the barracudas

ARTVO1D
By Jeremy Gluck
(Lulu)

Ah, marvellous. Just what the world needed in its hour (well, decade, really) of self-inflicted demagogues, disgusting abuse of power, torture, wars-that-aren't-apparently-wars-though-that's-not-what-the-poor-bastards-beneath-the-bombs-think, and misery: a six-track EP of new songs by those finger-wagging irrelevancies, U2. Boys? Guys? Your time is OVER. Back to the 1980s with you! 

Not naming any names, but it's a pity more bands formed in the late ‘70s couldn't break up a few decades earlier, perhaps with the lead singer going on to, I don't know, open a bongo shop, somewhere where he wouldn't be recognised. Perhaps... Bear Island?

Right, well then, if we can just shove through the throng of lemmings-like U2 fans heading for the cliff, I'd like to remind you that the apparently endlessly prolific Jeremy Gluck once fronted The Barracudas, is the last man standing from the “I Knew Buffalo Bill” supergroup LP, and he's got a new art/picture book out: "ArtV01d".

I Am Time - Jeremy Gluck (Glass Modern)

This is one of the few times I cannot quantify a musical release. I cannot answer the question: “How many bottles?”

Really? For this? No, you may as well say “I Am Time” is as high as that thing over there, or as round as it is long. 

“I Am Time” is a rather startling career overview of the tempting output of one Jeremy Gluck - and, yes, we're all aware of the sniggerment possibilities of Jeremy's surname, so if you quit cackling at the back there we might be able to get to the meat of the matter at hand.

Drop Out With The Barracudas Deluxe Edition – Barracudas (Lemon Records)

Increasingly, the recording companies attempt to milk the last of the boomer dollars before retirement homes steal the last of our bank accounts.  They’ve already worked out that there's bugger all money in new recordings.  Even dependable old cash cows like KISS and The Who have made public statements to that end.

So record companies have learnt to spew out deluxe editions of the familiar, the obscure and the criminally ignored.  And, if someone is going to put out a multi disc collection of every taped concert on Sunset Strip, well oops.  My finger slipped on the buy button before I read about the goddamn postage.

Garage-surf kings from the '80s, The Barracudas, reconvened for a show at the Finsbury in North London last weekend. Here’s some footage of "We're Living In Violent Times":