Words by Jim Testa
Jim Testa founded the highly influential zine, Jersey Beat in 1982 which he continues to edit to this day. Through writing for his own publication and a number of other outlets, including as a staff writer for Hudson County’s Jersey Journal, he has championed local, regional and national up-and-coming bands. Punk has always shunned credentials, but rest assured that Jim won’t lead you astray.
HOME RUNS
THE JESUS LIZARD – Rack (Ipecac Recordings)
If you were lucky enough to see Jesus Lizard during their 90s heyday, you were witness to greatness, albeit greatness that could be terrifying if you were close enough to feel David Yow’s sweat and spittle hit you in the face (never mind what he frequently pulled out of his pants). That’s what the Jesus Lizard did, they hit you in the face, and happily, Rack delivers much the same sonic assault, some two decades after their last recording. The original lineup remains intact: Yow on vocals that range from tortured screams to shouted exclamations to actual, well, singing. Duane Denison’s acid-drenched riffing and David Wm. Sims’ bass pummel the listener over Mac McNeily’s explosive drums. From the first notes of “Hide & Seek,” the Jesus Lizard announce they are back, Yow’s acerbic, assertive vocals howling over Denison’s unique riffing and the band’s churning bottom. When the band does take its collective foot off the gas for a bit – these guys are, after all, sexagenarians – the results remain vital and interesting, from the haunted groove of “Armistice Day” to the panic attack-inducing paranoia of “What If?” and “Alexis Feels Sick.” And even as these guys bludgeon your ears, they’re tickling your cerebral cortex as well, with a sly wit that swirls under the surface of even the most frantic tracks. Welcome back.
DALE CROVER – Glossolalia (Joyful Noise)
“Glossolalia” means speaking in tongues, but the Melvins’ Dale Crover sticks to the readily comprehensible here, retreating from the more experimental eccentricities of his first two solo efforts. Actually, the album starts with someone blathering incoherently – speaking in tongues? – and it turns out that’s Tom Waits, in what has to rank as one of the most inconsequential cameos in rock history. Big name guest stars pop up throughout the album – Soundgarden’s Kim Thayill and Ty Segall add guitar skronk and Pinback’s Rob Crow contributes harmony vocals – on a series of tracks that flutter and thump from genre to genre. The opening title track goes all garage-rock, with cascading riffs and Farfisa organ. The punning “Doug Yuletide” adds Velvets-y drone, the catchy, upbeat “Jane” adds a touch of pop-rock, “I Waited Forever” brings psychedelic guitar jangle, followed by the tortured Big Star Third reverie of “Don’t Worry About It.” Glossolalia: stoner garage rock that hits as hard as the Melvins but takes a few more tangents.
THE FLESHTONES – It’s Getting Late (…and More Songs about Werewolves) (Yep Roc)
Two years shy of their 50th anniversary as a band, the ageless and incomparable Fleshtones return with their 20th album and – no surprise here – it’s a doozy. While hip replacements might seem more in the cards than hip-swinging garage-punk classics like “Shadow-line” and “American Beat” (the song that converted me into a lifelong fan) It’s Getting Late… will motivate fans young and old to frug and twist and generally lose themselves in throbbing psyche-rock like “Love Me While You Can,” “Way of the World,” the Motown-inflected “That’s Why I Turn Into You,” and the NY Dolls-rip “Morphine Drip.” Peter Zaremba’s vocals and harmonic retain every iota of their bluesy authenticity, string man Keith Streng unleashes riff after zippy riff, and the rhythm section holds down beat you can feel in your gut. Instrumental “The Hearse” provides the requisite excursion into the macabre, and the finale – the title track, “It’s Getting Late” – is the bluesy rock’n’roll raver that the ’64 Stones wish they had written.
THE PEAWEES – One Ride (Spaghetty Town Records)
If The Fleshtones reign as the godfathers of American garage-punk, then the Peawees represent its Italian cousins, 30 year survivors of line up changes, divorces, dayjobs, births, deaths, and whatever else life could throw in their way. One Ride, the band’s seventh full-length, serves as a testament to the enduring talents of the band’s frontman and songwriter, Hervé Peroncini, who hasn’t lost a step even after a hiatus of seven years since the group’s last release. Over the decades, The Fleshtones have taken the sounds of the 50s, 60s, 70s and 80s and fused them into their own unique blend of blues, garage, glam and punk. The Peawees, in contrast, stick to the text, as it were, playing 60s retro-rock with influences as obvious as the band’s leather jackets and Ray-Ban shades. That said, Peawees music is always fun, whether the band’s revving up the whoa-oh-oh’s on “Plastic Bullet,” getting spooky and surfy on “The Wolf,” or channeling Dion & The Belmonts (“Spell on Me”). Hey hey, my my, this kind of good ol’ rock ‘n’ roll will never die.
THE UNHOLY MODAL ROUNDERS – Unholier Than Thou 7/7/77 (Don Giovanni Records)
After the demise of the Holy Modal Rounders, Peter Stampfel, Charlie Messing, Paul Presti, Kirby Pines and drummer Jeff Berman gigged around NYC for a few years in this fabled band, heretofore chronicled only by a few tracks on the seminal freak-folk compilation Have Moicy! Mixing traditional folk with outre takes on contemporary pop hits and their own quirky originals, the Unholy Modal Rounders are miraculously captured here performing two shows at the Bottom Line in the summer of 1977. You could argue that this is folk or freak-folk or even jazz, but without the original Rounders and their LES compatriots, the Fugs, you could also argue that there never would have been a Ramones or something called Punk Rock. So enjoy these glorious 31 tracks – 25 of them never before heard – with treasures like “Cleaning Up At Home,” “Kansas City Kitty,” “Jealous Daddy’s Death Song,” Have Moicy! favorites like “Midnight In Paris,” “Griselda,” and “Hoodoo Bash,” and cracked covers of “Goldfinger,” “My Old Kentucky Home,” and the “William Tell Overture” like you’ve never heard them before.
POP FLIES AND GROUND OUTS
ELECTRIC FRANKENSTEIN – Reanimated Rock (Reptilian Records)
Jersey’s venerable Electric Frankenstein celebrated Halloween with the release of this patchwork mix of rock covers, an unlikely assemblage that includes tracks from 60s acts like Music Machine and Flo & Eddie, classic rock icons Alice Cooper, Black Sabbath, The Cars, and The Dead Boys, but also indie-rock odd-liers The Groovie Ghoulies and The Hip Priests, and even a pair of vintage hardcore bands (Reagan Youth, el Nada). Give these guys their do: Whether covering power-pop, cheesy 70s rock, 80s art-rock or CBGB hardcore, Electric Frankenstein makes every cut sound like their own: loud, hard, heavy, and with the subtlety of a bowling ball.
THE COPYRIGHTS – “New Ghosts” EP (Fat Wreck Chords)
Quite frankly, “New Ghosts,” the Copyrights’ first release since 2021’s Alone In A Dome (and their second for Fat Wreck) comes as a bit of a disappointment. The four-track EP, coming from one of the most prolific and consistently exciting bands in pop-punk, lacks the usual frisson. “In There Somewhere” kicks things off with the usual rousing call to arms, an ebullient vocal and catchy melody at the forefront, but the extended instrumental bridge and fadeout feel like padding. The chugga-chugga pacing of “Born To Hide” and lackluster melody seem overly familiar, and a good half of its four-minute running time adds next to nothing. “Buried Treasure” brings a welcome return to form; this is the exciting, invigorating, rabble-rousing Copyrights we’ve come to know and love, a ferociously propulsive bottom end providing a launching pad for a spirited vocal. “Haunt Me Still” closes the EP with a change of pace, its insistent motorik beat and more low-key vocals delving into atmospheric post-punk. Don’t get me wrong; middling Copyrights is still better than 4/5 of everything else out there. Fourteen years in, it’s a blessing they’re still around at all, and I’ll be eagerly awaiting their next full-length to see where they go next.