crazy macy

As the Flamin’ Groovies celebrate 50 years with a special gig in San Francisco this week, DAVE "DOG MEAT" LAING checks out their new single vinyl seven-inch, "Crazy Macy" b/w "Let Me Rock"...

Okay, so the Flamin’ Groovies have a new single out for Record Store Day, on the very cool Californian Burger Records label. This is exciting stuff – even more exciting than walking into my first Groovies show on the ’86 Australian tour, seeing they had a new single (“Way Over My Head’ b/w ’Shakin’’) for sale, and buying five copies of it because I never knew if I’d see it again.

That was what, maybe five or six years since their previous release, the “River Deep Mountain High” single? This one comes more than 25 years since we’ve heard anything new from the band – a long fucking time.

Of course the Groovies, with ’71-’80 lead singer Chris Wilson back in place, have been back in action since the second-last Dig It Up! Festival in Australia a few years back.

While we Down Under may have copped them a tad underdone (the Caravan Club show on Melbourne was sensational though), a look at more recent YouTube footage shows the band firing on all cylinders and sounding very much like they must’ve live in ’75 or so, on the cusp of releasing the landmark “Shake Some Action” LP.

That Flamin’ Groovies album we’ve told you about is finally going to be released. “Plastic Fantastic” is out on CD on September 22 on the band’s own Sonic Kicks/Severn Records.

“Fantastic Plastic” was recorded mainly with founding Groovies bassist George Alexander and the band’s latter-day drummer Victor Penalosa (both since departed), with assistance from members of the Fabulous Thunderbirds.

Original member Cyril Jordan and longtime singer and guitarist Chris Wilson will be playing together on an album for the first time in 38 years. It features 10 fresh compositions co-written by Jordan and Wilson, plus covers of the Beau Brummels’ “Don’t Talk to Strangers” and NRBQ’s “I Want You Bad”.

One of the tracks, the stellar "Crazy Macy", was released on Burger Records and our review is here.