Enjoy This One Cuz...

...it'll most likely be the last one for a while. Unless one or more of you can sweet talk Mars into posting some stuff (don't feel obligated man, I don't care one way or the other). I'm not gonna nuke the blog or anything quite that drastic like last time-- I'll be back at some point. Dunno if I'll be gone a week or a month or longer BUT I know this much for certain: This. Is. Boring. The. Shit. Outta. Me. I've accepted the fact that about 98% of you are apathetic slugs who'd rather stick a hot poker up yer collective arses than leave any feedback-- I've made my peace with that. Nah, it's a simple case of a lack of inspiration-- it seems that I always manage to get away from my intended vision for this thing, and that in turn, frustrates me to no end.

Bottom line: I need to get the hell away from this for a while. But I WILL be back-- I promise, for reals, all that kinda thing.


VARIOUS - Teenage Shutdown: Nobody to Love


This is my absolute favorite of the series-- most likely due to my brooding motherfucker psychological make-up. Mebbe it's the time of year; Y'see, I don't DO X-Mas. Not only is it crass commercialism at its most despicable, its roots in X-anity (don't bother trying to school me in the original pagan evolution of the custom[s]-- I'm well aware and don't give a fuck) repulses me more than I can even begin to describe. It is a sickness that needs to eradicated from the face of this planet... but I digress.

This one has been practically glued to the turntable for the last few weeks. It's subtitled "18 Tales of Tension & Trauma" which equates to the destructive powers of feminine charms on the frail male psyche. So, you get what the label calls "Folk Punk", though I would argue that such a genre doesn't exist-- I mean, how? Phil Ochs, you say? Folkie. Billy Bragg? Woody Guthrie wannabe = Folkie (even that is probably giving him too much credit). Nah, whatcha get here are bands with slightly more melodic aspirations than the archetypal Stones/Pretty Things/Animals worshipers on the majority of the series (Put HUGE quotation marks around "melodic").

Some Notables/Highlights:

-The Shandels' "Shades of Blue" stands out as they were one of the very few 60's garage bands without a guitar in their lineup. Instead, they used a cordovox, which is kind of a cross between a pipe organ & an accordion. The result brings to mind a Cajun barbershop quartet with an um... broken accordion.
- The Answers, who contribute two tracks, were the Misunderstood before they left for England. Glenn Ross Campbell's mind-blowing steel guitar scrapes are unmistakable. The anti-war rant, "Fool Turn Around" is particularly fine.
- The Rogues' "You Better Look Now" is perhaps the most authentic early Byrds cop I've ever heard. Immaculate chiming 12-string & downright cloned McGuinn vocal. Great song to boot-- if nothing else, you can play it for your friends (if you have any) as a long-lost "Younger Than Yesterday" outtake.

Track List:

1. The Intruders - Now That You Know
2. The Illusions - Wait Till The Summer
3. The Shandels - Shades Of Blue
4. The Paradox - There's A Flower Shop
5. The Lovin' Kind - I'm Free
6. Mike's Messengers - Cause Of All Man-kind
7. Sonics Inc. - Nobody To Love
8. The Answers - Fool Turn Around
9. The Jades - Surface World
10. The Twilights - It Couldn't Be True
11. The Viscount V - She Doesn't Know
12. The Paragons - Abba
13. The Sounds Like Us - Outside Chance
14. The Rogues - You Better Look Now
15. The Go-Betweens - Have You For My Own
16. The Answers - Please Please Go Away
17. The Plagues - (Clouds Send Down) Tears From My Eyes
18. The Lovin' Kind - Can't Explain

Post Scrotum: The first sub-literate fuckwit to ask, "where are the other volumes?" earns him/herself the dubious distinction of being the second-ever person to have their comment(s) deleted on sight until eternity. You will also be crowned "Scatmuncher of the Year".

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