Lost Patrol Interview, 25th Anniversary Reunion & Show # 401

Windsor's Lost Patrol was a Garage Rock inspired group that mixed in elements of Punk, Post Punk and Soul music, they were around in the late 80s and early 90s. The band has released several EP's and two full length albums Lost Patrol (1988) on LP and Tell No Lies (1990) on cassette, they were also featured on numerous compilation albums. The band built up a following in Europe, specifically in France through Stop It Baby Records who released their full length self titled EP in 1988.

Lost Patrol will be playing a 25th anniversary show Saturday April 28th, 2012 at the FM Lounge in Windsor.

Listen to the interview I did with Paul here (and in the show below):




More info on the band can be found at:

http://lostpatrol.ca/
http://www.myspace.com/lostpatroldetroit/


This Week's Play List:

1. Black Angels – Watch Out Boy
2. Trash Emperors – Blackout
3. Uzis – I Wanna Go
4. JB & The Playboys – Leave My Woman Alone
5. Jerry Jerry and the Sons Of Rhythm Orchestra – Radical Look
6. Levon Helm – Move Along Train
7. The Stig – Block It Out
8. Wreckless Eric – Grown Ups
9. Joy Division – She’s Lost Control
10. Lost Patrol – See Me Now

Paul Langan (Lost Patrol) Interview

11. Lost Patrol – Mister You’re a Better Man Than I
12. Lost Patrol – Kinda Sorta Miss Home
13. The Government – Flat Tire
14. The Lonesome Weekends – Kiss The Bottle
15. Pow Wows – EIO (During The Flood)
16. The Rolling Stones – Claudine
17. Bob Dylan – One Too Many Mornings
18. The Band – Tears of Rage (Live)

To download this weeks program, visit CJAM's schedule page for Revolution Rock and download the file for April 24. Or subscribe to Revolution Rock as a Podcast.

Like Flies On Sherbert & Show # 400

1n 1979, Alex Chilton released his debut solo album Like Flies On Sherbert. The album was panned by many critics and often labelled as a terrible album, but the album explored the very make up of Alex Chilton’s roots as he ventured into a Memphis Roots Rock territory combined with the energy of Punk. The album was also recorded rather loosely and is at times loose and sloppy Like Flies On Sherbert features a gritty, honest off kilter charm. It is an album that captured the songs in a moment, mistakes, chaos and all.

Produced by Alex Chilton and Jim Dickinson, Like Flies On Sherbert is a reflection of Alex Chilton’s life at the time, which is often called his “crazy” period due to many factors. He had recently re-located to New York after the break up of the Power Pop band Big Star and embraced the Punk scene recording and released The Singer Not The Song EP in 1977 and The Bangkok single in 1978. After producing music and working with The Cramps in Memphis, Chilton began work on Like Flies On Sherbert with Jim Dickinson which can be also seen as a reflection of his time working with The Cramps, who often embraced a Rockabilly Punk influenced sound. Like Flies On Sherbert was recorded at Sam Phillips Studio in Memphis and Ardent Studios. The sounds captured on the album are chaotic, sloppy and at times off beat. It was a sound that deconstructed not only the layered Pop and harmonies and myths of Chilton’s previous bands Big Star and The Box Tops, but also Rock and Roll music in general. This method was a conscious decision on Chilton’s part who had this to say of the album many years after its release in the book It Came From Memphis:

"My life was on the skids, and 'Like Flies on Sherbert' was a summation of that period. I like that record a lot. It's crazy but it’s a positive statement about a period in my life that wasn’t positive.”

The resulting twelve song album Like Flies On Sherbert was originally released in a limited edition 500 pressing run on Peabody Records. It featured several Chilton originals and many obscure cover songs. There is a cover of KC & The Sunshine Band’s “Boogie Shoe’s”, Jimmy Newman’s “Alligator Man”, and music by The Carter Family and others. Chilton’s version of Ernest Tubb’s “Waltz Across Texas” is executed in a lazy fashion, which resembles a drunken version of Elvis Presley’s “Blue Moon of Kentucky” at times. Of the Chilton originals some of the highlights include “My Rival” a cathartic song which emphasizes the chaotic nature of the recording sessions featuring tape hissing, chunky guitar rhythms, and a broken minimoog synthesizer. The was song written the previous year while Chilton was still in New York, as the song draws to a close it falls into a chaotic bliss as guitars begin to feedback and broken minimoog rhythms provided by Jim Dickinson waver in and out. Dickinson had this to say of providing the minimoog synthesizer for the song in an article posted on Paste Magazine:

The Minimoog was sitting around broken at [the studio]. I played it and all I did was twist knobs."

Other highlights include the single released for the album “Hey Little Child”, which was recorded at Ardent Studio along with “Baron of Love Part II” on August, 16th, 1979, which coincided with the second anniversary of Elvis Presley’s death. “Rock Hard” is a driving Memphis Rockabilly influenced track, while “Hook Or Crook” is a song that, which like “Rock Hard” has a driving, pounding drumbeat, but is mixed in with reverb drenched vocals, sloppy country guitar rhythms juxtaposed alongside a Garage Rock guitar sound that resembles a Rolling Stones influence. The album ends with the title tracks “Like Flies On Sherbert” a song that has an eccentric almost Psychedelic Pop influence that can be seen as an extension of Big Star's album Third/Sister Lovers. When the album was re-released by Aura Records in the UK, it differed slightly in track listing most notably adding Chilton’s version of “Boogie Shoes”. The song has since been included along with many others on recent re-issues of the album.

While Like Flies On Sherbert may not have been critically acclaimed by everyone at the time of its initial release, there were some positive reviews for people that did not just dismiss the album as a mess in Creem Magazine and in Sounds. It is now seen, as with the album Tonight’s The Night by Neil Young as a cult classic. The albums cover was a photo by William Eggleston, a photographer that also provided the photo for the now cult classic Big Star album Radio City. The albums cover is a collection of strange looking dolls sitting atop of a Cadillac, which can be seen as an indication of the albums contents. Like the dolls on the cover which appear out of place, Like Flies On Sherbert has many songs and sounds that at times seem to not fit right, but along with these songs there is like a Cadillac, a certain class and charm to them.

This Week's Play List:

1. Light Bulb Alley – Pepper Spray
2. The Reply – Memphis Train
3. The Movements – She Said
4. Red Light Driver – Celeste Celeste
5. Arctic Monkeys – The Blond-O-Sonic Shimmer Trap
6. Result - Suburban Addicts
7. The Primmers – Funny Stories
8. The Spelling Mistakes – Feel So Good
9. Devo – Space Junk
10. Dot Dash – Learn How To Fly
11. Brazilian Money – Lost All Sense of Time
12. Alex Chilton – My Rival
13. Alex Chilton – Rock Hard
14. Queens of The Stone Age – Outlaw Blues
15. Johnny Cash & The Avett Brothers – One Too Many Mornings
16. Indian Wars – Sitting On The Steps
17. The Mongrels – Play My Guitar
18. Cold Warps – Hole In My Head
19. X – Your Phones Off The Hook, But You’re Not
20. Simply Saucer – Bullet Proof Nothing
21. Elvis Costello & The Attractions - Night Rally
22. Alex Chilton – Hey Little Child

23. Alex Chilton – Waltz Across Texas

To download this weeks program, visit CJAM's schedule page for Revolution Rock and download the file for April 17. Or subscribe to Revolution Rock as a Podcast.

And Now...The Last Pogo & Show # 399

In 1978, a documentary was made by director Colin Brunton chronicling what was billed as the last Punk Rock concert in Toronto. Titled The Last Pogo the short film featured performances from Canadian Punk/New Wave artists from 1977/1978, amongst the performers The Scenics, The Secrets, The Mods, The Ugly, The Viletones, The Cardboard Brains, and Teenage Head were in the film. The concert took place at the famous Horseshoe Tavern in Toronto, which was run by Toronto promoters Topp and Cormier Gary at the time. In addition to the performances that make the film, police and firefighters kicked out the director and crew, but the soundman remained, it was originally released in 1979. After years of being out of print, the film was issued on DVD in 2008.

A soundtrack was also recorded and released entitled And Now Live From Toronto …The Last Pogo. Released in 1979, the soundtrack was made up of live performances from two dates at The Horseshoe Tavern. The soundtrack features performances from The Scenics, The Everglades, The Mods, Drastic Measures, Cardboard Brains, The Ugly and others. The soundtrack is further document of the bands and Punk/Post Punk scene at the time in Canada. All the recordings are live and the album, which is now out of print and features some excellent performances most notably the opening track, which is The Secrets version of “Shout”.

Currently director Colin Brunton and Kire Paputts have started a new project. Compiling more footage with 1978’s The Last Pogo as a starting point, the film makers are working on a new longer documentary which further explores Toronto’s cultural and musical explosion during the 1976-1978 time period. The film will be titled The Last Pogo Jumps Again: A Biased & Incomplete History Of Toronto Punk Rock Circa September 24 1976 To December 1 1978. The film is said to be released in a variety of formats soon. More information on the film can be found at http://www.thelastpogo.net/

This Week's Play List:

1. The New York Dolls – Trash
2. T-Rex – 20th Century Boy
3. The Shins – Bait And Switch
4. Velvet Underground - White Light/White Heat
5. Cowboy Junkies – Fuck, I Hate The Cold
6. Papermaps – US And Them
7. Joel Plaskett Emergency – You’re Mine
8. Jaill – She’s My Baby
9. Link Wray – Commanche
10. The Secrets – Teenage Rampage
11. The Everglades – Rock n’ Roll Cliché
12. Teenanger – Cops (But Not)
13. Sloan - Living With The Masses
14. Ty Segall – Maria Stacks
15. The Angry Dead Pirates – Moon
16. Neil Young – Walk On
17. The Stooges – Little Doll (John Cale Mix)
18. The Gruesomes – For All I Care
19. The Black lips – Family Tree
20. Ramones – I Can’t Be (Demo)
21. The D4 – Mysterex
22. The Clash – Bankrobber (Live From Here To Eternity II)

To download this weeks program, visit CJAM's schedule page for Revolution Rock and download the file for April 10. Or subscribe to Revolution Rock as a Podcast.

Punk Mod Rockers Seven Story Redhead & Show # 398

Forming around 2004, Calgary’s Seven Story Redhead takes their influences from bands such as The Velvet Underground, The Kinks, The Who, The Jam and The Clash which makes up their own brand of Rock and Roll. Consisting of Kelly Sutherland on vocals/guitar, Franklin D on bass, Lonnie James on drums and Chris Bell on additional guitar, the band first release was the self recorded Super Fancy Hobo, which was followed by the Live From The At Work Home Institute in 2006. The song “I Was Yer Mate” received significant commercial radio airplay for a five month span, which only broadened their fan base. During this time the bands sound is often described as The Kinks, The Who, The Clash and Velvet Underground with a 60s Proto Punk R&B sound, became a fixture amongst the Calgary Garage Rock scene. A full length album simply entitled Seven Story Redhead followed in 2008, which was followed a years worth of touring across Canada. In 2010, the band released their Shake It Out! EP, and in 2011 the released their Uptight/Downlow 10 inch release.

For Uptight/Downlow, the band slimmed down to a three piece with guitarist Chris Bell moving on to other things. The band took a primary influence for this release from a trip that Sutherland took to Paris and London. The result was a British invasion of their influences reflecting an early Kinks Garage sound, while at the same time including the other influences that help round out their sound. Kelly Sutherland had this to say of Uptight/Downlow from an interview with CJSW’s Christine Leonard-Cripps:

“The whole process of assembling the album took a half-year,” reports Sutherland. “I didn’t write anything for quite about while because I had nothing to write about. Then, my significant other and I took a trip to Paris and London. It was a fantastic hanging around Soho and Camden and all of Pete Dougherty, the Libertines and Amy Winehouse’s favourite pubs. Travelling is the best source of inspiration and the trip really got things moving along for me in my songwriting. You can hear that in the lyrics: the British vernacular, the tube stations… Uptight/Downlow is a direct attack, like The Kinks’ early stuff. We’re not trying to reinvent wheel or create new genre here, we’re moving backwards in time. Rock and roll was perfected a long time ago rather than trying to be modern, we chose to revel in that.”

At any rate, the band shows no signs of slowing down as they head out to Western Canada to promote and play live shows. You can check them out  at sevenstoryredhead.com or via their facebook page.

This Week's Play List:

1. 999 – Quite Disappointing

2. Weirdonia – Masked Boy

3. Satelliters – Get Outta Here

4. Garage Sale – Ain’t So Groovy

5. Ghost Bikini – Spooks

6. Long Distance Runners – Election Day

7. Yukon Blonde – My Girl

8. Learning – There Is A limit

9. Ramblin’ Ambassadors – Pine Beetle Express

10. Mind Spiders – Wait For Us

11. ELK – Shaking Hands

12. Raised By Weeds – Money For The Grave (CJAM Session Jan 24, 2012)

13. Ex-Girlfriends Club – The Witch

14. The Wipers – Wait A Minute

15. Mudhoney – Good Enough

16. C’Mon – Easier Said Than Done

17. Seven Story Redhead - Punk Mod Rockers

18. Malibu Kens – Crude City

19. Wire – Moreover

20. Television – Prove It

21. The Rezillos - I Can't Stand My Baby

22. The Saints - One Way Street

To download this weeks program, visit CJAM's schedule page for Revolution Rock and download the file for April 3. Or subscribe to Revolution Rock as a Podcast.