The RONDELLES (USA)

Fiction Romance Fast Machines
-CD
1998 (Smells Like Records)





"Careening, ultra-catchy, hook-filled lo-fi pop songs that will keep you on your feet while you listen and remain embedded in your consciousness for weeks to come." - Jesse Ashlock


"The Rondelles are a fabulous disaster. They are wonderfully crappy. The first time I saw them I almost walked out in the middle of the show. It was like seeing a bunch of high school kids. Something about their attitude and the atmosphere of the dive they were playing in made me stick it out. When I did leave, I had a copy of their latest cd clutched in my sweaty palms, with the hopping up and down and the clapping...

The Rondelles have an endearing charm that seems to be made up of equal parts naivete, youthful enthusiasm, and beginners luck. Their songs are simple and their sound is low-tech. Song subjects are typical of the genre, lots of boys behaving like louses, sock hops and county fairs...

Part of the Rondelles package is their amateurish exhuberance little bit on par with early Shonen Knife. I said "a little", so don't get carried away...

Most songs have some pieces of brilliance in them. Some of them are awkward, but not awkward enough to kill your buzz. It's like riding a rickety rollercoaster. Part of the thrill is being on the verge of derailing, and wondering if they are going to be able to pull it off. rough around the edges? Sure. Worth buying? Definitely." - Kilwag


"Only 23 minutes and 19 seconds. Ah, but what a sweet 23 minutes and 19 seconds it is! The Rondelles' Fiction Romance Fast Machines (Smells Like Records) is a short but immensely satisfying romp. Their "Sleater-Kinney meets the Shangri-Las" tunes are a curious mixture of anthemic rock & roll and bubble-gum pop featuring aggressive players who, though lacking the anger of their riot-grrrl and punk heros, infuse their songs with plinky New Wave keyboards and delectable harmonies.

The Albuquerque, N.M., natives are still in their teens: They're fresh-faced, fun-loving kids, which is what makes Fiction such a wild ride. Young 'uns, free from restraint, don't have to bother with health insurance, major disappointments in life or five-year relationships that turn to shit. Instead, they can sing gloriously about boys, boys, boys and be, at least for now, carefree. Sigh.

The "boys" include Slim, "the rebel guy from the other side," in the catchy lo-fi mania of "He's Outta Sight"; Johnny from "Drag Strip Race"; and the supercute, intellectual object of desire of "Mission Irresistible." The lyrics aren't inane but smart and clever; they don't meditate on the meaning of life or on humanity's place within the universe, but their words are entirely appropriate to chugging power chords and good-girl/bad-girl vocals. There's nothing wrong, and everything right, with singing about milkshakes.

This brings us to an obvious comparison with another teen band that likes boys. If California's the Donnas listened to more indie rock and less Kiss, they would sound like the Rondelles. The latter band is less stylish but more pure: They are a truly modern version of the garage-rock band.

The Rondelles' simple yet incredibly engaging sugar rush is practically over before it begins. But there is virtue in its quickness. Too many cookies can make you sick. And the Rondelles won't make you sick." - Anna Giuliani

The Rondelles:
bassist Yukiko Moynihan
drummer/organist Oakley Munson
singer/guitarist Juliet Swango

Tracklist
1. Distraction
2. Can't Stop
3. Mission: Irresistible
4. Magazine
5. Drag Strip Race
6. Fake Fight
7. Shanghai Surprise
8. Do It for Me
9. He's Outta Sight
10. Indication
11. Catastrophe

Download (160 k, 30Mb)

REPORT DEAD LINKS

MassMirror's not playing nice today.
Any other links misbehaving?
Let me know and I'll re-up

POINTED STICKS (Canada)

DEMO BOOTLEG
-1980



Re-Up



"a west coast phenomenon that burned white hot during their short career from 1978-1981. Coming out of Vancouver, Canada, the Sticks created a unique legacy with their pop/rock/punk sound." - Sudden Death Records


"Although Vancouver's scene in the late '70s and early '80s was dominated by first-wave hardcore acts like D.O.A. and the Subhumans, the West Coast city's breakout new wave act was the altogether poppier Pointed Sticks." - Stewart Mason


"Canadian bands with few exceptions have the odds of achieving success overseas stacked against them and little has changed in the almost 30 years since the Pointed Sticks were in their heyday. For them that lucky break, despite a golden opportunity, would prove even more illusive than even they could have anticipated...

Formed in the summer of 1978, when singer and principal songwriter Nick Jones returned to Vancouver from London, England that is rather than Ontario, where he’d been working in a record store, it’s clear that Jones had been paying attention to what had been going on around him.

Conjuring a winning formula of punk’s energy and no small amount of pop sensibility, the band churned out three cracking singles between 1978 and 1979. Sounding quintessentially English – the band even took their name from a Monty Python sketch! – the band should have gone down a storm in the UK. Stiff Records, one of the great record labels thought so as well, signing the band and releasing the Brinsley Schwartz-produced single ‘Out Of Luck’ backed with ‘What Do You Want Me To Do?’ and ‘Somebody’s Girl’ in 1979." - Geraint Jones




"The Pointed Sticks seemed to have a good thing going at the dawn of the ’80s. They sold out of a combined 11,000 copies of their first three seven-inch singles, they drew more than 1,000 people to the Commodore Ballroom in their hometown of Vancouver and had a solid live following across Canada and down the U.S. west coast, and they were the first Canadian band signed to England’s infamous Stiff Records label.

But things quickly unravelled for the hard-luck power-pop group. Stiff never released their album. Their Canadian label, Quintessence, didn’t pay the pressing company for the manufacturing of their re-recorded debut LP, and 5,000 of the 10,000 copies ended up being destroyed. Not surprisingly, low morale and uncertainty led to the band calling it quits in June 1981." - Steve McLean

"Several attempts to bootleg the band's material were made during the '80's..." - hushreality.com


Pointed Sticks Line-up:

Nick Jones (vocals)
Bill Napier-Hemy (guitar)
Gord Nicoll (keyboards)
Tony Bardach (bass)
Ken "Dimwit" Montgomery (drums)
Scott Watson (bass; replaced Bardach)
John Farano (sax)


Tracklist:
01 - The Real Thing
02 - Marching Song
03 - True Love
04 - All That Matters
05 - All My Clocks Stopped
06 - Nothing Else To Do
07 - Careless
08 - All I Could Take
09 - Part of the Noise
10 - How Could You
11 - Middle Aged Teenagers
12 - Worse
13 - Love or Money
14 - American Song
15 - New Ways
16 - Apologies


Download (192 kbs, 52 Mb)

Spot The Blogger, Part 2

A pair of FIENDS onstage with
the MEDIAEVAL BAEBES,
enjoying the best view in the house.
BOY HOWDY!

DR.J's Mix - V/A

DR. J's MIX
(bootleg)





Mostly early to mid eighties NZ/Aussie punk, served up by Greg!





TRACKLIST:
(In a rough chronological order)

1) Suicide 2 – Proud Scum
2) I am a Rabbit – Proud Scum
3)Lipstick – X
4)Suck Suck - X
5)Hope She's Alright – Instigators
6)Saturday Night stay at Home – The Suburban Reptiles
7)True Love - The Scavengers
8)Bride of Frankenstein- Toy Love
9)Green Walls/Pull Down The Shades – Toy Love
10)Adults and Children – The Gordons
11)Nerve Ends in the Power Lines – Nocturnal Projections
12)Difficult Days – Nocturnal Projections
13)Looking For The Sun – Childrens Hour
14)Legalized Dogs – No Tag
15)Friday Nights – Flesh D-Vice
16)Flaming Soul – Flesh D-Vice
17)Hate Hate – No Idea
18)Weep Women Weep – Sticky Filth
19)Greg's Song – Casualty
20)Astronaut- Sticky Filth
21)Johnny – Celibate Rifles
22)Balance – Massappeal

DOWNLOAD (192 kbs, 95 Mb)

Spot The Blogger, part 1

The Fiends and Sky Saxon
Backstage at Fuzzfest Northwest
BOY HOWDY!

FUZZ FEST NORTHWEST Aug.18/07

This is where I'm gonna be...

@ Mt. Tabor Legacy,
Portland Oregon USA

Starring:

ELECTRIC PRUNES
CHOCOLATE WATCHBAND
STRAWBERRY ALARM CLOCK
The FIENDS
and more...

Also The FIENDS will play in the afternoon at Centaur Guitars.

See you there.

The TRASHWOMEN (USA)

LIVE! From Tom Guido's Purple Onion and Other Swinig Places
-LP
1994 (Lazy Lizard)





"There was a local SF band called the Trashwomen that played dirty garage / surf rock which I recommend to all you Yeah Yeah Yeahs fans, if you can manage to track down a Trashwomen album you can then throw out your Yeah Yeah Yeahs albums and your roommates will thank you." - whir



"God, the Trashwomen are one o' my fave bands ever. That whole dirty, wet, sproingy guitar, the glorious absence of hi-hats, the thunking primordial bass, and that yowling-cat vocal style... If I had my way, EVERY band would sound like this. I actually disbanded my first combo after I got the SPEND THE NIGHT WITH THE TRASHWOMEN longplayer back in the 90's, simply 'cause they already had exactly the sound I wanted, and had done it a thousand times better than we ever could. When people asked when we were gonna put out a record, I directed 'em to buy the Trashwomen's spinner instead. They all understood when they heard it...

Elka Zolot, where are ya now when we need ya the most?" - ajarvez


"As far as I'm concerned, The Trashwomen had the most evil sounding low E I've ever heard coming from a surf band." - Deltones


"The Trashwomen have an attitude that takes no flak from anyone; leopard print outfits, mean looking snarls, and so on. With their '60s garage revival sound that flies from three-chord punk to a handful of surf instrumentals that sound as if the band can barely keep it together, the Trashwomen perfectly capture the tough-girl essence seen in Russ Meyer's Faster Pussy Cat, Kill! Kill!. Fans of the Rip-Offs, Supercharger, and the Hissyfits would enjoy this." - Mike DaRonco

Guitar, vocals: Elka "Kitten Kaboodle" ZOLOT
Bass: Danielle "Lead Pedal" PIMM
Drums: Tina "Boom Boom" LUCCHESI

Tracklist:
A1 Gear Masher
A2 Turd Bath
A3 Queen of the Surf
A4 Scream
A5 Pretty Baby
A6 Space Needle
A7 Catwalk
A8 Let's Have A Party
A9 Malaguena
A10 Justine
B1 Trashwomen's Revenge
B2 KFJC DJ Brent Indie Interviews The Trashwomen
B3 Margaya
B4 KFJC DJ Brent Indie Interviews Michael Lucas
B5 Dragula
B6 Quasimodo
B7 Aphrodesia
B8 I'm Trash
B9 Nightmare At The Drag
B10 Jamaica Farewell

Download (102 kbs, 57 Mb)

BEAT HAPPENING (USA)

BLACK CANDY
-CS
1989 (K Records)





"Everyone is a Beat Happening fan... and if they're not, they should be. They're truly one of the most influential bands of the late 80's/90's. Without them we'd be doomed. "other side" has to be one of the best album openers ever. It's such a great song." - adrian - bakersfield, CA, USA


"There's at least one moment in everyone's life when the whole world is balanced on the edge of a brand-new song, and it never spins for them quite the same way again. The day I went off to college, filling closets and tacking up posters, my new roommate put Beat Happening's "Black Candy" on the stereo. Hearing Calvin Johnson's impossibly deep, sternly sexy off-key howls and croons about candy, sex, playhouses and beehives knocked me off the axis of everything I'd ever thought about how music was supposed to sound. Beat Happening's childlike, feral songs embodied the life force of youth in rebellion, and that moment set the tone for the rest of my college years." - tart.org


"the whole time i just kept screaming “GOD, BEAT HAPPENING IS THE GREATEST BAND EVER ” and “GOD, THIS IS THE BEST PIZZA EVER ”. we began discussing beat happening and something became really clear: Beat Happening is one of the most aggressive bands ever. i know this is most likely the most ridiculous thing i could say about band that is often labeled twee pop or indie pop, but i really see them as DIY punk rock. everytime they play a melody over and over for a long time it is an act of aggression against all of the stereotypical distorted guitars that were clanging in the sea of hardcore and post-hardcore that surrounded them. they were the band that taught me that it doesnt have to be fast, there doesnt have to be a change for a chorus, there doesnt even have to be a chorus, you can drum on an empty bucket of frozen yogurt, you can do whatever it is that you want to do. beat happening makes me extremely happy." - etcvisitor


"Beat Happening was formed in 82' in Olympia WA. First it was Calvin, Heather and anyone else they could get going out and playing all ages shows. Bret joined in 83' and the band released a 5 song debut. On a trip to Japan the band recorded their first EP, "Three Tea Breakfast". Their first full length album, "Beat Happening", was released in 85' and was produced by Greg Sage of The Wipers.

They took a break for awhile, and then recorded "Jamboree" in 88'. The album was produced by Mark Lanagen and Gary Lee Conner of Screaming Trees. In the summer of '89 Calvin and a few other guys organized the Sound Out Northwest tour, the idea was to play shows in smaller towns. Beat Happening played two shows w/ Mudhoney. Also doing shows that summer was Some Velvet Sidewalk. After that album a joint release between Beat Happening and Screaming Trees. Soon after Beat Happening's next album, "Black Candy" was released.

In 91' the band released "Dreamy". In summer Calvin and friend Candance put on The International Pop Underground Convention in Olympia with over 50 bands like L7, The Melvins, Fugazi, Thee Headcoats, Bikini Kill, The Fastbacks and Seaweed. Part of the festival was released on a double album on K records. It was followed by "You Turn me On" in 92'." - The Sara Monster


"Knowingly innocent, sexually frustrated, perpetually teenaged, and oppressively minimal, Beat Happening put its last song to tape in 2000, after the eight year absence that followed their final LP, You Turn Me On. Survived by five full lengths, a rarities compilation, a box set, a mountain of cassettes, and 18 years of public service, Olympia's chosen sons (and daughter) deserve every accolade thats ever had lavished upon them--including this title, that of The Greatest Band of All Time." - ZAC


"Beat Happening should never have learned how to play their instruments. That's not to say that post-Black Candy releases aren't sublime and off-kilter pop confections in their own right. It's just that on this particular collection of songs, the awkward, knock-kneed instrumentation is the perfect accompaniment to lyrics about youth on the verge of coltish rebellion. The record lurches and howls, like a gawky, hormone-crazed teenager. Vocals jolt back and forth between Heather Lewis' charmingly askew romantic kid warbles and front man Calvin Johnson's trademark ocean deep baritone, and pounce within mere notes between handholding innocence to hard-core nookie in the backyard tree house. It's feral, sweet, raw music, and pretty damned scary upon first listen.

Johnson has never been one to worry about comforting the masses, founding his seminal indie label K-Records in the early 1980s specifically to prevent bands from having to pander to record company restrictions. Working in collaboration with artists like Beck, The Jon Spencer Blues Explosion and Built to Spill, he's revealed a knack for assisting artists to screw the conventions and unleash their inner rock animal. He's at his own untamed best, however, with the pared down Beat Happening. The trio (now nearly on their 20th year together, albeit many of those years spent in a non-recording "hiatus") made Black Candy an album stripped to its most primal components. With drummer Bret Lunsford providing the raggedy backbeat and Lewis and Johnson swapping offkey lead singer and sloppy guitar duties, it's an aural exercise in barely-contained mania and the pure bliss of youth. While subsequent Beat Happening records provide their own more musically tutored joys, Black Candy is the one that stands as a snapshot of that spirit that sparked a DIY revolution." - FHM

Bret Lunsford, Guitar and Drums
Calvin Johnson, Guitar, and Vocals
Heather Lewis, Drums, Guitar and Vocals

Tracklist:
1. Other Side
2. Black Candy
3. Knick Knack
4. Pajama Party In A Haunted Hive
5. Grave Digger Blues
6. Cast A Shadow
7. Bonfire
8. T.V. Girl
9. Playhouse
10. Ponytail


Download (192 Kbs, 55 Mb)

The CINCH (Canada)

THE CINCH EP
-CD
2002 (Stutter)





"After honing their craft in the darkest recesses of Vancouver's rock clubs for a couple of years now, The Cinch have finally given us their debut release on Stutter Records. A short, sharp, 5 song (one unlisted bonus track for all you modern lovers out there) dynamo that reminds one of early Dream Syndicate and Wire. Glorious, driving rock 'n roll, delivered by nervous, buzzsaw guitars, a tough-as-nails rhythm section, and fronted by a coupla' edgy female Richard Hell's. A summer must-have!" - Zulu


"Ever since the popularity of garage-pop bands such as The Strokes and The Hives made buzzing, twisting guitar riffs and primitive, Meg White-approved drum chops en vogue, cutesy bands that wrap grunge rock around vintage pop chords and feature some self-important sap behind the microphone have inundated hipster record stores and coffee shops across North America and beyond. Armed with little more than some vintage threads and their Velvet Underground boxed set, most of these groups should never have existed in the first place, probably, except maybe in order to fill that all-important first slot on the $5, five-band bill at the local Cavalry Chapel.

Fortunately, when The Cinch crawled out of the primordial ooze of some rehearsal space in Vancouver, it didn’t give a hot damn about being cute or taking itself too seriously." - Casey Lombardo


"The Cinch were able to win people over so easily that you might almost call their whole career a string a splendid flukes. Shortly after the band started writing songs and performing, they played a couple of gigs at a battle of the bands contest hosted by the UBC radio station. Despite taking on a new member just before playing their first contest gig, the Cinch won—and scored some studio time as a result. The result was their first EP, released in 2002, and represents the first time the Cinch had ever set foot in a studio." - Angels Twenty



"As the Strokes were taking New York by storm with their blend of lifts from late-era Velvet Underground, early Modern Lovers, and the first Television album, Vancouver's the Cinch were perfecting their own distaff blend of the same influences. The difference is that the Cinch's debut lacks the whiff of arrogance that colors the glammy New Yorkers' efforts; the far more diffident vocals of Jennifer Smyth are Doug Yule or Richard Lloyd to Julian Casablancas' Iggy Pop/David Johansen cross-breed. More importantly, the five-piece band (also including singer/guitarist Kathy Dube, guitarist Mark Epp, bassist Geoff Thompson, and drummer C.C. Rose) burns through these three-minute pop songs with punky intensity instead of snotty attitude, giving lesser songs like "French Maid" and "Got To" an extra energy boost even as it lifts top-drawer stuff like the kinetic opener "Once a Week" and the howling "Talk and Talk" to a higher plane. In these surroundings, the closing cover of the Modern Lovers' classic "She Cracked" not only stands up to the original, it almost sounds like an original. The Cinch was originally released on the tiny Canadian indie Stutter Records in the summer of 2002. Seattle's slightly larger Dirtnap label gave it a belated United States release in early 2003." - Stewart Mason

Kathy Dubé (guitar, vocals)
Mark Epp (guitar, vocals)
CC Rose (drums)
Jennifer Smyth (vocals, percussion, guitar)
Geoff Thompson (bass)

Tracklist:
1. Once A Week
2. Got To
3. Talk & Talk
4. French Maid
5. She Cracked

Download (192 Kbs, 19 Mb)