Gentleman Jesse and His Men
Introducing…
Douchemaster Records

I think my friends are getting sick of me talking about this band, but goddamn are they something. I was tempted to type this review in all caps but was afraid to come across as ridiculous (or like that crazy ex-girlfriend who you can’t get a read on if she’s really nutso or just eccentric ‘cuz she always types in ALL CAPS with spelling errors and poor punctuation)…

Anyhoo, where was I? Oh yeah, I gots a whole year on all y’all when Gentleman Jesse and His Men finally get the praise they’re due. I saw them way back when (okay, only September 2007) at Gonerfest and was blown away. I bought their first 7″ (which I hear is out of print and that’s a goddamn shame because “I Don’t Wanna Know” is NOT on the album. That is a fan-fucking-tastic tune.) I got to see them again, this time at the Wild Weekend Power Pop fest in Austin, TX. Blown away again. Gentleman Jesse is not sporting his huge Josh Wolf mustache on the cover; you gotta see that thing to believe it.

I like this album lots, but seeing GJ&HM live is definitely where it’s at. Upbeat rock and roll power pop… kinda makes me think of the Exploding Hearts, if they played through a clean channel. Highlights include, but are not limited to: “Butterfingers”, “You Don’t Have to (If You Don’t Want To)”, “If I Can See You (You’re Too Close to Me)”. In case you’re interested, there’s another song on the album that uses parentheses. Buy this album today. Douchemaster Records have been putting out lots of good rock and roll lately (too bad about the label name, though).

Sweat! The Story of the Fleshtones, America’s Garage Band
By Joe Bonomo

I used to live in a small town in New Jersey called Butler. My friends and I used to visit Bill’s Tavern (RIP), a townie bar just down the block from our house. They served Schaefer on tap for only a buck, it was glorious. We knew a late-30’s barfly by the name of Wally. Wally was a good guy, everyone at Bill’s knew his name.

One night in the summer of 2001 he and I were talking music and he told me he had just seen a show in nearby New York by the Fleshtones. Wally claimed to know the singer from the early ‘80s. Sometimes you couldn’t tell if Wally was fucking with you or not, so I said something like, “Yeah, his name is Peter Zaremba, right?” Wally said, in his most flamboyant voice, something like, “Oh no, honey, that’s not the name I knew him by!”

According to Wally’s story, he knew Zaremba from visiting various gay clubs, and when Wally was at the above mentioned 2001 Fleshtones show, Zaremba did a double take on seeing Wally in the crowd. I could never figure out if Wally claimed to know Zaremba from his time in Athens, GA, Florida or New York City. After reading Sweat! I think Wally may have been somewhat telling the truth (I can’t even begin to describe the section on the disco after party scene in early ‘80s NYC… well, I don’t have to because Bonomo does). Read the rest of this entry »

Rock-a-Round’s Wild Weekend Power Pop Festival
Austin, TX
8/28/08 – 8/30/08

Goddamn, what a way to celebrate my first visit to Austin, Texas. A wild weekend indeed, full of record buying, rock and roll, power pop, glam, garage and my pal Cody, headlined by the Boys, who haven’t played the United States in some 25-plus years. Not to mention Gentleman Jesse and His Men—I don’t think I can sing their praises too much… these guys are gonna be huge. Point of interest… I didn’t see a Rickenbacker guitar until the second show on the second night. Here’s to hoping there’s another Wild Weekend next year… I’m sure I’m not the only one to think this (Cody being the another), but I definitely would love to see, say, the Real Kids, Romantics, Teenage Head and the Odd Numbers. Read the rest of this entry »

This is the second part of a long ass Head interview conducted by our very own Sal Lucci. Click here to read Part I.

How did the split record with Metal Mike come about?
Metal Mike knew the guy who was putting out the single, who knew us, and found out that we were fans of the Samoans and his solo stuff as well, we were honored to be on the same slab of vinyl as Mr. Metal. Metal’s solo records sound great. His CD that has the Rockin’ Blewz (late 60’s band with his brother/original Samoans lead guitarist) is killer.

Where did you get the double-neck Mosrite used on the cover of The Monkeys LP?
That comes from the Head vaults, or a local guitar dealer in the area, who, while we were all pulling together, funneled every Mosrite he came across to us, and we went into deep debt to stock up on the Mosrite gear as much as possible. But that one doesn’t get played, it’s for “funsies” only. That’s Ree Ree’s.

Ree Ree: I’ll sell it for $2500 if anybody’s interested. I’ll also sell the two Orange amp stacks on the cover. $2500 a stack. Ben Weasel once left a message on my answering machine saying he liked Street Level Assault but we should take the tremolo bars off our Mosrites. I wonder what his take on double necks is? Ha ha. Read the rest of this entry »

Until about a year ago, I assumed Head broke up. Turns out they’ve been pretty busy over the past two years: new LP, new 7″, CD anthology, South by Southwest 2006 in Texas, Insubordination Fest 2007 in Maryland, Gonerfest 2007 in Tennessee… “Who the hell is Head?” some may ask. The greatest band from Seattle—ever. They never toured or put much effort into promoting themselves. Word of mouth, probably started by Ben Weasel (Screeching Weasel, the Riverdales) in his old Maximum RocknRoll column sometime in 1995, brought Head into my home in New Jersey. Imagine Metal Mike from the Angry Samoans fronting the Ramones. Hell, they were more Ramones-core than any other band that cited them as an influence. I got the chance to interview the band in early 2008. Read the rest of this entry »

X / Skybombers
March 18, 2008
Vogue
Indianapolis, IN

I was initially going to skip seeing X in favor of staying in Bloomington for some local bands. I don’t know why–not too many bigger bands come this close to my adopted hometown (seems they generally choose Chicago, about a four hour drive)–and tickets were about half of what they cost when I passed on seeing them several years ago in New York.

It didn’t take much to convince me–a friend yelled at me, insulted my musical taste and offered me a ride. I think I saw at least 15 B-town folks at the show, so this was definitely an event (I even got to stand next to the singer of Sloppy Seconds for most of the show). Read the rest of this entry »

Pat Todd and the Rankoutsiders
Holdin’ Onto Trouble’s Hand
Rankoutsider Records

Pat Todd is a man that just won’t quit! Barely over a year ago, the ex-Lazy Cowgirls’ front man assembled a new rock and roll troupe and put out a 28-song double-CD (The Outskirts of Your Heart, Rankoutsider Records) of his trademark mix of rock and roll/punk/country.

In an interview at the time he claimed to have 30 more songs written and ready to go! Now here he comes again with a 20-song release (and threatens to have 60 or so more songs ready!), a full-time label home to a dozen or so bands and plans to tour. Read the rest of this entry »

B-Movie Rats
“Radio Suicide”
Rankoutsider Records

I have this B-Movie Rats t-shirt that I’ve worn the hell out of for years. I don’t know where it is now, probably lost it in my cross-country move. I got their newest CD in the mail and was surprised. I haven’t heard anything from them in years and thought they were long broken up. Apparently this album was recorded back in 2002 and the band did break-up. They’re slated to play at this year’s South by Southwest but since the members live on different coasts, I don’t know if they’re back full time.

Naturally, I went to grab some of their old records and was surprised that I had none! Not even the 7″ where they cover the Raunch Hands’ “Your Fat Friend” or their split LP with the Hellbenders (turns out I do have one Hellbenders LP though). Strange…
Read the rest of this entry »