Barrio Tiger - Ave Maria
There’s no time now to preach the gospel of Barrio Tiger axe-slinger Jimmy James, but you oughta know that he was in the Coma-Tones and The Hangmen, two of the greatest, sleaziest, fuck-on-the-floor, raw-dog rock’n’roll bands LA has ever seen.
This record crawls even further down that thorny path. Amps cranked, pants down, fully engaged and engorged, Ave Maria is one throat punch after another, a red-eyed and bloody-knuckled ode to Detroit in ’68 and New York in ’77, and just self-destructing rock’n’roll in general. This album will wipe you out, man. It will have you seriously contemplating your jive life decisions, all that bullshit about cutting your hair and getting a job. What a fucking dummy you were. You should’ve been out there, on the streets, in the barrios, running amok, getting the sweat and stink and blood of real-deal rock’n’roll all over you. Here’s your chance to get it right this time. (8⁄10)
Platinum Boys - Future Hits
Dudes from Milwaukee in thrift-store denim with names like Matty Mayhem and Joey Turbo. How could you lose? Songs like Later Girl, Ride Free and Cruisin’ USA might’ve been doo-wop songs in some alternate universe but here they’re basically a grease fire with handclaps. This is like if Sha Na Na were the Stooges. The Fonz would most certainly dig it. (7⁄10)
Psychic Sex - You, Voyeur
One dude from Oshkosh making an alarming racket, probably from the inside of a padded room. There’s no guitar player, just a dirty, crusty, wormy bass, drums that are basically a gorilla smashing windows, and Psychic Sex mainman Kaelin Bougneit describing all the strange bedrooms he’s woken up in. Almost criminally sleazy. (6⁄10)
Toni Love & The Dirty Band - Yeah, Ouh!
From some time warp in Spain, Love and the boys channel raunchy garage rock and tooth-loosening proto-punk with effortless swagger. I’m not sure that fuzzy, loose-wheel jammers like Pink Speed and the snot-rocketing She Don’t Care are even in English, but who needs words when you have non-stop action? (7⁄10)
Witch Tripper - Witch Tripper
Sure, the name suggests some lumbering, doomy, Down-y horseshit but fear not, Witch Tripper are more in line with all your fave NWOBHM devil worshippers and maybe even Born Again-era Sabbath – lots of sinister riffing and lusty howls and skeletons riding on horseback. If your Grim Reaper back patch came to life and formed a band, this would be it. (6⁄10)
