Exploring unheralded rock songs from many genres including classic rock, hard rock, psych, garage, metal, proto-punk, punk, post-punk, and the occasional blues tune...
May Blitz, the British/Canadian psych power trio, probably arrived on the scene two years to late. They made a couple of interesting albums that probably would have garnered more airplay and interest if they were released in 1968/69 instead of 70/71. As it were, the band folded after limited sales of its second LP. Here they are from their self-titled debut album.
Jason Pierce's Spritualized was one of those bands that I heard a lot about before I ever heard any of their music. I would see them listed as playing in area concert halls, hear about how they influenced other bands, and that their shows were unpredictable. Yet, back in the 90's, it was hard to find information on them, because I never heard them on the radio. Finally, roundabout 1997, I was listening to the Nocturnal Emissions radio show on the now defunct WBCN in Boston and heard some weird guitar-based space rock. Sure enough, it was Spritualized. This is what I heard nearly twenty years ago.
The late 90's were the early days of file "sharing". The infamous Napster website ruled the day. I remember going through pages of poorly sorted search results finding new and interesting music to download. One song that jumped out at me was what appeared to be a song featuring two of my favorite bands of the day, Rage Against the Machine and Tool. I immediately started to download the song. Twenty minutes later, the download was complete and I began to listen. While the production value of this unreleased song wasn't the best, I loved the combination of the two bands. What a better mantra for these bands than the chorus, "You can kill the revolutionary, but you can't kill the revolution".
Sticking with Toronto bands, here is some music from 8 years prior to yesterday's Song of the Day selection. Lighthouse was a rock band with a horn section. That combination doesn't usually appeal to me, see Blood, Sweat, and Tears. However, Lighthouse had some really good tunes. Sometimes, you just had to dig for them. Today's selection is the first song off of their debut 1969 album.
The key regions of the original punk movement were New York and Great Britain(and L.A. to a degree). But there were smaller bunches throughout the world. Here is the pride of the Toronto punk scene, The Viletones and their single, Screaming Fist.
The other day, I found myself watching Saturday Night Live because Fred Armisen...It was one of the best shows of the season, but what stuck with me the most was the musical guest, Courtney Barnett. This Australian twenty-something and her band played some honest straight ahead rock n roll on a stage usually reserved for pop acts putting on a "performance". Here is a link to an article about Courtney's SNL appearance. So, I went out and downloaded her most recent LP. It's a slam dunk. It reminds me of the Arctic Monkeys first release.
Here she is live with a stripped-down version of the first track off of her debut long player, Sometimes I Sit And Think and Sometimes I Just Sit https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pa1uup8n0OQ
Over the course of their decade long career, Bologna, Italy's Gaznevada developed more poppy, new wave music. Here they are from their early days with a decidedly more punk edge to their unique sound.
Jeff the Brotherhood is a hard-working rock duo out of Nashville, Tennessee. As their name suggests, the band consists of two brothers, Jake and Jamin Orrall. They've released a ton of material since forming in 2001. Here they are from 2011 with Ripper off of their We Are the Champions LP.
Endless Boogie is a good old fashioned take no prisoners rock band from Brooklyn, New York. They've actually been around since 1997, but did not get to record an album until 2005. Here they are from 2008, off of their third release, Focus Level. The riff on this track feels a bit like a slowed down "Fell in Love with a Girl" by the White Stripes. But no worries, it rocks!
Left Lane Cruiser was a scuzzy-blues rock duo from Fort Wayne, Indiana. Recently, they've had some lineup changes and expanded into a threesome. But here they are from their 2009 sophomore effort, All You Can Eat!! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3VEeDzLJS6A
No, today's song was not produced by Donald Trump's political campaign:) This is actually from a short-lived Irish psychedelic band. They only released a couple of singles. Here is the B side to their first single, Three Jolly Little Dwarfs. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UsM8Q7qWj6g
I usually steer clear of 70's singer/songwriter music. While the lyrics can often be quite good, the music usually bores me. Garland Jeffreys has just enough of an eclectic sound to keep me interested. There is something about these easy going song that I really enjoy.
Now here's an example of a glam band that seemed to be progressing towards punk(nevermind the first ten seconds or so of piano). Unfortunately, this British band would break up shortly before punk broke out. They might have been able to make something of it.
Scottish rockers, Nazareth, formed in 1968, but wouldn't truly evolve into their eventual peak selves until arena rock was starting to come to prominence in the early to mid-70's. Nazareth reached the pinnacle of their career in 1975 when they released their 6th LP, Hair of the Dog. That album featured the rocker anthem title track and their biggest hit, Love Hurts. In between those two songs, is today's song of the day, Miss Misery. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UTFM9MmD_Mk
Today I'm featuring some indie college radio pop rock done right. This group was originally a trio that formed at Tufts University as freshman in 1991. They are still active today, now as a foursome, making eclectic music. Here is their "hit" from 1999.
And now for some 60's teenage garage band rock from upstate New York. For teenagers, they really captured the whole garage vibe. The Traits were a regional success before the lead singer got drafted to go to Vietnam. As a result, the band broke up in 1968.
By the Spring of 1998, I was over my all encompassing infatuation with 60's bands, and had started to immerse myself in the rock band club scene. I enjoyed the energy of seeing lesser-known bands up close and personal, over seeing the big classic rock bands in arenas and stadiums. It was around this time that I made my way into the Middle East downstairs in Cambridge, Mass to see a powerful young band from the Northwest, Sleater Kinney. They were opening for local favorites, Helium. After S-K's blistering performance, I remember going to the back of the room to buy some swag. The band's lead singer, Corin Tucker, was casually signing autographs for those that requested them. I didn't have anything in particular for her to sign, so I just pulled out a dollar bill. Pausing only a moment, Corin signed it "A Fool and His Money...Corin". I thought that was pretty cool.
So, a little insight into how I select a particular song for a particular day. I have an iTunes(I know) playlist of potential blog songs of the day that I have been adding to here and there for that last two years or so. Currently, there are about a thousand songs in that list. If inspiration does not strike for featuring a certain song on a given day, I will just go to my playlist and hit random. Yesterday, I ended up landing on Heavy Blanket(a J. Mascis side project). Today, I hit random again and land on another J. Mascis side project, Witch. While part of me wanted to just select another song, I decided to let the fates have their fill of J. Mascis' guitar work....
Despite going to college in Dinosaur Jr.'s home base(Amherst, Mass) during the time of their greatest powers, I never really got into the band. For some reason, the tone of the music didn't interest me. J. Mascis was known for his guitar chops, but I never really understood why. With one of his most recent side projects, it is now clear to me. This is some quality musicianship. Maybe I'll have to dig back into the old catalog...
No, this isn't a track off of Creedence Clearwater Revival's fifth album, this Cosmos Factory was an adventurous Japanese prog outfit from the mid-70s. Some have described their third album as being reminiscent of King Crimson. High praise indeed. Here is a short, but funky track off of that album.
Ska punk is about on the edge of the the kind of punk that I like. It feels like, in retrospect, that this kind of punk led to the slippery slope of pop punk, which I don't care for. Operation Ivy, though, produced a lot of gems in this ska punk subgenre. Sound System was probably the most memorable, but there were some others including today's song from their 1988 EP Hcctic.
Time for some Funky Friday music with the onetime "fifth" Beatle, Billy Preston. Here is is from a 1974 performance on Don Cornelius' Soul Train. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5SYGcrxnuNY
Texas blues guitarist/singer Barbara Lynn is definitely underrated. She was a staple in the South for a number of years in the 60's. She got fed up with the business by the 70's and ended up taking a couple of decades off from performing before easing back into it. Here she is with a cover of Lazy Lester's classic, Sugar Coated Love. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mo3YAGhkyl4
For the 500th consecutive daily post on Deep Rock Mining, I've decided to go with one of my all time favorite groups. The Band played straight up rock n' roll with poignant lyrics that were sung with feeling. For me, you can't ask for much more.
The Band were also the subject of one of my favorite movies of all time, The Last Waltz. That documentary surrounded their epic final shows before calling it quits on Thanksgiving in 1976. Here they are about 5 years earlier with a terrific Robbie Robertson penned tune off of the Stage Fright album.
Floating Bridge acted, for a time in the late 60's, as the house band for Seattle's Eagle Auditorium. They were such a tight group, that they eventually got signed to Vault Records in LA and released a single and LP. The album is great and worth $$$ if you can find it on vinyl. Here they are with the debut song off of their one and only long player.
The Unwanted was one of hundreds of British bands that managed to put out a single or two when the punk wave caused the record companies to take a flyer on any band that had half a mohawk. That said, The Unwanted recorded a few good songs. The drummer, Vince Ely, went on to join the Psychedelic Furs where he would see a measure of fame.
Time to dig into some Danish avant-garde jazz from 1970.WARNING: Avant-garde jazz isn't for everyone... This debut album was probably their best work in my humble opinion. Check out the fourth and final track off of that release.
