RIP David Johansen

The last remaining New York Doll, David Johansen has passed. 

It’s possible that I bought my first Dolls album on the buzz around them as punk godfathers, though it’s also possible that I had seen snippets of them on punk documentaries. By the 1990s, their biggest fan, Morrissey ruled over alternative rock. Half a world away and an entire sound away, Guns N Roses copied their style, sound and appetite for destruction. How could one band influence two such different artists. 

I remember vividly buying 1985s Night of the Living Dolls. Though the band only released two albums. I suppose a “greatest hits” is still a starting point for the novice listener. I would soon go on a mission to buy anything with the band’s name on it. Years later and unexpectedly, I would run into friends who shared my obsession. 

The roots of the New York Dolls seem pretty clear. A charismatic singer paired with an equally charismatic lead guitarist. It was Jagger and Richards to the next level. You could argue if they were punk, but they undeniably planted the roots of punk, and as far as rock, they were the template for every glam rock band in the 80s who got it from either directly or through middle-men like Hanoi Rocks. The other element was that they ironically or unironically drew from early 1960s Girl Groups- adding harmony and humor to the subway train guitars. 

In his posthumously released autobiography, Killer Kane lays out the influence and legacy often stolen by bands like KISS, Aerosmith, and Motley Crue. In an unfortunate story, Blackie Lawless would build off his relationship with Kane in the mid-1970s to go on to his own success later in the band WASP, though not carrying Kane along to the fame. 

I doubt there are many bands that I have listened to more than the Dolls and I am not sure why that is. The songs that cement their legacy were largely written before Johnny Thunders turned 20. Yet there was something magic that no one else has quite captured. 

 I recently watched 2011s doc Looking Good On Television which doesn’t add a ton in the way of content (there’s footage of an early interview with the band) but worth it for all the footage of the band performing. 

By the time I got into the Dolls, Johansen had surprisingly become a big star with his Buster Poindexter persona (appearing in one of my favorite movies, Scrooged) I picked up his second record, 1979s Mick Ronson produced “In Style”. It is a product of its time but holds pretty well. It reminds me a bit of Ian Hunter’s solo albums of the same era (and Ian guests on one track). Those first two solo records are largely cowritten with former Dolls guitarist Sylvain Sylvain. Sandwiched between those albums is 1978s David Johansen Group Live - a rarity that got wide release in the 90s. It’s an interesting mix of his new direction with some interesting covers (Build Me Up Buttercup, The Supremes’ “Love Child) and a few Dolls songs (with Sylvain guesting on guitar throughout and Thunders dropping in at the end for “Babylon”) It’s an amazingly fun record that seems to capture a hometown crowd in love with David. He namedrops Elvis Costello, Blondie and The Ramones in his between song banter. 

Johansen would end up with four solo records but his most successful album is the 1982 live record Live It Up. There may not have been much interest in his solo career, but his live performances were where things were at. Recorded live over two nights in Boston in 1982, it’s much the same recipe as the 1978 album. In fact, side by side, it pales in comparison to David Johansen Group Live (which again wasn’t really available at the time) but it stands up well on its own. It also probably is a foreshadowing of Buster Poindexter. Poindexter seems like a character that could only come out of 1980s America and born out of New York City and Saturday Night Live. It would make Johansen simultaneously a cult hero who helped create punk and a one hit pop wonder. Wiki says if only made it to 45 on the pop charts but it feels like it made a more distinct impression on culture. 

The 2004 New York Dolls reunion was so improbable but sure enough they would make three more records. A list of stars flowed through the new line up- Steve Conte, Gary Powell of the Libertines, Sami Yaffa of Hanoi Rocks, Aaron Lee Tasjan, Frank Infante of Blondie, Kenny Aaronson and Earl Slick. 

I was never impressed with the second iteration of the Dolls, nor with Johansen’s early 2000 band the Harry Smiths. But perhaps there’s not a scenario where I can elevate anything to the reputation of those two Dolls records. I cannot fault someone who elevated the blues legend Hubert Sumlin back into the spotlight or gave Kane his final hurrah in the reunited Dolls.

Book Review: Too Much Too Young: The 2 Tone Records Story: Rude Boys, Racism and the Soundtrack of a Generation by Daniel Rachel

Book Review: Too Much Too Young: The 2 Tone Records Story: Rude Boys, Racism and the Soundtrack of a Generation by Daniel Rachel 

This book does what it says on the cover, which is tell the 2 Tone Records story. In many ways, the story of the Specials is entwined with that. Related bands like Madness and the (English) Beat were involved and tangentially important. I think by staying true to the concept, the book is better for it. The book won a lot of awards for music writing and deservedly so. 

Author Daniel Rachel seems to have interviewed everyone involved and when conflicting stories pop up, he will tell all of those involved's versions. Which makes this a great music book regardless if you are a diehard fan or a novice. What amazes me is how short the heyday of 2 Tone was. May 1979 was the release of Gangsters and June 1981 was the release of Ghost Town (with Terry Hall, Lynval Golding and Neville Staple leaving subsequently to form Fun Boy Three). 

 Even as an American music fan, I see these are wildly different eras. The Specials formed in 1977 amidst punk, unemployment, National Front tensions, Rock Against Racism and heavy unemployment. At the end, New Wave has taken over and the Falklands War is on the horizon. The rise of the band is lightning fast and the idea of 2 Tone surely seems ahead of its time. Sure I can think of many artists who had record labels- Beatles, Stones, Zappa but the idea of a boutique label launching new artists (with major label backing) and a similar sound and vision is the kind of thing that didn’t really take off until the 90s. 

That said, it’s a blessing and a curse. The Beat and Madness saw the allure of more money and publicity and went elsewhere. The Bodysnatchers and The Selecter made great singles but would not survive band infighting. UB40 would do something similar but end up charting a non-2 Tone path altogether as agreed upon by all parties involved. Meanwhile, complicating things was the fact that it was part of a bigger label Chrysalis who had their own motivation and profit goals. 

Rachel makes sure Jerry Dammers is able to tell his point of view. An oversimplified characterization might otherwise fall into place. Dammers was a task manager who perhaps worked the band too hard. His principles put art over money and sought to avoid the hypocrisy he felt affected Joe Strummer and the punks. 

On the other hand, one should remember this was a nine person group with Dammers, Hall, Staple, Golding and Roddy Byers all would be more than capable of fronting a band on their own. Also the slim construct of what “the 2Tone sound” is becomes both a blessing and a curse. Decades later, it means the label is still much venerated. However, it also was so slim of a description, that the label was unable to expand its catalog and grow that much. 

It’s probably not surprising that Dammers wanted to change his sound for the second Specials album. What is surprising is that the new influence on him was something he heard in America- and that was Muzak. While it was not a huge commercial success and was part of a rollercoaster ride to the band breaking up, I do think More Specials holds up. Even more so, as the band fell apart, the band recorded “Ghost Town”. As much as it’s a low point in the story, the song is truly timeless. 

Similarly the “third” album In the Studio by the band now dubbed The Special AKA was a boondoggle. Of course, in retrospect, Jerry had to essentially restart the band in an incredibly short time frame, and his new band members much less experienced than the previous group. Yet again, he succeeded by creating one single “Free Nelson Mandela” that is truly transcendent. 

Another major chapter of the band’s life that goes horribly wrong is the 1981 documentary Dance Craze. In this case, a missed opportunity maybe to tell more of the story and a document that faded quickly into obscurity (like so much of the 2 Tone Story- time has rewarded that narrow focus- but it was also a barrier to sales and growth) but has recently been rediscovered, re-released in 2023 and instantly caused a huge buzz. 

This is a great book at telling the story of a special moment in time. How a bunch of extremely talented artists worked together to create something unique while having to deal with the issues of the day and issues of the industry - sexism, racism, music label problems and infighting.

RIP Marianne Faithfull

I remember the first time I heard Marianne Faithful. To be fair, I am not sure she was obscure but unfortunately her role as Mick Jagger’s girlfriend and muse have overshadowed her music career.

Teenage me was obsessed with U2 and the ubiquitous Columbia House music club. That I bought the 1987 compilation The Island Records Story 1962-1987 should be no surprise. That it was a bit “pearls before swine” also isn’t too surprising. Nearly 40 years later, it makes absolute sense to me but at the time it seemed rather odd. Not that it didn’t have enough to satisfy- I always loved Frankie’s “Relax” and Buggles “Video Killed the Radio Star” - new wave essentials. Sparks were weird but accesssible. Bob Marley of course, and two classic rockers- “All Right Now” by Free and “Do Anything You Want to Do” by Eddie and the Hot Rods- with some added Robert Palmer. 

It seems like such a random grab bag if you have no context. It was the first place I heard Julian Cope and “World Shut Your Mouth” had surprisingly ensconced Cope in the pantheon of artists the cool high school kids adored like The Cure, the Psychedelic Furs and Depeche Mode. This may have been the first place I heard Tom Waits and probably the first I heard those earworms of Millie Small’s “My Boy Lollipop” and Desmond Dekker’s “Israelites”. I was less impressed with Steve Winwood’s contributions which weren’t as Radio friendly as his then contemporary hits- as he was represented by Spencer Davis Group, Traffic and 1981s “Night Train” 

What’s funny is I thought this large group of quite diverse artists were quite obscure. Fairport Convention, Jimmy Cliff, Grace Jones, Sly and Robbie, Black Uhuru and Jim Capaldi are much more recognizable to me now decades later. Similarly, Amazulu, Third World, and British pop soul stars the Christians make more sense with knowledge that they are included here. 

The standout discovery here though may have been Broken English by Marianne Faithfull. It wasn’t punk as I knew it (angry and fast bands like the Sex Pistols and the Ramones) or new wave (keyboard heavy in a way you would want to dance to it like bands like Depeche Mode and New Order) Still it was (and remains) undeniable. I was too old for 1980 but it a perfect example of that time frame where poetry met experimentalism. That it did not chart on the US Top 100 is both surprising and not surprising to me. It is of course both punk and new wave, just not recognizable to me as a MTV watching teenager of the later 80s. 

Faithfull is more prolific than I remember. As younger artists showed appreciation- her albums became star studded affairs. 2002s Kissin Time features Beck, Billy Corgan, Blur and Pulp. 2005s Before the Posion was an even bigger splash. Released on the Anti-label, PJ Harvey and Nick Cave produced and wrote most of the songs. 2008s Easy Come Easy Go and 2011s Horses and High Heels were produced by Hal Willner and brought back most of her recent collaborators and more like Lou Reed, Keith Richards and Cat Power. Her last three studio albums in 2014, 2018 and 2021 were produced and collaborated with British musician Rob Ellis (PJ Harvey) and Nick Cave collaborator Warren Ellis. 

There are again a multitude of famous names on these last three albums- Cave, Roger Waters, Brian Eno, Steve Earle, Ed Harcourt, Anna Calvi and the Clash’s Mick Jones. If Faithful had died in the 1980s or early 90s, her reputation would probably be built on her 60s singles and Broken English - at least in the US. 

Instead she became known to a whole new notice. In 1997, she shared vocals on Metallica’s “The Memory Remains”. It reached 28 on the US Billboard chart- to date, the band’s third highest placing on the charts. It was in constant rotation on MTV. It is to my mind, a perfect song too- matching latter era Metallica’s more concise and traditional song structure with Faithfull’s charismatic and hypnotic presence. 

 Her 21st Century albums starting with Before the Poison were well received critically and artistically were as vital as anything that was being released in same spaces. That she started as a pop star who like Nico and Francoise Hardy, became a cool cult icon with great influence is a great postscript.

 

RIP Brian James

On March 6, 2025, legendary punk guitarist Brian James passed away. 

The original four piece of the Damned are truly one of those iconic groups. One of the few where every member stands out and would dominate the personality of any other band. Dave Vanian, the vampiric former gravedigger out front, the goofy beret and sunglasses wearing bassist Captain Sensible, the bonzo drummer Rat Scabies and Brian James driving it along at a million miles an hour on guitar. The video for “New Rose” may be rock’s most epic moment. 

James is well loved so much that every time he would reunite with the band it was a big deal as if it was the Fan Four, but he only really played on the first two albums. 

But what records they are. Damned Damned Damned may be perfect- somehow catching lightning in the bottle by the efforts (or lack of efforts, possibly) of producer Nick Lowe. It’s pretty much all killer, no filler- the band sounding like they are falling out of your speakers. 

Everyone knows New Rose and Neat Neat Neat but there are songs too like See Her Tonite and So Messed Up that are among punks finest. Pink Floyd drummer Nick Mason famously produced the disappointing second album Music for Pleasure which was largely written by James (Syd Barrett was the band’s first choice of producer). That said, Stretcher Case Baby, Sick of Being Sick, and Problem Child are songs from those sessions that could have fit on the debut. 

The band broke up though it was short lived. They never stopped for long and were an amazing live band when I saw them a couple of time in the 90s. But Sensible moved to guitar and numerous lineup changes would occur. James would form a bit of a supergroup with Dead Boys vocalist Stiv Bators. 

Lords of the New Church would have some success on the mid 1980s though in retrospect their goth rock sound was perhaps too early to truly have the success they could have. Though they didn’t write their biggest hit “Russian Roulette” (written by Tony James of Generation X and Terry Chimes of the Clash), most everything else was credited to James and Bators. 

 In the 90s, I searched the bins for Damned cutouts which were numerable. 1989s Final Damnation was seventeen live songs - the first half with James as part of a reunion. It shows how great the live band sounded. 1994s The Sessions of the Damned is a compilation of BBC and Peel songs and is a good overview of the bands material with James on the early stuff. I would recommend both albums heavily to fans of the Damned.

RIP Rick Buckler

On February 17, 2025 Rick Buckler drummer for the Jam past away. Without a doubt, one of my favorite bands of all time. 

When I was in high school, I was introduced to what was then new wave or post punk or alternative (or called “art rock” on occasion). My friends and I scrolled our favorite band’s names on our notebooks. That fandom reflected the big names of the day- The Cure, U2, Depeche Mode, OMD and so on along with bands that had a long influence- Sex Pistols, Clash, Violent Femmes. I was curious that a certain friend always had The Jam on his list. 

Now granted that iconic logo with the trailing line under the M is epic. Still, at the time, there couldn’t be a more possibly obscure idea to me than the Jam. In these days of video blogs and RYM, I am shocked at how there is a culture of Teens who go online and post things to places like Reddit such as “I like —-, what should I listen to” As a seriously old dude, this feels so passive. Yet, with a sharper eye, were things that much different then? 

I was shocked to find Snap! In a local record store. (I found many inexpensive albums here that surely made and still makes little sense to me, except I am sure they probably came through local radio stations that dumped them and returning college students) Snap! Is the two disc greatest hits album from 1983 that would later be released (albeit culled) on compact disc to more fanfare in the US as Compact Snap and later replaced by a not terribly different 1991 greatest hits. 

Although there’s not room for everything, Snap with some B-sides and album cuts and the rawer demo version of That’s Entertainment is near perfect. Nah, forget I said “near”. I am not sure there’s a better start to end listening experience The Jam recorded six albums in five years. The kind of prolific output that most groups would have only gotten two or three albums out at the same life time. 

I never much liked Weller’s post Jam work which is well loved. That may be my failing, but I much prefer the frenetic energy of the Jam. I also don’t like that Weller, like Sting and so many others, don’t seem particularly proud of their early work. Still, maybe if I was an artist and that’s all people wanted to talk about, I would feel the same.

What I am Listening to- Danbert Nobacon and the Axis of Dissent

Chumbawamba was one of my favorite bands. I was lucky to have heard them just slightly before they had their big hit. I enjoyed all of their albums even after 2004 when they became a four piece that was more interested in folk music. 

I was lucky to see them live when they were still relevant to the charts. I am not sure I would have expected them to be family friendly but there was still some shock that their setlist was heavy with early 90s stuff. Provocative stuff like “Mothful of Shit” and the women dressed like Nuns smoking cigarettes and carrying whiskey bottles. 

My friend and I were heavy into them at this time. The irony is that I adored them as if they were 70s arena rockers, a fact that they would surely have found ridiculous. But sure enough, the part of the rock circus saw them in the crowd signing a handful of autographs. Though I didn’t get one, my friend who had bought the rare American version of 1994s Showbusiness (sold here by AK Press as For A Free a Humanity: For Anarchy which was also paired with a Noam Chomsky disc) did get his CD signed by the band. Not for the first time, my dear friend did a selfless thing and gave it to me afterwards, and I am eternally grateful. (I don’t begrudge the band for not being fan friendly in that environment which surely must have felt weird for them. I was and am one of their biggest fans. If not the biggest, then certainly if they had a bus of biggest fans, I’d have a ticket, but they would not have known that or even believed that).

 I have kept some eye on the post- Chumbawamba careers since the band dissolved in 2010 but they don’t get a ton of coverage. My interest was renewed last year when I watched 2021s I Got Knocked Down- a documentary about Chumbawamba written and featuring Dunstan Bruce. Bruce makes music with the band Interrobang?! Alice Nutter has a successful career as playwright and TV writer. Things unsurprisingly were credited to the collective (and I don't have reason to doubt that) but I suspect that Nutter and Danbert Nobacon were the most creative voices, and I am not surprised that Nobacon is carrying the torch. 

Relocated in Washington state, Nobacon is doing what he has always done- made satirical albums that make fun of the establishment. Occasionally working with people like The Pine Valley Cosmonauts (Jon Langford of the Mekons, a similarly minded outfit), Neil Ferguson and Harry Hamer (aka Chumbawamba’s rhythm section) and Miranda Zickler of Seattle folk band Kunika. If anyone, Nobacon feels like the spirit of the band. He was a founder. He famously dumped water on then British Deputy Prime Minister John Prescott. 

In the iconic Tubthumper video, he looks like the agitator (to Dunstan’s front man and Alice’s artist) One suspects if Tubthumper had never happened, Danbert would be making albums with crude covers and satirical titles. And guess what he is, as he did even during some of the time he was in the band. 2024s Kochupus Garden is of course a reference to the powerful right wing billionaire donors the Koch Brothers. 

In true Chumbawamba fashion, it’s a musical, a mix of styles, not just punk faster louder. It’s got a wacky satirical plot. “Dark Money USA” runs the country and two of their songwriting Bots have escaped and are on the run. The subtitle of the album is "Now that's what I call Capitalism: A Musical" I can’t think of really too many artists that are similar to this. Jello Biafra is about the only one who comes to mind. 

Also from a content standpoint and style point of view, there is a bit of Billy Bragg here too. But like Chumbawamba, Nobacon is a genre chameleon - folk-punk, pop, reggae, piano ballad and so on Danbert does have a website and it does contain the kind of repository of writing that the old Chumba.com website used to have. He doesn't tour much outside the Pacific Northwest but I am happy to see him still going at it.

Concert Review: Jason D Williams

  I wrote this in November 2024, just now getting to post it

Like a lot of outstanding artist, I remember the first time I heard Jason D Williams. 

It was on the Sirius XM Outlaw Country channel probably circa 2015 or 2016. I was interested right away. There really is no way of discussing Williams without bringing up the fact that he claims to be the illegitimate son of Jerry Lee Lewis and his career is in the style of the Killer. It's hard to be sure how serious this claim is. I found a 2014 article that calls him the son outright. The most likely story from Williams (if it is not a complete fabrication) anyway is that he had DNA tests with Lewis in the 90s but the results were inclusive and taken before technology could say more certainly. 

It's a nice nod that this opens the door both to the possibility of that truth or that Williams is telling tales. (He would have been conceived around the time of “High School Confidential” if you are taking notes) More easy to verify, Williams got his start as a teen playing for Sleepy LaBeef- a Sun Records recording artist whose career seems a bit of blueprint for Williams- a “human jukebox” known for his energetic live performances. 

Info on Williams isn't very convenient on the internet. He has no Wikipedia, for example. His first record was on MCA- 1990s Tore Up- seems to not be on streaming services but generally available through second hand resources and looks to be in line with what one would expect for a Nashville industry packaging of Lewis, largely produced by Roy Dea ( Tom T Hall, Gary Stewart). 

It is also near this time where Williams (or at least his hands) star in the Lewis biopic Great Balls of Fire. 1993s Wild album was recorded in Sun Studios and put out by Sun Records. Produced by Dea and Classic country producer Shelby Singleton (“Harper Valley PTA”, LeRoy Dykes, Ray Stevens, Jerry Lee Lewis's Country Songs for City Folks). The cover looks more in line with finding a college rockabilly audience and looks like we are starting to anticipate Outlaw Country. Check out a rocking cover of “Tubular Bells”. 

 The next release is 2004's Don't Get None on Ya. It barely registers anywhere online but this Rockabilly Records release leads to another album for the label- 2010s Killer Instinct produced by roots rocker Todd Snider. This is likely the high point of his career to date - followed by 2014s Hillbillies and Holy Rollers produced by Dale Watson - these are hidden gems for fans of anything that resembles “Outlaw Country”. 

His last album Lucky Ol Son was released in 2023 but media attention seems scant. 

In 2024, he is opening for Reverend Horton Heat and releasing a single with Heat and Texas Country legend Dale Watson.

It's hard to describe Williams but Allmusic's James Allen may do it best in his review for Killer Instinct. You can't call Williams an “outsider” musician (and I know “outsider” music fans clutch their pearls the tightest) but he seems to embody the uniqueness of the original Sun Records legends in a way that cannot be overstated. 

It probably doesn't hurt that age helps the legend-Williams now 65 looks like he stepped out of a Hollywood movie about himself. Accolades that follow him like “the world's best piano player” are plausible. He's an amazing entertainer. Of course, there's the Lewis homages of playing piano from all types of directions- on top, behind and so on. But that is only half of the story. There's a bit of Tom Waits to him too. 

He does “Whole Lot of Shakln'” of course but he also throws in Hava Nagila, Blister in the Sun and the Waterboys' “Has Anyone Around Here Seen Hank” (which in a certain tall tale claims to have cowrote) among the mix of the usual boogie woogie, old school country and 50s rock. 

I doubt most of what he says on stage- so while he says his band is his son and grandson- it seems to be these players credited on his website- drummer Popcorn Irving and guitarist Max Kaplan who rock with the fury of X or Social Distortion .

I doubt I am doing a decent job of selling Jason. “Jerry Lee Lewis” show which almost sounds like a lame Vegas act and I am not sure his recorded work reflects the energy he has when he is in front of a crowd. But he ranks alongside other Wild Men of Rock like Mojo Nixon and is one of those characters that are impossible to pin down to a traditional genre. 

Think of hard to categorize artists like Webb Wilder, Junior Brown, Chuck Mead, and Big Sandy. Bill Kirchen of Commander Cody is one of the comparisons that pops up a lot in reviews too. But he's a fun time and if he comes by, go see him

Album Review- Better Than Jail

2024 was a good year for compilation albums. I think of compilation albums as a thing of the past. There were Soundtracks in most every decade. Then there were tribute albums that popped up in the 80s and seemed to really be a big thing in the 90s. Tributes to Roky Erickson, Leonard Cohen, Richard Thompson and others are still well loved. One might think streaming has changed our tastes for compilations but they still seem to be prevalent. 

The first that comes to mind is Cleopatra Records who churn out countless punk tribute compilations. These albums generally feel uninspired but I would also be lying if I didn’t have some interest in those. In 2024, they released Punk Floyd and Punk Me Up (a tribute to The Rolling Stones). Their compilations generally include an equal number of American hard core bands (Fear, JFA, Angry Samoans) and English punk and Oi bands (Vibrators, Anti Nowhere League, UK Subs)- most long past relevance. But compilations do abound and a good use of them seems to be tribute albums to well loved bands by new and indie artists. What a good way to get heard. (I should probably also miss the recent trends of charity albums that have got a great deal of attention but the fact that they are so necessary saddens me too) 

Petty Country has to be on the top of the 2024 list - a combination of popular country and critically acclaimed artists tackling Tom Petty songs got played on country radio but also found room for Steve Earle, Margo Price and Rhiannon Giddens. 

 David Olney was probably one of the more underrated songwriters in Nashville. Celebrating his work is Can’t Steal My Fire with a who’s who of Alt Country- Earle, Lucinda Williams, Buddy Miller, Jimmie Dale Gilmore, Janis Ian and a previously unreleased Townes Van Zandt live recording. 

My Black Country features works of Alice Randall. Randall, an NAACP Image Award winner is an author and has a successful career as songwriter for the likes of Reba McIntyre, Trisha Yearwood, Glen Campbell, and Johnny Cash among others. The list of musicians on this tribute are literally most of my favorite songwriters of the last decade- Giddens, Leyla McCalla, Sunny War, Valerie June and a list of artist I am not yet familiar with. 

 It may be Better Than Jail that shocked me the most. A benefit album geared at improving the criminal justice system. The lineup is Americana’s biggest stars- Earle, Price, Jason Isbell, Hayes Carll and Allison Moorer, Old Crow Medicine Show, War and Treaty, Bonnie Raitt and others. But most of the songs are well covered through the years- I Fought The Law, In the Jailhouse Now, Midnight Special, and I Shall Be Released. Yet there is still something fun about Steve Earle tearing through I Fought the Law or Raul Malo tackling Johnny Cash’s I Got Stripes. 

One foot in the past, one foot in the present. Bob Dylan’s story of Rubin Carter’s ordeal “The Hurricane” is one of those songs you probably shouldn’t cover. A monster of a story that just builds and builds. I’m not sure anyone but Dylan could have pulled it off and at that, I’m not sure that anyone but mid-70s Dylan could have made it work. Margo Price nails it though. Her cover is the gem on an album of a solid set of songs. 

 (Explicit Lyrics) 2024 - Wyatt Road/ Believe

What I Am Listening To - The No Ones

REM did the unexpected and decided not to tour and record continuously like rock juggernauts The Rolling Stones and U2. 

While it is tempting to call vocalist Michael Stipe a hermit, I am not sure that’s accurate. He has stayed busy and checking out his Wikipedia bio shows all the music that he has recorded and places where he has popped up. While there seems to be a solo album on the horizon (reported to be released in 2025) to this point, it seems his most visible project surprisingly is co-writing and producing the 2008 Fischerspooner reunion disc Sir. 

Which leaves guitarist Peter Buck in somewhat the same role Johnny Marr was in post-Smiths. A mix of different projects- some commercial, some obscure - but surprisingly prolific Buck’s most notable projects might be his two albums with Luke Haines of the Auteurs and playing in the supergroup The Baseball Project with Steve Wynn of Dream Syndicate, Mike Mills of REM, Scott McCaughey of Young Fresh Fellows and Lynda Pitmon of Zuzus Petals. 

The Baseball Project has four albums and I am a big fan. The good news in the current age is that it’s a lot easier to find some of the more obscure records too, and according to Buck’s Wikipedia entry, he has quite a few of those too. Let’s start with five solo albums from 2012-2017 before he partnered up with Haines ( and self-effacingly advertised on his BandCamp). There’s 2018s Arthur Buck, an album with American songwriter Joseph Arthur. Then Filthy Friends- two albums- one in 2017 and 2019- another supergroup fronted by Corin Tucker of Sleater- Kinney and Buck (backed by McCaughey, Pitmon and Fastbacks guitarist and indie producer Kurt Bloch) Then there’s the Minus Five- a going concern since 1993 which records regularly- with McCaughey, Buck and a rotation of some of the biggest names in indie rock like Wynn and Colin Meloy of the Decemberists in the current lineup and Jeff Tweedy, Ben Gibbard and Ken Stringfellow in previous iterations). 

Buck fans may also be aware of Tuatara- which dates back to 1996 and most recently released a studio album in 2014. An instrumental group that defies genres, once again the lineup sounds like a who’s who of indie rock with Buck, McCaughey, Barrett Martin (Screaming Trees), Justin Harwood (The Chills, Luna) and guests like saxophonist Skerik (Les Claypool’s Frog Brigade), Steve Berlin (Los Lobos) and Mike McCready (Pearl Jam). At least I have heard of most of these groups. I am not familiar with Tired Pony- another supergroup - in this case - a project for Gary Lightbody of Snow Patrol backed by Buck, MacCaughey, Iain Archer, producer Jackknife Lee and Richard Colburnn of Belle & Sebastian 

This is just scratching the surface of Buck’s work. I didn’t talk about any of his defunct 1980s and 1990s projects and I haven’t gotten to his production work, the bands that he is part of who haven’t recorded albums, prolific work as a sideman, or his collaborations with Mark Eitzel and Billy Bragg. In any case, that is a lot to cover to get to yet another group Buck is active with. 

The No Ones seems an appropriate name for a band that is full of stars but are just here for a good time. The band debuted in 2017 with Buck on guitar, McCaughey on vocals and the two members of Norwegian indie pop band I Was A King. Their debut album 2020s The Great Lost No Ones Album (which was recorded in 2017 and delayed, though I also think it’s somewhat of the bands jumper peaking through) It doesn’t surprise me that a musician has so many projects (though certainly Buck has to have more than most), I think I am more surprised that he seems to keep them active. 

There’s plenty of other musicians who start side bands and abandon them after one album. But Buck isn’t like that and the No One’s made a second album released in 2023, My Evil Best Friend. My Evil Best Friend really might be one of those great “lost” pop records. A lot of reviewers picked up on the fact it’s a bit thematic in that it’s a homage from McCaughey to his heroes. Phil Ochs, David Bowie, Jenny Lewis, and George Harrison all pop up in the lyrics which according to the band’s promotional material is primarily Scott’s work. Given the band’s background, it’s no surprise the album has tons of big name guests - Debi Peterson (Bangles), Gibbard (Death Cab for Cutie), Norman Blake (Teenage Fanclub) and Victor Krummenacher (Camper Van Beethoven) The first No Ones album is a fine pop album but that second one is something special.

What I Am Listening to: Royal Headache

One of my favorite recent discoveries is the Australian band Royal Headache. 

I can almost definitely ascribe them to algorithm-based streaming. An Australian garage rock band would hit a lot of my favorite listens. I know algorithm based listening isn’t perfect. I compare it to listening to a commercial radio station (albeit one that plays your favorite bands). There’s a lot of repetition and it some times it feels like some bands get pushed more than others. A revelation that came when it was discovered one of the most streamed songs out there was a B-side recorded in the 90s by Pavement. 

That Royal Headache’s streaming stats stay high after they broke up in 2017 does not surprise me. I don’t want to get off track though. They released two albums - one in 2011 and one in 2015. Both are great though I will give the edge to High, the second album which was Steve LaMacq’s album of that year. There are very few albums that capture the band’s energy here. 

At just under 30 minutes, it’s a mix of punk angst and good ol indie rock longing. The NME (in its review of the band) namedrops The Dead Kennedys, the Smiths, Oasis, the Jam and the Sex Pistols. While those aren’t perfect descriptions, one can see the influences from those artists that helped the band straddle the throwback American Garage Rock sound (King Tuff, Ty Segall, Thee Oh Sees) with more modem noise rock like Japandroids and King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard. 

While the band has a standout legacy, it hasn’t (as often is the case) transferred to the ensuing band. Singer “Shogun” Tim Hall has started a band with singer/guitarist Finn Berzin called Finnoguns Wake which released its debut EP in 2024. (Finnoguns Wake doesn’t quite capture Royal Headache’s ferocity, at least not of yet, but it’s still early. 

Also, sadly like many acts, has only attracted a slight fraction of the listeners too) 2024 also saw the release of a live Royal Headache album “Live in America” consisting of eight songs recorded at WMFU in June 2012 and nine songs recorded during a concert at the Empty Bottle in Chicago in August of 2015. The band is insistent that there are no plans for a reunion but it’s a solid document for what was surely a magical band that gave us some magical moments

What I Am Listening to: Voxtrot

As I look back at my listening habits of my past, I feel nostalgic. 

Somewhere around 2006, I did a ton of streaming through a website called Live365. Live365 was a website where anyone could program their own personal radio station essentially. I had a few favorites and listened often. Some people who had stations probably did minimal programming and I know when I would listen, I would get certain songs over and over. Whereas some stations were very effectively running as personal versions of public radio. 

Music royalties were always anathema to Live365 who were trying to keep things affordable for its DJs. In 2016, that Legislation forced the website to shut down. Six months later, it came back but I assume most listeners didn’t. Big name streaming services are now the rule of the day and I admit that there’s where I headed as well, though I still don’t think I find as much as “new music” as I did before. It’s a long backstory to say that I had one of my favorite channels which seemed to specialize in what I would call Bedroom Pop. Specifically, the time of music that is associated with Morrissey’s early post- Smiths career. So I am talking bands like Belle and Sebastian, Heavenly/Talulah Gosh, Gene, Elefant, and the Divine Comedy. 

 You can see the list and can see different “scenes”, labels, decades and so on, yet they all seem to hold together. I had heard much of these bands but one that I discovered here was Voxtrot. (There were probably a few more- Pains of Pure of Heart, Earlimart, Beulah- that I remember as well from that station). I don’t know if Voxtrot sees themselves as being in the lineage of the Smiths and Belle and Sebastian. But music critics would now classify them as one of the bands during the rise of the music blogs which put them in the conversation with bands like Yeah Yeah Yeahs, St Vincent, Franz Ferdinand, Cat Power, MGMT and Animal Collective. 

Awash in the height of indie rock. It strikes me as incredible that the band’s early singles were released as EPs and didn’t make their debut album. Songs like “The Start of Something” and “Raised by Wolves” really sold that bedroom pop connection with its Lo-fi production and lyrics of teen insecurity. These highlights of 2005 through 2007 would finally by collected on one album in 2022. 

The band’s sole album was released in 2007. While the 5.9 given to it by Pitchfork seems to be damning it to less attention than it deserved, it does describe the flaw in the album. While trying the band to the next level, it was not an improvement over those early singles by trying to make them more radio friendly. It seemed the band took the roughest path to success and it hadn’t worked. They broke up in 2010. Of course, the reality is that the self titled 2007 album wasn’t Funeral or Hissing Fauna, Are You the Destroyer or any of the Pitchfork proclaimed genre changing albums. 

It is quite a decent genre record that only pales in comparison to the promise of the first recordings. The band had hoped to work with Stephen Street but when that didn't happen, it was produced by Victor Van Vugt (Nick Cave, Beth Orton). The album does sound like a follow up album of any buzz band that poured their heart and soul into their early work, and are looking to match that success on short notice. I admit I hadn’t given Voxtrot much thought for years. When a song of theirs popped up on a stream, I was immediately taken back. 

Of interest, I saw the band had reunited in Fall of 2023 and were now recording their first music since they broke up in 2010. (Lead vocalist Ramesh McLean Srivastava released a solo disc in 2014). The Esprit DeCouer EP collects four songs recorded in the last two years. I hope this leads to more from the band. One of the true high points in an era where indie rock looked like it could change the world.

Album Review- Laurie Anderson- Amelia

One of the most enjoyable and typically hard to categorize albums of 2024 is Amelia by Laurie Anderson. 

Amelia is a fictional retelling of the last six weeks in the life of (and the last flight of)Amelia Earhart. From my understanding, it grew out of a project from the year 2000 for Dennis Russel Davies of the American Composers Orchestra (at least that is my understanding. One blog dates it back 40 years but I am not sure how accurate that is). Anderson is accompanied on disc by the Orchestra as well as guitarist Marc Ribot and vocalist ANHONI. 

 Anderson is one of the most unique musical artists to gain mainstream success. 1982s Big Science, 1984s Mister Heartbreak and 1986s Home of the Brave are a mix of the unusual (Anderson is responsible for creating music instruments like the tape-bow violin), the avant garde (Anderson collaborated with William S Burroughs, Eno and even Andy Kaufman among many others) and pop music (O Superman was a worldwide hit and her videos were played on Night Flight).

It is this compelling mix of the unusual and enjoyable that makes Amelia such a success. A mix of narration and introspection, as other reviewers mention, Anderson makes all the right choices here- keeping it stripped down as opposed to the originally planned large Orchestra accompaniment; and largely keeping the mystery of Earhart intact. Showing and not telling if you will. And I probably should do the same because I hate to give the mystery away; but I do wonder what to make of how to sell Anderson in 2025. At 34 minutes (split into 22 songs) it’s a fantastic begin to end listen. 

But as something akin to a poetic performance, I don’t know if it is something that I would listen to over and over again. Even less so, songs don’t necessarily “pop” and make themselves to the kind of playlists that most current music listeners probably utilize. Yet perhaps the world may never more ready for this album than now. It is not a world where there is a binary choice between buying an album or not. Amelia is the kind of experience that listeners can access in the same way they can listen to an audiobook or podcast.

What I Am Listening To - Sheer Mag

Sheer Mag are a four piece band from Philadelphia formed in 2014. They have released three proper albums - the most recent being 2024s Playing Favorites. But like so many bands, their most epic tracks are their early ones. 12 songs collected released over 3 EPs through 2015 and 2016 collected on one album in 2017. These originals undoubtedly send critics reaching for numerous 1970s band comparisons- Cheap Trick and Heart with their musical journey taking them from more AC/DC territory on 2019s A Distant Call to a way more radio friendly and varied sound on their latest. But the EPs are the masterpiece. At times, a viable heir to Thin Lizzy- irresistible hooks and garage rock thud with the charismatic Tina Halliday on vocals. Alternately they can pull in that very specific 70s pop sound. A bit Disco, a bit KISS, a bit Big Star, a bit Slade. I recommend the EP collection for “Worth the Tears” being possibly the most perfect rock ballad (albeit one that is powered by a killer cowbell). Surely, they could be on Mike Douglas or Dinah Shores’s TV shows. But yeah there’s also a point for the band’s debut opener “What You Want”. Big thumping drums. Guitar heroics and that wonderful frontwoman. Sheer Mag is for people who listen to KISS ironically and people who listen to KISS unironically. They surely are akin to female led punk bands like Shannon and the Clams but would be perfect for the guys who read Classic Rock magazine and complain real rock is dead. At once, recalling the garage and also recalling the arena. A balm then for many who are looking for the next Thin Lizzy, KISS, MC5, Skynyrd or Sleater Kinney.