Yeah, speaking of Cynics, Detroit bands, etc. 

The Cynics are on a reunion tour on their way back from SXSW. They will be playing a venue in Ann Arbor (near where I live, and also close to Detroit) tomorrow night with two other great Detroit bands that share the stage with Outrageous Cherry quite often: The Sights and The Hentchmen.

No Fun Records (based out of Ann Arbor/Buenos Aires) is hosting the show. They are a great little label, check 'em out.

Coincidentally, the owner of No Fun Records asked my band, Las Drogas, to open the show for the Cynics. I immediately said "hell YES!". But she unbooked my band a couple weeks later because she was able to score some bigger Detroit bands that would draw more people. Oh, well. What are you gonna do?

I know, I know... Cool Story Bro 

http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_OMimT5x918I/S9W0z9zNZAI/AAAAAAAAABs/aatNNH2eN80/s1600/CoolStoryBro.jpg

MikeL said:

I missed out on the original Cynics too, but I've been watching the reunited Cynics since they got back together in 2000.  They will play at the 31st Street Pub this Saturday night.  

 

You can still get the one and only Trash Vegas CD, "In the Grooveyard," at Get Hip Records.  The founder of that band, Bobby LaMonde, is a friend of mine whom I got to know when another friend recommended to me that I should check out his new band at the time, the Science Fiction Idols.

 

The Kings Court is now a retail space that houses both a cell phone store and an apparel store.  For a while, it was a coffee house and movie theater call the Bee Hive, and then it became a live music venue with a bar.  

 

Yes, it is both sad and hilarious that WDVE's playlist is still the same.  I was listening to it for a few minute on my car radio a couple of years ago, just for old times sake, and they played "When the Levee Breaks" (Jeez, like I haven't hear that one a million times before) and "Whole Lotta Rosie" (Another one that's been played to death).  Thank God for Sirius.

trashman said:

North Catholic grad - 87.  I knew a couple of Penn Hills/Plum characters, I think they graduated in 86.  Garage rock didn't hit me in the head until 2007 so missed out on the Cynics.  My only big claim was seeing Rusted Root before they made it big (still impress the wife with that one but difficult to get any reaction anywhere else).  I did see all the other Pgh usuals - NN, Joe Grushecky.  Thanks for the great reminder on Trash Vegas - never saw them but you reminded me that several years ago I wanted to search for some of their tunes, then completely forgot.  I used to see a band named Room to Move (speaking of Penn Hills/Plum) - they sometimes played at the Decade, Grafitti,etc.  What is Kings Court now?  I find it funny when I come back into town that the playlist on WDVE is exactly as it was when in high school.  Sometimes I go to their website just so I can laugh at what they are currently playing - give me two steps.  Crap then, crap now.  I know why you are a Sirius listener like myself.

There is a cool new tune of theirs for free download (check Amazon) called Get Out While You Can.

Highly recommended.

I have let that album roll over two more times.  Hard to shut off now. 

MikeL said:

I like "Jessie" too.  That's my favorite track from the album.

 

I like "Jessie" too.  That's my favorite track from the album.

trashman said:

Well, I couldn't wait and had to listen now.  Get Hip records describes them best on their website as glam - Johnny Thunders - inspired guitar rock n roll.  I am a big fan of Thunder's L.A.M.F. so the Trash Vegas hit a good chord for me.  I like the way it opens up with "its a shame" and "Jessie" is pure Thunders.  I will probably be hooked into "Its a Shame" and the song "Grooveyard" for a little while.  I had fun listening to that album.  As I saw the song "Walk in the Rain" moving up the playlist I said uh oh here comes the obligatory ballad - but they stayed true with more protopunk.  I would be remiss if I didn't finish by saying I am excited to have a copy of a Pittsburgh band covering "Everything has something to hide except me and my monkey"  and in the fashion they did it with.  Thanks again for your earlier suggestion.  Tell Bobby he has a new fan.

Now I will have to dig up Hurricane - can't find that at the present.  I did find a 1991 DVE Pgh rocks CD that had the usual Billy Price/Clarks/Donnie Iris but also had Room to Move.  Moreover, I found some odd karaoke night online headed up by old members of Trash Vegas and Room to Move.  How about that for a daily cup of coincidence.

 

 

Well, I couldn't wait and had to listen now.  Get Hip records describes them best on their website as glam - Johnny Thunders - inspired guitar rock n roll.  I am a big fan of Thunder's L.A.M.F. so the Trash Vegas hit a good chord for me.  I like the way it opens up with "its a shame" and "Jessie" is pure Thunders.  I will probably be hooked into "Its a Shame" and the song "Grooveyard" for a little while.  I had fun listening to that album.  As I saw the song "Walk in the Rain" moving up the playlist I said uh oh here comes the obligatory ballad - but they stayed true with more protopunk.  I would be remiss if I didn't finish by saying I am excited to have a copy of a Pittsburgh band covering "Everything has something to hide except me and my monkey"  and in the fashion they did it with.  Thanks again for your earlier suggestion.  Tell Bobby he has a new fan.

Now I will have to dig up Hurricane - can't find that at the present.  I did find a 1991 DVE Pgh rocks CD that had the usual Billy Price/Clarks/Donnie Iris but also had Room to Move.  Moreover, I found some odd karaoke night online headed up by old members of Trash Vegas and Room to Move.  How about that for a daily cup of coincidence.

Cool:)  I'll pass on your review to Bobby.  He thought it was very funny when I bought the CD years after the band called it quits.

BTW, there's also a compilation called "Greetings from Liberty Avenue," which is a collection of songs from burgh bands.  It includes Trash Vegas' best song ever, "Hurricane," along with "I Love Your Mouth."  It also includes some bands that may jog your memory.

trashman said:

Just went and downloaded Grooveyard right after I hit reply to my last email.  i'll drop a line on a review a little later.  Hard to stop rock&roll rampage in the player right now 

Just went and downloaded Grooveyard right after I hit reply to my last email.  i'll drop a line on a review a little later.  Hard to stop rock&roll rampage in the player right now 

I missed out on the original Cynics too, but I've been watching the reunited Cynics since they got back together in 2000.  They will play at the 31st Street Pub this Saturday night.  

You can still get the one and only Trash Vegas CD, "In the Grooveyard," at Get Hip Records.  The founder of that band, Bobby LaMonde, is a friend of mine whom I got to know when another friend recommended to me that I should check out his new band at the time, the Science Fiction Idols.

The Kings Court is now a retail space that houses both a cell phone store and an apparel store.  For a while, it was a coffee house and movie theater call the Bee Hive, and then it became a live music venue with a bar.  

Yes, it is both sad and hilarious that WDVE's playlist is still the same.  I was listening to it for a few minute on my car radio a couple of years ago, just for old times sake, and they played "When the Levee Breaks" (Jeez, like I haven't hear that one a million times before) and "Whole Lotta Rosie" (Another one that's been played to death).  Thank God for Sirius.

trashman said:

North Catholic grad - 87.  I knew a couple of Penn Hills/Plum characters, I think they graduated in 86.  Garage rock didn't hit me in the head until 2007 so missed out on the Cynics.  My only big claim was seeing Rusted Root before they made it big (still impress the wife with that one but difficult to get any reaction anywhere else).  I did see all the other Pgh usuals - NN, Joe Grushecky.  Thanks for the great reminder on Trash Vegas - never saw them but you reminded me that several years ago I wanted to search for some of their tunes, then completely forgot.  I used to see a band named Room to Move (speaking of Penn Hills/Plum) - they sometimes played at the Decade, Grafitti,etc.  What is Kings Court now?  I find it funny when I come back into town that the playlist on WDVE is exactly as it was when in high school.  Sometimes I go to their website just so I can laugh at what they are currently playing - give me two steps.  Crap then, crap now.  I know why you are a Sirius listener like myself.

North Catholic grad - 87.  I knew a couple of Penn Hills/Plum characters, I think they graduated in 86.  Garage rock didn't hit me in the head until 2007 so missed out on the Cynics.  My only big claim was seeing Rusted Root before they made it big (still impress the wife with that one but difficult to get any reaction anywhere else).  I did see all the other Pgh usuals - NN, Joe Grushecky.  Thanks for the great reminder on Trash Vegas - never saw them but you reminded me that several years ago I wanted to search for some of their tunes, then completely forgot.  I used to see a band named Room to Move (speaking of Penn Hills/Plum) - they sometimes played at the Decade, Grafitti,etc.  What is Kings Court now?  I find it funny when I come back into town that the playlist on WDVE is exactly as it was when in high school.  Sometimes I go to their website just so I can laugh at what they are currently playing - give me two steps.  Crap then, crap now.  I know why you are a Sirius listener like myself.

Yes, I am:)  I grew up in Penn Hills, graduated from Penn Hills Senior High in 1986, served in the Navy for four years, attended the University of Pittsburgh after that (I spent my freshman year at the Greensburg campus, then I relocated to the main campus in Oakland in the fall of 1991).  I graduated from Pitt in 1994, moved to Ohio, then North Carolina, for a couple of jobs, then I came back to Pittsburgh in 1998, and I've been back here ever since.  I've been working at Pitt since 1999.

BTW, do you remember the Kings Court in Oakland?  That's where I saw the movie "Velvet Goldmine," which in a long and roundabout way led to my discovery of garage rock.  Did you ever hang out at the Decade or the Electric Banana or the Upstage?  Did you get to see the Cynics at any of those places?  Do you remember Trash Vegas?  How about Norm Nardini or Joe Grushecky?

trashman said:

So MikeL you are pittsburgher?  I was born and raised there but moved away in the early 1990s.  I like Out-Cherry - maybe they shoud be added to the PowerPop thread going on right now.  PowerPop psych perhaps?

It was Good Golly Miss Molly By Credence Clearwater Revival when I was 4 in 1970.

I have no doubt that the Paisley Underground and cowpunk movement in So. Cal. would have had a better chance had it not been for the "Big Hair '80's" bands..
Aldyth Beltane said:

Excellent! I keep hoping they, The Morlocks, and some of the other bands from that era who are still together or reformed will make it to SF.  I think The Fleshtones were here about a year ago, but I found out about the show too late. 

The 80's were a groovy time to be in Southern California!  LA and San Diego had some amazing bands and there was so much enthusiasm for the music. People don't remember that aspect of the LA scene as much as they do "hair metal" or the bands that came out of The Scream, but it was just as vital a scene!

joey fuckup said:

Very cool! Yes, I'm a big fan also of the "Paisley Underground" as it was called in the '80's...And I'm a huge Fleshtones fan! Matter of fact, I'm going to see them this weekend!
Aldyth Beltane said:

I was a wee little tyke when I first saw Paul Revere and The Raiders and just thought they were the coolest thing in the world to my nascent rebellious soul. Don't remember which song exactly though, I'm sad to say. Was probably "Hungry." My love for the era was reborn many years later with the original Nuggets release, then running off to LA and encountering such bands as The Unclaimed, Redd Kross, etc.  And OMG yeah, The Fleshtones!  Love 'em to this very day!

I have Nuggets #1 & Children Of Nuggets burned (I'm a podcaster on a budget)...cool thing is I borrowed it from a serious music lover a few years ago, cool thing about that is he's now my boss!

midwesternskirt said:

no i don't have the nuggets lp... but i am pretty sure he still has it in his collection. at least i hope so :]  i have the box sets for 1 & 2 and then the children of nuggets box.  he didn't have any of the pebbles comps but i picked up some on cd in the used section at the record store where i used to work a few years back.

 

i love all the obvious 60s garage bands like the sonics, the remains, shadows of knight, mitch ryder and the detroit wheels... but i dig hearing more of the obscure ones.

joey fuckup said:

So do you have his Nuggets LP? And did he have any of the Pebbles compilations?

midwesternskirt said:

my dad had the first nuggets LP when i was growing up. it was love at first listen. then in later years when i started collecting LPs myself, i really got into the soledad brothers. that was when i hit my garage resurgence period and haven't really stopped listening to garage rock (and everything else really) since.

Excellent! I keep hoping they, The Morlocks, and some of the other bands from that era who are still together or reformed will make it to SF.  I think The Fleshtones were here about a year ago, but I found out about the show too late. 

The 80's were a groovy time to be in Southern California!  LA and San Diego had some amazing bands and there was so much enthusiasm for the music. People don't remember that aspect of the LA scene as much as they do "hair metal" or the bands that came out of The Scream, but it was just as vital a scene!

joey fuckup said:

Very cool! Yes, I'm a big fan also of the "Paisley Underground" as it was called in the '80's...And I'm a huge Fleshtones fan! Matter of fact, I'm going to see them this weekend!
Aldyth Beltane said:

I was a wee little tyke when I first saw Paul Revere and The Raiders and just thought they were the coolest thing in the world to my nascent rebellious soul. Don't remember which song exactly though, I'm sad to say. Was probably "Hungry." My love for the era was reborn many years later with the original Nuggets release, then running off to LA and encountering such bands as The Unclaimed, Redd Kross, etc.  And OMG yeah, The Fleshtones!  Love 'em to this very day!

Very cool! Yes, I'm a big fan also of the "Paisley Underground" as it was called in the '80's...And I'm a huge Fleshtones fan! Matter of fact, I'm going to see them this weekend!
Aldyth Beltane said:

I was a wee little tyke when I first saw Paul Revere and The Raiders and just thought they were the coolest thing in the world to my nascent rebellious soul. Don't remember which song exactly though, I'm sad to say. Was probably "Hungry." My love for the era was reborn many years later with the original Nuggets release, then running off to LA and encountering such bands as The Unclaimed, Redd Kross, etc.  And OMG yeah, The Fleshtones!  Love 'em to this very day!

So do you have his Nuggets LP? And did he have any of the Pebbles compilations?

midwesternskirt said:

my dad had the first nuggets LP when i was growing up. it was love at first listen. then in later years when i started collecting LPs myself, i really got into the soledad brothers. that was when i hit my garage resurgence period and haven't really stopped listening to garage rock (and everything else really) since.

I was a wee little tyke when I first saw Paul Revere and The Raiders and just thought they were the coolest thing in the world to my nascent rebellious soul. Don't remember which song exactly though, I'm sad to say. Was probably "Hungry." My love for the era was reborn many years later with the original Nuggets release, then running off to LA and encountering such bands as The Unclaimed, Redd Kross, etc.  And OMG yeah, The Fleshtones!  Love 'em to this very day!

As much as we hate to hear our beloved garage classics used so crassly in commercials, either way, if it led you into getting more into the genre, then it's not lame...I've heard the 13th Floor Elevators and the Seeds being used in commercials as well, and they don't even seem to fit the products the ad agency was trying promote...

This is pretty lame but I heard the song "Have Love Will Travel" by The Sonics in a car commercial when I was about 16. This was around the same time of the "garage rock revival" in the early 00s, so I was also listening to The Hives and all of that stuff.

Gonna see Paul Collins Beat next month @ Asbury Lanes in NJ....April 30th if anyone's local!

Gentleman Jesse, The White Wires

Just got into The Modernettes, these guys are great: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3l30qyZaBPM

The Beat Rats said:

redd kross

I hate "technical"/symphonic power metal or whatever the fuck it's called. Basically down tuned guitar wankery, trying to hit 1000 notes a minute but with absolutely no soul or feeling.

I also dislike most/all heavy metal in general.

Justin Beiber.