Artists starting with R

It’s LonelyAt The Top

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Roach Motel, “It’s LonelyAt The Top” (Florida’s Dead, 2011; original recordings 1982-84)
Early band from future NYC punk scene godfather George Tubb. These guys were like a missing link between Queers-style garage-punk and hardcore. Ultra-snotty, slamming attack with catchy songs. Florida’s Dying collected these early-‘80s recordings in what looks like could be the first of a series of archival digs by their Florida’s Dead subsidiary, and if there are others, here’s hoping they’re as hot as this.
Try A/2-11, B1-8
10/29/12

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Phoning It In

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Rizzo, “Phoning It In” (Sympathy, 2001)
A brilliantly one-of-a-kind thing, and one of the true great lost indie records of the ‘00s. Rizzo was two girls from L.A., drums guitar and vocals. Picture a midway point between the ragged-but-right minimal strum-beat-pop of the Pacific Northwest (Beat Happening, All Girl Summer Fun Band, etc.) and the whip-smart tough-girl glamor of ‘90s L. A. (Muffs, That Dog, L7). But even better. Catty, compassionate, angry, hurt, funny, brave, this captures an entire moment in time on Earth, in America, as history turned. And 9 (“I Know It’s Late”) and 10 ( “Right Side Of The Tracks”) are among the most astonishing, heart-on-target songs about separation and longing I’ve ever heard; they’re a pair, and should be played consecutively. Also great: 2, 6 (“Spin This”), 7, 11, 12

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Too Long

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Rhythm Collision, “Too Long” (Dr. Strange, 1995)
Late ‘80s/early ‘90s L. A. stuff that was either way ahead or way behind the times. This is classic pop-punk (think Buzzcocks, Descendents and especially Generation X) delivered in a treble-crazed power-trio style reminiscent of the early Who if they drank ten gallons of Dr. Pepper.
B/1 is best, but A/1 also rules.
1/12/11

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Holiday

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Rhythm Collision, “Holiday” (Collision, 1993)
Another single from these Buzzcocks/Generation X-influenced hook-punk-meisters, excellent if not quite up to their best.
A/1 is the best, really dynamic and complex, though the others are also rockin’.
1/11/11

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Girl With The Purple Hair”/”Ready?

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Rhythm Collision, “Girl With The Purple Hair”/”Ready?” (Collision, 1993)
This single by the melodic L. A. punsters finds them at their most manic and explosive.
B/1 really sounds like Generation X, if they ever played with the dynamism of the MC5 and the raw ferocity of Black Flag: great. A/1 is hot, too.
1/11/11

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Collision Course

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Rhythm Collision, “Collision Course” (Dr. Strange/Collision, 1997; original recording 1989-97)
Here, in one place, are most of the singles of a first-rate singles band. Like their models (Generation X, Buzzcocks, Dickies), L.A.’s Rhythm Collision crafted mid-‘60s-ish pop tunes, then packed ‘em with punk rock dynamite to explode on impact. Super-dynamic rhythm section too, drawing on hardcore while foreshadowing pop punk (but don’t blame them).
Try 2, 4, 5, 17
10/22/11

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I Stumble As The Crow Flies

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Reptile House, “I Stumble As The Crow Flies” 7”EP (Dischord/Druid Hill, 1985)
Mid-‘80s DC band, post-punk/post-harDCore, with a coiled, skittering sound and a chaotic, foreboding mood, like a younger, twitchier Mission of Burma, or Fugazi if they were possessed by the devil.
All tracks excellent; best are A/2, B/2
1/11/11

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Real Estate

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Real Estate, “Real Estate” (Woodsist, 2009)
This really grew on me. These guys play fuzzy/drony/Velvetsoid strum-pop, like the Feelies going berserk at a Kegger, or the Strokes, if you marinated them in battery acid. The thing is, they raise up a genuinely ominous, dynamic rhythm and some seriously imposing sheets of unwashed guitar hiss.
Try 1, 2, 10
5/1/11

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Days

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Real Estate, “Days” (Domino, 2011)
This is a tricky one for me. I thought their first one was brilliant – raw, bleary, visionary, hypnotic, like the later Velvets disappearing into the woods or the dunes—and eagerly awaited this follow-up. This is more subtle, but less arresting. Unlike the first, the pulse never lets up, but the sound never bursts out, either. It can get under our skin if you let it, however, and it all builds to the truly epic disorientation of overlapping jangle on 10. For a shorter track, check out 2.
1/6/12

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This Looks Serious

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Rayon Face, “This Looks Serious” (Hozac, 2012)
Psych-garage-punk from Texas, good, hard, rollicking stuff with a nice drug-party haze enveloping the proceedings.
Try 3, 12
4/30/12

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