DANCE THE DECA-DANCE

(i) MUSIC THAT HAS LIVED WITH A SPECIAL FRIEND FOR 20 YEARS…BUT WE DON’T TALK ABOUT THAT

American Music Club, Love Songs For Patriots 2xlp (Devil In The Woods Records, P.O. Box 579168, Modesto, CA, 95357, www.devilinthewoods.com, www.american-music-club.com, lyrics at www.markeitzel.com)

After ten years apart, Mark Eitzel and crew reunite to deliver a rootsy, jazzy, experimental, depressing, moving meditation on life, love, politics and art.

Unlike earlier releases, this one embraces modern technology with a vengeance, though it is hardly an electro-pop collection, because, while Mark is a fag, he is no disco queen – in fact, though I don’t know if he so identifies, he definitely sets off MY woof detector in terms of Bearishness (not that there are no ursines shaking their groove things to Labelle (I can think of at LEAST one J (hi, Bruce)).  Instead, these touches are used to create new textures, rhythms and subtle accents.

The “American Smiths” comparisons that plagued the band at earlier stages could be fairly applied in terms of the epic outpourings of emotion and anguish and longing, such as fuel the lengthy and gorgeously arranged “Patriot’s Heart”, surely one of the first songs that relates the wounded but struggling spirit of that country to a gay stripper’s life, and “Ladies and Gentlemen” , a sardonic yet also sincere exploration of the state of an arguably shell-shocked and  put-upon populace (themes repeated in ‘America Loves The Minstrel Show’).  As was observed by Lou Reed some years ago during his tour for New York (another album about a place in crisis, though one which has aged less well), this may not be some people’s idea of rock and roll, but it is AMC’s idea,  ultimately the only one that matters in a creative endeavour.

Antony and the Johnsons, I Am A Bird Now lp (Secretly Canadian Records, 1499 West 2^nd Street, Bloomington, IN, 47403, www.secretlycanadian.com, www.antonyandthejohnsons.com)

Leave it to a straight boy to provide me with the vocal comparison that most describes the voice of this singer/keyboardist.  In terms of the extravagant vibrato and affected pitch, I was thinking of one performer, while the slightly decadent torch/jazz arrangements were inclining me towards another.  My glib summation was going to be ‘Tiny Tim Waits’ – however, Nina Simone works very well, in terms of both the huskiness AND the sheer wild beauty in play.  So, I thank you, Bill.

Yes, this is an album of  deviant ballads, some with a bit of a swing to them, sometimes with dramatic shifts of tempo and rhythm within (a piece might begin with gentle piano chords and then rival Diamanda Galas at moments for sheer ivory intensity, while Antony’s voice may veer from purr to anguished roar (though never quite harsh – more impassioned…)).

Guests include the likes of Devendra Banhart, Rufus Wainwright, Boy George and even Lou Reed (given the latter’s revisionist history tendencies, I shall hesitate to put down my cards and crow ‘four queens!’), but their contributions are subtle and never overshadow the star.

Not all that surprisingly, in a theme hinted at by Candy Darling being on the lp’s sleeve, songs such as “My Lady Story”, “You Are My Sister” and “For Today I Am A Boy” play fast and loose with gender identity, as does Antony’s image on the inner sleeve (neither genderfuck nor uber-fashion model, but an uneasy mixture of both), while “Fistful of Love” is best described as S&M soul.  A very pretty record, but one which will demand your attention while it plays…

Scott Free, They Call Me Mr. Free cd (Leather/Western Records, P.O. Box 11980, Chicago, IL, 60611, USA, mrscottfree@lycos.com, www.scottfree.net)

Scott Free returns with his first album in five years, expanding on the themes and sounds of the last record, The Living Dead (1999), which was much poppier than the fierce Getting Off (1997).

The elements of more complex arrangements and hope that crept in between his first and second albums were occasioned by improvements in his health, I would speculate; in the case of this third album, the emergence of love and impending matrimony have doubtless contributed to its increased breadth and focused anger (I think it was Elvis Costello who said falling in love increases your determination to rail against evil and stupidity).

This explains why an album which includes such touching lyrics as are found in “Who Do I Thank?” also incorporates the appropriately biting “Ronald Reagan’s Funeral”and “Fair Trade”, and music which veers from the alternate history pop of “John Loved Paul” to the pounding “Gospel Singers” (right up there with Diamanda Galas’ “You Must Be Certain of the Devil” in terms of using the genre’s tools to expose its contradictions).  In terms of the middle ground, there are such tracks as the catchily rocking “Muffin Song” and the hopeful rap of “Another Day of the Cruelty”, while “Mouthful” and “Battle Hymn of the Intolerant” manage to muster a bitter chuckle or two in their brutal satire, and “Disco Divas” as well as “When Queers Become Rock Stars” and “The Emperor’s New Song” lay boots to some of the sad ironies and realities of the music industry.

Scott and Gene, long may you collaborate, cohabitate and fornicate, brothers.

The Fundamentalists, DYIN' DAY/TOUCHED BY YOU (4 JIM) online MP3s

Don Harvey, Just having some good, clean, fun! cd (advance copy, contact DrDonaldMD@aol.com for more info)

This gentleman wrote to me after hearing some of my music on Bear Radio.  That he enjoyed my tunes should have been a warning sign – but I pressed on, sending him my material as per his request.  In return, he sent me HIS project in progress (as well as another CD to which he contributed, on which more later).

This is a very entertaining and funny (in a good way) collection of rootsy, semi-acoustic, bluesy and countryish tunes, delivered in a voice remotely reminiscent of Allen Ginsberg (and, yes, this

is a compliment) and performed with a very simple set-up of guitars, bass and pump organ into microphones and a digital eight-track recorder.  I was particularly taken with the sex-soaked sea shanty “Sailing To Constantinople”, the vaguely unplugged-Pansy-Division bar tale of “Cruising”, the extended metaphor of “Otter”, the sardonic ‘tude of “Leather Arm Band Song” and the down-home down-going blues of “I’m Just A Good Old Boy”.  On the less-queer tip, “Dear Peter” is an ode to a departed friend, Peter Laughner of early Pere Ubu fame, who tragically died young, another victim of the stupid better-to-burn-out myth.  

All told, a rough diamond that doesn’t need much polishing.

Hidden Cameras, The Arms of His “Ill” 10” (Absolutely Kosher, 1412 10^th Street, Berkeley, CA, 94710, www.absolutelykosher.com); Ban Marriage/The Dying Galatian demo 7” (Earworm Records, www.earwormrecords.com); I Believe In The Good of Life/Divide 7” (Rough Trade Records, www.roughtraderecords.com); Mississauga Goddam cd (Evil Evil Records, 224 Queen Street W., P.O. Box 50027, Toronto, Ontario, M5V 1Z6, CANADA), www.thehiddencameras.com)   

There is a certain perversity at work when a band’s demos are almost better than the final product.  Perhaps it’s a reflection of too much thought or labour – I’m not sure.  As someone whose recordings have  been either solo or done with two other people at most,  to whom I generally have given free rein (because I don’t know how to play drums or keyboards or

lead guitar very well, I have very little in the way of options in that regard), I am not sure what happens to a simple song when twelve or more people lay into it.

Having said this, I am more fond of the demos included on the above 10” (of songs intended for the Mississauga Goddam album) and 7” (of two songs which were either on the Smell Of Our Own album or, in the case of the B-side,on the single of Ban Marriage. They’re simply more intimate (and, at the risk of sounding like my parents, I can make out the words better in the sparser settings).

In terms of the home recordings on “The Arms of His ‘Ill’ ”, it is interesting to see that the vocal rhythm on “Music Is My Boyfriend” was presumably intended to be a bit off-kilter and rushed (it does perhaps suit the notion in the lyrics that the body and time are brief), and “Bboy” does not irritate me quite as much here as it did on the album.  “Fear Is On” could have benefited from this

minimalism on the final release, as it appeared overblown in the full-band rendition (it is, I will concede, difficult NOT to be over-the-top with an ensemble of some ten musicians, but it could be done).  On the other hand, “Doot Doot Plot”, “Builds The Bone” and “In The Union of Wine” just don’t do it for me here, either, and “Mississauga Goddam” – well, I just don’t know enough about that suburb to know if it really is such a festering hellhole. J  However, the art included with this 10” is spiffy, whether it be: the handsome cover skinhead by Paul P; GB Jones’ ominous pencil sketch of wolves and owls in a graveyard; the sacrilege of the, er, packaging of Jesus by Will Munro and Bruce LaBruce  (lucky Son to be next to such furry thighs, though) or the cartoonish Boy-Scout-and-audio-tape drawing by Daryl Vocat.

The demos on the Ban Marriage 7” are also quite fetching (though it would appear this single is almost sold out – my copy was #694 of 1000, and the website is declaring ‘last few copies’), especially the acoustic guitar and the hollow thwacking drums of “Ban Marriage” (in fact, though I adore the final product’s massed chorale, the more subtle backing vocals here are also touching) and the more full sound of “The Dying Galatian” (which, despite the sleeve credits, would seem to have extra percussion, real or programmed, and possibly synthetic orchestration added).

“I Believe In The Good Of Life” comes from Mississauga Goddam itself, and is the highlight of that album for me.  This was originally on Ecce Homo, the 4-track solo recordings of frontman Joel Gibb, released under The Hidden Cameras, originally as a limited CD-R and ultimately as an official release after The Smell Of Our Own, but the expansion here works quite well, with the churning guitar and bass in service of a catchy melody and a memorable lyric (and the video, replete with drag queens, petty theft, bicycles, swimming pools and so much more, must be experienced (go to www.thehiddencameras.com and see)).  “Divide”, the B-side, is a moody mid-tempo piece driven by piano and strings and a very passionate vocal, easily the equal of anything on the album…

On which point – Mississauga Goddam itself, at last.  I loved the last album, and actually had the first album before its official release.  The cliché about having your whole life to write the first album or two and then six months for the next may apply here – it just doesn’t move me as much, and the big sound cannot always hide the fact that maybe the songs needed a bit more work.  “Fear Is On” is okay, “Music Is My Boyfriend” is both darkly funny and disturbing, “I Believe In The Good of Life” is triumphant, and “We Oh We”, in its third recording, is still delicate and touching.  The rest just hasn’t snagged me – I wish I could say otherwise…

Jobriath, I Love A Good Fight/Scumbag cd single (Attack/Sanctuary, www.sanctuaryrecordsgroup.co.uk, www.jobriath.org)

Jobriath put out two albums in the early 70s, which bombed and went out of print fairly quickly, and his material did not appear officially on CD…until now, thanks to the auspices of Morrissey (whose taste for camp has resulted in heightened profiles for both New York Dolls and Nancy Sinatra on his Attack label). 

This single, an excerpt from Lonely Planet Boy, a compilation of 15 tracks from those albums, has a certain Ziggy Stardust quality, if the queerness weren’t quite so coy (the lyrics to the main track less than subtly seem to refer to the ingestion of various bodily fluids).  It screams its moment in time in terms of both production and musical style, but this is not necessarily a bad thing.  1973/4 had its highlights (Raw Power by The Stooges; Berlin by Lou Reed; Ziggy Stardust by Bowie, even), and this artist’s material, though not quite to those standards, is diverting and attitudinal.  Let us hope, in the name of queer history, that this oeuvre does not vanish from sight again…

Kids on TV, Hustle! cd-ep (self-released, 236 Augusta Ave., 2F, Toronto, Ontario, Canada, M5T 2L7 kidsontv@yahoo.com)

John Caffery, former exotic dancer, fronts this electro-agitpopping ensemble, whose live show incorporates slides and images as well as drums, guitar, samples and vocals.  Having seen them in October, 2004, in Kingston, I can tell you it’s a dynamic show, especially when John strips to his jock and kneepads and hits the floor (literally), undulating and shaking his groove thing (and he’s got some cute little tufts of chest fur going on – yes, I’m a whore – duh…), as well as when the breakdancing begins.  As you might guess from this, there is a decided performance aspect to this band’s appeal.

As a result, the cd suffers a bit from the lack of those elements.  However, the material has a good beat and an aggressively queer attitude, and the marketing mockery of “The Company” and “Breakdance Hunx” (though I suppose the sale value of a little blond who breakdances and sucks cock WOULD be somewhat inflated…) is most appreciated by this twisted faggot, at least – and you have to love a band that samples DAF!

From what I understand, the band is now working on a full-length followup, and has been getting some attention outside of the Toronto area.  I look forward to seeing where this ensemble goes from here (especially the drummer, Scott, who I hope stays with them – and not just because he bought a whole bunch of my zines and is easy on the eye too…).

Andy Northrup, Cardboard Logic cd  (self-released, c/o R New House up North Publishing, 11421-91 St., Edmonton, Alberta, T5B 4A6, CANADA, upnorthr@shaw.ca. www.anorthrup.com)

On this, the follow up to Slow Burn Avenue (2001), Andy Northrup goes for slightly more ambitious arrangements, but without losing the rootsy qualities that make his music compelling (that little twang, the subtle touch of vibrato to his voice, and, well, his downright woofiness (actually, his bass player and drummer also register high on the Bear-o-meter, though I suspect Ed Garrick, the bass player, would prefer that his wife not hear that, and I don’t know how Gordon Marshall, the drummer, swings his sticks…).

“Sometimes” (both in the original version and the slower take that is the CD bonus track) has a nice pop-folk chime to its existential day-by-day-romance tale, while “These Hands” starts simple and gentle and opens out to a complex web of harmonies and (I presume) electronic orchestral touches in its accounting of the life of a man in crisis.  “It Ain’t Easy” and “Only Trying to Understand” are the topical numbers at hand, addressing homophobia and terrorism without being heavy-handed diatribes.  In fact, his subtlety is one of Andy’s best traits as a writer – while I agree with Stevie Wonder that “Apartheid Is Wrong” and with Billy Bragg that “There Is Power In A Union”, the most effective art shows rather than tells. 

To my mind, one of the most interesting things about this CD is that the songs date from 1998 to 2004 – a sign that he thinks about his material and crafts it carefully (though also an indication of his busy life in theatre and film as well, and the fact that independent artists often DO have to think in the long term, for economic reasons…).

(ii) I SUPPOSE WE CAN’T OFFICIALLY DISCRIMINATE AGAINST YOU BASED ON YOUR HETEROSEXUALITY, NO…

A-Bones, Daddy Wants A Cold Beer2xcd (Norton Records, Box 646, Cooper Station, New York, NY, 10276, www.nortonrecords.com)

A collection of rockabilly/psychobilly classics by the band Miriam Linna (drums/vocals) helped to form after she left The Cramps.  Like that infamous group, this ensemble has a certain fondness for trashy songs of the 50s and 60s.  Unlike them, it favours the more cheery, upbeat and good-timey numbers, often peppering them with raunchy saxophone, and generally avoids the blatantly sexual or filthy pieces.  The A-Bones also wrote very few originals during the band’s lifetime.

This collection focuses on the more obscure selections Miriam and friends waxed, including numerous collaborations with rockabilly and garage figures like Johnny Powers and Roy Loney (and their two sides with a local figure by the improbable name of The Great Gaylord are as close to the demented high camp of The Cramps as this outfit probably got), and not omitting such film soundtrack classics as Shanty Tramp and The World’s Greatest Sinner (the latter being introduced by the star/director/writer of the film in question, Timothy Carey, with the ditty bearing the writing credit of one Frank Zappa a couple of years before his rock album debut).  Their covers of Rock The Boat (yes, that one), Drive-In (by The Beach Boys), and, um, Oh Canada (very loosely indeed) are not likely to be bested by anyone else, and their rendition of the Velvet Underground obscurity Guess I’m Falling In Love rocks the bejesus out of it.  On the other hand, the one brand new track, We’re Gonna Get Married (a Bo Diddley classic), was doubtless committed to finally work with The 5.6.7.8’s, and seems like an afterthought as far as their contribution goes.  Still, in terms of good old-fashioned crude rock and roll, you can’t go too wrong with this monster…

Acid Mothers Temple & The Melting Paraiso U.F.O., Original Motion Picture Sound Track Album, Ivan Piskov’s Wild Gals A Go-Go 2xlp (Eclipse Records, 2172 Sierra Santiago, Bullhead City, AZ, 86442, USA, (tel.fax) 928.763.7607, www.eclipse-records.com, ed@eclipse-records.com , www.acidmothers.com)

Japan’s improbable cross of The Fall or Hawkwind (for both sheer volume of product and personnel shifts) with The Stooges (“LA Blues” or “We Will Fall” style, not “1969” or “No Fun”) here provide a possible soundtrack to what looks like a pornographic gangster/Japsploitation film (if the cover photos and copy within are to be believed, which may require some credulity).  This was released in 1999 in a CD edition of 1300 copies, and has now been reissued on LP with a bonus track in an edition of 1000 copies, so, either way, this was not widely known, even by the obscure standards of a creative collective that has existed since the early 80s.

It should be added that one drawback of the vinyl edition is this: you might find yourself getting up periodically to ensure that the needle is not stuck – droning repetition and a certain wash of sound lead  to the suspicion that you have been listening to a locked groove for quite some time.  However, the occasional woosh of outer-space synths or chanted vocals or tablas will reassure you that there is progress, albeit a very puzzling one.  As the band’s name might hint, drugs or other altered mental states might increase your enjoyment of the tuneage herein. 

Arcade Fire, Funeral cd (Merge Records, P.O. Box 1235, Chapel Hill, NC, 27514, USA, www.mergerecords.com, www.arcadefire.com)

This is not entirely untrue.  The title of the album (and the fact that various band members experienced quite a few of those rituals during the recording) might be a king-sized hint.  However, it also rocks, and the anguished vocals are far above the usual murmur or arranged chorales of either of those ensembles and spinoffs thereof.  The facts that, to my knowledge, no-one in the band is gay and that the cover art on this record is not up to the gloriously ominous grandeur of a Constellation or Rough Trade Records release (to put it mildly – except for the silver ink, it’s really quite ugly) also distinguish it from the work of  either of those groups.  On its own, the mixture of goth, rock and classical make the CD distinctive…

Backdoor Men, Mohawk Combover cd (self-released, www.handsomeproductions.com)

This band existed in Cleveland, Ohio circa 1977, contemporaries of Dead Boys and Pere Ubu, and its principals stumbled around in various bands until 1987 or so, as the liner notes point out, occasionally finding their work and material slipping into the repertoire of other bands, such as The Human Switchboard (no, you won’t have heard them – even a music geek like ME doesn’t have their one and only album – though I do have the live cassette R.O.I.R. put out posthumously…).

And so time passed, and fifty loomed on or over the horizon of various survivors of the experience, so they decided to assemble and try their hand at actually putting something out,  in a kind of jerky, crude but rockin’ style, typified by “Bus Station Gyration” (I have not been keeping up on my tea room trade – somehow I missed Mitch Ryder being picked up for solicitation – but, fortunately, in this shaking slice of heartless fun, The Backdoor Men did not).  Here and there, it reminds me of Richard Hell’s strangely charming, if clumsily sung and played, body of work.

Thanks to the contributions of the aforementioned Don Harvey, we get the demented sarcasm of “F#ck the French” and the homo hop of “Oklahoma Jack” (which is also on HIS album, in a less raucous arrangement, naturally), and the CD’s dedication to Peter Laughner is borne out by a cover of his “I’m So F#cked Up” (in case you think I’m being prudish, this IS how they’re depicted on the cover J ).  While I do think it’s good to have Peter remembered, there’s some part of me that thinks it’s sad that this and “Ain’t It Fun” are his most noted compositions, because they’re far too prophetic of his pointless, ugly end. 

In short, you’re never too old to rock and roll – and the bonus track live take on “Eve of Destruction” from 1977 gives you a sense of what they were like when young too.

Jello Biafra with the Melvins, Never Breathe What You Can’t Seelp (Alternative Tentacles Records, P.O. Box 419092, San Francisco, CA, 94141, USA, www.alternativetentacles.com

Jello has been away from music for too many years, perhaps feeling he had not found a project worthy of The Dead Kennedys’ legacy.  Fortunately, as the other members of that band seem to have no such reservations about moving on, no matter how poorly, it is nice to see Biafra doing likewise.

Of course, these are not party anthems.  The Melvins traffic mainly in sludgy metallic chugging, while Jello’s wobbly, er, warbly voice tends to have hectoring written all over it.  Besides, would you actually EXPECT dance music from titles such as “The Lighter Side of Global Terrorism” and “Dawn of the Locusts”? Addressing everything from media illiteracy to inspid jingoism to impending Frankenfood/global warming doom (the challenge in “Caped Crusader” is to figure out which words are Jello’s and which are from government defenders of ‘freedom’ – I can’t tell the difference.  Can you tell the difference?) doesn’t leave much room to shake your groove thing – but it sure engages the grooves of my brain while it plays. J

              The Embrooks, Present: Yellow Glass Perspections lp (Munster Records, www.munster-records.com, embrooks@ntlworld.com, www.embrooks.freeserve.co.uk)       

One sees a lot of 60s-influenced bands, either in the Velvets mode or the Garage style.  One just doesn’t seem to get that many Mod bands, or ones with a more whimsical take on early psychedelia.

Fortunately, The Embrooks come along to change that.  This trio does taut power rock in a Who style, such as “Happy Fickle Girl”, right down to the clumsily bashing drums and the squealing feedback, with the occasional touch of twee psychedelia and bedsitter pop for good measure, typified by “Emilia Burrows” or “the Twisted Musings of Sir Dempster P. Orbitron (Deceased)”.  The production by Liam Watson guarantees lots of muddy goodness – sound separation is not a trademark of his style – and a lot of teenage kicks (though, judging from their photographs, they’ve been around a bit long to be so described – still, again, rock and roll has no age).

The 5.6.7.8’s, Bomb The Rocks 2xlp (Sweet Nothing Records, www.sweetnothingrecords.co.uk, www.fujiiya.com/the5678s/)    

This generous cross-section of the work of The 5.6.7.8’s (just now receiving some mainstream attention thanks to their appearance in Kill Bill Volume One) documents an early part of their career, from 1989 to 1996, ranging from the uber-catchy “Woo Hoo” (on that film’s soundtrack) to the raunchy pop of “Motor Cycle Go-Go-Go” to the sarcastic “Ah-so” (a piece which, in the hands of an Asian female band, twists back on its own ugly stereotyping and crawls off to die, though not before getting the snot kicked out of it…).

On the way, the girls rock, shake and pop their way through a wild soundscape of rockabilly, surf, punk and even, oddly enough, swing.  If you can picture Shonen Knife as bad girls, you have a good grasp of what this crew would be like.

In which the distaff portion of The Swans cleans out the archives of  that band and the side project World of Skin  and exposes us to various buried treasures.  It was good to finally hear “Come Out” and not have to track down an outrageously over-priced 12”, and it is always nice to have a little hint of violence mixed in with a suggestion of homoeroticism.  The version of “Blackmail” here takes the somewhat coy studio version out into much darker and threatening territory, both vocally and pianistically.  One of the takes on “Black Dog” is almost like “Venus In Furs” as rendered by Nick Drake’s sister.  “I Crawled”, as always, sends shivers up my spine, especially the section where Jarboe goes into the growl that puts many a death metal band to shame.

These demos, mixes, live takes and rehearsals document a muse that veers from delicate folky murmurs to dark sadistic roars (and, in the case of “Beauty’s Punishment”, a hint of both extremes, though the voice remains ‘pretty’ and sedate in its delivery of the chilling lyric…). 

If I have one complaint, it’s that you pretty much would have to go to her website to get the running order, as it is not sequential on the back of the box and it is not trotted out for you within either.  However, it’s a well-designed web page, and I recommend it heartily…

Low, The Great Destroyer 2xlp (Sub Pop Records, PO Box 20367, Seattle, WA, 98102, USA, www.subpop.com; Low, P.O. Box 600, Duluth, MN, 55801, USA, www.chairkickers.com)

The signs were there, and it is tragic we missed them.  Low signs to Sub Pop.  They conduct interviews in their hometown…in a café (what decent two-thirds-Mormon band would be in such a den of sin?)…and Mimi, their drummer/vocalist, says the word “hell” (Randy Bachman tried, as producer, to get Trooper to change their hit to “Raise A Little Yell”…and now one of his co-religionists lets fly…shocking…)! And, on the last album, they rocked out on a song called “Canada” (by evoking that benighted home of gay marriage, legal marijuana and comfort to the enemy, they were on their way to perdition), with pounding drums and roaring guitar.  Not only that, but they have collaborated AGAIN with a member of the noted 70s hard rockers America – AND have worked with Dave Fridmann of Flaming Lips fame.  What kind of example are Alan (guitar/vocals) and Mimi setting for their children?

Of course, it’s all Zak’s fault.  The bassist is clearly the Courtney in the equation. J

Seriously, though, this record IS a departure.  There are, of course, pretty and slow moments like “Silver Rider” and “Death of A Salesman”, but even those are much louder and dynamic than this outfit’s usual crawl, and such numbers as “Monkey”, “California”, “Pissing” (fuzz tone bass! and, oy, more bad language!!) and especially “When I Go Deaf” (the latter being aptly named) positively fly and scream out of the speakers, by this ensemble’s standards.  There are no ten minute drum solos…oh, but wait until next time…tremble in fear, mere mortals, at the catchy, rocking seduction that is Low…

For years, I have been trying to think of a rewrite of Ms. Ono’s “Every Man Has A Woman Who Loves Him” as a gay song.  Yes, I’m the one – remember, when I bought Double Fantasy back in 1980, when I was 13, I liked all of her songs and ONE of John’s (and, no, my opinion did not change with his death).  The song in question, with its cheesy synth sounds and uber-catchy melody, not to mention its desperate and reaching passion, always spoke to me.

And now, as a fundraiser for gay rights, she has gotten around to recording a new version, and then subjected it to, in this case, no less than TWELVE remixes by various figures of that genre.  While I am rather partial to the versions closest to the original, I do like the fuzz tone and ‘uh-huh-huhs’ put on the Blow-Up Radio Edit, and they all have their appeal.  I shan’t be dancing to them, really, but I do find them toe-tapping and intriguing, and I’m sure the more open-minded folks on the floor could get into the groove to it.

And shame on the gay rights spokesman who said he’d rather Celine or someone of the sort did a record for the cause.  It may be true that could sell more – but, with the exception of the moving ballad Ziggy, any attempt by that Las Vegas leech to reach out to the queer community would cause me to rush right into the closet and lock it up for good!!

Rocket From The Tombs, Rocket Redux 2xlp (Morphius Records, P.O. Box 13474, Baltimore, MD, 21203, USA, www.morphius.com; band info at www.projex.net (cd version on Smog Veil Records at www.smogveil.com))       

        In what seems to be a sub-theme for this issue (bands with a Peter Laughner connection for 500, Alex…), this was the logical outcome of the reunion that no-one expected.

Rocket From The Tombs existed in the early 70s in Cleveland, Ohio, but never managed to release a record in its lifetime, and various members went on to form such bands as Dead Boys and Pere Ubu.  A few years back now, a collection of rehearsals and live tracks appeared under the name The Day The Earth Met The Rocket From The Tombs (quite worth it, especially in the swirly-coloured vinyl edition – it’s mixed loud for maximum impact), making the first time, for all intents and purposes, that this band was heard by anyone (with the possible exception of The Electric Eels, no other band had a harder time getting booked back then), unless you acted fast when a French edition of about 500 copies materialized quite a few years back now (I saw one, but didn’t know enough about the band to be smart enough to bite).

However, this record is just rife with attitude and hard rocking goodness, even with all the time, grief and maturing that has occurred in between.