The End And Everything After

More pop inspired selections this time 'round:

"Johnny Foreigner hails from Birmingham, England, where the trio first honed its blend of noisy co-ed vocals and rambunctious, syncopated chord structures in 2005. The following year saw the release of the band's first single, "Sometimes, In The Bullring"/"Camp Kelly Calm," which sold out in two months and received airplay from BBC Radio, London Live, and XFM. Johnny Foreigner had garnered enough attention by 2007 to ink a contract with Best Before Records, and bandmates Alexei, Junior, and Kelly retired to London to record the Arcs Across the City EP. A full-length album was recorded in New York later that year, with the 7" single "Our Bipolar Friends" being issued in March 2008 to drum up support for the record's upcoming release." -AMG

Grabbed this off a friend from the UK, it probably would have been a long time since I would recognize them myself, or maybe having heard the single first, have been completely turned off. "Our Bipolar Friends" which is not on this ep, and which has also since been dulled down a bit and not nearly as great sounding as the original track i linked (wma format, fyi). Hopefully they don't continue to decline, because they energy of this band is fantastic, and if they do, let this post hold posterity (haha). "Our Bipolar Friends" sounds like BARR joined Matt and Kim, without the sillyness. Expect rhythm and speed.



Johnny Foreigner- Arcs Across The City EP


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The Ordinary Boys- Maybe Someday CD Single

I found this while cleaning out my iTunes, and felt I needed to accompany the post. I remember buying this as a used CD at Tower Records I believe, sometime before their shut down. Also from England, The Ordinary boys debuted with this single, kinda post-punk, bit more pop. I sort of have this knack for picking out random CDs and enjoying them a whole lot... but that's another story. The Ordinary Boys apparently peaked in 2004, and no one knows what's happened since.

"...sounds like 2008"

Hey guys, I haven't posted anything in a while, too busy sorting through the crap-pile of 2008 music releases thus far (although R.E.M. did leak today)...but after listening to Midnight Boom, new album from The Kills for maybe the one hundred and twenty first time, and reading a recent interview with the band in Nylon magazine, I can say I still have faith in 2008.



Let me just say that this is the first album I have ever listened to from the Kills, but I am DYING to hear more. To brief the interview and to explain why this band that started out with major White Stripes comparisons to producing something like this-- Jamie Hince and Alison Mosshart travelled to Mexico and everywhere else under the sun to collect thoughts for lyrics, each coming up with their own ideas: Jamie's riddled with hip-hop beats and Alison working with an acoustic guitar and four track. The mash-up is fantastic, and a lot of the tracks still maintain a pretty original rock sound, an album that "...sounds like 2008" says Mosshart. My favorite track is probably "Tape Song", I hope everyone loves this as much as I do.



http://www.mediafire.com/?elfvdiidnm2

Party Time Machine

I completly missed out on this record in 2007, I hadn't even heard of the Coconut Coolouts until a few weeks ago when I heard their song on the garagepunk podcast, Killed by Porn. I'd definitely put this up there with the best of '07.
Couldn't find a review that best suited them. So don't let the comparison to The B-52s fool you, these guys rock.

Blasting out party punk with dancey elements is always a difficult trick. Do it right, and you’ve got the best garage band ever (at least that’s what your friends will say). Do it wrong, and the album is straight to the closeout bin. Basically, you’re either somewhere in the vein of the Cramps or B-52s , or you’re the Vines. Coconut Coolouts seem to worship at the feet of Fred Schneider and Lux Interior. The guitar awesomness and title of “32 Wives” seems to cast a glance the way of “52 Girls,” while “(Please Don’t Break Me Out Of) Party Jail” and it’s “I never thought that I’d have fun behind bars” intro is pure camp that either Fred or Lux would die for.

We’re doing all right with Party Time Machine, which is (as the title suggests) a party time record. When you throw your party, putting on a record such as this is priority one after stocking the tiki bar and getting the torches lit. It’s disposable, but worth listening to while you get hammered on rum drinks and witty banter. Big dumb fun with ’60s organ doesn’t come around all that often in a categorically cool fashion, so it’s nice to hear a record that - while not exactly plumbing the depths of the human psyche - manages to be more than just three chords and a scream.(Rock Star Journalist)

The Coconut Coolouts - Party Time Machine

COMMENTS???

Disco Always Sucked

One of the best Pennsylvania garage bands, in fact one of the best ever.


Formed in McKeesport, PA, a small town near Pittsburgh, the Swamp Rats released a handful of garage rock singles in 1966-1967 that got some local airplay and sales, but never broke out into national visibility. At their most scorching, those singles were in some ways a little ahead of their time, linking the fury of mid-'60s garage rock with the heavier, fuzzier, more over the top and crazed pre-metal rock of late-'60s bands like the MC5 and the Stooges. Their attack was dense and almost bludgeoning, paced by some particularly bulging-eyed, throat-rending scream-singing, usually with Bob Hocko on lead vocals. Although they were skilled at imbuing garage band standards like "Louie Louie" and "Hey Joe" with individual stamps, a big part of their failure to make a larger impact was likely their shortage of original material, with covers comprising most of the songs they recorded. At least most of those covers were hardly run of the mill in either selection or execution, particularly an overhaul of "Psycho" that might have been even more intense than the Sonics' original, though they did occasionally tone down for quieter stuff, as on their version of the Beatles' "Here, There and Everywhere." - (AMG)

The Swamps Rats - Disco Still Sucks