Friday, January 4, 2008

Spooky music

I ran into an old friend in Butte today, working at a record store. We talked about a crop of new bands playing a loose assortment of styles centered around rural America and punk rock. Here's a few of them:

Those Legendary Shack Shakers

When Robert Plant and Jello Biafra are ardent fans of the same group, it has to mean something. Have a listen to the following tracks and decide what that "something" is.

Those Legendary Shack Shakers - Agony Wagon
Those Legendary Shack Shakers - Ichabod

.357 String Band

Milwaukee's own brand of "streetgrass" delivers an obligatory bit of Americana: the temptation song, starring the Devil himself!

.357 String Band - Up Jump the Devil

Slackeye Slim

If Hank Williams and Danzig collaborated on an album produced by George Romero, it would sound really weird. If that album were played through a CB radio and then rerecorded to half-melted cassette tapes, it might sound something like Slackeye Slim. His myspace page has all the free songs you can handle.