Mr. Thumb Flowers are not Evil

Based out of New Brunswick, NJ in the early 90's there was prog funk alternative rock metalish band called Mr. Thumb. The group had two singers and a running gaggle of drummers. Above is the cover for a 3 song ep called "This time it's gonna fuckin' Hurt" on Hub city label Well Primed Records. The track we are featuring in this post was supposed to appear on a follow-up 7" and self titled album on Behemoth Records but it never was released due to financial issues at the time(isn't this always the case?). The band recorded its full length at Trax East in South River New jersey with Eric Rachel and Steve Evetts. Drumming on said record was Dave Rosenberg (AKA Dave Crayola from Deadguy). The original singer Karl Munzel only appears on the Well Primed released. For the rest of the duration of the band the torch was carried by D.Buzz operating the bassness, Bil Weis vox and Jhon Thumb as the nutty jazz rock professor on guitar. You can still catch the Jhon Thumb band or something very close to it. If you ever get the opportunity to see him play it comes as a highly recommended live experience. The kind of thing you should see before you die in lieu of seeing Frank Zappa, Hendrix or a wasted John Frustrante. D.Buzz went on to form Aviso'Hara.

Grab some mp3 trax:
Mr. Thumb "Flowers are not Evil"
Deadguy - "Running with Scissors" b/w "Police Story" (black flag cover) [ buy some ]
Aviso'Hara - "Conspiracy Au Go Go" [ buy some avisohara

Dear Grammys,The Britsh are coming, the British are coming

As I sit and watch the Grammy's and actually enjoy Coldplay, despite their fruity Sgt pepper outfits, I put my trolling skills to work and found some great nuggets and music posts for you. I'll also say the one country band had a ripping guitar player. I didn't care too much for the song but the solo was hot. Other than that the Grammys sucked but I had to watch. Who dressed Katie Perry as Chequita banana and told her she could dance? I can't believe somebody convinced her to perform without a mic? She looked totally out of place. Hats off to Rick Rubin too for winning an award and Radiohead was bringing the marching band in style -- stellar

Deeper Shade of Soul - has a American Sam & Bootleg from from 1967 and some Matts circa 1987 (that's the replacements). You either love them or hate them but Westerberg pulls off Gimmme Shelter. Great mp3 blog btw.

Ryan's Smashing Life - Features a bunch of random live Flaming lips tracks and in keep with Stones theme here they do stellar version of Moonlight Mile among others. Dig deeper down and you find a Zeppelin zip from a 1975 Physical Graffiti tour.

Debbie D from WFMU blog posts a odd track by the stones called "I'd Much Rather Be With The Boys" plus a bunch other old crap by Bo Diddly, The Gentrys, The Monks and Tom Waits. Great tracks!

DUH New Jersey punk rock band

New Jersey yielded some great hardcore, Thrash and punk bands in the 80's. One of them was a band called DUH with ties to Westfield, NJ which featured drummer Ben Forgash and guys from Rutgers( think one was named was just "J"?) I can't remember exactly. Anyway, I'm not even sure that this 11 song record was called Trout (I made that shit up but it seems appropriate). Whatever the case here are 11 tracks I made from a cassette I had of their full length demo lp. I saw them play a few times in high-school and I always thought they were sort of goofy and sometimes akin to the philly band that did bitch' camero. These guys wrote songs and goofed very sarcastically about fishing, Apex tech and Quick Chek (making fun of jersey maulers chicks with lots of hair spray). Your normal white suburban textbook theme i guess looking back at the songs now.

01 Fish House Road
02 Poison Ivy
03 Put the mask on
04 oeieoeo
05 Swamp Thing
06 Chopping up your friends
07 New by Ronko
08 Anaconda
09 Quick Chek Baby [ Download mp3 ] This is a WRSU classic
10 Apex Tech [ Download mp3 ]
11 Trout

Get the whole Trout ZIP here [ You are Welcome ]

I've also discovered a great list of older thrash/Hardcore by Dirge and Ripping Corpse, etc up on FB the other day. You'll find old demos and out of print 7 inches and lps and some hilarious photos. Check out NJHC Jerseyshore reunion group. later.

Lux Interior punk icon dies at 62

Dear young performers,
Psychobilly, reverb and The Bigsby would not exist the way we know today if it were not for Lux Interior and Poison Ivy of The Cramps. Shit I might not know how cool the 50's really were unless I never heard Bad Music for Bad People way back when. The songs were simple, easy to play but the crazy slow feel catapulted you into this alien world of weird science, hot rods mixed with Bohemian beer (very disgusting by the way). Lux was a avid record collector and covered some jems and was covered almost as much as Elvis. Ok maybe that is stretching it a bit but not far-off. He was up there as far as rock icons go and on the same level as Strummer, Joey Ramone and Iggy Pop (still kicking). Leaders of the underground like it or not. This music is the devil's music to some and drunken bliss for others. These are the people who die, die.

Get some Music by The Cramps on Emusic
Sample mp3s here:
Garbage Man
Goo Goo Muck

Review: Andalusians Do the Work Indeed

Dear Andalusians, the womyn in rock sometimes try and sound like the musical genius that were Throwing Muses and end up sounding like a Scrawl record on slommo. I'm more of A fan of the Donelly / Hersh contingency and always appreciated the soulful swirly vocals and absent crash cymbals. Liked that there were no solos and chorus's to be had. The comparison for the new 7" ep on Dischord by Andalusians is uncanny for the title track "Do the Work". Lots of quirky guitar melodies backed by a solid rhythm section that compliment the vocals organically. This collection of songs has the House Tornado vibe for sure but also shows me that indie rock lives strong like a ghost know its home. Earthy, warm and all sorts of analog fills this music and picks up right in the sweet spot. I will even dare to say that some real chops are channeled and reworked so it's all new kids. See them on their tour of America now!

Dig the tune "Do the work" 3 more are available when you buy the record from Dischord

Catch them on Tour right now:
Thursday, Feb 5 - Washington, DC @ Black Cat
Friday, Feb 6 - Richmond, VA @ Rumors Boutique
Saturday, Feb 7 - Chapel Hill, NC @ Night Light
Sunday, Feb 8 maybe driving, maybe playing? HELP!
Monday, Feb 9 - St. Augustine, FL @ Nobby's
Tuesday, Feb 10 - Orlando, FL @ Starlight Cafe
Wednesday, Feb 11 - Gainesville, FL @ Common Grounds
Thursday, Feb 12 - Atlanta, GA @ Wonderroot
Friday, Feb 13 - Johnson City, TN @ TheHideAway
Sunday, Feb 15 - Somerset, KY @ watershed gallery
Monday, Feb 16 - Louisville, KY @ Skull Alley
Tuesday, Feb 17 - Chicago, IL @ The Ottoman Empire House
Wednesday, Feb 18 - Milwaukee, WI @ Cactus Club
Thursday, Feb 19 - Kalamazoo, MI @ 4th Coast Cafe
Friday, Feb 20 - Detroit, MI
Saturday,Feb 21 - Wilkinsburg, PA @ Mr. Roboto

The Living End of Punk by Zeke

World Famous Zeke is heavy-grass ladden smoke out American Rockn'Roll punk rock. Take the really ugly side of MotorHead and mix it with something really fast from Crypt Records and you've got the dark tattoo that is Zeke.

Dear stoner go get the rest of The Living End by Zeke punk article on the newly referbished Review Stalker Music MP3 Blog.

Quality MP3s and more words after the jump!

Rough Cut by the Wrens on magnet.com

OK it is a little bit noisy and again features a piano but the pressure is on. Here is a new song as featured on the Wrens Watch page over at magnet.com. Not sure what the freaking title of the song but lets not get ahead of ourselves. The meta info says "vox fx" which probably is just engineer speak that there are effects on the vocals. There is some crappy distortion like the compressor is crapping out or maybe it's shitty mp3 burn. What ever the case while the wrens hone their microphone skills for the quite parts lets cut them a little bit of slack and enjoy [ download ]. Once said track kick's in the drums sound pretty good and Bissell has his signature delay stuff going on the guitar. Maybe there is hope yet for them to make 2009 album of the year! If you haven't already don't forget to sign-up for the DJ Spork RSS feed which is currently playing the most recent show #25 Kiss 2008 goodbye, Best of by DJ Spork. [ Download the show ]

David Lee Roth Sound-off board

Get your fill of David Lee Roth "oohs"and "aaaahs". "Beg or borrows". From the Running with the Devil sound board. If you are daring you can maybe make be your own goofy song with no talent at all. Ok maybe you need the help ofMicrosoft's Songsmith software. Then you can make your own video like the one below. The music that is created by this automated software is pretty laughable but hey we all can't be crafty genius song writers. Not even a machine. ha!

NJ Demo Tape punk graveyard

So if you're old enough to remember there was a time that any band with any sort of DIY ethic could put out a run of 100 demos. No internet. No email. Just collect the beer money set-up the mic, make some artwork and then just start duping tapes. The distribution network was slow and conducted via snail mail and shows. Tommy Southern AKA devil dick has another blog playing tribute to said lost demos (his other mp3 blog is pretty killer too) who just never could release a proper LP. With all his posting he writes about all the bullshit that went along with the punk/hardcore and thrash scene of the day. Much like a modern day reality show except there were no damn producers or videos cameras. Just bored suburban kids living without a care in the world other than their scene. If you have been digging around looking for for Hogan's Heroes, Lethal Aggression< Social decay go no further than to the demo tapes blog. He's on a mission from Satan.

New Wrens Songs to spite Magnet

I'm not sure if you have been following the super annoying thread at Magnet where they have been stalking Charles Bissell as part of a Wrens Watch every week, some bits are pretty sarcastically cool guy funny, others a little uncomfortable to say the least. Not sure if anybody has really noticed yet but Wrens last release The Meadowlands was almost like what feels like a decade ago. Yikes! The exhausted boys have life's and families to feed I guess outside of music. Regardless it is rumored that this spring they may release a record. Don't hedge your bets yet. In the mean time they are offering up a single "Pulled Fences" recorded as part of the Live At the WorldSpace Sessions At Abbey Road. If you are cheap- ass like me you will grab it from Bridging the Atlantic and call it day. If you want to support their offspring search for it on iTunes. The tune starts off with soft Smiths like piano part with Bissell and co noodling on in the background by the band. It's builds gracefully, stops and there it is. A new song by the wrens. Written and song by Kevin. Here is the band making magic at Abbey Road, on a whim and improvised. It's awesome. It could all go drastically downhill from here or be a sign of good things to come.

Deep Elm Bonfire of Trust review

Deep Elm is giving away 16 songs for free for the next few days. Some of the high-lights include: the spacey guitar rock of Moving Mountains and the big guitar goodness of Desoto Jones. Do it now. There are lots of great deals from this label and it helps they still have that energy that is lacking in a lot of indie labels these days.

Holy Crap Best of 2008 lists

I found the craziest list which I think was compiled by a nutcase programmer. Check out Largehearted boys 2008 Year-end round-up list o' lists. Has every damn site best of listing -- everybody's list! We're still listening and trying to decide over here. It's a lot of freaking work. So far these records have made it on there and when we are done we'll put a podcast together. Geesh.

In no particular order:

1) Do you like rock music? by British Sea Power - Holy crap this is another UK band that just took things to a whole different level, earthy and dark, blankets of sound

2) Nouns by No Age - Best duo i've heard in a long time. Plenty of noise, respectable burried vocals. Dig that washy sound man.

3) Old Wounds by Young Widows - Mucho distorted bass and straight up riffage like minimal rock should be. No trickery.

4) Lust Lust Lust by The Raveonettes - lots of layers and reverb just like god intended for any post Jesus and Mary Chain band to sound like.

5) The Devil You + Me by The Notwist - This is dark and bad-ass with the right balance of technology mixed with guitars

6) Little Death by Pete and the Pirates - I was shocked I like this so much but then again I'm a sucker for a good UK guitar driven pop band with lots of attitude.

Ok that is it for now.Yeah i list six freakin' records so what! If you want to throw down your own opinion feel free to participate in Tric Mccall's annual critics poll for 2008. Your opportunity ends Jan 30.

Show #24 Holiday Cheer for 2008

Well the new year is almost upon on and with that comes our annual Christmas show with some mirth. Really mostly rock but in Show #24 Some Holiday Cheer we got covered with new tunes by No Age, Trail of Dead, Young Widows. Plus local NJ music by an old band from Westfield called Animation. Buzzkill New Brunswick, New stuff by the Eastern Anchors and Transilvia. Add to that a bunch of Xmas stuff mixed in.