My Generation... Your Generation JUlY-AUG 2009

PHIL ISTINE casts his webbed eye across the Atlantic and discovers an America
full of raw garage, modern psychedelia, super-heavy rock and West Coast jangle.

America. Land of renewed hope under Obama and of course responsible for much of the greatest music ever made. Its contemporaneous psychedelic underbelly is led by the likes of Philadelphia’s Asteroid #4 (www.myspace.com/asteroid4), and the Los Angeles twosome The Quarter After (www.myspace.com/thequarterafter) and Darker My Love (www.myspace.com/darkermylove). All regularly tour the UK and Europe. But – wait for it – there’s more! Here are eleven other bands that deserve your attention.

Starting on the east coast, teenbeat mayhem comes no better than in the form of Boston, Massachusetts’ Muck And The Mires. Voted #1 rock ’n’ roll band in the USA on Little Steven’s Underground Garage show, the group mix The Dave Clark Five with The Sonics to sound not unlike a sober Ramones. These guys know how to make friends and influence people: their last EP was even produced by Kim Fowley! Infectious good time rock ’n’ roll to soundtrack your summer beach party.
www.myspace.com/muckandthemires

The Cush are based in Burlington, Vermont, and are the husband/wife duo of Burette and Gabrielle Douglas. Their handcrafted “psych-pop suites”, made with the help of old tape delays are
nu-psych to the core. Influenced equally by The Silver Apples, Swervedriver and Air, they trip the light fantastic into the ether. Reports from the Dream Machine Festival suggest they were nothing short of sensational in a live setting. If you’re tastes are leftfield enough (and they should be if you’re reading Shindig!) then you’ll dig this modern, electronic psychedelia.
www.myspace.com/thecush

No mention of America would be complete without a supernaturally cool NYC band. Ladies and gentlemen, meet Effi Briest. Trying to describe a six-piece, all-female experimental rock band is difficult in such a brief space. I’ll simply say the music is a mix of freewheelin’ psychedelia, motorik grooves, growling post-punk and freak-rock. It is uniquely hypnotic, as if you’ve stepped through the looking glass and your dreamworld was ruled by beautiful spaced-out sirens and shamans. Yes, they’re that good.
www.myspace.com/effibriest
In Philadelphia you’ll find Love City. Their organ-driven garage is hard and full on, reminding me on ‘The Days’ of The Music Machine and ? & The Mysterians. ‘I Can’t Stop (The Ringing In My Ear)’ takes us into more punk territory, though their intensity is most apparent in their live recordings. If you liked the ’80s garage revival sound you’ll really dig this foursome. The band may barely a year old but they’re already causing waves all over America.
www.myspace.com/lovecityband

Johnny Walker of The Soledad Brothers fame has a new outfit based in Covington, Kentucky called Cut In The Hill Gang. Page-esque blueswailin’ all over their demos, the three-piece favour playing heads-down fuzz rockers whilst dressed in sharp suits. These cats know what they like and they do the blues punk thang better than most. Last year saw a 7” appear on Little Room; let us hope there is a lot more to come from them in the future.
www.myspace.com/cutinthehillgang

In Athens, Georgia The Humms are rattling the very foundations of their city. With song titles like ‘Are You Dead?’, ‘Do The Graverobber!’, ‘LSD Is Evil’ and ‘Little Freaky Girl Like You’ its fair to assume we’ve in primitive Back From The Grave garage territory here. But you’d be wrong, for they have an infectious jangle, Acid Gallery weird sounds and pop-punk sensibilities too. EP Are You Dead? is out this month on Odd Box Records, and should see the fearless trio gain a wider audience (but hurry to buy, as it’s a very limited release).
www.myspace.com/thehumms

Now for a change of musical direction with the brothers who call themselves The Cosmic Wheels from Missouri. Heavy psych rock is the order of the day here – the Led Zep riffing will mean you either love or hate these songs. Their top Myspace friends are their primary influences: Dschinn, Light Of Darkness, Samuel Prody, Power Of Zeus, Shinki Chen, Dragonfly… I could go on. For the early ’70s lovers amongst you, rejoice! A full-length album is due out this summer so keep ‘em peeled.
www.myspace.com/thecosmicwheels
Brimstone Howl hail from Omaha, Nebraska and deal in lo-fi garage punk. The riotous quartet has been touring everywhere for the last couple of years and in between have made four albums worthy of your attention, the latest being ‘We Came In Peace’. Raised more on The Gun Club and The Cramps (RIP Lux) than Nuggets comps, their strangeness knows no bounds, much like their plentiful supply of top-drawer songs. Rock ’n’ roll for the Bomp generation, as I can imagine they may promote themselves.
www.myspace.com/brimstonehowl

When I first heard The Ettes in 2006 they were just an energetic, fuzz-drenched band from the US. But times change, and last year they supported the Kings Of Leon on tour throughout Europe and are now regular visitors to the UK. The Austin, Texas trio deserve their break, as they do stripped-down rock ’n’ roll as well as The White Stripes and their Toe Rag assisted ilk. Singer Coco has a terrific voice and they work a crowd as well as anyone. Go see, now!
www.myspace.com/theettes

Another Los Angeles group of note are The Living Sickness. Reverberating Fenders, rumbling bass, strung-out vocals, and a general Seeds/Stones vibe – all the ingredients needed for debauched West Coast rock. These black-clad men have a supremely excellent garage rocker in ‘In N’ Out’, and from the look of their photos I can imagine going to see them live would be like the pages of this very magazine coming alive before your eyes. And that’s all the recommendation a band here should need.
www.myspace.com/thelivingsickness

Finally let’s take a trip up beyond the border to meet The Hoa Hoa’s in Toronto. Very nu-psych in their Spacemen 3 influences, you can hear early ’80s influences such as Echo & The Bunnymen and Julian Cope here and ‘White Light/White Heat’-style drone-pop is also apparent. Their songs contain kaleidoscopic sounds that shimmer and threaten to break apart at any moment. This is dramatic and hard-to-forget music for sensitive heads that I urge you to seek out. Highly anticipated second album ‘Pop/Drone/Pedals’ is out this summer.
www.myspace.com/thehoahoas

We’ll meet you back in Britain next time for more jet lag-defying kicks.