Hell's Belles

Vintage sounds, dusty grooves, and 21st-century freaks.

This morning’s Soundcloud trawl has turned up a few beauties:

Fat Cat is no stranger to the scuzz, having given us the Awesome-Squared Odonis Odonis at the end of last year.  The parade of excellence continues with Milk Maid.  From their album ‘Mostly No’, out on July 9th.

I admit to being somewhat skeptical of Broken Hands when I turned up to see them at an A&R-packed show at the Bull and Gate several months ago.  Being on the young side, they literally wore their influences (Britpop) on their sleeves (and haircuts).  My internal chants of “pleasedon’tbelikeBrother pleasedon’tbelikeBrother pleasedon’tbelikeBrother” were cut violently short at the first chord.  Dudes can play. I expected (feared) a dirtier Oasis or Libertines, and got a psychedelic cocktail of  Tame Impala and The Stooges. If You Need To Lie is their second single, independently released on 7″ vinyl and download on May 28th.

Pepe Deluxe have been motoring for years, but they still manage to stay on the right side of kitsch. Go Supersonic is a fizzy J-pop-esque gem.

Stepping away from the 60s for a moment, I’ve pilfered this one from The Quietus’s Soundcloud feed – Gazelle Twin’s Changelings is given a dreamy electro-noire treatment by John Foxx and the Maths.

Johnny Thunder – as in the former singer of The Drifters, not the dearly-departed Johnny Thunders from the New York Dolls – cranks out his freakbeat/garage take on this Tommy James and The Shondells original. He absolutely KILLS it with glorious fuzz guitar that could saw through brick, and a wild vocal that’ll blow your house in.  Definitely a 45 for the want list.

Johnny Thunder – I’m Alive [click]

BLUES * SKA * GARAGE * SOUL * GIRLS

On Sunday, TT’s doing a vinyl set and scattering a frangrant pot pourri of quality ’60s sounds all over the dancefloor for about an hour around 6ish or 7ish at the Sunday afternoon/eve monthly at The Constitution, 42 St Pancras Way, Camden NW1.  It’s that lovely little boozer halfway between Camden and King’s Cross, set right on the canal.  £3 in and a great crowd.  Doors at 4.30, last orders at 10.30.

Your resident deck monkeys Jaybyrd Slim and Dapper D will be encouraging you to twist ‘n’ frug ‘n’ cut a rug, Simon, dame of the door will greet you with a wink and a smile and the cheap bar prices will leave some loot in your zoot suit.

In honour of the occasion, here’s a bit of Nitty Gritty – in French no less – from Marie Claire.  I ripped this from the Ultra Chicks CD series, long, long, deleted, but I’m sure it’s been comped elsewhere…

Marie Claire – Nitty Gritty by hells-belles

This is a crazy, killer semi-instrumental, with an emphasis on the “mental”.  It’s a smokin’ r ‘n b strut, with gritty guitars and what sounds like the crazy guy on the bus shouting rodeo patter over the top.  Beautiful.

I know nothing about the band, and can’t find anything elsewhere on the ‘net except other head-scratchers.  It appears the original 45 was released on Symbol in about 1965, but this track also appears on the long-deleted Sue Records boxset and the Shakin’ Fit comp, both of which go for ott money just for the CD – some hopeful on ebay had Shakin’ Fit listed for over $100.  For a CD.

Here’s hoping for a re-issue:

Pancho Villa & The Bandits – Ain’t That Bad by hells-belles

MP3: Pancho Villa & The Bandits – Ain’t That Bad

I think of Bob Seger mainly as a star of the 8-track cassette, with the Silver Bullet Band constantly on rotation in my Dad’s Lincoln.  Yes, we had an 8-track deck in the car, which was a Lincoln Town Car, no less. Want a late 70s/early 80s specimen of the stereotypical Italian-American family? Look no further than my dad’s “Land Yacht”.

Anyway, prior to the AOR stylings of Live Bullet, old Bob was quite the Detroit monster in his first (well, first semi-famous) guise as The Bob Seger System.  ”Ramblin’ Gamblin Man” could easily sit alongside Mitch Ryder or the MC5.  It’s hardly an obscure track – Bob resurrected it for the aforementioned live album in the 70s – but the original rocks way harder, even more amazingly so when you consider it’s accomplished without guitar. Sadly, it doesn’t seem to be readily available on CD. Admittedly I haven’t looked very hard, having scored a fine VG+ vinyl specimen of the 1969 album on eBay for a tenner . *smug*

TESTIFY:

MP3: The Bob Seger System – Ramblin’ Gamblin’ Man

Edited for the benefit of my UK friends unacquainted with the late-seventies American suburban road leviathan, the Lincoln Town Car.  Picture yourself cruising past the Burger King parking lot with the windows rolled down and blasting “Turn The Page” :