Tag Archives: Rock and Roll

What I’ve Been Listening To (April 2026)

The Lurkers

April 2026:

  1. The Undertones – The Undertones (1979)
  2. Louis Jordan – Somebody Up There Loves Me (1956)
  3. V/A – The Virgin Suicides OST (1999)
  4. Condumb – Condumb (2025)
  5. Genre is Death – Talk (2024)
  6. Beat Happening – Music to Climb the Appletree By (2003, recorded 1984-2000)
  7. X – LIVE – January 10, 1981 Club 88, Los Angeles, CA (1981)
  8. VHS and the Babies – S/T (2004)
  9. Alice Donut – Dry Humping the Cash Cow – Live at CBGB (1994)
  10.  Fleatbite – TTYL EP (2015)
  11.  Miss World – Keeping Up With Miss World (2018)
  12.  Aquarian Blood – A Love That Leads to War (2019)
  13.  Charlie Parker – Boppin’ Bird (2025 Compilation, 1949, 1953)
  14.  The Sleeveens – S/T (2024)
  15.  Cullen Omari – New Misery (2016)
  16.  The Beach Boys – Sunflower (1970)
  17.  Brainwashed Victims – S/T Cassette Tape (2026)
  18.  Peter Grudzien – Hunky Honky (1994)
  19.  Honey Bane – You Can Be You EP (1979)
  20.  The Lurkers – Peel Sessions (1978)
  21.  Lunachicks – Babysitters on Acid (1990)
  22.  The Feederz -Ever Feel Like Killing Your Boss? (1983)
  23.  Departmentstore Santas – At the Medieval Castle Nineteen 100-Year Lifetimes Since (2015)
  24.  The Bluestars – Bluestars Comp (1965-1967)
  25.  The Breeders – Pod (1993)
  26.  Pagans – Everybody Hates You (Live) (1994)
  27.  Sheer Anxiety – If You Want Blood You’ve Got It (2026, recorded 2018-2025)
  28.  Lupo Citta – Inverno (2026)
  29.  Muddy Waters – Folk Singer (1964)
  30.  Ramones – Too Tough to Die (1984)
  31.  Michael Jackson – Off the Wall (1979)

I know I’ve said this before and I will probably say it again, when I do these monthly posts it always feels like I just did the previous one. Where did the month go? Where does time go? A wise man once said “Life moves pretty fast. If you don’t stop and look around once in a while you could miss it.” True. With my precious time, I’ve spent much of it listening to music both new and old. I am a sucker for my old favorites, but I make an effort (as indicated here) to listen to things I’ve never heard before. Honestly this month not too many albums floored me, but most of these releases have at least one song if not several that I believe are phenomenal. If anyone who knows me reads this they may be surprised at what I have never actually sat down and listened to (or at least not to my recollection). Like the last two albums listed. Especially the Ramones. It may sound like sacrilege, but as I suspected, much of the mid-later Ramones albums only contain a few bangers, but the rest is not great. The first few albums are amongst the best recordings ever made. Not as much as you go further down the discography in my humble opinion. Still, Joey’s voice always kills me. I find it harder to finish a recording and be totally blown away by all of it the more I listen to. Not so much as a criticism of the artists, but more my own reaction. I’ve been making a point to put quality (whatever that is) over quantity. Not try to listen to too many things. What’s the point if you don’t retain most of it? It’s a balancing act! On one hand, I don’t want to lose touch and wish to keep an open mind. On the other hand, sometimes you just want to listen to your favorites. There’s only so much time. The holy Pagans, The Lurkers, and The Feederz (found them in an April-May 1984 Maximum Rock N Roll issue purchased at the Hassle Flea! May have heard before, but can’t recall!) blew me out of my tree this month. Enough rambling for now. On to May…. – Chris

Gonerfest 9 Streaming @ Rocket Science Audio

Here: http://www.rocketscienceaudio.com/RocketScienceAudioPresents/tabid/64/Default.aspx

And the schedule of bands:

9/28 – Friday Afternoon @ The Buccaneer – 2:00pm
The Hussy (Madison, WI) / No Bails (Kalamazoo, MI) / Toxie (Memphis, TN) / Anomalys (Amsterdam, Holland) / Johnny Lowebow (Memphis, TN)

9/28 – Friday Night @ The Hi-Tone Cafe – 8pm Doors
Nobunny (Rabbithole, USA) / River City Tanlines (Memphis, TN) / Bits Of Shit (Melbourne, Australia) / Gary Wrong Group (Mobile, AL) / Bad Sports (Denton, TX) / Nots (Memphis, TN)

9/29 – Saturday Afternoon @ Murphy’s
Inside 1pm Party Bat (Chicago, IL) / 2pm Native Cats (Tasmania, Australia) / 3pm White Mystery (Chicago, IL) / 4pm Chemicals (Portland, OR) / 5pm Cecilia & The Sauerkrauts (Paris, France / Portland, OR)

Outside 1:30 Dez Vibz (Desert, AZ) / 2:30 Detonations (AZ / New Orleans) / 3:30 AAAA The New Memphis Legs (Memphis, Nashville, Texas) / 4:30 Chicken Snake (Staunton, VA) / 5:30 Lenguas Largas (Tucson, AZ)

9/29 – Saturday Night @ The Hi-Tone – 8pm Doors
Spits (Outer Space) / Mad Macka (Brisbane, Australia) / GG King (Atlanta, GA) / Persuaders (New Orleans, LA) / Ex-Cult (Memphis, TN) / White Wires (Ottawa, Canada)

9/30 – Closing Ceremony @ The Goner Gazebo – 2:00pm
Hamish Kilgour (Dunedin, New Zealand) / Rev. John Wilkins (Memphis, TN)

The Birth of KLYAM

On April 12, 1954 Bill Haley recorded “Rock Around the Clock,” thus giving birth to Rock and Roll. What most people don’t know is that Bill Haley gave birth to two babies that night. Rock and Roll’s half retarded, fucked up twin brother was lost, abandoned for years, until suddenly in June 2009 he returned to the public eye as KLYAM (pronounced clam) or Kids Like You & Me as he is sometimes known by his friends.

THE TIME IS NOW. ALL WOMEN SURRENDER YOURSELVES TO KLYAM!*


Start Rioting!

*KLYAM for this purpose= Chris and Glen

CD Review: Rock and Roll [2010]

Band: Woozy Viper
Release: 2010
Label: ?

1. “You Can’t Find Me” – A
2. “Dinner And A Movie”- B
3. “Dirty” – B+
4. “Party Town U.S.A.” – B
5. “It’s Such A Drag” – B+
6. “I Want To Strangle You” – B+
7. “She’s Mine” – B+
8. “Black Is The New Black” – A-
9. “Real Good Time” – A-
10. “Dislocated Shoulder” – A

Comments: Good stuff. To me, it’s rather run of the mill rock and roll (appropriate title) that plays like your (above) average power-pop/garage rock revue. Not too much on here blows my mind, but there are a lot of fun listens to be had. I’ve read about Black Lips comparisons and that’s simply not appropriate or fair. These guys are more Nobunny than Lips. Lyrically and musically.

Grade: B+ (88)

Old Music

Reminds me a little of the "Good Bad Not Evil" cover

Not too long ago somebody recommended that I learn about the historical roots of the music that I presently enjoy. You know what? Old time “garage rock” of the 60s just doesn’t have the same appeal to me as newer stuff. I tried Count Five’s Psychotic Reaction and Iggy Pop’s Raw Power and while there are some gems on those records, they just aren’t as fun through and through as say Black Lips! or Blood Visions.

Chris On…

The “Fall of the Roman Empire.”: I saw one documentary on the history of Rock and Roll in which Pete Townshend was asked about the music of the 70s and he commented that it was the “Fall of the Roman Empire.” My interpretation is that he was saying that Rock and Roll was the equivalent of the Roman Empire in its own way and that by the 70s it had completely plummeted. It began in the 50s as rebellious, black music with strong black roots that crossed over into white america and broke down the color barrier, to an extent. It was something that belonged to kids and not their parents. This continued in the 60s as the music progressed and expanded, which I won’t get into here. Much of popular music matured, sonically and lyrically, with artists developing a social consciousness and often expressing such sentiments through their songs. I suppose one could point to Woodstock, being the pinacle of this era. The early 70s served simultaneously as the leftover of the 60s as well as the precursor for what would come next. By this time Rock was losing its soul, slowly becoming a big business game. Technically, it had corporate backing most of the time since it’s creation, but the word “corporate” began to come up in association with Rock music more and more. Cameron Crowe’s film, Almost Famous (2000) takes place in 1973 and nicely chronicles these final days of the orignal empire of Rock and Roll, as it was dying. Then it was recessitated via Punk and what have you, but that’s a whole other story…

More Chris ONs a comin….

Chris