Shake Appeal is a column that highlights new garage and garage-adjacent releases. This week, Evan Minsker discusses an archival live record from the Gories, the latest from Cheap Time, a new full-length from Buck Biloxi and the Fucks, a West Coast garage comp curated by Sonny Smith, and the debut LP from Huntsville, Alabama's Nightmare Boyzzz.
The Gories: The Shaw Tapes: Live in Detroit 5/27/88 [Third Man]
Third Man puts out a lot of live records, but this one's special. It's Detroit garage rockers the Gories in their prime playing a local converted storefront the year before they put out their excellent debut album Houserockin'. Here, they rip through John Lee Hooker and Stooges covers. Right as they start "Again and Again", the music suddenly stops. You can faintly hear Mick Collins say to his band, "That was the fuse." Then, somebody else leans into the mic and announces to the room, "That was the fuse." Unlike most live albums, you can sense how small the space is; it's easy to pick out individual shouts and pieces of loud conversations. An essential addition to an iconic rock band's discography.
The Gories: "To Find Out" (Live) on SoundCloud.
Cheap Time: Exit Smiles [In the Red]
It's a big month for Cheap Time. While frontman Jeffrey Novak just put out his new solo album Lemon Kid (via Trouble in Mind), the band have returned with Exit Smiles, the best album they've released since their excellent 2008 debut. Exit Smiles is adventurous: "Same Surprise" follows a soaring melody that's reminiscent of the song structures on Television's Marquee Moon. They detonate a jagged, rapid-fire guitar sound on "Kill the Light". The vocals of "Slow Variety" are spat with a growl, then processed through a bunch of reverb and draped over a funky bass line. Throughout the LP, they ride these sprawling long-haul grooves; it's a good look for this band.
Buck Biloxi and the Fucks: Buck Biloxi and the Fucks [Red Lounge/Secret Identity]
This is this New Orleans band's second showing in this column. The muscle-punk basher "Holodeck Survivor" is one of the best garage releases of the year, so this full-length album, wherein the Fucks pay homage to the Ramones' Leave Home album art, comes as a very nice surprise. Here, they've got 16 songs in 23 minutes, every moment teeming with punk fury. The guitars rip and roar, usually leaning more toward Johnny Ramone than James Williamson. "I'm a terminator/ I'm a, I'm a terminator," they sing on "Lazerdeath". There's a song called "The Walls Have AIDS" where the chorus is just that phrase repeated several times. It's thrilling, well-crafted snot punk.
Buck Biloxi and the Fucks: "Who Gives a Fuck" on SoundCloud.
Various Artists: I Need You Bad [Polyvinyl]
Sonny Smith has curated a compilation of West Coast artists affiliated with the garage scene. He's carefully selected 15 tracks, most of them on the gentler end of the spectrum. Naturally, there's a Sunsets track in there, plus stuff by Magic Trick (Tim Cohen of the Fresh & Onlys), the Sandwitches, and the Memories. It's a well-curated compilation that establishes a cohesively relaxing vibe—with some gorgeous work by Jessica Pratt and Chris Cohen, this isn't exactly a wild-eyed punk record. I'd highly recommend "Hot Summer" by Cool Ghouls, a jangling surf tune that you'll want in your back pocket come beach season.
Nightmare Boyzzz: Bad Patterns [Slovenly]
When it comes to music, Huntsville, Alabama is perhaps best known for being the home of the recently reunited rap duo G-Side. But don't sleep on the rock'n'roll coming out of that city; this Nightmare Boyzzz album is really good. It's fast-churning power pop à la the Exploding Hearts, steeped in an extra coating of fuzz. "Bender" is a particular highlight, with its earworm hook cut with stabs of spastic, feedback-addled noise. Their vocals are nasal, their percussion thuds, and their melodies choogle. As King Louie Bankston says, everything points at the rafters.
Also Worth Hearing: Speaking of Bankston, there's a new EP from Missing Monuments (also on Slovenly); screaming, heavy psych from the Freeks (featuring FuManchu's Ruben Romano, LP out soon via Burger); new single from Cheap Trick-ian Boston punks Casanovas in Heat (via Katorga Works); organ-led psych from Mr. Elevator and the Brain Hotel (via Burger).
The Freeks: "Big Black Chunk" on SoundCloud.
Casanovas in Heat: "Belvidere" on SoundCloud.