easy-action

Finally, here’s the definitive collection that does the Fuzztones justice.

There have been numerous re-issues, the odd compilation and a tribute record. There’s even a 2CD set of rarities. But packaging the first three of their seven studio albums - plus their debut live EP bulked-out to album length - in a box set, with bonus vinyl and a DVD tossed in - was an inspired idea.

The Fuzztones sprung up in New York City in 1980 and were the vanguard of the garage rock revival wave. Along with the California-based Bomp label, the Cramps and Lenny Kaye’s seminal “Nuggets” compilation, the Fuzztones opened ears to a whole new (old) world of Farfisa organs and distorted Vox guitars.

More on the Hydromatics re-issues we told you about a couple of days ago: Third in the series - and possibly the best and most well-rounded release by the band, the impossibly hard-to-find “Powerglide” album - is coming out on CD, with a generous array of bonus cuts.

It will be the first in the series. 

Easy Action Records has paired the 14 Sonic’s Rendezvous Band and original compositions that were on the album with half a dozen live songs cut for radio, plus a bonus disc of 14 rehearsal tunes. This is the line-up of Scott Morgan, Tony Slug, bassist Theo Brouwer and Andy Frost (Powertrane) - it was a killer band and this is a powerful and soulful collection of recordings.

The Italian label that originally released “Powerglide” went belly-up soon after issuing it so copies of the original are next to impossible to find.

Here's a summary from the liners that'll give you an idea what this album is about:

In which the complete recorded works of the 1980s and ‘90s are compiled on one double CD set, spanning 38 tracks.

You have to give it to Easy Action. They know how to package a legacy. And Scott Morgan, of course, has had lots of legacy to restore.

Michigan’s Best Kept Musical Secret had been around the metaphorical block a few times by the time the ‘80s rolled around, but up until that point his bands hadn’t produced many recordings. If he hadn’t invented blue-eyed soul, Morgan played a big part in its arrival in the '60s when front-man for Ann Arbor’s Rationals who took a detour into soulful, pastoral-flecked psych before running out of steam. 

Birmingham’s Black Bombers follow their rough ’n’ tumble, rambunctious eponymous debut album and "Crazy" 45 with a Record Store Day single and it’s a totally righteous effort. 

A slinky bass-line and sultry vocal (that’s Rachel Mayfield in the duet, ex-delicious monster) give “Rush” a downright sexy feel.“You take my mind over the top/You make my senses stand up,” intones guitarist Alan Byron before the song’s consumed by a monstrous guitar break and a wave of horns. Sonically speaking, it’s simply spectacular.

Sometimes I think I’m a bastard instead of being just somewhat scatterbrained. See, I put this order in to Easy Action and they sent a couple of other CDs as well. Generous of them. And I never thanked them.

Alright, I’d had a couple of man-flu health ishoos, and there were other inconveniences. But I never fucking thanked them. And they’re a generous, intelligent company. I feel like a small limp dick confessing this. But you should know some of the circumstances.

If 1977 was the year Iggy Pop presented his professional face to the American public, it was really by a matter of degrees. Think about what constituted Mainstream USA back then and ask if it was ready for Iggy, even in the guise of a clean-living and professional working stiff? The question’s rhetorical so don’t bother answering.

The Iggy that Americans saw (those who took notice) is captured on “Shot Myself Up”, a made-for-radio recording captured live in a studio on Pop’s ’77 tour of his homeland.

The Black Tambourines are from Cornwall in England. This is one of a series of short reviews of discs which should have been reviewed upon release but, for a number of unfortunate reasons (including at least one huge horrifying house-move) was not reviewed in what public servants like to call "a timely manner". This is the band's fourth full-length album.

The Black Tambourines. By god they’re good. Big, bastard, scratchy, messed-up, four-dollar bourbon, filled-ashtray rock’n’roll. I damn wish they were playing at my local, but folk used to say that about AC/DC and (the admittedly godawful) INXS and such musicians are now no longer lesser mortals like you and I, but ROCK-GODS.

As The Black Tambourines should be.

Yeah, it's obvious that this has been a long time coming. Compiler and Real O Mind Records chief Geoff Ginsberg toyed with the idea of a Scott Morgan box set and put a version together - as a one-off for friends - many years ago. But now the real deal's here, with the involvement of Ginsberg as compiler and UK label Easy Action honcho Carlton Sandercock as issuer, and you'd be a fool to miss it.

The only disappointment is that it’s six tracks and not a full album. The title “Vol 4” is an obvious nod to their hometown heroes and is as grimy and hard as the worst parts of Birmingham used to be, pre-gentrification.

Black Bombers are one serious raw power trio. Don’t dwell on the Sabbath heritage because they’re a step removed from their fellow Brummies’ relentless attack. Black Bombers lay down a looser groove and leave more spaces. There’s a multitude of influences at work including Motorhead, the Pink Fairies and Blue Cheer.

This could alternately be known as “Touch Me, I’m Sick.” And I do mean sick.

Let's not understate the awesomeness of this package, which is a leap forward from its predecessor in both desirability and sonic quality of the shows therein. While the first volume gathered some higher quality versions of existing bootlegs as well as material from an offbeat period (the time of the "Party" album), this one goes for the throat.

If someone had told you six years ago that a treasure trove of unreleased Stooges recordings had been unearthed and was being carefully restored to listenable quality with the intention of it being legitimately unleashed and wrapped in high-quality packaging, you'd have told them to remove their hand from their pants or switch medication. Not to condemn all of what had gone before under the guise of "semi-official" but most Stoogeaholics had fallen for one sub-par sounding, misleadingly re-named disc too many. Then UK label Easy Action came along and (again) turned perceived wisdom on its head.