Monthly Archives: October 2018

Hey Hard Rock Kids! Confused by the intricate musical complexities of Bad Company? Not a fan of Foghat because so far as you’re concerned they play math rock? Well have I got the Neanderthals for you!

I’m talking about Ram Jam, who played a brand of hard rock so stripped down it made the Troggs sound like baroque chamber music. NYC’s Ram Jam appeared on the music scene just as punk was exploding in that city, but you won’t find any punk in their DNA, and if you think punk was a primitive rock form, well, compared to the Ramones these guys sound like a bunch of cave men beating on rocks with other rocks.

Ram Jam are best remembered for the 1977 sorta-hit, “Black Betty.” In fact it’s the only thing they’re remembered for, and if you’re lucky you don’t remember it at all. Their pitiless pummeling of a defenseless Leadbelly tune is either stupid and annoying or pure dumb fun, depending on whether your idea of fun is singing “Whoa, Black Betty, bam-ba-lam” over and over again.

Me, I don’t even like it as kitsch, but I’m far less hostile to their debut LP as a whole. There’s something almost endearing about this cave man quartet’s dedication to keeping it simple, and I’ll be damned if a couple of its brainless melodies and atavistic sentiments don’t jump out at you–”Keep Your Hands on the Wheel” sounds like an unholy fusion of Mott the Hoople and Brownsville Station, and how can you go wrong?

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Hailing from Richmond, VA, The Ar-Kaics are one of the few unambiguously garage-aligned outfits that can maintain a boldly retro slant, and for longer than the occasional 45. Short-players? Yeah, they got ‘em (many of them pricey these days), but with the release of In This Time, they now have two LPs, and fine ones at that. Along with instrumental proficiency in their chosen style, a big part of the band’s success derives from an almost…well, scholarly approach to “troglodyte teenbeat 60s-style punk,” which in turn means they fit right in on Daptone’s rock subsidiary Wick. The record’s out October 26 on standard black and limited beach glass color vinyl in a classy sleeve by Mingering Mike.

The reason why the tried-and-true introduction to ’60s garage remains compilations (e.g. Nuggets of course, but also the Pebbles and Back from the Grave series, etc.) is that hardly any of those bands could manage a solid, or even moderately flawed LP. Hell, many couldn’t even pull off a decent B-side. The same is true of the original ’50s uncut R&R convulsion (where non-comp full albums were almost unheard of) and to a lesser extent ’77 punk, where solid LPs were more common but still outnumbered by killer singles. There’s just something about the raw stuff that’s captured best by seven inches of wax.

Retro ’60s garage bands (as opposed to garage punk or garage-psych units) have caught a lot of flak over the years, and a fair amount from me. The reason is twofold. First, many of these acts (the first big ejac of them dating from the ’80s) were hardly more capable of knocking out quality songs than their influences, which resulted in a lot of covers as well as barely disguised rewrites. The results may not have been terrible, but they also weren’t anything to get into a lather about.

Second, these bands often devoted more time to dressing the part, looking like they just rolled off the set of Beyond the Valley of the Dolls or something, than working up a good set of tunes. And when the music was the focus, too often they regurgitated aspects of the sound that should’ve been left in the ’60s, like overzealous maraca-shaking vocalists with their “Yee-ahhh bay-bays,” for one example.

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VIA PRESS RELEASE | Released in late 1968, the second Pearls Before Swine record continued to deliver music with a preternatural sense of what the youth of America wanted to hear. One Nation Underground had been a surprise hit when released in 1967 by the hipster free-jazz indie label ESP, receiving an incredible organic response, with continuous underground radio play and sales.

Like One Nation Underground before it, Balaklava celebrates 50 years of life in stunning fashion. Original producer Richard Alderson has remastered the album, restoring the precision of the original mix—and in the process, revealing fantastically dynamic performances and dispersing the haze of the years that had gathered over latter-day editions of Balaklava. The music and message it intended to deliver to the world are still needed, the peace still sought. The fight to understand and to change is still ongoing. And so, Balaklava has fresh purpose, after all this time.

The music of Balaklava strips away the manic, post-garage band diversity of the first album, instead grounding the production around Tom Rapp’s guitar and singing, with the touches of instrumental color all the more dramatic and striking. Tom Rapp passed away while this album was being readied for re-release. While he spent the majority of his life working as a lawyer who practiced humanist, equal-rights law—”60s law,” as he put it—for the benefit of many underrepresented people, his name will best remembered and will forever be synonymous with the music of Pearls Before Swine. We are grateful to help in pushing this music forward toward the eternity it deserves.

It goes without saying that this anniversary restoration of Balaklava is dedicated to Tom’s memory. May he rest in peacefulness, and live in the positivity that Pearls Before Swine bring to all who hear their music. It’s been 50 long years, but you can finally own the definitive version of this masterpiece on December 14th.

While debut records sometimes come with substantial background info, this is especially true of the first release from Anna Connolly, in large part because it’s not the byproduct of youthful energies but accumulated life experience, with ties to the DC punk scene and the city’s record stores. And yet, After Thoughts avoids the familiar vibe of music made by older, often jaded players as it consistently packs an emotional wallop. Punk in spirit rather than style, the assurance of Connolly’s songwriting is felt, the candor striking, the delivery sharp and focused; it’s out now on vinyl in a high-quality edition of 300 through her own imprint Runaway Girl Records.

In the early ’80s, Anna Connolly moved with her mother and sister from Los Angeles to Washington, DC, where the siblings, already in tune with the punk scene, became part of the same burgeoning developments in the nation’s capital. Minor Threat practiced in the basement of their house, while Anna befriended Cristina Martinez (later of Boss Hog) and Jennifer Herrema (destined to become half of Royal Trux).

If the name Connolly rings a bell in relation to DC punk, that’s because Anna’s sister Cynthia is the photographer-author responsible for assembling Banned in DC, which endures as the crucial historical document of the city’s ’80s hardcore scene. Anna’s part in this narrative might’ve made less of a splash, but she was in no way a casual bystander, touring the Midwest with Minor Threat when she was 14 and landing a job at Record and Tape Ltd/ the Book Annex, which later became Olsson’s Books and Records.

If you think working in a record shop is no big deal, that’s fine, but may I ask you to please stop for a second and consider which website you’re reading? In terms of DC punk history, record stores were a vital part; on the back cover of Dischord’s seminal DC hardcore document Flex Your Head is a short list of special thanks, with one of the recipients Skip Groff, the owner of the legendary Rockville, MD shop Yesterday and Today Records.

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VIA PRESS RELEASE | From Seattle grunge to swamp blues and all points in between, BMG Books’ new RPM series gives fans an inside look at the independent record labels that made their mark on music history. The series debuts on November 20, 2018 with the first two volumes: World Domination: The Sub Pop Records Story and Shake Your Hips: The Excello Records Story. Each is sized at 7″x7″to mimic the dimensions of a 45 RPM record, and each features a photo insert that helps brings the story to life with rare and unseen photographs.

“We want to honor the truly special independent labels,” says BMG’s Kate Hyman, who originally conceived of the project. “We want to celebrate the days when fans would buy records based on the logo alone. Let’s hope there will continue to be more of them that take the big risks and break the mold of the majors.” Future volumes will cover Chrysalis Records (Procol Harum, Jethro Tull, Blondie, Pat Benatar, Billy Idol) and the Cold Chillin’ label (Kool G Rap, Big Daddy Kane, Marley Marl, Biz Markie, Roxanne Shante).

“As a self-proclaimed music geek, I’ve always been a big fan of the 33 1/3 series,” explains Scott B. Bomar, Publisher and Senior Director of BMG Books. “We wanted to take that concept and build upon it. Instead of focusing on a single album, each volume in the series covers a label that made an important splash in one way or another. We’ve given ourselves space to dive into some of these stories in ways that maybe haven’t been explored in the past.”

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