"Crypt Records is clearing out the Garage!. So much stuff got piled up we need to get rid of a LOT!. Records, t-shirts, posters, test pressings, silly stuff and all kinds of junk... So make sure you check out our other options too, now and later!". GO!.

This month's releases from Ace includes hipsters like the Sonics, Prisoners, B.B. King plus Laurie and Combo label anthologies. Out soon will be a couple of rockabilly 45s taken from the label's recent Meteor collection.

Looks like Norton is set to release vinyl re-issues of the 4 original Gene Vincent LPs in September...

It's been a while since I've last been in contact w/ former MRR scribe Mark Murmann, but noticed that he's been setting up his own weblog 'Blitz My Brain' over the past few days. Obviously still tryin' to get the hang of it, but he should be on a roll in no time soon. And don't let the MRR tag scare ya, Mark's taste in music probably runs pretty much along the same lines as that of most NBT readers. And credit where it's due; Mark mentions a new Lester Bangs anthology to be published on August 12, that I haven't seen mentioned anywhere else yet...

Great wee Blasters and B-related site constructed by bass fella John Bazz. GO!.

RIP: Sam Phillips. GO!.

Aye... hopefully somebody will have the presence of mind to sink the bastard with all of 'em on it. I guess there's no end to the humiliation. I was certainly cheated the night I had to watch them vomit out their lumpy paen to rawk. Can somebody make sure the Kings of Leon are on the boat too?

NEWS FLASHES: "Rhino Records is giving its legendary compilation power to the punk movement. 'Ever Get the Feeling You've Been Cheated?', which ironically doesn't include a single Sex Pistols track to back up its name, is due for Oct. 28. The four-disc set spans bands that came out from 1973 to 1980, and is intended to show the links between classic punk rock and proto-punk, new wave, post-punk and no wave" (tracklisting)..*****Lindsay will be overjoyed that the new Turbonegro video is available here, and the band has a "secret" gig comming up according to this this article.

Finally took some time to dig into the Star Spangles debut full-length disc 'Bazooka', and I gotta tip my hat to our chief o' staff Lindsay for knowin' a contender when he sees one, 'cause this here disc is a rip roarin' p-rock blast, w/ the p standin' for "pop" !. And save for one weak Hoodoo Gurus cover (you can't beat perfection) it's all top shelf stuff. Just take note of those involved (Sleeve pic taken by former Heartbreakers manager Leee Black Childers, produced by Ramones regular Daniel Rey and their official bio is written by Richard Meltzer !) couple that with looks resemblin' Sire era Flamin' Groovies crossed w/ the NY Dolls and you'll get a pretty good idea of what to expect.

On Friday night I caught the Buff Medways at the Dirty Water Club. The first 45 minutes were dependable if nothing earth shattering from Sir William et al. That's the way it goes, sometimes a band will spark and on other night's the timing will be a smidgen out. However, as we rounded the bend at midnight Billy starting playing around with Punk Rock Is Nicht Tot and turned it into a rap about bogus celebrities and phoney people. It worked as treat as did the segue from Jack The Ripper into John The Revelator. To cap it all off, Johnny Johnson (ex-Headcoats) jumped ontstage to play guitar for an encore of Baby What Do You Want Me To Do and You Don't Love Me. With that done and dusted, Billy turned to the audience and said: "Now go home and form a rock'n'roll band." Who would refuse?

The Barracudas and Lazy Cowgirls now have Yahoo! Groups dedicated to their past, present and future activities. Both have the support and the participation of band members so here's your chance to ask for the story behind some of your favourite tunes. Thankfully, no one appears to be too mentally damaged by their ordeals at the RnR coalface.

Way "backintheday" there was a band by the name of New Math. Then they became The Jet Black Berries and made a few more albums then folded. They were really something.
Now Gary Trainer, Roy Stein and Chris Yockel of the NM/JBB axis have got a new combo together with April Laragy pictured here and Scott Ostrowski called The Atomic Swindlers. They trade in a grandiose swinging glam long considered lost to the world and add a little punk rock undertow as one might expect. www.atomicswindlers.com

Blasters weekend is upon us and I'm very much looking forward to seeing the gang when they arrive in Glasgow tomorrow. Meanwhile check out their Euroexploits thus far at www.blastersnewsletter.com.

Been fortunate to receive an advance copy of a documentary that's been made about Jandek entitled Jandek on Corwood. For anybody who may not be familiar with Jandek, he's a guy who has been putting out albums on his own Corwood Industries imprint for the best part of a quarter century. His material for the most part is atonal, minimal, mostly acoustic and damn atmospheric to the point of cinematic. I used to have a bunch of the records and now I've seen this, I'll be revisiting his work. His identity is a mystery and remains so. Several sitings are relayed in the film but nobody really has a beat on who this guy is. The doc features Byron Coley, Phil Milstein and Gary Gold as well as many others talking about their take on The J phenomenon and as a piece it's excellent. Hopefully it'll be making an appearance at a Film Festival near you so you can check it out for yourself. It's not rock'n'roll by any means but its more than worthy of your investigation. Meanwhile check out the following for further insight. www.jandekoncorwood.com

Norton Records has announced a series of '60's Fort Worth Teen Scene releases for the Fall. According to their press release, "You will dig unseen photos, rare and unissued recordings plus legendary sides presented for the first time from master tapes!".

As some of you might know I'm somewhat of a Reggae fanatic besides the usual NBT fare. And I wouldn't even mention this if it wasn't for the fact that the Soul Jazz label is set to release a 19 track comp of Joe Gibbs productions. Gibbs bein' reponsible for some of my all-time fave Jamaican recordings. Most of you will remember Althea & Donna's UK #1 'Uptown Top Ranking' from 1978, but he, together with his engineer Eroll Thompson, was also behind the majestic 'Two Sevens Clash' LP by Culture, the 'Visions Of Dennis Brown' disc plus the genius 'African Dub' series. After the excellent 'No Bones For The Dogs' dub set on Pressure Sounds, this new one looks like it's gonna be an even better addition to the Gibbs discography. GO!.

Rip Off recording artists The Marked Men will be touring Euroland in August; 14 Vera, Groningen (NL) w/The Stilettos & Shakin' Nasties, 15 Pit's, Kortrijk (BEL), 16 tba, 17 Swaf, Hoorn (NL), 20 Tower, Bremen (D) w/Moorat Fingers, 21 Rotterdam (NL) tbc, 22 Ekko, Utrecht (NL) w/The Stilettos, 23 Cobra (outside), Solingen (D).

UPDATED: The I-94 Bar: Rock with the Dragons, the Cynics, X , Sheek the Shayk and Nanker Phelge. GO!.

Exploding Hearts lose three members in crash. GO!.

What with the upcomin' Hydromatics' Euro tour 'n all it seems like a good time to hip you lot out there to the excellent Scott Morgan site 'n dito Yahoo Group.

LINK: A long, but interesting review of the Ramones documentary 'End Of The Century' in Creem. GO!.

These are busy and weird times. To put the tin lid on a rather putrid week, I blew my stereo amp yesterday and I'm operating on a less than meaty system at the moment. managed to salvage a workable intermediate stage but i won't be able to raise the roof until I get my mitts on another bit of gear. I know, all the apples fell on me or whit?
Lets see, check out The Illegal Movers - Buzzpunkpowerpoprockactiondeluxe on the Middle Class Pig imprint. Whilst alleged Garage Combo's come and bore, these Newcastle Upon Tyne dwellars provide a nifty twist on a style that is the bread and butter of NBT-ites. A more Wild Kingdomesque slant on The Coyotemen should paint a postive picture of what to expect. Divnae believe me? Go to www.middleclasspig.com and check 'em out for yourself with some download action.
Now to Sweden, home of the hits and the land which seems to have primo punk flouride in it's water supply. Mando Diao are a new name to me but it seems like they've been snapped up by Mute Records. Of course, The Hives are mentioned in their blurb but so are The Creeps. This is because there's an element of soul in their sound. It's also a tad more open ended in terms of sounding almost contemporary. Its a mixed bag with the more unusual tracks like "Mr Moon" possessing something that might appeal to radio programmers with an ear for laying something new on their listenership. "The Band" on the other hand cuts and shuts Dexy's Midnight Runners with The Count V (that's five incase there's anybody reading this that doesn't know. These guys could really appeal to an Idlewild audience and while I don't think the schtick stretches over the whole album, there's a couple of things here that could see 'em to the next level. www.mando-diao.com
Much more direct, also from Sweden are Parker. A great punk rock, attitude streaming from every pore, pogo machine.They woulda been on stiff Records if such a beastie still existed. Eva Parker has a voice like Angel CC channelling Lene Lovich. Mighty lungs indeed. Their second album "Le Petomane", is just out and I urgeth you to check 'em out. www.parkerpop.com
Outright best thing I've heard in a long time is a band called The Debs which existed in Springfied, Missouri around 1978. The first song on their unreleased demo is gagging to be covered. Which combo will have the sheer taste to get in there first? More info about these lassies when I get it.

Rhino is set to re-issue the original Television albums with bonus tracks plus a live album. GO!

LINK: Cool Dutch beat site (with MP3s). GO!

Got a couple o' msgs recently from people tellin' me they're missin' the semi-frequent playlists I used to include in the ON/CL days. So here's some o' the stuff that's doin' the round's on the hi-fi; Lotsa ol' Rocksteady (esp the ' Treasure Isle Showtime' LP on Heartbeat, the sleeve sez it all; 'It's like popcorn; hot baby, hot!)", the Blues (as always, w/ Elmore James and Otis Rush gettin' the most spins these days), comps from the Soul Jazz 'n Preasure Sounds labels (two great re-issue labels in their field), the 'Lookin' Good' comp on BGP (cool R&B/Soul mod-grooves), the Leg Hounds (prime Devil Dogs-type punk-R'n'R), Creedence Clearwater Revival, early Stones (two perennial faves) and finally the Nitwitz - Rock & Roll Conquistadores. in MP3 format (If that new album is gonna be anywhere as good as this, it's gonna be damn near lethal!).
So there you have it, I haven't seen the future of rock'n'roll over the past few weeks, but this here stuff is pretty much what has floated my boat recently.

LINK: Wang Dang Dula! is a great site dedicated to the wildest sounds from the 50s and early 60s. Dig around a bit and be amazed at the amount of info available (beware of pop-ups tho'). Esp recommended to all you Kicksters out there. GO!.

Been fast-forwarding through the T in the park TV coverage and actually saw this Kings Of Leon crew. Dearie dearie me, if that's what passes for rock thrills theses days then we're in big trouble.

Fleshtones tourdates confirmed for Texas and California

Thu 4 Sept - Houston, TX at Rudyards
Fri 5 Sept - Austin, TX at Emo’s Inside stage with Sons of Hercules
Sat 6 Sept - San Antonio, TX at Taco Land with Sons of Hercules
Thu 2 Oct - San Diego, CA at Casbah wih Holly Golightly
Fri 3 Oct - Los Angeles, CA at Spaceland with Holly Golightly
Sat 4 Oct - San Francisco, CA at Parside lounge for Budget Rock Garage Festival
Sun 5 Oct - San Francisco, CA at Parside lounge for Budget Rock Garage Festival

For those of you in the NYC area:

Friday July 25 - Joint celebration with Crypt Records and 20 years of Back from the Grave comps

THE SPITS (Seattle, Slovenly Records)
THE LITTLE KILLERS (NYC, Crypt)
THE BLACK LIPS (Atlanta, Bomp)
ANDY G AND THE ROLLER KINGS (NYC, Sympathy)
SOME ACTION (NYC)

Plus DJ Tim Warren from Crypt Records and special guests!

Saturday July 26

NIKKI CORVETTE (Bomp - 1st NYC appearance since 1982!)
LYRES (Boston, Matador, Norton)
HIGH BEAMS (Seattle, Dead Beat)
BASEBALL FURIES (Chicago, Big Neck)
SPITTOONS (NYC)

Plus DJs Alberto from Wowsville and Bazooka Joe

$12 per night
doors 8pm each night
at Sin-e' (150 Attorney St. betw Houston and Stanton)

You can purchase tickets online at www.sin-e.org through ticket web or at Wowsville on 2nd Ave just below St. Marks...tickets should be a Wowsville starting Saturday July 12.

It seems that a new issue of the always amazing Ugly Things magazine is on it's way to the printers. This upcommin' isssue (# 21) wil include the second part of the massive Misunderstood article plus stuff on The Quests, The Paupers, Skip Spence, Meic Stevens and Armageddon. Also an article on legendary Spanish music journalist José Luis Alvarez and Spain's main 60's mag Fonorama. Street date; "by the end of the summer".

This morning, I saw a 2cd set in Tesco entitled "The Best Prog Rock Album in the World Ever" complete with Roger Dean artwork. A further sign that the threadbare arse has fallen out of the music biz. Would you let your corn flakes, carrots or sprouts share a basket with such a beast? It's been a pretty crappy week in all, the programme for the Edinburgh International Film Festival came out and there are slim pickin's to be had there. It'll be hailed as a great success I'm sure, but it puts the tin lid on my beliefs about the artistic directors ability. Just as well we'll be tied up with the return of Amy Allison who'l be promoting the release of her No Frills Friend album on Spit & Polish. Diesel Only in the US.
I keep reading about Kings of Leon and how great they are. Imagine the big dissy then when I hear 'em and they sound like Blur trying to be Rocket From The Crypt.
On the subject of print, there's a magazine out here called Careless Talk Costs Lives and although you might not agree with everything in there, it's firing a veritable ball of phlegm across the bows of what tries to pass as the established press these days. It looks damn good to and it's packed, and I been to the rafters, with info. No cover mounted cd by the chosen dozen or so - just the facts so you can go check stuff out for yrselves. Remember how that goes? It'll keep you goin' until Joss and Joe get Sonic Reducer out on a regular basis. www.carelesstalkcostslives.com
People keep asking me what I think about The Cramps album and all I'm prepared to say is I don't care for it. Why should anybody give a hoot what I think about it anyway? I'm sure you can come up with your own reservations. Good luck to them though, as always I hope they get what they deserve. And to answer another question... No, I won't be going to see them either.

Misty Lane #18 is now available. Included in the all-English publication are interviews with Sky Saxon of The Seeds, Barry Tashain of The Remains, Jim Pons of The Leaves, Jim McCarty of The Yardbirds, and interviews stories on The Mods, Gaunga Dyns, Bachs, Lemon Drops, Bold, Tonto & The Renegades, Bojax, Shadows Four, Terry Rae, Bark of Paper Mulberry, Guilloteens, Cold Sun, Castells and more! Included with each issue is a CD containging tracks by many of the above artists, as well as Sweet Wine, North Shores, Palace Guard, Blue Cheer and more. It's available at http://crea.html.it/sito/NOWSOUND/

Out soon; a Ramones live disc recorded in 1978. GO!.

LINK: "It's the I-94 Bar's Deep Reduction issue. We take you to the Australian shows by this Austro-American band, featuring Radio Birdman's Rob Younger and Deniz Tek.
In other live wrap-ups, guest reviewer Geoff Ginsberg runs the rule over shows by, The Greenhornes, The Supersuckers, The Cramps, Sickidz, The Dictators, Lou Reed, The Fleshtones, Easy Action, Garland Jeffreys, Rocket From the Tombs, X, and Sylvain Sylvain.
In news, Penny Ikinger makes a Career move and we bring you more Radio Birdman Euro dates.
Plus tons of record reviews".
The I-94 Bar: Sydney Rock Action via The Bowery and Motor City. GO!

Some time ago Steve and myself put up a virtual shrine for long lost pubrockers The Count Bishops. A true labor of love that obviously doesn't generate too much traffic but every now and then throws up a response from some far flung corner of the globe, showing that we're not alone in our flag waving for these guys. I wouldn't dare claim our little site to be the final word on the subject, but I figured it was pretty comprehensive. Not so; this week I was contacted by Herve Colombet from France, who put up his own Count Bishops site that really holds an insane amount of information about the band providing hours of fun for people like me in search of a life. Please go 'n take a peek and say "Hi!" to Herve when you get there. GO!.

LINK: I Despise You And I Hate Your Taste In Music
"Once music was a simple thing. People played a jolly tune into a recording device, people played it and danced about a bit. Now we need professional psychiatric care for an audience assaulted by the likes of 'Weekend' on a regular basis. People have accused my reviews of being generated by a computer. Well, of course they are. You think anyone in their right mind would listen to The Dictators all day? I'm all digital baby. "

This month's releases from Ace. GO!.

The ever bizarre Dutch TV show 'Jiskefet' will host a reunion of legendary Dutch punk band The Helmettes on Sunday July 27 (22:10 NED3).

Tony Slug tells us The Hydromatics are off 'n rollin' again in September, not only that but there's a new live album on the way on Suburban, a 45 on Sweet Nothing (yep, 2 versions of the song 'Sweet Nothing'), and another 7" on the French Pitshark label. The lack of any new studio material is down to the fact that their previous label screwed 'em out of a lot of money and the band is thus unable to afford the luxury of a studio. Anyways, the dates are as follows; Sept 3 Vigo Spain, Sept 4 La Coruna Spain, Sept 5 Gruta 77, Madrid Spain (with Stiff Little Fingers), Sept 10 Forum Bielefeld Germany (with Radio Birdman), plus some date in Finland of which the details are still a bit sketchy.

I dunno about you but I'm sick of all these alleged punk rock groups that are doing the rounds but there's one exception. Ever hear of The Star Spangles? Maybe you've read the little potshots that compare 'em to The S*****S or whoever the publicists are prostrating themselves before this nanosecond, but the clotheared mofo's that are bleating that obviously wouldn't know primo buzzsaw action supposing it bit their schnozzes off.
The Star Spangles are a bunch of young 'uns that can rattle it out like any one of your "back in the day" NY punkers. Sometimes the rush of adrenalin is like a whole posse of your faves kicking you at once. Their new single
"I Live For Speed" is out now and the album "Bazooka!" is out next week. If this and any other Nation's youth were to embrace The Spangles then this world would be a better place but then again why should they have the sense to take anything worthy to their shit-riddled tastebuds. Another charge levelled at the Spangles seems to be down to them being signed to Parlophone. A major label. As opposed to a boutique label for a major... So they want to sell some records, imagine that. Who the bloody eff do they think they are??? So listen, any NBTster worth their salt will love, love, love this band. They're unscathed by the brickbats and I guess that's what knocking out Cheap Trick meets Ramones with some Heartbreakers/Dead Boys and Dictators riffage on the side will do that to a group. Check 'em out on www.the starspangles.com and be smitten.Live the bamalama is even better and they'll be everywhere this fall proving their critics to be the lily-livered tossers they undoubtably work hard at being.
If Turbonegroid rocked a fifth as much as wir Spangles then they'd be getting somewhere but don't mix these NY kids with those lumpy Norwegien oiks. Don't you ever do that.

I have no idea if this is working or not. Perhaps International Hacking Day or whatever it is that's tomorrow has already knobbled Blogger?

Just added as support to The Blasters, for the Glasgow show only, is the great Chris Gaffney. Bodyswerve the London show and get yr bahookie up here for this July 28th Shindig.
Another specially curated opening event will be Amy Allison opening for Laura Cantrell at Glasgow's Grand Ole Opry on August 7th. Amy will be here for shows to coincide with the release of her new No Frills Friend album on Spit & Polish. Us Release is on Diesel Only.

It ain't too shabby when a plan comes together and the great Chris Gaffney has been secured to provide the opening salvo for The Blasters in Glasgow on July 28th. It should be noted that this is for the Scottish show only so bodyswerve London and get your bahookie up here instead. Laura Cantrell's show at Glesgae's Grand Ole Opry is similarly unmissable as she will be joined by "wir ain" Amy Allison to open the proceedings. That one's on Thursday August 7th. The Opry is situated on the South Side of Glasgow and is perhaps The city's finest venue. It's location puts off the idiots that can't see past their own midden-heid but that's those fair weather tossers loss. The liquid refreshments are very reasonably priced and you can even get some nosh at "The Chuck Wagon". A surreal and welcome glimpse of yer actual good auld days.

So it's that time of year again. The time when we act as a mini-Scottish tourist board and schlepp our cronies from all over the globe around some alternative sights. Of course this includes record stores and over the past couple of days we've been in the best and worst. The best is of course Monorail in Glasgow. A civilised home away from home which is a zillion miles away from the chain malaise. Monorail is situated within Mono, a fine bar and eaterie and anybody who visits Glasgow will have to make a pitstop there. It's mandatory. On the other side of the tracks there's Backbeat Records in Edinburgh. What a chuffing overpriced dump. I saw the Phast Phreddie and thee Precisions album in there for £25(!) and a Blasters Spin Radio Promo for a penny under 60 quid. They are cruel to vinyl too with dirty big plastic bins perched atop one another. You wouldn't do that to animals and you shouldn't do it to discs either. There oughtta be a law, or maybe even 5.

On a positive tip, some info on a real combo that deserves to sell records. Nomads fans should check out "Skolssangen" by Dom Galna Hundara (The Mad Dogs), a rip stonkin' humdinger of an anthem with Stockholm's finest providing the crunch. A fine tune which appears to be available only as a single song cd. No filler on this rascal. www.honkytonkform.com

Re Cap'n J's Turgidneger posting, just too bad they all weren't lifted. Why are so many people gulled by these boring shysters? I know the pickin's out there can be thin' but c'mon...

Turbonegro get landed in chokey for arms smuggling. GO!.

It's too bloody hot. I can't function in these conditions and (my old buddy, Miettinen will get a chortle outta this) my hayfever is giving me gyp. Even people who never suffer the bloody condition are sneezing and snorting all over the shop, but I digress... Top girl combo Voladoras blew through Glasgow again last night on another ill-fitting bill.
They deserve a few breaks these lassies. As straight ahead undulating garage rock action goes, they batter it out with a gusto that most of those NME-hyped nonentities will ever sniff. Check their site www.voladoras.com and buy their records. It's an excellent cause. Hopefully their next circuit will be with The Gore Gore Girls in October. An altogether better fit.

New on the web: the mighty Telstar label;

"Telstar Records hit the ground running in 1985. Head honcho Todd Abramson caught the Ben Vaughn Combo playing around N.Y.C. and thought they were so damn great that somebody should put a record out on them. So he took matters into his own hands and put out their debut release, “My First Band” in January of that year.

The Ben Vaughn Combo boasted the criteria that has become Telstar’s stock in trade. Bands like The Mummies, Swingin’ Neckbreakers, Greenhornes and Woggles embrace the elements of garage, r’n’b, soul, surf, punk and more that once made music so enjoyable, and put their own unique individual stamps on it to come up with something new and exciting. You can’t lose with the stuff we use! We’re happy to do all the work of tracking these bands down. All you have to do is buy their records and cd’s. This is a good deal for everyone involved".

Munster records from Spain has some cool stuff lined up for release:
Black Lips - Ain't Coming Back 7", Legendary Tiger Man (featuring Mick Collins and Jim Diamond) - Big Black Rusty Pussyboat 7", v/a - Freakbeat from Down Under (South American 60s comp), Gun Club - Fire Of Love (Heavyweight vinyl re-issue of this all-time classic, w/ liner notes by a certain Mr L. Hutton), Arthur Lee & Love - Five String Serenade (Re-issue of 1993 LP), Real Kids - The New Rose Years (220gm Vinyl 2LP, this includes their second album 'Outtaplace', and their most sought after record, the French only 'Hit you hard'. This has not been reissued since 1983. On top of this you get 8 tracks from their 1983 "All kinda jerks live"). Rubber City Rebels - Pierce My Brain (Euro/vinyl edition of their recent disc). And finally a vinyl edition of the recent Link Wray tribute disc featurin' the Fleshtones (ao).

A couple o' new books that are doin' the rounds here in Holland that I'd figured would be worth mentioning even if you don't speak the lingo. First off is 'De Naald Erin!', a collection of short stories by John Schoorl all revolving 'round a particular LP, that is really too lame for words. And I wouldn't even mention this snore fest if it wasn't for the fact that one of the discs involved is the Nomads' 'Temptation Pays Double' in which even a certain Mr Vahlberg makes a cameo appearance (!), this is the book's sole redeemin' value. Of much more interest is Nothing Going On In The City a book documenting 40 years of pop/rock history in Groningen (or Grunnen as the locals call it). Not a story as such, but a chronological overview detailin' certain eras, bands or scenes thru' short descriptions and a massive amount of illustrations (Pictures, posters, flyers, newspapercuttings etc) that should make this one easily digestible for you foreigners as well. Immaculately layed-out, this one's well worth checkin' out. Same goes for Het Beste Uit Hitweek '65-'69, an overview of Hollands main 60s music mag Hitweek, as essential a part of the Dutch six-o scene as the Outsiders or Cuby. No lookin' back or hindsight, just page after (original-) page of tales about long hairs vs straights, provos, beat groups (even tho' one can already spot the roots of Holland's longtime fascination w/ Zappa and country rock in here), and browsin' thru' this really brings the era back to life. Essential !.

Radio Birdman dates:

AUGUST
Sat 30th: Jerez - Serie Z Festival  (Espanol)
Sun 31st: Nottingham - Rescue Room (UK)
SEPTEMBER
Wed 3rd: Nancy - Le Terminal Export (Fr)
Sat 6th: Perugia - Medicine Show Festival (It)
Sun 7th: Bologna - Independent Days Festival (It)
Wed 10th: Bielefeld - Forum (Deutschland) w/ Hydromatics
Fri 12th: Oslo - Cosmopolite (Norway)
Sat 13th: London - Mean Fiddler (UK)

Three more dates to come and they'll probably be announced in the first week
of July.

The (new) official band site:
radio-birdman.com

The Maggots, The Dirty Water Club, London (20th June) - You can invariably tell a great band by the onstage preparations they make. Excitement builds while cables are checked, guitars tuned, and kick-drum peddles adjusted as their eagerness to play spreads around venue like a contagion. Such was the appearance by the Maggots at The Dirty Water Club last Friday night. The Swedish power trio proceeded to deliver a set full of all-killer-no-filler originals such as “Cannibal Woman” and “Do The Maggot!” while dipping into their record collection for “Let’s Go ‘69” (Pebbles #?) and “Circle Sky” (the Monkees). A forty-five minute blasterama where the drums pounded and the guitar screamed as the bass nailed the songs to a suffering PA system. Wail baby, wail! So many back-to-basics bands are currently grabbing the “Kick out the jams, motherfuckers!” pseudo-gospel shtick without the suss or nerve to deliver that all important ingredient: Showmanship. The MC5 were not ashamed to put on a show while delivering their almighty racket and nor are the Maggots. The end result, the kind of rockin’ perfection of which Rob Tyner, bless his maraca shaking soul, would be proud.

Third time lucky... been trying to update this thing to yeah hup you to the fact that Radio Birdman also have a show at The Rescue Rooms in Nottingham on August 31st in addition to the one at The Mean Fiddler in September.

The Bunker offers a great collection of rare videos for downloading, incl; The Buzzcocks, Cramps, Damned, Jam, Kraftwerk, Only Ones, Saints and T Rex.

I guess everybody is aware that Radio Birdman are playing the Serie Z festival in Spain this September, but I just noticed that they are also scheduled at the Mean Fiddler in London on Sept 13 (w/ tickets on sale already !). Not confirmed yet but 95% certain are two German dates (Dortmund; Sept 10 and Berlin; Sept 11. Both w/ the Hydromatics), while a Dutch show (Groningen?) is rumoured as well. Yeah Hup !.

Svengirly.com is a pretty hip site documenting the current activities of both Michael Davis and Dennis Thompson.

Just got back from Amsterdam where Alice 'n me went to see the Seeds. The Seeds?, better make that Sky Saxon plus backin' band as he was the sole original member to appear. After last year's triumphant European track by Arthur Lee's Love hopes were up for something of equal magnitude, but alas, it was not to be. A modest crowd (including original Outsider Ronnie Splinter) got to see a band that was capable enough at deliverin' a sound close to the original, but it was Sky himself who was the weakest link. Hiding behind his shades and dressed in a way that would have been deemed fashionable by former hippies circa 1981, his flat/low voice has lost all the anger/sneer that so typifies those old Seeds discs. His moves were stiff 'n lifeless as if dozin' off on Prozac, or maybe he spend the afternoon samplin' the wares in one of A'dam's coffee shops, who knows?. He mentioned something about pullin' energy from the air by hand, but whatever was in the air tonight, it was obvious he wasn't able to grab it.

"Our Saviour," Little Steven Van Zandt was guest DJ on BBC London last Friday night and played a rather good selection of discs - Young Rascals, Fleshtones, Count Five, New York Dolls et al - while blathering on about "garaaaaage rock" and his Underground Garage US radio show. Yup, I very nearly choked on my dinner when he spun "Hard Luvin' Man" from Do You Swing? Of course the link man (who thought the 'tones were ancient history) was wetting his underpants about hearing "real RnR" on the radio although he neglected to explain why he had no doubt been playing anaemic-UK-indie-pop for a career. Tis but one small step, my friends.

Turbotubbies !. GO!.

Updated: The ever cool I-94 Bar; "Sydney Rock Action via The Bowery and Motor City". GO!.

Future/Now Films is excited to announce that MC5 * A True Testimonial has
accepted an invitation to appear at the upcoming Internationale Filmfest
München in Munich, Germany.

The film will screen as part of the "American Independents" program
alongside other great new American movies such as Easy Riders, Raging Bulls
and Bill Siegel and Sam Green's Weather Underground.

The festival runs from June 28th to July 5th. Ticket info is at
http://www.filmfest-muenchen.de

MC5 * A True Testimonial will be shown at the MAXX 5 Theater at these times:

Sunday, June 29th 20:00 (8:00 pm)
Tuesday, July 1st 15:00 (3:00 pm)

Director David C. Thomas and producer Laurel Legler will be in Munich June
28th to July 3rd and are available for press interviews. Contact the
festival press office for details.

The conquest of Europe continues! The Future is Now! Rama Lama Fa Fa Fa!

(FW:)
Saturday 28 June
MOIRA presents @ EKKO [Bemuurde Weerd 3 Utrecht/Holland]
THE HARD FEELINGS
Support: LOS IDIOTAS
Doors: 20.00 hours
Damage: 6 euro

Once again MOIRA on location @ EKKO. This time bringing you the fantastic HARD FEELINGS from Austin Texas. John Schooley, former frontman of The Revelators, rocks hard with Hard Feelings, the Rootsiest Punk or the Rawest Roots Band from the USA. Sounds like Hound Dog Taylor meets The Stooges.
Support band LOS IDIOTAS, a two-piece from Spain, once again show that Spain is El Pais del Rock 'n Roll. Punkrock with a bite. Unos, Dos, Tres Vamos!

Caught Mary Lee's Corvette in Edinburgh when she blew through the other night. Her band consisted of a drummer and a bassplayer and they swung in a groovy Smithereens kinda fashion. She's a top songsmith with a mind to take it the whole road who's has been on tour throughout Europe with Joe Jackson who does nowt for me but there y'go. Look out for her new album, 700 miles - Available on the Southbound imprint, produced by the one and only Eric "Roscoe" Ambel.
Much ado has been made of their rendition of Dylan's "Blood On The Tracks" and rightly so. I think it's better than the original and I ain't saying that to be controversial. Check her out at www.maryleescorvette.com.

The Blasters are coming to Glasgow on July 28th for a show at The Renfrew Ferry, an old ferryboat moored on the River Clyde.
Ticket details are available at www.soundsfine.co.uk and if anybody needs the heads up on getting to the city for the show then gimme a holler. I'm gonna compile a list of accomodation and travel details for those who are making the trek. It's gonna be quite a night. This will be followed by two shows in London on 29th and 30th July. I think the two prior shows are at The Paradiso in Brother J's locale and at El Sol in Madrid. The original line-up of one of the greatest rockin' machines ever to grace a stage, I urge you to catch this because it's unlikely that said combo will be doing any European shows for a while after this.
Additional info on the tour is also available on www.blastersnewsletter.com.

This Month's releases from Ace. GO!

RIP: Dave Rowber (Animals). GO!.

(Brother) Wayne Kramer dropped into Edinburgh last night for a hastily arranged show at the last place on earth one would have expected. Said jams were well and truly kicked oot (as opposed to out) and he's packing one helluva combo. If it'd have been Glasgow it woulda been packed to the rafters I'm sure. Anyway, Mother Superior declined to come here and we got some proficient, angular, noisenik local pish to contend with which drove us outside for a while. By the time Wayne came on, everybody was in the market for some real rock action and that's what they bloomin' got. Starting with "Looking At You" he marked out the territory pretty good. The next couple hours was a rollercoaster of styles that trew up a real blend. Some of it veered close to being a Blue Oyster E-street Cult kinda deal and recalled our dear-departed friend David Roter so there's nowt wrong with that. One thing for sure, this guy has still got it and his axe-shredding will have you in raptures. Hopefully next time the fireworks will be on the ol' West Coast. That oughtta rule in some entertainment for the guys onstage too. But hey, he came and it's not often that Sunday night gets its butt kicked like this.

Nomads tour dates;
03-06-26 S/S Blidosund - Stockholm,
03-05-30 Umea - Umeafesten,
03-05-31 Karlskoga - Nobelfesten,
03-07-04 Halmstad - Stadsfesten,
03-07-05 Borlange - Peace & Love,
03-08-01 Ostersund - Storsjoyran,
03-08-11 Goteborg - Liseberg,
03-08-19 Malmo - Malmofestivalen.

sixtiesgaragemp3, now there's a concept I can get behind !.

God (Dog?) knows what these will amount to, but anyone in or near Holland next weekend is advised to check out the Sky Saxon & the Seeds shows either in The Hague (June 14) or Amsterdam (June 15). For all I know this could be a disaster, but just think; how often does a band like this play in your neck of the woods, and are you gonna miss 'em when they finally do?. I thought not...

The complete line-up for Spain's Serie Z festival set for late August, now includes Radio Birdman, Hoodoo Gurus, Nine Pound Hammer, Hydromatics and the Hellacopters !.

A number o' folks have been axin' about the Cramps Euro dates recently. Martin Percival was kind enough to land us a link where to whole shebang is listed (ticketsale for the lone Dutch show has already started BTW). GO!.

Seems that ace comicbook publishers Fantagraphics (Peter Bagge, Los Bros Hernandez, Daniel Clowes etc.) are in serious financial trouble and in dire need of some extra patronage. So get out those credit cards and order BIG!. GO!

LINK: (via Dubbelmono) Vintage Detroit rock photos by Sue Rynski (Rob Tyner, Destroy All Monsters, Sonic's Rendezvous Band etc.). GO!

Hey. Care to pitch in on a wee idea? To mark 26+ years of NBT, I've got a mind to assemble something called "WHO WILL SAVE ROCK'N'ROLL?" and would like to include your good or bad self (Delete as applicable) havering on about anything, everything or nothing at all. The beastie itself will be a binder (bit of found object-ness goin' on here...). A totally DIY type deal in the spirit of how it all started and lets face it print is still the preferred medium to this guy. I'd like to donate at least $1 per copy (hopefully more) sold to The Lymphoma Charity in Joey's name. Being that so far we've never got the UK version of his Birthday Bash together just yet. So how about it? Feel free to pass the invitation to anybody who you'd like to see participate also. My e-dress book is a tad muddled and several crashes have consigned much e-contact to the cyber dumper. My overwhelming desire to ditch AOL will peak soon and then I'll shift my arse into gear with regard to switching ISP. Anyway let me know whatcha think. I'm obviously way older but none the bloody wiser so let's go to conventional print. The only way to go... Ungawa an' that!

Saw The Thanes launch their new album "Downbeat and Folked Up" on Friday past at the Cafe Royal in Edinburgh. Just out on Screaming Apple, it finds the band in typical devotion to their profession. "There are few other groups with a collective age of 145 that have the talent to arrange an album of this scope." sez the sleevenote. It's true. The Thanes are true to their school to the point of kamikaze. Lenny Helsing is indeed the Laird of the boss racket supreme and a damn fine geezer to boot. Way more worthy than yon gink Childish and his deerstalking posse. The Thanes are solid, bankable exponents who play music which is a religion to them. They're unfettered by the alleged "garage" upsurge and will be doing this long after it's the LBT. Until the idiots who think The White Stripes are the bee's knees recognise that The Fleshtones should be shifting twice the amount of "units" that they do they can just bloomin' well fook aff. Support The Thanes and all who sail in 'em then. The venue was pretty good too. Ideally situated and a good size and not a hovel. Let's hope that Angus McPake gets something going here on a regular basis. Edinburgh could sorely use it. The capital is lagging way behing it's West Coast rival on that score.

Was sorry to hear about the death of Mickie Most who lost his battle with cancer on Friday past also. His output on RAK was an incredible array of glitter pop/glam garage madness which is now gaining ground in collector circles. Look out for an album called "Velvet Tinmine" which celebrates the very pinnacle of this teen D-U-M-B greatness.

New Angel Corpus Christi disc out now on Gulcher:
From the press blurb; '"Divine Healer' is Angel's first full-length release since her sadly overlooked major-label disc in 1995, White Courtesy Phone' (on Herb Alpert's Almo label).  The core band of Angel (vocals, accordion, harmonica), Rich Stim (guitar, bass, piano), Dave Mahoney (drums), and George Earth (guitar, bass) is augmented by contributions from songwriter Don Ciccone, Dean Wareham (Galaxie 500 and Luna), bass player Nancy Kravitz, and behind the mixing board, Craig Leon (Ramones, Blondie, etc.), Mark Bingham (MX-80, Social Climbers, etc.), and Dave Nelson.
A couple Angel faves are resurrected for all the ears who missed 'em the first time: "Pull Girl" is a tasty piece of mutant bubblegum, like Veronica Lodge fronting Suicide, and "Candy" is even sweeter.  The Ross/Stim songwriting team also give us "You," "Rock & Roll Shoes," "Sadder," "Sleepwalker," and with help from Don Ciccone, "I'll Say Goodbye" and "She Said."

OK, some straight propaganda here, the Dictators are out 'n about again, just make sure you catch 'em.
Friday, May 30, Maxwell's, 1029 Washington Ave. Hoboken, NJ
Tuesday, June 10, The Casbah, 2501 Kettner Blvd. San Diego, CA
Wednesday, June 11, Spaceland, 1717 Silverlake Blvd. Los Angeles, CA
Thursday, June 12, Bottom of the Hill, 1233 17th St. San Francisco, CA
Friday, June 13, Dante's 3rd and Burnside, Portland, OR
Saturday, June 14, Crocodile Cafe, 2200 2nd Ave. Seattle, WA
Saturday, June 21, Bowery Ballroom, 6 Delancey St. New York, NY

LINK: Amazing site that houses video-interviews (in quicktime) w/ a whole bunch o' NYC scenemakers; H.D. Manitoba, Leee Black Childers, David Johanson, Danny Fields, Martin Rev, John Holmstrom, et f'in' cetera. Like I said; amazin', but you might need a decent cable or DSL connection (some ungodly time in the middle o' the night usually also does the trick). GO!.

LINK: Here's a bunch o' pics taken at the opening of some exibition at Manitoba's, lots of old familiar (wrinkled) faces. GO!

Post-Eyerack. That what they're putting the UK's dismal zero in the way of points display in the Eurovision Song Carry On. Nowt to do with plumbing new depths in sub karaoke galumphing then? While all that was happening though, Avy and I were doing some Avant gardening at Le Weekend in Stirling. This is a yearly event curated by David Keenan of The Wire which brings outsider gear to Scotland. I'm not up to any speed whatsoever with this stuff but it's fun to gawp for at least a day. LW isn't yer average festival and The Tolbooth isn't yer average joint. It's a civilised place and being an auld guy I likes that.
After a wee spell in Europa Records ( a store withan amazing vinyl grooveyard oot the back) it was time to go hang aboot and take in sets by Damon and Naomi with Ghost. Not the ghost that inhabits The Tolbooth, the Japanese ensemble. Very atmospheric and if you were scoring a film this would be the way to go... quality haunted psychedelic folk.
Next up was Arthur Doyle. A strange cat says Thurston Moore and that turns out to be quite the understatement. As droolingly incoherent as much of his pieces were, Arthur was strangely entertaining. No question, he looks like an old homeless guy but his sax and piano attacks were equal parts captivating and un-nerving. Folks with weak stomachs were runnin' for the exits. Arthur Doyle is here, Arthur Doyle is Here he scatted, yes he is but he is also (way) out there. Caught up with my auld mucker, Edwin Pouncey who was utterly to blame for the period I spent writing for Sounds. A top guy who's lose none of his edge over the annums. Le Weekend is a weird scene but lang may it convene. It reaches parts other festivals could never reach let alone tweak.

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.

LINK: (via Jan Kooi) And while we're on a Mad Daddy trip why not dig this site that houses a couple o' complete shows of boppin' and blastin' funny-farm broadcastin'. GO!.

The New Nortons Have Arrived
It's always a great day 'round here when the latest batch of Norton releases lands on my doorstep. Few labels are able to keep the quality control up in the long run, but Norton has done just that ever since the mid 80s, and the dynamic duo from Brooklyn that runs this biz should have long been given awards and unlimited funds to further their crusade. Their latest offerings include a new live album by Andre Williams (backed by ace Dutch combo Green Hornet), that's easily the man's best since his return to the world's stages. Green Hornet supply him w/ a soulful groove that has been lacking from most of his recent recordings and it suits him just fine. 'Wavy Gravy !' rounds up a truckload (50 no less) of airchecks by legendary Cleveland DJ The Mad Daddy (hipped to most us youngsters by the Cramps on their first LP). Breathtakin' atom-smashin'-zoomeratin'-mello-jello radio broadcasts that are way beyond the scope of the overpayed ego-jocks that litter the airwaves these days. 'The Fabulous Wailers' is the CD edition of an earlier Norton vinyl set roundin' up this Northwest band's earliest instrumental sides of which 'Tall Call One' was an actual bona-fide hit, tho' the rest of the material hardly slouches behind. Four previously unreleased demos plus new liners by Billy Miller ads to it's desirability. Roky Erickson's Wake Up To Rock'n'Roll' 45 is a taster for Norton's up-comin' 'Don't Knock The Rok' full length of late 70s live recordings of the Rokster w/ the Aliens, and judging from this it's gonna be a winner!. The series of jukebox 45s that Norton has been pushin' our way for a while now has turned into an amazing collection of some 70 discs, latest additions include 4 blazin' rockabilly two siders by the mighty Benny Joy, the insane Musical Linn Twins (related to Ming & Ling perhaps?) and wild R&B screamers by Phil Flowers and Poontang Perkins. Great, great stuff that only makes me whish I had a jukebox to house the little buggers....

LINK: (via Dubbelmono) Punk jokes. GO!.

And you wanna know why bands like the Nitwitz (or just about anybody else) love tourin' Spain?. Just dig these pics of some rather extreme audience participation!. GO!.
And while you're at it, why not download the Nitwitz latest masterpiece 'Rock'n'Roll Conquistadores' here.

LINK: Great article on the Dictators in Detroit's Metro Times. GO!.

LINK: Lowcut # 4 is online: http://www.lowcut.dk, This time with the following content: Live Reviews: Gore Gore Girls, The Flaming Sideburns, Elmo Williams and more as seen from the bar. Record Reviews: The Cramps, The Blow Tops, Leg Hounds, Scat Rag Boosters and many more. Features: Grrrls Riot Festival in Aalborg and a LowCut report from National Danish Radios "independence day". Interviews: The Movement, The Felchers and Geisha + Danish Rock news, movies and more.

UPDATED: The ever cool I-94 BAR; incl. (ao) an interview with Radio Birdman bassist Jim Dickson on touring, bands and dinner. GO!

LINK: (via Jan Kooi) '90s punk decries punks of today.
BERKELEY, CA—Nineties punk Drew Tolbert, 29, expressed scorn Monday for the punks of today, denouncing them as "phony poseurs unworthy of the word 'punk.'" GO!.

I guess this thing is on?... so some kind of introduction might be in order... this is the latest manifestation of something called THE NEXT BIG THING. A beastie inspired by the mighty Dictators that set sail in the heady months of 1976 into '77. Although the first (proper) issue didn't come out until 1977, there was a pilot in late '76. It had a drawing of Eddie and the Hot Rods, Iggy and Cyril Jordan on the cover that I clocked in an old Sounds Barry Lazell (God bless 'im) column. None of those survived and that's probably for the best. How come I'm still involved in all this hoo-hah is as much a surprise to me as it is to anybody else. specially being way past old enough to know better but "involved" I am so we (you and I) might as well lump it and I'm not altogeher happy with the state of music circa May 2003. Moaning old get mayhap, Garage Rock surge overground notwithstanding, a guy has the right to air his tuppenceworth. I have it on good authority from one Tony Parsons, on IPC notepaper, that I'd never amount to being a writer and I don't recall ever claiming to be. He, on the other hand...

So NBT - Next Blog Thing - operates under te ethos that there really only is good and bad. Music, Film, whatever and we don't dig pigeonholes or demographics. If it floats wir boat, we'll tell you. If it dosnae and we figure you ought to be hep to that then we'll hoist that up the ol' flagpole also. Sometimes we crew members may even disagree (Turbonegro - I say nay, Jeroen says Yay!), viva la controversy...

So yeah, with the (substantial) aid of my buds - Jeroen (Vedder) and Steve (Coleman), we've set this thing to comment on popular culture as it festers. We share a common goal to rid the planet of the limited shelf-like shite that permeates our collective existence. If you ain't all the way down with that then please "log-aff" as they holler around these parts. Between us we'll guide you outta the lame-erkey wilderness. So there you have it. I've rattled on enough. Pans are underway for a new volume of actual print too, so I'll let you know about that in due course. So here goes, NBT hauls its wee bahookie into cyberspace, 26+ years after #1 hit the streets. Welcome then...

New York City - Catch the Fleshtones at the downtown Virgin Megastore (52 E 14th St. – near Union Square Park), Thursday, May 15 at 6 pm.

Rat Scabies has teamed up w/ two former Godfathers, and they are set to take on the world as the Germans. The MP3 available on their site sounds like an early Godfathers 45, and that ain't no bad thing. GO!.

And yet another reunion; "Crime are back in business with a new studio LP on the way. Johnny Strike (guitar & vocals), Mike Lucas from the Phantom Surfers (bass) and Hank Rank (drums). The band are continuing rehearsals and will be jamming with various guitar players until they find the right one. The band plan on recording their new album this summer". GO!.

The return of Creem magazine. GO!.

This month's releases from Ace Records. GO!.

After the massive amounts of Dutch beat boots of recent years there's a sudden flood of legal CD reissues around at the moment from both the Popinstituut and BR Music that cover both the big names and the more obscure acts. And it's obviously great to see this stuff finally available to those interested in fine sound quality and expertly annotated (for those of you outside Holland may I recommend the fine folks at Bomp mailorder, easily the best, and cheapest source for this, and other cool stuff). Tho' amazingly enough the bootleggers still come up with obscurities that the majors overlook. Cases in point; Bonny St Claire's 'Tame Me Tiger'/'I Surrender' 45. Best know over here for at least 30 years of aural atrocities and an ever failing battle against alcoholism, this boot turns up two amazing late 60s tracks, the first a solid rocker, the second a current fave on the UK northern soul circuit. The Sandy Coast's first 45s are collected on a great 10" entitled 'Subject Of Our Thoughts' that shows that, even with a decent choice in covers (Byrds, Small Faces), they were most comfortable w/ their own brand o' folky beat tunes (of which 'I'm A Fool' was recently covered by the Thanes). Another major find is the re-issue of the 'Tiener Band Show!' comp LP, the Dutch equivalent of those 'Live at the Cavern/Star-Club' type o' discs that combine ragged live-in-the-studio performances dubbed w/ audience screams, that I've always found the best way to hear continentals bastardise the Chuck Berry songbook !. Last, and certainly not least, is a mysterious lookin' disc w/ a sleeve that shows a B&W pic of a dog and is entitled 'Please, No Smoke!', that turns out to include a 1967 live set by Van Morrison backed by Cuby & the Blizzards (!). Taped off Dutch radio the sound quality is only so-so, but jeez, I really can't imagine anybody not wanting to hear this at least once. Van is in fine form and the Blizzards at times sound like a bluesier Velvets. Great, great stuff !. The flip is some Cuby live recording of more recent vintage, but still pretty solid, 'cept for the horid "symphonic' take on 'Window Of My Eyes'. The whole thing gets rounded off by 60s Italian band Gli Uragani and their cover of 'You're Body Not Your Soul', more inter continental cross fertalisation that nobody ever knew about. Hey, I might be biased living here, but the amount of great music that came from mid 60s Netherlands never stops to amaze me. Whatever happened to these people anyway?, did they really all became keyboard salesman and data typists?.