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...
Thanks to the Brown Acid series for resurrecting more otherwise lost hard rock tunes for the nascent days of the genre. Here is a Southern California band that only released one single. Today's track was not released as a single(probably due to length). Enjoy.
How would I describe early 80's New Jersey three-piece Regressive Aid? Maybe punkish angular jazz fusion doom with guitar solos? However they are categorized, this is some interesting music. The band managed to release an EP and an LP before calling it quits. Seek it out!
I always loved hearing John Lennon belt out Barrett Strong's "Money(That's What I Want)". For the longest time, this was my favorite early Beatles' track. So fast forward a few years and I now prefer this peculiar post-punk version to the Fab Four's version. I guess I'm getting weirder...but I like it!
I won't pretend to have knowledge of Black Rebel Motorcycle Club's complete discography. I've probably heard 10% of it! I do know that nothing has stuck out to me as particularly worthwhile with the newer stuff that I've heard. That said, there first two albums have some good tunes. Here they are with the first song of of their sophomore effort, Take Them On, On Your Own. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lcHE2-9-3Yk
Apparently, in the summer of 1968, there was a music camp in Lawrence, Kansas that lasted for six weeks. There were only about four of the campers who liked rock n roll. They got together and managed to go into a studio to record a set of songs on the day that camp ended. The songs were mostly Hendrix and Cream covers. The music was then shelved for twenty plus years before getting a CD release in the 90's. Here they are with a slower, fuzzier version of the Jimi Hendrix classic.
If Manilla Road was the heavy metal pride of Wichita, Kansas, then The Embarrassment were the post punk heroes of this mid-western U.S. city. The band was quite popular in their hometown, but never launched into the national scene. That's a shame, as they produced some quality music. Here they are with a track recorded in 1979, but not released until 1995, when it appeared on the Heyday 1979-1983 compilation.
No, this is not thrash metal. Mogul Thrash were an early 70's UK prog outfit that released one self-titled album. While the album is a bit uneven in my opinion, there are some really strong tracks including this one.
And now for some Belgian post-punk/goth at its very best. Unfortunately, the band would only release one album, a smattering of singles, and appear on a couple of comps during their existence in the late 70's/early 80's. Fortunately, some of their material has been re-released in recent years providing a small glimpse into their time and place.
And now for some 80's German metal. This would be off of the only release, a 1987 EP, by the band that was comprised of several members of another German metal band, Headhunter.
Alright, how about some Nigerian Afro-Funk to get you over the hump? This track is the first song off of the debut album for this 7-piece outfit. The band would go on to release another album in 1977 before calling it quits.
Not to be confused with the 90's black metal band of the same name, this Golden Dawn were 60's garage/psych band from Austin, Texas that spent a lot of time with the 13th Floor Elevators. You can hear it in their sound. Check it out!
I was convinced that I was going to dig back into familiar 1969/70 material today, but then just happened up this great little punk nugget from England's Satan's Rats. The band released just three singles over their short existence. Here is the first.
Last month, I was scrolling through the Dangerous Minds website and stumbled on this interesting article about a post-punk EP that was released back in 1980 that featured a 12-year old lead singer/lyricist. That girl was Chandra Oppenheim, daughter of New York artist Dennis Oppenheim. While I was skeptical that the songs would of any interest, they turned out to be pretty good. Listen for yourself.
Hobo Humpin' Slobo Babe was one of those rare songs that appear in this space that I actually remember liking when it first came out. I remember watching the video, when videos were still played on MTV. And that video was very 1990's. Check it out here. Sweden's Whale would go on to release a couple of albums in 1995 and 1998, but this track was really the signature piece of their existence.
It's refreshing when you come across a modern day band that play their own instruments and seem to be interested in making refreshing music in their own style. England's Trash Kit sounds a bit like a combination of the Slits and Sleater Kinney. In other words, it's feels punk with a tribal feel. So far, they've released two albums, and I hope there's more to come! Here they are with a track off of their most recent LP, Confidence. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TxD-8f2oGIs
After getting kicked out of Anthrax after they released their first album, Fistful of Metal, bassist Dan Lilker decided to form a new band that would play faster and harder than his old band. The result would be Nuclear Assault. The band would release eight albums between 1986 and 1993, before temporarily calling it quits in 1993. Here they are from their debut album, Game Over. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JO5nHSpTsFc&feature=youtu.be
Lightning Raiders were an English rock band in the late 70's/early 80's that managed to release a few singles. Here they are with a couple of friends joining them(Steve Jones and Paul Cook of the Sex Pistols).
Jack Hammer, born Earl Solomon Burroughs, was probably mostly known for co-writing Great Balls of Fire with Otis Blackwell. That song helped to launch Jerry Lee Lewis' long, successful career. Jack would also have a long career, albeit not quite as successful as Jerry Lee's. Jack went on to write many more songs and record a few. Here is one from 1971.
As I've mentioned before in this space, the Beatles were my favorite band when I was in high school in the 80's. While I would like to feature their music here on Deep Rock Mining, the band's representatives do not take kindly to posting their material on Youtube. As a result, I satisfy my Beatle urges by playing covers of their material. Previous daily installments have included covers by the Moving Sidewalks, Lowell Fulsom, and Fats Domino. I've also featured a jammed out interesting take on Eleanor Rigby by the Rattles. Today's entry is another jammed out version of a Fab Four track with Dutch psych rocker's Pugh's Place's version of Drive My Car.
No, Hackensack was not from New Jersey. These English rockers toured heavily in the early 70's, honing their chops. The lead singer, Nicky Moore, would go on to front Samson in the 80's. Other band members would go on to play in Be-Bop Deluxe and Mott The Hoople. For a much more thorough write up of the band, check this out. Here they are with a B Side from 1972.
Straddling the line between punk and post-punk, this Indiana band managed to release a split LP with the Gizmos, an EP and a single song on a midwest comp. Here they are with that song from that compilation, Red Snerts. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XhU2L3XPVhM
It's interesting that a jazz/soul pianist from Philadelphia who released over sixty albums during his long career is still relatively unknown(at least in my parts). Here he is with the title track off of his 1971 LP, Groove Grease. The cover of that album was a bit R rated, so here is a video with a picture of Jimmy playing.
Shonen Knife, like many bands that appear in this space, do not get the recognition that they deserve. Here is a Japanese(Osaka) pop punk trio that has been going at it since 1981. They've always kept it interesting. Here they are from their second album.
Before hooking up with guitarist Billy Duffy to form Death Cult and ultimately The Cult, lead singer Ian Astbury was in a group called Southern Death Cult. Apparently, Astbury liked the "Cult" theme. While the names of his bands had a common thread throughout the 80's, the music changed significantly. By the end of that decade, Astbury and crew were making some high quality hard rock, but here in the early days, Southern Death Cult sounds more like a cross between U2 and Gang of Four. Here they are with a track that got left off of their one and only self titled LP, only to be included on a future re-release.
This Finnish trio describes their own sound as inpsired by jazz and punk, which peaks my interest immediately. They are very unique and I really dig their sound. See if you agree.
Agent Steel was one of many thrash metal bands to come out of Los Angeles in the mid-80's. The band released two LPs and an EP before calling it quits in 1988. I'm not a big fan of bandleader and lead singer John Cyriis' vocals, so here is an instrumental number off of their second album, Unstoppable Force. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gZHge2KCyIk&feature=youtu.be
White Hills is a neo-psych rock band from New York that have been quite productive since their inception in 2005. They've released 14 LPs and 6 EPs in that time. While that's not quite recording at a King Gizzard pace, they've sustained it for a long time. And, most importantly, the music is good! Here is a track off of their 2015 release, Walks for Motorists, that is decidedly more post punk sounding than psychedelic. Enjoy!
I mentioned before in this space my early 2000's love for the White Stripes. They were just the bees knees. Unfortunately, since the White Stripes broke up, Jack White's musical endeavors have been quite boring IMHO. Therefore, you can imagine my excitement when I recently discovered Detroit garage rockers The Go and their first album, Whatcha Doin' as it featured one Jack White on lead guitar. The whole album rocks and reminded me of what Jack White was capable of. Here is one such track from that LP.
