For around five years, Chicago's HoZac records has continued to put out strong records by mostly new bands, and on vinyl!  HoZac put out a slew of great releases in 2011 such as The Peoples Temple, Mickey, Wax Idols, and the K-Holes. They also put on that awesome looking Blackout Festival that I missed out on. What is your record label MVP for 2011?

WAX IDOLS - GOLD SNEAKERS from Hayden Shiebler on Vimeo.

I know you're focusing on the garage department here, Steve, but Adam Sheets told me that Shooter Jennings will be doing a showcase down there with bands and musicians he's promoting right now. Billy Joe Shaver has signed on, that much I know.

Goner Records had a showcase at Beerland at last year's festival. Burger Records, Trouble in Mind, Dirtnap, and In the Red did, too. I'm sure this year will be just as great. If anyone hears of any specific showcases/parties/events, definitely post 'em here.

I DO KNOW THE NERVEBREAKERS ARE PLAYING , SO , IF YOU'RE DOWN THERE , LAUGH IN THE FACE OF ANYTHING GOING ON AT THE SAME TIME , AND YOU CAN THANK ME , LATER.
 
John Battles said:

  I saw LAIKA and The Cosmonauts (Different band , entirely) the one time I went to SXSW in '93. That was the only show I had to pay to get into. This was back when you could do that...They had a big Surf night (Before Surf music got done , usually very badly , to death , on account of that move ! HA HA.) with Huevos Rancheros , Insect Surfers (Yawn) , a band whose name I forget feat. Johnny X. Reed ( Guitarist - Roky Erickson , Doug Sahm.), Teisco Del Ray (Whom I sorely had to miss...) , all for $8.  I saw The Naughty Ones (The HOUSE BAND , IF JACK RUBY HAD LIVED TO REOPEN THE CAROUSEL cLUB.), Leroi Bros. , Two Hoots and a Hollar ,  James Luther Dickinson , Exene Cervenka (Doing a reading), and even Roky Erickson's return to the stage for free. I only saw Roky for free , at the Texas Music Awards Show , because I had a friend at one of the radio stations. They had "P" ( Johnny Depp and Gibby Haynes)  follow Roky. I could'nt focus on them , tho' I admire Depp as an Actor , alot. I'd just seen Roky Erickson , and even when not playing at the peak of his powers (Yet.) , he still blew my brain to little bits. NOTHING could follow that.....

But , now , the best shows are secret ,and , I don't even want to imagine what a wristband costs ....There are SOME free shows , like at Antone's Records ,  but , I dunno.....

  I saw LAIKA and The Cosmonauts (Different band , entirely) the one time I went to SXSW in '93. That was the only show I had to pay to get into. This was back when you could do that...They had a big Surf night (Before Surf music got done , usually very badly , to death , on account of that movIe ! HA HA.) with Huevos Rancheros , Insect Surfers (Yawn) , a band whose name I forget feat. Johnny X. Reed ( Guitarist - Roky Erickson , Doug Sahm.), Teisco Del Ray (Whom I sorely had to miss...) , all for $8.  I saw The Naughty Ones (The HOUSE BAND , IF JACK RUBY HAD LIVED TO REOPEN THE CAROUSEL cLUB.), Leroi Bros. , Two Hoots and a Hollar ,  James Luther Dickinson , Exene Cervenka (Doing a reading), High Noon , and even Roky Erickson's return to the stage for free. I only saw Roky for free , at the Texas Music Awards Show , because I had a friend at one of the radio stations. They had "P" ( Johnny Depp and Gibby Haynes)  follow Roky. I could'nt focus on them , tho' I admire Depp as an Actor , alot. I'd just seen Roky Erickson , and even when not playing at the peak of his powers (Yet.) , he still blew my brain to little bits. NOTHING could follow that.....

But , now , the best shows are secret ,and , I don't even want to imagine what a wristband costs ....There are SOME free shows , like at Antone's Records ,  but , I dunno.....

The Magnetix from Bordeaux are playing and they are great. Fantastic band and good friends of mine. Check em out:

When the generations of rock meet.......this is the GROOOOVY result, man....................

Talkin' 'bout dirty rock'n'roll...............................

Am I the only one who's noticed the main riff to "Son of Sam" by The Dead Boys sounds a LOT like "Crazy on You" by Heart ?
 
Mina said:

Yep, no probs with your English :)

btw, YOUR ENGLISH READS PERFECTLY FINE , HERE,   : )
 
RawCat / Ordinary Recs said:

My English is lame, I'm sorry, but if you don't mind, I'd like to share my experiences.
I guess it's a little different here in Brasil. Although I think the guitar player (a boy) and the drummer (a girl) get more groupies (girls) than me, I can say I have my (nice) share. I've noticed they are younger (I mean 17-25); they say all kinds of nice stuff about you and your band, they want to buy the record, the t-shirt, everything... I think, in my experience, older men are actually intimidated by women on stage.

I used to see Neko around , sometimes , before she "Made it". I can't imagine she was'nt getting hit on by cockier , more aggressive (i.e dull.) guys , back then. But , even , say , 10 years ago , she did'nt look very approachable. You mean I blew my chance? I'm KIDDING. 
 
Bev said:

Neko Case has wondered about this. But I posted that article I've linked to on Facebook and some musicians I know refuted that there is a male groupie shortage.

They should'nt be , though. If they lived from the 80's (Or before) to the present, they've seen the changes that have taken place , from when you'd only see Women in Rock bands , here and there.
 
RawCat / Ordinary Recs said:

My English is lame, I'm sorry, but if you don't mind, I'd like to share my experiences.
I guess it's a little different here in Brasil. Although I think the guitar player (a boy) and the drummer (a girl) get more groupies (girls) than me, I can say I have my (nice) share. I've noticed they are younger (I mean 17-25); they say all kinds of nice stuff about you and your band, they want to buy the record, the t-shirt, everything... I think, in my experience, older men are actually intimidated by women on stage.

I'm probably the wrong one to advise you on this , but ,if you just go out before and after the show , as much as possible , and try to be sociable , esp. if it's with guys you might like , they should see all the wildness on stage is just in fun , and they should'nt be a - scared.

carolyn said:

I play guitar in a 3/4 girl garage band and there are some dudes that totally dig us. There's this punk that hangs around our band practices and loves talking about music with me and thinks I'm a "cutie" or something. However, we don't have loads of guys worshipping us. Most of the band sort of goes crazy at shows so maybe they're scared? haha.

That cat's got 9 lives, man:)

SarahJayne said:

Two words: Kim Fowley

My First Band   by The Ben Vaughn Combo

The Sevens were a great band from Switzerland!!! Enjoy it.

The Nuggets box is pretty bitchin', I must say.  Why did I wait so long to buy this?  There's a number of familiar tunes plus a bunch of great songs I'm hearing for the first time. You're right, it's certainly convenient to have them all collected in one place, although perhaps that takes away some of the fun of hunting down records.   I have no doubt I'll be picking up the other Nuggets box in the future.  Not to mention all the other 60's garage comps I want to get my hands on...

John Battles said:

You scored. I don't have that Atlantic Box set , but , let's face it , "Omlette" Ertregun could have found a kickass Soul shouter at a RAVE.  GOES W/O SAYING , THEY DID A REALLY SWEET JOB ON BOTH "NUGGETS" SETS. I MIGHT HAVE ADDED OR TAKEN AWAY TWO OR THREE SONGS , BUT , WHO CARES? It was my sincere hope that this'd turn more younger people on to 60's Garage and Psych , when a College student asked me if I recommended the first one. I could have said , "If you have to ask...." , but , instead , I told him , you guys are so lucky you can get a collection like this , today. When I was his age , you could find a lot of those songs , but , only song by song and album by album , often with crappy sound and more filler than we'd prefer. But , I'm not meeting many people that are into this music at all , except  here at The Hideout. It's funny , when "Kicks" was in full swing , and The Cramps came thru ever few years , and we had Wax Trax Records here in Chicago (The store , not the label.), I met people like some of you , all the time.
 
Joe said:

I got not one, but two Rhino Records boxed sets:  NUGGETS (amazing!) and the eight-volume Atlantic R&B 1947-74 boxed set (haven't listened yet, but with Otis Redding, Laverne Baker, Solomon Burke et al. you can't really go wrong).  

You scored. I don't have that Atlantic Box set , but , let's face it , "Omlette" Ertregun could have found a kickass Soul shouter at a RAVE.  GOES W/O SAYING , THEY DID A REALLY SWEET JOB ON BOTH "NUGGETS" SETS. I MIGHT HAVE ADDED OR TAKEN AWAY TWO OR THREE SONGS , BUT , WHO CARES? It was my sincere hope that this'd turn more younger people on to 60's Garage and Psych , when a College student asked me if I recommended the first one. I could have said , "If you have to ask...." , but , instead , I told him , you guys are so lucky you can get a collection like this , today. When I was his age , you could find a lot of those songs , but , only song by song and album by album , often with crappy sound and more filler than we'd prefer. But , I'm not meeting many people that are into this music at all , except  here at The Hideout. It's funny , when "Kicks" was in full swing , and The Cramps came thru ever few years , and we had Wax Trax Records here in Chicago (The store , not the label.), I met people like some of you , all the time.
 
Joe said:

I got not one, but two Rhino Records boxed sets:  NUGGETS (amazing!) and the eight-volume Atlantic R&B 1947-74 boxed set (haven't listened yet, but with Otis Redding, Laverne Baker, Solomon Burke et al. you can't really go wrong).  

I just got that LP too! It has been one good listen....check back next week and we'll see how I'm feeling about it.

Alison said:

That Acid Baby Jesus LP is one of my favorites of the year. 

Guillaume Monchaux said:

I got the Acid Baby Jesus LP and  the Magnetix "Drogue Electrique" LP. It was a very good Christmas.

but oh what listening!!! =)

Freaking phenomenal.

jay reatard. got my head back into new music.

On the one hand , we've always been missing diversity on the Garage Front, but , today , just like in the 90's , there are a lot of bands with no discernible 60's influences , but , people fawn(ed) all over 'em and call 'em the second coming of Garage Rock or Garage Punk (Same thing , to me.). A band does'nt have to out and out copy The mid 60's stuff to pass muster as a Garage band , but , a lot of people , it seems , are'nt even listening to it , and there's people in Micronesia that know it's more accessible than ever , today. A lot of Rockabilly bands are'nt listening to real Rockabilly , either , or , if they do , it's in moderation. As Poison Ivy said , centuries before The Internet , "There's no excuse for not having good influences.".
 
John Carlucci said:

I was lucky enough to grow up in NYC & witness the 70's CBGB's/ Max's Kansas City Punk movement first hand. The most amazing part of that scene was that there were no rules. It was a blank canvas. There were so many diverse artists playing together on the same evenings. There were art bands, Hard rock bands, Rockabilly bands, gay People, Straight People, Black People, White people, Hispanic, underage kids & older musician's all mixed up together in this amazing creative blender. We need to get back to that. We need to tear down the walls again & start over. Rock N Roll has become so very predictable these days. There are a few exceptions. My vote for who will save Rock N Roll goes to Nick Curran & The Lowlifes & the Jim Jones Revue. Both of whom I saw live this past week, & quite honestly I've not seen many bands in recent memory that come close to either of them as far as having the true spirit of Rock N Roll. (except for The Woggles of course)



kopper said:

Oh, and I totally agree. You know what was refreshing about going to the Scion Garage Fest in Lawrence this past weekend? The fact that most of those bands don't really draw any influence from '60s garage. I mean, I guess you could argue that there are elements of it here and there, but none of those bands (with the only possible exception being the Gories) can be painted into a "garage rock" corner for being '60s garage revivalists. Most draw on obvious '70s punk and '80s art rock/new wave/no wave and even hardcore punk influences... and that was very refreshing!
/body>

I agree , the primary riff to "Bad News Travels Fast" sounds like "Locomotive Breath" , but , not  note for note , in my mind...."Nine Months Later' always sounded like "12 Months Later" by The Sheep. The chorus , anyway.
 
kopper said:

Yeah, I actually really like some of the Fuzztones' stuff from the '80s (esp. "Bad News Travels Fast" — funny, never noticed the connection to "Locomotive Breath"... I'll have to check that out), but I just don't see how they've done anything groundbreaking or worthy of notice (to the general public, especially) in the last ten years to even warrant getting nominated in this discussion. In the '80s? Sure. But not the '00s.