Ferocious Mexicali-tinged garage-surf

The Australia-based Puta Madre Brothers bill themselves as a “triple one-man band,” and indeed they each play bass drum and assorted percussion along with their guitar or bass. Their garage-surf is heavily tinged with an ersatz mariachi style as they kick up the buzzing instrumental “Putananny Twist,” the electric Flamenco “The One Legged Horse (Race),” and stomp the lights out of “Malaguena.” Their stinging electric guitars, triple kick-drum backbeats and instrumental emphasis triangulates somewhere between Los Staitjackets, The Arrows and Thee Swank Bastards, which is a very fine place to be. [©2011 hyperbolium dot com]

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Third and final comeback album from early-60s Northeast rockers

Mike and the Ravens, local heroes of the early-60s Northfield/Plattsburgh rock scene (see Heart So Cold: The North Country ‘60s Scene and Nevermore: Plattsburgh 62 and Beyond), made the unlikeliest of comebacks with 2008’s Noisy Boys and 2009’s No Place for Pretty. Forty-five years after their stomping frat-rock singles made them a Saturday night draw at Rollerland, the band reassembled to revisit and extend their legacy. Amazingly, they still carried the fire and adolescent abandon that made their earliest records so exciting, and even more impressively, they had something new to say with their music. This third, and apparently final, comeback album isn’t as frenetic or savage as their original singles or initial comeback, but lead vocalist Mike Brassard still sings with plenty of wild-eyed grit, the percussion section lays down heavy, dark beats, the guitars add plenty of buzzing riffage, and the rock vibes are extended with strains of blues and psych. The band’s covers of traditional folk tunes, “Jack of Diamonds” and “Pretty Polly,” are a lot more threatening than the versions you’d hear on the summer bluegrass circuit, and guitarist Steve Blodgett’s originals rock hard. The bluesy desire of “Helen Jones” is emotionally flip-sided by the abandoned wreck of “A Real Sad Story,” and a cover of the Dad’s early ‘80s pub-pop classic “Trailer Park Girls” rolls like a freight train. Hopefully the end of the group’s recording renaissance doesn’t spell the end of their reunions for live shows, as these guys are clearly still carrying a lit torch. [©2011 hyperbolium dot com]

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Wild ‘60s Boogaloo and Freakbeat from France

This fantastic French foursome is back with a new EP of 1960’s-inspired boogaloo, freakbeat and swinging R&B. Isabelle Lindqwister (from Rodeo Massacre) provides the title track’s guest vocal, but it’s the hot, soulful Hammond and driving rhythm section that really heats things up with the instrumental “Emma’s Theme.” There’s a new dance step stomp, “Do the Jungle Jane,” that perfectly transplants a riff from the Munster’s theme, and though the tempo slows for “Lion Club Boogaloo,” the temperature doesn’t drop a degree as the ride cymbal adds a soul-jazz backing to the organ’s heavy chords and throaty stabs. This band has so authentically recreated the mood of mid-60s discothèque, it’s almost scary. Available as a vinyl 7” (email the band for info) as well as a digital download. [©2011 hyperbolium dot com]

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Retro 60’s garage from France

For their second album (their debut was 2009’s Time Machine), this French quintet continues to create garage and beat sounds that echo the R&B of the Animals and Small Faces and revivalists like the Miracle Workers, Fuzztones, Lyres and Chesterfield Kings. The driving bass, reverbed guitars, hard-blown harmonica and whining organ will be familiar to fans of the Nuggets/Pebbles/Boulders series, even without the scratchy patina of original 45s.  You pretty much know what you’re getting when there’s a pentagonal Vox Phantom guitar pictured on the album sleeve and the band has the taste and knowledge to cover the Gentlemen’s Texas punk classic “It’s a Crying Shame.” The Norvins make good their vintage equipment and give you the soundtrack for the hottest yoga session of the year. [©2011 hyperbolium dot com]

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Intriguing 1960s Cambodian rock influences

This Los Angeles combo continues to make some of the most unexpected music of the decade. Formed in 2001, Dengue Fever grew out of organist Ethan Holtzman’s interest in 1960s Cambodian rock. Originally setting out to cover the obscurities he’d collected on record, the addition of Cambodian vocalist Chhom Nimol gave the band an elevated sense of authenticity and set them evolving into something more original. Nimol originally stuck to singing in her native Khmer, but here she takes the step to switch between Khmer and English as the each song demands. The music remains anchored to the mix of psych, jazz, pop, garage, exotica and Indian flavors that came together in 1960s Cambodian popular music, and the seamlessness with which it all fits together continues to amaze.

The album opens on a cool note with “Cannibal Courtship.” The guitar and electric piano initially riff quietly behind Nimol’s cooing, but a bouncy, wordless chorus ramps up the volume and tension as the vocal gains passion and the music explodes into a buzzing, electric backdrop. The group overlays deep bass lines with hard fuzz guitar, free saxophone solos, and group vocals that recall the Jefferson Airplane’s ballroom days. Nimol snakes her vocal around the guitar and bass riffs of “Uku,” with finger cymbals and a flute solo adding a period feel. The group edges into the mood of spy jazz with “Sister in the Radio” and late ’50s exotica with “Kiss of the Bufo Alvarius,” leaving the listener to wonder not just what they’re listening to, but even more beguilingly, when. [©2011 hyperbolium dot com]

MP3 | Cement Slippers
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Psych- and garage-inflected Detroit rock nods to the ‘60s and ‘70s

Troy Gregory (Killing Joke, Dirtbombs) formed the Witches in Detroit in the mid-90s, and over the course of a decade this loose aggregation, including fellow Michiganders John Nash and Jim Diamond, produced the five little-known psych-inflected rock albums sampled here. The opening guitar riff of “Everyone the Greatest” suggests Paul Revere and the Raiders before the rhythm section add a heavier bottom end and the vocal shades to a 1960s drone. Gregory’s songs have the hooks of garage and rock bands that broke through to AM radio in the ‘60s and ‘70s, tipping their hat to the Byrds and Flamin’ Groovies with “Lost With the Real Gone,” Love with “Sprit World Rising,” and T-Rex with bass-and-handclap rhythm of  “Down on Ugly Street.” In contrast to fashion-plate revivalists, the Witches showcase an amalgamation and evolution of their influences that keeps these tuneful echoes fresh. [©2011 hyperbolium dot com]

MP3 | Lost With the Real Gone
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The Kingsmen lay it down live in late 1963

This stereo recording, excerpted from two live dates late in 1963, is of surprisingly good quality for its era. Kingsmen lead vocalist Jack Ely was not with the band at this point, so sax player Lynn Easton sings most of the leads, but no matter – this is club music for dancing, and the band lays down some mean beats. Much like the group’s iconic national anthem of garage rock, “Louie, Louie,” this is invitingly sloppy at turns, but the drums and bass will keep you moving, and the guitar and organ carve out passable, if not particularly inventive, jams. This isn’t a carefully rehearsed group recording a live album for posterity; it’s a rock ‘n’ roll band running through their repertoire for a club crowd. For maximum enjoyment, turn it up, have a drink or two, and dance. [©2011 hyperbolium dot com]

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Legendary ‘60s garage rockers reunite for a 1990 live date

Twenty years after these ‘60s garage-punk legends packed it in, they got back together to play a one-off live gig at a club in their native Minneapolis. Reaching back past their hard- and psych-rock evolution to their punk-rock roots, the group, with original lead vocalist Denny Waite in fine voice, launches their reunion with the signature “Action Woman,” and then reels off a string of well-picked period covers, including British Invasion titles from the Who, Small Faces, Yardbirds, Zombies and Spencer Davis Group, and blues tunes from Otis Rush and Mose Alison. The band plays tight, hard and loud, just as you might imagine they did in 1967 when their first album, Distortions, was released. This sounds more like a talented, stylish and well-rehearsed cover band than aging garage-rockers reliving their glory years. It’s no “Substitute” for the band’s original albums, particularly the debut, but it’s a nice coda to their career. [©2011 hyperbolium dot com]

See The Litter perform “Action Woman”

Garage rock from the East Side

It may be true that the Premiers recorded this live, but in the studio, rather than at the Fullerton club originally claimed to be the venue. The crowd sounds may well have been dubbed in afterward, but they still create the atmosphere of a loose, enthusiastic club gig. The album’s title track (originally waxed by Don & Dewey as ‘50s R&B) was included on Lenny Kaye’s seminal Nuggets, and the rest of the tracks follow in the same vein, with unison vocals from guitarists John Perez and George Delgato, and female fans shrieking and singing along. The rave-ups feel like a Saturday night in East L.A., and the ballads, including covers of the Moonglows’ “We Go Together,” Johnnie and Joe’s “Over the Mountain, Across the Sea,” and Johnny Ace’s “Anymore” provide slow dances to hold your partner tight. Notable East Side producer, musician and songwriter Max Uballez is represented by the originals “Annie Oakley” and “Feel Like Dancing” (the latter of which mentions his classic “Slauson Shuffle”). The Premiers weren’t accomplished musicians, but that’s part of their charm; they played with the foot-stomping verve that kept the party going. The two- or three-track stereo sounds like an early Beatles record, with vocals on one side, instruments on the other, and crowd chatter on both. Switch your set to mono and have yourself a dance party! [©2011 hyperbolium dot com]

Throwback ’60s R&B, Boogaloo and Freakbeat sounds from France

This recently formed French quartet has got the sounds of 1960s British R&B, Boogaloo and Freakbeat down, from their punch-in-the-gut mono mix to stellar organ and Fender Rhodes and tasty guitar solos. The Animals, Spencer Davis Group, Pretty Things and early Rolling Stones are obvious antecedents, with an emphasis on bluesy go-go beats that surely make Towerbrown a favorite for the dance floor. Three vocal tracks and the hard-swinging organ-and-guitar instrumental “Let’s Paint it Brown” make up the band’s 4-song debut EP. Available as a limited edition 7” single (email the band for info) or digital download, this one’s sure to keep you grooving. [©2010 hyperbolium dot com]

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