New Oblivians!

[kopper]

Is there any doubt in anyone's mind that IN THE RED has gotta be the #1 "garage" label out there right now? 

I mean, they've been releasing some of the best, most provocative rock'n'roll of various garage/punk/noise stripes now for two decades, and then yesterday the news spread that the almighty OBLIVIANS will be recording their first studio LP in 15 years, to be released later this year on ITR... and then today I see that ITR's Larry Hardy is also helping Poison Ivy resurrect the Cramps' Vengeance Records!

[Robdaswamp]

very exiting news! so, their split 7" on Scion AV was an announcement?

[Josh Gladwin]

Now we're talkin'. Right when we need 'em, these Memphis boys are coming back to show all the floppy-haired, indy garage-moppets how to rock 'n' roll. I saw these guys a couple of years ago at Gonerfest and they haven't lost a step from the old days. Everyone in attendance went ape-shit from first song to last in a rain of booze and sweat. I cannot wait for them to take this new album on the road.

Aaaaariiight lets go! Kill a punk for Rock 'n' Roll!

[Elle Diabla]

Hell Yeah! I was psyched when I worked with Jack Oblivian but the chance to book the actual band will probably happen now too! (I'm mentally fist pumping)

[kopper]

Well, I saw the Oblivians in '09 and again in Lawrence at the Scion Garage Fest in 2010, and they kicked ass both times (and I'm one who also saw them play for five or six people on a Sunday night in St. Louis in 1995). I, for one, am looking forward to the album, because even if it's not as good as their earlier stuff it'll STILL be better than 99% of the other horseshit that gets passed off as rock'n'roll by the mainstream press today. And besides, who fucking cares how old or fat they are? I'm 46 myself. Should I just lay down and die? They're not pathetic, YOU are. Your pathetic whining. They still got it, and that's what counts. How about waiting until the actual ALBUM comes out before trashing 'em on it?

Hot Pockets said:

No offense everybody, but isn't this kind of pathetic? How could anything they do now be as remotely as good as anything they did when they weren't fat and middle aged? It's sort of like Michael Jordan coing out of retirement to tarnish his career. I mean, I think it's highly unlikely these dudes give a fuck about playing garage-punk now anyhow. You listened to Reigning Sound lately?

I know times are tough so no one is going to pass up a chance and labels like In The Red are always there to try to put out something they know is dependable and popular. If you want to talk about overrated labels that probably do more to damage the whole garage rock thing than help promote it. But, if bands like No Bunny or whatever wasn't what's passing for a cool band these days would anyone care? I guess we have to accept that the early-mid 90s are now nostalgia retro territory and ripe for exploitation.

I always thought of all those great bands from that era as just rock n roll. Like it doesn't go out of style because real rock n roll is always unfashionable. But I realize now that I was wrong and the world is getting more refined in alienating us from the essentials of life like simple, stupid music. Made for kicks and not much else.

I am a big fan of Greg Cartwright. He is one of my favorites. I don't know, though. This reeks of desperation.

[Alex]

Larry Hardy is on a fuckin' roll these days!  ITR just can't stop with the great records.  Been really digging the new The Spits LP.

[Josh Gladwin]

Nope. That's Jack Yarber's band and it is coming from a completely different place than the Oblivians. This is the Oblivians, from last year no less:

Mina said:

I like the song Rat City or isn't that by the Oblivians? ;P This is what I saw: http://www.vera-groningen.nl/agenda/mainstage/jack-oblivian-harlan-...

kopper said:

Jack solo ain't the Oblivians. Just like the Reigning Sound ain't the Oblivians. You should judge the Oblivians by the Oblivians!

Mina said:

I saw Jack live, just didn't do much for me... I had high hopes that evening because I had heard so much about the Oblivions. Turned out that I had paid for 3 bands with the same musicians ;D Dunno.... I prefer Beat-Man, Zeno Tornado, King Automatic, that kind of stuff. :)

[IDON MINE]

Dito

kopper said:

Well, I saw the Oblivians in '09 and again in Lawrence at the Scion Garage Fest in 2010, and they kicked ass both times (and I'm one who also saw them play for five or six people on a Sunday night in St. Louis in 1995). I, for one, am looking forward to the album, because even if it's not as good as their earlier stuff it'll STILL be better than 99% of the other horseshit that gets passed off as rock'n'roll by the mainstream press today. And besides, who fucking cares how old or fat they are? I'm 46 myself. Should I just lay down and die? They're not pathetic, YOU are. Your pathetic whining. They still got it, and that's what counts. How about waiting until the actual ALBUM comes out before trashing 'em on it?

Hot Pockets said:

No offense everybody, but isn't this kind of pathetic? How could anything they do now be as remotely as good as anything they did when they weren't fat and middle aged? It's sort of like Michael Jordan coing out of retirement to tarnish his career. I mean, I think it's highly unlikely these dudes give a fuck about playing garage-punk now anyhow. You listened to Reigning Sound lately?

I know times are tough so no one is going to pass up a chance and labels like In The Red are always there to try to put out something they know is dependable and popular. If you want to talk about overrated labels that probably do more to damage the whole garage rock thing than help promote it. But, if bands like No Bunny or whatever wasn't what's passing for a cool band these days would anyone care? I guess we have to accept that the early-mid 90s are now nostalgia retro territory and ripe for exploitation.

I always thought of all those great bands from that era as just rock n roll. Like it doesn't go out of style because real rock n roll is always unfashionable. But I realize now that I was wrong and the world is getting more refined in alienating us from the essentials of life like simple, stupid music. Made for kicks and not much else.

I am a big fan of Greg Cartwright. He is one of my favorites. I don't know, though. This reeks of desperation.

[IDON MINE]

YES! I love those news too! Cool to hear Ivy is making Vengeance happening again!!

---

Also: "What's the matter now?!?!" IN THE RED is fuckin' awesome, they really pumped a lot of life blood into Garagepunk (insert your definition here). I'm sure this deal is part of their big plan of schemes, coming at us by secret audio waves: "GO SHOP WALMART...we command you!"

Everyone is entitled to their own opinion, but Hell, every now and then you get someone yappin' about shit and it always sounds like this: "The Cramps are a corporate Band! The Dirtbombs sell out! The Gories only play to cash in now! Mick Collins is Satan, err Jesus! The Oblivians only play to cash in now... It's bad they were on a car commercial! The Mummies are also selling out for a three pack!!" BLABLABLA.

"Poplular in the 90's??" 'Cmon, next thing you tell us, is Sympathy for the Record Industry pushed Sony out of the Cd market.

Sorry to bite, but Hell, I just had it with this shit.

EDIT! Oops, I just misspelled something, better call the sellout hammer on me for doublechecking!

[Josh Gladwin]

Lighten up Francis...

Just two posts in and it's painfully obvious that you don't know what the fuck you're talking about. Your "facts" and "legitimate criticism" stem from shit that is completely made up in your head. For starters, to groan about nostalgia suddenly appearing in a music form that is itself built on pillars of nostalgia is mind-numbingly stupid. Garage Punk, or whatever you want to call it, has always looked backwards in order to recapture a neglected strain of weirdness or to reassert the raw essence of rock'n'roll. To be okay with nostalgia being part of the whole but not okay for a part of that same whole is flat-out dumb. The only litmus test for the Oblivians or any band playing maximum R&R is really, can they bring their "A" game or not. I've seen the Oblivians quite recently and I know they can. This isn't me looking back with rose-tinted glasses, pining about the "summer of '69" or "the day the music died." The Oblivians delivered the goods which is more than I can say for the recently reunited Gories which to me felt like Mick Collins dragging along two bundles of dead wood. And as for your insinuation that this whole new album thing is just a bald-faced cash grab- are you nuts? How much cash do you think is floating around under the garage umbrella to make selling-out even a viable option? Get real. If these guys make enough to square away some bills off of this venture, they'll be lucky.    

Hot Pockets said:

It's not whining. It's legitimate criticism. What the hell do I care? I'm old, too. And what the hell do I care what get's passed off in the mainstream? I'm talking about a fact. Nostalgia. No one would like them now if they weren't popular then. 

This kind of shit is starting to piss me off. Garage turning into just another genre. I always loved it despite it's obvious inadequacies because it was the closing thing to just music. Simple songs, guitars, retardation. What more could you want?

Take that away and it's mostly just bad music. 

[kopper]

You're not getting it, are you? No one cared about the Oblivians when they were still around. The first time I saw them in St. Louis there were fewer than 10 people at the show, and that's counting the opening band! The second time was a bit better, but still probably only 30 or 40 people. That was in '96, if I remember correctly. They disbanded in '97. The ONLY place where they may have packed the house was in their hometown, or possibly as part of a festival bill in Europe or something. But their records (and legendary live performances) lived on after they broke up, and their fan base grew.

As for "garage turning into just another genre"... uh, why are you so concerned about GARAGE? Who cares? Isn't it enough to just enjoy what you enjoy and leave it at that? I don't care what people call any genre because I'm able to listen to anything and determine if I like it or not despite what label gets slapped on it. Your petty argument could be (and has been) made about punk rock in general over the years, and it's a tired old one. You like the old stuff? Fine, then listen to the old stuff. No one is forcing you to buy the new Oblivians record, but again, you're trashing 'em before it's even OUT, which I think is really unfair. Have you even seen the reformed band live at all over the past few years? If you had, then I bet you'd be singing a different tune. Like I said, they still have it.

Hot Pockets said:

It's not whining. It's legitimate criticism. What the hell do I care? I'm old, too. And what the hell do I care what get's passed off in the mainstream? I'm talking about a fact. Nostalgia. No one would like them now if they weren't popular then. 

This kind of shit is starting to piss me off. Garage turning into just another genre. I always loved it despite it's obvious inadequacies because it was the closing thing to just music. Simple songs, guitars, retardation. What more could you want?

Take that away and it's mostly just bad music. 

[Joey Fuckup]

WELL SAID, JOSH! If they think it's "uncool" that a band reunites, tours, releases an album, well then, LOOK THE OTHER WAY! No one's putting a gun to your head to pay attention to ANY of it. If a person thinks bands like the Oblivians doing this is "stupid", well, they have the simple option to just get over it. Let the fans enjoy it instead of pissing all over the "good news" for a lot of us. This thread was supposed to be a positive thing, by the way.

Josh Gladwin said:

Lighten up Francis...

Just two posts in and it's painfully obvious that you don't know what the fuck you're talking about. Your "facts" and "legitimate criticism" stem from shit that is completely made up in your head. For starters, to groan about nostalgia suddenly appearing in a music form that is itself built on pillars of nostalgia is mind-numbingly stupid. Garage Punk, or whatever you want to call it, has always looked backwards in order to recapture a neglected strain of weirdness or to reassert the raw essence of rock'n'roll. To be okay with nostalgia being part of the whole but not okay for a part of that same whole is flat-out dumb. The only litmus test for the Oblivians or any band playing maximum R&R is really, can they bring their "A" game or not. I've seen the Oblivians quite recently and I know they can. This isn't me looking back with rose-tinted glasses, pining about the "summer of '69" or "the day the music died." The Oblivians delivered the goods which is more than I can say for the recently reunited Gories which to me felt like Mick Collins dragging along two bundles of dead wood. And as for your insinuation that this whole new album thing is just a bald-faced cash grab- are you nuts? How much cash do you think is floating around under the garage umbrella to make selling-out even a viable option? Get real. If these guys make enough to square away some bills off of this venture, they'll be lucky.    

Hot Pockets said:

It's not whining. It's legitimate criticism. What the hell do I care? I'm old, too. And what the hell do I care what get's passed off in the mainstream? I'm talking about a fact. Nostalgia. No one would like them now if they weren't popular then. 

This kind of shit is starting to piss me off. Garage turning into just another genre. I always loved it despite it's obvious inadequacies because it was the closing thing to just music. Simple songs, guitars, retardation. What more could you want?

Take that away and it's mostly just bad music. 

[Joey Fuckup]

You have the right to like anybody, even if they do "sell out". Just because if feels wrong to you, it might not to some. So, what if they can't "bring it"? It's still their right to do it. You don't have to like anything new they do, if it's your cup to like the classic stuff, then by all means, enjoy. Never tell yourself what you aren't supposed to like, you either do or you don't. Wait and see, you may dig it.

Hot Pockets said:

It's not nostalgia to like and be influenced by good music. That's a completely different thing. I am also not putting down the band. They were a great band. I am sure they put on a good show. I love The Reigning Sound. I have seen them a few times.

Also, garagepunk was sort of a new thing when they started. There weren't old bands to be worshiped and be made a big deal of. This is a new situation and to me it just feels kinda wrong somehow. Like it wasn't supposed to end up like this 15 years later. Like we all and the bands were supposed to be cooler than that. Cooler than all the lame people and bands that do all this reunion shit now that they have attained unshakeable classic status. Like The Pixies or something. These bands are a lot more popular now then they were when they existed.

Anyhow, just my opinion. Go to the show and have a good time. I am here to be abused. Everybody can put me down some more. I like it. Keeps me regular.

Don'y know if they are doing it for money, but I would sell out if I could but no ones buying. Aren't we supposed to not like bands that sell out, though?