Gunk Punk

As promised, here´s some more on We Never Learn, New Bomb Turks singer Eric Davidson´s recent book on the punky garage bands that ruled the indie roost from ´88 to ´01. A very loose underground scene, with bands sharing stages and labels who were musically as far apart from each other as the Dwarves from Man Or Astroman or Dead Moon from Rocket From The Crypt. And also a scene which incidentally paved the way for the unlikely success of the White Stripes.

Buy it if you missed this drunk, loud, and funny piece of musical history, which Davidson calls gunk punk for want of anything better. Buy it if you lived through it, too, like I did, as it´s a fine trip down memory lane. While reading, it slowly dawned on me that I saw roughly 75 % of the bands mentioned live in concert back in the days. I was even present at the semi-legendary Mummies/Supercharger gig at the Vera Club that gets a write-up in these pages. Got the tour flexi to prove it.

Al the scenemakers that mattered are there, be they bands (Devil Dogs, Gories, Oblivians, Blues Explosion and many many more) or label bosses (Crypt honcho Tim Warren, Sympathy´s Long Gone John). Writing and researching, Davidson used the same enthusiastic approach that made him such a fine frontman with the Turks, and that´s probably the main reason it all goes down a treat. As a special bonus, you even get a code you can use to download an exclusive twenty track sampler that illustrates exactly what was so good about this gunk punk thingy. Here are four dynamite blasts to get you in the mood.

Rip Offs - She Said Yeah MP3

Supercharger - Buzz Off MP3

Oblivians - Memphis Creep MP3

Thee Headcoats - Girl From ´62 MP3

Wild Weekend Vol. 25

It´s the silver jubilee of Wild Weekend, which means the ghost in the iPod cooked up a six pack of eclectic tunage for aural advancement twenty five times already. Fifty beckons. Get with it and get down.

Let´s start with Gram and his Flying Burrito Bros, giving a glorious Aretha-inspired soul injection to their cosmic American music. From The Gilded Palace Of Sin, a countryrock masterpiece everybody should own. All together now: "Take me to heart, and I´ll always love you..." And don´t forget: Nudie suits (see album sleeve) rule. Next up are Ohio´s prime noisemakers the New Bomb Turks and one of their trademark punk blasts. Stop press: their singer Eric Davidson just published a book on the scene his band was part of in the nineties. I just got my copy of We Never Learn - The Gunk Punk Undergut 1988-2001 and it looks übercool, so expect the full lowdown in these pages real soon.

Flying Burrito Brothers - Do Right Woman, Do Right Man MP3

New Bomb Turks - Cryin´ Into The Beer Of A Drunk Man MP3

Nothing beats Sandy Denny singing ye olde Wild Mountain Thyme. From Fotheringay 2, the aborted second album that finally saw the light of day a couple years back. Not as amazing as the eponymous debut mind, but still well worth it. "All around the bloomin´ heather, will you go, lassie, go..." You can almost smell the stuff. Off to Washington DC now, where Eggs fried up some adventurous indiepop in the mid-nineties. Their homage to the city of Evanston in Illinois features some fine trumpets to boot. Over easy indeed. Find it on Exploder (´94).

Fotheringay - Wild Mountain Thyme MP3

Eggs - Evanston, IL MP3

Grant Hart will forever be known as the singing drummer in Hüsker Dü, but this doesn´t mean his solo work should be underestimated. His stint with Nova Mob for instance, yet another band name derived from the Burroughs oeuvre, produced such majestic songs as Admiral Of The Sea. Here´s the 79 A.D. version. And the last track of this Wild Weekend milestone happens to be a roots reggae monster from ´78 by the rather obscure duo of Albert Bailey and Clifton Howell, also known as Earth & Stone. Dig that Channel One rockers sound. "False rulers of the world, them have to get a beatin´..." Hear hear.

Nova Mob - Admiral Of The Sea (79 A.D. Version) MP3

Earth & Stone - False Ruler MP3