Oh the Liverbirds. Yes, I’ve totally heard of them.
Drinking Irish Whiskey On The Irish Sea
You Bastards still haven’t listened to this yet, have you? I only listened to three or four new records this year, but this one is up there with any of my all-time favorites by any artist.
Came across the trailer above in an interesting interview with Isbell talking about working on Killers of the Flower Moon, which he was very good in as well. Ok, I’ll stop now.
The High Numbers
A revved up Ooh Poo Pah Doo and a great cover of I Gotta Dance to Keep From Crying.
Are you a mod or a rocker?
Do We Need Another Guitar Hero?
Y’all know I’m all loopy over this Jason Isbell fella. I’ve been a fan since he was in the Drive-by Truckers, and have followed his career closely since. His latest, Weathervanes, is remarkable. A fantastic writer, but moreover a blistering guitar player (he bought Ed King’s Les Paul), who stretches out a lot with his band, but doesn’t get all boring jammy. He sat in with Dino Jr. during their anniversary run in NYC. It’s guitar-riffic!
Also, he went to University of Memphis and was recently given his degree because he was apparently only one phys ed class short of a degree.
Zombie Season
A lot going on here that I missed when I first listened.
My compliments to everyone involved.
Pop-Punk Candy
Mrs. Renfield put me on to this sugar rush of an album (really more like a longish EP). Many tracks are one-idea songs, but who cares when the hook’s good and they don’t belabor the idea: all but one are under two minutes. It so happens this band/person/whatever played Gonerfest last week, although it was an afternoon slot on a 90-degree-plus day, so can’t say I’m sorry I missed them. But this stuff hits my sweet spot. Good hooks throughout. Here’s another:
Nashville Teens
Not from Nashville.
Probably not teens.
But they shared at least one bill with The Small Faces.
The Smoke
The Smoke seemed destined to be the greatest British band of the 60’s. Read on for their sad tale of record industry greed, radio station indifference, distribution mishaps, managerial exploitation, personal tragedy, substance abuse, mental instability, and an apathetic, capricious and philistine public…
Just kidding! They seem to be a classic 60’s case of one-hit wonders. I’d never heard this song until it popped up in my YouTube feed the other day. It became a big hit in Germany in ’67 (the year I moved, so I never heard it), but in England its progress up the charts was knee-capped by the BBC for drug references (the BBC did such a great job keeping young Brits off drugs). The most remarkable thing about this band is that not one of them did anything noteworthy before or after this song. Usually when you look into British bands with a hit during this period, you’ll find that at least one or two of them before or after played with someone you’ve heard of. But not these guys. Anyway, it’s a pretty good song and worth hearing.
Like A Bee Needs A Buzz
I knew that Honeybus made me think of something: it was Honey Bees.
When I’m down to my last few neurons, my brain will still be running Gilligan’s Island.
I Know This Is Old News
But goddammit, it’s a great song. I’ve not been as big a fan of Viagra Boys recent stuff.