THE ADVERTS were one of the greatest bands to explode outta london in the original heyday of the punk movement......though usually overlooked in comparison to the sex pistols, the damned, the clash and others, the adverts' first album CROSSING THE RED SEA WITH THE ADVERTS is one of punk rock's classic fucking lps.....influencing more musicians than you can even list in one blog post.....
and TV SMITH, the adverts' leading man, may be punk's most original and creative songwriter.... from his proto punk band SLEAZE (which is getting some reissue love from SING SING RECORDS) through the adverts' short glorious run and subsequent burn out, and through his post adverts bands, EXPLORERS and CHEAP, all the way to his solo albums, tv smith has been fighting the good fight with biting new rock n roll for years...... he's still up and at it (and very worth the ticket price if he ever rolls through yer town)
lest anyone forget his place in the punk rock canon, the BBC released this awesome documentary titled WE WHO WAIT, so you and me can get all the gritty backstory from the legends, TV SMITH and his great snotty punk band, THE ADVERTS.......
after pressing plant delays and a long anxious wait, we finally get to throw a new PEOPLES TEMPLE lp on the turntable....and i couldn't be more excited........the new album, titledMORE FOR THE MASSES, is brought to us once again by the fine folks at HOZAC RECORDS and is chock full of psych bent hazy garage rockers that'll get you higher and higher........
these lansing, michigan kids killed it with 2011's SONS OF STONE and MORE FOR THE MASSES is, if possible, even better yet........ something must be in the dirty water of michigan, cuz everyone from there seems to be a natural at this kinda of all out garage burning rock n roll.......
their new lp mixes plenty of SEEDS, LOVE, YARDBIRDS and STONES garage power with the deeper darker psych of bands like PUBLIC NUISANCE, 13th FLOOR ELEVATORS, NAZZ and LOLLIPOP SHOPPE..... yes plenty of love for the good ol' NUGGETS set of 60s bands, yet PEOPLES TEMPLE does not sound dated or retro......if anything, MORE FOR THE MASSES stands outside the race of time..... their hazy psych is indebted to shoegaze, britpop and space rock as well as those classic records, so MORE FOR THE MASSES is an epic head expanding journey of its own.......
recommended for those into NIGHT BEATS, THE OH SEES, PURLING HISS, UFO CLUB, COSMONAUTS and/or BRIAN JONESTOWN MASSACRE.......but really anyone who needs to buy one psych record this year, ought to grab the new one from PEOPLES TEMPLE...... it's a repeat listen for sure (which is a rarer and rarer thing in our over saturated music world these days.......)
well the secret's outta the bag......the mysterious new psych band FUZZ, who just recently released their debut single THIS TIME I GOT A REASON via the always reliable TROUBLE IN MIND RECORDS, is none other than TY SEGALL and CHARLIE MOONHEART rocking a couple new jams in their spare time......
off from tour, these guys have banged out two new ripping psych garage stompers like it was nothing...... released just at the end of 2012, THIS TIME I HAD A REASON made number 2 on tiny grooves' singles of the year list, and that was amidst some pretty stiff competition....... but you know FUZZ floors you with burning guitar freakouts not heard since the heyday of 70s rock heroes, black sabbath and blue cheer......so it's not surprising that this debut 7 inch blasted it's way into my top records from last year.......
and since charlie and ty have played together in bands for years now, you'd expect for something this cohesive and epic from them......after all they were both in the EPSILONS before ty went solo and recruited charlie for his new band...... and if the ty segall band's lp SLAUGHTERHOUSE was any indication, FUZZ has plenty more acid soaked psych rock bangers up their sleeves just waiting to get pressed to vinyl........
and we might just get that this year.......the rumor is that after a year chock full of new records and non-stop touring, ty and company are gonna slow it down a bit this year. well sort of. mikal cronin is set to release his second solo lp on merge later this year, and while he's off touring to support that, we may well just get more FUZZ....... and that my friend would be a good thing......
so the wait is almost over........a new HEAVY TIMES lp is just about here....... brought to us by my favorite noise mongers HOZAC RECORDS of course....... and since they know we need a fix soon, hozac has given us junkies a little teaser in the form of a new banging 7 inch from HEAVY TIMES entitled I'M SINGLE...... both their previous albums, DEAD on ROTTED TOOTH and JACKER on HOZAC, thrashed their way into my top of the year lists, and if this single is any indication, HEAVY TIMES' forthcoming noise popped drunk punk album is gonna make that list too........
I'M SINGLE is three new tracks all worthy of the A side stamp...... what more could you ask for than a couple more fuzz coated melodies slamming into yer brain with this kinda punk rock fury????? and man oh man does HEAVY TIMES deliver.....their mix of punk, noise and post punk is so infectious that I'M SINGLE won't leave your turntable for quite some time.......
most importantly though is the fact that HEAVY TIMES keeps the unruly spirit of rock n roll alive in a time when most bands clamor to stay true to trendy subgenre labels and not much else.....
taking their cues from the wipers, guided by voices, dead moon, supercharger and husker du, HEAVY TIMES is paving their own way and leaving in their wake some of the best noise punk anthems you can get yer hands on.....
thanks to the internet, we can transport ourselves back to the heyday of punk and post punk, and on a cold winter day, what could pass the time better than watching old HUSKER DU concert footage?
one of the best punk / underground rock bands of all time, HUSKER DU was a force to be reckoned with live........ and below is a perfect example - a riotous show from london in 1985..... right before FLIP YOUR WIG and directly after the release of NEW DAY RISING......both classic fucking albums....... and not to sell themselves short they rip through plenty of high octane favorites from ZEN ARCADE, EVERYTHING FALLS APART and METAL CIRCUS as well......... even if you've never listened to HUSKER DU, you'll be more than stoked to pogo around to this show........
after all, they influenced everyone from the noise poppers to the grunge rockers, and everyone in between.....yes even the college rockers, emo kids and pop punkers..... anything with the HUSKER DU name on it is highly recommended by TINY GROOVES......'cause they broke up before they could fuck things up and left quite a string of important records in their wake, ones that still sound fresh today.....
so rock n roll below, and pretend you were there......
here's the track listing from the show, as if you need it....... 1-New Day Rising 2-It's Not Funny Anymore 3-Everything Falls Apart 4-The Girl Who Lives On Heaven Hill 5-I Apologize 6-If I Told You 7-Folklore 8-Terms Of Psychic Warfare 9-Powerline 10-Books About UFOs 11-Chartered Trips 12-Diane 13-Celebrated Summer 14-Every Everything 15-Makes No Sense At All 16-Pink Turns To Blue 17-Ticket To Ride 18-Recurring Dreams / Eight Miles High 19-Love Is All Around
HAPPY 2013 from TINY GROOVES.......!!!!!!!!! thanks to all for the positive feedback, free records and the onslaught of good ol rock n roll in 2012.........
and thank you most of all for your continuous support and readership.......without you, there'd be little reason to keep at this little rock n roll web 'zine of sorts........... now that the hangovers are dulled, TINY GROOVES is gonna share with you a special edition of DRUNK PIXELS: NEW YEAR'S EVE 2012 at the EMPTY BOTTLE with MARKED MEN, BAD SPORTS and TERRIBLE TWOS........ pretty much the best way imaginable to close out 2012........ watch below and pretend you were there...... (or remember the evening if you were....) thanks to sei jin for the footage......
THE REPLACEMENTSwere one of the greatest underground rock n roll bands of the 80s, and maybe one of the best bands ever.....their albums, SORRY MA, STINK and LET IT BE are forever cemented in my list of top LPs of all time.......
so when i heard that they were finally getting the documentary treatment, i was more than stoked...COLOR ME OBSESSED is riotously fun oral history about one of the only rock bands that matter.... the film follows the REPLACEMENTS from their unruly start as young punks through their drunken heyday as college radio heroes to their unceremonious breakup at a show in chicago and their influence on just about everyone who started a band in their wake.......
you won't find a band with more rock n roll stories than the 'mats...... that's for sure....
