Loud and heavy rocking episode today with new music from J Mascis’ Heavy Blanket and San Francisco band Older Sun. Lydia Lunch is here with a cover of Black Sabbath’s War Pigs. We introduce two bands from Melbourne AU: Cable Ties and Civic. Also, new for us are Märvel from Sweden and Blue Heron from Albuquerque, NM. Towards the end of the show, we pay a tribute to Van Conner, bass player of Screaming Trees who passed away on January 17th this year. He was only 55.
Sisteria – Om-Yes
Civic – Born in the Heat
MÄRVEL – All For The Glory
Stack Waddy – Rosalyn
Heavy Blanket – Crushed
Older Sun – Misty Mountains
The Deviants – Broken Biscuits
Blue Heron – Push the Sky
Lydia Lunch – War Pigs
The Mark Of Cain – Visions Of Love
Predatür – Take A Walk
Cable Ties – Perfect Client
Screaming Trees – Julie Paradise
Solomon Grundy – My Mind
Today we introduce a few new names in this show. Freak Genes, two guys from Manchester, Male Gaze from San Francisco, and we introduce Rod Bryan from Arkansas. Rat Columns from Perth are back with the new record and so is Benjamin Booker. My Buddy Moose from Rijeka are finally out with the new record which was nearly two years in making. Supergroup Sweet Apple is also back with the new rocking record (with members from Cobra Verde, Witch and Dinosaur JR). Danny And The Champions of the world, an Americana band from the British isle, is also back. Today’s show is dedicated to Aleksandar D. Kostić Kosta, legendary journalist from Belgrade who influenced me a lot. He passed away this week at a young age of 55.
Sweet Apple is a side band for John Petkovic of Cobra Verde, J Mascis of Dinosaur JR and Dave Sweetapple of Witch. It happened in a bitter moment when the trio of these rock’n’roll greats desperately needed a break not only from the music that they worked on in their original bands, but also a break from the situations in life that at the time seemed to choke them. Sometimes the best cure is to run away which a pack of friends, experience something new and return as a richer person. This is exactly what this pack did. A weaker person would cut his wrists, but these three people poored their hearts into a rocker that bursts with energy and desire for life. Casual atmosphere in the record creation allowed J to switch over to drums, totaling only three solos on the entire record. Still, there’s plenty of brilliant guitar work on the record courtesy of Tim Parnin of Cobra Verde and John on his purple Gretch (which he used in the songwriting process). Nothing is forced here, songs are charged with energy, crispy riffs are everywhere only to slow down on Dead Moon which stands out as a dark reminder that a man needs light to live, even if that light comes from a stage light show.
Today we showcase several new names at The Little Lighthouse: John Paul Keith, Eichmann Family, Sweet Apple, Â The Hex Dispensers, Smith Westerns and D. Charles Speer. John Paul Keith comes from Memphis and has a band called The One Four Fives. About a year ago he put out the record called Spills And Thrills and it’s such a beautiful record, I can’t believe I missed until now. John Paul Keith’s band opened for Jack Oblivian in Cleveland and even more than that – they played the role of the Tearjerkers that night. John Paul Keith was also one of the Snake Eyes – the last band for Jim Dickinson before he passed away. Eichmann Family is another garage rock band from Zagreb – there are several very good ones over there. Sweet Apple is the new band for John Petkovic and Tim Parnin from Cobra Verde and J. Mascis and David Sweetapple form The Witch. Supergroup for the new millenium, isn’t it? Hex Dispenser are garage magicians from Austin Texas. Smith Westerns is a new band from Chicago and D Charles Speer and his Helix are from New York City – two new names that come from big cities, but sound much more provincial (which is a good thing at The Lighthouse!). And the last, but not the least, our favorites from a few years ago, Bassholes have a new LP, and it’s untitled again.
So, I went record shoping to the