Monthly Archives: April 2021

VIA PRESS RELEASE | New Jersey alternative rock quintet, Dramarama has released two of their most iconic albums, Color TV (2020) and Cinéma Vérité (1985) on limited edition vinyl via Pasadena Records. The simultaneous vinyl release of these two albums poetically bookends the career-to-date of one of our most intriguing and influential American rock bands. Purchase albums HERE.

​Dramarama’s latest release, Color TV received major critical acclaim. Legendary music critic Robert Christgau added Color TV to his most coveted Dean’s List and called the album, “the finest of an impressively consistent career.” American Songwriter said the album ‘features some of lead singer / songwriter John Easdale’s fiercest and most moving compositions,’ and Rock Cellar declared Color TV “among the strongest rock releases this year.”

Flash back to the musically groundbreaking mid-80s: “Anything, Anything (I’ll Give You)” comes screaming out of tastemaker radio stations coast to coast. L.A.’s KROQ launches this shot heard ‘round the world. This undeniable, anthem-of-angst, punk rock smash sounds as unnerving and hungry as ever. “Anything, Anything (I’ll Give You)” is only one highlight of Dramarama’s fierce debut album Cinéma Vérité, perhaps one of the finest blends of British invasion panache and glam influences, to punk energy and back again. Now after a 35-year hiatus, Cinéma Vérité is back on vinyl!

Rooted in distorted grit, punk energy, and American songbook eloquence, Dramarama has always been both classic and cutting-edge. John Easdale (singer/songwriter), Mark Englert (lead, rhythm guitar), Mike Davis (bass), and Tony Snow (drums) – not only preserve but strengthen the spirit that established them as a music-history making force in 1982.

VIA PRESS RELEASE | North London independent label Floating World, through their Retroworld reissue division, are thrilled to announce the Friday, June 11th 2021 release of Three Temptations of Alice, a double CD set that yokes together three albums by Alice Cooper—namely Trash (1989), Hey Stoopid (1991) and The Last Temptation (1994).

Trash marked a real commercial resurgence for Alice Cooper when it was originally released, off the back of the global smash hit single, “Poison.” Produced by Desmond Child, Trash was the first album for his new recording home, Sony / Epic, and the label’s faith was rewarded with a million-selling set.

Hey Stoopid featured guest slots from the likes of guitarists Slash, Steve Vai, and Joe Satriani, as well as Nikki Sixx and Mick Mars of Motley Crue. The inclusion of the latter pairing, given the Crue’s legendary penchant for excess, is somewhat ironic, given that the title track is a plea for rockers NOT to self-destruct (Ozzy Osbourne, no stranger to a bit of excess himself, features on the track).

Unfortunately, without the production input of Desmond Child (who does however contribute to the writing of a couple of songs), it doesn’t quite have that winning mix of the commercial and the cutting. It’s not without its moments, however; “Feed My Frankenstein”—co-written by Zodiac Mindwarp, has the Vai / Satriani guitar axis working effectively, and “Love’s A Loaded Gun” lacks nothing in drama and punch.

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VIA PRESS RELEASE | In a fun, Nuggets-like trip back to the Summer of Love era, Yesterday’s Tomorrow: Celebrating the Winston-Salem Sound, due out May 7, 2021 on Omnivore Recordings, shines a strobe light on the vibrant ’60s and ’70s Combo Corner rock scene of Winston-Salem, North Carolina.

Original members of bands such as Arrogance, Little Diesel, Sacred Irony, and Rittenhouse Square —including Mitch Easter (Let’s Active); Peter Holsapple, Will Rigby, and Chris Stamey (the dB’s); singers Don Dixon, Dale Smith, Lynn Blakey, Bob Northcott; and many others — convened on May 12, 2018, at Winston-Salem’s Ramkat club to revisit those fuzzbox years, and this remarkable live recording shines brightly with their camaraderie and precise enthusiasm for those days of yore.

In the mind-blowing songs of now-vanished local legends Captain Speed and the Fungi Electric Mothers, the classic set list of the Imperturbable Teutonic Griffin, and amid the amusing scene portrayals of collectors’ favorite Rittenhouse Square, the electric guitars soar, with plenty of feedback and sizzle. With the added oomph of the Occasional Orchestra (live strings, percussion, and brass), music direction by Doug Davis (Vagabond Saints’ Society), and stops along the way for affectionate renditions of then-faves by Bubble Puppy, the Easybeats, the Music Machine, the Electric Prunes, The Beatles, and even Kool and the Gang, there’s a lot to love here.’

The impetus for this extraordinary concert was that Stamey had a book fresh off the press, a song-based memoir called A Spy in the House of Loud. A portion of the book references his time in New York, but the first part remembers, song by key song, the late 1960s and early ’70s creative rock music scene in Winston. A surprising number of the Combo Corner crew went on to play and produce music professionally in the decades that followed — often with one another in different configurations (e.g., dB’s, Let’s Active, or with R.E.M., Steve Earle, Matthew Sweet, Vassar Clements, Hootie & the Blowfish, Big Star’s Third Live, Mary Chapin Carpenter, Golden Palominos) and in different locales. They were still in regular contact the day Stamey suggested they try to “play the soundtrack to the book.”

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VIA PRESS RELEASE | When The Yardbirds flew across the Channel to France in 1965 they were greeted as heroes by legions of young fans, even when they shared a concert bill with the all-powerful Beatles. Cheers rang out around the Palais des Sports in Paris in June that year, when the compere announced “The Yardbirds!” and the group stormed into hit song “For Your Love.”

​Mercifully the magic of their various shows in France during the ’60s was captured for posterity by French radio and TV. As a result, we are proud to present the audio from shows that were broadcast to an even wider European audience than the thousands who had already flocked to see them perform live. Here is the electrifying sound of Keith Relf singing and blowing his trusty harmonica alongside the legendary Jeff Beck and Jimmy Page on lead guitars, backed by Chris Dreja (guitar), Paul Samwell-Smith (bass), and Jim McCarty (drums).

They roar into action on Yardbird favourites “Over, Under, Sideways, Down,” “Train Kept A-Rollin,” “Shapes Of Things,” and “Heart Full Of Soul”—just some of the gems on this essential CD / vinyl release, now digitally re-mastered by Eroc the Engineer.

Listening to Jimmy Page backed by Jim McCarty’s powerful drums on the bluesy and atmospheric “Dazed And Confused” we sense the future of heavy rock already boiling up on stage. The story of this influential band and their adventures in France from 1965 to 1968 is told in a superb 16-page booklet by Repertoire’s Chris Welch, which includes exclusive new interviews with founder members Jim McCarty and Paul Samwell-Smith. Learn about life on the road in Swinging ’60s France with The Yardbirds. Then listen to the music!

Brooklyn sextet Birthday Ass have described their sound rather broadly as punk rock, although greater specificity comes through the tag of no wave as they zero in even further by introducing the adjective skronky. While their sophomore full-length reinforces these assessments, more impressive is how they bypass expectations through a sharp ensemble sound that’s capped with the distinctive vocal approach of Priya Carlberg, who also composed the nine tracks. Much more than just another slab of neo-no wave, Head of the Household is out April 23 on vinyl (black or purple) and digitally through Ramp Local, and with the option to purchase black undies or boxers emblazoned with the band’s moniker. Saucy!

My initial expectations for this album, which served as my introduction to Birthday Ass (they have a prior set, Baby Syndrome, issued in 2018 with cassettes still available through Erased! Tapes), leaned toward some degree of loose, high-velocity aural splatter, a gush that would rely on the intersection of sustained energy and pure mayhem for its success.

My prediction derived in no small part from what I perceived as the punk prankishness of their chosen name, an understandable presumption on my part but ultimately off-target as Birthday Ass is as sharp as tacks both compositionally and in terms of ensemble heft. Along with Carlberg, the group consists of guitarist Andres Abenante, bassist Dan Raney, drummer Jonathan Starks, trumpeter Alex Quinn, and alto saxophonist Raef Sengupta.

Naturally, those horns will be handling the skronk duties, but on first listen I was struck by a level of musicianship that bypassed the by now standard ruckus-raising honking and bleating, all while maintaining high level of rawness and edge. This all gets established without delay as opener “Blah” dishes spiky art-funkiness that’s as much UK post-punk as NYC no wave.

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VIA PRESS RELEASE | CAKE will celebrate Earth Day and Arbor Day 2021 with the launch of a groundbreaking reforestation campaign with One Tree Planted, a 501(c)(3) environmental nonprofit dedicated to global reforestation. The #CAKEforests initiative will help raise much-needed funds to plant trees, sustain healthy communities, and help to restore the environment in three U.S. regions devastated by last year’s wildfires.

​In 2020, the Western United States experienced a series of major wildfires across California, Oregon, and Washington, burning more than 10.2 million acres. The #CAKEforests campaign will take action to help restore these forests, habitats, and communities by working to plant trees and return the forests to their natural state.

One Tree Planted has reserved 16,000 trees on behalf of CAKE to be planted in 2021 in each region. Every dollar donated will plant a tree in one of three reforestation projects, including California’s Slater Fire Restoration, Oregon’s Replanting Within Canyon Mountain Fire Complex and Rail Fire, and Washington’s Cougar Creek Wildfire Reforestation. All three projects are slated for completion by the end of December 2021. Donations made surpassing the 16,000 in each region will be used in an additional 2022 reforestation program.

“Humans evolved alongside trees,” says CAKE co-founder/singer John McCrea. “What we are has to do with them, and we eliminate them only at our peril.” “Trees are beautiful and majestic!” adds CAKE co-founder/multi-instrumentalist Vincent DiFiore. “Their regal stature undoubtedly gives them a monument-like quality. CAKE is pleased to be associated with the continuous efforts to help restore forests, communities, and the work to support urban green spaces that disperse heat and filter pollution.”

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Ulrich Schnauss is a German-born, London-based electronic musician with an extensive discography both of his own, and since 2014, as a member of Tangerine Dream. Jonas Munk, who hails from Odense in his home country of Denmark, is also a specialist in electronics along with playing guitar; he’s released music as Manual, as half of Billow Conservatory, and as part of the rock-aligned ensemble Causa Sui. Schnauss and Munk have also collaborated extensively, with Eight Fragments Of An Illusion their third full-length together. Combining abstract electronic atmospheres with rich, melodic guitar, it’s out on vinyl, compact disc, and digital April 23 through Azure Vista Records.

Throughout Eight Fragments of an Illusion, Ulrich Schnauss and Jonas Monk fortify their blend of electronic drift and song-structure with touches of kosmische, an anticipated development given Schnauss’ role in Tangerine Dream, and with electronic elements, which is also unsurprising, as both Schnauss and Munk began as solo operators in the fertile electronic scene.

Also present are facets gleaned from shoegaze, the ingredient that is perhaps least expected, as Causa Sui’s rock tendencies sprang forth from the Stoner zone, only to become increasingly Krautrock-tinged and occasionally even San Fran ballroom-like in psychedelic comportment. However, across the spectrum of projects I’ve absorbed that feature Munk’s input, a healthy diversity gets bolstered by an underlying unity, with Eight Fragments of an Illusion fitting right into that scheme as it additionally extends and expands the possibilities of Munk’s collaboration with Schnauss.

The duo’s latest isn’t a radical departure from their 2011 debut (released digitally either eponymously, as Epic or Weightless Memories and on CD as Emotion Meets Expression) or its 2017 follow-up Passage, but after a gap of four years (with recording spread across the last three) the partnership has started to transcend the guitar-infused ’90s-’00s electronic template.

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VIA PRESS RELEASE | Band members included the original reality-TV star Lance Loud (An American Family); some would later play/ work with Patti Smith Group, Iggy Pop, Klaus Nomi, and Lydia Lunch. Packaging contains liner notes by Pat Loud, Kristian Hoffman, Joe Katz, and Paul Rutner.

​Mumps were not your ordinary punk rock band. For starters, they had a genuine TV star as their front man. Lance Loud and his family were chronicled in PBS’ 1973 docuseries An American Family, widely considered the first reality TV show, set in Santa Barbara, California. The show was also where Lance revealed his homosexuality—making him a television pioneer on two counts. Loud and his friend, keyboardist Kristian Hoffman, formed Loud, and performed on The Dick Cavett Show when Lance’s mother, Pat Loud, insisted on it, or she wouldn’t appear on the show to promote An American Family.

Driven by Lance’s fascination with Andy Warhol, the band moved to NYC. They were one of the first bands to play at the legendary CBGB and became regulars at Max’s Kansas City. Warhol became a fan, calling them one of the greatest bands of their time. They even opened for Van Halen at the famed Whisky-a-Go-Go in West Hollywood. While their live prowess was never a question, Mumps only released two singles before disbanding, 1977’s “I Like To Be Clean” on Bomp! Records, and “Rock & Roll This, Rock & Roll That” on Perfect Records the following year.

Rock & Roll This, Rock & Roll That: Best Case Scenario, You’ve Got Mumps combines the five tracks from those singles with nine tracks recorded between 1974–1979 compiled by the band’s Hoffman and drummer Paul Rutner with co-producer Greg Allen. The CD and Digital program adds an addition nine tracks, including previously unissued songs from the pre-Mumps band, Loud, which included future Patti Smith Group member Jay Dee Daugherty on drums. Street date for the Mumps set is set for June 4, 2021 via Omnivore Recordings.

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One of the running tenets that makes up the current incarnation of America the band’s creative creed is the idea that while Dewey Bunnell writes the group’s “outdoor songs,” like “A Horse with No Name,” “Ventura Highway,” and “Tin Man,” his bandmate and creative partner for the last fifty-one years, Gerry Beckley writes “I Need You,” “Daisy Jane,” and “Sister Golden Hair”—the “indoor songs.” Possessing a penchant for self-examination and introspection, Beckley favors the navigational terrain of the ever-elusive human heart—and its frenemy the mind—and the moments when they do and do not work together when carving out compositions.

America (originally a trio until band member Dan Peek departed the group in ’77) has left quite a number of ’70s-So-Cal-and-beyond culture-defining songs in its wake since debut hit single “A Horse with No Name” arrived in late 1971 in the UK, and in early 1972 in the US. And the band has led a corresponding road-life to keep such a legacy and long discography alive, having celebrated its fiftieth anniversary in the strangest of all last years, 2020, which was accompanied by the release of an all-encompassing boxed set, an authorized biography penned by yours truly, and a fiftieth anniversary multi-national tour, which has of course been delayed.

Gerry’s compositional character, like that of his bandmate Dewey, is an interesting one. As a songwriter his philosophy is in the school of “write ten to get two” good songs—which not surprisingly has resulted in a plethora of material since he began writing songs as a teenager. Although America has continued to record and release some quality studio albums in recent years, Gerry Beckley’s work has also led to his intermittently releasing solo studio recordings since 1995 with Van Go Gan.

Last month, Beckley released a solo best-of through Blu Elan Records entitled Keeping the Light On, which spawned an associated release of Beckley covers by an all-female cast of Blu Elan artists entitled Watching the Time. Available digitally, on CD, and on transparent double vinyl, the compilation is comprised of fifteen of Gerry’s favorite solo songs from his seven past solo records and five newly recorded tracks.

Keeping the Light On, taken as a whole, stands as a thorough overview of Beckley’s musical output as a solo artist, displaying in full his artistic totems: twin lyrical focuses of time and its passage, and romantic love and its myriad of complications and possibilities for ultimate bliss or total annihilation; intricate studio production; and of course, his McCartney-esque gift for crafting melody.

In a fun, lively, and enlightening chat with Beckley from his home in Sydney, Australia, we learn more about Keeping the Light On – the Best of Gerry Beckley’s genesis, Gerry’s long-standing working relationship with the home recording studio, and how his compositional career’s lyrical theme of time is about as universal as it gets.

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