Friday, April 23, 2010

Act now, and get a second dose of rock 'n' roll at no cost to you!

I've been pretty lazy about this thing lately, so assuming that anyone actually reads this, I am doing a two-fer today of two of my favorite obsessions. Surf and garage revival bands, bitches. You may not know this, but the in the nineties there were some pretty good surf and garage groups rocking the fucking pants off of pretty much every area of the United States. Labels like Estrus, Sympathy for the Record Industry, GetHip, etc. released some really great records, many of which are pretty tough to find information on. That's unfortunate too, because the two records you're about to hammer into your brain like a railroad spike are a couple of the most incredible collections of songs to come out of the decade. Get ready to have your balls rocked right off your crotch.

First, a taste of each band to convince you that it's worth the full download.

The Space Cossacks - The Defector

Fireballs of Freedom - Swamp Wolf

I'm pretty sure I just saw your head collapse on itself. Mine did too. A bit about each band/record:



This band is what the Ventures may have ended up sounding like if they hadn't gotten so much money for playing other peoples' songs. Definitely influenced by the album The Ventures In Space, this record was released on MuSick Records in 2000. Though it wasn't technically released in the nineties, I still consider it part of the 90s surf-revival, as most of this band's run was between 1996 and 1999. The Space Cossacks are doing a reunion tour right now, by the by. They'll be playing in a bunch of places in California, some spots in the South, and a bunch of other areas that aren't fucking Chicago. Bullshit, dudes. They are going to be playing in Indianapolis in August (I think), so if you live around the Chicagoland area and happen to like this band enough to make a 3 hour drive, it's do-able (if anyone reading this wants to split gas, I'd consider driving). It's also just a reunion tour rather than a full-blown reunion, so consider that this is probably the only chance you'll ever get to see them if you decide you really like them. As far as I know, they're still broken up. My personal favorite track on this record is the title track, Tsar Wars.
Here's a link to a list of shows being played on the reunion tour if anyone's interested:






Now defunct, Fireballs of Freedom are rumored to have eaten six peoples' grandparents, set the entire country on fire and left a tip at a Denny's comprised entirely of pennies. They're so awesome that my bones break when I listen to them. It's hard to hear this record over the snapping of your entire skeleton, but certainly worth the strain. Welcome To The Octagon was released on Estrus in 2001, so again, not from the nineties, but still part of the same sort of "movement". Their earlier releases include the title "Total Fucking Blowout"... how could you not want to listen to that?! Carnivorous beasts, these guys. Favorite track: Out of My Head.

So really, more updates this month. No lie. Until then, try not to play these records in public for the safety of passers-by. At low volumes, they're hazardous to the health of any unsuspecting Joe Regular that happens across them. At high volumes... I can't even begin to imagine.

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