Some
alternative rock favourites of mine - garage, pop, punk, indie or whatever....
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As
a kid i listened to bands as The Kinks, The Who, Hollies, Manfred Mann
and The Beatles, so it's classic rock-pop
that makes me truly happy. Then the 1970's Punk, the 1980's New Wave and
the 1990's indie era with the re-animation
of Rock Music ? This Indie garage rock pop, punk something.
I know there are many out there like me, also young people, maybe derogatory
called indie-kids by the mainstream crap
music reviewers, and this page is for You. Cool obscure Youtube music
videos and links below can be gone any time
Elefant
- The Indie label
The World's most beautiful record label may
be Elefant records based in Madrid, Spain that has released great indie
pop for some quarter of a century now. Not just many fine Spanish bands
but also bands from all over the world.
Most often unjustly obscure music due to the mainstream cesspool of garbage
music that dominates the media today.
Sometimes beautiful shimmering pieces of pop that guaranteed never ever
will be heard on the radio or TV, as ......
Marine Life : The US-Philippine indie
band led by talented singer-songwriter Des De Leon Nicolas
Fool of a Kind
In 2014 Elefant
records released an EP in their New Adventures in Pop series with a band
called Marine Life.
The EP was released in a vinyl limited edition of 500 copies (but also
for digital download) and had 4 songs on it,
Fool of a Kind, Big Sur, Boy from B-612 and For the Camera Shy. Elefant
has made 2 nice music videos and
pics from the lovely video of Fool of a
Kind can be seen above. It's a shimmering piece of timeless pop and with some great brass
in it. As a natural law the song went unnoticed
and it's completely obscure, in a better world Fool of a Kind should've
been played everywhere.
Listen to the cute Fool of a Kind on Youtube
The
EP
This San Francisco based US-Philippine band
has been playing as Julie Plug since the 1990's and has or had
singer & songwriter Mercedes Des De Leon Nicolas, Terry Nicolas on
guitar, Marvin Santos on bass, Rob
Uytingco on drums and Rex Padayhag on keyboards and backup vocals, as
members
...........................................
Los Pontiaks
: The Surf Rock Project from Billy King - The Killer Barbies
founder from Vigo, drummer and songwriter
with Billy on drums, André Loud-Rider
guitar and Mister Cobra on bass plays instrumental Psychobilly rock
First EP Psycho Sonic Boogie with 1. Gorillas A-Go-Go 2. Sin Combustible
3. Chicas Pendejar rel. May 8th 2015.
If this sounds interesting - Please read
more about Billy King on my Killer Barbies Fan page
Los Abominables
& Elis Paprika :
Two Great findings from the Mexican indierock scene
If you like it - Please read more about
these fine/fun enjoyable groups/artists on my
Mexican Page
Listen to the Mexican Cult band Los Abominables
bionic synth-pop-punk whatever studio live version of Six Million
Dollar Weirdo's (the earlier incarnation of Los Abominables)
trash rock anthem Horror Amor
Los Abominables - Abulon and Zette
Listen to Elis Paprika's cute power pop gem Tarde
o temprano
10 Favourites of mine 1980- punk, pop, garage,
indie .... or something Most of these were/are USA artists so
this great type of music do seem to be something of an North American
thing
1. Urge Overkill - Sister Havana
An underrated, if today not almost unknown, group that
released this their Saturation album in 1993 and was featured on the
soundtrack to Quentin Tarantino's Pulp Fiction with a great Neil Diamond
cover. I remember hearing this masterpiece of delightful
guitar riffs being played on the normally very shitty Swedish radio,
but that was the 1990's, a great decade in time. Those guitars.
This is a truly great video to an almost ORGASMIC song - Listen to it
below
And, finally they're back. After 16 years of silence they
released their new album - Rock and Roll Submarine - in 2011, and
they continue in the same vein as when they left us back in 1995. With
heavy riffs, gorgeous guitars and plenty of hooks
that makes you smile big like an idiot. Sure, an obscurity nowadays that
surely will pass completely unnoticed in the Sea
of Crap that make the music scene nowadays with wailing idiot Idols screaming
their ugly lungs out.
Effigy is their 1st single from the album which have some great songs
on it, like Mason Dixon and Rock'n Roll Submarine
2. Frank Black - Los Angeles
The Genius Frank Black, the ex-Pixies frontman or the
Bach, Mozart, Beethoven of alternative rock music made his first self
titled solo album in 1993 and produced it with ex-Captain Beefheart,
Pere Ubu and Pixies member Eric Drew Feldman.
The first song on the album is the beautiful Los Angeles.
Only Frank Black could make something as heavenly indie gorgeous out
of these seemingly simple parts, at first it rocks and
then .... and then comes the break, the melodic hook that gives you
goosebumps. Los Angeles in Patagonia, Frank Black, You
Genius You. But, Frank Black, Pixies and Kim Deal's Breeders, i love
them all. Listen to Los Angeles below
I have a Pixies page elsewhere on this site (it looks
awful though at the moment) and i'm a huge fan. I could've chosen Where
is
my Mind from their 1st album or just about any tune from their 2nd classic,
the Doolittle album. The latter one with songs as
Monkey Goes to Heaven or Debaser and Debaser gave the name to the in
Stockholm, Sweden famous rock club and is also a
tribute to the great Salvador Dali and Luis Buñuel film classic.
An epic song, but i choose No. 13 Baby as my ultimate favourite
from the Dolittle album. Just like Alec Eiffel from Trompe Le Monde
it has got that mindblowing outro to it
One of the most beautiful pop songs ever made, and this
whether it's about drugs or not. Liverpool group The La's released this
miracle of a song in 1988 and then for the 2nd time in 1990. It is written
by Lee Mavers and the group disbanded in 1992 after re-
leasing only one album in 1990. I remember hearing this song for the
first time on the soundtrack to the 1997 film Fever Pitch, a
film after the Nick Hornby novel and i've heard There She Goes in some
damned commercial too
The Lemonheads fronted by the talented songwriter Evan
Dando made some great albums, It's a Shame about Ray in 1992 and Car
Button Cloth a couple of years later. On the latter one bass player
Bill Gibson had joined Dando, and he was once a member of great
Aussie bands as The Lime Spiders and Legendary The Eastern Dark (Walkin/Johnny
and Dee Dee/Julie is a Junkie).
The beautiful If I could talk i'd tell you is my favourite Lemonheads
song and it's from the Car Button Cloth album
The Most influental unknown album? The 1981 Fire of
Love by The Gun Club gave us something new, a mix of garage style punk
bluesy
psychobilly with a touch of southern Gris Gris magic to it. Fronted
by the troubled soul Jeffrey Lee Pierce they performed some sort of
silence-noice-silence-noice type of rock and their style must've inspired
Frank Black and The Pixies.
This album both looks and sounds dangerous. There's the mighty Fire
Spirit, there's is the manic Sex Beat and then there's the intense
and scary She's Like Heroin to Me
A Legendary Australian group that only existed for a
very short time between 1984-1986 before death ended it in a traffic
accident, and
before they could've had developed into something on the greatness level
of The Pixies. James Darroch ex-Celibate Rifles on guitar and song,
Bill Gibson ex-Lime Spiders pre-Lemonheads on bass and Geoff Milne on
drums made only one single and a mindblowing great mini album
before the fatal car crash in 1986, R.I.P. James Darroch. This great
mini album was released on Waterfront Records and on another label in
Europe. Yes, those were the days when aussie alternative rock had listeners
and record buyers also in Europe and i remember that this album
was recommended to me by one of the members of the great but forgotten
Swedish garage band The Pushtwangers.
The album starts with a BANG, the powerful Walking
Matthew Sweet, the maker of almost perfect pop songs
and virtually unknown i guess, him too. This lovely tune Sick of Myself
has got some
adorable fake endings and amazing guitar work and it was released in
1995 as a CD single on the Zoo Entertainment label. I remember playing
it over and over and over again, aaaah those were the happy indie days
long before the attack of the wailing Idol creepozoids
The Pop! Finally a band that actually was a "real"
Power Pop band, that played this type of North American pop that existed
in the
1970's and beginning of the 1980's. This California group released 2
forgotten albums, The Pop in 1977 and Go! in 1979.
They were almost unknown then, with the exception of some genre fans,
and are still unknown today. This is extinct and forgotten
but beautiful late 1970's pop music. I remember buying their 1st lp
and the single Down on the Boulevard.
This shimmering gem of a song has only got a few hits on Youtube - Shame
on Us - it's a rotten world
I remember seeing the music video to Popular on MTV
in 1996 and, after a sprint to the record shop, i played this song the
whole
summer, over and over again. The video depicts Highschool life á
la Hollywood style with all it's given clichés and may be a bit
annoying to some. BUT, when the chorus hits it really hits BIG. Another
genius production from Ric Ocasek from The Cars, who
also produced Weezer's Blue Album. Listen to the teacher kids, don't
forget the Teenage Guide to Popularity
Amazing record this was, the blue album by Weezer, their
1994 debut produced by Ric Ocazek. It became an instant world wide
superhit. Fronted by the talented Rivers Cuomo the album's full of smart
teenage power pop and Buddy Holly, helped by an
amazing music video, was a HUGE hit everywhere (and very much so also
in Sweden, we just loved it). However, my favourite
song of the album is the opening number, the somewhat mysterious and
unique My Name is Jonas
...........................................
BUT ...... from 1976 and still The Best "POP"
Song Ever
Blietzkrieg
Bop by the Ramones, Punk or Perfect
Pop?
Pushy Parents - Secret
Secret - Most Underrated Power
pop Song of the year 2011 ?
2011 EP on Elefant Records
What's this then ? The Answer: A really obscure Swedish
indie pop project released on the fine Spanish Elefant label.
An EP with the very catchy song Secret Secret and 3 more songs. Secret
Secret with a sugary sweet twee pop feeling
to it, but also with such perfect classic pop harmonies that it gets
stuck in your head. It should've been played every-
where, in a better world that is. The music video is delightfully sugary
with kids playing the instruments and the creators
of this sweet indie bliss are Amanda Aldervall, Roger Gunnarsson, Daniel
Jansson and Le Prix. Buy it at Elefant Records
...........................................
Alert! Power Pop Alert. Alert! Power Pop Alert
Juniper Moon - Beautiful
Crystal Clear Power Punk Pop in spanish from an almost unknown group
of youngsters
El
resto de mi vida
Their Lost and/or Classic 2002 Album.
Re-released in 2010 by Barcelona based Elefant Records
Listen to their beautiful Sólo una sunrisa on
the Youtube video below
These talented youngsters came from the small town of
Ponferrada, Léon, near the Portuguese border and the group
existed between 1997-2004. Unique in their style among Spanish indie
bands with their energetic, fast, loud and
gorgeous power punk pop. A lot of fast guitars, a Hammond organ and
the fine red haired vocalist Sandra
El
Grupo
This spanish indie rock band won all the critics heart,
but not the record buyers, popular and with a cult following in Japan,
Peru and Mexico
and somewhat in the UK after being included on a indie collection and
radio play. How could they not be popular in Spain - they are almost
unknown in their homeland? Well, besides the Galician bands The Killer
Barbies and Aerolineas Federales spanish indierock seems to be, a
bit twee-ish and maybe too cute, often - but not always, there a lot
of interesting music in Spain and on Elefant records. Bands as Single,
Le Mans, Linda Guilala and Krautrock inspired electronic duo Svper (ex
Pegasvs) are all really great.
The groups core members were Sandra
on guitar/vocals, Iván on drums, Eva on keyboards, Dado on guitar
and Jaime on bass/vocals.
Eva and Iván has started the new duo-group Linda Guilala
with fine melodic electronic pop and getting heavier and more
progressive with
their great 2016 album Psiconáutica (released also in a limited
vinyl album 500 ex edition) and they're very recommended.
Juniper Moon made a couple of great singles, among them Volverás
in 1999 and Sólo una sunrisa (only a smile) with a fine music
video in
january 2003. What is Sandra doing today? We are waiting for your return
You talented girl ...
Below middle pic, a Japanese compilation album from
2010
...........................................
Joy Formidable - The Big Roar
- maybe
the 2011 alt. indie rock Album of the Year ?
The Joy Formidable - a powerful Welsh trio who plays
really loud melodic indie rock with lots and lots of gorgeous hooks
and they could be destined for Super Stardom? But probably not
Great album
Heavy and delightfully melodic indie rockband trio formed
in Mold, Wales in 2007 fronted by the dynamic lead
singer and guitarist Ritzy Brien, with her childhood buddy Rhydian Dafydd
on bass and Matt Thomas, drums.
They released 2 singles, Austere and Cradle in 2008 and a mini album
EP in 2009. The Big Roar was released in
january 2011 to world wide critical acclaim. Very soon they gained a
reputation as UK's No.1 Live performance
attraction with their intensity and Ritzy's charisma. They've toured
a lot also in the US and could be destined for
Super Hugeness? But, they've this Big Sound to them and there could
be a risk of them falling into the Stadium Rock
fold in the future, but let's hope not. When i first wrote this in 2011
the band was completely unknown in Sweden
My first meeting with
The Joy Formidable made me levitate. I'm not kidding - they're that
good, really
Date: October 7th 2011 Place: New York,
Ed Sullivan Theatre, Late Show with David Letterman
Dave and his house band lead by Paul Shaffer have always
had über great bands playing Live. I first saw The Pixies on this
show.
Paul once named UO's Sister Havana the greatest rocksong ever. The mighty
Warren Zevon always played there, also just before
his death in cancer. So i LOVE Dave and Paul. Dave introduced the band
as a trio from Wales and i watched them, a bit blasé honestly,
start their song Whirring. 30 seconds later ......
i was levitating half a metre over my TV sofa.
Then on to the computer and listening to Youtube clips on repeat. Next
day, shopping time. Good idea, wasn't it? I visited 2 of my
home-town Stockholm's most renown indie record stores and .... No One
had even heard about the group. At the third place (Pet Sounds)
a guy there knew about them and liked them and ordered it for me
Listen to the official video of Whirring,
the greatest song of 2011 for many
The Great Musician/Songwriter Ritzy Brien
...........................................
And, then we've a cool Norwegian artist. Is that really
possible? Yes, it is. Her name is Ida Maria Sivertsen,
that
girl with the gravelly voice. Listen
to the really great Music Video of ......
Her 1st album Fortress Round My Heart
2008 had some great songs and some less great, but was a promising debut.
However, this girl
she's the real thing Live (something of a rarity today) and she explodes
on stage with furious energy. Therefore Ida was a highly in
demand Live artist and she toured intensely for 2 years in a row in
the UK and the US getting rave reviews, before having a Meltdown
in Boston september 2009. Then she took a Time-Out from the business.
Get well Ida Maria, she was the coolest Norwegian alive for sure
...........................................
Raw 1980's US New Wave: Wild, Experimental, Scary and Influental. The
Missing Link
OK, there were some great Post-Punk New Wave bands in UK as Cure, Joy
Division, Monochrome Set etc. but mostly lame synth bands
or minimalistic art student type of groups with maybe a bit too much
pretension. But, hey that's me, as i know many of these bands are
indie cult bands today as Marine Girls or Young Marble Giants. But I
was missing the energy from the 1970's, so where was it ?
The Missing link between the 1970's punk bands and the re-animated music
scene with the indie alt.rock movement ignited by The Pixies
in 1987? This raw power and energy could be found in the US with post-punk
hardcore new wave bands as Hüsker Du, Black Flag, Dead
Kennedys, Flipper, Violent Femmes, Cramps, Agent Orange, Sonic Youth,
TSOL, Wall of Voodoo and the mighty Gun Club. Where else?
So, here are some favourites of mine ... (note: as this
is Youtube the videos can disappear at any time)
A great enigmatic band led by the charismatic Stan Ridgway.
Debuted 1980 with an amazing experimental garage synth-rock EP,
including Longarm and a Killer synthetic version of the Johnny Cash
classic Ring of Fire. Factory is another great song of theirs and
their only almost a Hit song was the uniquely quirky and funny Mexican
Radio.
The above Youtube Live clip is from the absolutely crazy and wild 1981
music film Urgh! A Music War. A very recommended film
Flipper
Pic at right; the 1980-81 Live DVD from
US Target Video. The Flipper DVD has two
Live concerts:
1. Live at Bereley Square San Francisco juli 1980 - en tidig ostrukturerad
konsert, 35 min med bla Ha, Ha, Ha,
Love canal och The Wheel
2. Live at Kezar Stadium San Francisco maj 1981 - nu betydligt tyngre
och hypnotiskt malande, 36 min, and
3. Sex Bomb - Live at Cable Channel TV 1983
4. About Flipper and Target Video, textsheet av Will York
An influental (and Yes, Kurt Cobain loved them, too)
avantgarde slow-fi hardcore US band that took us on a scary journey
into rock
chaos. Fondly remembered for hardcore classics as Ha Ha Ha, Love Canal
and Sex Bomb. This is Pure Energy and far, far from lame
british farts as Depeche Mode, Spandau Ballet or Duran Duran etc. Listen
to their powerfully minimalistic Ha Ha Ha on Youtube
Ett av de legendariska US rockbanden, hardcore-experimentella-slow
fi-punk...något, Flipper, en av länkarna
mellan 70-talets power pop/punk-scen och det sena 80-talets indie rock
explosion med Pixies, Nirvana och The
Smashing Pumpkins. Kaotiskt, skramligt, tungt hotfullt och ständigt
på gränsen till total upplösning.
Flipper lär ha varit saliga Kurt Cobains favoritgrupp, Not Bad.
En gång hade jag klassikerna Ha, Ha, Ha, Love Canal och Sex Bomb
på vinyl från små underground skivbolag,
men sålde dem för någon tia eller så.....aaaargh....
An even more influential rock group that melted 50's
rockabilly and 60's garage into a new music genre - Psychobilly.
I bought everything by them since their 2nd single and 8 years onwards.
Finally i saw them Live in 1986 at Göta Lejon, Stockholm.
They may be the first genre band to make tribute to The Big American
Treasure of Trash Culture, to great obscure music and to the
Great and much beloved US Grindhouse genre (and to Russ Meyer's Faster
Pussycat, Kill! Kill!) and a loooong time before hipsters
like Quentin Tarantino did. Lux Interior and Poison Ivy, the greatest
couple in rock? Lux died in February 2009 - R.I.P.
Los Abandoned
- a great, almost unknown and disbanded
spanglish power pop band from Van Nuys, Los Angeles
Mix Tape (2006, Vapor) A Great 2006
Album (review in Swedish below)
Jag upptäckte denna finfina grupp först 2009,
och deras enda riktiga album Mix Tape från 2006 har gått
varm i min spelare sen dess. Massor av
livsbejakande skön och smart power pop-rock i en lyckad blandning
av latino influenser, pop och punk i bästa garagestil. Inte en
enda svag
låt på plattan av denna fina LA grupp ledda av begåvade
sångerskan låtskriverskan amerikansk-chilenskan Lady P eller
Pilar Díaz.
De sjunger på engelska, ibland på spanska och ibland både
och, Spanglish. Många bra låtar alltså, Van Nuys,
Pantalón, A la mode, Stalk U och
inte minst den avslutande State of Affairs är en
favorit - en KANON platta helt enkelt!
Kollade med min favorit skivaffär i Stockholm (S:t
Eriksgatan) och ingen hade naturligtvis hört talas om gruppen.
Sorgligt på en så fint band.
Pilar's avväpnande och charmigt ironiska kärleksförklaring
till genomsunkiga Van Nuys i norra LA är gjord
med glimten i ögat i highschool movie
skatepunk stil (kanske en homage till Nada Surf's 90-talsklassiker Popular?).
Men en helt bedårande kärlekssång till en av de sunkigaste
delarna
av Los Angeles med dess människor är den i alla fall och gulligt
taffliga cheerleader tjejerna i bakgrunden är söta också.
Fulla av ungdom, energi
och livsglädje är de kanske inte ens medvetna än om att
de kommer från FEL sida av staden, vilket livet väl snart
kommer att lära dem, SUCK.
Så, gläds med Pilar och resten av bandet ungar och njut av
livet så länge det går Kids.
Gruppen splittrades 2007
men hann släppa 2 EP, en 7" och så detta album som möttes
av strålande kritik från musikpressen i USA.
Sång, låtskrivare och gruppens ledargestalt var Lady P./Pilar
Díaz (ukulele och även klaviatur, gitarr etc.) som flyttade
från Chile till Van Nuys
i LA när hon var 10 år och hon kör vidare på egen
hand (se mer nedan).
Gitarr, låtar - Don Verde
(Dave Green) , basgitarr - Vira Lata ( Moises Baquiero) och på
trummor Dulce (Anthony Reyes)
Pilar Díaz
Med sin ukulele - tycks
vara något av ett modeinstrument nu - i Quiksilver projektet
Pilar har fortsatt med sin musikkarriär
efter splittringen 2007 och övergett sin sköna power pop-rock
för mer Art-alternative music.
Bl a i Quiksilver site La projektet med ukulele-alternative-latino-Gameboy
remix experimenterande. Seriöst? Ganska. Trist? Nej, njaaee, tjaa.
Pilar Díaz nya riktning med art-alternative experimental latino
färgad (pop) musik (ev. lite påminnande om mexikanskan Julieta
Venegas
tidiga stil) kan kanske intressera fler än de gamla offer som jag
som föredrar mer power pop garage. Hoppas att Pilar låter
höra av sig igen.
Listen to her pretty cool Friday
the 13th (trece) Gameboy Remix on Youtube
The
EP
1. Urge Overkill - Sister Havana
Urge Overkill - Effigy - 
2. Frank Black - Los Angeles
3. Pixies - No. 13 Baby
...... 
4. The LA's - There She Goes ......
5. Lemonheads - If I Could Talk I'd Tell
You ...... 
6. Gun Club - She's Like Heroin
to Me ......
7. The Eastern Dark - Walking ......
8. Matthew Sweet - Sick of Myself
...... 
9. Breeders - Cannonball
...... 
9b. The Pop! - Down on the Boulevard
...... 
10a. Nada Surf - Popular
...... 
10b. Weezer - My name is Jonas ......
Blietzkrieg
Bop by the Ramones, Punk or Perfect
Pop?
2011 EP on Elefant Records
El
resto de mi vida
El
Grupo
Great album
The Great Musician/Songwriter Ritzy Brien 
She
had a great Live Power
Wall of Voodoo
Flipper
The Cramps
Pilar Díaz