After liking their live 'The Black Parade is Dead', I bought this record at a sale to a reduced prize. Unfortunately it didn't add anything new to my relation with the group since the best tracks is the same as from the live record (or is it the other way around?). Still a nice record and a group that I'm still curious on.
Another band I saw live at the Peace and Love festival this year. A good show that also included a live version of Ebba Grön's "Mona Tumbas Slim Club" with Fjodor and Stefan Sundström. The record is a best of their three previous records. The records start off with three excellent songs - "Boredom Boredom Go Away", "Faster Faster Harder Harder" and "Under Your Trousers" and also includes "It's a sin". They're also doing a cover on Accept's old "I'm a rebel" which caused a big smile on my face when I heard it the first time and it actually took my some time to identify it. Recommended!
The most fun surprise at last week's Peace & Love festival in Borlänge and possibly the second best live act I saw (after the Wildhearts). We few viewers (25?) saw a short set with good songs, tempo and plenty of fun. I liked it very much. On record the group is more pop than punk, i.e. the tempo is somewhat slower. In my opinion the sound somewhat like the sorely missed Psychotic Youth (and that can't be bad!). Best track is the title track ("The Only Way From Here"). Recommended!
A welcomed “comeback”! It’s been six years since “Indestructible” and it’s always fun to hear Rancid. The new record sounds as they usually does with classic punk (including ska influences) and they are in good form. I like the tempo and chorus of “Domination” and “L.A. River”. Recommended!
While going to look on Miss Li during last week's Peace & Love festival in Borlänge, I stopped at a stage where a to me unknown band was playing, This was The Coffinshakers and it was a good show and I misses Miss Li! This Finnish band, which plays "vampire rock" with great doses of Johnny Cash, Stan Ridgway and rockabilly, was a great live act. I ordered two records with the band, and the first has arrived. Unfortunately, the record wasn't as good as the show! Much of the rockabilly and tempo is lost on the record even if there is a couple of good tracks including "Evil", "King of the night-time" (was great live!) and "Curse of Mummy's tomb".
An impulse buy after having read some review somewhere. Wavves is some sort of solo-project for a Nathan Williams, who I haven’t heard of before. However, the record is nice pop/punk record drowned in the kind of noise I like (think JMC and BRMC) with nice songs stuck inside the distortion and feedback. A pleasant surprise with gems like “So Bored” and “To the Dregs”.
A new record from Kent "Omar" Dykes of "Omar and the Howlers" with his kind of blues and rock'n'roll. This record continues his last one with a number of classic American blues songs. You always knows what you get from Omar and he always deliver. Perhaps a little too much blues and to little rock'n'roll on this record for my liking.
After all buying of various side-projects of the Wildhearts lately, I bought the Yo-Yo's EP from 2005, which includes 7 tracks. Unfortunately, it isn't so good as their debut CD "Uppers and Downers" but still it has a couple of good tracks including "Round the world" and "Tattoos don't last forever".
One of the best positive surprises for a long time. A great punk record with 12 great tracks. The singer sounds like a mix between Tyla of "Dogs D'Amour" and the "Yo-Yo's" and it sounds like a typical British punk record (even if I don't know if the band is British - they are indeed, see comments). The best tracks includes "5 Aces", "Soho" and "Two Ladies". Highly recommended!
Live recording with Dave Alvin of Blaster from 1999. The Blasters is one of my favourite bands but neither Dave's nor his brother Phil's is anything near as good as their common band. In fact on this record he even fails with "Marie Marie, which should be impossible. The only good part is the medley with "Jubilee Train/Do-Re-Mi/Promised Land", which rocks on good. Another one filed under "played once, never again".
Italian "Peawees'" record from 2007 is good clean fun and traditional punk. 11 tracks with only one over 3 minutes (and that's 3:04!).
Ginger of the Wildhearts latest solo-record is a acoustic solo-record made together with Random Jon Poole and Hot Steve in September 2003. A brilliant show and recording even if the record suffers from the same problem as the previous and similar "Grievous Acoustic Behaviour" with Ginger's talk between the tracks. In no doubt great on the show and fun the first time you listen to it but when you listen to it for the tenth time you'll have to have the remote in your hand so that you can skip the talking. Excellent versions of "29xPain" and "Skychaser High" and with two magnificent medleys with "Does Your Mother Know/Sky Babies/Space Oddity" and "Pissjoy/Suckerpunch/Nurse Maximus". It speaks for the brilliance of Ginger when he makes "Pissjoy" sounds like Abba's "On and On and On"! I can't wait until Wildhearts comes to my hometown Borlänge this summer!
Another record from the Live From Austin, TX series. This one was recorded on 17 October 1983 with a Jerry Lee Lewis in good form. As with all the records in this series, I approached it with some caution since the quality (not the sound and production – which is always good) on them are quite varying. I have also a difficult relation with ‘”The Killer” since I think he is too much 50’s but somehow he is the first ‘punk’. Additionally some good version of tracks turns up, and I bought this one because his version of ‘C. C. Rider’ was included. Unfortunately this version wasn’t his best (I usually loves his sloppy and lazy version). However many other tracks were quite good including ‘Keep my motor runnin’, ‘Boogie Woogie Country Man’, ‘Great Balls of Fire’ and of course ‘Whole Lot of Shakin’ Goin’ On’.
This is a live recording from 1992. The Gun club is a great favourite among many critics but I have never bought any records by them so this is my first. Thus I listened on with great expectations but unfortunately this was not good at all and t he record made me very disappointed! Additionally the sound on it is very crappy. This one will be included in my collection of records “played once – never again”.
The Scottish duo is a rather late find for me and this greatest hits collection sums them up quite well with their nice blend of pop, folk and harmonies with attitude. I’m always become happy when I listen to the Proclaimers! Highly recommended as an introduction to this great group!
Being very fond of girl-groups of the 60’s this greatest hits collection of Motown’s first no. 1 single hit group (‘Please Mr. Postman’) is a nice addition to mine or any other collection of timeless pop. I especially likes the up-tempo songs like ‘As long as I know he’s mine’ and ‘To many fish in the sea’.
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