KEVIN K gets heavier with this new album that was recorded in a cold basement in Detroit after living under the sun of Florida. Opening with a heavy metal guitar riff on “Broken”, Kevin then pays tribute to The LORDS OF THE NEW CHURCH with a song of the same name made up of a collage of their lyrics. The garage sound gets even dirtier with “Wrong Way To Hell” and its nod to BLACK SABBATH and the mood turns heavier with “The Lost Seahorse.” You’ll also hear a tribute to 70s punk and rock’n’roll fallen heroes in “Prayers Of Life”, some ’77 punk (“Lonely Soul”) and some chaotic punk rock’n’roll with “On The Other Side”. The LORDS‘ ghost appear again in “Right Roulette” and things calm down a bit with the grungy instrumental “Winter 22” before going full SABBATH on “Catacomb Heart.” You’ll even hear some double bass drum on “Truth Is The Sword” and one of Kevin’s favourite covers : “Caught With The Meat In Your Mouth” (DEAD BOYS.) This is quite an adventurous album for KEVIN K who played all instruments on it. His black album for darker ages. /Laurent C.
(Atlanta, GA) As a young rocker Sam Hariss (The Sweet Things) heard Izzy Stradlin doing “Crackin’ Up” and it stuck with him like an earworm. He later discovered Izzy himself was doing a cover of “Crackin’ Up” by Bo DIddley (1959). So he decided to get together with Tobin Dale (The Sweet Things), head into the studio and do their own version. To round out the song, they enlisted an army of stars to play on their nod to Bo Diddley.
Appearances including Taime Down (Faster Pussycat) Danny Nordahl (Faster Pussycat, Motochrist, The Throbs) Ricky Vodka (Motochrist) Joey Huffman (Georgia Satellites, Drivin’N’Cryin, Soul Asylum) Charlie Paxson (has recorded with James Blunt, Ricky Lee Jones and many more)
Albany’s sleaziest rock’n’roll band The EROTICS are back with 10 brand new songs for Christmas produced by Don Furry. “Knockin’ On Death’s Door” opens the album with a good dose of 80s hard rock before “Helltown Boogie” and “You Got Me Shakin'” both take us back to the 70s in an AEROSMITH/CHEAP TRICK way. “Diamonds” slows things down and “Dia De Los Muertos” offers us some good heavy rock with Spanish lyrics while “Too Hot To Stop” and “Scream Like A Demon” both sound more like the band’s previous albums. “When The Wolves Are Howlin'” is an interesting song, kind of a mix between RATT and horror rock and “Bless Your Heart” has a bit of a POISON “Nothin’ But A Good Time” vibe. “Hungover On Christmas” puts an end to this album making sure you’ll keep it sleazy even on Christmas. The EROTICS have tried new things on “Rot In The Shade” without betraying their style. Good job! /Laurent C.
KEVIN K is back with a double album (number 33!) that he describes as his own “Exile On Main Street”. “Cadallac Man” was written during the Covid lockdown while Kevin was grieving the loss of his beloved father (a World War 2 veteran.) The world has gone mad and the opening song “Dum Days” tells us about it rocking to a guitar riff sounding somewhere between early KISS and The STONES before offering us a chorus full of melody. Kevin has always been great at writing simple powerpop songs about girls and this album is no exception, just listen to “Girl Of My Dreams”, “Village Girl” or “High Over You”. “No Respect” is a typical KEVIN K song but this time with a serious topic since it is about the restrictions during the pandemic while “Every Night I’m Dreaming” sounds a bit like a mix of HANOÏ ROCKS and KISS “Unmasked” era. 1989 was a great year and Kevin celebrates it with a song offering us one of the catchiest choruses on the album and the song “Angelyne” was actually written in 1989 with Kevin’s Brother Alan while they were both playing in ROAD VULTURES. The acoustic THUNDERS/STONES influence can be heard on “I Miss You” and you’ll also find some glam rock boogie beats on “Pendleton”. While Kevin definitely knows how to write feel-good songs, he also knows how to bring melancholy in songs like “Tear Drops Don’t Stop”, “Start Me Down” or “Let Me Down” and you’ll be surprised by the JOHN LENNON influenced “Forgotten Boy”. Of course you’ll also hear traces of IGGY POP in “All Strung Out”, “Ride On”, “Zombie Heat” or in “Wrong Feels Right” and a tribute to the RAMONES (“No Ramones”) that Kevin used to play as a slow song. “A New Life” ends this new album mixing positivity with a need for a new start with melancholy. I can’t say that I’m a big fan of long albums but “Cadallac Man” is now in my exception list. Good job, Mr. K! /Laurent C.
Big Budget-Looking Video Made On Gonzo Girl Trip During COVID
“…..riot grrrl energy that today’s world needs.”-The Aquarian Weekly
Big corporations are peddling deceiving “disposable plastic.” Recycling programs are being discontinued due to cost effectiveness. And here we are frozen in indecision: what do we do for the ailing planet? Helpless and hopeless, some say f#$@ it, and others get punk rock about it and make a rousing statement. Today, the post-riot grrrl four-piece band, How Tragic, takes a stand with its achingly-beautiful apocalyptic “Goodbye Cruel World” video.
“The world is burning, the ship is sinking, and people are like ‘what’s the point in even trying anymore?’” says the Brooklyn, New York-based songwriter, singer, guitarist, producer, and
director Paige Campbell. “It feels like we can’t do anything to help; it feels like there’s no point in trying; it feels like we don’t know who to believe and what is the truth. There’s a special place for people who still have the fight left in them, and this is their song.”
The “Goodbye Cruel World” video boasts breathtaking landscapes; stylishly, high-concept cinematics; and a captivating video performance by Paige. The backstory behind the video is that Paige, and two of her friends, found themselves stranded together when the pandemic took over. They were confused, terrified, and kind of curious if they could spend lockdown doing something creatively constructive. The trio set out on a cross-country adventure that stretched from the vintage elegance of the Silver Sands Motel in Southampton NY; to North Carolina in a ghostly KMart location being liquidated, and the gorgeous sand hills in Jockeys Ridge State Park; to Bisbee, Arizona at a vacant beautiful hotel and artist retreat and in the desert; and, finally, back to New York City months later with How Tragic reuniting for a filmed street performance at Coney Island.
“Goodbye Cruel World” is a mid-tempo punk song with a touch of 1950s balladry overtones, and it’s as seething as it is sensual, smoldering with ill-fated romantic ideals. One choice passage reads: We hemorrhage apathy, As The World Turns/There’s not much else to do but sit and watch it burn/Goodbye, cruel world/Goodbye, cruel world/and this wasteland/Goodbye cruel world. This is a song for the ages, but we will probably be looking down at our phone checking out influencers, and the meticulously-curated lives on display when the earth explodes in a big ball of fire. But we can’t say we weren’t warned.
Previously, How Tragic (unsigned) has been championed by rock legend Rodney Bingenheimer who introduced the band on his radio show where he premiered the single “Deathwish.” The quartet has issued the 4-song EP, Past Lives—co-produced by Paige alongside producer, engineer, and mixer Matt Chiaravalle (Courtney Love, Debbie Harry, Warren Zevon)—and debuted as a headliner at the iconic rock venue the Mercury Lounge.
NYC punk rock n’ roll singer-songwriter-guitarist LORNE BEHRMAN today (July 27) shines a light on the history of NYC rock with his Television-inspired song video, “I Hope The Sun Doesn’t Catch Us,” by sharing its video. This is the second single + video from his upcoming solo debut album A LITTLE MIDNIGHT due out September 16 on Spaghetty Town Records. It follows LORNE’s acclaimed 2021 four-song EP When I Hit The Floor, which prompted the esteemed Jesse Malin to note: “Real blood and guts rock and roll that bleeds with soul and redemption.” Watch the “I Hope The Sun Doesn’t Catch Us” video, directed by David J Barron and filmed in Manhattan, HERE. Also read a new Q&A below about the song that will be released digitally this Friday, July 29.
“I Hope The Sun Doesn’t Catch Us” is tough and tuneful NYC rock with a tender emotional heart that embraces the lyrical surrealism and guitar flights of pivotal band Television. The video by LORNE, who previously played in The Dimestore Haloes, L.E.S. Stitches, The Dead Tricks and most recently The Sweet Things, was premiered yesterday (July 26) by MXDWN, which noted the video: “…gives viewers an incredible sight of Behrman strumming his guitar with fantastic talent and singing about hoping that the sun doesn’t catch us, as we follow a man and woman on the streets of New York trying to get away from the sun that is blaring down on them.”
The 10-song A LITTLE MIDNIGHT is a series of New York City vignettes haunted by shadows but guided by light. The words here are literate and lacerating, recalling the street poetics of Lou Reed, Richard Hell, and Television. The songs feature stark and fluid guitar playing in the spirit of The Stooges’ James Williamson, Johnny Thunders, and Lou Reed.
“This album is about struggling to be reborn,” LORNE shares. “Wanting to run back to the arms of toxic people or the patterns of self-destruction. It’s about clawing your way to a new existence while acknowledging all the causalities, and all you’re letting go. You glimpse a new life, but you don’t feel it yet.”
The album’s raw but polished production aesthetic is courtesy of producer Matt Chiaravalle (Warren Zevon, Joe Bonamassa, Spacehog). A LITTLE MIDNIGHT was mastered by Grammy-nominated engineer Joe Lambert. Wyldlife bassist Spencer Alexander designed the album artwork, and it is a subtly playful homage to the cover of Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers’ Damn the Torpedoes.
The “A Little Midnight” single is a slice of dirty rock n’ roll scrapped off of the streets of the Bowery with an introspective heart from the artist who previously played in The Dimestore Haloes, L.E.S. Stitches,The Dead Tricks and most recently The Sweet Things. “The moonlight looks on good you/Not darkness just silver blue/A little midnight/it’s alright/A little midnight/does you right,” sings LORNE on the song.
A LITTLE MIDNIGHT is a 10-song collection is a series of New York City vignettes haunted by shadows but guided by light. The words here are literate and lacerating, recalling the street poetics of Lou Reed, Richard Hell, and Television. The songs feature stark and fluid guitar playing in the spirit of The Stooges’ James Williamson, Johnny Thunders, and Lou Reed.
“This album is about struggling to be reborn,” LORNE shares. “Wanting to run back to the arms of toxic people or the patterns of self-destruction. It’s about clawing your way to a new existence while acknowledging all the causalities, and all you’re letting go. You glimpse a new life, but you don’t feel it yet.”
The album’s raw but polished production aesthetic is courtesy of producer Matt Chiaravalle (Warren Zevon, Joe Bonamassa, Spacehog). A LITTLE MIDNIGHT was mastered by Grammy-nominated engineer Joe Lambert. Wyldlife bassist Spencer Alexander designed the album artwork, and it is a subtly playful homage to the cover of Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers’ Damn the Torpedoes.
The track listing for A LITTLE MIDNIGHT is:
01 – Love Stumbles By 02 – Harlem River Serenade 03 – I Can Burn You Down 04 – Monday Morning 05 – Well, I Can’t Hold You 06 – A Little Midnight 07 – You Wont Live In This Past 08 – I Hope The Sun Doesn’t Catch Us 09 – Black Cars 10 – Further On Down The Road
New York rock’n’roll band The SWEET THINGS are getting back to the roots of rock’n’roll with this new album recorded at Fame Recording studios (ARETHA FRANKLIN , OTIS REDDING, WILSON PICKETT…) Opening song “Brown Leather” sounds as ROLLING STONES as you would have expected from its title. Then, It’s a bit surprising to hear “Ya Know I Don’t Mind” in second position since it’s a slow country blues song but next song “Ride It Home” offers us some good ol’ QUIREBOYS energy. The country influence is quite strong on songs like “Keep On Movin” or “Familiar Faces” but songs like “Cold Feet” or “Mentholated Blues” remind me more of the spirit of early BLACK CROWES. “It Hurts Me Too” and “Ride The River” will take you to the roots of Mississippi blues and you’ll also get an IZZY STRADLIN vibe while listening to “Problematic Life.” This album is a cure for anyone sick of modern auto-tuned music! /Laurent C.
Veglam 