Brief looks at recordings on independent or smaller labels:
”Rough Edges,” Guana Batz, Revolver Records, distributed by Fundamental Music, P.O. Box 2309, Covington, Ga. 30209-Quick-paced, energetic rockabilly from a British guitars-bass-drums quartet. There`s the barest hint of dark-shaded psychobilly guitar on a couple numbers, but most of this is straight down the middle of the rockabilly road, sporting prominent bass-drums rhythms, twangy guitar breaks and raspy-throated vocals from lead singer Pip Hancox. Includes covers of Elvis Presley`s ”One Night” and Buddy Holly`s ”Rocking With Ollie Vee,” plus one instrumental, ”Spy Catcher,” that veers into surf-guitar territory. (STAR)(STAR) 1/2
”For the Lonely: A Roy Orbison Anthology, 1956-1965,” Roy Orbison, Rhino Records, 2225 Colorado Ave., Santa Monica, Calif. 90404-A two-record, 24-song retrospective of material by Orbison. There are four tunes here from Orbison`s late-`50s rockabilly days with Sun Records, but the remainder of the album is culled from his early-`60s recordings for Monument Records. Included are the big, dramatic ballads-”Crying,” ”In Dreams,” ”It`s Over”-that established the Texas-bred singer`s reputation as one of pop`s all-time-great balladeers. With a voice that could soar from a soft purr to the upper registers, Orbison really seemed to lose himself in those ballads, investing them with a heightened emotional content uncommon in pop efforts. But he could-and still does-rock, and this LP contains its share of uptempo tunes such as ”Dream Baby” and ”Mean Woman Blues,” plus the chalypso number
”I`m Hurtin` ” and a Christmas song, ”Pretty Paper,” written by Willie Nelson. A solid package of Orbison hits-21 of the 24 songs here made the Billboard Top 100 chart-with informative liner notes. (STAR)(STAR)(STAR)
”Moonchild,” Fields of the Nephilim, Situation Two Records (British import)-The jacket of this three-song, 12-inch single bears the legend: ”A vague guest on a darkened Earth”-all in all, not a bad motto for Nephilim`s combination of dark, swirling, ”post-apocalyptic” playing and low, doomy vocals. The British band`s atmospheric outings have a kind of grim-epic aura that`s laced with intimations of desperation and the suggestion that there`s something malevolent lurking just beyond peripheral vision. If you found their earlier LP, ”Dawnrazor,” interesting, you`ll probably enjoy this. (STAR)
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”It Makes No Never Mind,” Swamptrash, Fast Forward Records, distributed by Fundamental Music, P.O. Box 2309, Covington, Ga. 30209-A six-man band from Edinburgh, Scotland, Swamptrash blends elements of bluegrass and Cajun music with hard, prominent drumming and a brash vocal style-the result being an energetic sound that has both the vibrant lilt of the American South musical forms and the rawness of a garage-punk workout. Employing two banjos, mandolin, fiddle, guitar and drums, the band tackles two familiar tunes-”
Foggy Mountain Breakdown” and ”Ring of Fire”-and seven original compositions. Dance music of a different sort. (STAR)(STAR)(STAR)
”Mouth Off,” King Blank, Situation Two Records (British import)-King Blank is Ian Lowery, former lead singer of the now-defunct Folk Devils, a monumentally morose British band whose songs were filled to the rim with anger and agony. Out on his own now with this three-song, 12-inch single, Lowery has lost none of that old gloom-merchant touch. One song here, ”Drunk on Tears,” a dirge-like number about wedded suffering, offers the lines: ”What do I get for my pain/ A slow kick to the heart/ A long walk in the rain.” On the raucous title track, Lowery is joined by members of the Screaming Blue Messiahs, a band for which the Folk Devils opened at British concerts. (For still more of Lowery`s grim, expletives-undeleted vignettes, there`s ”The Real Dirt,” a full King Blank LP on Situation Two Records. The album finds Lowery backed by a four-piece band that most of the time cranks out a tough, blues-influenced rock `n` roll sound. Consistent in its downbeat attitude, the LP is a little uneven in execution, but the more aggressive moments pack some power.) (STAR)(STAR)
”Billboard Top Rock `n` Roll Hits 1957-1961,” Various Artists, Rhino Records, 2225 Colorado Ave., Santa Monica, Calif. 90404-A five-album series of oldies, with each LP containing 10 pop hits from one of the years from 1957 through 1961. The songs were chosen by Joel Whitburn-author of various Billboard-chart-related books that are indispensable to music researchers-as
”the most definitive rock `n` roll hits of each year.” The most notable aspect of the series might be the fact that this is the first time Billboard magazine, the music and entertainment weekly, has lent its name to a record release. The songs themselves are readily available on other oldies compilations, but the albums in this series do have a budget price, a suggested list of $6.99. (STAR)(STAR)
”Alien Sleestacks From Brazil (Unfinished Music Business Volume 3),”
Tater Totz, Giant Records, P.O. Box 800, Rockville Centre, N.Y. 11571-0800-Ever wonder what happened to Danny Bonaduce, the impish redheaded tyke on the TV series ”The Partridge Family”? Well, the adult Bonaduce turns up here singing one song-the Lennon-McCartney composition ”I`ve Just Seen a Face”-in a kind of weathered, country-roads style. Bonaduce is one of a passel of players on this LP, the others coming from bands such as White Flag, Redd Kross and the Germs. The aggregation`s intent, apparently, was to record an homage to Yoko Ono and the Beatles, whose songs account for the bulk of the album. What resulted is a bit of straightforward rock `n` roll and a lot of skewed psychedelia, group chants, shrieking and weirdness. Much of it has a self-indulgent, let`s-goof-around-in-the-studio feel, and the weirdness never seems to have any underlying direction or goal. Side B of the album, which consists entirely of variations on Ono`s ”Don`t Worry Kyoko,” will put your patience to a real test. (STAR)
”Rorschach Testing,” Click Click, Play It Again Sam Records, distributed by Wax Trax Records, 2445 N. Lincoln Ave., Chicago, Ill. 60614-A bit less driven and snarling than Click Click`s last album, ”Wet Skin and Curious Eye,” this eight-song LP nonetheless bears strong traces of the industrial dance-music style that marked earlier work by the Luton, England-based band. You`ll still find aggressive percussion married to waves of grave, eerie synth-electronics and some clear, brittle guitar. But this time out, some of the synth is more pop-oriented, while Adrian Smith`s vocals have gone from acid growls to something much closer to the mainstream, suggesting the band might have an eye on widening its audience. The lyrics run decidedly toward the bleak, with images of cold, hunger and impending violence. Chipper it`s not, but the blend of crisp, snap-crackle percussion and moody electronics creates an interesting textural weave that should appeal particularly to fans of electro-pop or progressive dance music. (STAR)(STAR)
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”Paingiver,” Full Fathom Five, Link Records, 277 Church St., New York, N.Y. 10013-A guitar-bass-drums trio from Iowa City, Full Fathom Five generates a powerful, fuzz-guitar wall of sound on this 12-inch single. The vocals are buried in the mix, as they were on the band`s earlier LP, ”The Cry of a Falling Nation,” but where that earlier record sometimes tended toward the dispassionate, this one has a forceful approach throughout. The band also displays a little humor-and cynicism-on ”I Want to Run for President,” which finds a candidate promising everything, including Princess phones, to everyone. A new Full Fathom Five LP, ”Four A.M.,” is set for release this summer. (STAR)(STAR) 1/2
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Our motto: ”Honey, get your boppin` shoes/ Before the jukebox blows a fuse” (Jerry Lee Lewis, ”High School Confidential,” 1958)
