Frankie Delmane & The Deviations- After All Of This We Must Fall In Love

Back with his first new solo album since January 2021, rock and roller, writer, pop culture obsessive, and  superlegend in his own time Frankie Delmane has delivered something expectedly extraordinary in After All Of This We Must Fall In Love. If you know him from the Teenage Frames, The Crazy Squeeze, or his Substack but have never looked into his solo music, this is certainly a fine place to start. Freed from whatever genre limitations that may exist when he's writing for his other bands, Delmane's solo records find him doing what he does best: being himself. You're still getting those undeniable hooks and hearing many of the same influences, but there's something beautiful about Frankie Delmane being turned loose to write whatever type of song he feels like writing without any question of how and where it all fits. At times, he doesn't stray too far from the hooky rock 'n' roll he's known for. "It's Rock n' Roll," "I Cannot Wait Up," and "Don't Cry for Me" are guaranteed to please longtime fans. Elsewhere, Delmane explores less typical territory. The title track and the excellent album closer "It Doesn't Matter Where We Go (as long as we get there)" have the feel of '80s synth-pop while exuding a mix of beauty and other-worldliness. "Cock the Rock" is absolutely the sleaze-tastic hard rocker anthem the title promises. "Demons in Your Head" sounds like it belongs on the soundtrack of some unnerving apocalyptic movie. "Night Into Day" is a simple, stunning ballad made all the more powerful by its deliberate lack of polish. Perhaps I first became a fan of Frankie Delmane because of the kind of songs he was writing. But at this point, he can write any kind of song, and I'm going to want to hear it. He's a genuine original and a formidable talent, and After All Of This We Must Fall In Love ought to be prescribed to anyone thirsting for a reprieve from mediocrity.

-L.R.

https://frankiedelmane.bandcamp.com/album/after-all-of-this-we-must-fall-in-love

Teenage Frames - Everything Has Led To This

Back with their first full-length release in 25 years, the mighty Teenage Frames have turned out what is surely the record of their lives. That's hardly a surprise given the tremendous quality of the band's (relatively) recent output. When Frankie Delmane and Eric Vegas get together to write songs, greatness inevitably ensues. The title of the album says it all: Everything Has Led To This. Here we have one of the greatest bands of the modern power pop/rock 'n' roll universe doing anything but slowing down after three decades. These guys don't rest on their laurels; they build on their legacy. They describe Everything Has Led To This as their take on "the trials and travails of life in 2024 and beyond, " and thus the album feels very current and relevant. I get the sense that they basically decided that if they were going to go to the trouble of making an album in 2024, they might as well make the one album of 2024 they'd most like to listen to. In a day and age when bands rarely aspire to write the next generation of classic rock 'n' roll songs, this 14-track long player satisfies like few albums do. 

Everything Has Led To This features the same Teenage Frames lineup that has been a fixture for two decades: Delmane on vocals, Vegas on guitar, Aaron Money on bass, and Jim Holiday on drums. There's clearly a special chemistry that exists between these four guys, and they've all only gotten better at their craft over time. But an older, wiser Teenage Frames is in no way a softened Teenage Frames. On this release, the band rocks with as much swagger and piss & vinegar as it ever has. The band sounds tight and powerful, and Delmane's pipes and wit are in peak form. Never ones to restrict themselves to just a single lane, these four stir up their own unique mix of power pop, '70s punk, glam rock, new wave, and sleazy street rock 'n' roll (among other things). Having grown accustomed to releasing EPs that were literally nothing but hits, the band has applied that same principle to a full album. Many a band would aspire to be able to put out a greatest hits compilation that's as stacked as this album. 

From the '70s-style boogie rockin' power pop of "Brain Fever" all the way to the down & dirty rock action of "Agree to Disagree," Everything Has Led To This is a glitzy parade of bangers. There's something on this record for everyone: pure punk, perfect pop, big hooky rock, and even a Fats Domino cover. The likes of "I Wish I Didn't Know That About You," "Fake Crime," "Fighting Words," "Please Don't Be Stupid Tonight," "Back to the Beat," and "Disappointment" are up there with the best songs in the Teenage Frames catalog.  I suppose they could have spread all this goodness out over 4 or 5 EPs and kept us entertained through 2026, but I must say these songs feel right as a single album. If you're looking for music that will make wanna shake your ass and sing along — all the while having plenty to say about the world — this is the record you need. I know it's an almost unforgivable cliché for a music writer to speak of a musical recording disproving the notion that rock 'n' roll is dead. But damn it, how can I not say that about this album?  In a couple days, I will revisit this trend of middle-aged bands being the all-time best versions of themselves. I find that very inspiring on a personal level. 53 is the new 29!

-L.R.

https://teenageframes.bandcamp.com/album/everything-has-led-to-this
https://open.spotify.com/album/4XkM3vpVg21Ms6SVO6lWFe
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=OLAK5uy_lEkjg35cr_6EulA291SA-QbcyIm8bU99k
https://www.facebook.com/teenageframes/
https://www.instagram.com/teenageframes
https://www.youtube.com/@teenageframes

Frankie Delmane - Field Recordings For The Dispossessed

He's back! One year after releasing the brilliant and highly ambitious album Street Penetration, Frankie Delmane has turned out another terrific long player in a similar glam/proto-punk/sleazy street rock mold. Field Recordings For The Dispossessed is Delmane's "pandemic album". All songs were written and recorded during the 2020 lockdown. As was the case with Street Penetration, Field Recordings For The Dispossessed crosses various genres of rock and roll but is especially recommended if you like Lou Reed, the Velvet Underground, Iggy Pop, and 1970s Rolling Stones. Fans of Delmane's songwriting in The Crazy Squeeze and Teenage Frames will find no lack of rocking tunes with memorable hooks. But working at home with complete control over his musical vision has really allowed Delmane to establish a singular identity as a solo artist. 

I closed my review of Street Penetration with the wish that more Frankie Delmane solo albums would be forthcoming. And Field Recordings For The Dispossessed is every bit the follow-up I was hoping for. Like many of the recent and forthcoming pandemic releases in our world, this album takes you into one person's 2020 headspace. And try as we may to put the very existence of last year behind us, there is clearly great value in what our collective experience may have compelled some of us to produce. It will likely be a while before we are graced with the great pandemic novels and great pandemic films. But the viability of home recording has already brought us numerous pandemic albums with many more to come. Field Recordings For The Dispossessed is certainly one of the most compelling entrants so far. It's not necessarily about the pandemic, yet it's most definitely caked in the grime of that trying spring/summer of 2020. Some of the song titles ("Everybody Thinks Nobody Lived Before", "It's Gotta Be Lonely Being the Only One That's Right", "Why Is Everybody Such A Mess") are works of art in and of themselves. These are raw, dirty recordings that nonetheless ooze a swagger that is largely absent from modern-day indie rock music. Opening cut "They're Just Gonna Tell You What They Want" is all the best of glam, proto-punk, and the Stones melded together in glorious low fidelity. "I'm Getting Evil" sounds like '70s Lou Reed recording a pop song with 21st Century home recording equipment. "Human Scum" is just great trashy rock and roll with a nasty edge. The gloomily beautiful "Which Lies Are Your Truth?" could almost pass for The Cure on a budget. "She's Another Woman Tonight" sounds like a stripped-down version of a song Delmane might have written for one of his bands. Across 15 tracks here, Delmane builds on his usual array of influences as he touches on everything from new wave pop to '60s psychedelia to '80s synth-pop to O.G. minimalist rock and roll. It all makes for a varied yet cohesive set of songs that practically transports you to the streets of West Hollywood. 

Frankie Delmane is a name known to you if you've been following the power pop/punk/rock and roll scene over the last 25 years. Yet beyond his flair for crafting some of the best three-minute pop songs you'll ever hear, he's a true renaissance man. He's an extraordinary writer, an insightful critic, and a keen student of pop culture and all genres of music. And to this list we can add exceptional solo artist. Field Recordings For The Dispossessed, like Street Penetration before it, is a creation befitting a superlegend. 

-L.R.

https://frankiedelmane.bandcamp.com/album/field-recordings-for-the-dispossessed

Frankie Delmane - Street Penetration

Well I believe we've just seen the ultimate in songwriting quality control! I've written a great deal about Frankie Delmane over the years with many rave reviews for his bands the Teenage Frames and The Crazy Squeeze. You may also recall that he tackled an ambitious solo endeavor throughout 2015: releasing a solo track/music video for every day of that year. Well he ended up using those songs as the basis for his new album Street Penetration. 365 songs were paired down to the 18 tracks that appear on the album. Can you imagine having material prepared for an album and literally less than 5% of it makes the cut? Well, you sure would know that you were putting your best songs forward! I was blown away already that Frankie had the creative powers to write 365 songs in a year's time. But I can barely imagine how exhausting and labor intensive it must have been for all parties involved to go through all of those tracks and compile this album. Yet here we are. Frankie has delivered us a nifty holiday gift!

Some of you might think of Frankie Delmane as primarily a power pop/punk rock guy. But his interests in music cross every derivative of rock and roll and beyond. He's one of my generation's most insightful analysts of music and popular culture (his recent social media crusade in defense of The Irishman ought to be a book in its own right). I must admit I've been intrigued for a long time to find out what he could do with an album of his own. His 365 songs in 365 days project found him working in a variety of musical styles and further defining his unique voice as an artist. It all comes together here with an album that allows Frankie to channel his inner David Bowie/Lou Reed/Ian Hunter. This album has a little bit of everything: proto-punk, synth-pop, hard rock, garage rock, minimalist pop, and quite a few exceptional ballads. But overall Street Penetration has the raw, sleazy feel of a classic glam rock record. "This Sick Beat" is like Marc Bolan riding the Sunset Strip. "Time Is Gonna Strangle You" summons the Velvets via the Stones. The sexy "Street Penetration" is the centerpiece of the album, literally and figuratively. And in keeping with the spirit of the aforementioned greats, it's the ballads ("Here With You Tonight") and rawest emotional cuts ("When the Silence Breaks The Sound") that surely shine the brightest.

Having admired Frankie Delmane as a musician and writer for many years, I'm tickled pink that he's finally made his great solo album. If you only know him from the Teenage Frames and The Crazy Squeeze, you may be pleasantly surprised to hear him fulfill a musical vision completely independent of those bands. Others will not be surprised at all - just happy that these songs have finally hit the street (no pun intended). This is likely an album that will come to define Frankie Delmane as an artist. It's his master work, and a wonderful display of the talent and personality that make him the most interesting man in West Hollywood. And I love the lo-fi/DIY nature of these recordings. When you can write songs this good, you don't need to hide behind fancy production. Street Penetration is a brilliant solo effort that I hope will be followed by many more albums from the superlegend Frankie Delmane!



-L.R.

https://frankiedelmane.bandcamp.com/album/street-penetration 
https://www.facebook.com/Frankiedyi/ 
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCxoEPAblNiN8PE3MzCBHfxg 

Teenage Frames - Still Pissed

For the first time in five years, we have new music from the Teenage Frames releasing today! In my book, this is one of the preeminent bands in the entire realm of punk inspired power pop. The group's recording history dates back to 1996 and has continued with infrequent but consistently great releases over the past decade or so. In fact, I'd say the band's last three EPs (including this one) are its finest releases to date. And while the band was on a lengthy hiatus for a number of years, the Frankie Delmane/Eric Vegas songwriting partnership always manages to pick right up where it left off. Still Pissed is the name of the EP as well as its lead track, and that sure sounds like a mission statement to me! Anyone living on this planet in 2018 would have plenty of reasons to be pissed. That can either get you down or totally fire you up, and clearly the Teenage Frames have chosen the latter option. "Still Pissed" is unashamedly Ramones-inspired and a true declaration that this is a band that still has something to say and a whole lot to offer. Then comes "She Knows"- a pop song so perfect that I doubt it will be topped by anyone in 2018. It pretty epitomizes everything I love about this band, coupling driving upbeat music and an irresistible sing-along chorus with bummer lyrics that just about anyone can relate to. "So Mean" is a little more on the rockin' side but still boasts a knockout hook. And to finish the record, "Don't Tell Me What To Do" is more great power pop/rock that ought to have you singing along instantly.

Ever since the turn of the century, the Teenage Frames have concentrated entirely on releasing music in small doses. That "all killer, no filler" approach really suits the talents of a band so skilled at turning out brilliant pop songs. Essentially this is one of the great singles bands of my generation. If you went over to Bandcamp and bought the band's three most recent EPs, you could compile them into a single album that rivals just about any power pop LP from the last ten years. Between Still Pissed and the new Number Ones EP, the bar for great pop in 2018 has been set very high!



-L.R.

https://teenageframes.bandcamp.com/album/still-pissed 
https://www.facebook.com/teenageframes/ 

The Crazy Squeeze - Savior of the Streets

Damn you, Crazy Squeeze, for making an album so utterly perfect that I lost sleep over the decision of which tracks I should embed in this review! Savior of the Streets, The Crazy Squeeze's long-awaited sophomore LP, is out now as a digital release with vinyl coming next month on Disconnected Records in the U.S.A. and Wanda Records in Europe. With most albums (even really good ones), I can come up with a pretty good idea of which songs are "the hits". But Savior of the Streets is basically nothing but hits. It's all-killer, no-filler from the opening note to the final strains. And while the "every song's a hit" cliche has been a mainstay of my reviews for years, I will gladly fight anyone who doubts its accuracy in the case of this album!

The Crazy Squeeze is that rare case of a supergroup that's been so good for so long that it no longer feels right to call it a supergroup. These days, we talk less about these guys' other bands and more about the amazing records they've been churning out as The Crazy Squeeze. Comparing Savior of the Streets to the group's self-titled debut from 2012, I hear a band that today has a much more fully developed idea of who it is and what kind of music it wants to make. While the term "pub rock" has definite associations with a specific place and time in music history, The Crazy Squeeze has reinvented the term in a broader sense. Its version of pub rock is the perfect mix of glam-influenced '77 punk and pure old style rock n' roll - with hooks that would be the envy of just about any pop band. Somehow the band sounds both tougher and catchier on this release - a bona fide leading contender for my 2017 album of the year.

With the track selection alternating between Johnny's songs and Frankie's songs, Savior of the Streets is an album that really highlights how well their contrasting styles complement each other. They each bring something a little different to the table, but it all ends up sounding like The Crazy Squeeze. And while this is generally a more cohesive album than the last one, that doesn't mean that every song sounds the same. These 12 tracks cover everything from down and dirty glam rock ("Be Your Dryer") to first rate punky power pop ("Let's Go Down") to raucous barroom rock n' roll ("Blind Truth") to '70s-style arena pop ("Ooh Baby I Love You") to Stonesy street rock ("She's A Runner") to some good, old honky tonk stomp (a robust cover of J Gale Kilgore's cult classic, "Suds"). There's never a dull moment. This, to me, is the kind of rock n' roll your parents always warned you about: oozing with swagger and liable to lead a person towards a life of rule-breaking and unrepentant sinning. Doesn't that sound like tremendous fun?!

I would definitely consider The Crazy Squeeze one of my favorite bands, so I was really looking forward to Savior of the Streets. But even with my high hopes, I must say that I was totally blown away. I wondered if this album would yield any more songs on the level of a "Sexual Activity Girls" or a "To the Lonely Ones". What I got was a whole album on that level! Fellas, you crushed it! This is an instantly classic rock n' roll record! So how did I decide which tracks to embed? Well, you know, I can flip a mean coin.



-L.R.

https://thecrazysqueeze.bandcamp.com/album/savior-of-the-streets 
https://disconnected-records.com/collections/frontpage/products/crazy-squeeze-the-savior-of-the-streets-lp 
https://www.facebook.com/thecrazysqueeze/ 
https://www.facebook.com/DisconnectedRecordsUSA/ 

365 days of Frankie Delmane!

Something truly extraordinary is happening over on Frankie Delmane's YouTube feed. This extremely talented songwriter - whom you may know from The Teenage Frames, the mighty Crazy Squeeze, or the Trash TV & Beyond blog - has endeavored to release a new demo for every day of this year. That's right: 365 demos in 365 days! What human being is prolific and dedicated enough to pull off such a feat?! You'd expect the average person to embark on this sort of quest, give it a go for a couple weeks, and ultimately throw in the towel when it gets "too hard". But Frankie Delmane is not the average person, and after nearly two months he looks to be in it for the long haul. While he may have entered the year with some backlog of material, completing this odyssey will require him to constantly write new songs and continually explore new styles of music. I'm blown away by his commitment to making this happen - and delighted that one of my favorite songwriters is sharing so many new creations with the world. Think about it: even if Frankie ultimately decides to scrap two-thirds of these songs, he'll still end the year with enough good material to fill TEN ALBUMS! And it's neat that he's using old TV and film footage to make actual videos for every one of these songs. This, to me, is the ideal way for an artist to use technology in today's world. You make music, put it out there for your fans to enjoy, and perhaps even educate a few people about some obscure/lesser known movies they ought to check out. If the powers that be ultimately see to it that some of these clips are taken down due to copyright/ownership issues, at least they're available now for your listening and viewing pleasure. Subscribe today and become part of something very cool!



 -L.R.  

https://www.youtube.com/user/frankdis
http://trashmagnow.blogspot.com/

Your F & L Crazy Squeeze primer!

If I had to list my top five favorite present day bands, The Crazy Squeeze would definitely make the cut. This Hollywood supergroup was one of the first bands I ever reviewed for this blog, and the ensuing years have brought us a number of fine recordings from Johnny, Frankie, and the gang. Of all the bands out there playing trashy glam/rock n' roll, The Crazy Squeeze to my mind delivers the best combination of amazing songs, musical chops, and devastating handsomeness. Sometimes with "all star" bands, chemistry is a question. But these guys sound like they were born to play together. Admittedly, my Crazy Squeeze coverage has been somewhat inadequate since that first post back in 2011. I reviewed two singles but failed to inform the populace of a debut LP for the ages. I have let you down, planet Earth. The good news is that said LP is still in print and can be yours for just ten bucks. And with a brand-new single on the way, The Crazy Squeeze is again poised for world domination. With that in mind, I now present a complete listener's guide to The Crazy Squeeze. Use it prudently.

"Gimme A Kiss" b/w "I Need A Witness" single (Rapid Pulse/No Front Teeth, 2011) 
The classic debut single featuring Johnny Witmer (The Stitches) and Frankie Delmane (Teenage Frames) on guitar, Chris B. (Richmond Sluts) on bass, and Johnny Sleeper (ex Stitches and Superbees) on drums. The A-side is super catchy punk rock n' roll with the most magnificent guitar hooks this side of Thunders/Sylvain. And with the band being so heavily inspired by the intersections of glam, pub rock, and early punk, the Cock Sparrer cover on the B-side was a perfect choice. And they nailed it! I believe this title is out of print - but you still win since both songs are on the album! 

The Crazy Squeeze self-titled LP (Vinyl Dog/Wanda Records, 2012)
Had I actually heard this release before the end of 2012, it may have been my album of the year. Combining glam, pub rock, and '77 punk influences with power pop hooks and red hot rock n' roll guitar, this is one of the true classic albums of recent memory. It's just pure sonic excitement - and every track is a hit! "Sexual Activity Girls" is so catchy and fun that it ought to have inspired a worldwide dance craze (perhaps it still will). I'm pretty convinced at this point that it's the greatest song of the last ten years. "Boys Are Gonna Be Here Soon" sounds like the baby the Beach Boys could have made with the New York Dolls. "Outta My Head" is one of the best Heartbreakers rips ever. I could go on all day! This album is your pre-game soundtrack for glorious nights of drinking, dancing, and marathon shagging. If you dig the rock n' roll, stop whatever you're doing and go buy this thing!

"Younger Girl" b/w "Terminal Love" single (Rapid Pulse/No Front Teeth Records, 2013)
The long-awaited second single. The A-side is the best song The Boys never wrote, and the B-side is one The Boys did write. Honest John Plain himself guest stars on "Terminal Love"! Both tracks are on the CD version of the album, but "Terminal Love" is not on the vinyl LP.

"Red Rosie"/"The Lonely Ones" single (due out this fall on Pure Punk Records)
Although not yet out on vinyl, this single can be streamed in full over at The Crazy Squeeze's ReverbNation page. This might be the band's best single yet - and the first to feature current bass player, the electrifying Dat Ngo (ex Superbees). "Red Rosie" is a rip roaring shot of glammy boogie woogie with vocals that sound like Wolfman Jack risen from the dead. Taking cues from Mott the Hoople and vintage Bowie, "The Lonely Ones" is a bona fide fists-in-the-air rock anthem. Look for the band to debut it on a nationally televised stadium performance. Okay, I'm just kidding. But wouldn't that be something?

Your one-stop shop for Crazy Squeeze merchandise is http://www.thecrazysqueeze.bigcartel.com/. There you can order T-shirts and all in-print Crazy Squeeze releases. New single is due out in September. Get crazy! 



 -L.R.

https://www.facebook.com/thecrazysqueeze
http://www.reverbnation.com/crazysqueeze
http://thecrazysqueeze.bigcartel.com/

Crazy Squeeze, please!

It's been a couple of years since I last posted on the world famous Crazy Squeeze, and the glam/punk supergroup has since turned out a debut single and self titled LP to deafening acclaim. You may have heard the details on Entertainment Tonight. Girls screamed, men raged in envy, and there was unprecedented mayhem in dive bars and hair salons up and down the left coast. Rampant dancing in the streets spurred severe legal measures on the part of irate Hollywood officials. A Rolling Stone cover shoot was unfortunately scrapped due to the antics of a temperamental giraffe. After many months spent waiting with bated breath and writing strongly worded letters to the powers that be, we finally get the band's second single. Brought to you by intercontinental label titans Rapid Pulse and No Front Teeth Records, it further propels The Crazy Squeeze into the thick of the "best band in the world" conversation.

LP track "Younger Girl" sounds so much like The Boys that I had to double check 16 times to make sure it actually wasn't The Boys. This is the stuff, man: glammy, super poppy punk rock n' roll lamenting every rock heartthrob's most perplexing moral dilemma ("What can you do/With a girl like that?"). This one will have you shaking your ass in no time flat, and that chorus is dangerously contagious. No doubt Johnny Witmer is a living legend of punk rock, but I don't think I truly realized just how good of a guitar player he was until I heard him in this band. And even within our tiny little slice of the underground, Frankie Delmane is a criminally underrated songwriter. It's simply unfair that the man doesn't own a mansion or at least have a sandwich named after him.

Not content to just emulate The Boys, The Crazy Squeeze went so far as to cover the classic "Terminal Love" on the B-side. Honest John Plain approved so highly that he actually went in and played lead guitar on this track! This rendition is faithful to the original but far from a straight copy. They've given the chorus a bit of an extra bite, and I dig what they've done with the harmonies. File this one under, "I love the original, and I love the cover". This is not the same version that appeared on the band's CD, so prepare to pay up if you're a Crazy Squeeze completist!

All in all, this is everything a great rock n' roll single should be. You get a stone cold smash hit, a B-side you'll actually want to listen to, and cover art suitable for framing. Five bucks no longer gets you a six pack or a decent adult magazine, but it will land you this hot slab of wax. Pop on over to Underground Medicine for ordering info. If you don't love this record, you're crazy. Pun intended.


-L.R.

https://www.facebook.com/thecrazysqueeze
http://www.undergroundmedicine.com/rapidweb/
http://www.nofrontteeth.co.uk/

Crazy Squeeze = Crazy good!

So after four-and-a-half years in deep storage, my old turntable has been unearthed from the bowels of the parental estate. It was about time. What kind of punk rock blogger doesn't have a working record player in his home? And sure enough, the thing still works! I gotta admit it: the instant gratification of streaming a song on-line still pales in comparison to the classic thrill of dropping the needle on a rock n' roll record!

Let the record show that the first thing I played on my new old turntable was the debut 7" by The Crazy Squeeze. You may recall I reviewed this punk rock super group last summer. As I'm known to do, I hyped them up pretty good. I saw some of the label spiel on-line, and I'm like, "Who wrote this bullshit?" And I realized, yeah, it was me. But, you know, it's not like I was wrong. And on their debut single, this fantastic four of punk rock n' roll have delivered the proverbial goods. Co-released by two veritable titans of labeldom - No Front Teeth and Rapid Pulse Records - this bad boy is a traditional 45 RPM record with a big hole and two songs. You have the "hit" on the A-side and a cover on the B-side. "Gimme A Kiss", featuring drummer Johnny Sleeper on vocals, is a rockin' blast of poppy glam action that falls somewhere in between The Boys and the New York Dolls (I guess that means it sounds a little like the Hollywood Brats? Sure!). Great tune! It's more fun than BOGO night at the whorehouse, with hooks at every turn and Johnny Witmer channeling Johnny Thunders on the lead guitar. It seems kind of absurd to say that Witmer is underrated in The Stitches. But when you hear him playing this kind of sleazetastic rock n' roll, you gain a deeper appreciation for his talents. The dude's a killer! He takes the mic on the flip, a rip-roaring rendition of Cock Sparrer's "I Need A Witness" (Yeah, going way back for that one!). As expected, it's first rate dive bar rock n' roll (or as they say on the No Front Teeth side of the pond, "pub rock"). You can practically smell the booze permeating the room, and Witmer and Frankie Delmane kick up a dual guitar racket that would do AC/DC or the Stones proud.

So what's next for The Crazy Squeeze? Hopefully an album - which I know they've been working on for a couple of years. Given the stature of the members' other bands and the group's growing reputation as one of the best live acts in southern California, expectations for The Crazy Squeeze were bound to be high. But on their first turn at bat, they've freaking crushed it. And we haven't even gotten to their best songs yet! Any old bunch of jerkoffs can form a band and play this style of music. But it takes one heck of a band to play the style well. The Crazy Squeeze are top shelf glam punk rock n' roll. They've got the chops. They've got the tunes. They've got the chemistry. Do yourself a favor and buy "Gimme A Kiss"...and everything else this band puts out!




-L.R.

http://www.facebook.com/thecrazysqueeze
http://www.facebook.com/pages/Underground-Medicine-Rapid-Pulse-Records/119118174837284
http://www.nofrontteeth.co.uk/

Crazy for the Crazy Squeeze!

Not since the Traveling Wilburys has there been a supergroup as universally anticipated as The Crazy Squeeze. If you were into the underground punk/rock n’ roll scene in the late ‘90s and early 2000s, you know who these guys are. You own their records. You bought them shots. You friended them on Myspace. And now they have joined forces to create a veritable justice league of punk rock! Where else but in Hollywood could Johnny Witmer (of The Stitches), Frankie Delmane (of Now Wave faves the Teenage Frames), Chris B. (of the Richmond Sluts), and Johnny Sleeper (of the Superbees) have come together to combine their prodigious & complementary talents for the betterment of the free world?! The Crazy Squeeze - now with Dat Ngo of the Shiteland Ponies in on bass - are everything you’d expect and then some. Combining vintage glam wham-bam (New York Dolls, Slade) with straight-up rockin’ punk, their sound is pure raunchy fun with hooks out the wazoo. You know: music for fucking! It’s just got that swagger. Of course Witmer is on fire on guitar, doing the Berry/Thunders thing like he was born for it (because, ya know, he was!). And with the criminally underrated songwriter Delmane involved, you know the songs are gonna be aces. If you like high-energy, sing-along rock n’ roll with ripping guitars and an irresistible backbeat, go straight to “Boys Are Gonna Be Here Soon” and “Out of My Head” and fall in love! Yes, sir! “All Lies” slows the tempo and brings a harder edge, but it proves to be equally great. With a full-length album due out soon, the Crazy Squeeze are poised to be the next big thing in punk rock n’ roll. If you enjoyed the Dolls, Joneses, Loose Lips, or any of these guys’ old bands, it’s time to get on board the Crazy Squeeze bandwagon. Pour yourself a hard drink and shake it!

- L.R.

http://www.myspace.com/thecrazysqueeze
http://www.facebook.com/thecrazysqueeze