Here we have Javier Escovedo's new release, "Kicked out of Eden", courtesy of Saustex Records in San Antonio, Texas, and it's a good one.
We probably all know Javier from his work with The Zeros and The True Believers. He co-founded The Zeros (the so-called “Mexican Ramones”) and was a leading light in the West Coast punk scene. Surprisingly, "Kicked Out of Eden" is only his second solo recording.
I’ve played this CD several times since I received it, and the reason it gets only three bottles is that while it’s really good, it just doesn’t seem to get up and grab me. Maybe that’s me, maybe that’s the production, or the recording on the day. Call me a bastard, feel free, but to me the pace seems just a little too slow, lacking in attack… or something. I can’t quite nail it.
It seems that the imperative a band like this should have has not come out. This happens far too often with recordings (several favourite Adelaide bands who I absolutely loved have released CDs and LPs which seem sheepish rather than roar like a bull buffalo in Kakadu; the worst part is, when a band know the record isn’t up to snuff, they know it and feel bad. The next step should be to determine to do better next time).
Listen up, punks and noiseniks: The Canadian band’s fifth album in 17 years is inarguably their best. It rocks like fuck; It scratches like a rabid kitten. It’s tuneful and noisily offensive at the same time. All of which should tell you something about The Ex-Boyfriends even if you’ve never heard of them.
The Ex-Boyfriends come from Calgary and I’m willing to bet they’re the best-in-breed in that neck of the woods. If Calgary’s music scene is half as fractured as anywhere else, it takes a lot of balls to be a rock and roll band. Big ones if you play noisy punk rock. Shamefully, I’d forgotten they were around until a notice about this heavy-diuty chunk of vinyl landed in the post box.
Well, this is awkward. David Bowie produces a new album. It's actually pretty good. Easily the best album he's produced since "Low". I know, right? A lot of people hate that one too but an album made by a coke snorting lunatic whilst driving around a car park at seventy five miles an hour is by definition going to sort the likes from the dislikes.
After the Seventies glory years of Glam and guitar solos, things took a turn to the weird. The so called Berlin trilogy featured two good albums "Low" and "Heroes" and the rather jumbled "Lodger". His production of Iggy Pop's "The Idiot" quietly changed the way we'd look at popular music. Joy Division and Public Image Limited were obviously paying attention as well as a veritable army of prissy nerds with their sister's make-up kits and Casio keyboards.
Good god, what a fucking racket.
“Johnny Streetlight” is four-and-a-half bottles of joyous, fresh-faced old school rock’n’roll, soaked in piss and substance abuse and if you treat it right you’ll lose part of your hearing (just don’t eat the worm at the bottom). There’s no bad songs on “Johnny Streetlight”, they’re all good for gold. If this band had been around in the mid-‘80s they woulda been huge.
The inner sleeve pic by Leif Alan Creed makes the band look positively criminal (one gentle soul makes up for his lack of pupils by wielding a rather lethal saw).
This re-issue of a 1994 album by Medway’s finest sounds as brattish and vital as anything else around now, the perfect blend of punk rock and beat pop. Fashions come and go but Billy Childish remains a constant.
You think you work hard? By the time Thee Headcoats released this they had eight albums under their belts and fuck knows how many singles. Formed after Thee Mighty Caesars ground to a halt, they were an influence on everyone from Jack White to the Black Lips, Thee Oh-Sees and Jon Spencer.
PO Box 334
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Indie Sounds of the Harbour City Vol 2
Launch Tour
JULY
31 - The Vic, Orange, NSW
AUG
1 - Crossroads, Dubbo, NSW
7 - Diamond Dogs, Dapto, NSW
8 - Wings & Tins, Dee Why, NSW
Heavy Medication Records, Savage Magic Records
& I-94 Bar Records present
"Two Headed Dog Euro Tour"
Chris Masuak's Dog Soldier
+ The Crisps
JULY
31 – Paris - L'Armony (FR)
AUGUST
1 – Paris - Holy Holster (FR)
(Unplugged)
6 – Toulouse - L'autan Bar (FR)
(with Big T & The Nuts)
7 – Montpellier - Secret Place (FR)
(with Big T & The Nuts)
8 - Marseille - L'Intermediare Live
9 – Sete - Guinguette Thau'thèmes (FR)
Smoked Salmon
Totally Sick!! Tour
JULY
31 - Bridge Hotel, Castlemaine, VIC
AUG
1 - Shotkickers, Thornbury, VIC
2 - Wheatsheaf, Adelaide, SA
6 - La La La's, Wollongong, NSW
7 - Petersham Bowling Club, Petersham , NSW
8 - Link & Pin, Woy Woy, NSW
9 - The Oak Tighes Hill, Newcastle, NSW
(free)
14 - Tanswells, Beechworth, VIC
(free)
15 - Smiths Alternative, Canberra, ACT
21 - Republic Bar, Hobart, TAS
22 - Royal Oak, Launceston, TAS
28 - Junk Bar, Brisbane, QLD
29 - Blah Bar, Lismore, NSW
30 - Cabarita Beach Club, Cabarita, NSW (free)
SEP
4 - Young St Tavern, Frankston, VIC
Joeys Coop
AUG
22 - Union Hotel, Newtown, NSW
+ The On and Ons
28 - Smiths Alternative, Canberra
+ Sanctimonious Fux
30 - Link & Pin, Woy Woy, NSW
SEP
13 - Marrickville Bowlo, NSW
+ Swaggerland
18 - Tap Room, Castlemaine, VIC
19 - Painted Lady, Ballarat, VIC
+ Cold Irons Bound + Neutron Flow
20 - Union Hotel, Brunswick, VIC
NOV
28 - Blah Bar, Lismore, NSW
29 - Junk Bar, Brisbane, QLD (arvo)
I-94 Bar Records presents
Psychotic Turnbuckles
Vinyl Single Launch
+ Spittin' Chips
+ The No Such Things
Marrickville Bowlo, NSW
- Sept 5
Tickets
Huxton Creepers
12 Days To Paris Tour
AUG
7 - Sooki Lounge, Belgrave, VIC
+ Icecream Hands
8 - Croxton Bandroom, Thornbury, VIC
+ Icecream Hands
14 - Marrickville Bowling Club, NSW
+ The Johnnys
15 - Marrickville Bowling Club, NSW
+ The Johnnys
16 - Hamilton Station Hotel, Newcastle, NSW
(afternoon show)
+ The Johnnys
21 - Norton Music Factory,
Caloundra, QLD
+ The Johnnys
22 - Crowbar Brisbane, QLD
+ The Johnnys
+ Mick Medew and Ursula
23 - Wallaby Hotel, Mudgeeraba, QLD
(afternoon show)
+ The Johnnys
The Damned
Final Damnation 50
SEP
8 - AUCKLAND, Powerstation
10 - SYDNEY, The Opera House
11 - BRISBANE, The Tivoli
13 - MELBOURNE, The Forum
Tickets
The Exploding Universe of Ed Kuepper
Ed Kuepper 50 Years Retrospective
RESCHEDULED
OCT
29 - Avoca Theatre, NSW
30 - Canberra, The Street Theatre, ACT
31 - Wombarra Bowlo, NSW
NOV
4 - Adelaide, The Gov, SA
5 - Melbourne, National Theatre, VIC
6 – Geelong, Barwon Heads Hotel, VIC
7 - Sydney, Factory Theatre, NSW
(matinee & evening shows)
13 - Fremantle, Freo Social, WA
15 - Brisbane, Princess Theatre, QLD
Tickets
Public Image Ltd
Australia and NZ
JAN
20 - Auckland, Powerstation
22 - Brisbane, The Tivoli
23 - Sydney, Enmore Theatre
24 - Melbourne, The Forum
26 – Adelaide, The Gov
28 - Perth, The Astor
Respect The Rock Australian Tour
The Hellacopters + Gluecifier
MARCH
17 – Brisbane, The Triffid
18 – Sydney, Manning Bar
19 – Melbourne, The Croxton
20 – Adelaide, Ed Castle
Tickets