The Mono Men - "Don't Know Yet" - "Lie Detector/Jack The Ripper" (7", Lucky - 1992) & "Just A Girl" - "Over The Edge" (7", Lance Rock - 1992)

Hi there! Just came in from a few days off the modern civilization. No internet, no phone calls, lots of tasty meat and wine and a good cold as a bonus. Not much to say, actually who needs any introduction to the mighty Mono Men? High school buddies of the Fastbacks, adherent friends of the Nomads, label honchos of the Estrus empire and along with Mudhoney my fave bands during the 'grunge' days from the whole Seattle/Washington area. Not your average 'garage-revival' band for sure. Here in a couple (I suppose) out of print singles from 1992. Allegedly disbanded from 1999, with a few 're-union' shows thrown in 2006 and a good M.I.A. thing going on since... I know many 'garage-freaks' didn't like them, possibly due to the fact that never were part of the genre's fashion/trend but I don't give a shit about it. They were cool enough to shake my ass and hold my interest for years. Just for this alone they deserve every bit of my WTS respect! Like the back sleeve says:
 "There's more to the Mono Men than sluts, booze, and gravel-spittin' custom woodies!"
And as it usually happens on singles, all A-sides are Mono Men originals ("Don't Know Yet" & "Just A Girl")and all B's are inspired kick ass cover versions of tracks with origins on Link Wray ("Jack The Ripper"), Billy Childish ("Lie Detector") and the Wipers ("Over The Edge").
Laaaaaaaaaaateeeeer!

Rockin' Bones - "On Fire" (CD, Vinyl Lust - 2001)

Of the longest running punk & roll outfits in Greece (they were born back in 1991) if not the longest, Rockin' Bones proved to anyone was betting against that they're tough enough to get over line up changes, fights, death (ex-Personality Crisis, Fuzzy - R.I.P. brother) and the square prosaism of the country's non existent rock & roll culture. Once upon a time blood-brothers of my favorite Cosmic Teds (for a short but very fond period they were actually the two most dangerous gangs of the city and Teds guitarist Adonis jumped in for a single on Bad Elvis), but still in good relations with the legendary Last Drive (they share Earthbound's duties two of the band members). Alex K of the Last Drive in fact co-produced this CD, unfortunately their only full work to day. From the 'Last Drive (again!) in an early Social Distortion mood' opener of "Son of Reptile" to the closing rip roaring version of (you know...) "Ace of Spades", you can hear a band making real its album title, knowing and using all the best parts of this ancient music just for (your) fun. I can't remember how many times I pogoed with "Go-Go Baby" (still do the same, my fave Rockin' Bones tune along with "Torpedo"). If you're expecting with this to witness something new, you're in the wrong place pal. If not, well, that's a 100% rock & roll rotgut. As the Bones moto says: "If it's too loud, you're too old!", he-he!

Kevin Junior of the Chamber Strings needs our help...

Am I late on this? Don't know, hope not... I guess never too late for such things. I just found that Kevin Junior, yep Chicago's own last bandit, balladeer supremo and healer of the heartbroken is suffering from the life threatening disease of endocarditis. Isn't ironic? As I checked on the net, he's in great need of an open heart surgery, and as you might know or guess such things costs lots of money. You know already that I never asked before and I never will for someone to donate my own ass. But just like in Scott Morgan's case some months earlier, all I'm asking is your generosity and nothing else for a guy Alex Chilton marked as "something special", Chrissie Hynde babysitted, Epic Soundtracks created music with, Wilco covered, Dave Kusworth and Nikki Sudden played along, and many people (among those count me on) still rating him as the next Peter Perrett! Hope you get well very soon man...

Friends of Kevin Junior - Help this heart of gold get fixed...

Heroin Hell ...A very cool piece on Kevin.

Ruins ... Buy the brilliant compilation of Rarities,Outtakes and B-Sides 

The Chamber Strings  Facebook page

-Kevin Junior with Dave Kusworth, London 1998-

Scott Deluxe Drake & The World's Strongest Men - "Beneath The Bloodshot Lights" (CD, Rank Outsider - 2009)

I LUV those Drake brothers, two underestimated forces and wild flame holders of real rock & roll! From the first time these poor treated ears blasted to The Humpers sounds (it was the mid 90s with 'Live Forever Or Die Trying' on... Epitaph a move that crabbed many of us -  NOFX, RKL and the Humpers under the same roof... WTF?!), I knew that was it! Swiftly these Heartbreakers sounding creeps became naturally household darlings, one thing lead to another and not much later the names (and the records) of the Suicide Kings, the Joneses and the Vice Principals took place on my table too. It was a time when I was thinking a lot that I had to find something new to re-birth my interest and the Humpers with the Lazy Cowgirls were the ones that did it first (then came those early misanthropic punk rock action fueled outbursts of the prime-era Hellacopters, the ultra-party anthems of Devil Dogs and the no-fi assault in the vein of the Kids meets the Pagans meets the Saints of Teengenerate). To this day I remain a HUGE fan of their family tree.  And I am waiting with my breath hold for the upcoming Lovesores full LP/CD and there's not a week from the time I mentioned that I haven't placed something Humpers-related on my stereo.
This came to my hands from Scott 'Deluxe' Drake himself. It was sent for review for our many times mentioned here old zine along with some pins I'm still proudly wearing of. And my face is still in a smilingly state when I'm looking at the label's printed logo...RANK OUTSIDER! Yep, the one that got ex-Lazy Cowgirl Patt Todd on the driver's seat. He-he, I wasn't wrong after all.
This is if I'm counting right Jeff's third solo effort, but who cares about order anyway? The only thing I'm anxious (actually I'm not - just to say something...) every time some new Humpers related thing hits my turntable/CD player is to see if they moved a little, but NO, you can't teach an old dog new tricks! Thankfully!! As I read on Sugarbuzz : "He was every bit the embodiment of rock n' roll motherfuckery - half unstoppable punk as fuck delinquent rabble-rouser, half old-school show-biz, born entertainer." Ha, I go for it buddy, top notch stuff!

CD still available through here

Scott Deluxe Drake on Reverbnation, Garage Punk Hideout and Myspace

 

Mohair Colin's Back!!!

-NO! It's not Wilko...It's Colin, man!-

Hi there. You know, since my first try on the amature 'music journalism' world, about 15 years back, I noticed almost swiftly that the thrill of talking about your passions (in our case rock & roll) with the ones creating it, helping it and in many ways carrying the torch, is comparable only to good food and sex. OK, I'm into hyperbole as usual but actually this feeling is coming close for me. I had the good fortune to spoke to many people through the years and in a good 99% of them, all the guys from 'my side' (zine publishers, scenesters, concert organizers etc) were the best and with a good reason... The one Tuff Darts immortalized with the phrase "It's all for the love of Rock & Roll"! I idolized writers and fanzine publishers the same way I did with musicians. And I still feel the same in a way. Thay're as much as important are the artists.  I mean, what rock & roll woulda been without SNIFFIN' GLUE, PUNK MAGAZINE, CREEM, KICKS or UGLY THINGS (among countless, happily)? And I'm rating THAT high another one, hailing from Canada this time with a sharp title and with even sharper material in its pages. Colin Bryce's MOHAIR SWEETS. At the time MOHAIR was in print, no bank wanted me to have a credit card (yeah those pricks that now begging me to have more) and unfortuantely the printed part had to be wait some years to come in my hands. But the transformation of MOHAIR into webzine made things easier for a period. Fast forward with the start of this blog and to my ad for SWEETS back issues came to my mailbox Colin's own reply.
"Yeah, I have some, no need of money just send me an address" was his answer. From then I have the honour to call him a friend. Always gentle, always nice and always true. I tried to kick him start again something cause boy, he got things to share believe me! The guys from Eyeplug anticipated me but I'm SOOOOOO GLAD he came back. And he promised me something for this space too - like the memoirs I have the pleasure to witness on our private conversations! So, till the time Colin Bryce write something for WTS exclusively (he-he) check -among other things- the cool interview he did with Tav Falco. Great read, trust me...