Sunday, October 20, 2019 KSFR, Santa Fe, NM Webcasting! 10 p.m. to midnight Sundays Mountain Time Host: Steve Terrell 101.1 FM
Email me during the show! terrel(at)ksfr.org
Here's my playlist :
OPENING THEME: Let It Out (Let it All Hang Out) by The Hombres
Monster by Nobunny
Begone by Daddy Long Legs
The Experimenter by Thee Oh Sees
Hungry Baby by Kim Gordon
Persona by Nots
A Different Kind of Ugly by Sons of Hercules
What About You by The Jackets
Never Did No Wanderin' by The Folksmen
RIP Nick Tosches
Drinkin' Wine Spo-Dee-O-Dee by Jerry Lee Lewis
Volare by Dean Martin
Garbageman by The Cramps
Breaking You Down by Left Lane Cruiser
Drop Out Boogie by Captain Beefheart & The Magic Band
Gimme Danger by Iggy Pop
Poison Ivy by Imperial Wax
Trippin' Like I Do by Mystic Braves
Girl by REQ'D
Show Your Love by The Toy Trucks
Forgiveness Through Pain by The Yawpers
Achin' to Be by The Replacements
Harar 1883 by The Mekons
Sucka Punch (Get Back) by Dinola
Cain by Churchwood
Everybody Loves a Clown by Gary Lewis & The Playboys
As Old As Espanola by Boris McCutcheon
Whiskey and a Woodstove by Hoth Brothers
Blind Kinky Friedman by Kinky Friedman
Crawl by Eilen Jewell
My Love by Dion
That's Life by Frank Sinatra CLOSING THEME: Over the Rainbow by Jerry Lee Lewis
Some know him as Chuck McGill, brother of Slippin' Jimmy on Better Call Saul. Some know him as Lenny, Squiggy's pal on Lavern & Shirley,
But when I think of Michael McKean, who turns 71 today, I think of David St. Hubbins, guitarist, singer and co-frontman of fictional metal monsters Spinal Tap.
So here's a musical salute in honor of McKean's/St. Hubbins' birthday. Turn it to 11!
Here's a live performance of "Stonehenge,"
Everyone likes a big bottom!
McKean, along with Christopher Guest and Harry Shearer, also was a member of another band, The Folksmen, who we met in the under-rated Guest movie A Mighty Wind.
Sunday, October 13, 2019 KSFR, Santa Fe, NM Webcasting! 10 p.m. to midnight Sundays Mountain Time Host: Steve Terrell 101.1 FM
Email me during the show! terrel(at)ksfr.org
Here's my playlist :
OPENING THEME: Let It Out (Let it All Hang Out) by The Hombres
Gangster of Love by Johnny "Guitar" Watson
Evil Thing by Thee Headcoatees
I Won't by The Replacements
Mirage by The Mekons
Pretty Girl Snatcher by LoveStruck
Maybe Your Baby by The Dirtbombs
Mosquito by Ghost Wolves
Scepter by Sleeve Cannon
She Was Mine by Fire Bad!
CBD by The Toy Trucks
Half-Painted House by Nots
Sweet Thang by Jack Oblivion & The Dream Killers
Nadine by Harlan T. Bobo
Love All of Me by The Jon Spencer Blues Explosion
Dick Shake by The Juke Joint Pimps
Bermuda by Roky Erickson
Roky Sais by Dead Ghosts
Dirt Bag Fever by Quintron
Dreaming by Blondie
Million Times by Alien Space Kitchen
Sheela Na Gig by P.J. Harvey
Kiss This Year Goodbye by Råttanson
Collapse by Sex Hoggs II
Gazing from the Shore by Mark Lanegan Band
Agreeable Woman by James Wayne
Hey Fat Boy by Ween
Hail Hail, John Cale by Count Vaseline
Commotion by Creedence Clearwater Revival
Marie's the Name by Sha Na Na
Carolina Hard Core Ecstasy by Frank Zappa, Capt. Beefheart & The Mothers
Funnel of Love by Mike Ness
Robbers & Bandits & Bastards & Thieves by Drywall
Beeswing by Richard Thompson
I Only Have Eyes for You by The Flamingos
No Easy Way Down by Mark Eitzel CLOSING THEME: Over the Rainbow by Jerry Lee Lewis
Sunday, Oct. 13, 2019 KSFR, Santa Fe, NM Webcasting! 8 am to 10 am Sundays Mountain Time Substitute Host: Steve Terrell 101.1 FM
Email me during the show! terrel(at)ksfr.org Here's the playlist :
Hang Me, Oh Hang Me by Dave Van Ronk
The Mayor of MacDougal Street by Tom Paxton
The Mermaid Song by Jim Kweskin
Let the Mermaids Flirt with Me by Mississippi John Hurt
Nobody's Darling But Mine by Gov. Jimmy Davis
Meet Me at the Ice House, Lizzie by The Hoosier Hot Shots
I Want to Live and Love by Maddox Brothers & Rose
No Drunkard Can Enter There by The Delmore Brothers
Whoop 'em Up, Cindy by Uncle Dave Macon
Ex-Presidents Waltz by Dave Massengill
Matthew by Tyler Chiders
Life of Sin by Sturgill Simpson
Mighty Lonesome Man by James Hand
This Town Gets Around by Margo Price
Miles to Go by Eilen Jewell
Dolores by Eddie Noack
California Hippie Murders by Red River Dave
Lone Wolf Waltz by Martha Fields
Hank Williams Set
Howlin' At the Moon by Hank Williams
Has Anybody Here Seen Hank by The Waterboys
Hank Williams' Ghost by Darrell Scott
Mrs. Hank Williams by Fred Eaglesmith
Hank Williams Records by Hellbound Glory
Nashville Radio by Jon Langford
I'm a Long Gone Daddy by Hank Williams
In the Jailhouse Now by Dale Watson
She's in the Graveyard Now by Earl McDonald's Original Louisville Jug Band
Hard Travelin' by Simon Stokes
The Last Kind Words by David Johansen & The Harry Smiths
Geeshie by The Mekons
One Hour Mama by Rhiannon Giddens
Down on Me by Eddie Head & Family
Old Dog Tray by Peter Stampfel
Dreaming My Dreams by Emmylou Harris & Rodney Crowell
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A version of this was published in The Santa Fe New Mexican Octber 11, 2019
Besides their music, one thing I like about the “garage-punk space-pop” trio from Albuquerque known as Alien Space Kitchen is that they have a better record of keeping promises than most politicians.
Early this year, they self-released The Golden Age of Climate Change: The ASK EP Project, Volume 1, a 7-song burst of joy concerning the pending last gasp of human history. I enjoyed that EP but took the group’s plan to release a new CD every three months with a grain — no, actually a pillar — of salt.
But my skepticism was for naught. By early summer Alien Space Kitchen — which consists of singer/guitarists Dru Vaughter, drummer/vocalist Noelle Graney and bassist Terry “Mess” Messal — released Give Punk a Chance: The ASK EP Project, Volume 2. Then just a few weeks ago they added Return of the Muckrakers: The ASK EP Project, Volume 3 to their discography. So they’re pretty much on schedule.
As the title might imply, most of the eight tunes on Give Punk a Chance are slightly faster, slightly harder-edged and slightly punkier than most of ASK’s music (though their fans shouldn’t have any trouble recognizing the band).
“It’s so easy you will see/It’s not rocket surgery,” Vaughter sings on the title song, before launching into an unexplained refrain of “God is dead, don’t ask me if I care.”
Another highlight of this EP is the urgent-sounding “505,” a salute, if backhandedly so, to the band’s homeland. “I’ve done my time in the 505,” goes the chorus.
The EP exits with “Enter the Void,” at just over four minutes, the longest song on the record. It starts out with some uncharacteristic acoustic guitar strumming. The electricity soon comes back on, though, and the tempo quickens. By the chorus, it sounds like full-fledged punk rock.
The lyrics deal with “lessons” learned at school: “Today at school they learned me how/to disavow the here and now.” Such observations are intertwined with sly references to classic advertising slogans. “Maybe I should give it up/’cause I’m not feelin’ 7-Up,” Vaughter sings, (reminding me of one of my favorite scenes in Repo Man.)
Like the other ASK EPs, Muckrakers is short but packed with musical goodies.
The first track that really grabbed me here is “This Will Take Time,” one of the group’s trademark cheerful doomsday ditties. This one features the refrain, “The world is in denial/We’re in a downward spiral/We’re dancin’ with the Devil every day …”
While several songs have underlying political messages, “Police Brutality” is a bonafide protest song. “Police brutality every day/What the hell’s going on in the USA?”
Alien Space Kitchen conjures the ghost of a major 20th-century religious thought leader in the song “Jimmy Jones.”
The warning here, in an age where the president is looking more and more like a cult leader, is to not drink the Flavor Aid. (And yes, Vaughter got the correct brand name of the last-call-at-Jonestown drink.) “We’ve got to take a crazy stand before they kill us all/Jim Jones is still among us, his writing’s on the wall,” he sings.
Here’s a quibble: I know what he’s trying to say, but wasn’t “They’re going to kill us! … We’ve got to make a stand” basically what Jim Jones was babbling about as his followers were collapsing around him?
I’m not sure why Alien Space Kitchen chose to do a series of EPs instead of a regular-length album. But having listened to three of them so far, I believe the format works.
I remember the Golden Age of CDs (which preceded The Golden Age of Climate Change by a few decades) when many artists felt obligated to practically fill up each compact disc so it seemed like every album was at least an hour long. Few albums warranted that.
In contrast, the ASK EPs range from 18 to 26 minutes each and, to borrow the title of an old Jerry Lee Lewis box set, they’re all killer, no filler.
In a recent radio interview, Vaughter and Graney said they actually have two more EPs in the can, and Volume 4, which they say will have a completely different sound, will be unleashed late this year or early next. I’m already looking forward.
Also recommended:
* Ride the Tuskby Sex Hogs II. Here’s another EP (five songs, just under 13 minutes) by another garagey/punky trio with roots in this enchanted land. Drummer Nate Daly — I guess you’d call him the boss Hog — played in an Albuquerque band called The Scrams until a few years ago when he scrammed off to Chico, California.
The music is tight, punchy, and pretty melodic. There is plenty of acoustic guitar, played by “Guitar Hog” ( Johnny Meehan).
The finest moment on the whole album has to be Meehan’s crazy, shredding guitar solo on the song “No Blame.” But coming close to that is the crazy, shredding — and all-too-brief — harmonica solo (by I don’t know which Hog) on the final song, “Bricks.”
Both Sex Hogs II and Alien Space Kitchen sell their music, including all the titles mentioned here, through Bandcamp.com. Go buy their stuff. Video Time! I couldn't find any videos for Sex Hogs II, but here's Alien Space Kitchen performing "Give Punk a Chance" at a recent Santa Fe show
Here's one of my favorites from Return of the Muckrakers
