The Shirks-s/t 7″
Virginia’s Big Neck Records has given new hope to the 7″ with the release of one of the tightest rock bands around. The Shirks’ self-titled 7″ is one of those records that revitalizes the use of the 45. The Shirks deliver Saints style riffs at blistering speeds. All three songs are catchy and full of attitude. Fronted by the singer of the late-great Problematics, this slab is bound for glory and surely an indication of what’s to come from a kick ass band.

Thanks to everyone who stopped by our table at the Hotel Congress Record Show and made it a success.

Through selling off some records, doing some screen printing and selling copies of Cramholes 1 and 2, we got a long way into financing Cramhole #3 and had a good time. I’ll be putting up screen-printed shirts and bags on the website in the coming weeks. And there will be some new tunes on the show Wednesday as I scored a few sides.

A documentary that I have been working on for the past year called Vinyl Scrapyard has been accepted into the Tucson Music and Film Festival schedualed for early October. I will post more details as they become available.

Also, Tucsonans should look for a strain of Cramhole called “On the Lam from Reality” appearing in the Arizona Daily Wildcat. The U of A has graced me with a voice and I have many Frank adventures mapped out for the coming weeks.

I am back to school this week full time at the University of Arizona.
Yea, busy is not the word for it, but I am out there kicking ass for the cause.
Support independent business and art.
Recognize.
Billups Allen.

Without a doubt this is the best money you can spend on a book about underground culture. For fans of underground film, this collection of articles from the magazine Cinema Sewer is absolutely essential reading. I am so uncool as to be uninitiated to Cinema Sewer Magazine. Sewer covers a wide range of genres including lost and forgotten horror, low budget science fiction and classic pornography.  I am not a big fan of pornography, but Sewer’s painstakingly detailed profiles of the early players of the porn industry makes for fascinating reading. Among my favorite entries was an article rating made-for-TV movies. A description of movie scenes that take place in parking garages also stands out. The writing goes beyond simple nostalgia; the writers are informed and have a deep reverence for the material. This book brings back the thrill of my first time through Hollywood Babylon. Not just a great book, but a document of the forgotten. 

NOBunny- Love Visions (Bubble Dumb Records)

Occasionally, a reminder that rock and roll will never die waltzes by and sticks with you. Nobunny’s Love Visions is easily one of the best records to come out in the past five years. Not only does Love Visions successfully fuse low-fi rock with 60’s pop riffs, but it is packaged with what might be one of the only five cool album cover rip-offs that there ever was. I hate ironic album art, but NoBunny standing in front of a brick wall dressed as a Ramone is keeping in spirit of the sounds within. When the album moves, it moves in all the right places. The slow numbers are often the gems on this one. In the style of an even more demented Beach Boy, NoBunny makes sincerely melodic tunes on what sounds like minimal equipment. Love Visions sounds a bit stapled together in that exciting way that the first Clash record does. As though the whole thing could become unhinged at thirty five miles an hour. And that is where the charm is. Let us all make a pact to never fund NoBunny too much and we’ll never hear his version of Cut the Crap. Or maybe, yea sure, why not. Love Visions is a must have.

The Cute Lepers- Can’t Stand Modern Music

This is one of my favorite albums of late. Not only do the Cute Lepers hit home with the sentiment Can’t Stand Modern Music, but they deliver in a big way with the rock. The vocals are a perfect blend of snot and melody. There are elements of power pop, but in a good way. Not in the lame way the power pop label has been tossed around recently to let you know that a band can’t play. Can’t Stand Modern Music moves at that perfect ‘77 pace but stays fresh and catchy with lyrics featuring all the subjects you really want to hear about; boredom and partying. Can’t Stand Modern Music is a no-brainer for the albums of the year list. Too bad it isn’t modern music, the world would suck less.

Our fourth show as a band. I never thought i would be in a band i liked again, but I am pretty excited about this.  Come by if you are in Tucson…billups