"It's time for the Nitwitz to do our yearly show in in our homecountry Holland PLUS throw a release party for not one, but TWO releases !. July 31st, MELKWEG AMSTERDAM. With UK street urchins SICK ON THE BUS, the RIOTS and the REMAINS".

"More punk than anything you can name this side of 1978" was the verdict of J. Hammer Esq., a man more than qualified to make it after witnessing The Rigbys (Hazel and Amy) shake down Otto's in New York. "Endearingly Scrappy" said The Scotsman review of their short set in Glasgow recently. Amy Rigby's recently completed latest UK visit saw many highs and lows with one of the highs being Hazel getting a snare drum to use by one Dee Generate (of Eater) in (I think) Wellingburgh - (where dat? I dunno). Anyways, those who did turn out to the shows were trated to the usual high standard of songfare which included the mother/daughter Domino (Big O,Cramps), I Must Not Think Bad Thoughts (X), Mannequin (Wire) and having finally got the chance to hear Amy's Joey Ramone song, I think we can safely conclude that the big guy will be diggin' it up there. Photo of Hazel and Amy in action at the "Meet The Folks" do in London by Tony Thewlis.

LICORICE TREE records is peddling a fine volume entitled SHAKIN' IN MY BOOTS: A Texas Rock'n'Roll Compilation. Following on from their debut release by THEE FINE LINES, SIMB is chock full of a broad church of garage action which includes known felons juch as Jesus Christ Superfly and 00 Spies alongside combos which are new to me such as The Stepbrothers (with Mike Mariconda), The (Mariconda produced) Hotrails, The Crack Pipes and The Sunday Drunks. It also features a cut by The Ka-nives, a group so savvy that it brought Jack T outta retirement to issue a 45 on Lance Rock. McLemore Avenue's "A Toy Robot" is a stand-out on what is a very strong prospective roster. LT could be on their way to becoming the Texan Estrus.

Hey, I should state at this point that I can't seem to operate at the rate that I'm expected to. That I expect to. What's that Nick Lowe song? "Lately I've Been Letting Things Slide"? Well that would appear to have become my fecking theme song. I'm not sure why this is exactly because there's no tangible excuse apart from the curveballs of life but I'm hoping it's just a (long-ish) temporary glitsch. Tell you the truth, at the minute I feel pretty much at the "Sod it" stage. E-mail, listening to stuff, watching stuff, it's all taking a hit and it's bloody pathetic. Normal service then, whatever that is, may or may not be resolved in the fullness of time. That's about all I can tell ya...

"The Star Spangles are pleased to announce The Real Kids have been named co-headliners on the September 24th bill at CBGB's. Here's the line-up:

midnight - The Real Kids, 11pm - The Star Spangles, 10pm - Some Action,
9pm - Caged Heat, 8pm - The Rainman Suite

Other news

"Tell Lies" has been permanently committed to tape - yes, tape. It looks like the band will be recording their 2nd album, starting August 24th at Camp Street Studios in Boston. How appropriate is that?"