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...
Now here is an English post punk group leaning towards pop. While this is generally not the lean I prefer, The Passions were able to find a nice sound that feels natural. The band would go on to release three albums. Here is a track off of their debut, 1980's Michael & Miranda. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l0flu1NX_3Y
The original 1976 line-up of punk rockin' Chelsea included guitarist William Broad. After a few months in the band, several band members broke off to form Generation X and William changed his name to Billy Idol. Chelsea recruited more band members though and went on to have a respectable career into the 80's. Here they are from 1977 with that classic punk sound.
The thing I like about pop groups of the late 60's was that they could still include some smoking lead guitar. Those days are long over, but at least I can remember! Here is one such band from LA that had a nice sound, but ultimately would only survive for one album and a smattering of singles. Here is one of those singles from 1968.
T2 was a British psych/prog band were around for the three years of rock's apex(1969 to 1972). The band broke up before being able to finish/release their second album. That work would get released decades later. For today, check out this track off of their excellent debut, It'll All Work Out in Boomland. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9nOKOt-FWLY
I was recently introduced(via the internet) to the musical sub-genre of slowcore. It has a heavy, but slower vibe that contrasted with much of the rock/grunge of the 90's. Here is one such band that became known for this type of music. This is the title track off of Duster's debut release. It is mood music, to be sure, but there is a certain attraction to it.
Red Aunts are one of those bands that I'd never heard of until a few months ago. They were a 90's punk band out of Long Beach that put out five albums in six years. I recently downloaded their 1995 release, #1 Chicken. The whole thing is great. I just grabbed one of the longer tracks to feature here.
And now for some Milwaukee-based arena rock from a band that enjoyed a sliver of success in the late 70's. Bad Boy would release four albums before calling it quits. The would later re-form in the late 90's. Here they are from their second LP, Back to Back. The beginning of the song sounds like they are going to launch into Badfinger's No Matter What, no? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fzFhM0z7CPk
I don't know much, if anything, about this 60's Oregonian garage band that released only one single except that they truly caught lightning in a bottle with this recording. It's a real scorcher.
Electric Citizen is a modern day band that sounds like a combination of old fashioned metal and stoner metal. However you categorize it, I like the sound. Here they are off of their latest release, Helltown. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TaiknefciVY
Jeff Simmons was/is a bass player from Seattle that migrated to L.A. in the late 60's. A few things fell right and he actually recorded two albums in 1969. The second one, Lucillle Has Messed My Mind Up, had the good fortune to be produced by Frank Zappa. Jeff would go on to performing with the Mothers of Invention in the early 70's. Here he is with a track off of that Zappa produced solo work.
Gloria Mundi(a band, not a person) was a British post punk/goth band that was around for a short time in the late 70's and managed to release two albums in that time. Here they are with a track off of their debut effort, I, Individual. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4x-V35V_rTc
Let's get this straight, Disco is not the worst genre of music(as long as we're being all judgy). I would take disco over today's country or modern pop music any day of the week. That said, disco was not generally a genre that I loved. I suppose that's because it's so close to being funk, yet missing that magic something that makes me love funk so much. Kool & The Gang is a perfect representation illustrating the difference. Early Kool material was super funky(like today's featured track). By the time their massive hit Celebration came out in 1980, the funkiness was much more muted. See if you agree.
French synth/post-punk band Casino Music were only around for a couple of years around the turn of the 80's, but made some interesting music at the time that was a real melting of post-punk, synth wave, and dance music. Here there are with the B-side of their 1979 single Burger City. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SphVDC3Q9Rk&feature=youtu.be
Parasite was a short-lived Swedish metal band in the 80's. Their sound, captured on a sole self-titled EP, closely matches what I would describe as "heavy metal" when I started listening to the genre. The band would break up a year after this release.
Deerhoof was one of those bands that I discovered when I first started getting into college radio in the late 90's. For whatever reason, though, I never got around to picking up one of their CDs. Then, I kind of forgot about them for twenty years. Re-discovering their music over the last few months has been a joy. Here they are off of their sophomore effort, The Man, The King, The Girl. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cNjkAozRYsw
I love it when I hear really intriguing music that is difficult for me to classify. This is the case with today's featured artist, a French and German duo playing garage-y neo post punk. I have no idea what they're saying, but it sure sounds good to my ears.
So Cal punk rockers, The Urinals released a few EPs between 1978 and 1980, before (slightly) modifying their sound and renaming themselves 100 Flowers. At that point, they released a couple more EPs and an LP under the 100 Flowers name. Here they are off of that one and only album, 1983's self-titled release.
It's been a while since I've featured a blues track on Deep Rock Mining. So here's the late great Don Covay to rectify that with a track off of his 1969 release, The House of Blue Lights. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6nsi8W1nvdc
So what do you get when you pull together a band consisting of Les Claypool(Primus), Trey Anastasio(Phish), and Stewart Copeland(The Police)? A band that sounds an awful lot like Primus, apparently. Not that there is anything wrong with that. Here is a track off of their one and only LP, 2001's The Grand Pecking Order. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PK9btqorp6k&feature=youtu.be
And now for some neo-garage from Damaged Goods. Here is a relatively new band who describe themselves as a pub rock power trio. I couldn't agree more with that assessment.
Skeletal Family were one of those English post-punk bands that were a little late to the genre, not forming until late 1982 and not releasing an album until 1984. That does not diminish the quality of their musical output, though. Here they are with an early recording of and Alice Cooper(band) song.
Since 1984, the only constant member of Cleveland's My Dad Is Dead has been Mark Edwards. Between the band's inception and 2011, the band released a dozen albums. Here they are off of their 1989 release, The Taller You Are, The Shorter You Get, with a track that sounds a bit like R.E.M. if they were a post-punk band.
Explode into Colors was another in a long list of relatively newer bands that I discovered only after they had split up. This band is from Portland, Oregon and had a really interesting neo post-punk sound. Today's track was originally self-released in 2009, but was also included in their 2010 compilation, Quilts. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B0lFfP908SY
San Francisco punk rockers, Crime, were early to the genre and their sound was choice. Their first single(A side featured here) was one of the first U.S. punk bands to independently release a single. Enjoy.
