A few that are off the beaten path:
Viva L'American Death Ray Music - Smash Radio Hits
Imagine if the Velvet Underground had given John Cale the boot and replaced him with Roxy Music's Andy McKay. Now imagine them playing "White Light/White Heat" in some condemned industrial space to an audience of disinterested rats. Chugging electric drones, honking 50's sax that accelerates into avant jazz shrieking at the drop of a dimebag, and Papa Lou's semi-tuneful drawl fighting through the mix. And don't forget about the rats. That, in a rotting nutshell, is
Smash Radio Hits. Decadent, trashy rock & roll from the retro-future.
The Boss Martians - Making The Rounds
For a handful of early albums the Boss Martians were the kind of goofy surf instrumental combo that wore matching suits and cut their hair with the aid of a size 7 salad bowl. So they must've made a side deal with Satan at the beginning of the new millennium, because Making The Rounds presents 'em as rip-snorting, bad-ass rockers. The album's a little too clean and sterile for what they're grasping for - it doesn't come close to their blistering live show (consider that a tip if you ever get a chance to catch 'em in a small club) - but it still motorvates exactly like it oughta. The Martians are at their worst when they fall back on '70s blooze cliches, and at their best when they punk up their early Cheap Trick reckids. They seem to know it too, which bodes well for the future. I just hope that deal with the devil specified a long career.
p:ano - When It's Dark And It's Summer
The titles tell the tale. Yes, the lead instrument is a piano. Yes, these ten songs possess both a dark solemnity and a summery melodicism. Contradiction intended, and perhaps welcomed. Within this particular jewelbox, self-laceration is viewed as a positive personality quirk. Or maybe simply necessary. Either way, p:ano have created the perfect soundtrack for breaking up with that lover you never really liked anyway.
The Cool Jerks - Cleaned A Lot Of Plates In Memphis
Yet another band originating from the same Memphis axis that brought the world the Oblivians, the Compulsive Gamblers, and Reigning Sound, and while the Cool Jerks don't add any new twists to the modus operandi of those other units, they certainly don't detract from the legacy either. For the uninitiated, expect full-bore rock'n'roll that threatens to blow its own pistons on every straightaway. Titles like "Let It Go And Rock!," "Got Damned Again!," and "Skip A Beat" tell the story - as does the fact that three out of the thirteen songs sport exclamation marks in their titles. "Not The Only Girl In Town" may blatantly nick its melody line from "Pills," but the Cool Jerks prove both their coolness and jerk-dom by using the New York Dolls version as their template. They also cover Smokey Robinson and the Miracles, lest you suspect they don't comprehend their place in the continuum. Totally cool. Here's hoping the residents of Memphis realize what greatness walks among them.
