Screamin' Gay Lord Khan & Denim Christ

I do love the ever changing roster of alter-egos from perennial garage rocker King Khan, like one of his latest releases, a short and raucous EP from Screamin' Gay Lord Khan & Denim Christ.  Check out the rowdy "Lucille," featuring Emmerich Khan, below and download "Here's...Screamin' Gay Lord Khan" here.

The Cowboys

I'm going to just go ahead and say it: Bloomington, Indiana's The Cowboys are probably the best rock n' roll band in the country.  I think we're about six albums in so far, and the band's upcoming new album "Captain Easy's Downfall" pretty much solidifies my opinion on this.  Their sound's got bits of college rock, jangle pop, power pop, glam, and just good old fashioned rock and/or roll pulsing through its aural veins.  Check out "Little Baby Birds" below and get the LP here from Feel It Records.

Daniel Romano's Outfit

Steeped in the sounds of the '70s comes Daniel Romano's Outfit.  The Welland, Ontario based band fuses power pop with bits of psychedelia, country, folk, and good old fashioned rock n' roll.  Grab the new "Preservers of the Pearl" LP here from You've Changed Records and listen to the horn-fueled title track below.

Daily Jam (October Edition) - Horror Staccato

Here's some great '60s novelty Halloween music from the jazzy surf rock, and excellently named, band Frankie Stein and His Ghouls.  Listen to "Horror Staccato" below, our Daily Jam.

Daily Jam - Mr. Freedom Man

Here's some weird, underground private press rock n' roll from the early '80s.  Chance Martin's "Mr. Freedom Man" sounds like a song out of time.  Check it out below, our Daily Jam.

Daily Jam - Devil Heart

I've still got 6 hours of work ahead of me, but let's kick off this 3-day weekend with some good old Doug Sahm.  Listen to the Texas artist's "Devil Heart" below, a bluesy, country-rock honky-tonk stomper, and our Daily Jam.

Daily Jam - Shine a Light

It's gonna be hot today...and tomorrow...and the day after that.  On the bright side, maybe that will make our out-of-town visitors this week think twice before moving here in the future.  Anyway, here's The Rolling Stones with "Shine a Light," our Daily Jam.

Motorpsycho

Next month brings us chugging new music from Norwegian rock n' roll band Motorpsycho.  Listen to "Stanley (Tonight's the Night)" below, chug a beer, pump your fist in the air, and jump around the room with zest and vigor.  And pre-order the self-titled LP here from the band.

Daily Jam - Sympathy for the Devil

When i was in 10th grade, a senior at my high school tried to tell me that "Sympathy for the Devil" by The Rolling Stones was written by Charlie Manson.  I think he just had some wires crossed as Guns 'n' Roses had recently covered both "Look at Your Game, Girl" by Manson and the Stones classic.  Maybe i might have corrected him, but i probably just let it go.  I don't really remember anymore.  Anyway, here's "Sympathy for the Devil," our Daily Jam.

Daily Jam (October Edition) - She's My Witch

I've been fighting a cold the last few days, and it has really slowed me down.  There was a lot i was planning on getting done this week, and practically none of it has happened.  Anyway, that's one of the reasons i'm posting so late.  So here's a good one, the old school rockabilly-tinged "She's My Witch" from Kip Tyler.  Check it out below, our Daily Jam.

Daily Jam - Teenage Dream

It's happened before, but i feel another one incoming...a T. Rex phase.  Honestly anytime i listen to Marc Bolan and crew, within in five minutes it's the only thing i want to listen to.  So here they are with "Teenage Dream," our Daily Jam.

Daily Jam - Baby It's You

In just a few hours i have to hit the road for a work trip that will keep me away from home for most of the week.  I hate being away from my family like this, but i guess it is what it is.  So here's '60s/'70s band Smith covering The Shirelles to maybe make me feel better for a couple minutes.  Listen to "Baby It's You" below, our Daily Jam.

Daily Jam - Something Happened to Me Yesterday

My dad passed away a little over 15 years ago. That’s a really odd thing to consider, as it feels so long ago, but also like this ever-present thing, an event I’d rather not have define my life, yet one that holds a permanent position within my psyche nonetheless. It’s like it’s always just on the periphery. And there are a million different things that can make me think of him every single day.

That’s a good thing though. I love to remember my dad, and I treasure each and every memory I have of the man, but I'm also cognizant of the fact that in the immediate aftermath of his death from lung cancer, I was way more wrecked than I ever let on. And in so many ways it stunted me, left me overly numb, unable to feel, running in place for all time.

That was something that took me a while to shake myself of too, and not a mood I have any desire to return to. Coincidentally enough, writing about it over the years was one of the things that helped me move forward, my dad, and death, and grief surfacing in many of the first articles I wrote for the now defunct online magazine Joup (the site in which this column originally appeared). It turns out, there was a lot of solace to be found in listening to and writing about music.

Oh, having a couple of kids of my own helped too.

I don’t broach the subject of my dad’s passing much anymore, but if I'm going to write about The Rolling Stones’ “Something Happened to Me Yesterday,” it’s unavoidable. It’s a song that will forever remind me of him, and kind of a quirky oddity too, both in and of itself and as part of my dad’s repertoire of pop songs.

My dad’s musical tastes were predominantly folk, bluegrass, and Dixieland jazz. He’d occasionally make forays into rock n’ roll, country and western, or pop, and he’d generally take a liking to a showtune here or there, but he rarely wavered from those big three. And man, that bummed me out when I was a teenager. At 15 or 16 years old, I began to go through the old man’s records, hoping to stumble upon some veritable trophy case of cool old music, and while I admittedly can dig on some of it now, as a snot-nosed kid, I was appalled at the paltry selection that laid before me. Other friends were able to sift through their parents’ collections of ‘50s rock and doo-wop, ‘60s soul and psychedelic pop, or even some ‘70s rock like Pink Floyd or Led Zeppelin if their folks were a little younger, and there I was with The Chad Mitchell Trio, The Dukes of Dixieland, and the Osborne Brothers’ plucky rendition of “Rocky Top.” The latter was even played at the funeral, and while there are dozens of memories and emotions attached to it now, I still can’t stand that damn song.

But then, out of nowhere, my vinyl perusal turned up Between the Buttons, the 1967 album from The Rolling Stones, and I thought to myself, “Thank God, a real album.” I pulled the record and turned the cover to check the track listing to discover that I knew exactly one song on the thing, the hit single “Ruby Tuesday.”

On his records, my dad used to mark little stars next to the tracks he was particularly fond of. There was no mark next to “Ruby Tuesday.” There was however, one next to the album closing song, and so I gave it a listen. Now, here I am writing about it.

Listening to “Something Happened to Me Yesterday,” it was immediately evident as to why this particular Stones song was up my dad’s alley. Beginning with a short trumpet ditty, the song bobs and bounces along on a steady beat, Mick Jagger singing a bunch of nonsense, while piano, whistling, and a horn section all chime in before the song morphs full on into ragtime jazz. It’s basically The Rolling Stones playing a New Orleans jazz tune. And it’s wonderful.

Further investigation into my dad’s record collection would turn up other gems over time (Melanie’s “Look What They’ve Done to my Song Ma,” The Mike Curb Congregation’s “Burning Bridges,” and so on), but that Stones song was the first to really make me appreciate some different genre tropes and how they could be applied to pop music. And really, I was also just stoked that there was a cool record in the mix.

“So, if you’re out tonight, don’t forget, if you’re on your bike, wear white...”

Daily Jam - We Are the Dead

There’s this joke internet theory that we’re all currently residing in some kind of false narrative, an alternate reality of sorts created by a rip in the fabric of space and time that opened when the Hadron Collider began operating. It’s a fun theory I suppose, ripe for Sci-fi situations and metaphysical conundrums, and an amusing accounting of why everything is so fucked. But it lets us all off the hook way too easily. The truth is that everything seems so fucked because the world is full of greedy and malicious assholes, and a lot of them are in charge of things. That, combined with our booming, ever-expanding technological landscape and humanity’s penchant for rampant, untethered consumerism, we find that we were always just barreling towards this modern dystopia anyway. It was just waiting for us to get there.

“People will hold us to blame. It hit me today, it hit me today.”

I’m sure the signs were there, both literal and metaphorical. And the oracles of our art and pop culture threw up flashing warnings throughout the decades in their prose, visuals, and songs before ultimately succumbing to the whole inevitability of it all.

These days, I’m drawn to the darker moments of David Bowie’s 1974 album Diamond Dogs, the Orwellian imagery abounding as the record was assembled from the remnants of a proposed and rejected 1984 musical. The album’s glammy rock n’ roll aesthetic cushions the darker, gloomier themes it explores before coming to a head on the record’s second side with the foreboding and doom-fueled “We Are the Dead” in particular. The song slinks and oozes, a hopeless and dreadful lament for what was, what is, and what will be. There is no escape. There will be no survivors.

“Because of all we’ve seen, because of all we’ve said. We are the dead.”

-----

And I could end the column there, cold and devoid of all hope, our fates sealed, and the sun setting one last time. It’s where the song ends after all. But I have to believe that there is still a sliver of light to be seen, a crack to break through, a chance to right the ship. We do not live in an alternate dystopian timeline. We live now. And we make our own reality and our own narrative, and we can fight the assholes before they shit all over everything. We just have to do what’s right and never stop fighting. Don’t give up.

“Trusting on the sons of our love, that someone will care, someone will care.”

Daily Jam - See My Baby Jive

One day, I heard some random old song on satellite radio.

The next day, I went out and purchased a copy of said song.

The day after that, said song was the only thing in the world I wanted to listen to.

And the day after that, I scoured online and in record stores alike to procure every bit of music I could from the recording artist responsible for said song.

Today, I’m jamming the song and imploring any and everybody to do the same.

“See My Baby Jive” is a fun and grooving little glam rock nugget, a Phil Spector-aping sound explosion. It’s a pure and good audio elixir for the masses. The 1973 single from Roy Wood’s band Wizzard comes charging out of the gate with a drum roll and flashes of 50’s and 60’s rock n’ roll, doo-wop, and glam glitter. It’s the aural equivalent of happy pills with none of the side effects.

I never want it to end.

Listen below, our Daily Jam.

Daily Jam (October Edition) - Graveyard

Here's some spooky old rock n' roll rom Leroy Bowman and The Arrows for your Thursday afternoon.  Check out "Graveyard" below, our Daily Jam.

Daily Jam - Dead Flowers

For some reason, The Rolling Stones have been coming at me in various forms over the last couple days, via songs on the radio, movies, and cover versions at shows.  So why not take the hint?  Here they are with "Dead Flowers," our Daily Jam.

The Cowboys

Good news everyone!  Bloomington, Indiana band The Cowboys are back at the end of the month with a new album of indie pop, new wave, and rock n' roll.  Pre-order "Sultan of Squat" here from Feel It Records and listen to "The Sultan of Squat" below.

Daily Jam - Please

The legendary John Cale released a new album this year.  Let's go back and listen to a track from his first solo release over 50 years ago.  Listen to "Please" below, our Daily Jam.

Woolen Men

Here's a crunchy little rock n' roll jam from Portland, Oregon band Woolen Men.  Listen to "Workin' Too Hard" below and download it here from Eggy Records.