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The Sonics

Boom

    We follow up January’s release of “Here Are The Sonics!” with a 180g black vinyl replica release of “Boom” – the Sonics’ second album, originally released in 1966 on Etiquette Records in wonderful mono.

    “Boom” still does much more than merely deliver on the promise of the first album, “Here Are The Sonics!”. Few records have ever packed as much of a musical punch from start to finish. Even more so than their first LP, it offers a representation of what the Sonics must have sounded like at the peak of their considerable powers.

    Recorded in the most glorious no-fi you could ever wish for and with anthemic originals like ‘Cinderella’ and ‘He’s Waiting’ vying for your attention with what is possibly the most violent version of ‘Louie Louie’ that there will ever be, “Boom” is an album that has always justified the esteem in which it is held by collectors around the globe.

    All the modern bumph like barcodes and whatnot is on a disposable sticker, leaving your copy of “Boom” as original as possible.

    TRACK LISTING

    Side 1
    01 Cinderella
    02 Don't Be Afraid Of The Dark
    03 Skinny Minnie
    04 Let The Good Times Roll
    05 Don't You Just Know It
    06 Jenny Jenny

    Side 2
    01 He's Waitin'
    02 Louie Louie
    03 Since I Fell For You
    04 Hitch Hike
    05 It's Alright
    06 Shot Down

    The Cramps

    Smell Of Female

      The first post-IRS Records outing from the Cramps is seriously live from the Legendary Peppermint Lounge and shows the band to be in fine fettle, full flight and fantastic.

      TRACK LISTING

      Thee Most Exalted Potentate Of Love
      You Got Good Taste
      Call Of The Wighat
      Faster Pussycat
      I Ain't Nuthin' But A Gorehound
      Psychotic Reaction

      Various Artists

      Good Vibrations

        The film Good Vibrations was released late last year to great acclaim, with luminaries such as Roger Daltrey and Bono raving about its excellence. The story follows the turbulent life of record collector, DJ, record shop owner, record label founder and dance promoter Terri Hooley from his childhood to the present day. A true rollercoaster ride with rarely a dull minute, portrayed brilliantly in this cult film. The soundtrack has been woven together by film score composer David Holmes, who grew up listening to our releases, and Terri Hooley himself, whose love of vintage music is the cornerstone of the story.

        With musical tastes formed in the 60s and 70s, Terri has chosen some wonderful music to portray his early years. The beauty of ‘Angie’, Bert Jansch’s folk guitar masterpiece, the haunting, sexually charged vocals of the Shangri-Las and the primitive clarity of Hank Williams’ ‘I Saw The Light’ show what an eclectic fellow Terri always was. ‘Outcast’ by the Animals gives a hint of the tougher side of the music eventually leading to Terri’s success and (coincidentally, or possibly not) was also the name of one of his label’s punk bands a dozen years later.

        The story of how a scruffy bunch of Londonderry teenagers got their demo to Terri and virtually forced him to record it is one of the film’s highlights. The established record business and a hierarchical society fought against them but boundless energy, belief and desperate measures got a copy of the Undertones ‘Teenage Kicks’ to London-based DJ John Peel who made sure it did not remain an undiscovered gem.

        Exciting music of the time from the Saints, Stiff Little Fingers, Niney The Observer and Suicide sit well with the earlier influences of psychedelia from Ramases & Seleka and the rocksteady sound of the Upsetters. Thrown into the imaginative mix are some unclassifiable musical creations from Michael Yonkers, Jason Falkner and the Langley Schools Music Project and of course the label’s top bands Rudi and those Outcasts are well represented. Stand-alone pieces from the film’s soundtrack are included on this musical celebration of a heady era.

        Terri provided his own idiosyncratic notes for the booklet and needless to say he was tickled pink to have the great David Bowie singing for him on his CD: ever the fan.

        TRACK LISTING

        I Saw The Light - Hank Williams
        Blood And Fire - Niney (The Observers)
        Past, Present And Future - The Shangri-Las
        Outcast - The Animals
        Freedom Train - The Upsetters
        You're A Disease - The Outcasts
        Angie - Bert Jansch
        Big Time - Rudi
        Pear Shaped - Woody Jackson
        This Perfect Day - The Saints
        Gotta Gettaway - Stiff Little Fingers
        Don't Wait Until Tomorrow - Michael Yonkers
        Love You - Ramases & Seleka
        Teenage Kicks - The Undertones
        Dream Baby Dream - Suicide
        The Pressure's On - Rudi
        I Can Never Go Home Anymore - The Shangri-Las
        To Know Him Is To Love Him - The Langley Schools Music Project
        Alternative Ulster - Stiff Little Fingers
        The Perfect Crime - Jason Falkner
        Just Another Teenage Rebel - The Outcasts
        Laugh At Me - Holmes Ensemble Aka Whole Ensemble
        Star - David Bowie
        Self Conscious Over You - The Outcasts

        The Cramps

        A Date With Elvis

          This 1985 outing from the coolest band in the universe asks the question 'How Far Can Too Far Go?' and snaps back with an answer before you can say 'Aloha From Hell'.

          TRACK LISTING

          Side 1
          01 How Far Can Too Far Go?
          02 The Hot Pearl Snatch
          03 People Ain't No Good
          04 What's Inside A Girl?
          05 Can Your Pussy Do The Dog?

          Side 2
          01 Kizmiaz
          02 Cornfed Dames
          03 Chicken
          04 (Hot Pool Of) Womanneed
          05 Aloha From Hell
          06 It's Just That Song

          Masaaki Hirao And His All Stars Wagon

          Nippon Rock'n'Roll - The Birth Of Japanese Rokabirii

          “Nippon Rock’n’Roll” documents the rise of Masaaki Hirao. Dubbed “The Japanese Elvis”, Hirao was one of the famed Rokabirii Sannin Otoko (Three Rockabillies), alongside singers Mickey Curtis and “Kei-chan”, Keijiro Yamashita. In early 1958, the rokabirii buumu (rockabilly boom) was born, the first youth music tribe in the Land Of The Rising Sun.

          Rokabirii may resemble US rockabilly, but this Nipponese version is a more varied dish. Hirao and his band’s covers of Eddie Cochran, Elvis Presley and Little Richard are not kitsch renditions, but raw, desperate rockers. Hear a Paul Anka makeover, but put through a rocking mangle; a smattering of jazz; a twist of New Orleans; and some Japanese folk songs with a greased-down quiff. American occupation a distant memory, these boys wanted to party.

          Country and hillbilly music was a mainstay of young Japanese musicians working the GI base and jazz café circuit of the 1950s. Following the runaway success of a Japanese cover of ‘Heartbreak Hotel’ (Hirao’s version here has dynamite in its teeth), demand grew for more of this strange, new music. The need was met with a huge gala, the Nichigeki Western Carnival, which showcased the new rokabirii groups to thousands of screaming Japanese teenagers. Wild footage of the concerts, alongside that of burgeoning radical student movements, put fear of a wave of delinquency into the heart of the establishment.

          The studio numbers here are hardboiled, with unkempt live recordings that really rock. Tough drums back up honking sax, in a pedal steel pandemonium with slap bass. In the words of Elvis: these guys “get real gone”.

          TRACK LISTING

          01. Lawdy Miss Clawdy (Live)
          02. Itsuki No Komoriuta Rock
          03. Hoshi Wa Nandemo Shiteru 2 (Live)
          04. Crazy Love (Live)
          05. Jailhouse Rock

          Side 2
          01. Jenny Jenny (Live)
          02. Ooh My Soul (Live)
          03. One Way Ticket
          04. Miyo-chan
          05. Blues De Memphis


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