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Brian James of The Damned RIP

Brian James of The Damned and Lords of the New Church died on Thursday 3/6 . He was 70.

It's amazing to think that he wrote "New Rose" the first punk song ever to be released in 1976. Damned Damned Damned was of the first punk album to be recorded. Brian wrote most of the songs off that album too. Brian's guitar work on the album was a road map for so many that followed. We owe so much to those musicians in the early days when it wasn't easy to be a punk. They were at the forefront. In retrospect it was so right that the band did those original lineup shows these last few years.

On the second night when The Damned played the Rat in 1977 nobody was dancing. Everyone was just sitting down. The band brought up a table onstage and ate pizza. Brian James said, "You see, we can sit on our asses just like you." They start the set and after a couple songs with still no reaction Brian says: "Welcome to our television room. Enjoy it, watch it, eat your food, have a nice time." With the last song of the night Brian said, "We're falling asleep up here. We're not used to this sort of shitty reaction. This one's called 'Neat Neat Neat". It's properly known as a dance number. If ya can't dance, you might as well fuck off, ya know what I mean?"

In our notorious interview with them the night before, Brian doesn't get into it until near the end to add some zingers. At that point Jake Rivera was getting up on a chair to piss on the tape recorder. Blowfish says, "I'm leaving". Brian has the last word that night with "Stick around, mate! No, no, this is rather funny! Come on!" You have to read it to believe it. The BGN Damned Interview from 1977 at the Rat.

The Brooklyn Vegan has some good videos. One of the early Damned doing "Fan Club"… Other links…MSN… …and Guitar World…

In other news....

The Marvels reunion show on March 29th at Deep Cuts is cancelled. The FB page

JJ Gonson of Once has booked this year's Somergloom at the Somerville Armory like last year. This is the fifth year for the festival. There a whole host of bands that are representative of the new metal music. The dates are August 7-9. They promise to update their website which now shows last year's show.

There was an article in the Globe on Friday 3/7 about the Burren and the building to build over it. The Globe shows the love for The Burren and also the economics that are driving the multistory building being proposed. If you can get by the paywall.

You want to buy some punk rock? No, I mean some actual punk rock….that's what they are selling on Ebay. It's a rock with PUNK written on it. Condition is "new" and postage is $8.78. It's $25 or best offer. The comments say, "Sooo like it's a rock. And punk is written on the rock because like, you know, punk rock."

Goldmine magazine listed the top 20 punk albums from 1977. It's nothing you don't know. They did include the Dictators and The Diodes which was a nice move. The Goldmine article is here.

Just another reminder that The Dogmatics, a Dogumentary is now on DVD and available at Amazon and other places. Here it is on Amazon.

VIDEOS......

Nasalrod is an Oregon group started by Fear drummer Split Six. They have a new EP titled Victims Family & Nasalrod in the Modern Meatspace. The seven and a half minute video for the song "Maker" off the EP is an elaborate affair. The song doesn't even start till the three minute mark.

In the video are cameos by Al Jourgensen (Ministry), Jello Biafra (Dead Kennedys), Lee Ving (Fear), Jerry A (Poison Idea), Toody Cole (Dead Moon), Janet Weiss (Quasi), Steve Turner (Mudhoney) and more. Lee Ving has aged well! The music is a pastiche of outlier styles with a home base in punk. You can hear the EP on Bandcamp.

They are playing in Salem on Thursday, April 17 at Koto with Minibeast amd The Ghouls and Providence on Friday, April 18 at Parlour, with Minibeast and Grip Bite.

Brad Marino has a video for his song "Girl, I Need You" off his On The Brink album on Rum Bar Records. We love every reason to hear Brad and his straight rocking catalog. The video was shot at RS Butlers Trading Co. in Northwood, NH. We were eye balling the record section. It's about a half hour from Portsmouth.

We listened to this new Owen's Guns (Australia) song "Worst Wishes" but liked it so much more when we saw the video. It's short and unsweet. It's about wishing the worst to someone who is the worst. We can all relate. Some adult content near the end.

PBS did a segment on black musicians in punk music. It starts with Death in Detroit in 1973. Pure Hell came from Philadelphia. They sound like powerful punk in the clips. The show goes on to spotlight some current black groups.

We've reviewed Real Sickies from Canada before. They're a little wacky and humorous. They say that Billie Joe Armstrong of Green Day has hailed Real Sickies as his favorite Canadian punk band.

Their new album is Under a Plastic Bag. The song "Wild Imagination" has a video that's full of neon colors and eyeballs on springs. Like a lot of the Real Sickies songs it's short too at 2:02. The album is full of similar snappy punk.
One of the songs is "Chocking On Your Insides" which is written by Paul Caporino of M.O.T.O. That gives you an idea of the territory that the group is in. The whole Under a Plastic Bag album can be heard on Bandcamp.

Boston Emissions with Anngelle Wood hasn't done a radio show in a while but she has a new video interview up with Rice Edmonston. Rice has a long and varied career. Now he is known as a drummer but was originally a guitarist. He was a member of Darkbuster. There is a long line of groups following that in his musical road trip.

Rice just released his first solo album Conversation Ends. He plays most of the instruments on the album. The music has a thick and substantive sound which is something that most solo written and played albums especially don't have.

Rice uses synth smartly, giving songs extra sonority without marking them as electronic. Added to that he is not only a drummer and guitar player but a good drummer/guitar player. The best of all is his singing. He reminds us of David Grohl at some points, like on "Stare at the Sea". Other places his voice soars like Bono, as on "Last to Know". We have "Last to Know" embedded below. You can hear the whole album on Bandcamp.

We just plain like The Slamdinistas. The Rum Bar band presses all the buttons for us. The singer makes all the songs work. They have a video for the new song "Where I Belong ". In the vid they ride around town (Silverlake, Griffith Park, and Venice Beach areas of Los Angeles) in their tour van trying to get home "where they belong" which in the vid is just a place to play the rock, or that's what we take from it.

RADIO......

Brian Young on A Crash Course for the Ravers started the show with six songs from The Damned and Lords of the New Church ("Like a Virgin") in memory of Brian James. He played some David Johansen songs also.

A Crash Course for the Ravers is on WMFO 91.5 FM on Saturdays at 1pm. After that got to the WMFO schedule page Hit the Crash Course for the Ravers show on 1pm on Saturday, then hit the 'archive' button.

On the Rising show on Tuesday 3/4 Skybar had Girl With A Hawk in as a guests. The new GWAH song "No One Like You" was played with a few more recorded tracks and then a song done live in the studio. Linda Viens was inducted into the New England Music Hall of Fame and they talked about that night. There was a discussion about the Indiana origins of some of the bandmates.

We have the interview and songs below. Skybar’s Rising show is on WMFO 91.5 FM on Tuesdays at 7-9pm. After that go to the WMFO schedule page hit the Rising show at 7-9pm on Tuesday, then hit the ‘archive’ button.

PODCASTS.........

Blowing Smoke with Twisted Rico had two well regarded bands in for his last two interviews. First, fresh off a reunion, was The Bags. The three band members, Jim Janota, Crispin Wood and Jon Hardy. They found each other in their home town of Lexington. Jim and Crispin played in the Peter Dayton Band just before they began Bags. One of their first gigs (1985) was a radio show at WJUL in Lowell. Their first gig at the Rat was on a bill with Asa Brebner and Mojo Nixon. Green St Station shows were good for the band. They talk through their long label problems. You could feel the frustration they still have.

They won the Rumble in 1989 and the free studio time that came with that allowed them to record their next album. The band has periodically stepped back into the scene and reflect on how things have changed. Now they are recording an album at Woolly Mammoth with Minehan and try to do at least once a year.

The next interview was with Dan Zanes of the Del Fuegos. Dan talks about living in New Hampshire and how that formed his musical influences. Dan started playing guitar at 8 years old. He began playing folk music. He saw Jonathan Richman as an example of how anyone can play. When he got to Boston, people talked about how good it was, like everything was over by 1985. At the beginning the band played many old rock covers. They had help from Lili Dennison getting up to speed on the scene and Rick Harte gave them some career guidance. Later Dan bemoans the excess of drugs in the band lifestyle and decisions.

Steev questions how Dan went from punk to having fifteen albums of children oriented music. Hhe sold his first album out of his trunk. This interview is full of interesting stories we hadn't heard before.

Sethyspice remembered David Johansen on the Elastic Glam show (3/8) by playing a few songs and then an interview on the David Letterman show in 1983. Letterman let Johansen talk about the Dolls and their antics, very amusing. The Dolls then play "Stranded in the Jungle" which Sethyspice lets play through.

The "Holly Would Love (Suite)" by Phil Thornally was some elaborate glam pop a la ELO. Thornally produced The Cure's Pornography album and played bass for the Cure for a while. Here is the album on Spotify.

There was the prime Sparks song "Amateur Hour". The 2025 Glam Rock Glammy award song of the year was "Fire Up Indigo" by the Voltz. The Voltz Bandcamp page. The show finished with two Lou Reed songs in celebration of his birthday.

On the 3/14 Elastic Glam show Sethyspice went Green for St Pat's Day. The music was really Irish including Pub sing a longs as well as the incomparable Undertones. There was the Dubliners and the Pogues, The Clancey Brothers, Dropkick Murphys and lastly Thin Lizzy and "Whiskey in the Jar".

Sonic Overload on 3/3began with "Master Race" by The Dictators because the Girl Crazy LP came out 50 years ago. Wow. He then played "Let the Music Do the Talking" by Joe Perry because that album came out 45 years ago (1980). Seems like a lifetime between Girl Crazy and Let the Music Do the Talking, not just five years. Those years were packed with punk.

Al Quint played a set in memory of David Johansen. It was both uplifting and sad to hear those NY Dolls' songs.

One song that caught our ear was "Crossover Angst" by Soviet Valves a group from Perth, Australia. It was released in 2005. The guitar strumming is distinctive and the voice reminds us of 1980's English singers. Hear it below.

On the 3/10 Sonic Overload show Al celebrated the 25th anniversary (Part One) of the show which began as a live show broadcast from over an ice cream shop in Allston. Then it was known as Inflammable Material. He had a sound clip from one of those early shows. In the show Al played many songs that he used to play back in the day. He had a variety of themes beyond that. He played a set of songs he heard on WTBS/WMBR Demi Monde. That set was: La Peste, Diodes, Slaughter & the Dogs, Adverts, Generation X.

Al also marks songs that are related to musicians and fans that have passed over these years. There was a strong political set. Al ( and hardcore) is great with those.

He did a set in memory of Brian James with Damned and Lords of the New Church music. He even did a set of songs from his childhood, like Monkees, Blues Magoos and Electric Prunes. Al's final segment was the best of the twenty first century.

It was an especially well compiled show. You can hear the whole show on the Sonic Overload web page

The Radio Warfare podcast had a tribute show for David Johansen. The first half was Dolls and solo albums by David. When they play Johansen's recorded works it sounds like the 'hits' when in reality so much of what he sang is just so familiar that they all seem like hits. The second half of the show was later material by NY Doll members after they left the Dolls…of course all have passed - the reality that's hard to take. The loss can be summed up in the title, "You Can't Put Your Arms Around a Memory".

The playlist is on Tim Livingston Facebook page.

We were listening to Radio Warfare when he played a Vapors (of "Turning Japanese" fame) song titled "Hit the Ground Running". Our ears perked up, we didn't remember hearing that song before. It turns out it's from a brand new release. The band's first in five years. In the song the insistent beat, the driving guitar riffs and the fast vocals all work together to give you a listening rush.

The rest of the album rocks along similarly. The Vapors still have it together and their music shows the pop and playing knowledge they have accumulated. We have the album embedded below and it begins with "Hit the Ground Running".

Tim also played The Buzzcocks, Eddie and the Hot Rods, Alice Cooper ("It's My Body"), The Boys (good one from 2014 album), Los Lobos ("Alone in the Crowd") and Willie DeVille. Last week Tim played locals The Chelsea Curve, The Remains (doing "Hang On Sloopy" which followed the Peawees doing "Don't Look Back" Song on Bandcamp), The Amplifier Heads and Danny the K. It started with a mod set: The Jam, Chelsea Curve and The Who. We have that show embedded below

NEW MUSIC/CDs......

We got a hardcore fix from Cambust this week. There on Triple B Records. The song that stuck out to us on the new album Belly of the Beast was "N.Y.H.C." It features NY singer Danny Diablo appropriately. This is a real anthem for NY hardcore. They must go rabid when this is played live in the city. The video of the song is on YouTube. The song "N.Y.H.C." is below. The whole album is on Bandcamp.

There is more hardcore from The Long Wait. Steev Ricardo had an interview with singer Glenn Dudley a while ago on the Blowing Smoke podcast. Hardcore fits the current zeitgeist. It can deal with anger and frustration with volume and intensity. The Long Wait prove the point. There is no letup in the fiery nine cuts. No acoustic guitar sweeteners. We like that you can hear the words despite the hard attack. Our faves are "Weaponized" and "Uncharted Greed".

We heard Skybar play a new Bob Mould song this week. That got us scooting over to Bandcamp to hear the new album Here We Go Crazy.

With Bob Mould you know what you are getting. The amazing thing is that he is still playing harder and more ferocious than his peers. He's been one of the most consistent and reliable singer/guitarist/songwriter for so long. There's one acoustic song and one song with an acoustic first half, the rest is the wall of guitar as usual. Skybar played the first and last songs on the album. We got caught up in the third to fifth songs.

"Hard To Get" and "When Your Heart Is Broken" are short songs that are hard and lean. One notable thing to listen to is the drumming. The drummer has solid snare and its given prominence in the mix.
This comes into play on "Fur Mink Augers". This song is longer at 3:52. That allows Mould to drive up the intensity longer. Again listen to the drummer. At the 2:22 mark he is ripping it up, riding the wave of energy with Mould. For the last minute the group just rides the beast. It's an extraordinary moment. That sort of wild enthusiasm is usually a live thing. The whole album is on Bandcamp. We have "Fur Mink Augers" embedded below.

It's hard not to like the Gypsy Moths. Their new song "Maybe You're Dreaming" is tuneful and yes, dreamy. The songwriting is so graceful it seems deceptively simple. The arrangement fits like a glove. The recording was done at Ed's Barn in Canton where an awful lot of music we listen to has been recorded.

We've enjoyed the releases from Australia's Last Quokka. The group now has an eleven cut album Take the Fight to the Bastards. There are some songs we have talked about like "OTC", "Save Our Pubs" and "Cost of Living". These guys have plenty of gripes and they present them with Aussie attitude.

In "Yankee Satellite" they are pissed that they "can't a beer in my pub, anymore" for some reason. "Stupid White Bastard" is not much more than three chords and three words (Stupid White Bastard), but it's how they say Stupid White Bastard. In "French Shrimp" they ask how did they know they were "French shrimp"? They go a little crazy on that. They also use their anger for good in "Murujuga". Murujuga is an area where there are sixty thousand year old petroglyphs and somehow they are putting in things like a fertilizer plant that could bespoil the area. The Last Quokka righteously rant.

Autogramm are synth-driven power-poppers from Seattle, Chicago and Vancouver. Their latest release is a single with a song "Randy" on one side. It's a song about a cat.

On the flip is a song that interests us because of its origin. It's "Jenny's In a Sleep World" which is a cover of a Diodes song from their 1979 second album Released. It has as much kick as the guitar centric original. It seems even more melodic in this version and the chorus clicks in as an ear worm. Nicely done. Here is the Diodes original on YouTube.

Slovenly has released A's, B's,C's, D's, & E's, a collection of demos, single sides and unreleased material (23 tracks) from The Gain, a Reno power pop/mod band that were around in the 90.s. They are playing some gigs this month for the first time in a while, hence this album. There's a lot to like in their sound. It has some Who overtones and a great guitar crunch informs all their playing. They do a few covers, The Buzzcocks "I Don't Mind" and The Beatles' "She Said, She Said" and "Boys". They have fun with the "Mission Impossible" theme.

Wyldlife is a New York group that people have made comparisons to the Dolls and Dictators. They do have that early rock element in the sound, especially in the guitars, but they don't lean into the NYC attitude and they add pop sensibilities. That gives them their own identity.
They have two songs posted off the new album Sorted. We liked "Bystander" and by the time we got through "Fast Dreams" we were loving the group. We have "Fast Dreams" below. We are hot to hear the rest of the album.

Panic Shack from Cardiff, UK have a punk take on the problems with body image. It seems jokey but they seriously capture the mindset of living up to others expectations. They say, "I look good, this is all I do/ My body is yours, enjoy the view" and "…nothing tastes as good as skinny feels".

TELL's new song "Sweet Proximity" got a nice blurb in the Globe this week. The song has nail biting tension that emanates from the lyrics that seem clear but then they don't. All you know is that things are not right.

We love the bass in this song. It digs in and gives the song it's character. We came to appreciate the TELL by hearing them in the flow of music on the Electric Glam show. In that context you can hear that the songwriting measures up to anything played next to them.

Here's some good shows coming up .....

March 17, 2025 (Monday) The Recovering Catholics, The Only Humans, Time & Placeat The  Silhouette Lounge

March 20, 2025 (Thursday) The Pete Best Band and Tiger Bomb 0at Aura, Portland, ME 7PM. FB page

March 21, 2025 (Friday) Crush Depth, Threat Level Burgandy, Sound Advice at  The Jungle

March 21, 2025 (Friday) Sullest, Today Junior, Frogs at  O'Briens

March 21, 2025 (Friday) Crush Depth, Threat Level Burgandy, Sound Advice, Lekha at The Jungle

March 21, 2025 (Friday) The Zip Ups, Corin Ashley, Shiverlane at Faces Brewing, Malden

March 22, 2025 (Saturday) Somerville Record Fair - Local and regional record dealers from around the North East are bringing out thousands of vinyl records and CDs for your digging pleasure. 61 tables of vinyl records and CDs.at The Holiday Inn Washington St Somerville $5 admission - 9AM-5PM - FB event page for more info

March 22, 2025 (Saturday) AWESOME MATINEE SHOW!! The Villains Reunion with Moose Knuckle, The Stress Balls, Ruffian Dick at The Jungle 3PM $10. This is a Benefit show for BAGLY: The Boston Alliance of LGBTQ+ Youth. 

March 22, 2025 (Saturday) Scotty Saints and the True Believers, Septic Approval, The Upgraded, Jobber, Bad Idea USA for a 3PM Matinee at The Midway

March 22, 2025 (Saturday) Actor/Observer, Old Soul, Girih at Deep Cuts, Medford, 7PM

March 22, 2025 (Saturday) The Agents, Brunt of It, Nick & The Adversaries at Faces, Malden - All Ages 8PM - FB page.

March 22, 2025 (Saturday) Fugue State, Johnnie & the Foodmasters, Intac, Deuceclub at  O'Briens

March 22, 2025 (Saturday) Deprogrammer Cult, Born Cursed, American Ethos, The Promised End at  Moon Base One, Salem, This is all ages -starts at 6PM

March 23, 2025 (Sunday) The Mess Around at its new home - The Square Root with Jay Allen, Bob Cenci’s Orange Guitar, The Gypsy Moths, Chris Wagner, 4-6PM

March 23, 2025 (Sunday) The McGunks, Freezing Process, The Manglers, Blasphlematics at The Midway for a 3PM matinee.

March 29, 2025 (Saturday) The Marvels Reunion!!!! with The Downhauls, Bad Terms at Deep Cuts Medford TIX CANCELLED

March 29, 2025 (Saturday) Guilloteenagers, Hambone Skinny, Screwcart at The Square Root

April 5, 2025 (Saturday) Weigh Boat, RoseR, American Ocelot, Jennifer Tefft and The Strange at The Midway

April 5, 2025 (Saturday) Baabes, Linnea's Garden, Jackie and The Idiots, Pyramid Scheme at  The Jungle 

April 5, 2025 (Saturday) Gossip Collar, Pilgrims of Yearning, DJ Faust at AS220 Provi RI

April 6, 2025 (Sunday) Martin / Morell / Fredette, John Horvoka Band, Satch Kerans 3PM matinee at The Midway

April 10 (Thursday) Silver Screams, The Winter Brave, Bob Cenci's Orange Guitar w/Ramona (Crow Follow) on drums at The Notch Taproom Brighton

April 10 (Thursday) FACS, Landowner, Major Stars at Deep Cuts Medford

April 11 - 13, 2025 (Friday-Sunday) Dark Spring Festival at The Middle east Up - check out the Event page here.

April 16, 2025 (Wednesday) Your Pest Band "Japan's best garage power-pop punkers", Zip-Tie Handcuffs, Wicked Dead at Faces Brewing, Malden. Your Pest Band has been at it for almost 15 years. Check 'em out!

April 17, 2025 (Thursday) Plymouth Punk Rock Market at Mayflower Brewing Company 6-8PM Event Page

April 17, 2025 (Thursday) Dead Boys with Richard Lloyd (Of Television) at Deep Cuts, Medford, MA, 7pm

April 17, 2025 (Thursday) Nasalrod with Minibeast amd The Ghouls at Koto Salem FB page

April 18, 2025 (Friday) Nasalrod with Minibeast and Grip Bite at The Parlour, Prov. RI FB page.

April 19, 2025 (Saturday) Gang of Four at The Crystal Ballroom, Somerville. Tickets.

April 24, 2025 (Thursday) Christian Death at Deep Cuts Medford 7-11PM

April 25, 2025 (Friday) Sidewalk Driver, Rice Edmonston and Talk Chalk at Deep Cuts Medford. Facebook event page

April 25, 2025 (Friday) Stray Bullets, Nick And The Adversaries, Hell Beach, Static Friction 3PM Matinee at The Midway

April 30, 2025 (Wednesday) The Bellrays, Muck and the Mires, The Downhauls at Deep Cuts $20 advance / $25 day of

May 4, 2025 (Friday) One Fall, DNA's Evolution, Type 66, The Mighty Suicide Squirrels at The Middle East UP

May 11, 2025 (Sunday) The Queers at The Middle East UP

May 16, 2025 (Saturday) The FUs, Arctic Horror, The Angry La's (Formerly GIVE UP!) at KOTO Underground, Salem:

May 24, 2025 (Saturday) Neighborhood Shit, The Promised End, Fracture Type, Knock Over City at The Midway 3PM Matinee!

May 29, 2025 (Thursday) Major Stars, Gossip Collar Notch Taproom Brighton

June 14, 2025 (Saturday) ShaggahS & The Cynz at the Burren, Somerville 7pm

June 27, 2025 (Friday) The Gruesomes (legendary Canadian garage punk band a) , Muck & The Mires, The Chelsea Curve at The Middle East UP EventPage

June 27, 2025 (Friday) Rockin Bob Punk Band, Color Killer, The F.U.’s and from California, Stay Out at the Middle East UP, 8pm

July 19, 2025 (Saturday) The Wynotts, The Haymakers, American Ocelot at the Square Root, Roslindale 8pm

September 7, 2025 (Sunday) Rock and Roll Yard Sale in Somerville Union Square FB page for more info vendors etc

CONTACT US AT....misslynbgn@yahoo.com Send us your gig listings, your anything else you've got!! You want your CD reviewed?? Contact us for that too.