garage rock Archives - Vinyl From The Vault

The Obits “Die at the Zoo”

sfilzen — Tue, 21 Apr 2026 17:32:53 +0000

The Obits “Die at the Zoo” 2021. Outer Battery Records, yellow vinyl. Live, loud garage punk, from a show on August 26th 2012 at The Zoo in Brisbane, Australia. The Obits recorded this when they were on tour between their second and third albums for Sub Pop and Die at the Zoo includes tracks from those two LP’s like “Widow Of My Dreams” and “I Want Results,” plus single releases like “One Cross Apiece” and “Refund.” One of my top picks is the bendy, slightly sinister stomper “New August,” another is the snarling punk stomper “Talking to the Dog.” “Pine On” is great (but the video for the original single freaks me the fuck out – it’s linked below). The recording quality of Die at the zoo is really stellar (but not over-produced allowing for the band’s raw/real vibe to come through) and the crowd noise is minimal, just enough between songs to prove it is, indeed, live.

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Vacation “Vacation”

sfilzen — Mon, 09 Mar 2026 18:30:05 +0000

Vacation “Vacation” 2011. Let’s Pretend Records, the debut LP from Cincinnati garage rockers. I’ve been holding onto this record for a bit now in hopes that Vacation would be swinging back through Milwaukee for a show. I think the last time they were here was a couple of years ago, maybe for my pal Claire’s birthday, and looking at their Bandcamp page (if it’s up-to-date) they haven’t been out on tour for almost 2 years. Their live performances are wild and dynamic, body-tossing energy abounds. Vacation is noisy, buzzy and highly bop-able – they definitely have some pop sensibilities behind the fuzz. “People Watching” is one of the more pop-forward on Vacation. My top pick is the ass-shaking “Co-Workers.” I also like the gritty “Bleach Buzz,” the lo-fi garage-thundering “Cop Knock” and the frenetic “Sun and Moon.”

There isn’t a lot out there video-wise (though their name is pretty difficult for googling) but here is a live performance from 2011 of what I’m fairly certain is the track “Christopher Columbus Was Not a Hero” off of Vacation.

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Wine Lips “Super Mega Ultra”

sfilzen — Mon, 24 Nov 2025 19:35:42 +0000

Wine Lips “Super Mega Ultra” 2024. Stomp Records. Limited edition “Green UFO Swirl” variant. We picked up the Canadian garage psych-punks latest release at their Cactus Club show last week. What a night!!! Wacked-out noise rockers Mr. Phylzzz opened with a truly insane set and then Wine Lips tore the roof with their highly danceable, head-banging hypnotic psychotic brand of garage punk. Super Mega Ultra is the band’s third LP and it’s as wild as their shows (we first caught the band when they opened a year or two ago for Frankie and the Witch Fingers at the Miramar here in Milwaukee). I know for sure they played “Stimulation” which is on this record — I made extra note of it as it totally reminded me of Milwaukee’s late, great stoner punks Slow Walker – the best bass line and wildly ass-shaking. (Slow Walker bassist Sam Reitman was at the Wine Lips show, too). One of my top tracks for sure! Other faves include “Killjoy,” the very punk “Six Pack” (pretty sure they played that one, too) that heavily features drummer Aurora Evans on vocals and another Slow Walker-esque grooving banger, the instrumental “Lemon Party.”

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Cheater Slicks “Skidmarks”

sfilzen — Tue, 27 May 2025 17:12:05 +0000

Cheater Slicks “Skidmarks” 1998. Crypt Records, “a collection of oddities, rarities and vintage spew.” Or, rather, a comp of Cheater Slicks early-year tracks, covers and unreleased songs. We finally saw Cheater Slicks for the first time this past weekend when they opened for Jon Spencer in Chicago. The band has been around forever, playing their version of grungy garagey punk blues since 1987. Skidmarks is heavy on the early material: the opener “Dark Night” is from an unreleased album from ’89 and also has a couple of songs from their actual ’89 debut On Your Knees (which was, according to the liner notes, recorded in one day on drummer/vocalist’s Dana Hatch’s birthday), including the noise rockers “I Won’t Last Another Day,” “On Your Knees” and “Chaos” (which was released as a single in ’91 by “a mysterious German label”). There’s a few cover songs, too, like their great rendition of 13th Floor Elevators’ “Rollercoaster,” an ass-shaking rendition of The Bell Notes’ hit “I’ve Had It” aka/renamed “I’ve Been Had” and Slick styled, and rockabilly Bill Allen’s “Please Give Me Something” that the Slicks drag through the swamp. There’s a few obscure covers, too, like “The Hunch” (originally by Mad Mike and the Maniacs — literally that band’s only song release), “Can It Be” by The Savoys (their one of two releases) and another one and done release by The Huns “Destination Lonely.” Those last two are from a Cheater Slicks performance on a WMBR radio session in ’92.

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Demolition Doll Rods “Tasty”

sfilzen — Wed, 23 Apr 2025 17:55:33 +0000

Demolition Doll Rods “Tasty” 1997. In the Red Records. Noisy, lo-fi garage rock. The debut LP from the Detroit three-piece, known for their outrageous performances in the 90’s/early 2000s. Though it’s a great record, I’ve been avoiding writing about it for almost 6 years now because I really really dislike the cover art. I pulled Tasty to listen to back at the end of August 2019 after a rather surprising Doll Rod performance at the teeny tiny Circle A (now closed) bar in Riverwest (Milwaukee) where we and like just 25 other people were in attendance. The band was touring with Jon Spencer at the time; he played Harley Fest but my guess is the Rods weren’t invited on that bill so ended up opening for local Milwaukee act Ifihadahifi’s record release party. I was almost nose-to-nose with Dan Kroha (aka Danny Doll Rod, also of the Gories) during the show, arching my back on the barstool to get some photos. Original singer/guitarist Margaret Doll Rod was there, too but original drummer Christine Doll Rod was not (she left the band in 2006). I got a chance to chat with Dan for a bit after the show, which was a huge treat. Super-nice guy!

Tasty is both noisy and sparse, infused with blues punk and a Midwest industrial no-frills attitude. My top tracks are the ass-shaking “If You Can’t Hang…,” the snotty “Maverick Girl,” the more angular and experimental-leaning “Psycho Kitty,” the classic-blues infused “Lil Darlin”

And while I’m not entirely sure what two songs these are (other than they are not on Tasty), here is a couple of songs from their show in Chicago just a couple night after we saw them in 2019 since there is close to zero internet content from the Dolls from Tasty:

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Flat Duo Jets “White Trees”

sfilzen — Thu, 20 Mar 2025 17:54:19 +0000

Flat Duo Jets “White Trees” 1993/2024. Limited edition “white tree” colored vinyl, Propeller Sound Recordings, first ever vinyl pressing of the duo’s fourth album, originally released only on CD. White Trees is also their first of all original material, written by the late Dex Romweber (plus one track – one of my favorites, “Where Are You Now,” written by drummer Crow; it’s very drum-forward and hard-rocking psychobilly). Sparse, garagey neo-rockabilly meets punk blues, the Flat Duo Jets quietly (though very very loudly if you ever saw them play live, which we were lucky enough to have on a couple of occasions in the 90’s) set the stage for the garage rock duo of guitars/vocals + drums explosion of the mid-to-late 90’s/early 2000’s (White Stripes, Black Keys, etc.) and White Trees is considered one of their best releases. Romweber’s scratchy vocals pair perfectly with Crow’s brushy stomps: both “Michelle” and “How Long” are great neo-rockabilly example from White Tree, with “How Long” also channeling Depression-era deep southern blues. Also great are the opener “Daughter of the Jungle,” (Dexter’s sister, the late Sara Romweber plays drums on this track), the haunting “You Don’t Love Me Anymore” and the bonkers “Radioactive Man.”

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The Witches “A Haunted Person’s Guide To”

sfilzen — Wed, 19 Mar 2025 17:51:44 +0000

The Witches “A Haunted Person’s Guide To” 2011. Limited edition clear yellow (but looks orange) vinyl, Alive Records. Detroit psychedelic garage rock. A Haunted Person’s Guide is a comp of the band’s catalog from 1996 to 2007. It’s on the jangle end of garage, not much in the way of dark hypnotic sounds as some psych garage can be. There’s some strong blues inspiration, especially on one of my top tracks “Why Do U Make Me Feel Like That” which has some excellent slide guitar and an ass-meets-tambourine shaking beat. That track first appeared on The Witches’ 2002 album On Parade. The 60’s organ garage sound makes a little cameo on the fun and mildly funky “She Got Some Kinda Thing” (off the 2001 album Universal Mall). There’s some spooky shit, too, as both their name and the comp record’s title suggest like “The Haunted Regulars” (from the 2007 Thriller!) and the monster-mashy “Creepin’ Thru Yer Galaxy” which I think is unique to this comp.

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The Limiñanas “Faded”

sfilzen — Thu, 06 Mar 2025 19:14:32 +0000

The Limiñanas “Faded” 2025. Limited edition red vinyl, Berreto Music/Because Music Records. Sultry psychedelic garage rock from France, chock full of collaborations including two tracks with Jon Spencer. I must have been one of the very first people to preorder it as I also received a limited to 100 7″ single. Faded is something like their 10th release since their 2010 debut. The Limiñanas remain soooo cool and their latest LP does not disappoint: it’s slinky and shimmery plus the multitude of musicians brings an excellent variety to the album. Of course my top tracks are the two Spencer songs: the laser-tinged “Space Baby” (classic Spencer yelps, growls, “Yeahs!” and silliness: “I’m floating in that tin can…”) and “Degenerate Star.” I’m also a big fan of “Prisoner of Beauty” featuring Bobby Gillespie (The Jesus & Mary Chain, Primal Scream) and the jangly Bowie-esque “Shout” featuring Rove (aka Timothée Régnier). And while my rudimentary high school level French doesn’t help much with parsing the lyrics, I also really love the French-lyric’d collaborations: “J’adore le Monde” with French singer/composer Bertrand Belin and the sexy, whispery “Catherine” sung by French singer Anna Jean (whom Discogs tells me is daughter of Nobel-prize awarded author J.M.G. Le Clezio). The Limiñanas-only tracks are pretty damn good too, especially their rendition of the classic r&b song by Richard Berry, then garage rock song popularized by the Kingsmen “Louie Louie” (and apparently the world’s most recorded rock song) that The Limiñanas somehow made luxuriously seductive – singing it in French helped – as well as the hypnotically buzzy “Autour de Chez Moi” which features both Lionel and Marie Limiñana on back-and-forth conversational vocals (though I have no clue what they’re chatting about).

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Mystery Girls “Incontinopia”

sfilzen — Thu, 20 Feb 2025 18:45:03 +0000

Mystery Girls “Incontinopia” 2008. In the Red Records. Garagey blues-punk from Green Bay, Wisconsin (and we purchased it in Green Bay, too!). Their third LP (plus one earlier cassette release which I’m not sure counts?), and their last release. Mystery Girls’ guitarist Jordan Davis currently lives in our neighborhood (and because it’s Smallwaukee, I’m friends and longtime colleagues with his partner, Michelle); we caught a few songs of his current country twang project, Long Line Riders, at the Wiggle Room this past Friday.

Long Line Riders February 14, 2025 at Wiggle Room; Jordan on the far right

They were pretty good but Mystery Girls much more my speed. Incontinopia is gritty, hard-rocking and a bit messy, just as punk blues is meant to be. My top picks are the garage rocker “I Took the Poison,” the noise-psych of “Quit Your Flyin Around” (great guitar work on this one!), the wild punk blues of “Cool It in Control” and the Bo Diddley maraca beat meets psychedelic freakout on “Cold Feet.”

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The Nerves “One Way Ticket”

sfilzen — Wed, 19 Feb 2025 18:16:15 +0000

The Nerves “One Way Ticket” 2008. Alive Records. Jangly, garagey, power pop. A collection of tracks recorded for their first EP The Nerves (1976), demos and live recordings. I was exactly today years old when it clicked that The Nerves wrote and first performed “Hanging on the Telephone,” a UK hit for Blondie in 1978. The original is great, as is the rest of the collection. The title track “One Way Ticket” and “Paper Dolls” pretty much set the bar for the power pop sound that continues to evolve 50 years on. “Walking Out on Love” veers hard into a punk pop sound – this song was recorded by The Breakaways, formed by Peter Case and Paul Collins after The Nerves dissolved and before Case left that band and helped found the more well-known The Plimsouls in 1978 (just one Plimsouls song on this comp, “Thing of the Past” recorded live in 1979). The other Nerves member, Jack Lee, also has a track on One Way Ticket: a straightup rocker “It’s Hot Outside.” The live tracks on Side 2 are a bit raw, a lot messy – and quite muddy – but full of snotty energy; these are from July, 1977 on the Magical Blistering Tour tour with The Ramones, recorded in Schoenberg, Illinois (Chicago-area). The most exciting of these is “Come Back and Stay” which, again, I was today years old when I realized this is an original Nerves song – I have only ever heard Paul Young’s new wave/blue-eyed soul interpretation from 1983 (which I loved then and still do today) which went to #22 in the US and to #4 in the UK. And since there are zero videos of The Nerves that I could find, will include Paul Young in 80’s acid wash jeans here:

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