Notes: from the underground.

GOOD GODDAM, back in the USA! Even though it's a short break, a smile flashed on my face as the plane touched down. One of the perks of getting out of the third world is finding vinyl again. Starting with the small records, Right On's Reality Vacation (on Rumble) packs nine songs onto a 7" EP. Top speed hardcore with tinges of classic sounding Venice stuff like Suicidal and Excel, and it's got songs about The Scene and violence in the pit. Aggro and sure to stoke the session ... The Royal Pains 7" Get Punched on Jonnycat Records is produced by Billy Childish, so that should tell you where it's coming from. Lo-fi garage, straight up and simple. The vocal trade off is between a guy and a girl, which gives it a sound like a British A-Bones. Limited to 500, and they'll get snatched up quick ... Another limited 7" is a split with the Functional Blackouts and Fashion Fashion and the Image Boys. Break out the Robitussin and Valium; the Blackouts are going to shake your gut with their dirgy punk. The flipside has the more aggro FFIB, who play a straighter punk rock. Good news and good noise for the ears ... The cover gives away the rood-pop leanings of the Tranzmitors' Look What You're Doing 7" (on Cat Call/Ugly Pop Records). This one's catchy in a it's-summer-and-time-to-play-the-Undertones vein, with roots in '60s pop and early '80s new wave a la XTC, with handclaps thrown in for good measure. It's a keeper ... For a throwback to a bygone era, check out the Dream Dates' The Mess You're In 7" on Ugly Pop. Recorded in 1979 in Canada, it sounds like it too. Straight up ripping guitar, a quick solo, and the B-side is a cover of "Search and Destroy." It sounds a lot like fellow Cannucks' Teenage Head. This is an ass kicker ... On the larger platter front, if you can find the Killed By Trash compilation on German label P Trash, you'd better pick it up. Lo-fi, noisy, and of course trashy punk from all over the globe. The bands mostly cover 1970s and 1980s trash punk tunes from bands like the Wipers and the Kids and more obscure stuff, by some equally obscure bands, although hopefully you've heard of a few of them (Carbonas, Tyrades, Heartattacks, Feelers) ... Speaking of trash, check the Kidnappers' Neon Signs LP on Rip Off--a stripped down three-piece that fall squarely in the tradition of the good stuff out on that label. They're punk, but they've got a pop edge as well that ain't sugary or shitty ... Being stateside also means that I get to finally pick up the final Johnny Cash LP in the American series. Some of the last stuff he recorded, it's just as top notch as the rest; a little more melancholy and foreboding. This is a true testament ...