Punk | Music Vixen Blog

Rock’n'Roll Hall of Fame: Do Abba, LL Cool J Belong Here, Really?

Published September 23rd, 2009 by Karen

photo credit: Andrew 94

Kiss, LL Cool J and the Red Hot Chili Peppers are considered frontrunners for induction at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame next year, according to an Associated Press report.

According to the AP, they are part of a diverse group of 12 acts in contention for the 2010 class. Other first-time nominees include Genesis, Jimmy Cliff, The Hollies and songwriter Laura Nyro. There are also names on the ballot that have been there before, including Donna Summer, Darlene Love, ABBA, the Chantels, and the Stooges.

The nominees are selected by a committee composed of music historians and are then voted on by roughly a thousand experts, including academics, journalists, producers, and others with music industry experience.

Only five acts make it in to the Hall each year. The 25th annual induction ceremony is slated for March 15 in New York City. The inductees will be announced in December.

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Reunion Alert: Iggy and the Stooges Reunion Concerts

Published September 8th, 2009 by Karen

photo credit: aleksey.const

It had previously been announced that Iggy Pop and the Stooges would be performing at the May 2 and 3 editions of All Tomorrow’s Parties in London, one of ATP’s 10^th Anniversary events.

In a new twist, the band has decided to perform the seminal album Raw Power in its entirety–with members of the original Stooges line-up.

Obviously, guitarist Ron Asheton passed away last year, rendering a proper reunion impossible. However, on 1973’s Raw Power, Asheton temporarily switched to bass while James Williamson took over guitar duties. Pop has asked Williamson to re-join the band for ATP-something he hasn’t done since 1974.

Fueled by addiction and in-fighting, the Stooges broke up following the release of 1970’s Funhouse, reformed to record Raw Power, and ultimately folded again in 1974.

Pop’s most recent album, 2009’s Preliminaires, is jazz-influenced concept album inspired by Michel Houellebecq’s novel “La Possibilité d’une île.” Uh-huh. In 2003 the punk icon took a detour into pop-punk, recording Skull Ring: a collection of songs featuring collaborations with the likes of Green Day and Sum 41 (featuring Avril Lavigne’s husband).

The Stooges are always full of surprises, but the one thing we can guarantee: sinewy Iggy Pop will be frighteningly muscular and shirtless (shudder).

Rock’n'roll.

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BELOW: Iggy performs the classic title track from 1973’s Raw Power LP-and a pair of Madonna hits, too! Continue reading »

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Free Show, Free Mp3: Memphis Punk Hits People, Rocks Out. Tonight in NYC

Published July 1st, 2009 by Karen

ABOVE: Enjoy the catchy rock noise of Jay Reatard for free in NYC, but, ladies, be warned: If you touch Jay’s guitar, he will pick you up and throw you off of the stage. Welcome back, punk. We missed you.

Is there a better way to get warmed up for the 4^th of July fireworks than with an explosive free show by Matador Records (Sonic Youth, Cat Power) wild man, Jay Reatard?

Goner Records ex-pat and ex-Lost Sounds leader Jay Lindsey, will tear through some surprisingly poppy, retro-tinged Brit-punk-flavored tracks from his new Matador Records release, Watch Me Fall-and probably some old favorites, too-during tonight’s free show in NYC. The fun takes place at StuyTown’s Stuyvesant Oval, which appears to be part of an, um, interesting looking housing complex in Manhattan (take the map, you’ll need it).

Show starts at 8pm, is open to all ages and, best of all, it’s free. Happy Wednesday.

FREE Mp3: Jay Reatard-”You’re Gonna Lose” mp3
FREE Mp3: Jay Reatard-”It Ain’t Gonna Save Me” mp3

"Richie!! Wish I was there, been looking for you for a long time. Plz. contact me. I miss you. Check out my 14 yr. old son as a guest performer playing..."

Bobski

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Happy Birthday, Joey Ramone! Tribute Concert, NYC Tonight

Published May 19th, 2009 by Karen

Above: Punk hero Joey Ramone meets superhero Spiderman. It was bound to happen eventually.
Below: The catchiest song ever written about baseball bats.
Ramones–”Beat on the Brat” mp3

May 19, 1951 was an important day in rock’n'roll history: It was the birthday of Jeff Hyman.

Hyman is of course better known as punk-rock icon, Joey Ramone. (Yeah, we should’ve mentioned this sooner, but we were too busy trying to bake a cake in the shape of the Ramones’ logo.)

Joey, who would’ve turned 58 today, passed away in 2001 after a battle with lymphoma. He may be gone, but his impact on the music world will never be forgotten. Pretty much any rock band that has picked up a guitar in the past 20 years owes a debt to the Ramones, who made writing perfect pop/rock songs seem deceptively simple. Earlier this week, Ramone was officially inducted into the Rock’n'Roll Hall of Fame, after an earlier technical error left him out in the cold.

Tonight in NYC, Joey’s brother, Mickey Leigh, has organized a Joey Ramone Birthday Bash at the Fillmore/Irving Plaza, with proceeds from tickets set to support the Joey Ramone Foundation for Lymphoma Research.

Hosted by former MTV VJ Matt Pinfield, the show will feature Continue reading »

"I like how that one person said put that in your juicebox and suck it. Sounds like all greenday fans, still with their juiceboxes. How infantile. Just..."

Classic punk is real punk

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Green Day Sucks: 21st Century Breakdown, Middle-Aged Millionaires Cash-In on Teen Angst

Published May 13th, 2009 by Karen

21st Century Breakdown

Green Day

2009

MusicVixen Rating:

Recommended if you like:
U2, Fallout Boy, Queen, Jonas Brothers

It is still difficult to believe that Green Day has gone from being a Dookie-joke making ’90s pop-punk outfit to one of the most popular rock bands in the world.

It’s amazing what landing a schmaltzy acoustic ballad on Seinfeld can do for a punk’s career.

Green Day’s new concept album, 21^st Century Breakdown, is a melodramatic blast of political-pop that comes up sounding more like Disney pop than Clash-y revolutionary rock.

Aside from the obvious pitfalls of concept albums in general, there’s something disingenuous about hearing middle-aged millionaires peddling teen angst. The Who famously hoped they’d die before they got old. Clearly, Green Day has no such foresight.

The rest of the album review depends largely on which version of the album you actually own. The group has released the disc at several price points, ranging from digital download to deluxe edition with hardback book and bonus material.

While it’s easy to understand that bands need to come up with new and inventive ways to lure fans into buying discs rather than pirating them online, there begins to be something disconcerting about an ostensibly politically-charged, proletariat-touting punk trio dividing its audience based on economics.

Following lead characters Christian and Gloria, 21^st Century Breakdown Continue reading »

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Live: Mr. Quintron’s Drum Buddy Rock, Miss Pussycat’s Puppet Punk

Published April 22nd, 2009 by Karen

Have you ever wondered what would happen if alligators started eating magical sno-cones and having freaky, psychedelic experiences? Probably not.

Luckily, New Orleans performer Miss Pussycat has thought of that-and so much more-and she brings it to you in the form of a very elaborate rock’n'roll puppet theater. Yes, puppets are usually very creepy, but Miss Pussycat makes it all alright.

Plus, she plays maracas with her partner in weirdness, Mr. Quintron and, as we all know, maracas=awesome.

Probably best known for his organ work on the Oblivians’ gospel/punk/garage rock masterpiece, Oblivians…Play 9 Songs with Mr. Quintron, Quintron brings his unique sounds all the way from the swamps of Louisiana.

In addition to his slightly retro, very memorable organ playing, Quintron is the inventor responsible for the amazing machine known as the Drum Buddy It’s basically a really cool looking homemade, light-activated synthesizer…that might be made out of an old coffee can, we’re not sure. Oddly enough, Kanye West recently wrote about it on his blog (is he secretly a rocker?).

It’s really too much to explain, so just watch silly infomercial above-featuring Miss Pussycat’s puppets. Continue reading »

"nice! i'm gonna make my own blog"

DydayNiny

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Supersuckers 2009 Tour Dates and 20th Anniversary CD

Published April 20th, 2009 by Karen

photo credit: gesika22

Quick how many bands can you name from Arizona?

If you forgot to say the Supersuckers, you’ve failed today’s pop quiz. Sorry.

Over the years, the Supersuckers have released a solid string of rock albums for labels such as Sub Pop, successfully dabbled in slightly stoned country music and even served as Willie Nelson’s backing band, making it hard to argue with the boys when they declare themselves the Greatest Rock’n'Roll Band in the World.

Almost always on tour (tonight they play Belfast), singer/bassist Eddie Spaghetti and the boys are celebrating their 20^th Anniversary with the release of a double disc live album (thanks to Snob’s Music for the tracklisting tip).

Featuring 36 songs on two CDs, the album collects music from the band’s entire career, including several songs that are appropriate considering today’s date (go on, look at the calendar). “I Want the Drugs,” “Non Addictive Marijuana,” and “Killer Weed.” Subtle, right?

Fans of everything from AC/DC, Kiss, Willie Nelson, Spinal Tap and the Ramones are likely to find something to enjoy with the Supersuckers cartoonish rock’n'roll.

Keep reading for more info on the disc, tracklisting, the current list of Supersuckers tour dates and a video, too! Continue reading »

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Mummies Reunion Tour 2009: Shows in NY, NJ, France and Italy

Published April 20th, 2009 by Karen

photo credit: Caomai

Good news if you miss the Mummies after watching the “Planet of the Apes” video we posted earlier: The band is back from the grave (sorry) for a handful of reunion shows. (Don’t forget that stages will be invaded by an upcoming Gories and Oblivians Reunion Tour, too!)

After swearing that their 2008 reunion show in Spain would be their last, the spooky boys are bandaged up and hitting the road for some shows including a trio of US dates as well as a newly announced show in France and a mysterious show at an eight-day music festival somewhere in Sardegna, IT . (Keep reading for the complete tour schedule.) Continue reading »

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Music Video Monday: Monkeys, Mummies, All-Stars and Guitars

Published April 20th, 2009 by Karen

Sometimes, when you wake up on a Monday morning, you just want to stay in bed and hope for a snow day.

That almost never works. So, odds are you’re sitting at your desk this morning, too.

Unfortunately, we can’t really do anything about that. But maybe we can make Monday a little less blah with some fun music videos.

First up: The Mummies. If watching these garage-rock guys dressed as mummies (wearing Chuck Taylor All Stars shoes, of course) sing a song with one of the greatest choruses ever doesn’t cheer you up on Monday morning, then maybe you should just quit your job and go back to bed.

What songs/videos help you make it through Monday boredom?

“You must fight to live, on the planet of the apes!”
(Whatever, roll your eyes now, but you’ll totally have this stuck in your head later. Thanks to the Garage Punk gang for the clip.)

Stay tuned for info on the upcoming Mummies’ reunion tour–including their first US shows since 1991!

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“Psycho Killer” in Brooklyn: Free David Byrne Concert

Published April 10th, 2009 by Karen

Talking Heads leader-turned-world music provocateur David Byrne has just been added to the line-up of the upcoming Celebrate Brooklyn concert series.

Byrne will kick-off the summer concert series with a free show on Monday June 8 at the Prospect Park Bandshell. The complete concert line-up Continue reading »