The New York Dolls with Black Joe Lewis & the Honeybears – Emos (Austin, TX) – June 5, 2009
This is my second time to see the Dolls in the past year (or ever), and they’re just as magnificent here as at Rachael Ray’s SXSW party, maybe even better. A great setlist drawn equally from the first album and the new one, with some gems from the last one thrown in. Opener Black Joe Lewis – James Brown with blues guitar solos – is as effortlessly funky and entertaining as ever.
The Accelerators – Road Chill (Sound Asleep)
Compilation of the 80s/early 90s work of Gerald Duncan’s long-running North Carolina roots rock/power pop outfit. I’d forgotten how damn good this band is/was.
Emitt Rhodes – The Emitt Rhodes Recordings (1969-1973) (Hiip-o-Select/A&M/Geffen)
Still marveling at the power and grace of this man’s talent. Review up soon.
Elliott Murphy – Aquashow (Polygram)
As the best albums always do, this one gets richer and more satisfying with every listen. “Last of the Rockstars” should be some kind of standard.
The Crash Street Kids – Let’s Rock & Roll Tonite & Chemical Dogs (Hot City)
Not the 80s Crash Street Kids, but an aughties band with the same name and a glammier, thicker take on power pop. I’m listening to their first two in anticipation of absorbing the third.
Javier Escovedo – City Lights (Glitterbeat)
It’s sad that an album of rockin’ power pop this tasty can be released only by download.
Current 93 – Aleph at Hallucinatory Mountain (Coptic Cat/Jnana/Durtro)
I can’t explain Current 93. I’ve tried. I dig the new one. That’s all I can say. Review coming soon, despite that admission.
Simon Felton – Failing in Biology (Dandyland/Pink Hedgehog)
Garfields Birthday bandleader and Pink Hedgehog proprietor release his first solo album, and it’s his best work yet. Review coming soon.
Gypsy Pistoleros – Para Siempre (Evil Boy)
This UK ensemble bills itself as “the best flamencosleazeglam band ever!” Uh huh. Utterly ridiculous but somehow grandly entertaining.
Todd Bowie – Luckyspacepeople (Machine)
Another notch in the bedpost of psychedelic pop auteurs. Where has Bowie (no relation) been hiding all this time?
