If you are into garage-punk or just like dirty rock’n’roll, the Come N’ Go shouldn’t be a new band to you. If they are… You’re in for a treat. This is their fourth album on Voodoo Rhythm Records and they made it a psychedelic hardcore punk masterpiece! Hardcore punk, you ask? Well I never heard a garage band do a Bad Brains cover before… Did you?

The Swiss band didn’t hold back on the fuzz, acid and space vibes with this album and that makes it a really diverse listening experience. Opening the album with 3 fast paced headkickers, one of which is “Attitude” they slow it down with “Yona’s Blues” and keep the tempo low for the next four songs but by adding a lot of experimental, spaced-out sounds and riffs they maintain the listeners attention.

Once we get to “Lemmy” the tempo picks back up and the band goes in a feedback overdrive by the end of the song, but not before presenting what to me was the highlight of the album. Damn, what a great song!

Order your copy via Voodoo Rhythm Records:
http://www.voodoorhythm.com/

Many months ago our good friend Busa from The Pirate Farm Radio handed me some cd’s to review. They all ended up in between a bunch of other cd’s and I never got around to check them out. Until this week. And I have to say I’m an idiot for not listening to them before.

The albums all have one thing in common. They where all released by Germany’s Off Label Records. And looking through their back catalogue, they have released some damn good music going from The Dinosaur Truckers, DM Bob, Reverse Cowgirls to The Blues against Youth, Philip Bradatsch and The Dad Horse Experience.

The first album I put on was by Brazilian artist O Lendario Chucrobillyman. “The Chicken Album” is a short but frantic blues-punk ride through the Brazilian country side. Playing the viola guitar, drums and some garbage together with his raw voice sure make for a damn cool album that every low-fi dirty blues enthusiast will enjoy.

Next up was Mojo Juju & The Snake Oil Merchants from Australia. Again a band that didn’t ring a bell, so google was my best friend. Sadly this band doesn’t exists anymore. So why write about it, you ask? Because this is a real good record! The album called “Anthology” is a compilation from songs used in the German movie “Beste Freunde”and the “Selling You Salvation” album. Mojo and her Merchants take you back in history to the early 1930’s, but none of these stories are in your high school history books! Dark cabaret, swing jazz, soul… Words or genres that come to mind, but this is so much more. Mojo’s voice is one in a million with a real nostalgic feel to it and the Merchants are master and commander of their instruments. I would have loved to see this band on a stage somewhere, but i guess that’s never going to happen as Mojo Juju is now a successful solo artist. I wish her all the best and thank her for the great music!

Steve Train and his Bad Habits… Nope… Never heard of… To bad! This band from Germany plays some excellent rockabilly, rock n roll without the “I’m to cool for you, have you seen my new vintage shoes, attitude”. Their is something in their sound that really speaks to me, this dark, dangerous undertone, a thing I miss in most modern rockabilly bands. They all sound so slick and polished, not these guys. The organ that pops up from time to time sounds so fucking cool and gives the songs that extra little kick.

And while we’re at it… Our buddy Tim Herrebrugh aka Dead Cat Stimpy released his new album on Off Label Records as well! Dead Cat Stimpy is a one man band from Holland and as most of his fellow one man bands in Europe he sounds raw as fuck. Mixing garage, rock’n’roll and punk into a chaotic mess of awesomeness! The ghost of the old Beat-man is there for sure, but it’s not a rip-off. I’m sure that with this new album, called “Uneasy Grounds”, Tim will be frequent guest at wild rocking parties all over Europe!

So folk… You know now what to do… Follow the link and get yourself some new music!
http://www.offlabelrecords.de/

Last week we got an email in our inbox from a very lovely lady named Kate, praising what we do with the website and the Beagle Sessions. Along with the praises there was a press release about a band that I never heard of. She asked me to read it and listen to the tunes if I had the time. At that moment it hit me, “oh fuck, this girl is being so nice to us, what if this band sucks? I don’t want to be the one to tell her, ah fuck me!!!!” But don’t be fooled, Kate was not just looking for a cheap way to give some crappy band some media attention. She knew what she was doing, she knew the band was good, real good, and I knew it after just one song. Thank you Kate!

The album opens with the 1930’s jazz song “I lost my gal from Memphis”. The song was originally composed by Peter De Rose, with lyrics by Charlie Tobias. Rollie and his boys give the song a small make-over with tremendous respect to the original wich ends up in a fun swinger. It puts a smile on your face and makes you want to dance with a pretty lady.

For the next song Rollie and his band slow it way down with the Charlie Patton classic “Elder Green Blues”. Where in the Patton version you hear a violin, I’m damn sure these guys used an accordion and it sounds just perfect. It adds to the sadness of the song. After the instrumental “Michigan Stomp” (an original I think) we head over to the traditional “Satan your kingdom must come down”, this song is best known in the Robert Plant version but I have to say I like this one better. It’s darker, more intense, you can feel something lurking in the dark and those minimal jazzy drum strokes combined with the controlled feedback make it one hell of a song!

We pick up the pace again with another original called “Speakeasy Rag”, it’s again an instrumental song in wich the bands shows how good they actually can play and control their instruments. Check out this video and judge for yourself. I was impressed.

After a little intermesso on organ we come to  another 1930’s popular swinger named “It ain’t right”, first recorded by Stuff Smith. Again the violin is missing like in the first recording, but what the boys do with the song makes up that feeling in a heartbeat. There’s something in Rollie’s singing style, he swallows the last letters of most words he sings, this would be something that would bother me with every other singer, but it works for him. Is it just the way he talks? I don’t know, but it sounds just right and makes this song even better. I included the video for this song at the end of the review, check it out!

“KC Moan” by the Memphis Jug Band is up next. By now I was wondering… “These guys play all covers, well most of the songs… I don’t like cover bands, I hate cover bands… Why am I doing a review for a fucking cover band?” You know why? Because they play them so good and with so much respect it doesn’t feel like it’s a cover. And they don’t play covers if you think about it, they play a song recorded before by an other artist in a time long gone. They are passing these songs on to the next generation, they are paying an homage to these old blues and jazz legends and I respect them for doing so.

The next homage is “James Alley Blues”, recorded by Richard ‘Rabbit’ Brown in New Orleans on march 11th in 1927. It was a sad song back then, it still is now. While Mister Brown’s version is very slow, Rollie and his boys go for a more up tempo version, but it doesn’t take the “sad” out and that’s how it is to be.

The last song on the record is “Done Got Old” by David “Junior” Kimbrough. It’s the youngest song on the album apart from the originals and again the band nails it. Dirty, fast blues with a country feel this time and with awesome hand-claps in the background and amazing picking by Rollie.

I would call this album a history lesson that every person who likes blues, Jazz, roots or whatever “rock” music should listen to. I got to know so many great and long forgotten songs and artists while listening to these tunes. Is it original? No! Is it good? Hell yeah! Am I going to look different now upon cover bands? NO! Fuck them! Unless they do it like this, pay homage and don’t take the easy way out.

Picture by Peter Smith

Hailing from Asheville, North Carolina, Skunk Ruckus is a band that according to their webpage blends elements of old time music with punk, as so many other bands claim to do these days. I don’t care if there’s a million of these bands out there, as long as they are all as good as these guys. The punk influence is minimal, but nicely done. Even the typical old time music is minimal, well yeah, they use a washboard and banjo, but it doesn’t sound like they are trying to be this 1930’s band gone punk… Where most bands stay far away from electric guitar and bass, Skunk Ruckus embraces them to give their sound that extra kick.

An important aspect of this band and therefore this album is Mr. Jim Daddy’s vocals. Nick Cave comes to mind more then once when I hear him sing, and that’s a huge compliment.

“Billy Mac” kicks the album in first gear and takes you on a wild ride with a homicidal maniac and sets the tone for the rest of the album. Dark storytelling, creepy vibes and great musicianship. Next up is “Pretty Little Things” and here’s that Nick Cave vibe for the first time. Girls hold your men tight, dance with him and when you look into his eyes… You know you’re fucked… He’s a killer…

“The Devil Must Be Beating His Wife” is a great uptempo song that will get every crowd rocking like fools. In Belgium we say “it’s carnaval in Hell” when the sun is shining and the rain is coming down at the same time, but I like this phrase way more.

Rolling into “Darling Corey” Skunk Ruckus upholds the tempo and delivers a great version of this traditional song about love, loss and moonshine. Before you know it there’s a “Mosquito” buzzing around your head and as the real little bloodsucker this song is irritating, but that scratch after the bite can be so rewarding, doesn’t make sense, I know, just listen…

As the album moves on with “Hello” we come to “You let me Stay”, a balladesque song that once again proves that for every stupid drunk there is a girl dumb enough to take him in. Thank you girls, we try, we realy do… “Tear It Down” is also a traditional, but wrapped in a punk/rockabilly blanket with a great kazoo part that will put a huge smile on your face.

I think that “Little Margaret” can best be discribed as a gothic country song, it’s eerie, dark, building up, waiting to explode, waiting, waiting… If they could get Lonesome Wyatt to record this song with them, this would be an instant classic. Don’t get me wrong, the song is fantastic, but listening to it, I could just hear Jim and Wyatt sing this together. “Zombie Love Song” sounds like an old psychobilly song on your recordplayer at the wrong tempo. And even then it sounds cool…

By now you should have figured out that I realy like this album and I’m sure most of our readers will too. I hope they get the opportunity to show all of you what they are about and make you dance, drink and party like crazy.

Check out the album here:

http://skunkruckus.bandcamp.com

Order the album here:

https://www.facebook.com/SkunkRuckus