The Original Three
Been Dealt a Losing Hand
(Empty Records, 2005)

The guit player/singer of this three piece punk outfit hails from The Black Lips. That carries a lot of baggage. Side projects don’t always come off as well as they should; like The Damn Yankees or any solo Mick Jagger or Keith Richards album. Been Dealt a Losing Hand, despite its rather lame title, delivers where other side projects have failed miserably in the past. The guitar duo and drummer are even joined by Jay Reatard and Alicia Trout, who produces three tracks, from The Lost Sounds. The star power (that term is being applied liberally) alone promises a set of good tracks. It really comes through. Unfortunately, since Empty Records was been rather busy, they didn’t have any time to check the grammar on the track “It’s Not What Your Thinking.” I understand this is punk, but that doesn’t say what band actually means. Poor grammar, though, can’t really detract from “The Line,” where our friend from The Black Lips makes good use of his voice and a plain melody. Between that track and “Vow,” the last track on the album, The Original Three reach almost anthemic proportions, but the album is only nine tracks. As a listener and not a critic, I want more. And probably, as a result of this album, I’m willing to pay cash money to see The Black Lips the next time they’re in town.

Tokyo Electron
Self Titled
(Empty Records, 2005)

I’m beginning to really enjoy Empty Records. Partially because of The Reatards. And oddly enough, Jay Reatard happens to produce this slab of punk. That being said, I don’t ever understand an entire verse of this yelling. Occasionally, it sounds like coherent, useful punk rock. And other times it seems like the guys in Tokyo Electron just happened to know the right people to get a chance at putting a record out. A prime example of the bands inadequacies comes on “I’m Worthy” with the un-needed addition of an organ not even being able to help out the band. The following track and its sloppy tempo changes again gives me some inkling into the politics that could have potentially played a role in this release coming about. I suppose though, the adage about who you know comes into play in every sphere of life and punk is certainly no different. Now that the genre is an elderly thirty-two, we can look at how production and distribution has so drastically changed over that time. A decade ago, a label like Empty Records probably wouldn’t have had the financial ability to produce and package a disc that they didn’t have the utmost faith in. Now, with everyone knowing a guy who has some special power, whether it’s recording cheaply, doing the artwork (which is a bit tacky on this one and not in a good way) or whatever, everyone can have a slab of their very own. Is that good or not? I can’t really say yet. Gimme another thirty years.