Oriphiel

I just realized that "Stuck in the Garage" reached the thousand views mark while I was away! This absolutely needs to be celebrated! Instead of another wave of the EP Madness that came in honor of reviewing over twenty albums, I thought that I should do something new.

Lately, I've thought about trying something out for the journal. The idea was to go to a big used CD store and grab a bunch of albums at random, then sharing my thoughts about them after giving them a good listening-to. Well, a few days ago, I did just that, and now I've got five random CD's here to examine! I won't be breaking them down into a song-by-song analysis like I do with my regular entries, as that would result in a massive wall of text. Therefore, I'll dub this "Mystery Shots", as i'm essentially just giving you a quick dose of random music. I have to admit, I was nervous at first, because I thought that I'd end up with a bunch of bands that I'd never heard of before. Luckily for me, I started in the B section of the CD's, and somehow grabbed two albums by bands that I know fairly well! Anyway, let's get started...

The Chains - On Top of Things (2002)



A solid album by a pretty talented rock band, I believe I picked this one out of the miscellaneous C's. They have a clean and modern sound, yet throw curveballs at the listener with songs influenced by 1960's Folk-Pop and Garage Rock ( For example, "Disappearing Man", "Nothing Left Behind" and "Try, Try, Try"). There's also a fun cover of Eddie Cochran's "Nervous Breakdown! I'd never heard of this band before, but they seem like a pretty solid outfit. The CD's liner notes place them in Montreal.


Gotta love that guitar solo!

Underground Oldies Volume 7: Rare and Hard to Find Soul Oldies (2000)



Normally I steer clear of Soul (although Honey Ltd. really left an impression on me), but this is what I picked out of the assorted oldies section. And as you might have guessed, I really didn't care much for it. Every single song sounded the same, as the CD went from one slow and sappy Soul/Funk love ballad to the next. Every. Single. Song. I suppose this would be a good album to put on if you were making a porno, but otherwise it just lacks any excitement, energy, and variety among the various songs included. Soul can be a very riveting and varied genre, and this compilation fails to do it justice.


Turn the lights down...

The B-52's - Time Capsule: Songs For a Future Generation (1998)



Hooray! The B-52's! This one came out of the miscellaneous B's, right alongside another CD that I'll talk about later in the entry. With a title taken from their number "Song for a Future Generation", this CD is essentially a greatest hits anthology of their work. And honestly, it's exactly what you'd expect. It has songs from all of the different periods of their career, from "The B-52's" to "Mesopotamia, "Whammy" and beyond. Before you ask, yes, it has "Rock Lobster" and "Love Shack" on it. It's a very good introduction to their music, with my favorite tracks being the odd-ball "Mesopotamia" and the catchy "52 Girls".


As anyone whose ever plugged with me before knows, I never pass up a chance to play "52 Girls"!

Koffin Kats - Self-Titled Debut (2003)



Just like with The Chains, I'd never heard of these guys before, even though they're apparently pretty well known in Psychobilly circles. I got this one out of the assorted Psychedelic/Psychobilly section (and yes, that's an actual section that the store has. I love them!) The Koffin Kats hit very hard with Psychobilly that, at times, almost crosses the border into furious Punk Rock. Their songs are all very solid and energetic, and their relative lack of variety is saved by the fact that it's a fairly short album. I had a blast with this one, and I think most Rockabilly/Psychobilly fans will get a kick out of it.


I'm in love with that intro!

The Bangles - Sweetheart of the Sun (2011)



Why didn't someone tell me that The Bangles had come out with a new album just a few years ago?! It seriously took me pulling this one out of the miscellaneous B's along with the B-52's to discover it. I must be their most clueless fan. Anyway, as I listened to it, I crossed my fingers and hoped for songs that were more in vein with their earlier and rougher music, rather than their mid/late eighties pop numbers (which are catchy in their own right, but not my cup of tea). While the album is pretty mellow (with Folk-Pop songs like "Anna Lee", "Under a Cloud", and "Circles in the Sky"), I got what I wished for! "Sweet and Tender Romance", "What a Life", and "Ball 'n Chain" definitely have a fun edge to them, calling back to the band's Paisley Underground days, and they really help to keep the album fresh and exciting! All in all, it's a fun album, and i'm glad that I discovered it by chance.


Reminds me of their debut EP. I really like it!

And thus ends the music! I really had a great time with all of these random CD's (even the Soul compilation was fun in it's own way), and I can't wait to see what bands and genres pop up the next time around! Now, I'll finish things off by giving out a big 'Thanks!' to everyone on Music Banter, and I hope that the journal gets even more strange and exciting as time goes by!

Tomorrow, as usual, I'll bring another great album with me. Since Rockabilly/Psychobilly has two albums so far in this journal, it only seems fair that Punk/Post-Punk gets another entry to even things out...

Oriphiel

The west coast has seemingly always been a hotbed of musical activity, on the cutting edge of the current of culture. During the 1960's, there was a surge of Folk and Vocal-Pop bands. During the 1970's, Southern-Rock bands like The Eagles and CCR attacked the charts with their brand of Pop-sensible caterwaulin', and as the 1970's moved on Punk and Post-Punk bands sprang up seemingly out of nowhere. When the 1980's came around, west coast rockers were trying their hands at Pop-Rock, Ska and Hair Metal, which with the coverage provided by MTV became the hot new genres. Alternative Rock and Post-Punk were driven underground as the 1980's rolled on, thriving in local club circuits as various "scenes" flourished. Record labels began taking notice of these underground bands and their growing fanbases, and naturally decided to capitalize on them.


After raising levels of commercialism among musical acts, some would say that the effect of MTV on the various musical scenes of the world was a big step back for mankind. Heh, I couldn't resist making that joke. Sorry MTV, I love ya'!

During the late 1980's into the early 1990's, there was a large wave of underground bands that suddenly found themselves with record contracts, and the "Do It Yourself" mentality of the original Punk Rock movement returned in charming style. From the mid 1980's onward, so-called "Cult" movies once again became the next big thing (essentially being to the 80's and 90's what drive-in flicks were to the youth of the 50's, 60's and 70's), with figure-heads like John Hughes focusing on making quirky coming-of-age movies rather than massive-budget dramas.

These odd-ball comedies often had soundtracks provided by not only famous musical acts, but also unknown and independent artists, and the trend continued into the 1990's. The band we'll be looking at today was apart of this second wave of Punk Rock, and was featured in the cult classic movie "Clueless", as well as in the most well known cult TV show of all time, "Buffy the Vampire Slayer". It's time for...

The Muffs



Yup, The Muffs! After the 1960's Revival came to a slow-down, the all-girl band The Pandoras decided to try their hand at Hair Metal. Bassist Kim Shattuck and keyboardist Melanie Vammen weren't ready to turn their backs on the underground Punk scene, and left to start a band of their own. Kim became the defacto leader, serving as the main songwriter and lead vocalist, while Melanie became the lead guitarist. Ronnie Barnett and Criss Crass joined up, taking bass and drums respectively. After releasing a slew of singles and EP's, they joined the Warner Brothers label and cut their first LP, titled "The Muffs".

After their debut, Melanie was at odds with the band over issues of creative control, and left to join the cult Punk band "The Leaving Trains". Criss Crass left as well, and drumming duties were taken up by new-comer Roy McDonald. With Kim as vocalist and lead guitarist, Ronnie on bass, and Roy on drums, they have stayed in this line-up to this day. Now, it's time for the music...

1. "Lucky Guy" - Starting the album is a great Punk number with rough guitars and uncompromising screams, balanced out by some nice vocal harmonies in the chorus. The Muffs are off to a great start!


The Muffs! Clockwise from bottom right: Kim Shattuck, Melanie Vammen, Ronnie Barnett, and Criss Crass.

2. "Saying Goodbye" - This is another fast and hard number, with a splash of the energetic yet melodic Skate-Punk that came to define much of the youth of the 1990's. Apparently, this song is all over the place, popping up in the cult show "What's New Scooby Doo?" and the love-it-or-hate-it "Bye Bye Love".

3. Everywhere I Go" - A little softer than the first two tracks, this one still has a nice Punk attitude to it. Fun fact: This song was used in a Fruitopia commercial, back in the day! Man, The Muffs' songs just pop up everywhere, huh?

4. "Better Than Me" - Speeding up again, The Muffs lash out with another catchy melodic Punk number. Love the screaming at the end!


Few Punk Rockers have the courage to wear a Burger King crown on stage!

5. "From Your Girl" - Changing things up a bit, this Punk track opens with a fun keyboard intro! Other than that, however, it's in the same vein as "Everywhere I Go".

6. "Not Like Me" - Ronnie's bass playing and Criss' drumming are really fantastic here, along with Melanie's thrashy guitar work. Kim's vocals are great as well, being pretty clean and catchy! Love the guitar solo, by the way.

7. "Baby Go Round" - The Muffs are pretty good at hitting a nice balance between smooth and rough! This is a Pop number with an injection of grit, and is a great track that stands out very well!


Thought you all might like a video of them playing live! Warning, there is some damn swearing in it.

8. "North Pole" - I've got no clue what's up with this one. It's an instrumental with sleigh bells and gusts of wind, lasting about thirty seconds.

9. "Big Mouth" - A fun song about the inevitable wave of karma that hits you when you spread rumors. It's definitely got energy to it!

10. "Every Single Thing" - This is a great song in it's own right, but I wonder if a lot of these tracks would have been stronger if they'd been a bit more varied. The wall of sound created by the guitars, bass, and drums is top-notch Punk work, but makes every song sound very similar.

11. "Don't Waste Another Day" - I really like this one, simply because it tries to mix things up from the formula of the other tracks. Opening with a clean guitar riff, the very distorted and dirty guitars come in bursts later on. It's not a huge change, but even a little variety can do wonders in keeping audiences interested.


Yup, the Muffs are still going to this day. And apparently Kim found the fountain of youth!

12. "Stupid Jerk" - Another roughly thirty second long track, this one has nice slamming drums, and changes things up by having a male vocalist. I'm not sure who exactly is doing the vocals, but I'd bet on Criss Crass, seeing as how he's sung the occasional song for The Muffs (Like "Do the Robot").

13. "Another Day" - Changing things up once again, this song drops the Punk wall of sound in favor of a relatively clean and compelling number that takes it's cues from the 1960's Revival bands, like The Bangles. It still has a fair bit of grit to it, and the vocal harmonies work very well. Probably my favorite track of the album so far!

14. "Eye to Eye" - Back to the Pop-Punk thrashing and distortion that The Muffs are known for! Not bad. Apparently, this is one of the few songs that has Melanie Vammen credited as a song writer (and may actually be the only one).

15. "I Need You" - I wish this one was a cover of The Kinks' Garage Punk classic (how fun would that have been?), but this one is a very rough and wild original. Still, it has a bit of a Garage Rock feeling to it, especially with the vocal patterns and the fuzz-guitar in the background. Definitely one of the stand-out tracks of the album! This is one of only two songs on this album that Ronnie helped pen, the other being the odd-ball "North Pole.



16. "All For Nothing" - The last song of the album! This one kicks off with an acoustic guitar riff that reminds me of The Beatles' "You've Got To Hide Your Love Away". The change of pace is welcome and effective, and this is a solid and catchy number.

And now we've come to the end. I absolutely loved this album, however it does have it's fair share of issues. While The Muffs do experiment and mix things up (especially from the halfway point onwards), much of the album still comes off as sounding very homogeneous. While fans of Punk Rock will be able to find and appreciate the variety of sounds that The Muffs worked with, outsiders to the genre will probably find it very repetitive, and difficult to listen to in one sitting. As a collection of individual songs, this is a great album to get and I highly recommend it, as each one is very catchy and energetic. But as an album, it could have used more variety.

Oriphiel

It's time to get back to Garage Rock! While it's certainly fun looking at albums, the true heart of Garage Rock has always been in singles. Most independent bands back in the day didn't get a chance to release a full fledged LP, and their legacies have been perpetuated by those who have a taste for the wild and obscure, daring to delve into mountains of vinyl as they travel from one seedy thrift store to the next. Thanks to their efforts, hundreds (if not thousands) of vintage singles have been discovered and re-released on various compilations, giving us the opportunity to listen to them today! So in the spirit of single hunting, here are a few 45's. Some are by acts you may recognize (like Gene Vincent and Los Rockin' Devils), while others are pretty obscure.

The McKinleys - Sweet and Tender Romance/That Lonely Feeling - With the assistance of guitar idol Jimmy Page of Led Zeppelin and Yardbirds fame, Sweet and Tender Romance takes on an incredible amount of depth for a Vocal-Pop number! The clean vocal harmonies layered over a rough and distorted guitar riff and a heavy drum beat create a very compelling and Garage-y sound. On the flip side, That Lonely Feeling is a more soft and traditional Pop Ballad, serving as the 'smooth' to the first track's 'rough'.



Gene Vincent - Bird Doggin'/Ain't That Too Much - Opening up with the Garage Rock mayhem of Bird Doggin', Gene Vincent proves that he can effectively experiment outside of his Rockabilly roots. After the great build-up of the intro, it's a fantastic track with rough vocals and distorted guitar work. The B-Side, Ain't That Too Much, is a twangy number more in the vein of his classic sound. However it still has the fingerprint of the 1960's on it, following the successful "Riff-Rock + vocal harmonies + Harmonica solo = Far Out" formula of the times.



The Pandoras - About My Baby (I Could Write a Book)/New Day - This vintage all-girl Garage-Pop outfit has nothing to do with the 1980's Revivalist punks of the same name! About My Baby is a catchy and bouncy Pop number in the trademark Beat style of the sixties. Unfortunately, I can't find their B-Side, New Day, anywhere.



The Pandas - Walk/Girl From New York City - The Pandas waste no time in drenching your ears with fuzz-guitars and slamming drums, using a back beat that sounds awfully similar to the signature riff from Roy Orbison's "Oh, Pretty Woman". The song culminates into a few great musical explosions preceding fun guitar and harmonica breaks! Turn the 45 over, and Girl From New York City starts up with a more Pop-sensible sound. Even if this B-Side isn't as energetic as the opener, the fuzz-guitars and steady drums work well with the clean harmonies to create a song that's easy to like.



Los Rockin' Devils - Gloria/Perro Lanudo - While the band Them hit the UK charts, and the Shadows of Knight attacked the U.S. billboards, Los Rockin' Devils brought the Garage Rock classic to the radio waves of Latin America. Their version isn't as rough as the original, however it still has a very fun energy to it with raw vocals and a Psychedelic electric organ! Their cover of "Shaggy Dog", titled "Perro Lanudo", is an odd-ball scramble that apparently did very well for their popularity back in the day. It's got fun electric organ work, and just as the name suggests, has vocalists barking like dogs!



The Mystery Trio - Willie Joe/Raindrops - I don't curse often, but all I can say is holy ****! That second guitar solo in Willie Joe is some of the fastest and fiercest Rockabilly noise I've ever heard! Excuse me while I search the floor for my jaw... As with many obscure 45's, the B-Side is nowhere to be found. I'll have to track it down someday!



State of Mind - Move/If He Comes Back - Move is a smooth Garage Rock number with a Blues-y tone to it, and a killer guitar break! I believe it appeared on one of the first issues of the Pebbles series of compilations, but got lost in the translation of the series from vinyl to CD. If He Comes Back is a straightforward Pop number, and it sounds like something The Rolling Stones could have made in their early days.