The first volume in a killer series of (presumably radio?) programs chronicling the history of Michigan rock music (in case you didn't read the title). Three more volumes to follow, but not until you dig into this juicy cut of late '60 burners taken from the first real wave of rock 'n roll from the Wolverine State. Not sure who Mike Johnston is (though I did accidentally stumble across this gem while I was trying to find out), but he absolutely crushes this first installment with Drew Abbott (SILVER BULLET BAND, THIRD POWER) and Scott Morgan (THE RATIONALS) breaking up an hour of under the radar jams from FROST, S.R.C., and THE RATIONALS, as well as essentials from BOB SEGER SYSTEM, AMBOY DUKES, MYTCH RYDER & THE DETROIT WHEELS...and no Michigan retrospective would be complete without a coupla funky acid freakouts from ? & THE MYSTERIANS. It's a well curated collection, and Johnston's nerdy affinity for the sound and the place is apparent throughout. Take a trip...and listen to "I Need You" at full volume.
TERMINAL ESCAPE. DAILY CASSETTE RIPS SINCE 2009.
05 July 2019
04 July 2019
COLLAPSE
Earnest USDIY hardcore from a few years ago, I like this one more the more I listen. Detroit's COLLAPSE capture early '00s heavy/melodic intensity, channel churning '90s Euro squat punk, and they still sound like they could roll into Chattanooga and get along just fine. An upfront honesty that translates as honesty helps the band transcend genre labels, and I'll take these two EPs over trite modern calculated 'core any damn day. The search never ever ends, just so we all are on the same page.
03 July 2019
THE STICKLERS
The first references that popped up were HICKEY and J CHURCH. The former's propensity for a good, raw hook and general irreverence clashing with the latter's wholly genuine and simple approach to melodic '90s DIY punk. And then I looked inside and found that THE SICKLERS were from Hawaii (the home state of J CHURCH founder Lance Hahn) and they offered thanks to the people who had helped them on their mainland trip in 1996 = folks within HICKEY's orbit in San Francisco's Mission District. The point is, I guess, that it seems like my gut was pretty close this time.
02 July 2019
ADRENOCHROME
I've said it before, but this is what the dark/post/goth punk resurgence should sound like. Forceful, in your face....and punk. There's just a little more flange than you're used you, and the drummer kills the 16ths like they are going out of style...but the shit is up front, and the shit is punk. "Fools Paradise" sounds more like THE BAGS than Siouxsie, and every song demands repeat listens so you can let the grooves sink into you (and mind you, there are grooves...that's party of what makes them special). Oakland's ADRENOCHROME have only given us one release, but that just means that you get to give it your undivided attention.
This happens from time to time, but the analog product that I digitized suffers from many of the shortcomings commonly associated with...analog products. The result is a listening experience that is decidedly dirtier than the band likely intended, but it's what the band presented nonetheless. Personally, I recommend all options.
01 July 2019
AMMUNITION
The tape itself suffers (ok, it suffers a lot, but it clears up on the second side), but the tracks buried in this mud are fierce metalpunk stomps. Nasty, raw, a little sloppy...music to get fukkd up and fukk shit up to. Plain and simple.
30 June 2019
JEREMY YOUNG
More engaging intellectual sound from another established sonic manipulator....named Jeremy. JEREMY YOUNG's treatment of drones and feedback is probably more suited to a cloudless night than a vibrant summer day - attention to detail that moves beyond mere patience and into a reverence for the sound itself, Young hooks you with simplicity. His subtlety morphs into anxiety during the journey, but peace is waiting at the end.
More on the background and construction of this release HERE.
29 June 2019
JEREMY BIBLE
Dark synthesizers envelope primitive soundscapes throughout JEREMY BIBLE's The Journey Of Enoch. Academic assemblage of a wholly engrossing and timeless sonic excursion. It is a score for which there will never be a film.
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