Real garage is raw, full of soul, and fun as hell. It pays homage to the passion of the late greats, keeps a solid rockin rhythm, and is immune to whatever bullshit wave of popular music is influencing the masses.

There IS danger, there IS passion, there IS an interactive and  dancing crowd because the music itself is addictively accessible. It's Rock 'n Roll, in it's purest, unrefined form. 

Just because you use a lot of distortion, just because you label yourself as garage... it doesn't make you garage. If the crowd ain't swingin with the beat, you just don't got it.

And fuck what the music critics say! The wankers are just trying to redefine genres because they're not creative enough to figure out something accurately descriptive. Garage rock is the essence of cool, but any attempts to capitalize on the art are missing the point. 

My god! Nothing makes me angrier than that '09 pitchfork "surf-revival". These lo-fi dream/pop reverb heavy bands may be surfers, but that does NOT make them surf.

Fritz said:

I beg to differ...... people are just as quick to toss around the "surf" label these days as "garage"..... read some reviews of indie rock bands like the Wavves, Best Coast, Surfer Blood, Sundelles, Beach Fossils..... just cuz a band uses reverb and has tunes about the beach doesn't make it "surf" music. ugh.

TeenFink said:

by the way, i totally get the joke about playing surf music. good one! it's ironic how garage & surf were so connected or intertwined and almost interchangeable 10-20 years ago, but now you rarely ever hear anyone talking about surf in the "garage scene" or whatever. surf got left out.

Paul Mcartney was that comic book character who was knighted for slaying dragons

Yeah that definitely rustled my jimmies.

But the great thing about being ignorant is that you still have the possibility of learning

Although not knowing the Beatles is a pretty inexcusable. You'd think parents would take a little more initiative in jump-starting a kids taste.

Bloody hell im 14 I know who he is but then I have considerabley better taste in music than these humansfrom what i  getting

Wasn't Paul McCartney married to that lady from Dancing with the Stars?

Who's Jesse McCartney?

i think my favorite were the people asking if he was Jesse McCartney's uncle/dad

Apparently kids these days have no clue.  Following his performance at the Grammys on Sunday night, our nation's youth took to twitter to ask who the old white guy was.

http://www.buzzfeed.com/mjs538/who-is-paul-mccartney

there's a couple of Hutchins Brian Jones Teardrops on ebay uk at the mo... £199.  Duno what theyre like tho.

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/BRIAN-JONES-TRIBUTE-TEARDROP-GUITAR-/230744440727?pt=UK_Musical_Instruments_Guitars_CV&hash=item35b970bf97

the new vox apache reminds me of that

THEE DIRTYBEATS said:

Hi Ben,

Have you checked out the KAPA Minstrel? There are 6 and 12 string models, both with a whammy. The one I play in THEE DIRTYBEATS (see attached photo) is a 1967 KAPA Minstrel 6 string with a whammy bar. I got it on eBay for around $300.

*Great* guitar. KAPA was a tiny musical instrument company near DC in the 60s. They designed the bodies, manufactured them locally, and assembled the finished product using hardware, electronics and necks from Hofner and Harmony. KAPA guitars played reasonably well; more significantly, they were far cheaper than Fenders, Gibsons or Voxes, which probably explains their popularity with garage rock bands of the day.

These days the KAPA Minstrel is appreciated by postrock bands for its unique tone, vibrato system, and generous "third bridge", the stretch of strings between the bridge and tailpiece, from which one can elicit chiming harp-like effects. (e.g. SONIC YOUTH's Lee Ranaldo occasionally uses a 12 string Minstrel: http://www.sonicyouth.com/mustang/eq/gtr11.html)

-A

THEE DIRTYBEATS - maximum vintage garage
http://theedirtybeats.bandcamp.com

still to much

Johnny Duo Jet said:

Have you looked at www.phantomguitars.com?  More reasonable than the actual Vox guitars.  I've never heard one, but you might check out youtube.  Also keep an eye on ebay.  There's currently a teardrop shape guitar for $299.

John

Hi Ben,

Have you checked out the KAPA Minstrel? There are 6 and 12 string models, both with a whammy. The one I play in THEE DIRTYBEATS (see attached photo) is a 1967 KAPA Minstrel 6 string with a whammy bar. I got it on eBay for around $300.

*Great* guitar. KAPA was a tiny musical instrument company near DC in the 60s. They designed the bodies, manufactured them locally, and assembled the finished product using hardware, electronics and necks from Hofner and Harmony. KAPA guitars played reasonably well; more significantly, they were far cheaper than Fenders, Gibsons or Voxes, which probably explains their popularity with garage rock bands of the day.

These days the KAPA Minstrel is appreciated by postrock bands for its unique tone, vibrato system, and generous "third bridge", the stretch of strings between the bridge and tailpiece, from which one can elicit chiming harp-like effects. (e.g. SONIC YOUTH's Lee Ranaldo occasionally uses a 12 string Minstrel: http://www.sonicyouth.com/mustang/eq/gtr11.html)

-A

THEE DIRTYBEATS - maximum vintage garage
http://theedirtybeats.bandcamp.com

Lemmy / Motorhead fan here since day 1!! I've been diggin' Lemmy well before MH......the Hawkwind years......that's where any decent book on Lemmy / Motorhead should start. There is no unlinking Lemmy's music with the lads in MH to HW. Even the name Motorhead comes from a Hawkwind tune. I think this book's gonna be fun to read :). Thanx :)

Whereas the 2002 autobiography "White Line Fever" told the life story of frontman and bassist Lemmy Kilmister, this volume by Joel McIver focuses more on the other members of Motorhead as well. The chapters are broken down by years from before 1971 to 2011. There is a lot of material about the classic Clarke/Taylor/Kilmister line up as well as the early days of punk. The current line up with Phil Campbell and Mikkey Dee is well represented too. The book concludes with information about Motorhead's latest offering The World is Yours and the rocumentary Lemmy. This is certainly a book for Motorhead completists but also a good overview for those new to Motorhead. Any Motorhead fans out there?

Right there with you these days - black pants, red shirt, black tie. Sometimes when we are really feeling crazy we'll go black shirt, red tie.

White shirt, black pants and black tie... Classic and inexpensive !

My Fave bands that dress up or used to back when they were gigging: Los Straitjackets, Thee Headcoats, Man or Astro Man, Nero and the Gladiators, Kraftwerk, Paul Revere and the Raiders, The Monks, The Ramones (best t-shirts and jeans act), The Spotnicks, Devo, Sounds Incorporated, The Wombles, Bay City Rollers!!

Oh come on John! I likes me some theater!!!!

John Carlucci said:

 When I was a kid I went to Catholic School. I wore a uniform for eight years. I got into Rock N Roll to rebel against the status quo. I am and always have been a non conformist. To each his own, but I prefer bands with individuality.

the Beatles were and are fantastic....something for every mood.....love Revolver

It's easy to crap all over the Fuzztones because of Rudi. I just gotta say here that I always had a cool time and easy friendship with you John as well as Jordan and even Mike. You guys were always really cool. Remember when Gary Wylde sang with the doppleganger Fuzztones in Hollywood and everyone thought it was Rudi?!

Great album though...

Oh ugh, Rudi...

Thanks guys!

Wax Trash (http://waxtrash.tumblr.com/) is a tumblr i run reviewing garage/punk/hardcore releases, along with features on shows I attend, and hopefully, band interviews. Right now I'm trying to build a decent following, and I'm always looking for new material. I'd be happy to review anything sent to me that loosely fits the genre description - email a link or mp3s to waxtrash@gmail.com!