November 19, 2009
LEFT LANE CRUISER "All You Can Eat!!"
out now on CD, LP, and digital
From the greasy slide-guitar-and-drum-pummeling intro to opener “Crackalacka”, you either jump in and let Left Lane Cruiser take you on a hell-raising hayride or plain get out of the way because Freddy J. Evans IV (guitar/vocals) and Brenn “Sausage Paw” Beck (drummer/“trash”/vocals), a powerhouse duo out of Fort Wayne, Indiana, are roots-music revolutionaries who take no prisoners on their second outing for Alive Records. Following 2008’s Bring Yo’ Ass to the Table, All You Can Eat assimilates the Mississippi Delta blues laid down by guys like Big Joe Williams and Son House and cultivates it into a country punk ‘n’ blues speedball. “Hillgrass Bluebilly” is a frenetic juke-joint stomper that finds Freddy J IV hollerin’ out a reference to the Who’s “Squeeze Box”. “Ol’ Fashioned” is a country-picking blues flashback with washboard, while the primal trio of “Black Lung”, “Broke Ass Blues”, and “Putain!” finds the boys strutting through stoner-blues country with bravado. It doesn’t get a lot better than this. – Alan Brown / PopMatters
The BREAKAWAYS
"Walking Out On Love/The Lost Sessions"
with PETER CASE and PAUL COLLINS (Nerves/Plimsouls/Paul Collins' Beat)
out now on CD, LP, and digital
The NERVES
"Live at the Pirate's Cove, Cleveland OH, 1977"
out now on COLOR VINYL ONLY with INNER SLEEVE with rare photos, memorabilia and liner notes
Continuing on the same punked-up garage pop path of the Nerves, Case and Collins bang out a baker’s dozen power pop gems (“Everyday Things,” “Little Suzy,” “USA,” “Radio Station”) with sharp melody, tight skill and unabashed enthusiasm. Due to budgetary concerns and multiple locations, the fidelity is all over the place – it’s only by the grace of the songs and performances that tracks like “I Don’t Fit In” and “Will You Come Through?” are salvageable at all. But there’s not a duff tune in the bunch – Collins obviously agreed, as many of his tunes (including the popular “Walking Out On Love” and “Working Too Hard”) ended up in the Beat’s repertoire. Case’s songs, strangely, were never re-recorded, not even with the Plimsouls, whose catalog seems to be the natural repository for a song like “House On the Hill.” While that means Case diehards definitely need this, arguably any power pop fan, especially of the late 70s/early 80s variety, would love to add this to his or her library. – Michael Toland / The Big Takeover
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