“Nuits Blanches” V/A

Lollipop Records have been running their label and record shop for long now in sunny Marseille, France. This new compilation was originally an idea from T.Boy (LULLIES) so it’s not surprising to hear Les LULLIES opening the record with “Dernier Soir” a catchy powerpop rock’n’roll song in French. Then you’ll hear the very good “Electric Fear” by PARADE who are more influenced by British indie rock and post-punk followed by SCANERS and their ’77 punk rock/new wave on speed from outer space influenced by The BRIEFS. ALVIDA offers us some fun candy powerpop with a French yéyé touch on “Moustique” while FOOD FIGHT seem to be more influenced by The CLASH in their song “Permanent Departure Master.” On the dirty garage side, you’ll find HOLESHOTS, POGY ET LES KEFARS from Marseille and LA FLINGUE (with some ex-HATEPINKS members) with a brilliant poetic song title “A genoux dans la pisse.” Side B starts with a good dose of punk rock : “Red Signal” by BOSS mixes 70s British punk with early 80s American new wave and BART AND THE BRATS brings the original DEAD KENNEDYS spirit back to life. Then, a bit of French powerpop with “Epluchure” by ASPHALT and some American influenced powerpop meets TEENAGE FANCLUB in a very catchy “Find Out (feat. Pogy)” by ALMOST LOVERS. 60s garage, powerpop and LOU REED mix quite well in “This Love In Me” by PLEASURES and The SUTTLES offer us a pretty good bubblegum song with “Lucy.” Marseille brings us more powerpop with FLATHEAD and “Sunset Girl” before TEENAGE HEARTS put an end to this album with their bootboy glam bovver rock song “Simple Needs.” They say this album should become a cult record in 15 years and maybe it will but the great thing about it is that you’ll hear a lot of new French bands and none of them suck!/Laurent C.

http://lollipop.records.free.fr/

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Velvet Attack “Visions From Inner Space”

Back in 2007 I got to be the opening act (in a tour around Germany) opening for a killer band called The Cheeks, that’s when I met Chris and Kono. I’ve been a fan (and a friend) of their stuff ever since. They got back together and joined forces with Alex Schönert (guitar, backing vocals), Pele Götzer (bass, backing vocals) and Remco Reents (drums). This new band is called Velvet Attack (btw, brilliant name!) and it sounds amazingly well. Relased by “Soundflat Records” (one of the few strictly hardcore 60is labels left), their debut album is pure 60’s bliss. Produced by “Alaska Winter” (Pop Und Die Welt), stuff in here carries the same vibe (and flag) from previous releases by them, everything is wicked cool here. If you like 1960’s Psychedelic Pop and Rickenbacker guitars this is the album you need to listen right away. From the catchy “The Double Of Cylinder Man” to the Fuzzy “Daughter Of The Sun” these songs are custom made for nostalgia seekers, and they are filled with beautiful harmonies. The mid tempo breaks, the trippy bass lines or guitar arrangements are well thaught in every track. Some people might have a difficult time trying to figure out whether this album was released in 2022 or back in 1968, Songs like “Sound Of Tomorrow”, “Hellfire” or “She’s a Human Doll” are perfectly tributes to an almost forgotten era of music, a time when dressing in style and using loud Pop guitars was almost like a statement…..well, it still is. Knowing them when it comes to songwriting and recording I can tell that everything here was planned. The atmospheric and almost scenery “(It’s The) Dawn Of The Summer’ closing the album is a great example of knowing how to put together an album from the very beginning to the very end. It comes with a beautiful and stylistic artwork done by Eckhart Maronde and Kono. Definitely suitable for Love, The Animals, 13th Floor Elevators or The Zombies fans. /Juan Pablo Mazzola.

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https://www.soundflat.de/

Doctor Explosion “Superioridad Moral”

This is the first album in 11 years for this garage-psychedelic band from Spain. It starts with a stoner rock riff and repetitive beats in “Insatisfaccio” before going psych-pop with “Vestir de Mujer.” The Spanish vocals fit well with this music style even on the old-school garage songs like “El Dia Que David Murio”, “La Pollila” or “Grises.” No wonder this band is from Spain since songs like “La Gente No Sabe Gastar”, “Paleto” or “Acidez” are really sunny. It’s easy to imagine that this band must be successful in Spain and in Spanish speaking countries but if you’re into fuzz and garage, you should definitely check them. “Superioridad Moral” is out on Slovenly Recordings. /Laurent C.

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Toward Space releases new video “Modern Medicine”

Richmond, VA band TOWARD SPACE has just released a new video for their new single “Modern Medicine”. This time the band takes us into a dream-like atmosphere slwoly turning int a psychotic nightmare in which groovy bass, Lynch-esque guitars and naughty nurses all meet under 80s lights and a vintage horror movie mood.

Director/Editor
Seyla Hossaini

Produced by Toward Space

Cast
Haley Jeannine
Temple Woodard
Morgan MacGregor
Sable Grayson
Taylor Damizia
Alex Flowe
Erica Fox
Miriam Hossaini
Kaili Fox

https://towardspace.bandcamp.com

https://www.facebook.com/towardspace/

Monster Zero Super Involved: Mondo Wave/Snotty Cheekbones/Animols/Sonic Angels

While Austria was under lockdown #4 last month, Monster Zero records decided to help and promote a few records whether they released them or distribute them.

MONDO WAVE from Austria/UK offers us some garage punk with some 90s lo-fi flavour with this “Quarantine Dream” 6 track EP. “Black Leather” is keeping the 90s indie spirit alive while “Dust Over Time” has a dark surf rock vibe and “Only You”,”Fade Into The Time” and “Say Ahh!” all mix punk and psyche with style. Short and intense!

SNOTTY CHEEKBONES from Switzerland were already playing pop punk in the 90s alongside bands such as The OFFSPRING, SUM 41 or RANDY and here they are back with a new album untitled “Avanti”. Opening song “I Remember” is quite catchy as well as “Island”. “Idiot Parade” offers us some pop with slight reggae influences bringing NO DOUBT to mind while “Loudmouth” flirts with fast punk hardcore. “Spoiled White Kids” might be my favourite song on this album since you’ll hear some ’77 punk influences in this one! This record sounds like it was recorded in California in the mid 00s and that is not necessarily a bad thing. You’ll get the energy, the melodies and good spirit you need to put an end to 2021!

“2”, the second EP of Italian punk rockers ANIMOLS is about animals so it can’t be bad. It’s actually quite fun, some RAMONES influenced punk rock tunes sung in Italian with a garage production. 5 songs that will take you straight to Italy!

Last but not least, French veteran garage rockers SONIC ANGELS are back with 4 new songs. “Love Is The Law” takes us to an almost psychedelic garage land while “Up & Down” and “On The Radio” have more NYC early punk influences and “Farlopa” slows things down with some 60s garage vibes. You’ll dig it if you like it dirty! /Laurent C.

www.monsterzerorecords.com

Listen to The Underestimator mixtape “Electric Sweat”

If you’re looking for some good rock’n’roll (punk, powerpop, garage…) for the holidays, than check out the new mixtape of The Underestimator.

Available for online streaming on Mixcloud: 

or download as separate mp3 tracks in a zip file, here:

https://www.mediafire.com/file/qvgiron8mu57t0x/THE+UNDERESTIMATOR+MIXTAPES+-+ELECTRIC+SWEAT.zip/file

01. Electric Sweat – The Mooney Suzuki (2002)
02. Loose (#2) – The Stooges (1970)
03. Soul Trader (Peel Session) -Thee Hypnotics (1989)
04. Get The Girl Straight – The Powder Monkeys (1997)
05. Touch Me I’m Sick – Mudhoney (1988)
06. Some Mutts (Can’t Be Muzzled) – Amyl and the Sniffers (2018)
07. Blonde Sabbath (Blondie-Black Sabbath cover) – Sir Hedgehog (2002)
08. Boys Next Door – La Femme (1978)
09. 17 Years Of Hell – The Partisans (1982)
10. Computerstaat – Abwärts (1980)
11. Day Tripper (Beatles cover) – Sham 69 (1979)
12. I Love You, You Big Dummy (Captain Beefheart cover, Peel Session) – Magazine 1978)
13. Safety In Numbers – The Adverts (1977)
14. Indo China – The Carpettes (1979)
15. Ballroom Blitz (The Sweet cover) – The Damned (1979)
16. Soda Pressing – The Boys (1977)
17. Time Wall – Fire Exit (1979)
18. Virginia Plain (Roxy Music cover) – Spizzenergi (1979)
19. Nostalgia (Buzzcocks cover) – Penetration (1978)
20. Gut Feeling – Devo (1978)
21. Now She’s Gone – The Mighty Lemon Drops (1985)
22. A Tragedy – Green on Red (1985)
23. Wheatfields – The Weeds (1985)
24.  The Waitresses – The Comb
25. Hey Seuss – The 3Ds (1994)
26. Primeval – Girl Trouble (1988)
27. I Hear Noises – The Vibes (1985)
28. For She – The Milkshakes (1981)
29. Long Gone – The Customs (1980)
30. What Happens When You Turn The Devil Down – The  Mystery Lights (2016)
31. Love Power (The Producers cover) – T. Tex Edwards and Lithium X-mas (1991)
32. This Sinister Urge (Fuzztones cover) – Sparkling Bombs (2005)
33. The 400 Blows – The Demics (1981)
34. 18 Wheels – The Murder City Devils (1998)
35. The Psychedelic Gas Station – Deadbeat Poets (2014)

Download some more playlists posted on The Underestimator Mixtapes series, here.

(Original photo: punks feeling ecstatic at an Adam & The Ants gig at The Roxy in 1978 by Peter Marlow)

Velvet Attack releases first single/video “(She’s a) Human Doll”

German garage/psych/freak beat band VELVET ATTACK have just released their first single “(She’s a) Human Doll/DR. Jesus Gonzales” on Soundflat Records.

The band was formed in 2018 by members of The CHEEKS, JELLY PLANET, KLEE and ASTRAKID.

Vocal harmonies à la BEACH BOYS and BYRDS meet 12 string guitar soundscapes and fuzz attacks, without losing sight of the HERE and NOW!

The band is working with renowned producer Alaska Winter (Pop Und Die Welt) on their debut album to be released in late 2021.

You can watch the video for “(She’s a) Human Doll” here:

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Rod Hamdallah “Crawling Back” 7″

Atlanta rock’n’roller Rod Hamdallah is offering us two brand new blues/soul rock’n’roll songs on vinyl and digital released by Hound Gawd! Records. “Crawling Back” has a sweet late 60s/70s rock taste, it’s short, quite catchy with a cool guitar melody following Rod’s voice. B-side song “Mali Jam” is more influenced by West African music, Touareg and desert blues from the Sahara. No vocals, only repetitive African beats and bluesy rockin’ guitars that almost create a psychedelic trance. Whether Rod Hamdallah explores classic rock or his African influences, he still does it with a garage rock touch that makes his style quite unique. /Laurent C.

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