News on the upcoming new Fleshtones album 'Beachhead' can be found here.

The Rhythm Hive presents...
Saturday 11th June - downstairs at the Marquis of Lansdowne (aka Barden's boudoir Room 2), 48 Stoke Newington Road, London N16 7XJ (Dalston Kingsland top train or 67, 76 ,149, 243 buses)

THE MAKEOUTS
teengenerate-style garage-punk snottiness from Stockholm City!!!! 45 out soon on P.Trash Records!

BLACK TIME
sunglasses after dark punk rockers mainlining the Cramps and Huggy Bear!
VENOM SEEDS

geisha girls wrestling YYYs and Sonic Youth!!

DIRTHOLE
double drummer bursts of bruised and anguished garage-punk!!

8 til midnight. £4 on the door.

This coming Friday, June 10th ... 8:30pm - 3:00am

GOLDBLADE
There’s a lot of indie kids out there who thought it was something new and exciting when the Detroit garage scene exploded - no bandwagon jumpers, Goldblade anticipated that sound years earlier. Their soul-flecked rhythm’n’blues überdelic rock’n’roll may near enough be matched by their US counterparts but you won’t see a more inspiring and enlivening show from any of those. No one else delivers the testifying rock’n’roll gospel like John Robb – his restless spirit courses through the urgency of their glam-drenched strut, giving you a sense that every moment of your life should be an all-or-nothing, doing it to the utmost, that rock’n’roll can be your salvation, your reason for living. He’s a rock’n’roll Billy Graham, bug-eyed and wild on adrenalin – you will have no choice but to howl out your devotion to his band. A shamelessly fundamental collision of The Ramones, James Brown, The Stooges, backed by the tribal thump of two drummers, the song with which they open their set !
says it all: "Do You Believe in the Power of Rock’n’Roll?"

ELECTRA
Though being sharp and well-defined, this band is not about concept – it’s about good songs, the kind that remain hard to find. The songs in question are a fabulous blend of sixties soul and seventies punk – a unique blend of sweet melodies wrapped in loud, edgy guitars, songs that are direct and warm as any real pop anthem should be and yet also complicated and angry as the soul of a true teen rebel. In the couple of years since this power trio formed they have gained a devoted local crowd around the Tel Aviv area, with Time Out Tel Aviv calling them "the most kicking band in rock’n’roll". Following their debut single in the spring of 2004 the band signed a publishing deal with the Israeli branch of EMI and put out their second release. Now it’s time for Israel’s most happening band to head for the UK!

DANGERLUST
"Fancy some female-fronted dirty rock and roll with perfect pop choruses? That's the MO of this Sheffield band. Think the Pixies fronted by an uber-cool rock chick rather than a bald lardo..." says NME. Lurching, rhino-fart basslines, spiralling, bitten off guitars reminiscent of the Pixies/Breeders with effectively sneery vocals, Dangerlust are menacing, knowing and snide in equal measures, awesome riffage and fun solos , they show a honed sensibility for what it takes to get a club full of kids leaping around! As a Leeds Music Scene said about them: "Sleazy, filthy rock and roll. Just slap it in your CD player, sit back and nod your head in admiration 7/10" Meanwhile, the Sheffield Star says, "Personality, an appetite for riffs and a welcome dollop of scuzz." And we say you can't go wrong with a bit of scuzz!

GENERAL KHAKI
It was but a year ago that The General left the forces in disgust and assembled an elite fighting unit: on lead vocals and Fender Telecaster, Wing Commander Tommy Mack; on vocals and bass, Lance Bombardier Kat Stevens; on vocals and drums, Grenadier Dan McKennan. Their Mission: Clad in razor-sharp matching uniforms, to rendezvous at the barracks in London's fashionable East End and prime their primitive yet deadly weaponry for a sonic assault of their elusive leader's design – jagged Beefheart meets Buzzcocks bubblegum hooks, detonated with the breakneck speed and free-wheeling energy of the music the kids call 'hardcore', a manic swingpunk two-step and the raw guitars of that which they call 'garage-rock’. With a debut single out this summer on 1234 Records, and the majors sniffing around their sweaty hides like so many rabid hounds, General Khaki are on a mission to bring the brains and the beauty, the fun and the fury back to the fore, to put a dip in your hip and a glide!
in your stride - everything all together, everything all at once! www.generalkhaki.com

15.00 - 03.00 at Debaser, Stockholm... Tickets are 160 SvKr + service (a bargain really) at http//www.ticnet.se or at the door (18y)

15.00 The Midsummer pole is raised, Dj's are playing music and food can be bought in the big outdoor area. The party indoors starts at approx. 19.00hrs.

The Line-up: The Fleshtones (us), Los Plantronics (no)
Hipbone Slim & The Kneetremblers (uk), Dee Rangers, Tiny Teasers

Dj's Brock Sternberg (dk), Måns Månsson, Baby Diamondback, Mike Barbwire and more.....

The latest from Ace Records.

Although I try to update this thing at least once daily, the recent upturning of my routine suggests that this might not be the best way to go from here on in. Likewise, responding to and dealing with messages. I'm spending too much time in front of computers and in many ways achieving less. So I plan to try and regulate this. My napper feels like it's about to explode and that i'm headed for the rubber room if I don't reign things in. Maybe I'm down for a berth anyway but in any case... All's I'm saying is that there could be a lull coming up.

Priorities Pt. 2 4.11pm ... The healing sounds of the Hacienda Brothers have beaten off the demons for now. As has the threat of Mrs Stim's wrath. This ipod kicking is pretty funny and I'm not sure I subscribe to it 100% but it does raise a valid point. Of course there are many males who aren't interested in music either. Not "proper" music anyway and no amount of landfill gadgetry will halt the onslaught of these bastards so let's just try to steer around this veneer-deep temporary obstacle. Shall we?

The Plimsouls Reunion Show

(first shows since 1997!!)

with special guests Magic Christian feat. Cyril Jordan

Sunday, July 17, 2005

Cafe Du Nord
2170 Market St.
San Francisco,CA.
(415) 861-5016

Doors: 7:00pm - Show: 8:00pm promptly $15

Y'know - it's not really necessary to own a music collection anymore. However much we try, we can't have EVERYTHING and when you think about it, there still gazillions of things out there that we haven't heard. This is either depressing or empowering, depending on my mood. With the advent of stations like WFMU and shows like BBC London's Shake Some Action, we can just log in, hit the archive and to quote "The Great One" - "Awaaaaaay we go"...

Those of you with the means should hit up the SOA link there, it'll only be available until Monday but it's a belter, the second hour in particular because it features the one and the only Kevin Patrick spinning records and telling tales as only this one can. Follow the links to the show title, tucked away under "classic rock and pop" and simply play it again... and again...

Can anybody out there provide tips as to how to "capture" such broadcasts or what software is required to do so? Also, if you know of a show or a station we should maybe compile into a resource in the side bar there then let we know.

And on the subject of BBC output there, the Soul Deep episode last night was frustrating. Its surely should have been split into four. You can't pack all those bite size chunks in to tick the boxes marked James Brown, Marvin Gaye, Stevie Wonder and Bootsy/George Clinton. What the P-funk? The last part is next Saturday and threatens Mary J. Bilge (I spell it the way I hears it). That crap might be hip but it don't hop around here amigo. And don't get me started about what some deranged twallies call r&b in this sorry day and age.

Who woulda thunk? A Zakary Thaks Website...

Latest news from Slugrock central:
"ACHTUNG YOUSE PUNK ROCKS !!!!
We are pleased to announce that Mikey "Offender" Donaldson will be rocking with
Amsterdam's unstoppable stalwarts the Nitwitz soon. Mikey played with legendary Austin, TX hardcore heavy hitters such as the Offenders, D.R.I., M.D.C., and Sister Double Happiness. Adding these credentials to the illustrious pasts of the other members (B.G.K., Loveslug, No Pigs, to name but a few) the Nitwitz are now packed to the hilt with bona fide trailblazing old school hardcore legend goodness AS WELL AS unbound talent! Better recognize, crackas. Cause it's about time all you biscuit-headed bozos stopped greeting the Nitwitz with screaming indifference, and got wise to the bowel-bursting Hurricane Power of Slugrock Riff-o-rama instead of jerking off over your Offenders/B.G.K.bootlegs and paying 200 bucks for old releases on Ebay. That's right : get your gelatinous, nostalgic, pringle eating retro-hardcore posterior off that sofa, and pick up the new Nitwitz CD "Sex Lies and Duct Tape" on Rocketdog Records from Clear Spot distribution.
Check the webpage to see what's up with live shows and freeload some mp3's while you're at it"

Check THIS Out!...

THE BEATSTALKERS - "Scotland's No. 1 Beat Group" is a collection of their 7 singles featuring the A + B sides plus two other cuts "Ramble On" and "St Louis Blues". The cd has been exquisitely curated to bring together this long lost material with a booklet containing plenty of great clippings and liner notes by Beatmeister, Lenny Helsing of The Thanes.

STRAMASH! blared the Evening Times, reporting the 'stalkermania that ensued at an innocent "boutique" opening. 2 of these 14 songs were written by one D. Bowie and to my knowledge have fallen off the face of the earth until now so maybe the more rabid of his fans are about to encounter some real music for the first time in a dogs age when they discover this.

Assembled by Alan Mair, the sound is great - particularly when cranked up. I would imagine that this is gonna create quite the stushy when the global beat fraternity get their paws on it. A vinyl edition would be something else entirely. I think the band would probably be up for some Cavestomp, Wild Weekend, Las Vegas Grind, Rotterdam Rumble type action when the blue touch paper is lit, meanwhile you can snag a copy this very instant by clicking HERE!

Ben Vaughn's DESIGNS IN MUSIC will be his first domestic (US) release in 8 years. I'll let you ponder the criminal nature of that fact while you test drive the wee mp3 samples and duly place your order thanks to the wonders of Paypal. More about the album when I get my hands on the whole entchilada...

Practically at the last act of my first week doing the (almost) 9 'til 5. I am nothing if not a creature of routine and said activity has been somewhat shaken up this past few days. Service will be resumed slowly as I morph some kinda groove around these latest developments.

Oh yeah, if you're in NY this weekend...

You need this record and even better it's not on cd. It's a real, honest to gawdness slab of 7" vinyl from Canada. Snarling, lo on fi - big on seismic r'n'r energy, girl punk from the folks that brought us that fine GOLDIROCKS movie. Contact 'em via the Goldirocks website, that's where that link'll take ya... E-mail Paula and Tina direct at sluttyrecords@hotmail.com

It's $10 (Canadian) to Europe so hightail it to your Bureau De Change and invest now.

Thanks to Bruce for the tip off and to Paula for the cover shot.

LAURA CANTRELL will kick off the campaign for her new album, Humming By The Flowered Vine on Matador, tonight at The Jazz Cafe in London.



Photographer: Ted Barron © 2005

The Rotterdam PRIMITIVE Festival is on again this year at The Waterfront venue in that there town. It's a great place to catch fine music. Seems like forever since we caught The Nomads there... but I think they're headed back that way this September also (?).

Tho' not much a fan of "vintage clothing" myself, some of you might wanna check the new stock at Atomic Affair, as these girls deserve your support and patronage...

For those of you in northern Europe able to recieve the German ZDF; They'll be broadcasting "House Of The Rising Punk" with (a.o.) Patti Smith, Richard Hell, Alan Vega, Iggy Pop, Blondie and Dee Dee Ramone, tonight at 0:45-1:45. (news c/o Michel Fenderwoods)