Two CDs from the 80's which I like ...#20

certgen, originally uploaded by zapcomix.

The missing link between garage and avant-garde ... Here is another stunner like some beauty anyone would like to meet one day. This is some lost classic, like the second album which never made it , and it better stands for this title than "these are the days .. " (1998-Fantastica). "An Introduction to war" contains two CDS. "Savage Young Generals" is the band live during 1981/82 and the whole set is there, the music is incredible, raw and is like some crazy electrosurfpsyche-music. Phil Gammage produces great surf licks with tons of reverb and still stays very modern in his guitar playing. All those songs have never been released before and it is amazing to see the inspiration Parker Dulanny was floating on. The other CD entitled "Dead rabbit gang" is that lost second album though "killer in the house" does not appear here unfortunately. But "In a bad way","the rain", "Nowhere" and other favourites are truly there in their first renditions which are easily the best ones I have heard.. The introduction song "Uptight" inspired by the reading of the Velvet Underground's biography with that title could have been as successful as "Maximum G", had it been released regularly. Here is a new chance to hear that lost nugget. Then "Keys in the carpet" opens by a dedication to Patti Smith, and Edgar A. Poe among others and they truly are good relays to Certain General works..There are even covers on those cds, and not the most predictable ones, "White rabbit" and "In-a gadda-da-vida" revisited in the shrieking surfy Certain General mould. From old modern writing to new one, from garage music to electronics, Certain General is the initiator of "Avant-garde Garage music" !!! Listen !! they were in NYC.

lyres, originally uploaded by zapcomix.

Classyc rock from Boston golden age
While in Boston, when this first came out towards the end of the seventies it was only a vinyl EP with four songs..but it was a shock for me then when I listened to it, like we were having back our lost sound. I wanted more of this wailing Voxx keyboards a la ? and the Mysterians plus the Lyres shaped Mosrite guitars bringing again the vintage sound we had all been dreaming of ..- "buried alive" is the perfect example of this -.
We would have to wait two more years to enjoy "On fyre". In those 4 songs starting this cd, Jeff "Monoman" Connolly was demonstrating what would be the music of Lyres after his training years with the awesome DMZ. Until today, the Lyres have kept to their faith under the guidance of Connolly. This cd re-issue is a total piece of bliss as it includes the mandatory first "lost" album which never had a chance to be released. Here it is now making this object an absolute must to have. The early Lyres favourites are there from "Help you Ann" to "She pays the rent ", these first renditions of those classic Lyres songs are just fascinating,
The Lyres must have been a band with about a hundred different line-ups in their twenty years of existence.. Here you have the legendary line-up, maybe #2 or #3, with the great Pete Greenberg (ex-DMZ) on lead guitar and Howie Ferguson (on leave from the Real Kids) on drums. Of course all the Lyres records are good but this one is just perfect !! And see that Dan Electro guitar on Greenberg's knee, it was purchased by Jeff Monoman from Jon Richman !! Pokemonojeff had told me so two years ago and it was confirmed to me by Jonathan himself ... I love those factoids ...