New York City might have had Debbie Harry as its reigning queen of platinum blonde punk during the height of its ’77 heyday. But Los Angeles had Penelope Houston, the bold, brazen front-woman of San Francisco’s The Avengers, a band whose gritty streetwise snarl and ravenous energy packed as much of a punch as the Marvel Comics super group with whom they shared their name.
In spite of its unfortunate name, Happy Birthday are indeed one of the most talented and overlooked acts on the Sub Pop roster. If you haven’t checked out their excellent dB’s-gone-DIY self-titled debut from 2010, especially if you are a lover of scrappy power pop, you should straightaway. Used copies are going for something like 16 cents on Amazon, so jump on that shit with the quickness while those prices last. And if you find yourself loving the melodies from these Birthday boys from Brattleboro, Vermont, there are two solo project spinoffs of the band well worth checking out. King Tuff is the nom-de-plume of one Kyle Thomas,
Long before they conquered American radio with their super corny smash "You Sexy Thing", London's Hot Chocolate were assumingly unaware that during their days recording singles for Apple Corps and being mentored by Mickie Most they shared their name with the funkiest group in Cleveland, Ohio at the time–led by one of the greatest voices to emerge from the Midwestern soul movement of the 1970s.
And for Americana, Young's 13th studio LP with Crazy Horse, the team rekindles the spirited looseness that embodies them at the peak of their powers as they crank the Fender stacks to the max and ravage through some of the most well-known folk standards we learned from elementary school music class, claiming them as their own. They transform such day camp singalong fare as "Oh Susannah", "Clementine" and "Jesus' Chariot" (perhaps better known as "She'll Be Comin' 'Round the Mountain") into full-throttle blasts of classic Crazy Horse, giving more gravity to the history behind the lyrics through their electrified execution.
This is Bear’s vision,” proclaims Stanley’s widow Sheilah in the liner notes to this collection. “How he heard the band live, and how he wanted to transmit that to you… this truly is Bear’s presentation of this phenomenal band and inspirational music.” Indeed it will be most exciting to anticipate what other preserved treasures will be unearthed from Bear’s library of sonic journals to offer further insight into the history of San Francisco’s vibrant rock scene. If what’s to come is even half as good as this phenomenal recording, we are in for quite a memorable trip.
Jack White never intended to make a solo album. However, after Wu-Tang Clan abbot The RZA was forced to cancel a session he had scheduled at Third Man to record a 45 as part of the label’s acclaimed Blue Series, White decided to keep the musicians he hired on the clock to lay down something for himself.
Noctourniquet is undoubtedly the most accessible Mars Volta album yet, one that replaces the overreaching bloat of their last two or three titles with the most DIY display of prog-rock dazzle since Adrian Belew toured with Talking Heads. If The Bedlam in Goliath was their Tormato, then consider this excellent outing to be their 90125. And I mean that in the best possible way.
It will be most interesting to see how Poor Moon’s distinctive rattle and strum will evolve on their forthcoming full-length due out on Sub Pop later this year. But if Illusion is any indication, whatever variation of this unique fusion of vintage pop harmony and dour acoustic melancholy will be quite a treat with these immensely talented players at the helm—regardless of what name they might be going by at that point.
Perhaps even more so than Mermaid Avenue, New Multitudes is a definitive tribute from four of Woody Guthrie’s most faithful latter day apostles to the beauty, poignancy and political poetry of the many sides of this genuine folk hero on the 100th year of his exuberant existence as an essential entity of the true American spirit.
Recorded over the course of 2011 with local Austin luminary Danny Reisch in their Lone Star State hometown and mixed by indie veteran Peter Katis from his studio in Bridgeport, CT, this record relishes in its statement that “no strings or glockenspiels were touched during the making of this album", making it clear that Animal Joy is in no way an extension of Shearwater's celebrated "Island Arc" trilogy comprised of 2006's Palo Santo, 2008's Rook and 2010's The Golden Archipelago.
