Memphis Meltdown: CoCoComa, Perfect Fits, Lover!

While the whole excuse fer the Memphis trek was to witness the reunion of the Gories and the Oblivians, I got a bombshell of beautiful news right before we set sail west...the afternoon followin' the first show a mini garagepunk fest was to take place at Murphy's...headlined by easily the wildest gem in the current Goner line-up, CoCoComa!

Crazy! -Let me say that their 2007 self-titled release was an instant classic...frantic to the third degree, baby...And with hooks galore...flipped my wig again & again, but with their HQ in Chi-town, I figured I never had a shot catchin' 'em down my way...

Zing! I got the golden ticket, with thee chance to finally see 'em do it to it live!! So, back to the show, right...well we got there a bit behind schedule and only caught the tail end of the Magic Kids...from what I saw I wish I coulda seen more! ...almost a bizarro Beach Boys on a Black Lips kick...

the Magic Kids...well, being all magical

Then came the famed Lover! (honestly I don't give a rats ass about their punk pedigree of ex-Lost Sounds, Reigning Sound members) and fer a power pop groop, well they powered up that pop real nice...not always my bag but good time all the same (til the obnoxious guitar solos spoiled the last few tunes)...


Lover! poundin' it down

& like a whip crack of thunder the Perfect Fits took to the stage and made a good racket of raw punk pounders...seemed like my gal Anna really dug 'em and I can understand why...cuz their breed of bonzo punk is a bit catchy too...so let's give to 'em huh?...


the Perfect Fits just a-hard rockin'
But really I was all butterscotch butterflies inside waitin' fer my throbs to start shakin' it...I was a bit miffed to see the two new members joinin' the husband/wife duo of Bill & Lisa...they ripped as a trio with their original organist wailin' away...but after the first song...Whoa-dad! I could dig it!! ...playin' almost entirely new tunes, CoCoComa went completely unhinged with breakneck garagepunk rockers! No ballads here kiddies...just blaster after blaster...I just lost it! ...Fer a minute I couldn't tell if I was dancin' or havin' a psychotic fit, but goddamn were they capital-f Fun! ...I screamed fer an encore and like hell they blared through two classic tunes (both personal favs of mine) to cap off the show right...


the shake-fest that is CoCoComa
Even bought a t-shirt after the show (& I ain't much of a band shirt wearin' kinda cat, ya dig) and shared a few words of worship with Bill...all I can say is that band can ball! Definitely catch 'em if ya can!

Made the Memphis meltdown even mo' monumental, baby!

Tweet

Memphis Meltdown: Mo' on Gories, Oblivians shows

Scrounged up a few mo' pix (warnin': fer the undiscriminatin' peepers) of the Saturday nite show thanx to my free-wheelin' gal, Anna...dig it:

GORIES

OBLIVIANS



Can't say enuf about how soaked with coolness (& sweat) these shows were...made all the mo' better by gettin' to catch back up with my ol' cohort in rock'n'roll crime, Davie (aka Trix), as well as finally meetin' in the flesh the big kahuna of GaragePunk.com, Kopper!

Stay tuned fer the final(?) post about the Memphis music madness that took place Saturday afternoon before the 2nd Gories/Oblivians show...

Tweet

Memphis Meltdown: Gories, Oblivians Reunion 2009

It's been 15 years...yeppers, a decade and a half since the Gories and ten years since the Oblivians graced a stage...I wasn't there in that original heady time of the modern garage slop story...but I am no longer left behind...improbably that time came again & I was lucky enuf to witness it...

Now reunion shows on the whole taste like sour milk to me, but this was the Gories and the Oblivians sharin' the sweet spotlight...in grimy garage-ville wildspot: Memphis, TN ...& I still ain't stop shakin'!

the Gories (right) & the Oblivians press pix from back in the day

The novel plan was to only catch the first nite of a two-niter that kicked off their joint-reunion, grand world tour...& holy fuck was that a magical nite...so much so that fuck-me-runnin' if we didn't go fer round two the next nite...

As fer the show itself...well can ya say "HOT"?!? Both figuratively and literally...the venue was a goddamn sauna and both groups were on fire, baby...
To be fair the Gories opened both nites and yeah, Mick's voice sounded a bit on the pre-pubescent side and the band at times a smidge wonky, but what I heard was the heart of the Gories, bleedin' and bouncin' all over the place...Dan a wailin', Peg keepin' it poundin' and Mick just gettin' it...just great to these ears!
Then each nite the Oblivians swooped in fer the kill...like they never missed a beat (& I'm willin' to wager they did I bit mo' of the pre-tour practicin' to boot)...Frantic bulldozers couldn't hold a candle to Greg, Eric, & Jack's sonic sweeping-force...seein' 'em in full rotation (with a added bonus of Mr. Quintron joinin' the band fer the last few numbers on the second nite -- wowzers!)...well kids, some folks go to church to get right with god...doesn't get much mo' spiritual fer me than that sweaty nite at the Hi Tone...

...My mind is still rattlin' around in my noggin here several days later as I write this scrawl...let me just wrap up before it blows...if there are any doubts about garage-greats from the early-ninties & whether they can still knock it out...the Gories & (especially) the Oblivians solid gots it, baby, and they hit the fucker straight outta sight.

& that's how a reunions show's supposed to go?....

Below are a few pix my sweaty and shaky ass took via camera phone when I could catch my breath...so be warned photo-nazis--they ain't all too pretty...

GORIES!



OBLIVIANS!




Hopefully mo' (& better) pix to come!

Dig it.

Tweet

Wild Wild Sound #10

Wild Wild Sound #10:  the Jungle Goes Wild!

Eppy-sode numero ten takes us into the sticky & sweaty, darkest recesses of savage sound… take a trip with Tarzan and go completely wild, kids!

And we got everybody goin’ wild, even the Oddballs, les Sexareenos, Charlie Feathers, the Neanderthals, the Cramps, & the Rockin’ Rebels (& a special surprise-surprise tune to end the whole shabam), just to mention a few!

Dig it, baby!

Download It!

Tweet