The Ledge #575: Second Quarter Report
With tonight’s show being the last broadcast of June, and especially as it is also the last day of the month, it’s pretty clear that it needed to be a second quarter recap. There’s over two hours of great music that has come out in the last three months, similar to the first quarter recap show of March 31. The material ranges from the fantastic power pop of Paint Fumes and Jagger Holly to veteran rockers such as Ian Hunter and The Waco Brothers. There’s some rootsy rock and roll from Tommy Stinson, Deer Tick and The Baseball Project. The music comes from not only the usual US, UK, and Canadian artists but also from Australia, Austria, France, and Germany. As for this week’s “52 weeks of Teenage Kicks” series, I have a very special cover by German punkers Die Toten Hosen. Way back in the early 90s they had a fantastic covers record called Learning English, Lesson One, where they invited members of the original bands to assist them with their remakes. 2017 saw the relese of Learning English, Lesson Two that continued that format. For their version of “Teenage Kicks”, they featured original Undertones guitarist Damian O’Neill! I […]
The Ledge #574: Summer
The summer is the real rock and roll season. From the very beginning of Chuck Berry and our other musical grandfathers, these three months have inspired a ton of great tunes. Since summer officially began just two days ago it was only natural that I bring back that theme for tonight’s broadcast. There are so many songs dedicated to this time of year that I easily put together a playlist that is primarily brand new tracks. In fact, one highlighted album, Jagger Holly’s Rivoltella, came out just two days ago! There’s also a set dedicated to tracks from summer’s favorite record label, Rum Bar Records, along with a handful of older tunes from new reissues of albums by The Barracudas and The Lemonheads. Of course, there’s also this week’s entry in the “52 Weeks of Teenage Kicks” subtheme, and if you really think about it that song certainly does fit the summer theme. This week’s contribution is from the veteran Cleveland band Cobra Verde, and their 2005 album, Copycat Killers. And like always, I must again plead with y’all for more versions of “Teenage Kicks”. If you are a musician, or have any contact with artists that could record their own take […]
The Ledge #409: New Releases
The first show of the new year is also the first Friday of the month, which obviously means it’s a new release episode. This month’s edition features previews of upcoming 2020 records along with quite a few releases that snuck out in the last few weeks of 2019. There’s also a handful of items I missed out on when they originally came out earlier in the year. It’s never too late to be added. This month’s edition is highlighted by the returns of some classic bands that haven’t issued new music in quite some time. The Hoodoo Gurus have their first single in a few years, The Zeros just released their first new tunes in over two decades, and the four original members of X have not put out new tracks since the mid-80’s! Beyond that, it’s a typical mix of brand new bands and returning vets. There’s a fabulous Rum Bar Records set. There’s power pop, punk, garage, and even an extended covers set. One track doesn’t fit the “new release” criteria, obviously, but I just couldn’t resist playing a track by the power pop band 20/20. If they have any smarts this is the year for this band […]
