December 2009

What a confusion. Outsider Art seems to be nothing more than a phrase affixed to inaccesible art made by weirdos. The fact that its become something of a buzz word as well as a good way to cash in is a bit detached from the hospitals, nut houses and back roads where the ‘artists’ first crafted works culled from garbage heaps, left over stuffs and whatever traditional art materials were sitting around.


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The Bodies – Addicted to You (Radio Records, 2004)The North Bay of California isn’t well known for its punk stuff. More frequently, hippies work out some patchouli jams from that particular part of the country. Of course, wherever there’re hippies, there’re probably some punks sitting around decrying their nemesis’ existence. Right or wrong, that’s how it is. The Bodies, regardless of whether or not they were the folks sitting around lamenting the ‘60s thing, were able to maintain a small, but consistent label as well as releasing a string of singles, mini-LPs and full lengths that rivaled pretty much everyone else trucking in early ‘80s styled punk stuffs. Addicted to You isn’t that long, but in its aggression, topical subject matter and well constructed tunes, listeners should be able to find as much pleasure here as in bigger, more bloated bands.

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Trying to round up the best of any one genre during a single year is almost counter intuitive. And working to distill an entire decade is almost just plain impossible. With there being so much stuff referred to as punk today, the endeavor actually becomes ridiculous. But nevertheless, what follows is a sort of short list of important, enjoyable and in some cases forgotten recordings from the last ten years that might not actually be the best, but are all worth a listen.

The inclusion of a number In the Red Records releases seems unfair. It might be, but the fact points to the imprints dogged tenacity at releasing high quality work. And while the label surely released a few clunkers, there’s more gold in there than in most label’s back catalogs


Murder City Devils – In Name and Blood (Sub Pop, 2000)
The first few Murder City Devils’ full lengths garnered the group enough of a following to eventually be affixed to the Sub Pop label. The Seattleites’ relationship with such a venerated outlet enabled the garagey group to tour with some proper support, even if the venues it frequented never grew in size. Regardless of that and the amazing songs cobbled together on this organ based ensemble’s disc, the release would be its last. Recently reforming for a west coast tour and an appearance at Chicago’s Riot Fest hasn’t hurt the group’s legacy. And maybe during next decade’s end round up, I’ll get to mention a reunion disc.

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When mentioning the Piedmont region music enthusiasts will probably immediately begin fawning over the likes of Rev. Gary Davis and Pink Anderson – the later being the namesake of Pink Floyd. But there was music coming out of the region even after those blues players resurfaced during the ‘60s.

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It’d be easy to take umbrage with the ridiculous personas that both King Khan and BBQ have worked to create over time. And in moves similar to the Black Lips, it seems that not too long a period of time goes by without hearing about one of these guys running into some legal trouble. For whatever this duo’s shenanigans seem less contrived then its Atlanta based brethren. None of that, though, is actually the point of any of this. It’s, hopefully, the music. And in just three albums time, even if the release dates have been spread out over the better part of the ‘00s, the King Khan and BBQ Show has been able to amass a unique persona in a genre that glorifies weirdoes.

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Classic. But a cover. And I bet you didn't know that...huh.