Mr Pants. Deerlick Dave was wearing this shirt after finishing their set. I asked him where he got it – probably online he replied – and told him our story. Having recently lost his dog, Jim, Dave said “Wait right there” and disappeared through the staff and artists’ door, reemerging moments later with a fresh shirt on, he hands me his PANTS t-shirt with the apology “it’s a little damp,” and hugged in condolence for our lost pets. RIP Jim, Pants, Pocket

Stag Nation is a mix of snotty pop punk: “She’s My Chemist,”  the extremely short and extremely silly “Skate,” the excellent rocker “Hey!” and some twanging Americana “On a Cloudy Day” that has both mandolin and harp, mixed into the late 80’s/early 90’s sound which just a year or so later would be called grunge, or at least grunge-adjacent. The liner notes are fun as my sister-in-law (Joe’s sister) and her ex-husband (who were are still friends with) are the third and fourth people thanked, plus a bunch of bands I saw in the 90’s after I moved to Milwaukee in ’93 and clubs that mostly gone (The Unicorn and The Odd Rock) and other assorted acquaintances in the Milwaukee music scene. That The Mighty Deerlick are still around and playing is pretty amazing, though the lineup has changed a bit over the years, the most tragic one being the loss of Dan Franke who died a year or two ago after battling some serious health issues for a long long time.

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Featuring founding Saints members, guitarist Ed Kuepper and drummer Ivor Hay alongside honorary Saints: singer Mark Arm of Seattle rockers Mudhoney, former The Birthday Party / Bad Seeds guitarist Mick Harvey and bassist Peter Oxley of Australia’s legendary Sunnyboys, The Saints ’73 -’78 carry on where the original band left off in 1978 performing the material from their three incendiary albums (I’m) Stranded (1977), Eternally Yours (1978) and Prehistoric Sounds (1978).

Also joining the band onstage was a horn section, who also appear on this four song EP (Julien Wilson on tenor sax, Eamon Dilworth on trumpet and Mark Spencer on baritone sax). I loved the show! I really like Mark Arm so I was super excited to see him perform and felt that his distinctive raspy growl/shriek lent itself well to The Saints material. Not counting the horn section, 60-something Arm was the youngster in the group; the rest of the guys definitely in their 70s (or older). However, age is just a state of mind and they absolutely killed with tons of energy and rock swagger. The Saints played a couple of my favorites, including “(I’m) Stranded” (which is generally accepted to be the first punk rock single released outside of the United States, predating the first record releases from the UK punk scene, ie The Damned, and is lauded as an Australian national treasure) and “Know Your Product.” While “Stranded” does not appear on this release which was recorded at Princess Theater in Brisbane in December 2024, “Know Your Product” does (the swirly horns great both in person and on wax). While the single from their second LP (Eternally Yours) did not chart, it retrospectively is considered one of the greatest punk singles of the era. Also on Live Nights (and played last night) are “Nights in Venice” (from I’m Stranded) “No Time” (the b-side to “I’m Stranded”) and “(I’m) Misunderstood” (from Eternally Yours).

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L.A. Witch “Octubre” 2019. Suicide Squeeze Records, limited edition Halloween black and orange vinyl. 5-track EP of psychedelic garage rock from Los Angeles. Spooky, lo-fi and trashy, perfect for the season. According to the blurb on Suicide Squeeze’s page:

There is no better season for these kinds of songs than the autumn when the promises of summer have abated and the nights of reckoning grow longer. L.A. Witch seized the moment by revisiting some of their early tracks and reshaping them into Octubre, a five-song EP that delves deeper into their darker side. “Because these are old songs—we don’t play them live anymore but still wanted them to be heard—this was the perfect opportunity to get experimental with sounds and textures,” Sanchez says of the EP. Despite this new studio adventurism, the songs on Octubre stay true to L.A. Witch’s vintage starkness.

Singer Sade Sanchez has a bluesy and sultry voice which is juxtaposed by her stark guitar work, but enhanced by the deep rhythms of drummer Ellie English and bassist/organist Irina Pai. My top track is “Sleep,” which has sort of a sinister rockabilly flavor and an excellent beat. “Heart of Darkness” has a bit of a bendy and creepy funhouse vibe while somehow still feeling sad and sweet and the final track, “Outro” is a brief sleepy hollow closer.

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Like their show, this first release is throbbing, pounding and hypnotically hard, occasionally accented with weird squawky sax and synth interludes; perfectly crafted for awkward dancing and body passing. My top track is “Research Chemicals,” which may have been released as a single. The other three tracks are great as well: dark and brooding with tons of growl from singer Sebastian Murphy, especially on “I Don’t Remember That.”  “Can’t Get it Up” totally wins for funniest lyrics (though also sad/pathetic, but satirically/bitingly so) and “Liquids” wins for weirdest, grossest, most f**k’d up lyrics (though it’s got a fantastic beat).

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