The Nomads in the studio

Sweden's best-ever rock and roll band are back recording. This is good news so here's a trailer form their live DVD on Munster to celebrate. Lindsay Hutton of Next Big Thing blog is doing the spruiking. Och aye!

Kicksville 66

Norton Records' Miriam Linna was the Cramps' drummer before Nick Knox (and that's her on the right). She's blogging about her time in the band and you need to check it out here. Thumbs up to Lindsay Hutton (who used to run the Cramps fan club) for the heads up. His own Next Big Thing blog is temporarily down due to a computer death.

Klondike is Next Big Thing in Scotland

At the risk of wearing out the welcome, here's a review of the Klondike's North 40 album that had to be shared because it's so good. The author is Lindsay Hutton from Scotland, who used to run the wonderful Next Big Thing zine from the '70s/'80s. He now blogs here:


Klondike’s North 40 – The Straight Path (I-94 Bar)

The esteemed Antipodean info-portal is now a label and what better way to kick off such a venture than with Chris Masuak’s current outfit. I know that most of you folks of a certain vintage are familiar with this guy’s guitar slinging prowess. However, there may be readers that fell by here by accident so let’s address that possibility. Chris is the Australian Ross The Boss and Scott Kempner sort of rolled into one. His work with The Hitmen (Shock has just reissued two sets to prove it) and Radio Birdman is the stuff of legend. Heck, he was even on the Manitoba’s Wild Kingdom album. We’re not dealing with chopped liver here.

Several generations of rock’n’roll kudos are wrapped up in all this. Old and in the way but positively bustling with that trademark stringbending. “Recipe for Disaster” takes place in the good old Four Winds bar. A tale of a bona fide catastrophe. “The Straight Path” is a head-banging example of a man wearing his indulgences well. It might introduce younger folks to these at the same time as it pushes the buttons for those of us who miss those rolls in the thunder. BOC fans will find much to transport them back to their old haunt. Screamin’ dizbuster cocktails all round.

The place where this would work most effectively is presumably in a club, louder than hell in a churchlike environment. The surf/metal cut and shut of “Gershwin May Consider” is a prime example of what is and always shall be the holy grail of our raison d'être here at this cyber rag.

Nomads DVD on the way

Big news. Munster Records (in Spain) are releasing a DVD about The Nomads, a still sporadically-functioning band that was a reference point for anyone north of the equator who was playing so-caleld garage rock in the '80s.

So great was their influence that their records also made it down to Australia and everyone from the MC5's Wayne Kramer to Dead Kennedys singer Jello Biafra has paid tribute. Here's a preview and the sage words in brogue come from Lindsay Hutton, esteemed ex-editor the the Next Big Thing zine and keeper of the blog by the same name:

All Tomorrow's Haircuts

Pinched this from Lindsay Hutton's always excellent Next Big Thing blog. It's US indie popsters Angel Corpus Christi paying homage to gnarly old Lou Reed's ever-changing hairstyle. Lou must have the second-most discussed follicle action in New York City - Donald Trump aside - and the song vaguely resonates with righteous Velvets drone. Lou's mullet circa "Magic & Loss" still draws a snigger around these parts.