Went out tonight to see the Ponys here in town. I'd passed on their LP, considerin' it too new wave-ish, but I gotta say that in a live setting they were actually pretty good. They've got a strong 1977-NYC-Talking Heads-Television-Richard Hell kinda vibe goin' which is fine by me, in fact I wouldn't have been surprised if they'd included 'That's All I Know Right Now' in their set. Only complaint was the long freak-out thing they choose to close with. Heck, I would really apreciate it if bands would can this shit in the future. I mean; why bother?.
Truth be told: main reason for goin' out was support band the Sack-O'-Woes, who I've been eager to see for some time now, but shoot me if I didn't arrive late into their set and only caught a couple of their songs. My loss obviously, 'cause these guys do a real straight forward punk thing and do it good. Their recent 10" is proof positive of just that. These guys deserve your support, and believe you me, next time they're playin' 'round here, I'll make sure to be there on time.
(Dutch readers might wanna check Sack-O'-Woes mainman Niels' fanzine 'I Hate Music', available right here).

I dunno what it's like today where you're reading this but the radio, papers and TV here in the home of the haggis are awash with the 60th Anniversary of the D-Day landings. The marking of this event is all well and good but it seems to have been hijacked by visiting (in)dignitaries. Individuals who, for the most part, are in my opinion just using it as a platform for their own pathetic grandstanding. These gimps have all but halted the roaming of the real people who fought and lost comrades. Security is said to be so tight that they can't get to the places they need to go. Surely it should be understood that these veterans should have the key to the whole bloody country, at least for a day? On Radio Scotland this morning it was reported that one of the soldiers returning to the site had asked if what they were being subjected to was "freedom". Take Wee Jack f'rinstance. The media was awash with the shame that the leader of the Scottish District Cooncil had plumped to go to a dinner in celebration of St Andrews Golf Club and not France. Then shock, horror - pressure is brought to bear and he decides he'll U-turn and head for France.
His mind was made up. He should have been refused entry and been turned back. The survivors of the landings and their families of all sides shouldn't have to be subjected to arseholes jumping on the bandwagon created around such an event. And who exactly is paying for all this security? That'll be us, the chumps of course. Who usually pays for such a jolly? Not the (in)dignitaries that's for sure. I understand completely how having all these figureheads might make Normandy a target for that group that always gets the credit for doing very bad things but all the more reason for the freeloaders to stay at home. Let freedom reign? Will they hell is like?? Not if there's a bucket of Ferrero Rocher to be guzzled with a swally. If there's a charabang trip that'll get their fizzogs beamed all across the planet then they're in there, like a wee furry critter up a pipe. What does any of this have to do with rock'n'roll you may ask yerself? Well not much but sometimes it becomes necessary to consider the bigger picture. We're sailing in concievably perilous waters in the run-up to November and eggs cannot be unscrambled. The stage management is set and we gotta hold on tight to our hollyhocks and hope that we all make it out the other side. It'll be a bumpy ride with plenty of twisted turns and that's just about the only thing I reckon we can count on at this point. Have a nice day.

Whenever Jan Kooi sez; "hey Jeroen, listen to this", I always oblige, 'cause the man certainly has good taste. His latest discovery are the Manikins, a cool new punk-ish outfit from Sweden...