Jukebox Upchuck #33

Sorry for the delay, but it's that time of the year (NCAA) and I also just found out that a move is in my near future. So unfortunately, posts will be more sporadic.

I love just about everything that the Secretly Canadian/Jagjaguwar sister labels release, and I'm anxious to get my hands on the new Odawas record, Raven and the White Night. Cheesy album titles aside, I'm in love with this song and its atmospheric, Ennio Morricone, spaghetti-western vibe. I doubt it'll bowl you over, so give it time to grow.

Odawas – "Alleluia"

Jukebox Upchuck #32

The Mops are widely considered the gold-standard of Japan's "Group Sounds" movement, which in lay terms was essentially Japan's attempt to copy the chart success of the American and British beat movements. You've probably heard The Mops' contribution to the second Nuggets box, "I Am Just a Mops," a catchy if simplistic rock and roll dirge. But the bulk of their 1967 album Psychedelic Sounds in Japan sounds nothing like that. Containing a mixture of covers sung in English and originals sung in Japanese, Psychedelic Sounds showcases an incredible band fully capable of holding their own with their overseas garage-psych counterparts. You can tell where -- in part -- the group drew their influence by the bands they chose to cover: Jefferson Airplane, The Animals, The Box Tops, and The Doors. But it's on their original material that you can really hear the garage'edelic influence, specifically when lead guitarist Masaru Hoshi cuts loose. (Check the Hendrix influence on "Sleep, Jesus," which was released two years after Psychedelic Sounds.) This shit just flips my wig.*

The Mops – "I Am Just a Mops"
The Mops – "Asamade Matenai"
The Mops – "The Letter"
The Mops – "Sleep, Jesus"

*Note: The Noiseboy believes in balding gracefully, and would never actually resort to wig-wearing.

Jukebox Upchuck #31

I've been asked before why I continue to dig deeper into the garage rock genre when it has already been excavated so thoroughly by the kind folks at Rhino, and the answer is, well, this...

Crystal Chandlier – "Suicidal Flowers"
Driving Stupid – "Horror Asparagus Stories"
Race Marbles – "Like a Dribbling Fram"
Adjeef the Poet – "Ieek, I'm a Freak"

All are taken from Pebbles, Vol. 3: The Acid Gallery.

Jukebox Upchuck #30

Pardon the absence, but I've been swamped with work and family and March basketball. I'll try to do a better job this week.

I'm a late-comer to the Numero Group record label. But two weekends ago, while in Louisville, I picked up the first in their Eccentric Soul series, The Capsoul Label. This collection mines the depths of the Columbus, Ohio, label's five-year run, which spans just a dozen seven inches released during the first half of the '70s. It's an exceptionally well-done reissue, and if you dig these highlights, then it's well worth your money.

Marion Black – "Who Knows"
Bill Moss – "Sock It to 'em Soul Brother"
Johnson, Hawkins, Tatum & Durr – "You Can't Blame Me"

Jukebox Upchuck #29

The Kinks are the most underrated rock band, in my mind. Sure, they've sold millions of records and recorded one of the most recognizable rock songs of all time. Yes, they singlehandedly spawned heavy metal and power-pop with a simple chord exchange and guitar tone. (Van Halen sure loves them!) And they're in rock's hall of fame. But still, people don't give them enough props. Still, people don't own every record they recorded from 1964-1971, as they do with The Beatles and The Stones. Still, we haven't found it necessary to idolize Ray Davies as we have done with Lennon, McCartney, Richards, and Jagger. And frankly, that's a shame.

I can only speculate as to the reasons why. It's true, The Kinks were a bit of an outsider band when The Beatles and Stones were at the height of their late-'60s popularity, largely thanks to Ray and his preference for intelligent, conceptual records, and songs with abstract lyrics that dealt with social issues and melancholy moods. Then, in the mid-'70s after several critical flops, the band did an about-face, reinventing themselves as a commercial hard-rock juggernaut. We tend to have lazy minds with selective memory, so we naturally gravitate toward "You Really Got Me" or Misfits-era arena rock, and don't give much thought to lesser hits (that are just as good) like "Tired of Waiting for You" or "Victoria" or "David Watts".

So to help correct that, here's a sampling of some of their lesser-known masterpieces from their brilliant period from 1966-1971. Do yourself a favor and investigate further, if you haven't already.

The Kinks – "I'm Not Like Everybody Else"
The Kinks – "Waterloo Sunset"
The Kinks – "Big Sky"
The Kinks – "Brainwashed"
The Kinks – "Get Back in Line"