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GIVEAWAY: Win Tickets to See Radio Moscow, The Freeks & More in Long Beach, CA

Posted in Features on May 19th, 2016 by JJ Koczan

Next Thursday, May 26, Radio Moscow, The Freeks, Albatross Overdrive and Grand Old Evils hit The Federal Bar in Long Beach for a show put on by Knitting Factory Presents. Leave a comment on this post to be entered into a giveaway to win a pair of tickets to the show.

Now, if you know this site you know I’m broke as shit, so don’t even think travel is included. But if you’re in SoCal or you’re going to be, the lineup pretty much sells itself. Please make sure that if you enter you’ll be able to attend, and please make sure to put your email address in the comment form so I can contact you if you win. Your email will not be stored, or remembered, or sold, or any of that other shady shit that people do with email addresses these days. The only time you’ll hear from me is if you’re a winner.

So, as you’ve got nothing to lose and a night of kickass rock and roll to gain, I say have at it. Show poster, info, ticket links and so on follow here, and you can leave a comment at the bottom of the post.

Thanks to all who enter:

radio moscow poster

KNITTING FACTORY PRESENTS

Thursday May 26:
Radio Moscow, The Freeks, Albatross Overdrive, The Grand Old Evils

The Federal
102 Pine Ave
Long Beach, California 90802

Radio Moscow:

The power trio led by the Stratocaster genius Parker Griggs have found THE formula: Crunching, heavy Sabbath-style chords topped with fiery solos that earn the right to be called Hendrixian. RN plants their flag firmly in the territory where psychedelic rock and cranked-up blues meet. The sound is unabashedly retro (think Cream, Blue Cheer, Led Zep or Jimi Hendrix Experience)’ so it’s easy to see how it caught the ear of the Black Keys’ Dan Auerbach, who produced Radio Moscow’s 2007 self-titled debut.

With Brain Cycles, their second album, Radio Moscow proved they’re not a cheap time machine but a direct descendant from the golden age of rock ‘n’ roll. In 2011, Griggs continued his psychedelic trip with The Great Escape of Leslie Magnafuzz released by Alive Records. In June 2014, and still with Alive Records, the band released their most recent album Magical Dirt.

The Freeks:

Led by Ruben Romano (founding member of FuManchu and Nebula) and supported by Bob Lee on drums (Claw Hammer, Backbiter, Mike Watt), Tom Davies on bass (Nebula), Esteban Chavez on keys, and Jonathan Hall on guitar (Angry Samoans, Backbiter), the Freeks deliver raw, unrefined, screaming fuzzed psychedelic rock’n’roll music that is dream bent with tension and laced with Full On passion.

Albatross Overdrive:

Albatross Overdrive is a heavy rock band incorporating influences from Sabbath to James Brown. A definite bluesy undertone is present in the earthquake like songs with just a hint of funk. The diversity of melodies will keep the audience focused while the live show will demand respect.

Grand Old Evils:

The Grand Old Evils is Southern California’s newest oldest band, born to drink beer and melt your face with ear blasting dirty rock and massive sound!

http://lb.thefederalbar.com/calendar/?event_id=6570925
https://www.facebook.com/events/1050179788380679/
http://www.knittingfactory.com/

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Recommended Buried Treasure Pt. 4: Dragonfly, Dragonfly

Posted in Buried Treasure on November 15th, 2010 by JJ Koczan

I don’t remember who first recommended I check out Californian heavy proggers Dragonfly, but I’m going to give credit to Rock ‘n’ Roll Gina Brooks, who’s so rock ‘n’ roll that it’s in her name. And if it wasn’t her and it was you and you’re reading this, take it as a compliment that your recommendation would have kicked so much ass that I’d credit it to Gina. She’s been around the NYC rock scene longer than most of the bands, and knows her stuff second to none, so when she says, “You should check these guys out,” I listen. Hence Dragonfly‘s Dragonfly.

This past weekend was the Second Saturday Record Show in Wayne, NJ, which I know I’ve written about before, but from which I always seem to come away with something cool. Working one of the tables was Brian Hulitt of Void Records, who turned out to be a purveyor of all kinds of heavy/psychedelic obscurities, and though I stopped myself at five records — Dragonfly, Assassin by Pinnacle, The Human Beast‘s Vol. 1, a Void sampler, and Homer‘s Grown in U.S.A. (Hulitt also gave me a copy of Mushroom Palace by his band Ferguson Hulitt) — Dragonfly was the band I’d most been looking forward to hearing. They’d been on my Amazon wishlist for a while and were one of those “get there eventually” kinds of bands, so it was cool to stumble on “eventually” like that.

It’s not as dark or punkishly abrasive as the Pinnacle record, but Dragonfly has that classic buzzsaw guitar sound that stands a precursor to modern fuzz, and there are a couple genuinely killer tunes. Willie Dixon‘s “Hootchie Koochie Man” gets a rocking revisit, and the druggy psych of “Enjoy Yourself” makes it sound like even better advice than it otherwise might. “Crazy Woman” and “She Don’t Care,” together comprising just over five of the album’s 36 minutes, are two of its brightest moments, and the guitar solo on “Time Has Slipped Away” alone basically makes the album worth the price of admission, which, for the 2003 Progressive Line remaster I found at Hulitt‘s table (it’s the white cover as opposed to the greener one, which I believe is the original), was a whopping $10.

Dragonfly‘s Dragonfly was released in 1970, and I honestly don’t know what if anything the band did after it. The liner notes hint that Dragonfly may have been called Legend either before or after making this record, and all there is for lineup info are first initials and last names. How many dudes named R. Russell do you think there might have been in SoCal in the early ’70s? My guess is plenty. It’s a take it for what it is kind of situation, but with the heavy rocking “Blue Monday” for an opener, I’m more than happy to do just that, and though the recommendation’s origin is as much a mystery as the “where are they now,” I’m glad someone told me to check out Dragonfly, and thought, if you had the chance to do so, you might be too.

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Whose Rock is Fireball Ministry?

Posted in Reviews on April 26th, 2010 by JJ Koczan

There’s no denying that Hollywood rockers Fireball Ministry have, with their new self-titled on Restricted Release, crafted their most commercial album yet. They were never especially defiant in this regard before, but Fireball Ministry takes the band’s proven songwriting ability (a quick run through 1999’s Ou est la Rock? or 2003’s The Second Great Awakening should be enough to make you aware of their obvious chops in this regard) to new heights of accessibility, carrying across the otherwise unpretentious rocking material with a digital sheen only possible in this age of recording technology.

The centerpiece of Fireball Ministry’s attack has always been guitarist/vocalist James A. Rota. Working here with producer Andrew Alekel (Fu Manchu, The Company Band’s full-length), Rota sounds smoother than ever before on a track like “Fallen Believers,” which plunks along at mid-pace without ever really getting spirited or dynamic, or “Thought it Out,” which seems to reach in the direction of Fu Manchu-styled Californian fuzz but ultimately stops just short of pop-punk fluffery. The drums of John G. Oreshnick sound triggered, Johnny Chow’s bass is barely there, and Emily J. Burton, who provides backing vocals and guitar, seems to be resting almost entirely in line behind Rota’s riffing where some contrast between the two players would do a lot to add character to the material.

There is material on Fireball Ministry that hits with some impact, though. “Followed by a Fall” remains relatively un-neutered by the production it’s given, and “Butcher, Faker, Policy Maker” is such catchy and well-composed pop rock that it could have been recorded in a tin can and it would still be memorable. It’s not so much a question of the songs feeling uninspired or not accomplishing something creatively – and there shouldn’t be any doubt this is the record the band intended to make; Rota’s been heading Fireball Ministry for well over a decade now, and Restricted Release is owned by CKY’s Jess Margera (also Rota’s bandmate in supergroup The Company Band), so one doesn’t imagine there were tight deadlines or restrictions from that direction – but they’re simply lacking the punch that a more rock-centric production could have given them. Certainly they have nowhere near the weight they must carry in a live setting.

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