Ep 116 – ‘Going Crazy’ With music by: Kitty Tsunami, Teamonade, The Measurements, SG Carlson, Fox Face, Modern Strangers, The Junkiess

Ep 116 – ‘Going Crazy’ With music by: Kitty Tsunami, Teamonade, The Measurements, SG Carlson, Fox Face, Modern Strangers, The Junkiess


Best of the underground, week of July 28, 2020: John turns into a giant bug. Plus many stories about the Kennedys losing their minds, and much great music. (All podcasts and reviews are on www.hlycrp.com, and you can also follow us on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter, and Spotify, and Apple Podcasts.)

This week we played:

    • Brown Mountain Boogie by Kitty Tsunami

    • Sadder than U by Teamonade

    • Under Siege by The Measurements

    • How to Pose in Pictures by SG Carlson

    • Boogie Man by Fox Face

    • Pretty Ones by Modern Strangers

    • Aftermath by The Junkiess

Stevie and the Sleaze- You Didn’t Tell Me ‘Bout the Jones

Stevie and the Sleaze- You Didn’t Tell Me ‘Bout the Jones

The track “You Didn’t Tell Me ‘Bout the Jones” comes from the bands new self titled album. Hailing from Phoenix, Arizona and boasting ex members from The Raincoats, US Bombs, Mighty Sphincter, and Puppy and the Hand Jobs. When most think of the punk music scene in the late 70’s, they think about its origins in NYC with the sounds coming out of the raucous CBGB’s whose initial intention was to “feature its namesake musical styles but became a forum for American punk and new wave bands” like The Ramones, Blondie, Misfits, and Television and becoming a “cultural phenomenon” in late 1976 UK with The Sex Pistols, The Clash, and The Damned. By late ‘77, the influence of punk music and it’s co-existing sub culture, had spread across the globe.
By 1978, Phoenix was home to a growing and very much “ferocious” punk scene pioneered by the band The Consumers; whose first show was only par for the course and had punk musicians like Ron Rexless, singer of the Might Sphincter and “one of the godfathers of punk in Phoenix” feeling “beat up on a routine basis…but I loved it.” The less then 2 minute song packs a serious punch and a major nod to the American punk sounds of the late 70’s. Stevie and the Sleaze bring their own voice to the Phoenix punk music scene; the journey, the messages and lifestyle of anything “anti-authoritarian”. The track “You Didn’t Tell Me ‘Bout the Jones”, brings us into the world of not giving a fuck, the reality in the harshness of copping with smack- “you didn’t tell me ‘bout the ache in my bones…” The layered vocals between Stevie Davis, bacpac and Jaime Paul Lamb, during the second half of the song, brings a musical conversation to the stage and highlights not just the true relationship one can have with their drug of choice, but the voice behind what punk music brings to the forefront of its genre.
As the song comes to a close, the instruments abruptly end with the lone vocals cooling saying, “I need another hit” leaving the listener admittedly wanting more as well.
Flattening The Curve by Extradition Order

Flattening The Curve by Extradition Order

Extradition Order picks up where Talking Heads left off. The choppy synth intro and rhythm-heavy instrumentation is accompanied by a mantra of New Wave styled lyrics, that evolve and settle back down with a deliberate dynamic that I can’t help but appreciate. Extradition Order ties in pop sensibilities and alternative eccentricities that play off each other in a hook-heavy, fashionable, and fun way. It’s whimsical and wacky, Avant garde and artistic as it gets, this song plays like the begging to be interpreted modern art you love.
Want to hear us talk about this song? Check out episode #104 of our podcast at hlycrp.com.
Venomous Pinks “Todos Unidos”

Venomous Pinks “Todos Unidos”

This hardcore street punk only works this well if the musicians are this tight, compact, together, gang-like, and with the 100% self-belief and alignment with the message. Hardcore, like this, is best compared to the work of monks or mystics, when only absolute devotion creates the wisdom, the magic, and any questioning or self-doubt ruins the illusion. “Stand up and fight!” Also, an additional plus is the back-up singing in the chorus, I love some ohhhhs which add such great dynamic and melody. 

Want to hear us talk about this song? Check out episode #104 of our podcast at hlycrp.com.

THE RIZZOS, “BRESLIN”

THE RIZZOS, “BRESLIN”

Taking its name from one of New York’s iconic Chelsea pubs, “Breslin” by The Rizzos continues the Brooklyn band’s track record of crafting catchy, moody rock and roll. Megan Mancini’s lead guitar hook sets the loose tempo and within moments the drums and bass appear and erupt, signaling that you’re in for another rocket ride of a song from Brooklyn’s go-to underground garage rockers. The group specializes in this brand of three-chord chaos, taking propulsive rhythms to their distorted limits under Mancini’s introspective lines like, “The stars, they can erupt/But they always burn out too.” “Breslin” is a song about longing and waiting, but The Rizzos have brilliantly given it a rhythm that demands you move (and maybe, as the song seems to imply, move on).

Want to hear us talk about this song? Check out episode #104 of our podcast at hlycrp.com.

Ep 115 – ‘Latchkey Kids’ With music by: Stray Owls, Shehehe, Oliver Hazard, The Rotten Mangos, Dynamite Platoon, Grin Hound, Quinn Powers

Ep 115 – ‘Latchkey Kids’ With music by: Stray Owls, Shehehe, Oliver Hazard, The Rotten Mangos, Dynamite Platoon, Grin Hound, Quinn Powers


Best of the underground, week of July 21, 2020: All the many ways skateboarding made John into an idiot, plus a few other thoughts about Mtv and the crumbling of nonfunctional societal structures. (All podcasts and reviews are on www.hlycrp.com, and you can also follow us on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter, and Spotify, and Apple Podcasts.)

This week we played:

    • Dislocation by Stray Owls

    • Basement Parents by Grin Hound

Rosie & The Rats – “Greenwich Mean Time”

Rosie & The Rats – “Greenwich Mean Time”

It’s a strange path and a strange time for relationships – but how do you categorize the connections between individuals who mark each other for the rest of their lives, but are based on a fleeting encounter, based on barriers of time and distance, based on a failed connection. The heart of “Greenwich Mean Time” examines these connections and disconnections. The song starts with a minimalist bass riff and expands and expands into piano and a wall of gorgeous harmony – you’ve moved on but there’s no forgetting.  You’ve moved on but there’s no forgetting. This song is an elevation of the human connection – and an understanding that this time it is not meant to be, this mean time.

Mary Ellen Davis – “I Know What It’s Like”

Mary Ellen Davis – “I Know What It’s Like”

Mary Ellen Davis has been a friend forever and one of the first people I knew who was so much better than any mainstream music. I love fighting against the establishment and this song is worth fighting for. Understated beautiful vocal, a railroad beat, chimes and echoing guitar – and then Mary Ellen kills me every time when her voice soars through the song. Her voice has truth and heartbreak and life to it. This is an amazing song and she is an amazing songwriter and singer.

Ray Lark- He’s Gone

Ray Lark- He’s Gone

Ray Lark of Crooked Ghost has created more haunting beauty with “He’s Gone” – the classic drum beat and guitar chords of a rockabilly song being played on a lone stage, but as his voice comes in at 0:40, it quickly ushers the listener into a Billy Corgan meets early Genesis meets post-punk 80s crooning vibe. There is a grand simplicity to this track, but a clear yearning in his voice coming in around minute 2, hauntingly reminiscent of the sound of Jeff Buckley. Ray Lark has a voice. It’s a distinct voice. It’s a gorgeous sound. Given the sounds bridged throughout, the listener can’t help but wonder the story behind this melancholy track.