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BAND: THE RUDDS
TITLE: rudds
ON: Sodapop 2003
www.sodapoprecords.net

    The Rudds are a showcase for the unstoppable, untoppable John Powhida, singer/songwriter/multi-instrumentalist and rock frontman of the first order.
    Boston native (by way of Albany) Powhida dazzles with high-flying vocal chops (an unusual mix of Robin Zander and Prince) on these 13 hard hitting rockers. Powhida is joined on this recording by the most excellent Brett Rosenberg (lead guitar/vocals), Jamie Griffith (bass) and Pete Caldes (drums) . The Rudds (named after AC/DC's drummer Phil Rudd) cook on these uptempo rockers and Powhida is at his best when his appealing tenor voice rockets into top-gear falsetto (Oh Delilah). Another highlight is a well picked cover of "Burning Up" that tops Madonna's original. The other 12 cuts are all J Po. originals, peppered with references to Boston and Cambridge streetlife and nightspots.
    Hardworking Powhida can pull all this tricky shit off live too. He's an engaging frontman and plays hot guitar, and most impressively, when his drummer didn't make it to Charlie's Kitchen one nite, John grabbed the drumstix and took over on the skins for a full set while singing all these soaring leads.
Produced with flair by Mike Gent and Powhida, I don't know where they recorded it but it sounds damn good. Deep tones with a crisp and big-bottomed mix. The Rudds aren't garage style, the sound is more polished, with pro harmonies and hooks, a real classic rock sound. John has the charisma and talent to take the Rudds to the next level. Don't be suprised if he shows up at the Abbey with Sheena Easton on his arm.

Picks to Click: In Lieu.., Burning Up, Rock World, Oh Delilah
Cowboy Score: 835

BAND: BLOWFISH
TITLE: Blowfish in the New Wave
ON: no label 1977
www.punkblowfish.com

   Oddity from the glory days of rocking Kenmore Square. Funnyman Blowfish takes satirical aim at Willie Alexander, local radio, the Modern Lovers, punk rock, the New England Music City record chain and the Boston rock scene in general in this collection of novelty tunes and radio bits.
    Recently re-issued on a rather brief cd, this stuff was originally released on Varulven Records back in 1977 - the same year the "Live at the Rat" double album pushed Boston's underground rock explosion into the spotlight. The back cover of "Blowfish in the New Wave"' notes that "This was recorded on a Sony 4-track with only a pause button for editing". Pretty impressive considering that Blowfish must have been constantly pushing that button to construct these multi- soundsourced comic cuts. The Infliktors, George Harrison, Johnny Barnes, the Ramones and even Thundertrain's singer (Hey! Who hit me with that rock? ) get the wacky Blowfish treatment. The comic/ writer/ deejay puts his mimicry skills (Hit Me Wid De Ex-Lax) and decent guitar chops (Chord Book Blues) to good use on this nugget from the past.
    Many of these bits first aired on the Oedipus Demi Monde show on WTBS and it will certainly add to your enjoyment factor if you recall the 70's or perhaps spent some time hanging at the Aku Aku bar or the Aegean Fare restaurant over by New England Music City (Pew England Music City).
    We all knew we had a really healthy rock community thang happening once Blowfish (a.k.a. Paul Lovell) crashed the party and began skewering us with his inspired lampoons.

My Picks to Click: Glue England Music City (The Goys Are Back in Town and a funny Jonathan Richman parody), 40 Seconds of Ramones, Rock And Roll Cook, Live at the Rat
Cowboy Score: 775

Amazing journey deep into the heart and soul of the late Matthew Mackenzie, songwriter/singer/guitarist and leader of Boston's flash-foursome Reddy Teddy.
Disc one is the "Best of Reddy Teddy" featuring studio and live tracks from 1972-78. Opening with the Pete Townshend laced "Teddy Boy" (1973), Matthew & crew launch into the Rickenbacker-driven, triple vocal, anglo-harmony sound that became the Reddy Teddy hallmark. Matthew and hip shakin' vocalist John Morse are joined by Scott Barenwald (vocals/bass) and Bug Witt (drums) on many of these classic tracks.
Also included are cuts from the original line up that included Matthew and John's sixth grade classmates from Winchester Mass, Joe Marino (drums) and Ted von Rosenvinge (bass). Matthew's unforgettably melancholy melodies, fiery riffing and witty lyrics (Moron Rock, Babycycle, Sobourbon Lady) soar over gemlike musical arrangements that wink at big beat contemporaries like the New York Dolls (Helping Hand) and Willie Loco Alexander (Novelty Shoes).

Disc two, "Matthew Mackenzie and Friends" kicks off with the beautifully orchestrated "Crazy Jane" plus 4 other ambitous Reddy Teddy songs. Many of Mackenzie's delicately constructed compositions are veritable mini-operas and perhaps his romantic artistry was just too much for the mainstream to handle. Following the break up of Reddy Teddy, Mackenzie continued to rock and his excellent solo work from 1980 (Here By My Side) and with his later band The Roosters (Girls of the State) are well represented here.

Fascinating demos from 1972 (with brother Mike on drums) reveal the "Surrealistic Pillow" side of Mackenzie (Haunted). Courted by Mercury Records and adored by their Baystate following, the Teddy boys lived the true rockstar life in their Brookline mansion, Kilsyth Manor, surrounded by groupies, fellow musicians and other artists.

The band and their fabulous fans later adopted The Rat as their homebase, helping to turn that Kenmore Square cellarhole into an internationally known scene. Matthew Mackenzie and Reddy Teddy trail-blazed a market for original Boston rock that future beantown bands like the Neighborhoods, Mission of Burma and The Cars would later enjoy.

This forty song collection (all but one written by Matthew) has been lovingly restored and produced by Reddy Teddy singer John Morse and original RT bassist Ted von Rosenvinge with superb liner notes and vintage photos.

Picks to Click: Holy Poses, Goo Goo Eyes, Boys and Girls, Moon Out, Shark in the Dark, Madonna, Ooh Wow
CowboyScore: 950

TITLE: SUGABOMB
BAND: Sugabomb
ON: Lawless - 2003 www.sugabomb.com

Sugabomb spits out 12 nasty nuggets of greasy garage sleazepunk scraped from the underbelly of the Boston rock underground . Hell-kitten vocalist Vikki Sixx gives out free woodies while shredding axe-dude Dee Stroy grinds out a full-frontal-garage-meets-metal attack. Drummer Dave and bassist Sandybomb complete the fantastic four.
Kustom-made for the underground club scene that they call home, Sugabomb offer up plenty of hotroddin' sex (Bar Whore), violence (I Wish You Were Dead) and even some Motown (Get Ready).
Mouthwatering Vikki and her dirty little band play it straight and mean while the humor that fuels their repetoire (Titties, Eastie Greaseball) shines thru.
A highly recommended live band, Sugabomb cranks out their lightning-paced set Ramones-style, tossing in unexpected crowd-pleasing grenades like "I Believe in a Thing Called Love" or "Highway Star".
Sugabomb's showstopper is "(Do You Wanna Touch My) "Titties" (included on this cd) where Vikki shares the uplifting tale of the day she got unwanted attention sporting her "tight blue shirt" while getting soaked to the skin in a sudden downpour.
Songwriting is good throughout and is simply credited to Sugabomb. Production by Ed Riemer, Eric Law and Sugabomb, magnificently recorded at ER Studios, really nice cover design by CheesyGraphics.com too.

Picks to Click: Speedthrill, Sugardaddy, Highschool, Titties

Cowboy Score: 815

My Picks to Click: Nite of the Zombies, Supercharger, Vampire Girl and Smokin' Monkey.
My Big Beef: The production budget might have been a bit slim this time around. "Rock'N'Roll" has a frighteningly fuzzed-out carnival ride sound. Y' know, like when you're riding the Scrambler down at the Marshfield Fairgrounds and the ride operator (the fried dude in the Motley Crue t-shirt) blasts his older sister's "Theater of Pain" tape thru a huge stack of blown out Cerwin Vega speakers straight into your face.
Lo-fi can be kool - but these The Coffin Lids have a razorsharp sound that deserves a real studio job next time around. Cowboy Score: 775

My Picks to Click: "Teenage Booze Hound" is a good example of how the Vagrant Saints remind me of vintage Joe Walsh with their hooky riffs and clever lyrics.The heartfelt "Too Far Gone" is a Jaggeresque gem. Snyder's bayou flavored drumming rolls right into my current fave: "Coffee Cup Kicker".
Cowboy Score: 815

Hundred Proof roadhouse rock is on tap when this Boston quartet rolls into town.Three Day Threshold distill a brew of hillbilly stomps, pirate sea chanties, rave ups & Irish drinking songs and what they deliver is pure rock'n'roll moonshine. Strong songwriting here from Kier Byrnes & Sam Reid. Two guys who know how to borrow from folksy backwoods melodies and anglo roots music but twist it into a new kind of pretzel. Drummer Jack Morris drops the hammer down while guitarist Sam Reid keeps flinging those greasy licks into the fire. Bassman Johnny Ransom can rock like a Georgia Satellite or pull it back like a Buffalo Springfield. Kier Byrnes has a superb voice for this wild colonial boy stuff and his electric banjo playing adds to the distinct Three Day Threshold sound. I like the straight ahead, non-ironic, simple and true lyric writing and singing that is "Behind The Barn". I've been spinning this disc regularly since last summer. A winner for sure. Don't just take my word for it. Three Day Threshold have already appeared on the Van's Warped Tour and millions heard "Behind The Barn" when it was featured on the soundtrack of Paris Hilton's "Simple Life" tv show. Recorded at New Alliance Studio in Boston by Marc Schleicher and Nick Zampiello, "Behind The Barn" packs a lot of sonic punch. The engineers capture a big, deep sound but they leave the really energetic rough edges on there too. One of the best sounding records to come out of Boston yet.

My Picks to Click: Pub With No Beer, For Russ, 25 Minutes, Man With A Pitchfork and Behind The Barn. Next time you have to muck out the horse stall be sure to bring this baby along.
Cowboy Score: 960

June 2004 was declared Johnny Angel month, in recognition of Mr.Carmen's return (for one week only) to Boston and why not? The Cherubic One was all over town on his 7 day weekend. A good excuse as any, I say, to talk about two recent releases, one by Thrills, one by The Blackjacks, which demonstrate pretty well why this Angel fellow was such a legend around these parts. With all due respect to Sean, Merle, and Mike, Thrills was really the Barb Kitson-Johnny Angel show. Barb , on vocals and mini-skirt, had Mrs.Philip Spector down pat, with Johnny playing punk rock guitar (with some country licks thrown in here 'n there), writing the tunes ,and bouncing all over the stage. Imagine The Buzzcocks playing 60's girl group songs behind Ronnie S.and you have Thrills. This CD is a low-tech (homemade?) collection of the band's Modern Method single, their Star Rhythm EP, an unreleased studio track (the fantastic "Wait"), and two tunes recorded live at Metro. "Not Another Face In The Crowd", "Sorry", "I'll Be The Heartbreaker" and other faves are here for the greybeard/crow's feet set to enjoy once more, and this is a good primer for the young 'uns who like it fast, energetic and catchy all at once. I'm not sure how this collection was put together- my guess is from the actual records, and from cassettes. I mention this only because the sound levels vary dramatically from song to song, and I don't want you to be surprised. Highly recommeded, all the same.

Thrills were forced to endure a name change followed by relocating to NYC in their quest for fame and a decent egg cream, and that was the end of them, so our Johnny returned to Boston and formed The Blackjacks (initially a trio, then a quartet, the latter featuring Rafe Mabry on guitar and big hair) American Independents (get it?) is an entertaining collection of the many moods of the band. Their great "That's Why I Always Dress In Black" (with it's spoken verses) is Boston garage punk at it's 80's best, and "Generic New York City Woman" sounds like it's an outtake from L.A.M.F. And remember the "Blackjacks Manifesto"? That's here, too. The, er, BJ's, venture into power pop territory as well ("Simple Math", which sounds better today then back in yesteryear, "Dreaming Of Saturday Again") and wear their Stones influences on their sleeves (think "Between The Buttons" and "Exile"),even including their cover of "Dead Flowers". Johnny also does his imitation of Ian Hunter imitating Bob Dylan .
17 songs in all by the 'jacks, rarely a dull moment. Johnny left our low taxes, mild winters, and pennant-winning baseball team for California sometime in the late '80's/early '90's,and continued recording out west and 4 cuts are included. "Rosa Maria" is a straight ahead 70's rocker, but the next two show Johnny trying to join the '90's- "Ain't Gonna Beat My Head Against The Wall" sounds like the Red Hot Chili Peppers (if they didn't suck) with JA doing a pretty good Anthony Kiedis impression (normally, not a good thing, but perfect here) "Suzie's On Prozac" finds the boy doing his drop tuning, minor chord, flannel shirt grunge thing, a noble effort at the very least. Finally, one of my faves on this whole mess, called "Last Ride", featuring Johnny with two drummers (combined, they still make Meg White seem like Gene Krupa),doing a Stooges "No Fun/Wanna Be Your Dog" soundalike (with background vocals sung by Patti Smith's unknown twin) 21 tracks totals, good sound quality (would it have killed Mr.Carmen, who has been a professional writer for years in El Lay to whip off some liner notes??????),lots of variety, lots of fun, lots of dirty words ,too (a no-no in John Ashcroft's America, so be careful).

Thrills-Recorded Thrills
Available from www.dionysusrecords.com

The Blackjacks-- American Independents
Available from Retrospect Records
http://www.retrospectrecords.com/index.html

BAND: Thundertrain
TITLE: Teenage Suicide and Hell Tonight
CONTACT: Thundertrain Site
   This July, the (cough) esteemed Governor of the Bay State took some time off from drawing mustaches on John Kerry posters to personally arrange a police escort to ensure safe passage of the legendary Thundertrain, from their Concorde (now retired) to their private suite at the Madison Hotel.
    Why all the fuss? Simple! The ORIGINAL "MC5", as in "Middlesex County Five" were back in town, for one week only, to save the young children from Limp Bisquiks and Not So Hot Chili Peppers, and the older crowd from parrot heads and any/all new Stones studio recordings. Not an easy task, but somehow, the Nabobs of Natick took over stages in Boston, JP, Nashua, Woosta and Salem, and by gawd, once again, they showed we mere mortals HOW it should be done.
    Since that week, the electricity and running water have been restored in these communities, and the sudden increase in pregnancies seems to be leveling off finally....
For the two or three of you who don't remember this lethal quintet, Mssrs.Bell, Silva, Provost (TWO of 'em) and Edwards were the link between good hard rock (with a twist of glam tossed in) and garage/punk at a time when rock and roll was going through much needed changes.
    The '70's started off ok, lots of heavy bands playing lots of flashy stuff but things got a little silly after a while. 20 minute songs,10 minute solos, ... Thankfully there was Bowie/ Bolan/pre-perv Gary Glitter, Sweet, Stooges, the Dolls, and Slade to keep things fun and unpredictable, but it didn't last, and soon we were back in the soup again; Rick Wakeman, Jackson Browse, and solo LPs by Bill Wyman and Ron Wood! Thankfully, the CBGB's scene was happening, as was the London scene, not to mention our very own Boston scene, and before long, it was back to basics for rock and roll, and here's where Thundertrain come in.
    Here was a band with an outrageous lead singer and front man who moved like the proverbial 'tiger on vaseline' and sang/shouted like Slade's Noddy Holder; Mach Bell. On guitar, playing guitar hero, Steven Silva, playing as fast and furious (and as nimble fingered as) Johnny Winter in his prime. Swooping in and then out with his killer riffs, short, sweet, to the point. The Provost Brothers, Ric and Cool Gene keep the rhythm solid ,tight, powerful,(Gene doing some nice Thin Lizzy dual lead stuff with Steven once in a while, too) all the while driven by the secret weapon of the band, Bobby Edwards (Bobby!) on drums, keeping the beat strong ,with serious monster flash to top it all off.
    They were the bridge between the best of early '70's rock AND the return of straight ahead stripped down rock, with feet in both camps. 30 years later, Thundertrain came back to town to play for us for one special week, with TWO recordings on Gulcher Records for our approval! The first, Teenage Suicide, was the first-time-on-CD 2003 release of their original Jelly Records album (recorded 1976),featuring the infamous "Hot For Teacher" and "I Gotta Rock", plus extras including the song Tyler/Perry only WISH they wrote, "Cindy Is A Sleeper", live stuff, PLUS interviews, an ad for a gig back in the day, and a cool booklet with interviews, pix,history, etc.
    The second CD, "Hell Tonight" is Thundertrain live, on stage, recorded for WCOZ (!!!!) broadcast back in '79, all material seeing the light of day for the first time now. "I Gotta Rock" is here, as is Slade's "Mama Weer All Crazee Now", "Hot For Teacher" and the gem of the set, the Standells' "Dirty Water", with Mach poking fun at all of the crap on the radio at that time (disco, Barry Manilow, disco, Debby Boone, and disco). You haven't lived until you hear Mach parodying "At The Copa". (note:'COZ had to bleep Mach's cry of 'disco sucks' during the broadcast;1979 was such a quaint time, wasn't it?)
I'd love to hear Mach's take these days on Eminem, Britney, Godsmack and 50 Cent from the stage sometime- maybe next year?
    Both CDs have great sound quality and demonstrate Thundertrain's energetic riff-rock to it's fullest. I like the live one a tad better, with it's louder sounding guitars and that extra "oomph" that a live show can bring out. Then again, the studio ain't chopped liver either.

   These guys do one thing, they rock hard, and if that's your thing, you need one or both of these. ( Mach writes for the BGN sometimes, maybe he'll sign 'em for you at the premiere of the Thundertrain movie!!!!) I'm hoping hoping hoping we'll see the boys in these parts in '05, perhaps raiding the vaults to put more madness on CD.
    Fellas? Gulcher? Whaddya say?