BUFFALO TOM - SLEEPY EYED

Put Sleepy Eyed in your CD player, hit play, and prepare to be amazed -- "Tangerine," the lead-off cut, signals the brief but welcome return of "Dinosaur Jr." with two-and-three-quarters minutes of charging neo-grunge guitars and galloping drums, the likes of which you haven't heard from this band since Birdbrain. But, of course, Buffalo Tom sound a lot tighter, stronger, and more confident when they dig into the big shaggy dog rock than they did five years previous, and while they never get quite as rollicking as "Tangerine" again onSleepy Eyed, cut for cut it's a far more direct and straightforward rock album than anything they'd managed since their creative breakthrough on Let Me Come Over. To some listeners,Sleepy Eyed might sound like a regression, moving back into noisy power trio mode after the more polished surfaces and intricate arrangements of Let Me Come Over and Big Red Letter Day, but play Sleepy Eyed back to back with Birdbrain and you'll be pleasantly surprised by the differences. Sleepy Eyed decisively proves Buffalo Tom write better hooks and better melodies, write smarter lyrics, and even rock harder than when they were still trying to find their way out from under J. Mascis' shadow, and they sound like they're having a great time just turning up the amps and letting rip, especially Bill Janovitz, whose rock-dude guitar outros are a hoot (and this is one band who I cannot begrudge for enjoying themselves every once in a while). On Sleepy Eyed, Buffalo Tom go back to the old neighborhood and show everybody how much bigger and stronger they've become -- it's sorta like a high school reunion, but louder and a lot more fun.

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GIGOLO AUNTS - THE ONE BEFORE THE LAST

 

As one of the best-ever U.S. alternative pop acts to fall into obscurity, the Gigolo Aunts somehow found a large following in Spain, of all places -- hence this Spain-only set of rare and unreleased material, released via that country's Bittersweet Records in 2000. Warming overseas fans' hearts with a fine cover of Nacha Pop's "The Girl from Yesterday," this odds'n'sods album is nearly as good as such well-plotted Aunts affairs as 1994's Flippin' Out and 1999's Minor Chords and Major Themes. From the piano-laden pulse of "Kay and Michael" to hard chargers like "The Shift to Superoverdrive" and "To Whoever," the songwriting axis of Dave Gibbs and Steve Hurley is on the money. But The One Before the Last's parting shot, an acoustic winner called "The Sun Will Rise Again" (with a feel akin to Minor Chords and Major Themes' "Everyone Can Fly"), is among the finest in the group's canon. ~ John D. Luerssen, Rovi

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The Masonics - Royal & Ancient - 2007

This LP, Royal and Ancient, is a mix of surf attitude, a fondness for '60s Britbeat before everyone's hair started toward the collar and garage punk dumbness. Now, don't take dumbness as a diss... some of the greatest records ever made have been dumb or made by dummies. So what kinda dolt-jolt is this? You dig Leave My Kitten Alone? Gone wild to early Kinks rekkids? Well, you're gonna git down to this LP for sure.

Do Thee Headcoats, The Milkshakes, The Clique,The Delmonas, The Kaisers or The Wildebeests mean anything to you? Well, the members The Masonics all served time in at least one of those bands. If you loved 'em, then you could probably argue that The Masonics are a supergroup of the Brit rock'n'roll scene. Either way, these cats have cut some serious stone. LP opener, Don't Talk To Me is a frazzled rabble-rouser which ticks ALL the right boxes. At times, it sounds like it's about to fall down drunk... but between... man, it's tighter than Booker T & The MGs.

The band switch between sweaty beat club to torch-song... garage torch-song I should add... there's no Celine or Whitney influence here... unless, by some fluke they've all had childhood sweethearts by the same name. Either way, Chicken Bomb, Shig-Shag, Call Me Deceiver all do exactly what they say on the tin. I've been lucky enough to have been given the long-player on both CD and vinyl, and to be honest, the vinyl pressing is a lot tougher. Maybe it's just the format... but if you wanna get the most outta this cut, then The Masonics 12 incher needs to find a home between your sleeves.

Get it: HERE

TALCUM SOUL - VARIOUS ARTISTS

If you didn't dance enough last night, dance a little more today with this fine collection of soul classics!

Get it: HERE

1. Seven Days Too Long - Chuck Woods
2. A Lil' Lovin' Sometimes - Alexander Patton
3. Dr. Love - Bobby Sheen
4. Breakout - Mitch Ryder & The Detroit Wheels
5. Fortune Teller - Benny Spellman
6. Looking For You - Garnet Mimms
7. One More Hurt - Marjorie Black
8. What's Wrong With Me Baby - The Invitations
9. Ready, Willing And Able - Jimmy Holiday & Clydie King
10. End Of Our Love - Nancy Wilson
11. Love And Desire - Patrice Holloway
12. Better Use Your Head - Little Anthony & The Imperials
13. Dance, Dance, Dance - The Casualeers
14. What Can I Do? - Billy Prophet
15. Condition Red - Baltimore & Ohio Marching Band
16. She Blew A Good Thing - The Poets
17. As Long As I Have You - Garnet Mimms
18. Ski-ing In The Snow - The Invitations
19. Working On Your Case - The O'Jays
20. Love In My Heart - The Entertainers
21. If You Go - Derek Martin
22. I'll Do Anything - Doris Troy
23. Lipstick Traces (On A Cigarette) - The O'Jays
24. Don't - Marva Josie
25. You're My Everything - Little Jerry Williams
26. The Drifter - Ray Pollard

The Milkshakes - Nothing Can Stop These Men - 1984

This UK, Chatham, Kent-based band were originally conceived in the late 70s by the Pop Rivets roadies Mickey Hampshire and Banana Bertie as Mickey And The Milkshakes. Often appearing on the same circuit as fellow Medway town bands the Dentists and the Prisoners, they performed as a "psychobilly" outfit, supporting the Pop Rivets from time to time with Wreckless Eric cover versions. Pop Rivets leader Billy Childish then began writing with Hampshire and in 1980 formed a new version of Mickey And The Milkshakes. Eventually settling on a line-up of Childish and Hampshire (guitars, vocals), Russ Wilkins (bass) and Bruce Brand (drums), they started recording a string of albums featuring various R&B classics plus original material. After the first album they truncated their name. Later on, when John Agnew replaced Wilkins, they began to refer to themselves as Thee Milkshakes. In addition to their normal activities of gigging and recording, they also acted as the backing band to an all-girl vocal trio called the Delmonas. As prolific releasers of album material, The(e) Milkshakes were only modestly successful with singles, achieving two UK Independent Top 20 hits with "Brand New Cadillac" (1984) and "Ambassadors Of Love" (1985). The band split in 1984 (although Milkshake material continued to be released long after), with Childish going on to form the equally productive Thee Mighty Caesars.

Get It: HERE

HAPPY NEW YEAR

 

Very best wishes to all for 2012.

SUPERDRAG - REGRETFULLY YOURS

In the glut of grungy power pop bands that flooded the mid-'90s, it was pretty easy to write off Superdrag as "just another rock band." The difference is that Superdrag is essentially a pop band, as Regretfully Yours proves. While the band's sound itself is nothing terribly exciting, most of the songwriting lives up to the promise of the album's saccharine-rush single, "Sucked Out" -- full of hooks and tightly constructed. This is somewhat surprising, considering the album was the band's first for a major audience, and the norm of the time period was for producers and labels to reduce every rock band to a Seattle clone. Regretfully Yours will certainly satisfy the pop/rock and pop-punk crowds.

Get it: HERE