Apologies if this is (appropriately) filtered out by your IT overlords. This is going on my Smoko mix.
Enjoy!!
What was that name again?
Barreracudas… ? Ok
This song punches every one of my rocky dopamine receptors right in the pants. In a good way.
Sandinista Turns 40
Self-indulgent mess? Misunderstood masterpiece? I usually have an opinion on matters musical, but it’s now been forty years and I’m still not sure what to make of this album. Which may be the point. Or not.
Crank It Up
I’ve been blasting this for a couple of weeks. Enjoy.
I’m Sure We Can All Relate
Buzzcocks on Top of the Tops in 1978, because we could all use some today.
Also, there’s this! Available in January.
Ride The Nazi’s Swing Of Agony, My Little One
The Nazis must have spent a fortune on lingerie.
I’m Working Too Hard
So this is it, the only material The Nerves officially released. One lousy EP in 1976, which, in mint condition, can now fetch upwards of $600 on eBay.
Sakuran Zensen
The band’s name is Sakuran Zensen. Sakuran means ”crazy” (sort of) and Zensen means ”front of the line.” So Sakuran Zensen means ”front of the line of the crazies.” In an interview with a publicity company, the singer told them that they did not pick this name for any other reason than ”it sounded cool.”
Goofy TV Gigs
I completely missed this one when it aired. I don’t remember hearing about it at all. A little sad, by ’79 the Ramones should have been too big for the Sha Na Na show.
But I did happen to be watching the tube in ’68 when psychedelic proto-punks The Seeds (as The Warts) mimed their biggest hit, the classic pushy-girlfriend-fuck-off song, “Pushin’ to Hard” on a now-forgotten sitcom called The Mothers-in-Law. I bought the album soon after. Oddly enough, that album had been released two years earlier, and they’d released another since, but they were still pushin’ this song on TV. The second verse and guitar break were edited out.
Live Totem Pole EP
So I was listening to the latest episode of the My Favorite Album podcast yesterday. David Cross was the guest, and instead of choosing his actual favorite album (Quadrophenia), he chose something obscure that he listened to a lot, lamenting that it had been out of print for years and wasn’t even available to stream.
Nothing piques my lizard brain’s interest like scarcity, so when podcast host Jeremy Dylan mentioned that someone had been nice enough to upload it to YouTube, I dove into that dumpster with glee. And found it.
Live Totem Pole is an odd EP. It’s live, for one thing. But the really odd part is that five of the seven songs are covers, including those by Blue Öyster Cult, Public Enemy, Butthole Surfers, Superchunk, and Wire. BUT HOLY SHIT, IT WORKS. And the way it was recorded makes you feel like you’re in the room.
I downloaded the audio from the YouTube videos and packed it up like an album. Right click the cover up top if you’re so inclined …
I listened to fIREHOSE in college, especially fROMOHIO and Flyin’ the Flannel. Anybody unfamiliar with these guys should check out their fascinating origin story on Wiki-wiki-wikipedia.