I posted a whole bunch of garage sides maybe 18 months ago but here's one I missed. It's one of the greatest singles ever to come out of Michigan which is the premier state for garage, psych and teen-beat innit. When I first heard this i went "Oh yeah this is ok but whatever" then 30 listens later it's in your all time garage top 20. Funny singing, driving guitar goodness, aah aahs and in the lead break they unexpectedly chuck in some fucking bells and you gotta love bells...
The heatwave continues so here's this supreme catchy power-pop tune featuring frantic driving surf guitars. Nothing says surf culture more than four patsy English blokes.
We're going through an insane heatwave here in the north-west of Victoria so here's a banger for your long hot summer. I'm dreaming of the cool sea I was swimming in just a coupla weeks ago as I listen to this slice of new wave surf power pop perfection. Every Last Summer is from their debut LP LA Explosion! which is one of these great lost records that a certain set of aficionados seem to know about while many seem oblivious to it ever existing.
An infectious lo-fi psych-pop gem. It's idyllic and euphoric yet slightly haunted. I mean that's the acid experience right there - elation with a slight possibility of everything going pear-shaped. In This Castle's from the acid fried teenage classic Summer Of Lust tape by the legendary yet terminally unknown and underrated Green Pajamas. I guess you'd say they were paisley underground adjacent as they weren't from California but Seattle.
Green Pajamas - Green Pajamas (1984)
Wrote the theme tune, sang the theme tune. Gotta love a band with a theme tune. This is their answer to tunes like All You Need Is Love except this a song about how cool your bird is in her green jarmies. They invited a bunch a girls to the jam to do a singalong crowd chorus with hand claps creating this great fun party atmosphere. You'll be singing "I Love her in her green pajamas" in no time.
Psych teens captured in all their four track in the bedroom glory!
Paisley underground latecomers 28th Day featured Barbara Manning and the still unknown legend Cole Marquis (Sunbirds/The Downsiders). The dark jangles conjure a hazy Californian twilight haunted by the ghosts of psychedelia and cosmic Americana.
Guitars, guitars, guitars. Beautifully crafted cosmic paisley underground goodness. The shadowy flow motion of the dual guitar interplay here is mesmerising.
*This bootleg demo is a hundred times better than the version on their excellent debut record D Is For Dumptruck.
When the indie janglers went epic with this rock-out to close their debut LP Foxheads Stalk This Land which is a jangle masterwork. Mother Of God though is a euphoric slab of neo-psych shogaze-y noise pop. A few years later many groups would incorporate a similar contagious upbeat swagger into their world dominating guitar pop aesthetic.
How the hell has this escaped me for over 30 years? It's obvious to say but this sounds a bit like a James Ferraro production circa 2007 but hey Jan was 14 years ahead of that hypnagogic chancer. This video has gained viral notoriety with over 6 million views since it was uploaded in the early days of youtube with the title "worst music video ever" We all know this was wrong as it's one of the greatest music videos ever. Jan's got a touch of the outsider pop magic. Rock'n'roll, Phil Spector, British beat, bubblegum, glam, punk, new wave, synthetic 80s pop: It's all in here swirling around in this classically crafted infectious pop tune.
Jan Terri - Baby Blues [1993]
Jan's pretty versatile. Here she goes country but in a purely Jan way of course. How this video isn't from 1983 is a mystery.
[1994]
Jan Terri - Journey To Mars
This one's a bit more rock. Jan with her gang of space age ladies. Futuristic.
More forgotten VHS gold from my teenage years. This might be the ultimate Rage cult classic. Me and my little sister thought this was the best back in 88/89. It's so funny, so Australian... so excellent.
Green Men might be the most important Australian short film in history. An intimate, insightful document of Strayan 20 something gen Xer's mindset and lifestyle.
He's in his undies, his Reg Grundy's, in his shizenhausen pigsty of a share house, he eats awful slop out of a can, his urine is turning green, his clothes are not too clean, he's desperate, his confidence has been undermined, he's not good enough for you, there's spew - look out cat and dog, VB cans, a George Michael poster, a trip to the milk bar and much much more.
Also contains the greatest verse in all of rock music history:
