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THE MAHARAJAS Unrelated Statements, CD Low Impact Recordings, LIR 017-2, 2004, Sweden When I met Jens Lindberg here in Athens nearly 9 years ago, he was more into garage punk and RnB stuff. The days of Crimson Shadows, Highspeed V, Stomachmouths and Wylde Mammoths were already far past and at that time he had formed bands like The Blindshag and The Cliffhangers but they didnt put out any release. After his vacation in Greece and after meeting some guys and bands involved in the greek garage scene and especially The Cardinals, he left back to Stockholm and he was already another man His staying in Greece was really infective in his musical tastes, as he seemed that he just had discovered the moody garage beat that was popular by then in Athens mainly thanks to The Cardinals. When he got back to Stockholm he directly formed The Hymen Of Tongus and did a 45 on Misty Lane Records, in which Jens and the other Hymen were playing that kind of beat music which some months before Jens was experiencing in Athens The title of the Maharajas debut 10 mini album on Teen Sound Records some months later said it straight about the new kinda music Jens was in by then: Something Moody & Groovy!. Jens spent some really creative time with The Maggots, with whom he recalled his early garage punk routes but in the end he quitted, joining once again in The Maharajas. The Maharajas put out a 45 on the english Loser Records in 2001 and last year their debut full-length album on Teen Sound Records in Italy. I have written in my past review about H-Minor last year, that I had this feeling that the Maharajas with the addition of Mathias Lilja (ex-Strollers) are passing through a commutative period of their career that will lead them into something slightly different (which I dont know what it will be ) (see previous reviews in Thee Caves Dig The Fuzz section). This new album proves that I was completely right ! The addition of Matthias Lilja in The Maharajas along with the moody preferences of Jens sooner or later would work out as a volcanic chemical reaction in the bands music and style. This reaction exactly happened in this brand new 2nd album by The mighty Maharajas. Matthias piped the garage punk energy and attitude in The Maharajas music and Jens was ready to accept it once again and to mix it up perfectly with the moody sounds of his own. The result is this great album with unique garage punk energy, moody feelings and real attitude! A splendid blend of sounds, pictures and designs! Matthias has taken on the lead vocals on 12 of the 14 songs along with the guitar and organ while Jens is playing also guitar and wrote the half of the songs in here. The other half of the songs are written by Ulf Guttormsson who plays the bass and he proves that he is indeed a very good composer, I mean really good! Anders Oberg is on drums and youll get the picture of what the album sounds like by knowing that its produced by The Maggots leader, Mans P. Mansson. If you think that the moody and groovy days of The Maharajas are gone and past, trust me you are wrong. Just listen to gems like Another Turn (one of the best moments of the whole album!), Dead, Remember Our Love, Tastes Of Tears and Nice Guys Finish Last (!). But the truly inspired garage punk tunes (read: Music Machine & Standells inspiration) are the highlights of this superb new album: Medication, Im Fooled Again, Please Leave A Message (up-tempo Stones stomper), You For President and I Wont Die, all telling stories of lovin, hatin, cheatin and cryin! Hit of the record by the moment I am writing these lines is Alright!, a crude fuzz punker with nice vocal harmonies mixed up with India sounds (see: Maharajas origin), a perfect mixture of We The People and Music Machine! Ok, nuff said once again get this record NOW! Low Impact Records http://www.lowimpact.nu |
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THE TANDOORIS Walking Blind, CD No Fun Records, NFCD-011, 2003, Argentina I first listened to The Tandooris in the Butterfly Records 7 compilation last year, which included 4 North American garage bands. The Tandooris participated with You Complain Too Much and this was my fave out of that compilation. Thats why I did get their CD at first place anyway, because I dont usually pay for CDs I dont know their content. I dont do the same for vinyl though as any second-class vinyl record is always valuable as its simply vinyl This album is certainly no second-class but of great garage punk music. 9 originals and 3 covers from Juan Bordon, bass/vocals, Dario Georges vocals/guitar, David Gutierez drums/percussion/vocals. The organ sound isnt missing from the album as Mariano Esain, who isnt probably a steady member of the band, is joining in some of the songs. The Tandooris are what garage punk was always meant to be: Awesome, simple and authentic! The Tandooris: http://www.thetandooris.com.ar No Fun Records: http://www.nofunrecords.com |
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THE NUGGETS Back To The Bone, LP El Piso Records, EPT 001, 2003, Spain If there is a band that I could name as offspring of The Cynics, this undoubtedly is The Nuggets. Their sound, their guitar work and all the feeling that emerges from Back To The Bone reminds me no other band than the legendary Cynics. After 2 45s that came out from Impossible and Corduroy Records (Never Trusted You which opens the album featured as A-Side on the Corduroy 45 last year), Richie vocals, Jimmy guitar, Chuso bass/vocals and Javi drums are offering 10 strong garage tunes with this debut album of their own. The band is very tight and you can easily recognize that these Spanish guys are good musicians first of all. Besides the Cynics obvious inspiration, The Nuggets use a big dose of 70s punk and of course plenty of 60s garage and power pop elements. Los Nuggets: http://www.losnuggets.com |
By Caveman
01 March 2004
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