Gerardo Manuel y el Humo, “Apocallypsis” (Lion Productions, 2012; original release 1970)
Reissue of “Pera’s First Hard Rock LP,” and it’s pretty excellent. No indigenous Andean musical curlicues, sadly, but fine Hendrix/Santana-inspired space-blues workouts, and some crazed vocals and distorto-guitar.
Try 1, 7,10
5/5/12
Good Co., “Electro Swing For The Masses” (Good Co. Music, 2012)
Here’s a weird item – a purported cross between electronica and swing-revivalism. A lot of this just sounds like an okay swing band with extra bleeps and bloops, but the best cuts achieve a genuine hybrid.
Try 2, 7
8/23/12
Goggs, “Pre-Strike Sweep” (In The Red, 2018)
Second album from this side project featuring Ty Segall and ex-Ex-Cult singer Chris Shaw. This rocks with the same dynamic-but-mid-range-thick-shock-chamber guitar-bass-drums wall-bang attack, but with even better tuneage in a melodic early-L.A.-hardcore vein (think Adolescents).
Try A/1, A/4
10/18/18
Grand Funk, “Live Album” (Capitol, 1970)
They never had the hip cred of their Detroit proto-metal cohorts MC5, but this early set is closer than you might think. Thundering power-trio roll-and-roar, a giant groove that delivers its crude overload with a certain paradoxical concision and restraint – the solos and songs are there to serve the vast monolithic sound period, and never deviate or showboat.
Try 1/ 2, 2/ 2, 4/1
7/11/18
Groovie Ghoulies “Born in the Basement” (Eccentric Pop, 2016; original release 1994)
Kitschy horror trappings, but this is classic melodic, driving garage-rock, more winsomely pop than punk, with good tunes.
Try 1/ 2, 1/ 8, 2/1, 2/3
6/18/18
Grown-Ups, “Ode to the B-Dog,” 7” (Sympathy, 1997)
Mixed-bag single from young L.A. indie-punk slopsters.
Best is the hardcorish A/1, A/2
1/23/14
Guilty Pleasures, “Summer Strange” (Dusty Medical, 2011)
Teeth-rattlingly frenzied garage-punk that barrels from the start of the album to the end at Mach 10 without letup, like Teengenerate but more Detroit/Stooges inflected. It does tend to blur, but the best songs are catchy enough to stand out.
Try 2, 6, 8, 11
1/29/12
GØGGS, “Pre-Strike Sweep” (In The Red, 2018)
So, on their second release, the GØGGS move toward smooth, uptempo adult pop with an emphasis on piano, somewhat like Maroon 5’s early work. Ha, caught you napping! This is actually a further intensification of the Ty Segall/Chris Shaw (ex-Ex-Cult) project’s full-throttle cosmic-head-bang take on punk, bridging the gap between desperate-drunk ‘60s-Sonics-style reverb-wall-rattling and early-‘80s Orange County HC’s harmonic menace. The dead-eyed mania of Shaw’s vocals induces some of Segall’s most feral riffing on record. This is pretty much as classic as punk can get at this vantage point, even better than their first, and if there’s a third it’s gonna be a killer.
Try 1/ 3, 2/4
4/7/19
GØGGS, “Pre-Strike Sweep” (In The Red, 2018)
So, on their second release, the GØGGS move toward smooth, uptempo adult pop with an emphasis on piano, somewhat like Maroon 5’s early work. Ha, caught you napping! This is actually a further intensification of the Ty Segall/Chris Shaw (ex-Ex-Cult) project’s full-throttle cosmic-head-bang take on punk, bridging the gap between desperate-drunk ‘60s-Sonics-style reverb-wall-rattling and early-‘80s Orange County HC’s harmonic menace. The dead-eyed mania of Shaw’s vocals induces some of Segall’s most feral riffing on record. This is pretty much as classic as punk can get at this vantage point, even better than their first, and if there’s a third it’s gonna be a killer.
Try 1/ 3, 2/4
4/7/19
Globelamp, “Orange Glow” (Wichita, 2016)
Psych-folk-pop outing with a slight L. A. glam gloss and nice eerie/elfin female vocals. Perfect for late-night October staring out the window at leaves blowing under dim street lamps. Try 6, 8
10/21/16