Monday, May 26, 2003


LINK: You'll probably have to sign up somewhere, but some guy has put up a bunch o' pictures of the Flamin' Groovies in France durin' the 70s at the Groovies' Yahoo club that are well worth the bother. GO!

Swamp Rats - Disco Still Sucks!. (Get Hip).
Now here's one I've been wanting to hear ever since I had to pick up my jaw after first exposure to these guys on the debut volume of the 'Back From The Grave' LP series. Their insane take on the Sonics' 'Psycho' included there was/is even louder than the originators were able to master, and that's obviously a pretty hefty trick to pull. Over the years a couple of other song appeared on various comps (an equally raunchy take on 'Louie Louie' and a rippin' version of the Sparkles 'Ain't No Friend Of Mine'), all of which left me beggin' for more (and unable to track down a copy of a 1980 collection called 'Disco Sucks' put out by the band, hence the title here). But now we finally have the band's entire output in one place, including a four page detailed history. "So does it deliver?" I hear you axe. Well, to be honest; no. The above mentioned tunes are easily the cream of the crop here and still sound way beyond compare, but at this late date I have trouble findin' any excitement in hearin' garage band staples like 'In The Midnight Hour', 'Hey Joe' or 'Till The End Of The Day', no matter who plays 'em. Most bizarre is that their savage take on 'Psycho' was originally backed by a nails-across-blackboard version of the Fab Four's 'Here, There and Everywhere', makin' you wonder if it's actually the same band !. So by all means dig in for the good 'uns on deck, just be prepared to lift the tone-arm with some regularity when spinnin' this.