November 2009
Offbeats: An Intermediate Clevo Punk
TWOFER: The Original Three and Tokyo Electron
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.
Jay Reatard - "It Aint Gonna Save Me" (Video)
He's back - thankfully.
The Punks: A Transitional Noise
Getting together in ’73 or so, the band plugged the gap between the MC5 and the Stooges who were newly demised and what would happen in New York pretty soon. No other band distilled the ‘60s stuff that came out of the Motor City as well as these folks.
The Necessary Evils: A Noisome Garage
Articles of Faith: A Chicago (Kinda) Hardcore
The First Wave of US Punk
I realize that the West Coast isn’t represented here at all, but the scene over there could arguably be construed as a resultant effect of what was occurring in Indiana and all points East.
The Ramones