Johnny Peebucks & the Swingin’ Utters Boots ‘n Booze (comic book w/ 7” single) (Pirates Press Records) Whether it was intentional or not (and, given the multi-media-angled nature of this release, which combines a comic book with a 7” single, it may indeed be intentional), Pirates Press and the Swingin’ Utters have actually done something pretty surprising with Boots n Booze; while other bands (like NOFX, Butthole Surfers, The Replacements, Rancid and plenty of others) have embraced the fact that...
A deeper look at the grooves pressed into the Five Minutes To Live 12” EP by JoeCephus and the George Jonestown Massacre. It might not sound like it makes sense on the surface, but a convincing case could be made for the most genuine tribute albums being those which rely on deep cuts from the celebrated artist’s catalogue. How else would the songs get collected together that way if not because the artists involved weren’t undying fans themselves? Such an...
A deeper look at the grooves pressed into the Sounds Wrong EP by Swingin’ Utters. My heart goes out to the Swingin’ Utters, not just because they’re a band who is fantastic in their own right, but because they are a band that has grown and matured over the years and has let me grow along with them. Even so, as hard as they try, they will always be under-appreciated and underrated; but that’s fine. The Swingin’ Utters evolved in...
A deeper look at the grooves pressed into the vinyl reissue of …With His Hot Blue Guitar! by Johnny Cash. Johnny Cash with His Hot Blue Guitar! is a tough album to discuss in 2016 because, honestly, what can we say about Johnny Cash and his music which hasn’t been said countless times already? The man had an incredible impact on world culture and his music is such a big part of American culture that it’s simply embedded in its...
A deeper look at the grooves pressed into Johnny Cash’s Record Store Day-issued Koncert V Prague LP. It’s incredible how great a difference ten years can make for a musician, but even more amazing is when it’s actually possible to hear that difference in their performance. In 1968, for example, Johnny Cash recorded his classic Live At Folsom Prison album; at the time, the singer was already developing a pretty serious drug problem (he’d become addicted to pills). It wasn’t...