Artist: Rat Traps / Jeffrey Novak One Man Band
Title: Split
Year: 2005
Label: Sonic Assault Records
Tracks: 1.) Zombies, 2.) Break It Down, 3.) Tennessee Rock 'N' Roll, 4.) Back Off, 5.) I've Lost It, 6.) No Way Out
April Novak and then husband Joe Simpson had been living in New York City for a few years when they decided to move back home to Tennessee around 2005. By that time teenaged little brother Jeffrey Novak had already become a pretty accomplished punk rock musician and songwriter playing as a one man band. With April and Joe in tow, Jeff expanded his horizons to play in a complete band with them.
I don't know if Joe had played in any "real" bands at this point, but he played like an experienced guitarist. April seemed very new to playing guitar. Jeff can simply do it all and picked up playing drums like it was nothing. All of them wrote songs and sang. Unlike the Oblivians, they didn't trade instruments to sing their songs. Jeff sang from behind the drum kit.
This CDR was sold on a Rat Traps/One Man Band tour in the summer of 2005, which must have been before the first Rat Traps 7" on Patrick from Shop Fronts' Your Permanent Records was released. I recall when I saw them, Rat Traps played first and One Man Band was the headliner.
All of the Rat Traps songs would end up on vinyl. "Zombies" and "Break It Down", both Jeff songs, would be on their second 7", on Jay Reatard and Alix Brown's Shattered Records. "Tennessee Rock 'N' Roll", the only Joe song I like, was on the first.
"Back Off" is the only One Man Band song that would be on a record. It's on Southern Trash. The other two are otherwise unreleased.
Sample: here
Artist: Black Rose Band
Title: Roadkill From The Lost Bayou
Year: 2006
Label: None
Tracks: 1.) My Love Ain't Easy, 2.) First Nite Out, 3.) Say Goodbye, 4.) Firewater, 5.) Dead In A Bag Without A Head, 6.) Today Is As Hard, 7.) One More For The Road, 8.) Highway Rose, 9.) Hot Box, 10.) Roadkill
The last we checked in with King Louie was with Kajun SS. That would be about the end of his all-out punk era as he transitioned into a more intricate, mellower, Southern boogie-woogie sound.
Black Rose Band is most significant as the first collaboration between Louie and guitar wizard Julien Fried. Julien would up the musicianship from everything Louie had previously been a part of. He cut his teeth with The Detonations in the early 2000's, along with Keith from The Drags and John Henry Kelly, and would go on to play with Louie in Missing Monuments, Terry & Louie, and as a fill-in with Loose Diamonds. I once saw Julien accompany King Louie One Man Band and it was great.
I got this off of Soulseek a long time ago. I assume it was from a CDR but it has never been listed into Discogs. The only official release this ever got was as half of a double cassette from 2014. The other half of that was another demo-type release called Boogie Woogie Wasteland. There are a few songs of overlap between that and Roadkill. "Hot Box" has its origins with the King Louie and Joe Pestilence band 10-4 Backdoor, from Portland. The only vinyl BRB did was a 7" on Alicja Trout's Contaminated Records, pictured above.
Sample: here
Artist: The Sunday Sinners
Title: Demo
Year: 2004
Label: None
Tracks: 1.) Mama Didn't Raise No Fool, 2.) Ironworkin' Man, 3.) A Sinner's Prayer, 4.) Darlin', 5.) Are You Sure, 6.) You Child
One of my favorite compilations is 2005's Sympathetic Sounds Of Montreal. The Sunday Sinners were my favorite new band that comp introduced me to.
As you can guess, The Sunday Sinners were from Montreal. They featured Jenna from The Del-Gators and Annie from Les Sexareenos. This is their demo. "Are You Sure" was on Sympathetic Sounds. "You Child", "Darlin'", and "Mama Didn't Raise No Fool" were released on a 7" by Perpetrator Records from New Zealand in 2006. At least some of these songs are covers. "Are You Sure" is originally a show tune from The Unsinkable Molly Brown but this song is based on the soul version by Aretha Franklin in 1961. It is possible all the songs are covers but I don't know.
The Sunday Sinners stayed active for a while but never released much more. They did another CD-EP with new songs in 2006 and then only a few comp tracks after that. They had at least some lineup changes. Former Mystery Girls guitarist Jordan joined the band, as well as eventually marrying Jenna. The two of them formed another band called Honey & Lies but they didn't record much.
Sample: here
Artist: FM Knives
Title: Estrogen
Year: 2002
Label: SmartGuy Records
Tracks: 1.) Estrogen, 2.) Can't Afford You Now, 3.) Just Like William Tell, 4.) Cassavettes Vs. The Moneygoround
Here's their first 7", recently acquired.
Sample: here
Artist: Candygirl
Title: Oh, Jacky Boy!
Year: 1999
Label: Jetstar Records
Tracks: 1.) Oh, Jacky Boy!, 2.) Candygirl
I'm kind of cheating here. I don't actually own this. These are mp3's from the Candygirl & Friends CD.
Sample: here
Artist: The Lids
Title: Live On WREK
Year: 2003
Label: None
Tracks: 1.) Distracted, 2.) That's What I Know, 3.) Too Late, 4.) She's Been Around, 5.) No Good, 6.) Rumble, 7.) Get Lost, 8.) No Fool For You, 9.) Hello Josephine, 10.) Something To Do, 11.) Interview, 12.) I Didn't Cry, 13.) So Long
Here's a not widely shared set of The Lids live on Georgia Tech radio station WREK. I'm not positive what year this is from but my best guess might be 2003 because while most of these songs would be on their 2004 LP, I don't hear a bass player, so this may be before Mark joined the band.
This is a great set but doesn't contain any forgotten unreleased originals. You get a bunch of the hits from the LP plus a half assed cover of Link Wray's "Rumble" (Bobby And The Soft Spots recorded another version in 2010) and then more serious covers of Fats Domino's "Hello Josephine" and The Pandoras' "I Didn't Cry".
Photo by Canderson.
Thanks to Dave F. for recording this.
Sample: here
Artist: The Raydios
Title: My Baby's Back
Year: 1998
Label: Target Earth Records
Tracks: 1.) My Baby's Back, 2.) Last Night, 3.) Compassionate Adult, 4.) Heartbreaker
After the break up of Teengenerate at the very end of 1995, brothers Fink and Fifi went on to start competing power pop groups. Fink took bassist Sammy with him to The Raydios, along with drummer Yoda from The Havenot's, and Fifi did The Tweezers with Tomoko from Supersnazz.
Both groups would release their first 7"s on a young Japanese label Target Earth Records. These records were barely available outside of Japan and would quickly become sought after by Anglo collectors who generally did not have many problems tracking down the vast Teengenerate discography.
Three of the four songs on this would be re-released on the Original Demo Recordings LP released on longtime German label Screaming Apple, which goes for some money now but was commonly available back in the day. The one that did not make it was the choice cover of The Scientists' classic "Last Night".
The Raydios (and The Tweezers) went on the back burner for a while once Fink, Fifi, and Sammy reunited to form Firestarter circa 1999. They had about a decade run and then Fink revived The Raydios with a new lineup, including Azumi from The Young Ones and Sawa from The Faceful.
Sample: here
Artist: The Hot Pockets
Title: 2 New songs
Year: 2000
Label: High School Refuse Records
Tracks: 1.) Clean Dice, 2.) I Got Love
Here is a new batch of recording from August of 1998, just a few months after their first session. Both songs are originals, with Robert handling vocals on "Clean Dice" and Adam on "I Got Love".
Sample: here
Artist: The Lids
Title: Too Late
Year: 2003
Label: Die Slaughterhaus
Tracks: 1.) Fool For You, 2.) Too Late, 3.) Something To Do
A couple years older, Benjamin Jay "Bobby Ubangi" Womack was a mentor to many of the young Atlanta musicians who would come to prominence in the mid-2000's. He was a member of the original version of Carbonas but parted ways after disagreements with the hardcore direction the band was going in and also a distaste for practicing.
To make up for kicking a friend out of the band, Carbonas drummer Dave and his then-girlfriend Valery started a new band with BJ that would play the pop-influenced rock & roll he liked and also not be too worried about sounding tight or polished. Thus were born The Lids, a reference to the Sid & Marty Krofft Lidsville television show.
This is The Lids' first and only 7", featuring BJ on guitar and vocals, Dave on drums, and Valery, future Angry Angle Alix Brown and a third girl I don't know anything about on backing vocals. Mark from Die Slaughterhaus would eventually play bass but I don't hear any bass on this record. The band would soon record an LP for Rip Off Records, play a Horizontal Action Blackout, and then break up by 2005.
BJ dropped off the grid after The Lids broke up. A few years later he was diagnosed with terminal cancer and re-activated his music career over his remaining time. Him and Jared from Black Lips turned their former joke band Gaye Blades into a semi-serious band and released two good 7"s. Bobby And The Soft Spots was kind of a re-configured Gaye Blades with BJ on vocals and would be the closest thing to The Lids he would do afterward. Lastly, he would record a minimalist LP and a few 7"s with friends backing him up under his Ubangi moniker. Sadly, BJ would pass in 2009.
The Lids would have a big influence on subsequent music, bringing back simplistic fun to a budget rock scene that was veering toward hard rock in some places. Justin Champlin has stated The Lids were his main inspiration for starting Sneaky Pinks and Jesse Lortz his Fe Fi Fo Fums.
Sample: here
Artist: The Fevers
Title: Show!
Year: 1998
Label: Lipstick Records
Tracks: 1.) I Wanna Do It, 2.) I'm Not Cryin', 3.) Rebel Kind, 4.) That's If You Want Me To
More Lipstick Records. The Fevers should be reasonably well known, but primarily from their two LPs recorded in Minneapolis with Travis Ramin on drums. This was the short-lived original Bay Area version with Kathy Walker (Donny Denim, The Pinkz) on drums, joining mainstays Gavin and Brian.
None of these songs are credited but at least three of them are covers. "I Wanna Do It" was originally performed by Bobby Comstock in 1963, "Rebel Kind" is by the Modernettes from 1982, and "That's If You Want Me To" The Beau Brummels from 1965. I don't know if "I'm Not Cryin'" is an original or not.
Sample: here
Artist: Luxury Rides
Title: She Just Don't Know
Year: 2007
Label: Goodbye Boozy Records
Tracks: 1.) She Just Don't Know, 2.) Me And My Baby (We Just Don't Get Along), 3.) Make Love, 4.) Let It Fly
One of my first posts was the first Luxury Rides 7". Here's their second and final. It's not quite as good as the first, but it is still pretty good and not terribly easy to find so here you go.
Sample: here
Artist: FM Knives
Title: Keith Levine
Year: 2003
Label: Dirtnap Records
Tracks: 1.) Keith Levine, 2.) Valentine
FM Knives were a bit of a Sacramento supergroup from the early 2000's. For a while I had trouble pinning down their sound because they don't have the same garage and rock 'n' roll structures most of the bands on here do but eventually it dawned on me FM Knives are pretty much just updated sounding Buzzcocks worship. I've never really found bands inspired by Buzzcocks to be impressive but FM Knives do a good job being inspired by the spirit of Buzzcocks and not just rehashing the same stuff. Also, the lyrics are a bit more abstract than the typical bands posted on here. This is all probably because some of the members' musical careers started before the contemporary punk rock n' roll movement.
Guitar player Chris Woodhouse was first in Pounded Clown, Los Huevos, and other bands before FM Knives and has since gone on to be an in demand producer. He's also a tight drummer. Drummer Ed Carroll was in Nar, Los Huevos, and others. Bass player Zack Olson was new to the scene at the time and thus has the strongest rock pedigree. After FM Knives he went onto a short but prolific time with The Pets. Singer Jason Patrone was in Pretty Girls with Chris and Ed and later did a group called Photobooth.
This is probably the best band any of them did. This is their last record. They did an LP and 7" the year before. I don't know how much they played out but I do know they played the 2003 Horizontal Action Blackout in Chicago. I don't own their first 7" at the moment but it's on my list.
Sample: here
