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!