A guid St Andrews Day to all of you. Celebrations will take place in Glasgow with The Primevals and in "the London" with honorary Scots Combo Suzy and the Fower! Not sure how many kilts will be involved in that. No time to gab, I'm having a saltire tattooed on to my map in about tewnty minutes. Catch you on the flipside, or at the bar in the DWC.

THE PRIMEVALS LAUNCH THEIR NEW ALBUM "THERE IS NO OTHER LIFE AND THIS IS IT" in GLASGOW, TOMORROW NIGHT (30th).

The show is at The Twisted Wheel in Queen Street and the band "should be on at 10pm-ish". Plus it's free, but you'll want to score a copy of the cd, natch. St. Andrew's night might actually go with a bang this time out...

Sure was good to get a bulletin frae J. It never got what you'd call light here until it was practically time for the sun to go down. On top of the rather depresso outlook on that score, I've trapped a nerve in my left should/arm and it isn't half gowping so I'll keep this brief. Paracetamol and Codeine for tea, yummy!

There's a broadcast of Säkert! live from the summertime back yonder somewhere, I think recorded in Ms Norlin's hometown of Östersund?

You remember the summer? When there's actually daylight? Anyway, that's on p3 live tonight at 9.30 Stockholm time (8.30pm in the UK).

It would be good to experience some light, day or otherwise... however, those in Bristol, London and Brighton will be catching considerable rays from these fine folks starting tonight...

"Calling Brother Jeroen, where you at?" asked our chief in command.

Well first off, I've been dealin' with some digi-phobia where my pc was taken over and used to send out ungodly amounts of spam, slowin' down my pace on the information highway considerably! But the main thing I was "bein' at", and still am as a matter of fact, is bein' busy. Not in the hip-hop sense of "gettin' busy" but life in general. You know; raising my son, reading books, work, preparing meals, shopping or just going out for a short hike to catch some fresh air. That, and a lot of other stuff kinda puts the rockin' stuff on the back-burner at times. Not that I'm living in total silence these days; I carry my iPod around wherever I go: the train, the kitchen, just plug it in in whatever is available and hit shuffle mode. Havin' the time to sit down and listen all the way thru' a 70 minute CD is a rarity these days.
That said, I'm diggin' the heck outta Norton's long promised Dictators archival waxin' Every Day Is Saturday! It's effin' great to finally have this stuff at hand on a proper format instead of hissy tapes or accident prone CDRs. A mandatory purchase for every NBT reader! From the same label comes a solid collection from the Justice label vaults, full of prime six-o garage scree that's well worth part of your paycheck. Good, good stuff...
If you dig yellowed age old fanzines as much as I do, you'll be happy to learn that the legendary Canadian 'zine Denim Delinquent now has a cool website where you can get a taste of what in recent years was only available to big spenders like Chris Stigliano. D.D.'s contributors included both Lester Bangs and Jeremy Gluck, so you know you're in for a cool ride...

There's more, plenty more, but I gotta go catch some sleep...

Indeed, tired of leftovers, dear friend? Then kindly let the good folks at Susquehanna Industrial Tool & Die Co. set the table anew!

THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 29th /OTTO'S SHRUNKEN HEAD TIKI BAR & LOUNGE /
538 East 14th Street (just west of Avenue B) in Manhattan's quaint "East Village", NYC / Two piping hot shows, from 8:00 sharp until 10:00 / No cover charge -- and featuring a FREE RAFFLE of SEMI-FABULOUS PRIZES conducted by the mysteriously alluring RAFFLE GIRL! /

Holiday on- Sincerely, Michael
Susquehanna Industrial Tool & Die Co.
"Ballads, Boogies & Blues"
http://www.SITandDieCo.com
http://myspace.com/sitanddieco
http://www.ottosshrunkenhead.com

Sohodolls get in the spirit with this old Hanoi Rocks chestnut...

And if you can't make it yonder in NYC, then stop off at the Soul Shack in cyberspace from the comfort of wherever you fiddle about on this contraption o' yours. Bit of a primer for your Hives fix next week and a bunch of other stuff from them Netherlands. Calling Brother Jeroen, where you at?

RIP - Michael Blodgett (Lance Rocke)

My mind detector is on the blink again but while I figure out if it's just the batteries or something more serious, here are a couple or three things to keep you amused...

Groovy record sleeves of every persuasion (link courtesy of Lloyd)

Dion was on "Later with Jools Holland" last night. That was a surprise.

Francis Macdonald's directorial video debut for the new Attic Lights single, "God". Coming as a limited edition 7" on December 3rd. Reminds me of The Mockers - that has to be a good thing.

And talking of them, SUZY Y LOS QUATTRO are at the DWC this coming Friday night (30th). See you down the front.

Teenage Fanclub Benefit Show

& Exhibition at Mono

Tuesday 4th December 2007

Mono is hosting a Fundraising Benefit Gig for Project Ability on the 4th December.

The night kicks off with the launch of a new Project Ability Exhibition at 7pm.

Doors open for the concert at 8.30pm featuring: Teenage Fanclub plus Pastels DJ set

Tickets on sale at Mono - £5 (in aid of Project Ability)

I hope our US friends are whooping it up on their Thanksgiving holiday today. There was definitely a twinge of jealousy present as I drove through the murk toward Mordor this morning. There were a bunch of things you might care to check out in the dying embers of that NMD travesty yesterday. Your old mate and mine, Sid Griffin was on on Tom Morton's show talking about his new book, Million Dollar Bash. And on Iain Anderson there was Amy (W)Rigby, Wreckless Eric and Kapt. Kruickshank. You can listen to these via the Listen Again feature. There are a lot of great stations in the ether these days and Radio Weasel is a must listen. You almost don't have to collect anything these days. It's possible to hear stuff that's new to you all over the shop. An attractive alternative to clutter. Listening to some of the "talking about music" piffle on Radio Scotland yesterday certainly has me thinking about jettisoning the whole sorry palaver.

Scunnered. That's the expression that best describes the vibe around here at the minute. It seems to take forever to complete the simplest task. The general outcome is generally fraught also and largely results in wondering "why bloody bother". I honestly don't care whether Led Zeppelin will tour or not. However, I did find this little STEREO TOTAL interview thing and figured I'd share it. If the world cared more about seeing Francoise and Brezel then maybe it'd be a better place. And oh yeah, I saw Zeppelin in 1972 for £1. The tickets will have to be the same price for me to even consider it. But anyway...

It seldom, if ever, comes any better than this...

So what about this No Music Day bollocks then? BBC Radio Scotland seems to have bought into this Bill Drummond chestnut and tomorrow (Wednesday) will be NMD. What will they do with the money they save?

You heard of WMD and where that got us, well I wonder what'll happen as a result of this? Most likely sod all but talk about disenfranchising your audience. But anyway, it's happening and some of the more inspired methods of circumnavigating this stupidity will become apparent throughout the day. No Shite Music Day, I could live with and, of course ,any day without the completely stage-managed "Get It On" is perhaps not all bad, so maybe Drummond has done us a favour on that score.

It's all done under the auspices of appreciating music more by giving it up for a day. Will the common five-eighth give a crap? I expect not. Somebody told me that the idea came from a situation of the brains behind this being in HMV and there was nothing for him to buy or something. It's possibly not even true but if it is, why the hell was he in there? Was Zavvi or whatever it's called, shut? But for part of a one-time institution like the BBC to rubber-stamp such a venture? Now that's simply wrong. And what about we licence payers, don't we get a say?? Not tomorrow but there will be repercussions down around the bend. There have to be, if only in the name of mischief. I hope there will be a no talking day or a no sports day to follow, in the interests of fairness and balance. No compy's and now this. How many more rungs is this once proud "brand" set to slip down? E-mail the BBC in CAPITALS! Tell them that their collective "jaicket" is on a shakey nail and make sure it's the heirarchy that get it in the neck. Divots.

Still not making much progress on the Facebook front. All that biting and attacking by werewolves and other creatures of the nights isn't really doing it for me. It staggers me to think about how much time some folks must spend on there. And i'm not easily staggered but anyway, I'm off now to look at the Skeleclips that I didn't have time to check out this morning.

The Skeletons - new live hootch (link courtesy of Lloyd)

I don't have the energy or the notion to blog tonight. My eyesight is shot to buggery from the glare of headlights and concentrating on driving though heavy rain. Reading the miniscule print on cd packaging? Not happening. I've lollygadded this far another day or so ain't gonna upset any applecarts. If this mood changes or I'm assaulted by anything that resembles inspiration then I'll be back. But don't hold them breaths...

Woah, Roy's back with a solid smoker that could well be his most consistent album since "Out After Dark". "Shake It" runs a little over 36 minutes in total and leaves most collections I've heard recently in the dust. By the time we get to "The Great Divide", the patented jangle is hitting all the right spots. What an amazing sound, taking a Dylanesque backdrop and turning it into a heartstring tugging tour de force. Roy Loney is one of the great rock'n'roll singers. Period. This latest Career Records release is a complete testament to that. Utterly timeless, there's quite a team on this 12 song belter. The cast includes one Deniz Tek, Jim Sangster and Scott McCaughey all weighing in to provide the perfect bolster. Be it psychedelically psonic on "Subterranean Waterfalls" or psychotic reactionary ala "Don't Like Nothin'" (not the Amy Rigby song) there are many cool subtleties on display. Great songs played damn well with no hint of mollycoddling. You almost never hear that anymore so that makes this all the more disarming. That oboe on "Hamlet's Brother, Happy" is bloomin' exquisite.

I can think of no higher compliment than the fact that it sounds like he's being backed by The Skeletons except that he's not. That's how complete that these guys have nailed it. "Looking For The Body" is top notch pub rock, or I think they'd call it tavern in the climes that this was made. Anyway you call it, this'll put a big fat smirk on your chops.

Brother Patrick tells me there's a Spanish Ep doing the rounds too. I'll have to get back to you on that score. Meanwhile, I hope he can bring some of these vibrations in the direction of Europe sometime soon. One of the nicest guys in the business has made one of the best albums you could hope to hear in these times of relatively slim pickings. "Shake it or Leave It" swings. Cop an earful and you will too.

No, I won't be going to see the Sex Pistols tonight in a huge barn in Glasgow. I've moved on... or have I. Anyway, spurred on by these annoying gift ideas in all manner of media, here's something that you, or your significant other/friend might actually get a kick out of.

Bearing more than a similarity to a half brick, this book of photos will keep you occupied for days. What's more it's cheap enough to buy two copies and you could actually frame your favourites. Assembled by Holly George-Warren, with a foreword by Richard Hell, it has images from the punk rock wars by people who were in the trenches. That's what they were called before they were christened moshpits. These individuals include David Arnoff, Roberta Bayley, Nancy Breslow, Stephanie Chernikowski, Theresa Kereakes and Danny Fields.

Anyway everybody you'd expect to be featured is pretty much here and there are a few surprises too. It's a total blast. So check out Amazon UK and US and splash out. This isn't something you want to be carrying back from a bookshop, unless you're up for a spot of weight training.

Haven't heard it yet but...

Available now from Dirty Water Records!

Halfway through November already, it'll be 2008 before we know it. Actually, the way it's going, it'll be 2010 at least before I have a scoob. A mix of circumstance and technology has conspired with a basic inability to be arsed. Anyway I try to square it, we're talking about some serious deck clearing to a life laundry extent. It would also be useful to try and get my bloody jukebox fixed or even establish if this is indeed possible. Finding someone to undertake such an activity hasn't proved easy but it's a high priority. But anyway, General Johnson and Joey Ramone are on Cake, it's Friday night and I'm going noplace anytime soon and this thing is being turned off in about 10 minutes. There are Curb's to be viewed and I need to know what happens to LD.

ladies and gents....

Saturday is mad scary for me, since I'll be playing alone. So if you live in the new york area, come out! Parkside Lounge presents Gotham Blowout with Emma Vikingskull, Dj's and Go Go Dancers. PAY WHAT YOU WANT (100 % goes to starving swede in new york city) AND OPEN BAR (or one dollar drinks for whoever's not a jerk or foreign). Parkside Lounge: 317 Houston St, btwn attorney and suffolk (no worries, it's just where ave b and c turns across the street). 21 + or fake id's. Acoustic goes massmedia chaos with distorted sounds and monkey growls. Various songs from various times/countries and in various tempos (not really, but it reads good). Great covers of course to save up for whatever might lack in my own work. Cover choices should be a surprise, but some Vagrants is to be expected. I'll take requests from now til' sat at 10:00 pm. I go on at 10:30 pm, the open bar is btwn 10-12.

SATURDAY IS NOW ALSO SUNDAY AT FONTANA'S... every sunday, you know this by now. See www.myspace.com/lexicondevils for more info on. but.... YOU SHOULD KNOW THIS BY NOW

MONDAY.....PUB NIGHT AT OTTO's SHRUNKEN HEAD! Finally it's the third monday of this month. Special guest dj for the night is HARRY FLOWERS. She's a cool bird from the UK that has a flourishing love for the music of her country and more so, what they produced in the nineteensixtees. Psychic Drive live on stage at 10:00. The Pub is always free and it's always rocking with swinging pubrock and cheap booze. And your host Vikingskull, of course. Flyer attached. more info on www.myspace.com/thepubnyc

Coming up in December, except what might be the best pub night of them all... Norton's mutherfukkin' holiday show, starring Reigning Sound (with guest appearance from Mary Weiss), The Nouvelles and A-Bones with guests - Roy Loney, Handsome Dick, Figures of Light, The Great Gaylord and probably some more. December 15th.
The Pub on December 17th has been in the works since the summer. I will reveal details in my next newsletter.

For you swedes who can't attend the shows. www.vikingskull.blogspot.com new york och musik bloggen rullar på som vanligt med uppdateringar nästan varje dag.

As for The Jadewalkers, well, we hope to keep Rico. He was awesome at our last show and he also dresses really sharp. And yeah, he's a rockin' bass player. Jadewalkers might play in Dec, details tba, but most likely we'll be going underground polishing our set and our new members til' we head out of town beginning of next year.

hope to see you limeys out.

Emma Vikingskull

There was cause, last night, to go into town. This is something I avoid at all costs but sometimes needs must and all that. With the impending festive explosion gaining momentum, the stores are full of crap that they expect people to buy. Mounds of stuff. Absolute and utter waste in terms of money, effort and existing in the first instance. Then I noticed the Virgin store "rebrand". If ever there was a pointless exercise then this must be a textbook case. The shopping areas take on the general aspects of a Romero scenario at an accelarated rate at this time of the year. Calling them headless chickens would be damning 'em with certifiable praise. And they're not zombies either though because such a beastie wouldn't deean themselves by slothing along the pavie staring at a mobile phone screen. Walking along the precinct, I genuinely felt utterly detached from the whole thing. I was actively looking forward to getting to the dentist, at least there was some purpose involved in that. Despite the sign that says "NO MOBILE PHONES" in the waiting room, it doesn't deter the jones of your average patient. Oh, no. Perhaps it doesn't apply to them? What is it with the hold these fucking devices have over people? Could somebody explain it to me because I have no idea. And why don't I have the desire to gaze into these things. What's wrong with me? To quote the old A&R (that's Angel and Rich) chestnut. They'll possibly say "There's nothing wrong with you" but there must be. Mustn't there?

However, there is sanity and great, great writing at Amy Rigby's Blog to sooth the savage beast. Savour it, because I know I do. Hopefully the gremlins that have been plaguing this pc have been banished. Only time will tell but I'm done for the night either way. Tomorrow is allegedly another day...

Lenny Helsing has recovered enough to file this Cavestomp field report...

New York Cavestomp 2007: Warsaw, Greenpoint, Brooklyn NYC

Friday November 2nd

First group on the bill, at 8pm sharp on this first night of New York Cavestomp 2007 were The Staggers, all the way from Austria. The compere for tonight’s party was Peter Zaremba, vocalist with The Fleshtones – who would play on Sunday, the final night… more later. The Staggers play wild, uninhibited frat-shake punky garage-style rock’n’roll slop that makes most of the punters that are lucky to be there early come out from the venue’s nooks ‘n crannies, and the adjoining bar too, and out into the main hall to jump ‘n dance, ‘n shout. The Staggers were a great fun group to start this party for sure… action a plenty, grunts and screams, the focus on raw energy, with front man Evel carrying on in the grand tradition of the mighty Screaming Lord Sutch, there was even horror-fun with a big plastic knife which was brought out during ‘The Ripper’…one of the other highlights for me was ‘Out Of Your Mind’, or maybe it was ‘Out Of My Mind’…well it was great whatever it was called…

NY garage veterans The Outta Place were on next… I remember them from way back in the mid-80s; they made a right old fuzzy rumble on that mini-LP they had out back then, on Midnight or somethin’?… anyway I was lookin’ forward to hearin’ these fuzzed-up scuzzballs here at Cavestomp, but I have to say I was mightily underwhelmed; the sound they got was actually pretty sludgy and muddy and way too heavy, as opposed to fuzzy and rumbly, which rendered most things they did kinda overly sludgy and muddy …so therefore I didn’t really watch them for any length of time, preferring instead to see if I could catch up with any folks I knew, and drink some more of our crap (but free) piss, I mean beer… No Polish beer for the artists, we got Budweiser instead. Ouch!!!

Then it was the turn of The Satelliters, an uptempo swinging garagey rock outfit from Germany. I’ve seen this bunch before, and even played on the same concert bill with them too at one of the Festival Beat events in Italy a good few years ago. They got the by now sizeable crowd going a bit and they are good players and all that, but they just don’t really do it for me I’m afraid. I know, this may be just my problem, but that’s OK I can live with that. For me, if I’m being honest, a lot of what they play is rather unexciting to listen to. They’re not a bad group by any means, but they come across as a little pedestrian, you know, garage-by-numbers sort of thing. By this time though I was probably zoning out a bit anyway, getting ready for my lot The Thanes to take the stage…the nervous system working overtime, excitement and adrenalin pulsing, as we were on next, well what can I say. The crowd were certainly getting well into the spirit of things that’s for sure and more and more people were crowding around the stage by this time…Smash! Twaaaang! Boom! Screeee! Bang! Crash! And it’s all over, phew! Ha ha! Everyone we spoke to, or that came up and spoke to us afterwards said we were really great, and really different sounding, with a real loud, clear sound cutting right through.

The anticipation … now… of finally getting to witness the legendary and downright awesome group The Sonics was really palpable, the stomach-churning thrill-in-waiting was really getting to me for sure, and then when these fucking righteous demi-gods of real ‘60s garage punk took the stage I swear there were like showers of sparks flying through the air everywhere I looked… Hitting us hard with ‘He’s Waitin’ was a great opening move and they never really let us down all night…’Have Love Will Travel’ had everyone bouncing around the place with smiles this big, and ‘The Hustler’ was just as it should be. And of course ‘Strychnine’ was positively seething with unadulterated punk rock’n’roll power. Gerry Roslie was on keyboards and lead vox, Larry Parypa was on lead guitar, Rob Lind was on sax. These cats were the absolute real deal, from the original ‘60s Sonics. They were ably joined by bass player Ricky Lee Johnson, ex- of The Wailers, and Paul Revere & the Raiders, and drummer Don Wilhelm, ex- of The Daily Flash. They were mind-bogglingly great at times, with a tough, no-nonsense sound to match. They even slowed it a little (just once I think) for a great rendering of ‘Boom’ LP classic ‘Don’t Be Afraid Of The Dark’ before gnashing and tearing it up back into the likes of ‘You Got Your Head On Backwards’, ‘Shot Down’, and the killa-dilla rocker ‘Boss Hoss’…I was real glad too that they chose to include such inimitable groovers as ‘Maintaining My Cool’ and ‘Like No Other Man’. Things finally came to an end after an absolutely deadly version of ‘Psycho’. By now of course the crowd were literally baying for more, more, more! This was rewarded too when the group jumped back on stage flinging out their brilliant interpretation of the global frug-u-like ‘Louie Louie’ and then sax-player Rob Lind wanted some extra audience participation during the chorus of what will be their eternal signature tune, ‘The Witch’. Rob certainly got it, and how! Waaaaargghhhhhh-hooooooooooo! OK so some people who witnessed this said that Roslie doesn’t really scream any more like he used to and that lead guitarist Parypa was a little hit and miss on occasion, but so what when it's this good. And get this, and get real… it is not 1965 anymore, and it was not the group lip-synching along to ‘Here Are The Sonics’ and ‘The Sonics Boom’ which would have been a total travesty, and very lame indeed. No, this was The Sonics, here and now, and the overall Sonics-ness of the performance was absolutely frightening to witness. Uniquely them, there’s no mistaking that sound.

Saturday November 3rd

Today was the big day for the WFMU record fair, up in Manhattan’s W 18th St. So we Thanes and Wildebeests and various others met up there. Crikey, that is one hackuva huge hall, and I have to admit I was a bit overwhelmed by the amount of records on display, so I just stayed in one corner, beside Todd Abramson and Billy ‘n Miriam’s Norton stall. That would do me just fine! Anyway, onto the New York Cavestomp’s Second night…Man, it was always gonna be so so hard to beat the previous night’s shenanigans, but here we go anyway… Peter Z was still on MCing duties and tonight’s pre-and-post band DJ was none other than “Switched On” Audrey Moorehead, who spun some seriously cool ‘n groovy platters. The previous night we were treated to boxes of 45s by DJ Pokomonojeff - erratic, hell yeah, but great too!

Up first onstage, again 8pm sharp - no pressure lads - were the UKs newest and greatest group, from Sandgate (read Folkestone) The Higher State. I love this group a lot and I think if you were down the front like I and some others were, then the sound was actually OK, not great, not too loud, but still OK. However the farther back you went it seems the sound all but disappeared, especially Mike Warren’s drums and frontman Marty Ratcliffe’s Rickenbacker 12-string. The group’s vocalists Marty and Mole you may recall as part of The Mystreated a good few years back, and the group’s sound is really something like an evolved version of that combo. Nice folk-punk jangle one minute, savage revved-up fuzz attack with layered psychedelic edges the next, and some cool vocal harmonies coming through. Their LP ‘From Round Here’ (also the title of their opening number) is out now on Misty Lane, and there’s a great new single too ‘And In Time’ / ‘If We Don’t Realise’ out now on their own Higher State label.

The Urges, outta Dublin, Ireland were the next bunch to take the stage and with the crowd expanding all the time, they made certain to entertain. They’re young, brash, and full of rock’n’roll attitude. They have an all-action vocalist in Jim Walters, a Greg Prevost of The Chesterfield Kings-type, ’87 style, jumping around, howling, preening and pouting while the group, including Rosco on bass, Glen on lead guitar and Ken Mooney on drums pound out (mostly) three-chord garage raunch behind him. The titles say it all: ‘You’re Gonna Find Out’, ‘You Don’t Look So Good’, ‘So Uptight’, ‘Curse It All’. Sometimes they sneak in little creepy sections where organist / rhythm guitarist Gary Clarke gets a bit of the limelight, and off-beat bridges here and there that take their sound outta the normal? riffage they’re so fond of, and for me that’s when they’re at their most interesting / appealing…These guys also have a brand new, debut LP called ‘Psych Ward’ out now on Screaming Apple. Fans of ye olde Chesterfield Kings, and vintage Fuzztones will dig The Urges for sure.

Hey! Who would’ve ever thought that in late 2007 we would also be witness to a live show from Back From The Grave alumni The Alarm Clocks of thee royally righteous punkers ‘Yeah’ and ‘No Reason To Complain’, but lo and behold there they were onstage right in front of us. We can thank Billy and Miriam at Norton HQ for that, as they’ve seen fit to not only release an LP of the group[‘s vintage recordings, but also of their latest material, produced by the great Freddy Fortune. Bassist / vocalist Mike Pierce can still scream like a wild banshee at times and can still rock out like some possessed cave-teen, this was especially proven on those afore-mentioned killers, but maybe even more so during their final rockin’ numbers which included a wild-as-all-get-out version of Bo Diddley’s ‘It’s Alright’… Original Alarm Clockers Bruce Boehm and Bill Schwark are joined these days by guitarist friend, and fan, Tom Fallon.

The final group of the night were vintage flower-power, psych-garage outfit The Strawberry Alarm Clock. Well, I really really wanted for them to be so great, I mean I love their first LP, and the 45 of ‘Tomorrow’ / ‘Birds In My Tree’ is such a milestone in psych music, and what to say of their great big flower-psych hit ‘Incense And Peppermints’, and especially that crazy flipped-out B side ‘Birdman Of Alkatrash’…but the reality was that, give or take a number or two, I and seemingly lots of others didn’t rate them too highly here at Cavestomp. They started off pretty well I thought, doing a great ‘Rainy Day Mushroom Pillow’ early on, then they kinda blew it on their strange rendition of ‘Birdman…’, and after a few more I just kinda drifted off, as did lots of other folks. I don’t think they should’ve had so many drums and percussion instruments on stage, it just seemed a bit of a bad omen…Anyway, I can’t tell you much more about this, but so many people said the same thing… I’ll be a little more polite and just say, on the whole, not very good.

Sunday November 4th

As usual, at 8pm sharp the first group were onstage, and tonight it’s the turn of The Hall Monitors, they were pretty cool and made a decent rock’n’roll beat racket, and the sound wasn’t too bad for them either. Once again though I didn’t watch all their set as I had to get ready to whack the drum-kit and do a bit of screaming for The Wildebeests as they were gonna be the next band up… we were introduced by tonight’s MC, none other than the legendary Lenny Kaye, that’s right cats ‘n kittens, Mr Link Cromwell hisself. Wow, how cool is that, well I tell you, for me/us that was a real honour… of course I can’t say too much about what we Wildebeests were like, but we did have a great sound so a lot of folks told me later, and from my vantage point I could tell that many many Cavestompers were enjoying our din. I could certainly hear the guitar that Russ bought to play this gig loud and clear, in fact better make that L O U D and clear way above everything else. It was one of those reissue square Bo Diddley-type guitars and really sounded boss.

We Wildebeests from Scotland were followed by The Lyres, that long-running garage combo from Boston MA, who I thought tonight sounded pure rock’n’roll magic as per usual, even though the sound, again, was beginning to get a bit muddy and sludgy, blurring some of the organ lines, and guitar subtleties. Jeff ‘Monoman’ Conolly was joined by spot-on genius drummer Paul Murphy, Danny McCormack on guitar and Rick Coraccio on bass…needless to say I think they did everything you would’ve expected them to do in their short 40 min or so set.

I’ve never been much of a fan of The Fleshtones it has to be said, but they seem like good guys, and they certainly got the crowd jumping about during their pretty zany, uptempo show. Peter Z had the audience eating out of his palm at times. There was a lot of people really getting into them for sure and, by all accounts, they put on a real exciting show. I only watched a few numbers, and saw another couple via the monitor screen through in the bar.

Well, there was only one group left to take the stage now, and of course that was, for the second time this weekend, Tacoma WA’s legendary super punk garage rock stars THE SONICS!!! If it was at all possible that they could’ve been better than their Friday night set, then I guess maybe they could’ve been, I dunno man… it gets really hard to tell sometimes, but for this particular fan, well maybe I just dug them just that little bit more on the Friday night, though whether or not that was because of that genuine first-time-around thrill or something, I’m not sure. But, wow, once again these guys really showed all us younger folks a thing or two about rock’n’roll. There weren’t many, if any, changes to the set, I don’t think but somehow the crowd were really even more there for them tonight. Perhaps there were more people there that didn’t see them on the Friday also, that were making a bigger noise…anyway, just to reiterate, THE SONICS were pure class, especially when they executed such thrilling versions of ‘Psycho’, ‘Boss Hoss’, ‘Shot Down’, ‘Dirty Robber’ and ‘The Witch’. If you missed ‘em and they play again anywhere near where you live, you gotta make the effort to catch them. You’ll have heard folks say how great certain vintage groups were on their comeback shows, like The Remains, ? & The Mysterians and The Monks, for example… well The Sonics were definitely up there in that select few. Gerry, Rob, Larry, Ricky and Don, if you read this, or someone you know does and can pass on the message, thanks so much again for these truly wicked wicked rock’n’roll Cavestomp shows.

Hey ho, kidlets!
Toothsome twang and naughty movies that are rite up yer alley will be forthcoming from The Stripchords this Saturday November 17th, when they return to Londinium, to play the Sweet But Deadly crew's Beatrocket nite at the Bloomsbury Bowling Lanes. This swinging affair will also feature South Coast garagers The Guillotines, resident DJs Phil Istine & Beat Girl, plus guest spinners BigKegShandy (onna double-duty kinda
tip) and Eric Ulcer (Corn Rocket Club)! Yowza!

See you at the ball rack? Remember to get some wrist support (like Jesus)...

Selah , The Stripchords

---------------------------

The Beatrocket , Date: Saturday November 17th
Venue: Bloomsbury Bowling Lanes, Basement of Tavistock Hotel, Bedford Way, W1.
Tube: Russell Sq./Euston. Doors: 7.30pm Entry fee: £6

www.sweetbutdeadlyclub.org.uk
www.myspace.com/sweetbutdeadlyclub
www.myspace.com/thestripchords

Advance tickets are on sale for the event at
http://www.wegottickets.com/event/23258

Mr Rooney has a message...

hi,
the primevals are playing in the twisted wheel (old rock garden) in queen st. on friday 30th november at 9p.m. this is free show.

this is a launch for our new record 'there is no other life and this is it' which we are releasing on our own label 'triple wide' so spread the word.
hope to see you?
best
mickey

The band is at Dirty Water on Friday December 7th, with The Priscillas and The Nuns (not the SF band)

Mose Allison is 80 today. A "certified senior citizen!"

Regulars to this neighbourhood will be familiar of my penchant for Stereo Total. If you haven't heard them then you're missing out. If you haven't seen them then you should because there is almost nothing more awe-inspiringly inspiring around. They take shards of everything and make it into an explosive cocktail that is so jaw-droppingly entertaining that I can't even begin to explain in mere words. It was nice to finally briefly meet them too because they're one of those great rock'n'roll couples. You know the other ones...

So yeah, Thursday night in The Hold located in the Basement of The Admiral bar. The group that opened, Fangs, organised this shindig so kudos to them for taking up the initiative. This is a power trio born out of the ashes of Motormark. A sort of retro-futuristic singles combo that could soundtrack the apocalypse. The guitar/bass player was positively wailing. I particularly liked the song that went along the lines of "I'm 17 and I know where you live". If they do then you better double lock the door. They look great too and this should be being force fed to 10 - 14 year olds. It'll make them better citizens. If you can imagine The Sweet crossed with Silverfish then you're in the ballpark. They're about to tour with Sons and Daughters so strap yourselves in for the Grand Old opry show if you can. That should be your average riot, right there.

And Stereo Total? Well the supremely groovy crowd frugged, boogaloo'ed and swum and did about 997 other dances to their sublime lesson in exactly what the great unwashed needs in their lives. Françoise and Brezel put on a great show which is frantic electropunk one minute and swoonsome outright pop the next. Utterly charming and completely bewildering. Why they aren't selling out venues at least the size of Barrowlands is quite frankly beyond me. Sometimes they nail the concept of popular music so sweetly that it gives me chills. Their oeuvre is entirely infectious and the energy level leaves the audience little choice but to get the f-word down. They continue to push it real good and seem to be having a very cool time doing so.

If they head to or even in the slightest bit near your town then you owe it to yourself to see them. Stereo Total offer sonic invigoration like imbibing a case of Red Bull. They'll give you wings and then some goddammit!

RIP - Norman Mailer

The fab Boonaraaas at DWC a week past Friday in full swing...

'SUITE 69'

The original 60's French Pop Discotheque
Djs Le Pape Du Pop & Le Marquis De Jardin play
Serge Gainsbourg, France Gall, Jacques Dutronc, Brigitte Bardot and many more
plus:
Scotland's only French language Garage Punk band
les BOF!
www.myspace.com/lesbof

SATURDAY 10th NOVEMBER
HENRY'S CELLAR BAR
MORRISON STREET, EDINBURGH
11pm - 3am £5/4

The Stereo Total show ran very late so more about that later. I'm almost awake so we'll see how that pans out, meanwhile...

News from Mr Tannock on the New STEREO, opening tonight in ol Glasvegas...

"Hello Everyone,

We are having our opening party for stereo and the ground floor will be open from 8pm, with the basement opening at 9pm.

The Parsonage will start the evening's musical proceedings, followed by many special guests, in particular, Don Don Don, who have come all the way from Bavaria to help make this a great night.

Entry is free. Early attendance recommended.

stereo is a cafe/bar at ground level and a venue in the basement.

The venue will host a variety of events with alternative touring bands featuring heavily and is available for private hire.

The cafe/bar will be open from 8am mon-fri, from 10am at the weekend, and till midnight every night. (only opening from noon this weekend)

The kitchen is based around a small organic bakery and will bring a much needed 'quick & healthy' option to the city centre. As usual, all food will be completely animal free, though we will offer organic cows milk as an option with coffee. The kitchen will be open from Monday.

Hope you can join us tonight, or failing that, can check us out soon.

Please spread the word.

Thanks

Craig"

And the word was spread...

RIP - Hank Thompson

Well inbetween following the Garagepunk.com dialogue on Cavestomp and everything else, I be even more distracted than ever. Anyway, I can't recall if I posted this before but Elizabeth Cook is the wife of one Tim Carroll. And he's gonna be there. So, it ain't everyday that you get an ex-Gizmo in Glasgow so why not head on down.

And don't forget Stereo Total at The Admiral tomorrow. It's not at the new Stereo in Renfield Lane that opens tonight by all accounts, but that would have been perfect wouldn't it?

"Would you care for schnitzel with that?" It’s the sensible combination of hillbilly music and Viennese comfort food as Susquehanna Industrial Tool & Die Co. returns this Wednesday to Park Slope's charming Cafe Steinhof! Come early if you're hungry, as the Steinhof kitchen will be serving up its great renditions of Austrian favorites until 11pm -- and if you’re merely thirsty there’s a wide selection of Austrian and German beers and wines, plus specialty drinks. No cover, to boot!

WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 7th / CAFE STEINHOF /
422 Seventh Avenue (at 14th Street) in Park Slope, Brooklyn /
Two teutonic shows, from 10:30 sharp until 12:30 / No cover charge / Plus, should you just happen to be of the Long Island swing set... TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 13th / SWING DANCE LONG ISLAND / Brennan’s Irish Pub, 546 Route 111 in Hauppauge, NY / Dancing (including free lessons!) begins at 8:00 / $10 (members $6) / Yours truly- Michael
Susquehanna Industrial Tool & Die Co.
"Ballads, Boogies & Blues"

RIP - The Fabulous Moolah!

A big thanks to everybody who checked in at the weekend to congratulate the fact that I'd officially made it over the hill. I'll get to the individual e-mails in due course and facebook and myspace (if it ever allows me entry for more than 10 minutes at a time). So The Sonics hadn't gone all "jazz-fusion" then? That'll be down to my inability to attend.

The "Psycho" clip is really great so here's more to rub our noses in it...

He's Waitin' - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ityrrkSdvHo

Have Love, Will Travel - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ML-JRFUvnRo

Glad tidings too to discover that Lenny Helsing + Co seem to have conquered NYC. The way he was revving up in Edin(boro) recently, I'm not at all surprised. Actually they're in Jersey City right now on Joe Belock's WFMU show as I try to figure out my column for The Ox.

So here goes...

Psycho from Psunday night in Brooklyn on the Sailor Jerry blog.

(Thanks to Kevan for the heads up)

Coming up this week, Stereo Total at The Admiral Bar in Glasgow (8th) and also at Metro in London (7th),

Plus these shows...



More later, this automatic pilot state isn't gonna get me out the door... while some of you are probably just moseying back from The Sonics, some of us have already turned back into a pumpkin. It's Guy Fawkes and you know what that means.

Well it was an unmitigated triumph. I'm talking about The Boonaraaas!!! show at the DWC on Friday here of course. The Boston Arms annexe was reverberating to these German lassies now sound. Where then meets the present in a cataclysmic prime punk rock rush of blood. It was three years plus since plus since the Lolitabar incident. Maybe they'd changed or something? It was all very nerve-racking but within 10 seconds, all my suspicions were utterly founded. This is a helluva band and as glorious a ruckus as you're likely to collide with anyplace. Tufnell Park presumably didn't know what had hit it.

First up was King Salami and The Cumberland 3. Pret-ty good as Larry David might say but they played too long to my mind. They were holding up the main event. However it reminded me a wee bit of Gaylord Fields with The A-Bones so that's not exactly chopped liver. Allegedly "the hit" of the Funtastic DracFest recently, they're obviously not without merit. It's just that we were champing at the bit here.

And then blammo, we're off to that hip-shakin' wonderland. The German girls cut straight to the chase and deliver a rapid fire salvo of primo rock'n'roll. By the time they got to their version of The Romantics "What I Like About You", it was clear that we were all going down. The set featured a selection of songs from their two fine albums and some other songs that are presumably new. Utterly timeless and charming in equal measure, their obvious joy at being in London was contagious. Christina's grasp of the big beat is substantial and Trich's bass rumble powered the interplay. C would have been a perfect drummer for The Ramones because she never missed a beat unlike the clockwork monkey they ended up with. Trich's vocal is the archetypal girl group warble marinated in that exotic accent to give it extra thrust. As Tine and Laura add backing vocals and thrash their guitars, there are strange harmonic licks present. All grist to the powerhouse of a mill that they're packing. The show was over in what seemed like an instant. A heartbeat even. One quick return for a breakneck version of "Shook Out Of Shape" and it's over. The disco comes back on and the spell is broken. But by christ, the audience got a punk rock clip round the noggin in no uncertain terms.

What could follow that? Well nothing really. The Len Price 3 made an amiable record but live it's somewhat uninspired. Not bad but more like (shrugs shoulders). Graeme Day and The Gaolers were on the other hand totally uninspired, with the ghost of Paul Weller bathing in the Medway casting a shadow over the sound. Clearly they have a following but for the life of me, I can't understand why. Some of it was unfathomably dull but our whistle had been whetted so each to their own.

In between the LP3 and GD, Boonaraaaaction decamped next door into The Boston Arms karaoke night. Fired up from the stellar performance, Christina and Tine belted out a rousing version of "Do Anything You Wanna Do". It was a perfect end to the evening to shore us up for the prospect of the nightbus back to Chiswick. A whole 'nother adventure again.

In a perfect world, "I Want A Boonaraaa for Christmas" would be a big hit this coming festive season although which one would be quite a quandry. The Boonaraaas!!! are the perfect prescription for these jaded times and never miss any chance you get to see them.

As I type this I guess they're driving back to Germany but hopefully the fuse has been lit and the bush telegraph will elicit a return bout very soon. Meanwhile there's the prospect of Paris in April...

At last, The BMX Bandits "Bee Stings" has been released in the UK by Joe Foster's new Poppy Disc imprint. As pure pop music goes it's pretty much unbeatable because there's so much heart and soul tied up in the realisation. These re-fashioned Bandits mean business. It all kicks off with the single (also available on 7" kids!) "Take Me To Heaven" which will answer any questions you might have had if you ever dreamt that Burt Bacharach wrote "Don't Fear The Reaper". I'm always wary of the expression "sophisticated" but in the proper hands then it's acceptable. This set is that in spades and further cements the reputation of Captain David Scott as arranger extraordinaire. "Sing The Things" could be a lost Edwards/Rogers song but of course it isn't. It's written by the crack team of Stewart and Scott. Rachel Mackenzie's voice is a perfect foil to Duglas and when you see them live, the feeling of love in the room is palpable. I'll tell you a story. First time I ever heard the BMX Bandits, I wanted to kill them. As time went on I came to appreciate that everyone has to start someplace and now there are fewer better groups on earth. A song like "I Know A Secret" (with Evie Sands on backing vocals) seems to go against everything that the music business has come to stand for. Under the right conditions it'll reduce you to small chunks of rubble. I haven't asked Duglas which particular meaning this "Bee Stings" title has. And it doesn't matter. The band has made a quietly understated masterpiece that people will discover and wonder how the hell it's possible to make music this rich.

As I've said often in the past, forget pigeonholes and alleged genres. There is only good and bad music. Granted some of it can be ugly too but the BMX Bandits are here to steer you right. As the album closes with "The Last Song", it's evident that they're capable of making a big rock anthem in the tradition of TFC. If Bellshill had a boardwalk then this would be on permanent repeat at that particular fairground. I just wonder how Davie got Herb Alpert in to do the brass?

Infused. Enthused. These sounds are the stuff of life and as mood music goes, this'll lift the darkest of spirits. Take it from somebody who knows.

Well, not long back from a lightning raid on (the) London to catch the Blighty debut of the mighty Boonaraaas!!! More about this later when I gather what's left of my recall.

Will I make the Sounds of Sweden shindig at Sloans? Questionable at this point. It's a strange day but you never know. Of course my heart, soul and spirit is in Brooklyn where all my homies are having, to paraphrase Bill Medley and Jennifer Warnes, the time of their lives (in gig terms). Only found one "review" of Friday night thus far but hopefully, soon, Field Marshall Helsing will lay it all out for you. So yeah, DWC report coming up after these messages. Oh, there are none? Typical.

Ok, not much in the way of time this morning. Some hot tickets for tonight should you be in the relative environs.

The Boonaraaas!!! at DWC in salubrious downtown Tufnell Park, (the) London.

Robert Johnson and Punchdrunks anniversary shindig at the fine Bröderna Olsson in Stockholm. Gearclub is at Debaser in that fair city also.

And last, but not least, the return of The Sonics at Cavestomp. Ably shored up by wir ain Thanes.

And that, as they say is your lot for the minute. Hopefully there'll be some reports of these events coming your way in due course. Christ, some of 'em will probably even be on YouTube. Not the same as being there but who the heck can be everywhere at once?