roots rock Archives - Vinyl From The Vault

BoDeans “Love & Hope & Sex & Dreams”

sfilzen — Mon, 08 Feb 2021 18:26:47 +0000

BoDeans “Love & Hope & Sex & Dreams” 1986. Slash Records. Today, February 8th, is BoDeans singer/guitarist/songwriter Sam Llanas’ 60th birthday (b. 1961). He, along with the rest of the BoDeans, are from the Milwaukee area and I’m very, very vaguely acquainted with him: we’re “friends” on social media (me, along with almost 5,000 other people and I’m quite sure neither one of us would recognize each other in an uncrowded venue; I’m flattered he sent me a friend request but it does perplex me a bit) and I think that the band I used to be in (the Aimless Blades) and one of his bands (not BoDeans, maybe one of his solo things) shared billing at Linneman’s sometime in the early 2000′s. Produced by Grammy-winning, Bob Dylan-backing T-Bone Burnett, Love & Hope & Sex & Dreams was the BoDeans’ debut album and it went to #115 in the US. It’s jangly Americana roots rock and I have a feeling it was a much bigger deal in Wisconsin than the rest of the US: I remember hearing “Fadeaway” constantly on the radio in 1986, though I don’t think it was officially released as a single. That track is definitely my favorite on the LP, but I also like “She’s a Runaway,” “Angels,” “Misery” and the rockabilly swinger “Ultimately Fine.”

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Ron Gallo “Heavy Meta”

sfilzen — Wed, 06 Dec 2017 17:30:54 +0000

Ron Gallo “Heavy Meta” 2017. New West Records. So back in August after writing about our marathon 16 bands in 29 hours I promised to revisit several of the artists we saw during that whirlwind of music. Ron Gallo was one of them and Heavy Meta is his latest release: fuzzy garage guitar, heavy beats – when we saw him play at Mile of Music the bass drum literally vibrated my clothes – and clever, irreverent and often scathing lyrics (i.e. “Why Do You Have Kids?” and “All the Punks Are Domesticated”). Allmusic says, “the fusion of Gallo’s dirty but melodic melodies and waves of lyrical swagger suggests how Bob Dylan might have ended up if his primal influence had been Black Francis instead of Woody Guthrie.” From Nashville via Philly, Gallo incorporates some southern blues-rock flavors into several tracks on Side A, the “Bright Side” (i.e. the raucous rocker “Please Yourself” and the CCR-meets-Rolling-Stones’ Sympathy For the Devil-esque “Young Lady, You’re Scaring Me”). Side B, the “Dark Side,” slows things down considerably but it’s not mellow, think more the burning intensity of bands the Black Angels or Black Rebel Motorcycle Club. Some of Gallo’s best lyrics appear here: the aforementioned “All the Punks Are Domesticated” – “All of the punks are domesticated/all of the freaks have gone to bed/all of the pioneers are saved for information tech/Now every room is sterilized/All risk is paralyzed/ Meanwhile the pop tarts climb the pop charts/the blood clots block your heart parts and no one really has anything to say” and “Don’t Mind the Lion” – “Oh, she smoked herself into oblivion/Oh, her teeth are like the daisies in the yard/ Colors pouring out her eyes/with hips and a heart on trial…”

Here is a photo from the show we saw in August at Mile of Music, Gallo’s pants as cheeky as his writing.

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Gun Club “Sex Beat 81″

sfilzen — Mon, 27 Jun 2016 17:33:21 +0000

Gun Club “Sex Beat 81″ 1981. Lolita Records. Today, June 27th, is Gun Club founder/singer/guitarist Jeffrey Lee Pierce’s birthday (b. 1958 d. 1996). Sex Beat 81 is a mostly live record from performances at LA’s Club 88 and Hollywood’s Starwood in the winter of 1981. The tracks included are “swamped-out, roiling rock, swaggerific hell-bound blues and gothic country” cuts from Fire of Love and Miami including “Sex Beat,” “Jack on Fire,” “Preaching the Blues,” “Promise Me,” “Devil in the Woods” and “Bad Indian.”

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Spanic Boys “Spanic Boys”

sfilzen — Mon, 21 Mar 2016 16:37:26 +0000

Spanic Boys “Spanic Boys” 1988. Permanent Records. Today’s pull in remembrance of Tom Spanic, who passed away last week at the age of 69. His son, Ian Spanic, lives in our neighborhood and is the executive director of my son’s school. Ian is a great guy and although I never met Tom, I’m guessing he was just as sweet and kind, and both are extremely talented musicians. You can read Tom Spanic’s obituary here.

Spanic Boys, their debut album, is roots guitar rock, bluesy and rockabilly, Fender-bending notes and harmonies (“Tell Me” is a great example). After this small local label release, Spanic Boys released three albums on Rounder Records and three others on other labels. They performed at SxSW in ‘89 and then on Saturday Night Live in 1990 as a last-minute replacement for Sinead O’Connor who boycotted the episode in protest of host Andrew Dice Clay’s jokes about women. They also played on David Lettermen in ‘91 and the Conan O’Brien Show in ‘94.

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