THE KRAYOLAS (BEST RIFFS ONLY)

This info comes from Krayolas Myspace and the liner notes of this disk. Sometime is one of my all time favorites, superb 60's inspired Pop. If your not familiar with these guys, I'm sure after you hear this your going to want it, so there's a link at the bottom for Talking Taco.com where you can pick this up amongst other Krayolas releases.Thirty years ago, the Krayolas walked out of their daddy's garage and into the legendary West Side studio, Zaz, to make their first 45 r.p.m. vinyl record, "All I Do Is Try" b/w "Sometime." They were just teenagers, but soon they would be making many more singles with the help of great musicians like the West Side Horns, Ezra Charles and Rene & Rene. The Krayolas were hailed Tex-Mex Beatles, just as the Sir Douglas Quintet had been a decade earlier -- connected in spirit, their love of rock 'n' roll and their hometown roots. The Krayolas always championed their San Antonio connection. "Best Riffs Only: The Krayolas 1977-1988" compiles long-unavailable, out-of-print indie vinyl singles and rare album tracks for the first time. Some of it dates back 30 years, most of it is a quarter century old. The title of the new, 16-song collection comes from a bit of advice that Nick Lowe and Dave Edmunds gave the band when they played together at the historic Cain's Ballroom in Tulsa in the late '70s. Taking a step back and listening to the disparate collection that only hints at the Krayolas onstage power, their essence is irresistible. It's direct-to-the-brain power pop and garage band rock -- young, raw, energetic, upbeat, charming, campy and fun. Always melodic, the Krayolas easy-to-hum sound puts a smile on your face. It's timeless. The Krayolas are timeless.
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REFERENCES - MYSPACE KRAYOLAS.COM TALKING TACO.COM
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BOX RECORDS 2007
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***DOWNLOAD***

BERSERK (BERSERK)

Berserk were a Pop punk outfit from Baltimore. This lp jumps around a bit. Giant Robots sounds like it could be a lost Gary Numan track. After that, some tracks have a late period Husker Du feel, some poppy some darker sounding. The trio was comprised of Brent Malkus, David Crawly and someone named Skizz on drums.
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REFERENCES - BEEF PLATTER
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GO KART RECORDS 1994
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FM KNIVES (USELESS AND MODERN)

What a release by Sacramento's FM Knives. Useless And Modern is a great 77 style punk rock blast in the vein of the Boys or maybe early Buzzcocks that will have you pogoing in no time. I wish I could find more info on these guys. There's a bunch of sites out there that basically say nothing. From what I found it appears this may be their only lp, (what a pity). Mine appears to be a reissue. I found a site that said this came out first on a label called Moo-La-La Records in 2002. They also have 2 other singles. FM Knives were comprised of former members of Sacramento punk bands such as Los Huevos, Nar, Karate Party, and the Pretty Girls. Know something?? Please feel free to share.

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REFERENCES - MYSPACE

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BROKEN REKIDS 2002

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THE FUTUREHEADS (THE FUTUREHEADS)

Here's the first, and in my opinion the best Futureheads record. I've listened to this record so many times I'm surprised it still plays. If your a fan of The Jam, XTC, or at times even early Cure, you owe it to yourself to hear this. The Futureheads are a four-piece from Sunderland England. Their name comes from the title of the The Flaming Lips album, Hit to Death in the Future Head. The band met at City of Sunderland College as a trio of Barry Hyde (vocals and guitar), David "Jaff" Craig (bass), and Peter Brewis (drums). Ross Millard (vocals and guitar) joined soon after having been in a band with Craig. They used the Sunderland City Detached Youth Project building (where Brewis and Hyde worked) as a free practice space, fitting since the project was intended to get young people off the streets by using music. They first performed in 2000, and through word-of-mouth their reputation in the local area grew. Hyde's younger brother Dave replaced Brewis (who went on to join Field Music).
The Futureheads played their first ever gig at Ashbrooke Cricket and Rugby Club in December 2000. They debuted with their "Nul Book Standard" EP and then their "123 Nul EP" on 10 March 2003 and later that year released their first single, "First Day" on 4 August.
The Futureheads released their self-titled debut album in September 2004 on 679 recordings. Five tracks on this record were produced by Andy Gill of Gang of Four. On 21 February 2005, "Hounds of Love", a cover of a Kate Bush song, was released as a single. It reached number eight in the UK Singles Chart in its first week, and was named 'best single of 2005' by NME. The band toured the United States and later supported the Pixies, Foo Fighters and Snow Patrol.
The Futureheads have three LP's and a number of E.P.'s and singles to their credit, they have reportedly been working on a new album.
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REFERENCES - WKIPEDIA MYSPACE FUTUREHEADS.COM
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SIRE RECORDS 2004
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****DOWNLOAD****

BLEED (TALES OF THE HANDSOME CREEP)

Tales Of The Handsome Creep, is the excellent first LP from from Milwaukee's Bleed. These guy's played Rock 'N' Roll with real Punk attitude. My Friend John used to play this record on his radio show quite a bit. I never got to see them live but I have no doubt they kicked ass. Their musical out put consisted of 3 singles, 2 LP's and a hand full of comp tracks.
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REFERENCES - UNOFFICIAL MYSPACE BOB BLEED MYSPACE
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FIREMAN PRESSINGS 1997
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***DOWNLOAD BLEED***

THE SPITS (THE SPITS)

The Spits remind me of stripped down, rude, drunken version of the Lurkers or maybe the Ramones. The singer has a British accent. I don't know if it's real or not but I definitely like this record. They have a new LP called Schools out, plus lots of other cool merchandise to buy at their site. Go pick it up!!! The Spits are a Seattle-based punk musical group. Currently, the band has released three albums, all officially self-titled but unofficially titled 1, 2, and 3, released by Nickel and Dime Records, Slovenly Recordings, and Dirtnap Records, respectively.
The band describes itself as "Punk for the People", and focuses on loud, noisy, and dirty punk rock. Band members frequently appear in costumes on stage (e.g. graduation robes, Ronald Reagan masks, or toilet paper "mummy" costumes),
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REFERENCES - WIKIPEDIA SPITS OFFICIAL SITE
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Nickel And Dime Records 2000
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***DOWNLOAD THE SPITS***

MARK & THE SPIES (MARK & THE SPIES)

Thanks to all of you for your comments, I hope all of your Christmas's went well and I'd like to wish all of you a Happy New Year. Ya know how every once in a while a band comes along that's so good that from the very first listen your just totally hooked? Well, if great hook laden 60's influenced pop is your thing than your gonna love this. Easily one of the best garage lp's that I heard in a long time. MARK & THE SPIES, hail from a village called Veenendaal in the Netherlands. They started out as a rock'n'roll trio, only having a few vocal songs, but mostly instrumental Link Wray kinda stuff. After some gigs they broke up, reunited and broke up again. After that Mark (bass/vocals) and Arjan (guitar/vocals) started writing songs of their own. They found themselves a new drummer (Gerrit), a keyboard/saxophone player (Jelle) and things got finally pushed in the right direction. At the beginning of 2007 their first official release saw the light of day, a 7' EP on the Spanish label Butterfly Records and people all around the globe immediately started to rave about it. These guys have singles, a New lp, and a new singe available in January. Give this a listen and then go buy everything available from these guys, you wont be disappointed.
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REFERENCES - SOUNDFLAT MAILORDER - MYSPACE - OFFICIAL SITE
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SCREAMING APPLE RECORDS 2007
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!!!!!!DOWNLOAD!!!!!!