Rip van Winkle is a short story about a Dutch settler who escapes to the mountains from his naggin wife. He meets a group silent, bearded men who are playing nine-pins. Rip does not ask who they are, instead, he begins to drink some of their moonshine* and soon falls asleep for 20 years, so sleeping through the American War of Independence (1775-83). This is told by Shannon & The Clams in 50s style dirty sweet rock and roll

from the album Dreams In The Rat House on Hardly Art. Video is made by the many sided guitarist Cody Blanchard.

Euro tour May-June

*Term for illicitly distilled spirits in the US.

Tacocat about the order of street behavior

„Hey Girl” from the „post post punk pop pop” band’s new album „NVM” on Hardly Art

„the group of us there were listening to the Iron Curtain reissues, and we were kinda obsessed with the Christian Death Theatre of Pain album. I’m a bit older than Tom, so I was showing him Coil and Throbbing Gristle as well.”

„we know that’s the main aim of the sound: to get a sound that makes you feel sick in the stomach, because it sounds so good.” Dark, 70-80s horror film influenced cold wave synth punk from Australia by NUN. Debut album on Aarght (Aus) & Avant! Records (Italy)

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Hard rock but otherwise than Saxon. Post punk but harder than Gang of Four. The Protomartyr from Detroit

„Under Color of Official Right” album on Hardly Art

SNEERS. Berlin based Italian duo. Style: No Wave. Like: Lydia Lunch.

For Our Soul Uplifting Lights To Shine As Fires LP by Brigadisco

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Three girls + Eric form The Trashies is the Tacocat from Seattle. They love „candy, Hondas, the Mariners, Ramones, tacos, cats, weed, the Go-Go’s, cheerwine, feminist sci-fi, touring the land in a rock n’roll band, each other, you.”

NVM LP by Hardly Art

The Trashies play scum wave gunk rock
free albums: LSTF     WMAMGT     Singles and assorted bullshit     Space Jam

La Luz is a female garage pop band from Seattle. Big Big Blood

from the album „It’s Alive” by Hardly Art

Euro tour in March-April

Shannon & The Clams – Rat House

„is what SHANNON AND THE CLAMS (da) do (ron ron) heads and tails above and more importantly, BEYOND the other troglodytes and biscuit-heads out there. Can a group be a „girl group” if there is only one girl in the group? Can a modern working band be considered „oldies”? No silly, but the rules are none, and anything goes, and this is PUNK, punk. Or is it rock ‘n’ roll, or whatever? It is SHANNON AND THE CLAMS and they do what they want.” NOBUNNY

Rat House is taken from their latest album, Dreams in the Rat House

You Think You’re Tough

by Hunx & His Punx from Street Punk album

7″ by Hardly Art

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Toni Cutrone is a very active many-sided man. He runs the NO=FI Recordings and plays drums in the noise-rock Hiroshima Rocks Around and the wacky pop punk duo Trouble vs. Glue. Mai Mai Mai is his solo project. It is completely different than the mentioned acts. Debut album was mixed by Jamie Stewart (Xiu Xiu)

Theta LP by Boring Machines

And if you go to Rome then have to go to the Dal Verme Club. He co-runs it.

One thing I knew before getting acquainted with the music of Hunx & his Punx is that punk can handle any sort of weirdness basically, the more, the better. But I remember how I couldn’t really tell if it’s love or hate when it comes to Seth Bogart and his style –  is gay punk just a stupid joke? Or is it something that new bands are really lacking maybe? Since the irresistible  pop tunes of Hunx & his Punx took the control out of my hands, I don’t really care if it’s trashy and sometimes disgusting – as long as it’s fun and my parents would definitely hate it (oh and one more thing, I just love Shannon Shaw who’s also a lead figure in the band)

Here’s their new album, titled Street Punk, a twisted attempt, you might think and you are right. I’ve heard it somewhere that if you want to make an album as quick as possible, you should turn to street punk – so, whenever I hear the album title, I smell a big deal of irony – needless to say, even though the new songs have a more overdriven sound (especially the opening track Bad Skin),  it’s really far from street punk. But would you miss the soundtrack of supermasculine agression when you can have super-witty ill-behaved fun garage songs instead??

If you like to giggle, here’s a new video with 3 Hunx tracks and hilariously careful narration – the album is available from Hardly Art Records, one of my favorite labels these days!

in classic style

The new Hunx & His Punx album entirely

by Hardly Art

ps: There is a cover of an early Beastie Boys

Jacuzzi Boys – eazy lil psych grge rck frm Flrda

Double Vision 7″ by Hardly Art

nxt LP on spt 10.  prev LP fll strm

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Early Butthole Surferesque „lysergic drenched anthems for all your daily evil activities” by Satanic Rockers from Melbourne with kickass

Micro Manager from Fu Kung LP by Little Big Chief

I’m having this pretty weird vision in my head while I’m trying to grab the essence of Shannon and the Clams– I’m seeing a heartbroken John Waters trying to be a good girl, I’m seeing the sweetest pop music turning into a psycho-killer lollipop from too much overdrive and most of all I’m seeing lots of eccentric fucked-upness. Just look at these crazy Californian guys and you would probably know more of this band than any shitty record reviews could ever tell – the harshest of good old pin-up style, some weird uniforms, lots of gayness and colors everywhere, so obviously all of these (alongside with the catchy melodies) are about FUN and the result is fully pleasing.

Still, Shannon and the Clams are by no means a scam band with only one cheaply over-hyped debut album – Dreams in the Rat House is already their third full-length release while Shannon is also involved in Hunx and his Punks (another brilliantly gay band) and Cody is simply King Lollipop –  I honestly think they’re just getting better and better in their songwriting skills. If I was a bitch, I would even be envious of them, haha.

All in all, this LP is a perfect pick for the summer for any record junkies who enjoy surf pop with an almost sickening overdose of a hundred different bubblegum flavors, or who appreciate some troubled, nastier allusions meanwhile, or who are still fond of the garage ideal (i. e. exploding band dynamics plus infectious energies) or who are really fed up with bands trying to make an intellectual / arty impression. 

Dreams in the Rat House is out now on Hardly Art Records – sorry for demonstrating the album here so poorly but I’m afraid the label is a lot eager to make you listen to the vinyl and they are probably right!

Or you can catch Shannon and the Clams on tour in France and Belgium this July!