The Heartbreakers “What Goes Around…”

sfilzen — Wed, 15 Jul 2015 16:30:13 +0000

The Heartbreakers “What Goes Around…” 1975/1991 Bomp! Records. Today July 15th is Johnny Thunders birthday (b. John Anthony Genzale, Jr. 1952 d. 1991). Thunders played guitar for the New York Dolls and then in 1975 formed The Heartbreakers, along with Dolls drummer Jerry Nolan, bassist/singer Richard Hell of Television and Walter Lure from the Demons. This LP is a live recording from a July 7th 1975 show at CBGB’s and a November 16th 1975 performance at Mothers, NYC and showcases the early sounds of gritty NYC punk.

On the back cover of this LP there is a review and history, of sorts, by Alternative Press Magazine’s Tim Stegall. He writes of Thunders, “[he] had gained a rep as THE prototype Seventies garageslop guitar slop player, lifting Keith Richard’s wasted, cig-dangling persona and most Berrychucked riffs and charging ‘em with the attitude and rocketfuel of the MC5′s Kramer/Smith tag team (which was easier to capture than their fretboard dexterity!).”

The album contains one track that would eventually go on to appear on The Heartbreakers only studio album “L.A.M.F.” – “Pirate Love.” However, many other classics appear like“Stepping Stone” as well as “Love Comes in Spurts” and “Blank Generation” (later recorded by Richard Hell and the Voidoids).

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“The Best of Bomp! Volume One”

sfilzen — Mon, 13 Jul 2015 15:11:34 +0000

“The Best of Bomp! Volume One” 1978. As the cover states, this LP is a collection of highlights from the first four years of Bomp! Records (which started in 1974 as an outgrowth of the fanzine, BOMP! Magazine). Claiming to be New Wave before that genre label really took off in the late 70′s/early 80′s, many of the tracks feature a poppy, 50′s revival sound with nods to 60′s gangly guitar sounds á la The Byrds: melodic, harmonic, tinges of rock-a-billy. However, harder sounds also are heard, namely Iggy & the Stooges’ “I Got a Right” and “Gimme Some Skin” (these versions from a previously unreleased 1973 recording session), The Weirdos’ “A Life of Crime” and The Zeroes’ “Wimp.”

Side A features acts which showcase that 50′s/60′s melodic and jangly sound with 20/20′s “Living It All,” The Flamin’ Groovies’ “Him or Me,” The Wackers’ “Captain Nemo,” The Choir’s “I’d Rather You Leave Me” and, truly epitomizing the jingle-jangle sound, The Rockfield Chorale’s “Jingle Jangle.” The last track on Side A begins the foray into an edgier, harder sound with Venus & The Razorblades’ “Punk-a-Rama,” with a driving beat, prominent rock guitar and a mixture of spoken lyrics (nods to Patti Smith) and growling vocals. However, the track feels very manufactured: overly playing its punk cred with mentions of the Sex Pistols, CBGB’s, The Ramones, etc. etc.

Side 2 explodes with the raw energy of Iggy & The Stooges’ “I Got a Right,” fast, dirty and mean. Snatch’s “I.R.T.” is sparse bluesy girl punk. Early LA punks The Weirdos growl through heavy downbeats in “A Life of Crime,” while Willie Alexander & the Boom Boom Band take the tempo down several notches and take an art-rock turn with “Kerouac.” Shoes’ “Tomorrow Night” brings us back to melody/harmony sweetness before The Zeroes (“Wimp”), DMZ (“Busy Man”) and Iggy (“Gimme Some Skin”) deliver proto-punk abrasiveness to finish off the comp.

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The Heartbreakers “What Goes Around…”

“The Best of Bomp! Volume One”