Reverend Charlie Jackson - God's Got It (LP)
Dr. Spec's Optical Illusion - Tryin' To Mess With Me (7"). Both Crypt.
After Tim Warren's umpteenth move and having put a Dutch schoolteacher in charge of rebuilding his new abode, it's easy to see why the Crypt operation has been on the backburner for so long. But after the great Little Killers disc, these two (relatively) new releases hopefully mark the beginning of a new era for the label, 'cause both discs burn with that specific kind o' intensity only Crypt seems to be able to distill into slabs of black vinyl.
You want testimonials?, the Reverend Jackson's disc delivers nothing but... Wild, wild gospel scree of the Rev. poundin' it out on the six strings, ocasionally accompanied by the handclaps or cheers of agreement from his congregation. Makes every gruntin' death metal singer sound like the bad joke he is. Dr. Spec's discus is a fine-as-wine re-issue of a six-o punk mega obscurity outta New Orleans that absolutely wails!. Coupled with the great attention to detail in both sound, liners and visuals makes this another "must have" as well.
Again; hopefully these discs mark the return of Crypt as a "goin' concern", the world sure could use it right now...

Trying to gather my wits here listening to THE BOONARAAAS. These German girls kicked some almighty bahookie at the Lolita Bar in Kassel on Thursday there. The combo that preceded them, CZD were equally electric but I'll get back to that later. Listening to the B's album just brought back how altogether how goddamn sensational they were. They even knocked out a version of The Romantics "What I Like About You" that reduced anybody with sense to rubble. Their album Go Get Goo Goo is on Thunderbaby Records, that fine Dusseldorf gal product label that put out the Voladoras EP and many other top recorded works. They're only youngsters but they've got the chops to go the whole damn road. Even deaf (not the hearing condition, I'm referring to sorry saps that wouldn't know a great band if it whapped 'em in the knackers) people will be able to get this. The Hives might endeavour to be your favourite band but I'm voting BOONARAAAS because they'll drive you just that. Now if only they could get together to tour with Suzy y Los Quattro. The world, in pure punked-out teenpunk rock'n'roll action terms, wouldn't stand a chance.

Ok troops. Been hanging out in Kassel, Germany for the past few days and got back to a wheen of messages and stuff so please bear with me until I figure out the best way to deal with it. At this point launching the computer outta the window would seem like the obvious route but y'ken... Some groovy stuff to report coming along after this... It was quite a shindig and a hellva deposit in the organisers' collective karma bank. Like I said more when I organise my thoughts and the laundry.

While tryin' to research some things about the early day of punk-rock in Holland I came across some amazing stuff. Most of it in Dutch, but even if you don't speak the lingo, worth it for the pictures and free MP3s...
These are all bands from the 77/78 era: Inside Nipples, Filth, and the Helmettes...