Help Me Build My X-Mas List: Garage Punk Albums??

[Courtney Chesley]

Hey folks. I need help from anyone willing. I am building a wish list for Baby Jesus Day, and need to add to my (ashamed to say) non-exisitent Garage Punk collection (I'm a podcast junkie).

Gimmie your top-ten must-have albums, or whatever recommendations you might have.

Mucho appreciated (;

[Pete The Gripper (aka Dgrador)]

Well, let's start by getting you to figure out which special Santa has you sitting on his knee.

If it's shopping-mall Santa (read: family, friends with mainstream tastes etc.) then we're talking about cds that are available at places like Wal-Mart, and chain-store outlets on a level of the old Tower Records. Unless the person already listens to underground/independent music, they're not going to spend a lot of time on the hunt, and it can be quite a hunt at the best of times.

Depending on the chain, your options of WHAT'S AVAILABLE (a recurring theme) may be limited to stuff like White Stripes/Hives, maybe a greatest-hits something in the "oldies" section a la the Troggs or Paul Revere and The Raiders etc., something with major-label distribution. If you're lucky, there might be the Stooges "Raw Power" or maybe even The Sonics "Boom!" reissued. Given that it's shopping season, the Nuggets 4-cd box set might be readily available, although it was still around 90 bucks last time I looked.

Do you know all your local independent stores?
If not, I'm sure Kopper and the rest of the St. Louis contingent at this here Hideout can help.

Hopefully, those podcasts that you're addicted to have a DJ/host letting you know what you're grooving to. Start writing down the songs and bands that get you wet. Don't worry about the list getting too long... and here's why:

At the underground/indie/collector/ mom 'n' pop-style record stores, it becomes an issue of *What's In STOCK* at any given time. More secondhand copies are available via trade-in or discarded review copies, and of course new releases are more likely to be on-hand. This tends to make even the hippest record store resemble a thrift store/yard sale setting, except for a bit of organization by genre or alphabetical listing. It'll be easier to find the Detroit Cobras than The Cynics. That long list will come in handy. I know that what I'm at my local store, walking out with a few choice albums usually has nothing to do with what I went in to buy...

The smaller stores deal with more distributors, and should be able to order just about anything.
The problem here is that it's garagepunk that we're talking about, small production runs (500 or less) by nature. The distributor might have to wait for a copy of King Khan & BBQ's "What's For Dinner" to get returned from Nowheresville to send your way.

I'm still waiting for a copy of Wau Y Los Arrrghs! "Canton En Espanol" that I ordered from 2 different stores that use different distributors, for almost a year now...(are you reading this, Beat-Man?)

Mail order houses and online retailers can have the same stocking issues. "in Stock!" could mean that they'll send an email to a distributor who might be able to track down a copy of Les Sexareenos "Live In The Bed"... but it may not make it under the tree in time for egg nog.

I'm not going to discuss ebay or amazon.

You could also keep an eye on the local music zine's gig listings. Bands on tour tend to have recordings for sale on hand.

End of rant... hope it helps.

[Hank]

Get all the Back from the Grave and Teenage Shutdown series from Crypt Records !

[Andy Seven]

www.sundazed.com

One of the greatest labels ever with some of the wildest bands ever.

[kopper]

I think she's talking about newer bands, right? I mean, yeah, for '60s stuff, Crypt Records has all you need (actually, they do stock some good new stuff, too), and I think they sell gift certificates (Norton, too). Yes, Back From the Grave, Garage Punk Unknowns, Teenage Shutdown, not to mention the Pebbles series on Bomp/AIP are all essential. Sundazed deals in a lot of good stuff, but not much of it I would call "garage punk"... they have a lot of psych and garage and generic '60s pop kinda stuff... obviously some great stuff, too, but for new garage-punk trash, then yeah, it's going to be even harder for your friends or relatives to find, especially in St. Louis where there are no good record stores that stock the stuff (sad but true). Maybe Midheaven sells gift certificates? The Goner Records store has some good stuff, and I can bet that new CoCoComa LP will be worth having. Others I really dig are the new Hex Dispensers LP, the new Cynics LP on Get Hip, as Dgrador said, KK&BBQ Show (anything on In The Red Records is worth having, IMHO)... um, shit, drawing a blank. I'll need to check for more on my desk at home tonight. But those sites should be good to get you started. Aside from that, you get the GaragePunk Podcast playlists, don't you?

[Hank]

Yup, buy anything from Larry Hardys' In the Red Records !

[Courtney Chesley]

I'm looking for new, old, dead, whatever will shake my bones! I DO listen to the GP Podcasts, and there are so many options, I didn't know where to start! I'm definitely going back through the playlists, when I get home, tonight. Thanks, folks! You have no idea how much this helps!

[Ryan Katastrophe]

Hi Courtney. Do you have a record player? The Yolks 7" has gotten plenty plays around my house for a while.

[Courtney Chesley]

I sure do!

[Courtney Chesley]

For the past year, I've only bought vinyl. I usually go to Record Exchange for the old stuff.

[dumfuk]

This link isn't a bad place to start for your list:

http://www.cryptrecords.com/100best.htm

[Ryan Katastrophe]

Record Exchange is a fun place. I like going early on a weekday when no one is there so I am free to just play shit on the turntables without someone trying to jump in. There really isn't any good place to find new Rock & Roll in St. Louis though unless your looking for local stuff. You can probably pick up The Vultures. Cripplers, Left Arm, ect. at Vintage Vinyl. You can get a bunch of cool 7" rekkids here though to get you started on the newer shit: http://www.boomchickrecords.com

[Courtney Chesley]

I get lost in Record Exchange on rainy Saturday afternoons. I plan to stop by for a teensy bit, and hours later- I'm still there.

I brought my dad there after I replaced his record player for his birthday. He was like a little kid in a candy store (he collects 45s- has THOUSANDS). So, we go together to get each other into different stuff.