Eric Wrong is the lead singer of Eric Wrong and the Do-Right. You can see him obliterate Columbus OH on July 25 @ Skully’s.
Elvis Presley – Close-Up
So, this 4-disc Elvis boxed set comes out today. While I?m a big fan of the king (skinny, fat, dead or alive) I can?t say that I?m going to be rushing out to drop a hefty $70 for this one. I could do without the remastered songs; the originals will do just fine for me. The two discs of lukewarm songs from his (mostly) lousy movies don?t appeal to me either. What does interest me is the unreleased live performance that makes up disc 4. It looks like it?s a typical 70?s jumpsuited Elvis concert from the opening 2001 Space Odyssey to the 50?s medley to Polk Salad Annie and it probably is, but I have a special place in my heart for the live 70?s recordings. There always seems to be some awkward pause between every other song and Elvis tells incoherent bad jokes (sample mumbled punchline “feels like Bob Dylan slept in my mouth man”) and on top of that the live performances are smoking due to Elvis? top-notch band and the amazing power of his kingly vocal cords. So, I won?t be buying it BUT when the Columbus Public Library gets their copy of it I will borrow it and most likely copy it, but for
the most part this is probably another redundant Elvis collection.
The Fleshtones – Do You Swing?
The latest album from super-rock veterans The Fleshtones proves (once again) that they?re still the best all around party-rock band in the land. What I love about the Fleshtones is that their songs are FUN. Like “Double Shot Of My Baby?s Love” is fun. Like “Wooly Bully” is fun. They?ve managed to avoid sounding like an empty retro-throwback act by virtue of their unbridled enthusiasm for what they do and remarkable songwriting talent. For example, checkout these lyrics from “Hard Lovin? Man”, my favorite song on Do You Swing; “Everything hard appeals to my thinking, my music my woman my drinking, I?ve been north south east and west, hard loving?s what I do best, I can?t control this feeling, hard lovin? is what I?m needing.” I witnessed the awesome spectacle that is the legendary Fleshtones live show for the first time June 12th @ Little Brothers here in Columbus. They are a live act that is not to be missed. And just in caseanyone was thrown off by the album title; this album contains 0% swing music, it?s 100% super-rock.
The Cynics – Living Is The Best Revenge
After a 7 year lapse of recorded output Pittsburgh?s garage-rock-kingpins The Cynics have returned with what may be their best album yet. There never seems to be any shortage of cookie-cutter garage rock revivalist bands who do the genre no justice, but The Cynics are the real thing. They don?t rely on covers as a crutch, their original material is good enough they don?t have to. Every song on this record is a flawless hit. Killerrip-roaring fuzzed out punk blasts like “Turn Me Loose” and “The Tone” work perfectly side by side with the jangly pop of “Marianne”, “Ballad Of J.C. Holmes”, and the brilliant closer “Shine”. In addition to all the superb originals there?s a 13th Floor Elevators cover ? “She Lives (In A Time Of Her Own)”, a fiery fuzzed out Electric Prunes cover – “Never Had It Better”, and a song called “Making Deals” by an obscure band named The Satans. The Cynics will be bringing their special brand of revenge to Columbus July 25th @ Skully?s.