All posts by G. Gordon Gritty

Jay Reatard, Music, News

Final Pieces of Jay’s Shattered Record Club

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From Jay Reatard’s Official Website

The final pieces of the Jay Reatard Shattered Club are in manufacture and will be ready to be shipped in 2-4 weeks.

We had promised an original 7″ exclusively for Shattered Club members. Two days before Jay passed away he recorded two songs at home: “You Get No Love” and “I Am Growing.” They were to be his final recordings. They have never been heard before now. We have pressed these songs onto a 7″ and it will be available only to you. It will not be for sale in any shops, not given to blogs for free download, and will not available digitally. Inside the 7″ you’ll find a personal note written by Jeffrey Novak.

We had promised a live 7″ exclusively for Shattered Club members. Instead we are sending you a full live album from an incredible set at the Golden Plains Festival in Australia in 2008. This is a full-length 14-song LP, again only for Shattered Club members.

We had promised a t-shirt exclusively for Shattered Club members. Nicholas Gazin, the artist who created the images for Jay’s final tour – The Shattered Records Tour – has painted a watercolor that we are printing on t-shirts. This will only be available to Shattered members.

Shattered Club members have also received Watch Me Fall on CD or LP, and MP3s ofWatch Me Fall, the 25-song Greatest Messes: The Shattered Club Edition, The Reatards’Teenage Hate, Jeffrey Novak’s “Home Sweet Home” and Hunx & His Punx’s “Teardrops On My Telephone.” We will also be sending  MP3s of the final Shattered Records 7″ from Useless Eaters entitled “Hear/See.”

Expect more goodies at random in these packages, including test pressings, Shattered Tour t-shirts, and other items we have been saving up.

In 2011 there will be a full slate of Jay releases, including a feature-length documentary film, Reatards and Lost Sounds reissues, and a definitive greatest hits record.

Thursday is first anniversary of Jay’s passing.
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There is a link to buy a $75 subscription to the SRC and receive all of the above goodies, but it says there is no shipping to the US. Hopefully that was just an error or there will be eventually.
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Classic Album Review, Music

Classic Album Review: Heaven Up Here [1981]

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Band: Echo & the Bunnymen
Label: Korova

Side One
1. “Show of Strength” – A
2. “With A Hip” – B+
3. “Over the Wall” – A-
4. “It Was A Pleasure” – A-
5. “A Promise” – A

Side Two
1. “Heaven Up Here” – A
2. “The Disease” – B-
3. “All My Colours” – B+
4. “No Dark Things” – A-
5. “Turquoise Days” – B-
6. “All I Want” – B-

Comments: As far as influential British post-punk groups go, Echo & the Bunnymen are right in the mix alongside Joy Division, The Fall, The Cure, and so-on and so forth. Compared to most music in this style, Heaven Up Here is hardly pop sensible. Heck, Joy Division was well broken up by the time this record came out so to say that band influenced these guys would probably be an understatement. I can even hear some Talking Heads esque arrangements on the latter half of the first side like on “It Was a Pleasure” and “A Promise.” I love the passion on “Heaven Up Here”; that song is kickin’! The second side is kind of yes and no. There’s a lot to like, but some other things on the boring side. The ending is pretty weak.

Grade: B+

Classic Album Review, Music, Ramones

Classic Album Review: Road To Ruin [1978]

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Band: Ramones
Label: Sire

Side One
1. “I Just Want To Have Something To Do” – A
2. “I Wanted Everything” – A-
3. “Don’t Come Close” – A-
4. “I Don’t Want You” – A-
5. “Needles and Pins” – B+
6. “I’m Against It” – B+

Side Two
1. “I Wanna Be Sedated” – A
2. “Go Mental” – A-
3. “Questioningly” – B+
4. “She’s The One” – A-
5. “Bad Brain” – A
6. “It’s A Long Way Back” – A

Comments: Road To Ruin is a really good album. It features a fine mix of fast punk rockers and slower rock and roll.  It’s more of a ‘listener’ for me, rather than a record that contains a plethora of standout tracks. Of course, the hit was and still is “I Wanna Be Sedated” — appreciated by people far and wide. Additionally, I find myself really liking “I Just Want To Have Something To Do” and the particularly hardcore influential “Bad Brain.” I can’t say that I’m particularly floored by this record, but at the same token I can really imagine how impressionable it must have been back in ’78.

Grade: A-

Black Lips, business, interviews, Music

Joe Bradley Discusses Record Deals

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Very interesting perspective. While 360 deals do seem to be advantageous in the realm of increased publicity and opportunity, bands themselves are getting the short end of the stick by being deprived of control of tour and merchandise income. For the ‘industry’ and management companies, of course it is a win-win because they are diverting money away from the band and into their treasuries.

Classic Album Review, Music

Classic Album Review: Endless Summer [1974]

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Band: The Beach Boys
Label: Capitol

Side A
1. “Surfin Safari” – A
2. “Surfer Girl” – A+
3. “Catch A Wave” – A+
4. “The Warmth of the Sun” – B+
5. “Surfin’ USA” – A
[Grade: A]

Side B
1. “Be True To Your School” – A+
2. “Little Deuce Couple” – A
3. “In My Room” – A
4. “Shut Down” – A
5. “Fun, Fun, Fun” – A+
[Grade: A]

Side C
1. “I Get Around” – A
2. “Girls on the Beach” – A+
3. “Wendy” – A
4. “Let Him Run Wild” – A
5. “Don’t Worry Baby” – A+
[Grade: A]

Side D
1. “California Girls” – A+
2. “Girl Don’t Tell Me” – A
3. “Help Me, Rhonda” – A
4. “You’re So Good To Me” – B+
5. “All Summer Long” – A+
[Grade: A]

Comments: This was a just a great great listen. I can’t say anything really that hasn’t already been said. The only thing that sucks is changing the record after every five songs! I guess that’s the product of growing up in the digital age. As far as ‘older’ songs go, there were just so many fantastic ones on this compilation that just instantly ‘clicked’. Love when that happens.

Grade: A

CD Review, Music, Peter Bjorn and John

CD Review: Gimme Some [2011]

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Band: Peter Bjorn and John
Release: 3/2011
Label: Wichita Recordings

1. “Tomorrow Has To Wait” – A
2. “Dig A Little Deeper” – A
3. “Second Chance” – A-
4. “Eyes” – A-
5. “Breaker Breaker” – A
6. “May Seem Macabre” – B
7. “(Don’t Let Them) Cool Off” – A
8. “Black Book”- B+
9. “Down Like Me” – A-
10. “Lies” – A+
11. “I Know You Don’t Love Me” – A

Comments: Peter Bjorn and John have been around for more than a decade and, after many a pop song, have established themselves as an upper-echelon independent band. Their big break as you all may remember was Writer’s Block from 2006 which won ubiquitously positive reviews. It’s a personal favorite of mine. On that record was their biggest hit, the whistle hooked “Young Folks.” Their experimental follow-up came in 2009 with Living Thing, which was reviewed in the mainstream with far less enthusiasm and much more mixed feeling than Writer’s Block. My feeling is that critics weren’t expecting the band to make as much of a departure as they did from standard rock and roll. I actually really enjoyed Living Thing, which was still PB&J at its core, just with a bunch of electronic stuff thrown in the mix. Gimme Some is not really a return to their old style of songwriting, but more of an evolution towards unchartered territory. On this album, backing vocals and involved guitar riffs and parts are more dominate than ever before I’d say. I wouldn’t have expected PB&J to veer into a garage-pop/punk direction, but they do pretty nicely on “Breaker Breaker” and “(Don’t Let Them) Cool Off”. The power-pop of “Lies” is real good! If they have another brush with b-level ‘fame’, I’d like to think it will be because of this song.  Pretty sure I just said this, but they really never have played as fast as they do here! It’s awesome. Gimme Some initially lacks that ‘oohhh shit!!’ element that Writer’s Block has. That was almost a concept album, though. It ran the gamut of musical emotions. This is more of a variety platter, but one that has a little bit of all of the ‘good stuff’. It’s like ordering a pu pu platter that comes with a bunch of tasty items like chicken wings, fingers, and ribs and some other stuff that is edible, but not the greatest by any stretch.

Grade: A- (92)