(September 2002) Episode 438 is NEW YORK DOLLS. Proto Punk + glam = should be in my wheelhouse. But for some reason they’re not, and I can’t put my finger on it. Maybe it’s because Johansen annoys me. They were a phenomenon, that’s for sure.
Favorite album: New York Dolls
Favorite song: Trash
Compared to expectations: ↓
Recommendation: the first album is all you need to know
(September 2022) Episode 437 is OM. Call it stoner metal meditation music. It’s like an equal blend of Pink Floyd’s “Set The Controls For The Heart Of The Sun,” Buddhist monk chanting, and Metallica’s “(Anesthesia) Pulling Teeth.” Try it.
Favorite album: Pilgrimage
Favorite song: Flight of the Eagle
Compared to expectations: ↑
Recommendation: good for both background and foreground listening experiences
(September 2022) Episode 436 is THE SPENCER DAVIS GROUP. They’re best known as the launching pad for teen phenom Steve Winwood and a couple classic rock radio standards (Gimme Some Lovin’ and I’m a Man). But that’s about it. They traveled a familiar path for second-tier British Invasion acts – R&B, a psychedelic album and some early 70s boogie rock before fading.
Favourite album: With Their New Face On
Favourite song: Gimme Some Lovin’
Compared to expectations: same
Recommendation: just those two songs, although devoted connoisseurs of Brit psychedelia may want to check out With Their New Face On
(September 2022) Episode 435 is CANDLEMASS, a pioneer of the doom metal genre. But not my preferred flavor of doom metal; I find the operatic NWOBHM-style singing discordant with the low and heavy guitar approach. That’s why my favorite album (From the 13th Sun) is an outlier from their typical sound, more stoner and sludgy, but not surprising since they dedicated it to Black Sabbath. Still, there are some good metal tracks elsewhere, although frequent lineup changes reduce consistency.
Favorite album: From the 13th Sun
Favorite song: Zog
Best album: Epicus Doomicus Metallicus
Compared to expectations: same
Recommendation: give them a try; your tastes may not be as finicky as mine
(September 2022) Episode 434 is the STAPLE SINGERS and MAVIS STAPLES. This family (patriarch “Pops” plus four siblings, including Mavis) is proof that blues, gospel and soul all share the same DNA. They began as a gospel group, but with a restrained, down to earth feel in contrast to normal gospel fare, grounded in Pops’ Mississippi blues guitar. They transitioned into soul and later funk. Mavis, already an accomplished solo artist, has had a revival in her golden years, with her best albums coming in the last decade.
Favorite Staple Singers album: Freedom Highway
Favorite Mavis album: One True Vine
Favorite Staple Singers song: John Brown
Favorite Mavis song: Can You Get To That
Compared to expectations: ↑
Recommendation: try the mid-60s albums for some good soul and sweet harmonies
(September 2022) Episode 433 is THE WOGGLES. I can’t think of a contemporary band that embraces the garage rock sound more than this Atlanta-origin band. The early albums excel at irresistible guitar hooks and frenetic energy, with some rockabilly retro, although it can sometimes come off as bar band fare. Later albums get more sophisticated, expressing a range of guitar rock sounds present in the Bible of the genre, the Nuggets box sets, with grit, fuzz and British inflections. No wonder they are heroes of Little Steven’s Underground Garage. Fun stuff.
Favorite album: Rock and Roll Backlash
Favorite song: Blasting Cap
Favorite British Invasion homage: Porridge
Compared to expectations: ↑
Recommendation: three out of four stars
(August 2022) Episode 432 is BUDGIE. An early hard rock/heavy metal band from Wales. The clear influence is Black Sabbath, but some have made comparisons to early Rush, both as a power trio and for Burke Shelley’s high register vocals. Tony Bourge’s guitar provides fine hooks and crunch, combining for a great groove with Shelley’s bass and Ray Phillips’ drums. While not well known in the U.S., they proved influential to Metallica, Van Halen and others, not to mention all the NWOBHM bands and boogie rockers.
Favourite album: Budgie
Favourite song: Nude Disintegrating Parachutist Woman
Compared to expectations: ↑
Recommendation: any fan of heavy metal (or Sabbath in particular) should have Budgie’s first three albums
(August 2022) Episode 431 is GENE VINCENT. Perhaps not a popular opinion, but I think the sultry “Be-Bop-a-Lula” is better than anything Elvis ever did. You know I’m not a fan of rockabilly, but his early work with the Blue Caps has some genuine appeal. And his influence is indisputable, particularly on the Beatles. He tried a comeback in the late 60s which, while commercially unsuccessful, is surprisingly enjoyable, in the country rock vein of the late Byrds and Flying Burrito Brothers.
Favorite album: Gene Vincent and the Blue Caps
Favorite song: Be-Bop-a-Lula
Compared to expectations: ↑
Recommendation: mostly of historical interest, but maybe try those later country rock albums
Episode 430 is ADAM AND THE ANTS (+ Adam Ant solo). “Kings of the Wild Frontier” was the one non-classic rock album in my high school collection, and I played it repeatedly to show how “alternative” I was. How lame. But revisiting it four decades later, it still kinda slaps — idiosyncratic new wave with Burundi drums, glam tones and a pirate ethos, and bouncy fun. The first solo album is OK but you can skip the rest.
Favourite album: Kings of the Wild Frontier
Favourite song: Dog Eat Dog
Favourite solo song: Goody Two Shoes
Compared to expectations: same
Recommendation: You’re good with Kings of the Wild Frontier and Prince Charming
(August 2022) Episode 429 is MISFITS. Misfits are close to what you might have had if the Ramones had staged the Rocky Horror Picture Show at CBGBs, but with a harder edge. There’s some good punk in here, but Danzig is an acquired taste that’s not really mine. They reformed later without him but it lacked the energy and camp.
Favorite album: Walk Among Us
Favorite song: Green Hell
Compared to expectations: ↓
Recommendation: just the first two albums
Opus Project 