Brad Marino - "What's My Scene"

Last month, I teased you with the title track from Brad Marino's forthcoming EP False Alarm (due out later this month on the always fantastic Rum Bar Records!). Well now Rum Bar has leaked a second track from False Alarm - a cover of the Hoodoo Gurus' classic "What's My Scene". I love this selection of cover material. The Hoodoo Gurus are a band that unites the worlds of garage rock and power pop much like Marino does. They are surely a big influence on his songwriting style and overall vision of what rock and roll ought to be. "What's My Scene" in particular is a fine choice of a song. It's off of the Gurus' third album Blow Your Cool! from 1987. Marino doesn't mess with it too much. But if you didn't know any better, you'd think it was something that he wrote. The song definitely fits perfectly with the rest of the EP. The coolest thing is that Dave Faulkner himself is a big fan of this cover! If you enjoy this track, go check out the original. And be on the lookout for False Alarm, which comes out on May 22nd!



-L.R.

https://rumbarrecords.bandcamp.com/album/false-alarm
https://bradmarino.bandcamp.com/ 
https://www.facebook.com/bradmarinomusic 
https://www.facebook.com/RumBarRecords

The Speedways - This Aint A Radio Sound

Oh my god! When it comes to getting good news in the middle of a Monday, it doesn't get much better than finding out that one of your favorite bands has just dropped a brand-new single you didn't even know was coming! Radio Sounds is the soon-to-be-released second LP from The Speedways. From the start of the year it has been my most looked-forward to album of 2020. "This Aint A Radio Sound" is the second single the band has released in advance of the album. And if this song and the last single "Kisses Are History" are any indication, Radio Sounds will be even more dramatic, heartbreaking, and full of absolute pop magic than its near-flawless predecessor Just Another Regular Summer. Of course this will be The Speedways' first album as a full band, and that's no small point. Mauro Venega, Adrian Alfonso, and Kris Hood are talented players who really bring out the best in Matt Julian's brilliant songs. With the benefit of a proper band and first-rate production, Julian has really been able to highlight the soulful influence he brings to power pop.

I think what makes Matt Julian one of my favorite songwriters is the way he manages to write sad songs that still make you feel really good. "This Aint A Radio Sound" gives off an early '80s vibe with its chirpy keyboard riff and a vocal that brings Elvis Costello to mind. Julian excels when he gets to pour his heart into a vocal, and this song has a surging energy to it in spite of its bitter subject matter. If you love big choruses and tight harmonies, prepare for two and a half minutes in pop heaven. On the flip, "Love Really Hurts Without You" is a stunning version of the '70s Billy Ocean hit that is almost completely unknown on my side of the pond. As much as I love the A-side, this cover darn near steals the record. It fits The Speedways so perfectly. The band gets to show off its Motown chops, and Julian fills his vocal with the passion and despair this song deserves. Man, this is what all of those UK blue-eyed soul new wave bands should have sounded like! It kind of pains me to live in a world where a song this good is not all over the radio. If you've never heard the original, prepare to have your mind blown!

"This Aint A Radio Sound" is out on Snap! Records/Hurrah Musica, and you should grab it while you can (colored vinyl is already sold out!). The Speedways are the best thing going in pop music these days. The full album will be out this summer, and I absolutely can't wait!



-L.R.

https://thespeedways.bandcamp.com/album/this-aint-a-radio-sound-love-really-hurts-without-you-single
https://www.facebook.com/JustAnotherRegularSummer/
https://snaprecordsspain.bandcamp.com/album/the-speedways-this-aint-a-radio-sound-fun-7032

Drunk Dial Records - Stay Home

2020 will surely go down in history as the greatest shitty year for punk rock. These have been trying times for people on a personal level. But for those who love to make music (or any form of art), self-isolation has created the opportunity to do just that. I've literally had something to write about every day for months, and there seems to be no end in sight. Drunk Dial Records was already a label with a unique concept: literally get bands intoxicated and have them cut an original and cover song for 7" release. So it was not a surprise that Drunk Dial's response to a worldwide lockdown was to try something a little different. The label has assembled the compilation Stay Home - featuring 14 different artists covering the Ramones' Leave Home in its entirety. The bands who signed on were then rewarded with beer money right out of Drunk Dial's government stimulus check. Now that just about brings a tear to my eye!

No doubt, this project could have turned out terribly. When you're dealing with a sacred text like Leave Home, the potential for disappointment is very high. But many of these bands/artists turned out incredibly creative interpretations, and I find this album as a whole to be an extremely enjoyable listen. I'd be lying if I told you I didn't skip immediately to Hayley and the Crushers' version of "Suzy Is A Headbanger". And although I was expecting something good, I don't think I was fully prepared for just how amazing this cover is! The band completely transformed the song - and virtually transported me to that blissful beach vacation I can only dream of right now. Another standout for me is "You're Gonna Kill That Girl" by The Hound of Love (solo project of Andrew from Mean Jeans), which comes off like the synth-pop record I wish Phil Spector had made. Christian Blunda's version of "I Remember You" is a wonderful reminder that the Ramones wrote some of the greatest pure pop songs the world has ever known. Elsewhere, classic Leave Home tracks receive post-punk (Yuvees), garage (Spoon Benders), and indie rock (Haybaby) treatments - with truly fantastic results. Even some of the bands that opted to remain faithful to the original versions managed to put much of themselves into these songs. Dark Thoughts ("What's Your Game") and Hakan ("Swallow My Pride") are always going to sound like Dark Thoughts and Hakan. And that's a beautiful thing.

The download for Stay Home has been priced at $5 - with the intention of generating funds that will go directly to the bands or to the charities of their choosing. Drunk Dial isn't keeping a cent of the proceeds. The goal of this project was to provide a creative outlet for all of these artists who were stuck at home and in many cases facing financial strain. What came out of it, in the words of the label, is "an incredible time capsule of what is otherwise a truly scary period of our lives". I will gladly drink to that!



-L.R.

https://drunkdialrecords.bandcamp.com/album/stay-home
https://drunkdialrecords.com/
https://www.facebook.com/drunkdialrecords

TJ Cabot & Thee Artificial Rejects - Demos Recorded in the Anus of the Maritimes

TJ Cabot & Thee Artificial Rejects' Demos Recorded in the Anus of the Maritimes arrived in a mysterious package with a return address simply stating "Atlantic Canada" and a warning about the explosive capabilities of its contents. I donned protective gear and dug in, quickly receiving a jolt of trashy, aggressive punk rock that practically screamed 2005. Remember that period of time when raw, blown-out garage punk got even rawer and more blown out? TJ Cabot & Thee Artificial Rejects have taken up that crusade, walking that fine line between being really catchy and hurting your ears. On this recording, the band tears through 10 tracks of ripping garage punk that's informed by everything from the Stooges to the Saints to the Angry Samoans to Sick Thoughts (no alliteration intended, except perhaps by the band itself).

Forensics tests have indicated that more than one maritime province may have had a hand in the ultimate completion of this project, although my geography team has not been able to fully verify the accuracy of the album title. Suffice it to say that this is the garage punk album of the year so far. The tunes are killer, and the sound is lo-fi in a super tough way. "I Am The Enemy" had me bobbing my head with such a raging intensity that objects were flying off my desk and pets were glaring in disapproval. "Occipital Neuralgia" is what might happen if you tried to re-write "I Got A Right" to make it even nastier. "Vile Converted Mind" is obnoxious Samoans-inspired budget trash worthy of 1999. "Using You/Using Me" sounds like it could have been the lead track on a Rip Off Records 45 from the label's heyday. Since this is a purely digital release, I can't quite tell you to place this album on your shelf next to your Real Losers and Catholic Boys LPs. But I trust you to use your imagination. If pandemic punk turns into its own genre, this is your new gold standard.

Editor's note: Due to a legal dispute with Millhouse Deville, several tracks from this original recording have been removed from Bandcamp. My sources tell me that a mysterious third party will be intervening to bring the missing material back into circulation. I will keep you posted.



-L.R.

https://tjcabot.bandcamp.com/album/tj-cabot-thee-artificial-rejects

Mikey Erg - Bon Voyage

Well look who has come back to his pop-punk roots! Mikey Erg is way too much of  a music geek to limit himself to one narrow genre of music, and his next record could just as easily be country rock or vocal jazz or a triple album collection of jam band covers. But oh man, he's still so great at pop-punk! Mikey was asked by Stardumb Records to do a 7", and he took the opportunity to make this project a veritable love letter to pop-punk. At a deeper level, Bon Voyage is also a tribute to the pre-Internet heyday of the punk rock 7". Remember when you'd eagerly await each new issue of Maximumrocknroll so you could scour the ads and find new records to send away for? Those were the days, man: you'd stuff three or four dollars in an envelope, drop it in the mail, and within 7 to 20 days, you'd have a new 7" sitting in your mailbox! For a teenage Mikey Erg, the affordability of the 7" record surely played a vital role in the development of his encyclopedic knowledge of bands. He would then go on to join half of those bands.

One particular record label that heavily influenced Bon Voyage was Mutant Pop Records, which more often than not released four-song, stand-alone EPs by really cool pop-punk bands. This 7" includes - you guessed it - four completely exclusive songs! The Ergs! never got to do a record with Mutant Pop, but Mikey working with the heir apparent Stardumb is probably the next best thing. Musically and lyrically, Bon Voyage finds Mikey in prime early/mid 2000s form. Put this record on and listen to a master at work! Mikey made his name writing catchy pop songs about the disappointments in his love life, and the title track here can hang with his greatest hits from back in the day. The peppy "Colleen" is in a similar vein, with the less speedy yet totally hard-punching "The New Departure Blues" sandwiched in between. I've always believed that every pop-punk band ought to do at least one Beatles cover at some point, so it's more than satisfying to hear Mikey have at "Mother Nature's Son" from the White Album. If just one person hears this song and decides that The Beatles merit further investigation, it will be mission accomplished. 

I have warm feelings towards Bon Voyage for a variety of reasons. My roots in the punk world were also in buying a ton of 7" records and being fanatical about pop-punk. I have related deeply to Mikey Erg as a singer and songwriter since I first heard the opening strains of "Thinking With My Heart" 20(!) years ago. And you know I love Stardumb Records. It was darn time that these two institutions of pop-punk worked together! This is the ultimate pop-punk record from one of the ultimate pop-punk labels, and you can probably have it in your hands in far less than 20 days! Get it in the USA from The Machine Shop!



-L.R.

https://mikeyerg.bandcamp.com/album/bon-voyage
https://www.stardumbrecords.com/products/mikey-erg-bon-voyage-7
http://www.themachineshoprocks.com/Mikey_Erg_Bon_Voyage_7_EP_p/erg2.htm
https://www.facebook.com/mikeyergmusic/
https://www.facebook.com/stardumbrecords/

The Spells - self titled

You've heard of garage rock, now how about some garbage rock! Hailing from Norfolk, Virginia, The Spells fully live up to their trashy aspirations on their wildly fun debut long player. What is garbage rock? Well I'm hearing the influence of everything from '70s punk to '60s garage rock to '50s rock and roll on these ten rip-roaring tunes. In both sound and spirit, these songs bring to mind that strain of first wave American punk that sought to revive the perfect simplicity of early rock and roll. Dead Boys, Heartbreakers, and the Ramones come to mind - as do pre-punk luminaries like The Sonics. What we have here are ten thumping tracks, of which only one (a Cramps cover!) exceeds the two-minute mark. These guys aren't fooling around! The sound is raw and primitive, the energy is undeniable, and the songs are killer. What else could you possibly need? Call it punk, call it garage, or just call it rock and roll. It doesn't really matter. This album is a party waiting to happen! You know what they say about one man's trash...



-L.R.

https://thespells1.bandcamp.com/album/the-spells
https://www.facebook.com/thespellsva

Ditches - self titled

I have reviewed the Stockholm-based band Ditches on two previous occasions - once last year and once the year before. Writing about this band is beginning to feel like an annual event in my life, and I will be more than happy if the tradition continues for years to come. Ditches have perfected that garage punk by way of power pop sound that was a real sweet spot for me when I started this blog nine years ago. And while there used to be more bands of this style than you could possibly keep up with, the herd has thinned considerably over the last several years. In the light of 2020, it's satisfying to still hear a band wearing a Marked Men influence on its sleeve.

Ditches' self-titled debut album, out on Drunken Sailor Records, will certainly have its moments of familiarity to Marked Men and Radioactivity fans. And with Jeff Burke sitting in the producer's chair, it's not like the band is trying to run from this influence. But Ditches are by no means retreads, and they've put their own signature on modern-day garage power pop. Throughout this album, there's a subtle, almost inherently Scandinavian undercurrent of gloom that runs in contrast to the melody and speed of these catchy punk/pop songs. Sometimes these guys just let loose and rip it. "Don't Care" is chugging garage punk in the finest early 2000s tradition, and "Stitch Me Up" is high energy power pop rooted in '70s punk and pub rock. But I must admit that I probably like the more melancholy songs the most. Ditches really excel when they work in that bittersweet territory. "Did We Try" and "Falling" find the band sounding like graduates of a master class taught by Pete Shelley. "In Disguise" is gloomy pop done pretty close to perfection. "When It's Over" just might tear your heart out. As always, there's enough back and forth in mood to keep things interesting. This album is not afraid to take you to some dark places, but it's got more than enough of the bright melodies and jolting energy that make powerpop/punk such a pleasing musical form. All in all, this is a splendid debut album from Ditches!



-L.R.

https://drunkensailorrecords.bandcamp.com/album/st-lp-10
https://ditches.bandcamp.com/album/ditches
https://www.facebook.com/ditchesband
https://www.facebook.com/DrunkenSailorRecords