that the largest crows ever seem like to populate. While walking up it look for the trail of crushed Milwaukee's Best Ice and Hamm's cans and chicken wing bones. They will lead you down a path populated with a crossbred plants of Venus Fly Traps and Poison Ivy. Soon the screeches and caws of the buzzards and crows is drowned out by a crunch and squall and squeal and squelch as you get closer to a cave. At first those sounds may resemble 70's FM boogie rock but only for the first few seconds. Then it starts to sound all stretched out and mangled. Sorta like they have a picture of Black Sabbath on a wad of Silly Putty and are doing all kinds of distorted things to it. It's quickly deduced that you have Drugs Dragons lair. The people of HARD ROCK LAND have run them out of town for taking butt boogie, swerving it all over the road and laughing each and every time they put it in the ditch. They have been declared pariah's for their disrespect and this is where they must dwell. The musty and damp environment is a perfect match to their sound where old AC/DC records are put through a meat grinder and cooked up on a grill by the fires of Feedtime. The Butthole Surfers stopped taking LSD years ago and the Drugs Dragons have decided they would have the acid flashbacks for them.
One of the key components in the Drugs Dragons sound is the mutilated blues licks (if "licks" is even the proper way to describe the string bending that is going on) of Mr. Tony Sagger. Here, in a very one man band (and one sided single) setting he bares heartache on the sparse "Lies" (sample lyric: "I hope you fucking die!"), does a way drunk but waits to fall apart until the very end version of the 13th Floors Elevators "You're Gonna Miss Me" and closes it out with the garage-rock having absolutely disturbed cough syrup buzzed hallucinations "I Love You".
Check out a Tony Sagger One Man Band gig here.
Find out more about the Drug Dragons over at their Myspace page.

Missing Bancroft Orders

2010-09-12T22:22:00.003-02:00

If you have ordered any Bancroft releases in the last 8 weeks or so and have not received them in the mail yet-Let me know at my email address smashintransistors (at) yahoo (dot) com. Seems there's been problems and some have not arrived. I am trying to figure out what the hell the problem is and I want to make sure all orders are filled and customers are satisfied.

Thanks for your patience
-Dale

Short's Hangin' Frank IPA

2010-09-10T23:00:00.006-02:00

Short's developed this IPA for the City Park Grill in Petoskey, Michigan. The place serves some good grub but is most famous for it being a place Ernest Hemingway like to hang out/hide out at and it being haunted by a ghost named Frank who hanged himself in the cellar of the place about 100 years ago.
Short's has already made a name for itself for it's superpacked with hops flavor of their Huma Lupa Licious. In contrast to that this is a more mellow take on the style. The brew color is a nice burnt orange in color and sports a moderately sized off white head that holds on pretty tight all the way down the glass leaving a lace all over the place. Pine like hops are noticeable in the aroma but there's also a lot of fruit nuances such as pineapple and peaches that come out. It's all anchored by a sweet biscuit like smell of crystal malt.
The hops aren't as aggressive and have more of a sweet fruit flavor than that pucker up sting Huma is known for. That's not to say this lacks the bright-n-green bitters that other Short's more than hop friendly brews but this has a friendly pinch to the tastebuds more than an angry bite.
For anyone who has been considering delving into the craft beer world and doesn't know where to start (and no Leinenkugel, Blue Moon and those specialty Michelob's don't count no matter what the commercials say, how bartenders repeat what the beer salesman told them and what the guy behind me at the beer store who was behind me line was saying while I was purchasing this) here's a great place to begin your discovery.
http://www.shortsbrewing.com/

ALICJA-POP! "Shining Apple" 7inch

2010-09-09T14:28:00.000-02:00

Alicja Trout has done "pop" before. To name off a bit of her musical background there's the Lost Sounds, Mouserocket and the River City Tanlines for starters. Sure, the "pop" elements may have been disguised in those projects from time to time but she's always known her way around writing something that sticks and really isn't that the basis of all good "pop" music anyway?
On this record the "POP!" on a side one's "Shining Apple" is 80's DIY pop such as the Young Marble Giants equipped with a better tape machine so they can layer some girl group harmonies while getting sidetracked by some motorik hypnotics.
Some years ago I recall reading an interview with Daniel Johnston where he was asked what his influences were and how he would describe his music to someone who may not have heard it before. His reply mentions some a contemporary bands at the time as well as him discussing his love for the Beach Boys. One thing I've learned by knowing quite a few real deal outsider musician's like him is that in their heads that is what they hear but it usually takes someone else to cover a song wrote by them to bring those kind of sounds to the forefront. Here, on the b-side's cover of Johnston's "Walking The Cow", Alicja brings them out with a 60's sunshine feel rubbing shoulders with melodic beep-beep-boop synth bits.
http://www.certifiedprrecords.com

TIMMY'S ORGANISM "I'm A Nice Guy Now" 7inch

2010-08-31T09:02:00.003-02:00

Every time my 10 (going on 11) year old son Nolan hears Timmy's Organism's "I'm A Nice Guy Now" come on the stereo or the radio (cuz yes-this town lacks A LOT of things but we've got a decent college radio station at least AND I'm not just saying that because of my involvement with it) he asks for it to be turned up so he can sing along. He says it, along with a couple songs off the Personal and the Pizzas "Raw Pie" album, are "Some of the best songs I've ever heard in my entire life."
Now, the song itself concerns me with it's lyrics of "I used to steal from the thrift store/Now I donate", "I used to punch old ladies/now I help them cross the street" and "I used to dig Rock and Roll/Now I like classical." No, not because I am concerned of how it may warp out my son's mind. Hell, have you seen some of the cartoon's that the cable stations gear towards kids the last decade of so? Nah, my concern is that since Mr. Timmy himself won the fancy-pants Kresge Foundation Fellowship Award he's gotten all soft. You know, doing things like drinking tea out of those little cups and raising his pinky while doing so, waking up before noon and wearing shirts with collars. Yikes, say it ain't so!
Judging from the thick guitar fuzz and the gutteral Howlin' Wolf/Beefheart/Pro Wrestler grunt and groan that Tim splatters over the top of the Organism's bare bones accompaniment on the song though-it doesn't sound as if success and rubbing shoulders with the check writing echelon is gonna make him change his mission of weirdness one bit. No, it's more like he's inviting all the bourgeoisie frou-frou's to step into his world of strange with a firm handshake and a chipped tooth smile.
For the single's other song, "Cold Pizza", we get what sounds like Timmy sitting out in his backyard with a guitar plugged into a practice amp in hand and a single mic hung over a tree limb capturing the sound of him bearing his tattered soul in a love/hate letter about some gal who jacked him around for the last time. The only thing missing from the ambiance of the song is the outside sounds of cicadas and crickets. Maybe they were all quiet and listening intently even though it is one of those songs where Tim doesn't actually mention a bug of some sort or another in the lyrics.
http://www.myspace.com/timmyvlamp

Iron Springs Pub's Casey Jones Imperial IPA

2010-08-29T21:09:00.005-02:00

Here's another brew courtesy of a care package from Chris Owen. I mentioned my constant crush on IPA's to him and he slipped some California style ones. This one, from Fairfax brewpub Iron Springs, is one I've never heard of before and from the way he made it sound is pretty much just regional to his immediate area. I'm all about checking out the local flavor so bring it on.
The color is dark orange at first glace. It appears opaque when sitting on the table but since I'm in the backyard I hold it up to the sunlight and a golden haze can be seen glowing around the edges. The head was modest but leaves a good cap behind that laces all the way though. On the nose the hops aren't the kind that punch at it but do have a nice fresh zing to them while the malts give the aroma a pleasant sweetness. Sorta reminds me of sourdough bread sprinkled with some lemon zest and a fresh sack of apples.
On the lips and tongue the brew itself has a nice and creamy feel to it. At first sip a rich molasses flavor is noticed then pepper and pine hop bite takes over the proceedings hanging on almost to the end but the malts smooth step in again it with warmth and sweetness. The finish features a dint of hotness from the 9.5% abv which is, for the most part, masked up until then.
Not really into sparking another one of those "What defines East Coast/West Coast/Michigan IPA" debates again but if I was to go into this one blind I think I would still define it as a solid west coast (double) IPA and there ain't nothing wrong with that.
http://ironspringspub.com/

LOS BUDDIES "UFO" 7inch EP

2010-08-21T10:42:00.006-02:00

The letter that came with this record informs me that this Jackson, Ms. band are old guys that like beer. Not being as young as I once and having an obvious affinity to beer I can totally related. It also mentions that their sound is sloppy, poppy rock-n-roll.
Sounds like it's right up my alley but there is more to my duty than to just reiterate what a press sheet says. Hey, I know that seems to be novelty judging from some other blogs I've eyed on the Info Highway but, hey, I'm an old guy and prefer to do some things the old school way so let's give it an actual listen, shall we?
"UFO" opens the record up with a rolling folk-punk jangle that builds up touching on the sounds of the 13th Floor Elevators and Dead Moon but with a gruff dirt weed and a cooler full of sale price that can't be beat canned beer growl vocal instead of a Roky or Fred screech and scream. "Destructo" up's the jangle and blare hitting on something like a drunken Superchunk doing tunes from the Embarrassment and R.E.M's Chronic Town EP. The chorus hook line of "Blame it on me and that's what you get" has been lodged in my head for a good part of the day now too. Side two's lead off track "Guanajuato" (which mean's Hill of Frogs for those that don't speak obscure dialects from Mexico) is along the same lines as well but builds it off the Chuck Berry foundation that generations of rock-n-rollers first learned to stand on and, if they have any sense, should revisit on a regular basis.
The record wraps with the jumpy mid 60's garage beater shaking hands with some nervy late 70's quirk pop. Yeah, with all the young 'un's out there these days thinking they're doing rock-n-roll a favor by sitting in at their laptops trying to recreate their grandparent's Burt Bacharach and Carpenters album for modern day mustache wearers so some one sheet or blog blurb can tell me how's it essential it is to have on my iPod I'll take beer drinking old guys with guitars any day of the week.
http://www.myspace.com/losbuddies

the PINK NOISE "Birdland" LP

2010-08-20T11:09:00.003-02:00

Seems there's a new band every week being declared the next wave of synth music. Something new, fresh and exciting. Then checking the hyped group out one can't help but think "Yeah, I suppose this is possibly new, fresh and exciting if you're 21, have an ironic mustache, get up to the second updates from Pitchfork Media to your iPhone and never heard of Howard Jones and the Thompson Twins." I mean, c'mon, are there actually THAT many people honestly digging things like the Passion Pit and the Junior Boys or just acting like they do because they think their friends do. Hey, I'm all for a nostalgia/revisiting trip as much as the next guy but fey 80's Europop redo's ain't no tourist trap I really want to visit.
When using the term "Synth Band" to describe this Montreal combo though the sound of peppy doot-doot-dah-doot's, plastic neon colored belts & ear rings and triangular haircuts don't come to mind. Floating through a outerspacescape where weird being taunt you on tracks such as "Crystal Ball, Crystal Skull" and "In Modern Colors" but no doot-doot-dah-doots. A band saw slicing up sheets of metal in a murky swamp only illuminated by are bare 40 watt light bulb and Red Mecca era Cabaret Voltaire on an Adderall sound of "Get High (Love Is The Drug)" and "Rube For You" maybe but nothing brightly colored. A simplistic and "vintage" drum machine getting it's dance beat mangled while re-imagining Chrome in 1976 San Francisco being clumsily dropped into 1981 Hermosa Beach so they can pick fights with Black Flag (though not at all sounding like them) on "Step Into A New Skin", "Blinded By The Arcade Lights" (which also has some creepy ass synthetic church bell loops threaded through it) and "Do The Slither Shimmer" but not really any sign of triangular haircuts. This is synth music for mopping blood off the floor and not dancing on one.
http://www.sacredbonesrecords.com/

Green Flash West Coast IPA

2010-08-06T23:42:00.004-02:00

Oh, the American IPA. Most craft breweries have their take on it nowadays but there are some that set the precedent or are the benchmarks. Vista, Ca. based brewery Green Flash is one of those. Unfortunately they are also one of those beers that doesn't distribute to Michigan so it's a rare treat whenever one comes my way in a beer trade or a gift. Many thanks go to Chris Owen, he of Killer's Kiss and the Hook Or Crook record label fame, for sending one my way. Now, as I sip on it (Yes, sipping and savoring because who knows when the next time one will come my way) let me share my notes about it with you.
Dark copper color and a light orange color tinged creamy head that melts a bit but still hangs tough and leaves a snowdrift effect like lacing all the way though the sipping. The label tells you that this is extravagantly hopped and if you didn't believe them the aromas that come out just from simply pouring it and letting it breathe in the glass for a few are enough to tell you they aren't lying. Big citrus scents, grapefruit along with some lime, stick out most but there are some underlying sweet caramel and bready malts that seem to set a foundation.
The flavor is one of those examples of what a stellar American IPA (be it west coast, east coast, Michigan or what ever other sub genres the style claim) is all about. Bright and bold floral hops packed with a grapefruit bite and a slight pineapple sweetness upfront that tingle and tantalize, a malt backbone taming a bit of the hop sting and nuances of almonds and fresh biscuits. The brew itself is of creamy medium body that's not too fizzy or too thick. It's finishes dry and though somewhat sticky doesn't hang for way too long like some other hop bombs of this caliber can.
http://www.greenflashbrew.com/

The MOJOMATICS "Love Wild Fever" 7inch

2010-08-04T12:40:00.005-02:00

While some previous records by these Italian mojodudes touched these ears as Brian Wilson adoration stripped down and geared towards a cramped and sweaty dive bar instead of an orchestra pit the two songs here toss Brian Wilson thing to the side and make that cramped dive bar even more sweaty with some hyped up howl.
Loud harmonica wails upfront loud and proud set a rowdy mood for side one's touching on a young Pretty Things RnB stomper meets a county fair shit kicker "Love Wild Fever". Flip it over for "A Heavy Dose Of Sympathy", which has nothing to do with Long Gone John's late and lamented record label, and the mouth harp is gone but in it's place is the sound of some total farmer tanned hayseeds setting fire to a garage and the rock-n-roll that goes on it.
It not known if these guys mojo is from the hand or kept in a bag but however they're shaking it here can get a party started.
http://www.myspace.com/themojomatics

GOREVETTE "Lustfully Yours" CDEP

2010-07-26T11:53:00.002-02:00

"Damn generation gap. Do I really have to explain who Nikki Corvette is?" I think to myself. It seems that yes, I do. Of course I do have to realize that not everyone grew up in the days of having a subscription to CREEM magazine and got the Bomp! newsletter/mail order list in the mail (you know, actual mail delivered by a mailman) when they were in junior high but even some of the the decade or two younger than me rock-n-roll fans who can sing the lyrics to the Donnas "Gimme My Radio" (which Nikki gets name checked in) think she's a fictional character that just happened to rhyme with "cheeba cigarettes". Little do they know that she held a pivotal role in Nikki and the Corvettes by not only as a lady not only fronting a rock-n-roll band in the dawn of the 80's but writing her own songs as well paving the way for bands from the Go-Go's through the Donnas and beyond.
After taking a long while out of the spotlight Nikki returned to the rock-n-roll world in the early 00's after Bomp! reissued the long out of print Nikki and the Corvettes album to not only a devoted slew of original fans but a generation of new ears too. She eventually returned to her hometown of Detroit, became friends of Amy of the Gore Gore Girls and as a result formed the band Gorevette and released the EP that we have here.
While a couple songs here are reminiscent of the Nikki (and the) Corvette(s) of yore such as the bouncy & bubbly "Baby, Let's Rock" and the nod to the Shangri-La's (check out the talking part in the song to hear for yourself if you don't believe me) "Honey, Please Don't Go" others like the full of fuzz box guitar blare "Nothing's Gonna Stop Me" and big beat backend groover of the title track stay loyal to the good things that are rock-n-roll but souped them up to these days of the post jet age. Welcome home Nikki. It's great to have you back!
http://www.gorevette.com/

Short's Spruce Pilsner

2010-07-24T15:24:00.002-02:00

Here's a situation I'm sure many a craft beer aficionado understands. You're at a party and someone spots you with something that isn't a Bud Light, Corona, PBR etc in your hand. The start to engage you in conversation by saying "Oh, drinking one of them weird beers I see." Now, since it is a party it's highly likely you aren't bringing some ultra limited double casked Imperial something or other but most likely something that can be found at any decent grocery store like a Sierra Nevada, Anchor Steam, Bell's or what have you. No matter how you go about telling them that what you are drinking is fairly normal/not weird at all they'd rather not listen and then just tell you how they can get a 12 or 18 pack or whatever and "get hammered all night". In those cases all you can do is shrug and say "Oh cool" and slink away.
In the case of Short's Spruce Pilsner and in that situation though I would have to say "Yep, It's a pretty weird beer." Clear golden in color with a modest head that leaves some interesting looking lacing behind. Let it breathe for less than a minute and you'll seriously find yourself looking around to see who dragged a Christmas tree into the house. Well, I did at least. Beneath the northern Michigan pine forest on a breezy early spring day scent are some citrus hops peeking out.
My initial thought on the flavor was some high end gin with ginger nuances. The pine flavor is really stands out on the first sip and is there all the way from start to finish. And when I say pine I'm not talking the pine qualities a lot of hops have in IPA's or Double/Imperial pilsners. I'm talking "Yep, they aren't kidding when they say on the bottle that it's brewed with Michigan spring blue spruce tips." Nope, not extracts or oils from them but the actual tips of the trees.
Letting it breathe and warm up in the glass slightly the spruce pulls back a bit and the bright and tangy lemon/lime like hops come out a bit more. The finish packs the pine back in tasting somewhat minty in the end. You'll feel warmth all over your body as each sip goes down but not a burn that you might think with what was used to brew it not to mention it's 10% abv. Surprisingly, though the brew does have a lot of body and a semi-fat mouthfeel it's slightly (but only slightly) less oily feeling than I expected and very sticky none the less. Definitely a sipper here. I don't think I could ever sit down and have a 6 pack session with them because the flavor is way over the top but I do plan to pick up another six of these before they're gone and pop the cap on one when the mood for something quite interesting and way different hits me.
http://www.shortsbrewing.com/

The Sugar Stems Thursday July 29th at the Roche Bar in Port Huron

2010-07-22T23:04:00.001-02:00

The Sugar Stems feature Drew of the LegHounds/Jetty Boys fame, Betsy and Stephanie of the Flips and JonE from bands such as the Catholic Boys, Teenage Rejects, Tuff Bananas etc. Check out more about them at their Myspace page.

Sort of a last minute show announcement here but it'll be a good one. Many thanks to Johnny and Suzie of the Roche Bar for always providing a place where band's doing their own music can play in this otherwise podunk town called Port Huron.

MISSING MONUMENTS "Black Rainbow" 7inch

2010-07-19T23:11:00.003-02:00

No matter what style of music King Louie Bankston decides to delve in be it southern fried rock with his Loose Diamonds, the full on garage trash like he did when he joined forces with Eric Oblivian and Jay Reatard (who passing they pay tribute to on the insert with a pic of the band dumping out beers in his honor) in the Bad Times, dirtbag power-pop in the Black Rose Band and a list that can go on and from his rural blues one band man to the Exploding Hearts to scum metal (and pretty much everything in between....except for maybe cool jazz and some techno thing-but who knows maybe he even has projects like those in the works or at least in his head too) it never sounds like genre hopping. Mainly because when Louie sets out to do something he does it in his own Louie way putting his stamp (and usually his stomp too) all over it.
For the Missing Monuments it's sounds like Louie and crew have time traveled Collegetown USA 1985 and got jobs at the record store where they argue the merits of the Feelies "Crazy Rhythms" vs. "The Good Earth" (Ya know-the downtown NYC oddballs vs. the rustic tin shed dwellers), scoff at people who buy Monkees records out of the 25cent bin (while being silently pissed they didn't find them first) and telling the Replacements new found jock audience how Tommy Ramone's production on "Tim" makes them sound more like the Jefferson Starship than America's next best Rock-n-Roll band (to which the jocks reply "Starship rocks" and then threaten to kick their punk new wave faggot asses if they ever see them at a kegger party).
Recorded on what sounds like a budget of $200 bucks (and half of it spent on whatever the popular regional cheap beer was) you get two ragged but right songs here full of frayed and cotton pilled flannel jangle and cigarette burned twang, copped from 1960's Top 40 soul hit basslines, hoarse & boozy choruses and wondering what would've happened if they went on to be produced by Nick Lowe or Mitch Easter.
http://www.myspace.com/missingmonuments

Dark Horse Boffo Brown Ale

2010-07-17T16:37:00.007-02:00

Yeah, yeah. I know. It was just a little over a week ago where we went off here about getting away from the heavier and darker ales because it's summer and now we are getting ready to discuss a brown ale. Well, It's an offering from Dark Horse, a Michigan brewery that makes some really solid beers but don't seem have as much of a high profile as some of the breweries in the state, and just showed up in my neck of the Mitten State woods this part week (after being around in other part of the state in bottles for a couple month now this release season. Chalk another one up to the slow on the draw distro's that controls this part of the state) so it just could not wait til cooler day.
Dark brown in color. Looks a bit cola really. Since it's a Dark Horse brew there's not much, if any, filtering of any sort going on so the floaties of grain hanging around the sides of the glass look sorta like soda bubbles. The was a tan in color and a modest half inch think that fade down fairly quickly. The scent borders on a cola too with the roasted malts taking on a caramel, coffee and molasses aromas.
First flavor to come out is that of sweet (but not overtly sugary) cream. The mouthfeel of the brew also has a light cream to it as well now that I'm mentioning it. Right behind it is caramel malts, brown sugar and a bit of nuttiness. The finish has something of a porter taste to it with a slight touch of bitters and baker's chocolate. There's some brown ales out there, to me at least, that have too much of a grit or dirt flavor going on. Boffo isn't like those. Nice level of complexities, very well rounded and quite flavorful. Definitely another good job from those malt, grain and hops outlaws over there in Marshall, Michigan
http://www.darkhorsebrewery.com

JJ and the REAL JERKS "The Future Is Now...(and it stinks)" 7inch

2010-07-15T12:31:00.009-02:00

I guess if a discussion of what kind of jerks some people can be these guys have already put their bid in for what kind of jerks they are. Nope, not total jerks. Not big jerks. Not complete jerks nor absolute jerks either. Only REAL jerks will do.
Also, If you were to get into a discussion about what decade it is with J.J. and the Real Jerks about what decade it is they'd probably tell you that they wish it was the late end of the 70's. And where would they want to be living if it was that era? Well, though these (real) jerks reside in sunny California the two tracks here bear more of a Motor City High Energy & Hard Rawkin' vibe that Scandinavian's were all over 10 years back and NYC's more than completely seed trashcan chic of the Heartbreakers (Johnny's not Tom's) that may go out of favor but never out of style. Hell, there's even a saxophone blurting in-n-out of the concrete boogie din. If that ain't a staple instrument for the eastern side of the USA trad. punk-rock-n-roll style I don't know what is.
http://www.myspace.com/jjandtherealjerks

the PEOPLE'S TEMPLE "Make You Understand" 7inch EP

2010-07-13T17:45:00.009-02:00

Damn, it's a sweatbox here room right now. Freakin' Michigan summer humidity. As they say though in these parts though "If you don't like it give it 15 minutes. It'll change." The thing is though is that if Michigan's weather was to be described as a mental condition it could be politely refereed to Bi-Polar or more bluntly as schizophrenic. For all I know by the time you are done reading this the weather might have gone from a heat index making it feel like 105°F and 89% humidity to a freaking ice storm knocking down trees and power lines courtesy of a north Great Lakes wind. Kinda like this 3rd 7inch offering in a year from Lansing, Mi based post teen combo the People's Temple.
Lead off track here, "Make You Understand", has the feeling of loud noise in a small basement room where the walls sweat and you can see steam rising off the cement foundation. Primal venting of desperation with a beat that knock you head against the ciderblocks and guitar noise covering the rest of your body with a corrosive sticky fuzz. It's as if these guys found a battered copy of the book the MC5 wrote. There's some pages missing from it though those pages are the one's about getting sometimes a little excessive with the long jammy groove parts. Those pages shouldn't be read by most bands anyway so it's all good. It's followed by "Machine", a way later in the evening thing where the temperature has dropped a good 20 degrees and you're walking heavy lidded down the street watching a fog rise up that is thick enough to make the street lights at the end of the block hardly noticeable. And dude, yes, you may be tripping hard but that isn't animated paisley on your buddy's shirt. They are really colorful maggots.
Side two's "Jim Jones" is where the weather takes a really strange shift. What could have turned out to be pastoral walk through a meadow turns into a chilling stroll. That's not some hippie singer like Donovan with flowers in his hand. He's holding a machete and it ain't to cut a new trail through the long grass for ya. Somewhere (in Hell or wherever religious cult leaders go when the die) the song's namesake is smiling after trading in his cop/Elvis/Blu-Blocker shades for a pair of John Cale wraparounds.
http://www.myspace.com/thepeoplestemple10

Great Divide Colette Farmhouse Ale

2010-07-09T14:41:00.010-02:00

It can get a little tricky being a beer snob when the weather is as hot as it's been the past week or so. Big bold brews, no matter how amazing and perfect they can be, sometimes just don't hit the spot right when the mercury is hitting 95°F. It leaves the choices of readjusting the tastebuds and guts to something that's a "killer deal for a 30 pack of cans", usually has the word "Light" in it's handle and who's name is emblazoned on banners that say "Welcome Boaters" that are always hanging in front of tourist town town party stores or finding something good that fits the season.
After a few false starts for myself when it came to Saison and Farmhouse ales I've found that this summer, so far at least, they've been one of the things that has been doing the trick on sweltering days. This one by Denver Colorado's Great Diving Brewing especially has been.
With a cloudy yellow that resembles the summer sun right before it starts to set and a fluffy head that hangs on strong and leaves a serious lace all through the glass it's already made known in presentation alone that Collette is a girl that doesn't dilly-dally. Aromas of citrus zest, tall grass after a rain, white pepper and banana esters fill the nose-all of them fragrant, refined and working in harmony with not one of them overtaking the proceedings.
Citrus, particularly lemon zest and orange peel, and some sour apple head off the flavors. Bready yeasts and coriander take over the middle setting their own distinction from what is first tasted. A third level of complexity is brought into the finish where a couple of dashes of banana shakes hands with peppery spices. There is the slightest of alcohol warmness at the end but is hidden very well to the point where one might not realize they're sipping on something in the 7.5% abv range. The brew is very fizzy and effervescent all the way through the glass and though all of the above flavors do linger a bit on the sides of the mouth and the back of the throat after each sip they are light and air-not sticky. Isn't that just what yr looking for on a hot summer day?
Not only does Great Divide make some really incredible beers they also have some of the best looking and simplistic label designs going. All of their styles also feature a little character in the graphics to go along with the beer. For instance: Their Denver Pale Ale has a mountain goat, their Titan IPA a gladiator, their stout called Yeti has, what else, a yeti and so on. This one has the silhouette of a short dress (I'm guessing it's gingham) wearing farmer's daughter out in the field with a pitchfork and spiked heels on her feet. Where is that country girl at?
http://greatdivide.com/

STICKS-n-STONES "Red Light" 7inch

2010-07-06T17:46:00.007-02:00

Pauly and Jon.E (of Teenage Rejects, Catholic Boys and Tuff Bananas fame) and Natalie (The Tears, Tuff Bananas, The Flips) newest thing here. Now, usually when mentioning a band's previous projects like above, it's to give you the reader just a bit to grab your interest and keep reading on. That's part of the intention here too but on these two songs it's like they combined the sounds those band made and created yet another entirely new animal.
A dint of garage punk bash-n-burn gets wound a bit tight and could totally start throwing a spazz fit at any moment if it wasn't for the piece of pink lemonade bubblegum they are chewing on didn't keep them all in check. A-side's "Red Light" has the basic ingredients of bare lightbulb guitar glare and knock about backbeat topped with Saturday morning cartoon melody. Flip it over for "Time Change" and you might think it's a demo from the first Boys album with it's rough & shiny edges, doubled up vocals and an undeniable catchiness. As a matter of fact us here at Smashin' Transistors are throwing down a challenge. Daring ya to deny BOTH of these song are damn catchy.
Scrungy malcontents with greasy hair and mustard stained t-shirts are shoulder to shoulder next to the kids who have a keen and classic fashion sense that keeps them from being dubbed trendy save for the completely clueless. Does a fight break out? Nope! But dancing does.
http://www.myspace.com/sticksnstoned

TIMMY'S ORGANISM "I'm On A Hunt" 7inch

2010-06-25T18:00:00.007-02:00

If you've just heard the whispers on the street and are wondering if they're true-YES! This is Timmy V.Lamp Vulgar doing something along the lines of something somewhat normal Rock-n-Roll. What you need to realize though is that "normal Rock-n-Roll" in the always churning and always oddly colored mind that is Mr. Timmy isn't necessarily what someone like Dick Clark or some dick on the FM rock station think when they hear such a description.
With the basic butt shaking boogie groove that has launched a billion songs about since Chuck Berry scored his first hit about girls at least a decade younger than himself over half almost three quarters a century ago being pummeled and battered to match the surrounds Tim walks through on a daily basis-"I'm On A Hunt" is on a scent that'll eventually soothe the savage beast. The beat takes on the job of a lumbering machine that creaks from years of rust but stand out of it's way while moving because it will take off any limb that it catches while Guitars lines randomly spill & splatter blood and battery acid in every direction and Timmy howls about a search fueled by desperation and lust.
Side two's "Don't Forget Your Pretty Stare" is a heartfelt ballad that Bowie wishes he would wrote after he was done tapping Iggy's well for ideas on The Idiot if only either of them had the hindsight as well as the weird look into the backwards future that Timmy possesses.
http://www.myspace.com/timmyvlamp

the PIZAZZ "Get Out Of My House" cassette

2010-06-21T10:25:00.006-02:00

All bands out there who consider themselves "pure pop" should quiet down for a minute and take some notes from Detroit's Pizazz. They know that you don't need layers of pro-tooled trickery and piles of overdub frosting. Sure, all that stuff makes everything all glossy & sparkly and we all know how shiny objects can entertain the simplest of minds but if the basic ingredients aren't of high quality all the doo-dads and added fluff that mask what is lacking. There has to be solid SONGS or all that stuff is just a dog and pony show.
Recorded on what sounds an 80's Tascam cassette 4 track machine (tape hiss, guitars occasionally cracking up in treble regions, the bass gnawing the entire low-end for seconds at a time) by Bobby Harlow of the Go (who pulled off the same kind of almost perfect loud "pure pop" record a couple years back with Howl On The Haunted Beat You Ride) the twelve songs here are not any audiophiles dream but they don't need to be. It isn't one of those "Let's be deliberately lo-fi and pinned deep past the red line" affairs. The recording do have that "Let's set up in the bedroom/basement/family room" quality to them but it sounds like they made the best of attempts to get the top quality out of situation regardless. The hooks are catchy, the harmonies soar and the songs are solid.
Commingling (mostly) the Nuggets boxsets (the Euro and more recent L.A. one than US and San Fran ones to get a little more specific) and the Beach Boys with Britpop and the Byrds-the Pizazz serve up the Move baroque pop moves song like "Benjamin Woodruff" and "Plan B", provide the soundtrack for summer daydreaming on tracks like "Ocean Liner", "Jenny Says" and "Dolphin Patrol", make up a batch of backyard psych on "Living Like Animals" and get all loud sounding like the prime moments from Ride's first couple EP's on "Heartaches and Heart Attacks."
I have a feeling I could end up wearing out this cassette pretty fast. Anyone put this stuff out on vinyl? If not-someone should.
http://www.myspace.com/thepizazzcare