Remember Sheer Mag? Hardore-y band from Philly with a chick singer who Peter discovered a while back. I liked what Peter posted, but they didn’t have any kind of CD or album one could buy at the time (at least easily), so they kind of fell by my wayside.
Well, apparently somewhere along the line, they made a full-length CD and this track was mentioned as a Best Song of 2016 in Washington Post today.
Kicks ass IMHO. I’m gonna order the CD on Amazon immediately. Start with Thin Lizzy duel guitars and you always have me halfway there right off the bat.
When Howard Stern’s on vacation (seems about a third of the time between four-day weekends and two-week vacations every couple months), I’ll listen to Little Steven’s Underground Garage on my XM in the car. It could be way better for sure, but it’s as good as radio gets these days, by leaps and bounds.
Complaints:
1) Way too much Joan Jett
2) Garage is the main course (of course – and that’s OK), but when it’s not garage the leaning is more toward Americana than the hard rock I’d prefer. Some hard rock gets played, but not nearly enough.
3) Seems The Ramones I hear is always of the later “suck” variety.
For me, The Ramones are 80 percent the first three albums – all masterpieces, whichever one I’m listening to is the best. The fourth, Road To Ruin, is pretty damn good. The Phil Spector album has its moments. After that, it’s shit city.
I hear this song on Underground Garage more than any other Ramones and it’s horrible. Where’s Johnny’s guitar? The hard edge is completely gone in a wash of poppy, keyboardy drivel. If The Ramones were this from the beginning, I wouldn’t even like them.
Kept looking at “Slate” and wishing it was “Slade” and it led me here. All kinds of silly here, but one can’t deny those Noddy pipes. Perhaps the most underrated singer in rock, says me.
Condensed Wiki story of this band, for those who care or not:
1) The singer was the drummer for Jesus & Mary Chain.
2) They did all kinds of critically acclaimed experimental stuff early on.
3) Eventually, they decided to do a simple, straight-ahead rock ‘n’ roll album, Riot City Blues, where both the songs I posted live. It was critically meh, with some severe pans.
4) This song was their biggest hit single in England. I don’t think it’s as good as the other one, but it’s good enough that I’m gonna buy the album. Will report back later if necessary. The video is easy to watch, if nothing else.
Heard this on Little Steven’s Underground garage over the weekend and like it quite a bit. Don’t know this band; must investigate. Certainly nothing new here, but sounds refreshingly good.
Why this popped into my head at the gym this afternoon with my daughter I’m not sure. Best guess is because I’m reading another hardcore oral history and Ism gets a decent mention and I loved Ism back in the mid-8o’s and always thought they were way underrated. (Please don’t follow this with the song they always get mentioned for, a mediocre cover of Partridge Family’s I Think I Love You.)
Like Dylan, The Residents are best when someone else is doing the song.
1) Me saying the Bad Brains have as much chance of getting elected as Trump had everything to do with the very slim chance of Trump winning and nothing to do with any notion of me hoping he wins.
2) When I said the Bad Brains are superior to the Clash, Ramones and X, I meant purely in terms of power.
3) And it’s so ironic that in the company of 99 percent of shit-loving music fans, I’d be aggressively defending these three bands. I will say:
Clash – Great first album (both versions). Good second album. Kind of went off the rails from there, spotty at best, horrible by the end. Wish you guys would read Gene’s favorite, John Lydon, call out Joe Strummer and the Clash’s “smart” political lyrics as nothing but a cheap, cheesy marketing ploy.
Ramones – Great first three albums. Very good fourth album. Fifth album had moments. Horrible from there on. Certainly had their own kind of power, but not as white hot as the Bad Brains at their best.
X – Betting I had their first album before Lawr. Liked it a lot. Second was good. Lost interest after that. Agree with Gene on the “going through the motions” of that video. Can’t Billy Zoom even smile anymore? (And please, Lawr, if you like X so much, you owe it to yourself to read John Doe’s very good recent book.)
4) Would never, ever, never say any of these bands aren’t rock ‘n’ roll. And some very fine rock ‘n’ roll at that. My qualms are with the frequent “not sure this is rock ‘n’ roll but” articles on Remnants and stupid shit like Tupac leading the Rock ‘n’ Roll Hall ballot for 2017. Like I’ve said before, if Tupac belongs in the Rock Hall, then the Beatles certainly belong in the Rap Hall (if there is one). “Icon of non-rock popular music” shouldn’t put you in the Rock ‘n’ Roll Hall.
And good God, Lawr, I certainly envy your happiness and the fact that you’re happily retired and have set yourself up well. A hearty and sincere “Good for you!” from me to you.
Finally, here’s that wasp in the pants song (can you guys seriously sit still and listen to this?):
And finally finally, here’s National Official Spokesperson Of Rock ‘N’ Roll Dave Grohl talking about the Bad Brains. Hell, if it’s about rock and Dave Grohl says it, how can it not be true?
Saw the list today of next eligibles for – my favorite – the Rock ‘n’ Roll Hall of Fame. Expected the usual mix of suck and ass, but there sat two words that didn’t fit the bill – Bad Brains.
They probably have about as much chance as Trump of getting elected.
