BAD NEWS Do the Dead/ Do You Love Me 7”

Italiangaragerock in a Cramps kinda way. Two guitars and drums. One original and acover of the Contours “Do you Love me”, which of course has been covered waytoo many times. They do an okay take on it but you just can’t help thinkingthat they would’ve been better off with something else to cover. “Do the dead”is an okay song but nothing too memorable.

(Thomas) Psych-outRecords

BLACK LIPS Katrina / Italian Sexual Frustration 7”

Theonslaught of Blips singles continues, and I can’t say I don’t like it. I mean,you obviously already have “Katrina” but what a fucking song that is. Itdeserves it’s own space on a 7” and the b-side is cool too, an outtake from thelatest LP. A sped up, punky little ditty about just what the title says. Notthe most memorable of their songs, but cool. P

(Thomas) Vice

CRETEENS Cocksucker 7” 4-trackBlues 7”

One of thebest European bands around. Reatards-style punkrock from this French wunderkidwith band. And when I say Reatards-style I mean it kinda sounds like theReatards but is done more than well enough to stand on it’s own. Both 7”s hasthree new hits and this band should be unmissable for those that love bandslike Oblivians and Reatards/Jay Reatard. Check ‘em out for chris’sakes.

(Thomas) Boom Chick Records ContaminatedRecords

DEADCLODETTES Flou / LaSueur Coule 7”

New Frenchgaragerock by three girls. Very simple and sung in french. Not terriblyexciting unfortunately. A bit too stiff and unrocking.

(Thomas) Trashmondain Records

HAUNTEDGEORGE Pile o’ Meat LP

Easily oneof last years best records and Haunted George has to be the biggest breakout ofthe year. Prolific like no other and with a quality control that’s out of thisworld. Haunted George is of course Steve Pallow from the Necessary Evils andthe Beguiled, and here he’s gone one man band and mixes horror, country, bluesand sci-fi into an excllent mix of garagerock. Very similiar to what both hisabovementioned bands did but in a new way and “Pile o’ Meat” is awesome and amust-have. Buy this!

(Thomas) Hook Or Crook

HEARTATTACKS Stay Away 7”

Theirprenultimate release I guess. They have another one out on Plastic Idol thatwill probably be their last. Don’t miss their last liveshow with Cococoma &Headache City in Stockholm february 22⁄2008. Here’s three more patentedpunkrockers by the Heartattacks, Sweden’s best punkrock? Yeah, I think so.

(Thomas) ken Rock Records

HIBACHISTRANGLERS Our City Doesn’t Stink All the Time 7”

Kinda AngrySamoans influenced, maybe throw in some Aussie stuff too. Pretty cool. Crappilyrecorded but with a lot of energy. For fans of Final Solutions for example.

(Thomas) Florida’s Dying

JON SPENCERBLUES EXPLOSION JukeboxExplosion LP

The bandthat got me into r&r. And what can I say.. I’m in awe of how great thisshit still is. It doesn’t sound a bit dated even though some of this stuffhearkens back to the early 90’s. Explosive (of course) rock and roll is whatyou get in the trademark Blues Explosion style. This is the five jukebox editionsingles on ITR and some assorted hard to get stuff. Perfectly fit together onthis comp that actually sounds like the missing link between “Crypt-style” and“Now I Got Worry“. Fucking awesome stuff. If you haven’t heard their version of“Son of Sam” for instance – then you must buy this.

(Thomas) In The RedRecords

KING KHAN& BBQ SHOW S/t DBL-LP

I lovethese two guys! And even though this is the third version I own of this same LPI still find it exhilarating to listen to again and again and again. Thisversion sounds great, you get some bonus tracks (from the Goner and Hazlewoodalbums) as well as an extra lp of unreleased Factory sessions recorded inBerlin. I’m not gonna claim that these are indispensible but if you love theShow then you’re gonna want to own this too. And the extra tracks on theregular LP just makes it even better. Now I’m just gonna hafta buy another copyof this album so’s I can cut out all the stuff I need to play the game that’sincluded in the gatefold. Beautiful package!

(Thomas) In The Red Records

LUIS &THE WILDFIRES Brain JailLP

Rockabillywithout sounding retro? And fucking great rock and roll? When was the last timeyou heart that? Look no further. First issued on Californaia’s Wild Recordsthen snagged by Norton for glorius vinyl release. Four hispanics outtaCalifornia I think.. they’re just out to rock and roll and while they seem tosport all the rockabilly grease that the retro-scene does they just skip overalmost all the trappings. Going for a wild, furious approch to their rockabillyand not going for any sort of retrosound. This is just wild over the topvocals, trashy guitars and awesome songwriting. I can’t recommend this enoughto everybody out there. Forget your preconceptions of the genre. Cause that’swhat Luis & the Wildfires does and that makes it fun for everyone!

(Thomas) Norton Records

MAHARAJAS In Pure Spite CD

They’rekind of Sweden’s answer to a lot of 60’s and 60’s inspiredbands but the onethey remind me most of is the Swingin’ Neckbreakers. Not the wild stuff but theslower and more rock-stuff. And it’s pretty good too. Now, this isn’t my favekinda style but some of the songs are really good, the production is cool andthe performance is above par so yeah, if you’re into this kinda music, or likedthe Maharajas earlier records, then i think you’ll dig this too.

(Thomas) Low Impact

MAKEOUTS StreetTonight / Still Love You 7”

RadioObligato continues to bring you Stockholm bands on black 7” vinyl. This is theMakeouts second single (first one on Bachelor). They’re growing by leaps andbounds and heading toward their own sound more and more. This single is kickingtheir debut’s ass bigtime. The songs are great might have benefitted by sometweaking here and there. Although I do love the rawness this radiates of. Forthose that haven’t heard them, they’re sorta taking their cues off theSpaceshits but infused with the Black Lips and King Khan & BBQ Show. Greatgarage rock’n’roll!

(Thomas) RadioObligato

NOVELTIES Instead of a Hug 7”

Anassortment of ex-band people out of Stockholm join forces for some stoopidpunkrock a’la Spits, ’77 punk and budgetrock. Some cool and fun stuff someswenglish and some that I don’t dig at all, like “Miniskirt” which is justboring. Keep it shorter and a little faster and I’ll prolly hop on board.

(Thomas) Ken Rock Records

PLEASUREKILLS Smash upthe Radio / Over and Over 7”

Powerpoppystuff kinda akin to what MOTO’s doing. Nice female vocals, good production andall in all okay stuff but somehow it fails to really grab me. Maybe it’s justmy problem with this stuff not going wild enough for my primitive tastes. Thisis nice and catchy and all but shit, I need it to cut loose and just go wildand crazy. More guitars, faster and some screaming would have done it. Punk itout!

(Thomas) Polypore Records

TRASHIES Fartstorm? 7” Blue Tarp7” What Makesa Man get Trashed? LP

Stoopidmonotonous mid-tempo punkrock. Doing what the Spits does in a way. And theSpits does it better, even if I don’t love the Spits either. Okay musicwise,funny? Yes. But definitely not rising to any heights. “Nuke ‘em” is the hit onthe Ken Rock single. The Rehab one is a bit wave-ier and darker/moody. Theb-side is okay but nah, still not my cup of tea. The LP is better, has bettersongs and sounds more coherent. More like a concept. Better recordings too.

(Thomas) Ken Rock Records RehabRecords 24⁄7 Records

V/A BLACKLIPS / KING KHAN & BBQ SHOW MerryChristmas 7”

Anabsolutely classic x-mas single. The Black Lips turn in the best x-mas songsince Bing Crosby and the Show turn in a delicious little instrumental tune.This is single you’re gonna wanna be spinning every x-mas from now on!

(Thomas) Norton Records

V/A SICK OFBEING SICK LP

Comp ofmostly Italian punkrock and garage. Falls a bit short on the information bitbut I know for sure that Sonny Vincent isn’t Italian and he’s on here so theremight be more that.. This is on an Italian label and feels kinda like apresentation of the scene. There’s a bunch of the more prolific bands on hereand some that I haven’t heard before. The Tunas,  Movie Star Junkies and Honey Don’t are thestandouts and a few more might make the cut but all in all, a kind of redundantcomp I’d say. Good for checking out the scene but not much more..

(Thomas) Primitive Records

V/ABLONDSAI / THEE LEXINGTON ARROWS 7”

Blondsai ispunk with female vocals, nothing too exciting. Sounds very 90’s. Doesn’t grabme and the music sounds like any punkband could’ve done it. Lexington Arrows ismore garagerock but kinda boring too, the tempo is too low and the sound reallyboring. Think Headcoatees but muddier and lacking the flair.

(Thomas) Raped ByRecords

V/A LAMPS /HAUNTED GEORGE 7”

Excellenttour single from two of my fave bands. Trashy loud garagerock. Lamps coverHaunted George’s “Gonna Lynch U” and HG cover the Lamps “Ron Campbell”. Lampsis dirty as fuck and loud and nasty just how I like ‘em. HG’s version is slowerand stompier. Really nice, might even outdo the original. It’s like it was madefor him. Great single!

(Thomas) In The Red Records (available only on their website)

WILD BILLYCHILDISH & THE MUSICIANS OF THE BRITISH EMPIRE Christmas1979 7”

Myintroduction to Billy’s new band featuring the drummer of the Buff Medways andhis wif on bass. And it’s really great stuff. Pounding hard and of course itsounds exactly like Billy’s stuff always do. Here’s two fucking awesome songson green vinyl (also available on red) that you need to hear. Hard as helllyrics about girls leaving and drunken fathers on x-mas. “Christmas 1979” is slow,creepy one and “Ho Ho!” is a real pounder.

(Thomas) Damaged Goods