Whaddya mean you don't know The Purple Sun

Check out The Purple Sun's apocalyptic fuzz-enhanced whumper "Doomsday" cut for Houston's Rampart Street Records in 1970.

One (or Two) For The Weekend: The Stoics

San Antonio's Stoics released their sneering garage punk double-sider on Brams in 1967, recently reissued by Okto-Bone Rekkids. 

Here's the scoop from Okto-Bone Rekkids...

The Stoics from San Antonio, TX shouldn't require much introduction; since their sole 1967 single was first comped in the early 80s, both sides have been held in VERY high regard, not just for the quality of the songs and musicianship but also its extreme rarity (I read that only 150 copies were pressed—can anyone verify?). It's also quite well established that the original pressing suffers from poor quality, so it gives us great pleasure to disclose that this new issue has been taken from the original masters and sounds MONSTROUS, benefitting from a fresh remaster courtesy of noted historian, Alec Palao! This new 45 also represents the ONLY official 7" reissue in more than 50 years; forget the AWFUL Garage Greats bootleg—this is the real deal!

Brand new limited edition vinyl 7" + insert—only 700 copies pressed! Currently less than 40 copies remaining from the reissue pressing. Get a copy via Bandcamp right here. Listen below. 

 

Toasting 38 years of Tim Warren's Back From The Grave series!

Tim Warren helped foment the 80s garage rock scare by issuing his first Back From The Grave compilation on August 3, 1983.

R.I.P. Bobby Donaho, drummer of Corpus Christi's Bad Seeds

Sadly, Bobby Donaho (top) of The Bad Seeds and later Penny Arkade, has passed away.

 

The Jackets @ Montreal's Divan Orange, Friday

Don't miss Swiss garage rippers The Jackets play a rare Canadian date with Les Envahisseurs & The Dirtbags. 

Crazy Cajun strikes back with raunchy Gulf Coast 60s garage punk comp

Excavated from deep in the vaults of Huey P. Meaux’s Crazy Cajun empire, Ace has assembled the rippin' new 26-track Don't Be Bad! collection sourced from the analog master tapes. Even better news for serious garage-punk hounds – 10 of the tracks included are previously unreleased!

Maverick Texas-based producer Huey P. Meaux hit paydirt with Sir Douglas Quintet’s ‘She’s About A Mover’ in early 1965 and immediately threw out a cattle-call in order to rope in the next bunch of teenaged longhairs who could deliver him a hit. That didn’t happen, but over the next few years he amassed a catalogue of superb grassroots punk and rock’n’roll recordings, spread across his Pacemaker, Tear Drop, Pic 1, Ventural, Capri and other imprints.

While there were occasional visitors from out of state – the Phinx from Mississippi, the Pirates from Louisiana and the Trashmen of Minneapolis – the bulk of Meaux’s acts hail from Texas, ground zero for the raunchiest, gnarliest 60s punk. Mostly taped at Gold Star in Houston or Meaux’s Pasadena Sounds facility, “Don’t Be Bad!” celebrates his garage rock legacy. All tracks are from the golden punk period of 1965-66, as Meaux’s tastes, not to mention the start of his lifelong problems with the law, precluded much investigation of the psychedelic era.

This is the first time these tracks have been officially reissued. Master tape sound on classics such as Barry & Life’s ‘Top-Less Girl’, Destiny’s Children’s ‘The Fall Of The Queen’ and the Passions’ ‘Lively One’ guarantees a punchy listen. And extensive research into the vault located at Houston’s Sugar Hill studios provided unreleased sides from the Driving Wheels, The Sands, Gaylan Ladd and others.

In recent years the Ace team spent weeks sifting through the rarely tapped archive, blowing the dust off countless tape boxes with Texas expert Andrew Brown, who would raise his thumb in appreciation whenever a reel revealed some punk gem or gutbucket blues workout – and would just as easily point it downward if the contents proved to be schlocky pop or wretched white gospel.

The cookers were compiled on Don't Be Bad! – the handle taken from the raging Driving Wheels gem that tops the heap – and you can check out the complete track list along with brief song clips on the Ace site right after listening to the Passions' frantic "Lively One", The Pirates' "Cuttin' Out" and "Girl Said No" by the What's Left.