R.I.P. Jeff "Monoman" Conolly of The Lyres, DMZ, 1956-2026

Sadly, Boston garage punk great Jeff Conolly aka "Monoman" has lost his battle with bladder cancer. He'll be greatly missed. 

LINKS

Joe Bonomo Substack Jeff Conolly, 1956-2026

WPKN-FM Kicksville Radio – Miriam Linna remembers Jeff Conolly

DMZ's "Lost Studio Sesssions 1978" being released by Crypt Records in January

DMZ's live-in-studio demo session,  recorded just prior to recording their Sire album in 1978,  was recently discovered on a tape reel long thought lost. 

Here's the scoop...

Crypt Records presents DMZ “The Lost Studio Sessions 1978” (Crypt-127, out in JANUARY 2026)

12 songs from the original master reel tapes, recorded in early February 1978, the night before they spent 3 days trapped by a blizzard recording their Sire album.

JJ Rassler: “We went down to NY to record the Sire album in February 1978, and Seymour put us into a studio in Queens to lay down some basic tracks so Flo & Eddie could get an idea of what DMZ sounded like. And a few days later we headed to Syosset to record with Flo & Eddie.”

Q: So where was the reel sitting all this time?

JJ Rassler: “Somebody back then musta handed it to Ronnie and said ‘here, hang on to this’ and 35 years later my landlady called Ronnie and wanted him to come in and do some work on her property. I come home, and there’s a note from Ronnie that says ‘Hey, I haven’t seen ya in 35 years, but I’ve got something that you might want’ and the next day that reel was on my kitchen table.”

Here's a preview... check Crypt Records mailorder site for more info soon. 

Happy Birthday Rick Coraccio!

Raising a glass to Rick Coraccio (DMZ, The Lyres, The Last Ones) with a few of his gems. Check out his Anthology album.

Rick Coraccio – Anthology

Rick Coraccio was a constant musician in the 1970's and 1980's Boston Punk Rock and Garage Rock scene. He played in the legendary bands DMZ, Lyres and later formed The Last Ones and The Shambles. He has recorded albums with notable producers Craig Leon (The Ramones, Blondie), Flo & Eddie (Frank Zappa, The Turtles) Rick Harte (Ace of Hearts Records), and in 1978 his band DMZ was signed to Sire Records (The Ramones). Rick went on to help create the quintessential garage rock album "On Fyre" with his band Lyres. 

The history of Boston garage rock is imprinted throughout the Anthology album and has an impressive supporting cast of musicians on each song including Dan McCormack (Guitar/Vocals with Lyres, The Last Ones), Jimmy Birmingham (Drums with The Real Kids, Mach Bell), Dave Szczepaniak (Bass with Lyres), Richie Johnson (Frank Rowe, Baby's Arm, The Boize, The Last Ones) Steve Aquino (Guitar with Lyres) and Paul Murphy (Drums with DMZ, Lyres), Many of these recordings were taken from the original 8 track master tapes recorded at memorable studios like Euphoria Sound Studios in Revere, Ma where Phish recorded their historic album "Junta" You can feel that unmistakable classic eight track pure analog sound throughout. 

Get a copy of Rick Coraccio's 24-song Anthology CD via Bandcamp right here. Only a Limited quantity will be available. Also check out The Last Ones' single "I Don't Wanna Be Right" b/w "I Warned Ya" right here. 

DMZ's classic 4-song Bomp! EP from '77 gets recirculated by Munster Records

Here's the scoop...

A chaotic and intense Craig Leon-produced hybrid of Dolls, Stooges and most of the Nuggets bands by Jeff ‘Mono Mann’ Conolly’s pre-Lyres group DMZ then featuring guitarists J.J. Rassler and Peter Greenberg, bassist Rick Corraccio, drummer Paul Murphy and of course, Mono Mann on Vox Continental organ, vocals, maracas and tambourine.

Unavailable for over three decades, Spain's Munster Records has just reissued this garage rock’s essential gem, originally released in the early days of Greg Shaw’s Bomp! label.

Bomp! Records of Burbank, California was likely the most significant American independent record label of the 1970s. It was the first in this country to recognize and actively support the punk rock and new wave revolution with its releases, at a time when both America’s vast regional disparity and an extremely conservative record business had deemed this new, strange idiom anathema. In its first five years Bomp! the label wore its heart on its sleeve with a series of fascinating, unpredictable, and memorable 45 RPM releases. And the whole was brainstormed by Greg Shaw, likely the only maverick alive at that time who could have created and populated such a scenario.

The winter 1976 issue of Who Put The Bomp (Greg Shaw’s fanzine) had featured a detailed report on the Boston scene, with favorable mentions of two future Bomp! acts. Willie ‘Loco’ Alexander was a local legend, the storied former lead singer of the Lost, and his 1975 single ‘Kerouac’ (reissued on Bomp!) was a suitably eccentric, Dylan-ish ode to the beat maven. DMZ was a more predictable proposition, sporting obvious glam roots and an eccentric but dedicated rock & roll fan in lead singer, Jeff ‘Mono Mann’ Conolly.

Conolly and crew went for a chaotic and intense hybrid of Dolls, Stooges and most of the Nuggets bands, so Bomp! the label was a natural choice. With killer cuts like ‘Busy Man’ and ‘When I Get Off,’ their Craig Leon-produced 1977 EP captured the DMZ zeitgeist considerably better than the album they would later record for Sire.

Get a repro copy of DMZ's fantastic 4-song EP directly from Munster Records right here. Have a listen below and check out J.J. Rassler's chat with Mike Hoban about his DMZ days and more.  

Happy Birthday JJ Rassler!

Celebrating the birthday of Boston guitar ace JJ Rassler with his 90 min. chat about his DMZ days and more with Mike Hoban. 

Jeff Conolly & crew launch new Lyres live album in Cambridge, MA

Watch Jeff rip through Lyres' faves "Help You Ann" and "Soapy" at The Middle East to coincide with Crypt's release of Live At The Rat.  

Crypt's new Lyres archival release Live At The Rat: September 3, 1980 is available via mailorder directly from the label right here.