Back after almost 2 months, here's part 6 of the US singles series.
Bags - I Know / Hide And Seek (Stanton Park STP-013, 1989) Jon Hardy, Jim Janota, and Crispin Wood formed The Bags in the summer of 1985. In 1987 they recorded and released their debut album Rock Starve. In 1989 they released an album on Stanton Park under one of their many aliases, Swamp Oaf. Byron Coley wrote about Swamp Oaf in Spin (February 1990): "This Boston trio (perhaps best known for their non-thug work under the name the Bags) have a sense of compositional burl most redolent of early/mid period Blue Cheer. The guitar quick-switches between ass-puddle wah-boom and overblown zorch-flash with Leigh Stevens-oid flair, and these guys don't get even close to the Zep cliche path most of their "peers" are treading. In 1990 The Bags released their eponymous LP The Bags, again on Stanton Park. At the end of 1991, after six and a half years of playing together, The Bags celebrated the release of their album Night of the Corn People (Stanton Park / Helter Skelter) by breaking up. The Bags left behind a large following and a reputation as a killer live band. The Bags reunited once in 1996, and in 2003 reformed and spent the summer and fall of 2004 recording Sharpen Your Sticks, their first full-length album in over 13 years.
Dana Lynn - Circle/Pot Head - Son (Dionysus ID074514, 1991) Formed by the Kroll brothers from Oahu, Hawaii, Dana Lynn settled in LA and released 2 singles and a tape without any success. This single came out in a pressing of 1000 on different vinyl colors (grey, blue, purple, green...). The band (troy Miller gtr/vcls, James Kroll bs/vcls, Jon Kroll gtr and Johnee Kop drms changed their name to Chokebore, and in 1993 they send a demo at AmRep in Minneapolis. As you may know they're active until today.
Johnny & The Jumper Cables - Total Depravity/I Get Nervous (Dog Meat DOG-015, 1990) Known as the proud proponents of what local scribe Brett Milano once dubbed "proto-garage-metal,” Johnny and the Jumper Cables were part of the 1980s Boston club scene, direct descendents of bands like the Nervous Eaters, Real Kids, and Neighborhoods. Started in 1982 as a recording project by guitarist and band roadie Johnny Black and the legendary Kenne Highland of Afrika Korps and Gizmos fame, the band was joined in the Radiobeat studios in Kenmore Square by Swinger’s Resort/Outlets drummer Tom Bull and bassists Lee Harrington (Peytons/Neighborhoods) and Jonathan Paley (Paley Brothers/Nervous Eaters) for sessions that produced "Not Your Kind,” "I Get Nervous,” "Landmine,” and "Death Squad of the Mind.” The Cables went on to record a series of 45s and compilation album tracks for the Stanton Park, Dionysius, and Modern Method labels in the US and Dog Meat in Australia. The band performed as recently as 2004, although Kenne Highland, once a staple of the local rock scene, has now apparently forsaken rock and roll for gospel music and has not appeared onstage since. (from the band's myspace page)
Hypnolovewheel - Wow/KGM-365 (Alias 1992) Well, you can't consider Hypnolovewheel a garage band, they're more on the guitar/grunge/smart/Husker Du-pop side, but this 7" (with the a-side from their Angel Food LP) finds them playing with feedback and fuzz (on Wow), as well with Fall parody (on KGM-365). Hypnolovewheel were a good band, they lasted enough, they put out great LPs, yet w/o any success. Same sad story.
R.Erickson & 27 Devils Joking - You Don't Love Me Yet/I Am Her Hero, She Is My Heroin (Sympathy For The Record Industry SFTRI-152, 1990) This is a more rockin' version of "You Don't Love Me Yet" - Roky sings and plays rhythm guitar, backed by 27 Devils Joking, a New Mexico band lead by Brian S.Curley (for more on B.S.Curley read the next single's notes). On the flip side there's no sign of Roky, but a nice version of "Heroin" w/Curley on vocals. The two of them (Roky & Brian) had been playing together in the 80s (in The Resurrectionists & Evilhook Wildlife).
Psycho Desert Rangers - Rhythm of Blood/I Can't Help It/And We Dream/House Made of Dawn (Live Wire 1986) Brian Salvador Curley is an outstanding figure in Texas & NM garage-punk for over 20 years. He played with Lester Bangs in The Delinquents and with Roky Erickson in The Resurrectionists & Evilhook Wildlife. This is a 7-inch from 1986, recorded in Santa Fe, NM. Psycho Desert Rangers were two couples: Brian & Melinda Curley and Lee Ann & Dave Cameron. It reminds me a bit of Chris D's Divine Horsemen, especialy the use of man-woman vocals. Brian now creates rock posters (and has for many years) in his studio, South Texas Psychedelic Cattlemen's Association and he's a vegetarian.
Yard Trauma - Eyes/Traumatized/Priority Mail (Dionysus 74511, 1991) No need to tell you 'bout Lee Joseph, I believe. His own band, Yard Trauma started in Tucson at the end of 1982, with just Lee and singer/guitar player Joe Dodge. After almost 10 years of pure garage, Y.T. became more punk and more heavy. "It's funny how things change like that", says Lee. "We're playing a lot faster than we used to. And the funny thing is that when Dave (Steel -drums) joined the band he was totally sick of all the hardcore stuff. We had no intention of sounding like we sound right now. It just kind of happened." Produced by Brett Gurewitz from Bad Religion.
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