The Master Plan, featuring Andy Shernoff (Dictators), Keith Streng & Bill Milhizer (Fleshtones) and Paul Johnson (Waxing Poetics) return to action in early December with Canadian strategy meetings scheduled for December 2; The Horseshoe, Toronto, December 3; The Corktown, Hamilton, December 4; Call the Office, London.

It's an easy target of course, but I thought this rant on the Makers was pretty funny; Letters Have No Arms: Early Stuff My Ass.

On last nights showing at King Tuts in Glasgow those Detroit Cobras did little to rise above being a bar band with an eye for superior covers. Dunno what was wrong but it seemed like Rachel Nagy couldn't really be arsed. It just never ignited, y'know. I mean they're "good", but maybe our expectations, in this event, were too high. The Sonic Reducer Tag Team set the mood nicely like a two headed Andy Dunkley and the woeful opening act tried their damndest to tear that down. The SRTT was the reigning sound though for sure. Hopefully it was just an off night for The Cobras then...

Rocky Dragster is considering a bid on this...

Does this mean a Pure Hell album will be out soon?.

RIP: Terry Melcher.

Want an Australian punk discography or a listing of punk 8-tracks? Then why not pay a visit to CollectorScum.com? A site that is all things to those who remember indie rock as it was in the 70s and 80s.

The people at Detroit Rock & Roll have put together a well impressive resource with links-a-plenty to bands and artists from the 1950s to the present. Heck, they even have a link for the Shy Guys!

A big "thank you" to Eric Fusco for taking a bunch of pictures of the Waldos and the Master Plan at The Continental the other night and for placing them on the web. And yes, that is the one and only Gordon Russell Spaeth playing harmonica with the Waldos! Good to see "The Wheelman" back where he belongs.

News from STEREO TOTAL...

"Our new album is finished! It is called "Do the Bambi" ­Cover by Cabine with photos from Simgil. Almost one hour of crazy sounds & with very special guests. There will be a Double-LP! In Europe and Japan, "Do the Bambi" will be released by Disko B on the 28th of February 05 and in the US by Kill Rock Star on the 25th of January 05.(The US-version will contain more English versions of the songs, and there will be a special French edition with more songs in French.) Look forward to the great remixes which will come out on special singles."

Seven inch wonders of the world:
Time to shift the hi-fi back into high gear so I can give you the lowdown on a couple of recent 45s. On top of the pile it's the Devil Dolls who's All Dolled Up double 7" (Corduroy) features some ace p-rock sounds in the early Raw Records vain but gets spoiled somewhat by weak vocals/lyrics. No such trouble with the Dirtbombs obviously; Crash Down Day/Ha Ha Ha (also on Corduroy) was recorded live in the studio down under, tho' I'd have preferred something along the lines of an actual "production" job there's no denyin' that these guys can cut it under any circumstance, and dig the Flipper tune on the, uh, flipside. From Fortune Teller comes a Dirtbombs/Gories split, the later w/ a track from their final LP, while the Dirtbombs song (A great take on Eno's King's Lead Hat) was only available on initial CD copies of their recent full-length. The Gun Club's Walkin' With The Beast/Secret Fires (Sympathy) is easily the most essential of this batch. Walkin' is a completely different take from the Las Vegas Grind version while Secret Fires is a great acoustic tune w/ plenty o' pedalsteel thrown in that makes it's vinyl debut here. My old crony Jos De Groot has recently set up his own label; A Fist Full Of Records. The first release was a bit of a let down, but he sure makes up for it with by putting out the debut EP by one-man band Jeffrey Novak. Goners 're gonna flip!. Contact Jos here for ordering info. Finally there's the White Stripes latest; Jolene/Do (XL) sees Jack butcherin' Dolly's tune in full Robert Plant mode. The first serious wrong in their career, maybe it is time to pull the plug... So there you have it, more on the little ones as they reach my doorstep.

The answer "comp" to that upcoming Koch thing...

The Gizmos ROCK & ROLL DON'T COME FROM NEW YORK (Gulcher 425)



When Dale Lawrence and Billy Nightshade took over the reins of Bloomington, Indiana's Gizmos in 1978, the band became one of the earliest (and one of the best) midwestern punk rock outfits. Taking their cues from the first wave of British punk (the Jam, Sex Pistols, especially the Vibrators), these new Gizmos combined raw energy with a classic pop sensibility. Their songs had a keen ear for melody, with lyrics that were concise and funny, equal parts youthful alienation ("Pay," "Tell Me Why"), regional pride ("Rock & Roll Don't Come From New York," "The Midwest Can Be Allright"), and reflection upon rock itself ("Progressive Rock","Reggae Song").

The Gizmos force-fed the new punk sensibility to a befuddled midwestern college town throughout 1979. Frustrated by perpetual outsider status in Indiana, they relocated to New York in 1980, recorded their most ambitious material, and broke up a year later. Cassettes of live shows circulating back in Bloomington would prove
to be the group's most lasting legacy, inspring a generation of Hoosier musicians, including future Blake Babies John Strohm and Freda Love.

The somewhat rootsier tinge of the band's New York recordings foreshadowed things to come: Lawrence would go on to front the Vulgar Boatmen, whose repertoire still includes several Gizmos titles ("Heartbeat," "Cry Real Tears," "Tilt-a-Whirl"), while guitarist Tim Carroll established an alt-country presence in Nashville, penning
tunes covered by the likes of John Prine and Robbie Fulks.

With 25 tracks recorded from 1979 to 1981, ROCK & ROLL DON'T COME FROM NEW YORK is the first comprehensive compilation from the latter-day Gizmos. Included are highlights from their 1980 split album with Dow Jones & The Industrials, HOOSIER HYSTERIA, and many never-released favorites culled from live tapes. Remastered
for CD by fellow Hoosier punk Paul Mahern (Zero Boys), this 2004 Gulcher release comes with a 16-page booklet featuring rare flyers, several unpublished photos, and liner notes by Dale Lawrence. ORDER HERE or HERE.

For details on upcoming Gizmos gigs over the holidays in Bloomington and Indianapolis, maybe Chicago and St. Louis too, subscribe HERE

The latest instalment of Richard Meltzer’s fly on the wall exposé of life as a STAR SPANGLE is up for your reading pleasure, visit the HISTORY section and it’ll hit you a’tween the peepers. There’s also an op to right those wrongs some of you may be harbouring about not having their records. Bargains abound in the BUY section of their cyberganghut. Meanwhile the band is holed up in Berkeley, CA recording the follow up to Bazooka! for a (hopefully) Spring 2005 release.

The A-Bones - Daddy Wants A Cold Beer (Norton 2CD).
Compared to their other enterprises (Norton Record and Kicks magazine), Billy and Miriam's musical output never really got the kind of credit it deserved. Sure, everybody was sympathetic to their sounds because the dynamic duo was involved, but how many out there actually spun their records on a regular basis?. Well, that wrong can now be righted with this gigundo round-up set of odds 'n ends that actually far surpasses their regular albums.
After the more straight forward rockabilly of the Zantees, The A-Bones took their inspiration from just about anyone that provided a pure rock & roll sound, Heinz, The Velvet Underground, Joe South, The Turbines you name it, and molded it into their own patented sound. And the level of excitement they created is way beyond the scope of mere mortals and it's impact should never be underestimated. Close to 50 tracks of Hi-Calorie and well intoxicated rock action and liner notes that rival War and Peace in length but are closer to age old copies of Mad magazine as far as entertainment goes. Do I sense the perfect X-mas gift here?...

I was going to rip into the Band Aid video for the new version of "Don't They Know It's Christmas" that premiered on TV tonight. To call it dreadful would be to damn it with faint praise. I've no problem with people donating to a cause, provided that 100% of that donation gets to where it's needed. The value of the raw material and press acreage could surely be valued and directed toward those coffers. Better that than to manufacture all the landfill that the hard copies of the cd, etc will undoubtedly end up as. Anyway, I find the whole thing fairly reprehensible and I'm sure that the artists concerned will enjoy a bumper festering season in terms of sales of their individual crimes against music.

Anyways, I found that the Z/28 site works now so you can check that out.

Also, the BARRACUDAS BLOG is up and running so have a scoot around there also.

Koch are set to release a comp called New York Rocks! in January which features all your faves. Directed at a younger crowd who've been sold a pup in the form of The Str*kes, etc. I wonder if this won't be a tad too spicy for that palette. Anyways...

Hazel Rigby - she's the Next Big Thing... (Thanks to Amy for the heads up)...

Once again, Patrick B ventures into the front line for your reading pleasure...

ELECTROCUTE : NEW RECORD & LIVE IN ÉVREUX NOV. 16, 2004

If you like the Cramps and/or the Shangri-Las-Donnas-Killer Barbies and /or electronic-garage music and sexy rock’n’roll with attitude, you’re gonna love ELECTROCUTE (a mixture of electricity and execute – Actually, The Donnas started out as The Electrocutes). The new album from these Berliners is just out and is called “Troublesome Bubblegum”. They qualify their music as primitive rock’n’roll, which is not surprising when you know they cite Poison Ivy as a role model. The album features 2 videos, one called “Electrocute Kill!Kill!” with commentary by Tura Satana. Other highlights on this album are : a new version of “Kleine Dicker Junge” (means “Little Chubby Boy”), a superb ballad called “Goodbye Johnny” and “Venus Fly Trap” featuring Boy From Brazil, Nicole’s husband – also formerly of the Golden Showers.



ELECTROCUTE feature Nicole Morier’s (born in New Mexico) electro-beats, raunchy guitar and feral vocals and the brand new & cute Holly Doll’s(exit Mia Dime)seductive and humorous vocals, blew – er, I meant were a blast. The show began with with a powerful “sugar buzz” version of Link Wray’s “Rumble” and continued with originals tunes like “Nobody Like Us”, “Fun Is A Floppy Bitch”, their brand new single… Sometimes, Nicole left her guitar and Holly Doll pushed a program button and sang together and even came into the audience. Their anti Bush comments were very much appreciated. Despite a fun, powerful show, the sparse crowd was rather static (sorry girls) but enthusiastic. Nicole and Holly Doll didn’t seem too disappointed and they enjoyed the Weird War show (ex Make Up, from Washington, DC.)

The BBC's Top of the Pops videoarchive is well worth diggin' thru for an hour or so. No complete songs alas, but where else can you see the likes of the Bishops, Rezillos, Ramones, Slade, Sweet, Generation X, Dr Feelgood et f'in' cetera...?