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Panic pop heaven last night in San Francisco at the Veronica Falls/Brilliant Colors/Golden Grrrls show at The Rickshaw Stop. Having missed the London-based Veronica Falls on numerous occasions when we were nonetheless in the same city, I’d been anticipating this one for a while, particular since I’m a major sucker for their Velvets-meets-Mamas & Papas 60s jangle/ultra-reverb/fast-strum sound. 

(Thanks to TheeBoyRacer for the photo of two members of Veronica Falls, by the way….my camera phone shots were atrocious). 

Glasglow’s GOLDEN GRRRLS were a spot-on, up-tempo C86 Shop Assistants-style Scottish pop trio, right outta the 80s and from Scotland to boot. Enjoyed them much more than the records I’ve heard thus far & therefore made a vow to check out their new Slumberland release a little closer.

BRILLIANT COLORS were similarly rising above expectations; I’ve always kinda liked their records, with the caveat that the vocals were a little too bathtub sing-songy and not particularly ear-pleasing neither…..and that reservation too was dashed when a nice level of mud was slathered on the mop-top female singer’s mic & they ripped through a rapid series of Buzzcockian 90-second smokers. There’s a dude in this band now; is that something new? Whatever, there’s a lot more heft here than Dynamite Hemorrhage had been aware of in the past.

VERONICA FALLS were every bit as good as I’d hoped, so we’ll call it a terrific night out. They spread the love around both their albums, mostly ignoring the minuscule amount of bum tracks they’ve written in favor of all their great ones, like the new “If You Still Want Me”, which I think might be the best thing they’ve ever done; “Right Side of My Brain”; “Come on Over” and even a encore featuring their first-45 cover of “Starry Eyes”.

It doesn’t do them many favors to call them a “pop” band, as I often do to differentiate them from, say, being a “punk” or a “garage” band. They’re loud, harmonic, fast, lean, tight, fetching, dissonant and pleasant as the day is long. I don’t reckon they’re in any danger of leaping into the mersh zone any time soon, as it’s pretty clear their roots are in the deep underground of post-punk, kiwi pop and the Velvets, and they’ve made no nods to anything approaching a quote-unquote sell-out to date.

Let’s give ‘em a big hand for that and hope they keep up the stellar work.

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I’d never even considered buying a bootleg anything before I found this tape, as a teenager, by THE CRAMPS in 1984 called “NY ‘79”. I felt pretty special at the time, like I had something super rare. Then when my Cramps-loving older cousin, whose music taste I idolized at the time, told me I was “rad” for having this and asked me to tape it for him – well, I was pretty on fire in my own head 29 years ago.

I digitized the whole thing for you – the live show that starts it off, and the studio demos that close it out. I made it all one continuous track (sorry), but you’ll want to listen to it in its entirety anyway. So no worries, right?

Some highlights include a killer studio version of “Weekend On Mars”, which is mostly known as a live song from the “Smell of Female”-era Cramps of the early 80s, and the amazing lead live song, “The Way I Walk”, a version that bests the studio version. Hope you enjoy it.

Download THE CRAMPS – “NY ’79” Bootleg tape

Track listing:

  1. The Way I Walk
  2. Everybody’s Moving
  3. Domino
  4. Rocket In My Pocket
  5. Human Fly
  6. Rockin’ Bones
  7. Teenage Werewolf
  8. Sunglasses After Dark
  9. Teenage Werewolf
  10. Twist & Shout
  11. Weekend on Mars
  12. Rockin’ Bones
  13. The Mad Daddy
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Just listened to WTF’s Marc Maron interviewing J. Mascis on his podcast this past week, and while I was searching for a good Lazy Cowgirls image for my previous post, I found this flyer scan from a show that DINOSAUR JR. and the Cowgirls played together in LA in early ‘89.

I was at this show, and Dinosaur Jr., as they were in 1987 (or ’88?) when I’d seen them in Upland, CA, were totally booooring. Man, we were such fans of theirs, but the live show was a huge letdown and a helluva bummer after driving 2-3 hours each way to see them.

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I digitized a 1987 live tape I’ve had since, well, 1987 of THE LAZY COWGIRLS, live in Los Angeles at the Anti-Club on 2-15-87. This was a few months after I’d first been blown away by their live show, and the same year that I began going to every single one of their shows, whether it was two hours away in LA, six hours away in San Francisco or right in my then-hometown of Santa Barbara, CA. 

I saw them live for the first time in September 1986, and I remember my jaw thudding on the floor and my making a vow to follow them like a pilgrim for the next 3 years (mission accomplished). I missed this 2-15-87 show, I think, but our pal Eric Stone recorded it on a trusty handheld and let us dub off the tape. I’m not sure if I’m quite as impressed now, 26 years later, as I was then – I mean, “Green Acres” and “These Boots are Made for Walkin’”?? Please. Yet you can hear what a ballistic garage punk powerhouse they were, no question; absolutely one of the great live bands of their era. Just right-click to download the show.

Download THE LAZY COWGIRLS – Live at The Anti-Club, 2-15-87

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https://www.tumblr.com/audio_file/dynamitehemorrhage/46118169432/tumblr_mk53m66jZp1rex6a7?plead=please-dont-download-this-or-our-lawyers-wont-let-us-host-audio

I’m going to post the entire tape of THE CRAMPS “NY ‘79” later this week if not later this evening, but first – you gotta hear the song that kicks this thing off, “The Way I Walk”. Just a gonzoid version. This is the first bootleg anything I ever bought.

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https://www.tumblr.com/audio_file/dynamitehemorrhage/45875038745/tumblr_mjzifwIuiZ1rex6a7?plead=please-dont-download-this-or-our-lawyers-wont-let-us-host-audio

I got this phenomenal track from a bootleg set of mp3s called “LUX & IVY’S FAVORITES”.

From the description on the band I found on the internets:

Apparently, The Ravels were a Brooklyn streetcorner group, just another of many hundreds of similar singing lads, looking for a shot at the big time (or at least a spin on Dr. Jive’s show on WWRL). One of their acquaintances, a man named Elmore Sheriff, had a song he had written back in 1955 that he called “Shombalor”. Sheriff knew a guy named Aki Aleong, who was working as an actor and was heavy into the doo-wop scene (his 45 of “How Do I Stand With You?” on Mona-Lee Records is a VERY desirable slab of wax for group harmony freaks), and Aki had some contacts with some local recording studios. 

Result: The Ravels got their chance to cut a record. They immediately cut one of their original songs, “Lonely One” (written by one “W. Denson” – could this have been Wee Willie Denson, who later had the equally strange 45 “Fried Marbles”? Was he a member of The Ravels?) and for the flip side, ol’ Sheriff let the group know that they were gonna cut his tune.

The group got behind it, and made the record (this is why original copies on Vee Jay have “Sheriff and The Ravels” on one side and “The Ravels” on the other). Of course, not only did Aki Aleong take half the writers’ credit for both sides, he got one of the EARLIEST production credits EVER for a rock and roll 45! Aki then shopped the tapes around to several labels, and Vee Jay Records in Chicago picked it up. Neither side was picked as a “plug side” (Vee Jay never printed “plug side” on their promotional 45s for some reason).