Fret Rattles “As the World Falls Apart” 2026. Ghost Highway Records. We caught the hard rocking Minnesotans set this past Friday night at X-Ray Arcade and picked up their latest LP at the merch table, along with an older record, a bunch of 45’s and bassist Sir Chadwick (aka Chad Johnson) generously threw in some extras, too. What a show! What an album! Channeling fellow Midwesterners, protopunkers The Stooges, Dead Boys and MC5, Fret Rattles stomped and swaggered through a slew of killer garage rock songs with a sound that one reviewer on the album’s hype sticker class “an unrelenting barrage of scissor-kicks to your thorax.” As the World Falls Apart is the band’s third/fourth album. We’ve had their first record (which I don’t think is counted in their official discography) cleverly titled The First One (from 2012 and not on a record label) for a few years now having seen them in 2022 (or at least Joe did, I can’t remember if I was there or not) and have been fans since. The album is high energy garage punk with twin guitars for a big-ass shred sound and a wickedly-paced beat. I know for sure they performed the song “Flavor of the Month” at the show (it’s great!). My other top tracks include the Motörheadesque “Running with Scissors;” their cover of the Dead Boys’ “What Love Is” that features former Fret Rattles musician Rob Tossava (also in Vasoline Alley, Trim Reaper, Goo Goo Mucks All-Stars) who died from cancer this past spring; the snotty “Don’t Wanna Know,” and the frenetic ass-shaker “Already Dead.” I didn’t record any video at the show but here’s a clip from their performance this past summer at GBUFO’s Invasion Fest up in Green Bay.

Nigel Wearne “The Reckoning” 2023. Signed, limited edition red and black marble recycled vinyl, not on label/self-released. Dark jazzy and bluesy Americana from Australia. We picked up this copy from Nigel Wearne, along with his backing band The Spectres, this past August up at Mile of Music in Appleton when we caught his Tom Waits meets Gogol Bordello (though Wearne is much much more mellow) set at the outdoor stage at Emmett’s. We hadn’t heard of him but his MoM bio caught our eye:

Nigel Wearne & The Spectres saunter after dark in the music of the night, blending blues, jazz and Americana-noir. Swathed with rambunctious horns, Gretsch guitar, drums and double-bass, they’ve got a retro vibe that smacks it straight back to the 60’s. Hailing from Gunditjmara country in the deep south of Australia, Nigel Wearne is a guitarist and multi-instrumentalist with diverse influences such as Nick Cave, Tom Waits and Rickie Lee Jones.

The Reckoning looks to be his third full-length release; the first, Black Crow, was released back in 2012 so he’s been around for awhile but I don’t think with the support of a label/distributor. It’s mood music with some flare: think a decadent and dark speakeasy, lit with dim chandeliers and candles, but there’s peeling wallpaper and stains on the velvet upholstered booths. “Back Behind the Blue” with its brush drums and horns perfectly encapsulates the vibe. The title track, “The Reckoning,” has a cha-cha-cha rhythm and would feel tropical but for the sinister suggestion. “Old Belly’s New Ride” is snakey surf instrumental with bendy guitar. Some of the tracks are too mellow and atmospheric for my tastes but Wearne’s voice is great and this album has a strong point of view with oodles of instrumental talent.

New Order “Perfect Kiss” 1985. 12″ single, Factory Records. The cover is really beaten up (not sure if by one of its previous owners, one R. Martin Basso, Esq. from California, who stuck his mailing address on the front – not a good idea on so many levels) but it’s great 80’s dancey synthpop. “Perfect Kiss” was the band’s 9th single and is also on the ’85 LP Low-Life. It went to #46 in the UK but #1 on the UK indie chart; in the US it hit #5 on the dance charts. The single version does not appear on this 12″ release. Instead Side A has the almost 9 minute original version. The video is even longer!

Side B has “The Kiss of Death” which is another remix with just snippets of the lyrics from “Perfect Kiss” along with lots of electronic effects, one of which sounds like a cross between frogs and crickets. Also on Side B is “Perfect Pit” which is super-short, clocking in at under 2 minutes with clanking beats and sparse bleep-bloops for an odd little industrial instrumental nugget.