Jeremy Lee Lindsey Jr. is no more

I took these videos of Jay Reatard in Memphis at Gonerfest in 2009.





Blood Visions is one of the best LPs of the last decade, you should check it out. The guy was super talented, though at times, totally reatard. He was young, and his passing sadly unnecessary.

Medication - This Town

This is the debut LP from young Mikey Hyde, a New Milford, Connecticut resident who writes, performs and records all his own music, locked away in a bathroom somewhere apparently.

Medication is at its core a sort of 60’s style folksy pop, but it’s drenched in so much reverb and home-made basement fuzzy distortion that it takes on a more artsy, edgy tone.

Indeed, as you listen to This Town two things becomes evident. First, based on the crackling nuts and bolts you hear on every track, Hyde was quit possibly in danger of starting a fire or being electrocuted as he jury rigged this project together. And second, that this is a really talented guy, both in songwriting and song craft.

Hyde has gotten a few people together to help him play the LP live and taken Medication on tour along with Dutchess & the Duke. There are only a few dates left so if they are coming near you be sure to check ‘em out and buy their swag.

Jan 12 - Sneeky Dee's - Toronto, ON
Jan 13 - Majestic - Detroit, MI
Jan 14 - Calvin College - Grand Rapids, MI
Jan 15 - Grog Shop - Cleveland, OH
Jan 16 - Wexner Center For the Arts - Columbus, OH
Jan 17 - Ottobar - Baltimore, MD

Medication
This Town
(Hozac, 2009)
Hear Didn't Wanna Know via speakersincode

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Drone on you crazy diamond

Drone Punk. It’s what punk would sound like if rockers took something that mellowed them out a bit, like when Bugs Bunny was being chased by a mad scientist, both high on ether.

Floridian Eric Lopez (aka Teepee) has been doing some pioneering work in this field for the last few years as a side project to his other gig, guitarist for the Electric Bunnies. As Teepee he has released several tapes on the Jerkwave and Night People label as well as some stuff on vinyl, all of which are worth checking out.

Teepee’s newest record is the final release in Hozac’s 2009 Singles Hookup Club and in this small controlled dose, it’s quite medicinal. Maybe it’s the ether talking or maybe it’s the repeating, hypnotizing, trance inducing guitar riffs, mesmerizing and breaking down all will to resist and notions of self, but I think the kid is on to something here.

Teepee
Exist – 7”
(Hozac, 2009)

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Ty Segall & Mikal Cronin - Reverse Shark Attack

Ty Segall had a prolific 2009, releasing Lemons, his second full length LP, Horn The Unicorn, a collection of older demos and cassette-only tracks, and several singles on various labels. But the San Francisco native and garage psych wunderkind fired out one more release before the end of the year and it’s a doozy!

A collaboration with long time chum Mikel Cronin of Charlie and the Moonhearts, Reverse Shark Attack sounds more like Segall’s debut LP on Castleface Records, barebones, loud and relentlessly distorted. The 8 track LP also leans more to the psychedelic side, including a cover of Floyd’s Take Up Thy Stethoscope And Walk. Audacious indeed.

Is it possible to have too much Ty Segall? Not as long as he is making music like this. If you are looking for more, tinygrooves has a nice post on some of Segall’s older stuff you may also want to check out.


Ty Segall & Mikal Cronin
Reverse Shark Attack
(Kill Shaman, 2009)
Listen to I Wear Black via Weekly Tape Deck.

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Best Band and LP of the Decade

The Deadly Snakes - Porcella

Regardless of what the critics over a Pitchfork say, it really comes down to taste. Personally, having read through a few ‘Best of The Decade’ lists recently I have come to believe that most of the albums listed don’t have legs. Seriously, I just can’t see myself listening to Animal Collective or Grizzly Bear five years from now. Can you, honestly?

But I still listen to The Deadly Snakes, often. In fact it’s safe to say they never really leave the ipod.

The Snakes were local boys, from right here in Toronto, Canada, with a knack for gritty blues soaked garage rock. Around these parts they are kinda local hero, in part due to live shows that, with as many as 6 or 7 members on stage, were known to shake the pillars of heaven.

Greg Cartwright of The Oblivians produced the band's first two albums and briefly joined the band on the second LP, I'm Not Your Soldier Anymore, playing guitar and singing on such songs as West Texas Sound.

Those first two albums and their third, Ode to Joy, are all rip roaring rock ’n’ roll gems. But it was on their last album, Porcella, that the Snakes truly achieved existential greatness.

Porcella takes garage rock and raises it to the level of art, an achievement few bands outside of the Velvet Underground can claim. The album is like a painting; creative, rich, dramatic, while still maintaining its bluesy garage core. You can listen to it over and over and always find a new place to hang your hat. It comes at you from so many directions it really takes a while to soak it all in, perhaps a decade. The long and short of it is it’s just a fucking great album. Case closed.

So there you go. If you didn’t know it, now you do. Enjoy.

The Deadly Snakes Discography

Love Undone (Sympathy for the Record Industry,1999)
I'm Not Your Soldier Anymore (In the Red, 2001)
Ode to Joy (In the Red, 2003)
Porcella (Paper Bag Records, 2005)
Porcella Vinyl Only Tracks (In The Red, 2006)


Buy Porcella here.

Best Album of the Decade – Runners-Up

They didn’t win, but let’s give them all a round of applause. They are all wonderful in their own right and you should own them all.

King Khan & BBQ Show, 2004
Blood Visions, Jay Reatard, 2006
Let It Bloom, Black Lips, 2005
Satan's Little Pet Pig, Demon's Claws, 2007
Witchcraft Rebellion, Old Time Relijun, 2001
Time Bomb High School, Reigning Sound, 2002
Shake All Night, Fe Fi Fo Fums, 2006
Microcastle, Deerhunter, 2008

Jacuzzi Boys - No Seasons

After a string of solid singles this Miami band knocks it out of the park with their long awaited debut LP. No Seasons is track after track of tight, high energy, garage pop. If ham-handed comparisons help you, then their sound is somewhere between good Brian Jonestown Massacre, sans the pretence, and good Black Lips, sans the nihilism. Seriously, they kill this LP and you are totally square unless you have it.

Jacuzzi Boys
No Seasons
(Florida's Dying, 2009)
Listin to Smells Dead via Weekly Tape Deck

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Christmas in Heaven

For whatever reason, I found myself labouring over what, if anything, to post for this loathsome time of year. Most blogs are posting some sort of yuletide dreck, either opting for hip or campy or flat out lame. And then it occurred to me, like the brightest star in the night sky, that THIS is the only Christmas song I really care for.



Enjoy, cheers and
Happy holidays
JohnnyO

Best of 2009 Part 2 - Singles

Tandoori Knights (King Khan and Bloodshot Bill) – Norton Records
Personal and the Pizzas - Bubbledumb Records.
Fergus and Geronimo – Tic Tac Totally
Dead Ghosts/Smith Westerns (split) – Bachelor Records
Woods – Captured Tracks
Idle Times – Hozac Records
Johnny and the Limelites – Rocket Reducer Records
Ty Segall – Goner Records
Real Estate – Woodsist
Jacuzzi Boys/Woven Bones (split) - Needless Records
The White Wires – Trouble In Mind Records
Nice Face – Sacred Bones Records
Dum Dum Girls – Hozac Records
Vibes – Not For Fun
Bobby Ubangi – Douchemaster Records

Download all of ‘em here in one wonderful pod friendly package.

Spectrals – S/T 7"

Ello Ello, what's all this then? More throw-back fuzzy dream pop from a chap in Leeds who calls himself “L” (er, ya, he should get over that, fast). Regardless, it’s bloody good stuff really and well worth adding to your shuffle for a bit. Look for his full length LP in 2010.

Spectrals - 7"
(Captured Tracks, 2009)
List to Leave Me Be via Weekly Tape Deck

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Shannon and the Clams – I Wanna Go Home

These Oakland based misfits have captured the essence of trashy 50’s sock hop pop and given it the low-fi treatment. The LP reeks of hairspray, filthy porcelain ashtrays and your grandma’s plastic covered couch. If David Lynch every makes a sequel to Blue Velvet he’ll want to call these weirdoes for the soundtrack.

Shannon and the Clams
I Wanna Go Home
(1-2-3-4-Go Records, 2009)
Listin to You Can Come Over via Loud Vine

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Best of 2009

1. Ganglians, Monster Head Room
2. The Oh Sees, Help
3. Ty Segall, Lemons
4. Woods, Songs of Shame
5. The Fresh and Onlys, S/T
6. Box Elders, Alice and Friends
7. The King Khan and BBQ Show, Invisible Girl
8. The Intelligence, Fake Surfers
9. Teenanger/Charlie and the Moonhearts
10. Nobunny, Raw Romance

Best Labels of 2009

1. Woodsist
2. In The Red
3. Captured Tracks
4. Goner Records
5. Hozac

The King Khan & BBQ Show - Invisible Girl

The third LP from these guys doesn’t disappoint one damn bit. True, Invisible Girl is perhaps a little more polished than their two previous savage masterpieces, but nothing has been lost in the process. KK & BBQ have just got more tight and out and out Good! Two punkers on stage, often in drag, making crazy fun music together, what’s not to like? If you are unfamiliar with these heroes among men, Invisible Girl is the perfect departure point. Dive in.


The King Khan & BBQ Show
Invisible Girl
(In The Rec, 2009)
Listen to Invisible Girl via Walrus Music Blog

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Spencey Dude and The Doodles – Debut 7’’

If you are going to San Francisco, to hell with wearing flowers in your hair. Instead, go see Spencey Dude, that is, if you have a penchant for sloppy bubblegum garage rock. The Doodles are dripping with sappiness, unabashedly silly and recklessly careen off course and out of tune towards their inevitable fiery roadside end. So, you know, see ‘em now.
(Rob’s House Records, 2009)
Sample / Buy / Surf