A License To Reach the R' N' R' City--The Cokes--Japanese PopPunks 1st!

Just poking around and came across this nifty little Japanese import by The Cokes, who play some pretty cool old school punk, sounding a bit like The Buzzcocks, NY Dolls, The Ramones, Undertones. And they do it with the requisite enthusiasm, albeit with fractured English.

The Cokes have a Facebook account, but aside from that I don't know too much. I found an old historic blurb from the now defunct Not Lame Records site; apparently they were selling their second album Heatwave. I have to assume I picked up this, their eponymous first record, from Not Lame also. Unfortunately between items about the Georgia soda giant and some Japanese Irish Punk band called The Cherry Cokes who have piqued the interest of the English typing sector of the blogosphere (did not find any other soft drink bands like The Diet Mountain Dews), I have had trouble locating more info. It looks like they have a third album entitled New World, so it seems they are still in operation.

You have to love what they are doing. When you hear them play, you know they are absolutely having a great time. It's simply a fun record, infectious. These guys bash it out pretty good here, ragged and raw like it's supposed to be, but with plenty of hooks and harmonies.

They apparently are doing a Ramones thing with their names, only with License.

Ogawa G License--Guitar, Vocals
Matsui B License-- Bass
Takumi G License--Vocals, Guitar
Takashi D License--Drums

And check out the New Wavy cover art--you would think they were a Dirtnap Records punk revival band. Which is not a bad thing at all. Aside from the song Don't Ring Me Up, which I find kind of annoying, it's one high energy pop-punk song after another. Songs like Johnny Will Come to Rock 'N' Roll City, My Vision Love Elevation, Traveling Romance and Don't Knock On My Door make this a recommended record.



As far as obtaining this music I think you would have to order directly from a Japanese vendor. I saw a company called CDJapan which is selling their first two albums. I have never used them, but that is one option.



For some reason I always smile when I think that people around the world can connect through music, whether it be Japan or Belguim, or Argentina. Going to see Stiff Little Fingers and looking at the diverse crowd in the audience was always satisfying, that the basic empowering message of their punk rock went beyond superficialities. Of course things aren't always this way in the real world. But when you listen to The Cokes, you feel them channelling that same excitement they must have felt listening to the Ramones, or the Damned, or The Pointed Sticks for the first time. I know I can feel it.

What is this Thing That's Happening to Me? Northern Portrait's Matinee EPs

Today I'm listening to two eps from a talented band from Copenhagen, Denmark, Northern Portrait. In 2008 they released 2 EPs on the Matinee Label, who seem to scout the world for pop music excellence. The Fallen Aristocracy and Napoleon Sweetheart. They are a terrific sounding group, with a polished accomplished sound.

And if you are a super fan of The Smiths, you're prayers are probably answered. Or they're the next best thing, anyway. It's a pretty great thing that people can find out about great bands like this so much easier these days. I remember how hard it was for me to get Flying Nun records so many years ago, even when I knew of them!

Northern Portrait is:

Stefan Larsen--Vocals
Michael Sorenson-Drums
Rune Reholt--Guitar
Caspar Bock Sorenson: Bass

I have not heard their debut album but I like what I hear on these EPs. For a band just starting out they sound superb, beginning with the assured tortured vocals of Stefan Larsen. Haven't bought their debut album from 2010 yet, Criminal Art Lovers. It's probably just a matter of time.

The first song on Aristocracy is a winner, Crazy (Or Cray-see, as Stefan sings it), the first song ever written and recorded by the band. I guess it's a song about being yourself rather than trying to fit into a niche. And a fair dollop of Carpe Diem. Not bad at all for the first time around. A gorgeous hook filled shimmery jangle.

But these are EPs are value filled--buying them is like getting a single with 4 A-sides. I think that you find the group progressing somewhat on Napoleon Sweetheart, released 5 months later, but there is a fresh directness in Fallen Aristocracy that is quite appealing. Sweetheart sounds a little more polished, more confident. Maybe a little too much yodelly falsetto, the kind people in those television singing contests fall prey to. And you could also say that they have gotten better at being the Smiths. But they deserve a lot of credit for making music that sounds this great!

I Give You Two Seconds to Entertain Me is an example of what I'm saying. It's similar to what I've said about LA's Blasters, a modern Rockabilly group that became so good at what they did that their songs surpassed mere emulation of their predecessors, performing original tunes on a par with the original greats. You know where Two Seconds is going, but it is with so much panache and great lyrics that it doesn't really matter anymore. Another nice one is the paean to boredom In An Empty Hotel. The song completing the EP, Our Lambresco Days, is another emotional jangle, a nice song to sit back and listen to on a quiet Sunday.

I think if this band sticks together they could do a lot of good things. People as talented as this won't be content merely emulating a stellar band. No doubt they will find their own sound as other bands have before. Every great artist has started out painting a bowl of fruit, or making a copy of that turtle in those art school ads you find in magazines. But eventually they push the envelope, finding new influences, and having enough bravery to inject more of themselves into the equation. It boils down to talent and effort. And persistence of course.

I just ordered a Matinee Christmas EP on which Northern Portrait has contributed a song. What can I say? An atheist with a Christmas fetish isn't that weird, is it?

I would definitely advise you to give these guys consideration if you are into sad jangly pop like The Smiths. The pleasure will be all yours.

The Three Johns Return....Just When The World Needs Them Again! Live in Chicago!

I've said it more than once.

The Mekons are by far the funniest band that I've seen live. And definitely one of the smartest. Of all the side projects Mekon band members have entertained, my favorite is still The Three Johns. Jon Langford's politically minded group formed with John Hyatt and John Burnett. They have been mostly inactive for about two decades, lying dormant like post-punk Rip Van Winkles.

Cut to 2012--apocalypse immanent. Europe is reeling through an economic crisis that it is attempting to solve with austerity, the US is in danger of electing Mick Rodney President, like a manikin come to life, a Ken doll, only less life-like. (The Republican primary was run like American Idol this time around, so what do you expect?) The war on the American public is just starting to heat up. The Syrian government is pushing back brutally against the Arab Spring. I don't think anyone really know for sure what is going on in China. And its the average person who winds up paying the price, not our wise sheperds who are making the big decisions (or lack therof). These days they seem to be more interested in shearing their flocks, not guiding them to more fertile pastures.

It's like things haven't gotten any better in the last two decades--like the modern world is rumbling forward like a big dumb chaotic hamster wheel, crushing everything in its path. As the TV has told me, there are three ways to do things: The right way, the wrong way, and the Homer Simpson way, i.e., "wrong only faster". Which way do you think we are going?

Big Mouth Open Wide! Open Up Your Pearly Gates of Freedom!

So it seems fairly timely, that when the world is in the dire straights we find ourselves, that this ragtag, brilliantly whip-smart absurdly satirical band has come out of mothballs, just when we are in our darkest hours.

America is a country seemingly obsessed with superheroes, and escapist fantasies. Just look at the kind movies that get made these days. I think it is only fitting that The Three Johns have reunited at this time, even if it seems to be only a limited number of reunion gigs. I keep thinking that some of the 99 per centers shone a beacon for aid into the sky, like something in a Batman movie. And in some ways the brilliance of this band makes me think these guys must be some kind of musical superheroes.

It was actually weird how I came to write this. I had my birthday yesterday--went out and had a nice dinner at a Vietnamese restaurant in Danbury. I woke up in the middle of the night and the first thought in my head was---Three Johns. So I started looking on-line and found out that they played gigs for the first time in years in May, though I think they did do some gigs in 2006. Still, I can't help but wonder if I may have dreamed this reunion up all by myself.

If you listen to a lot of music, you know that one of the hardest things to do artfully is political songs.
The most well intentioned people who do a lot of them can come off sounding too self-important, like tight-asses. It's a lot easier to sing about girls and cars, and feeling sad. The other songs have a tendency to polarize, which has a negative effect as far as record sales go. The Three Johns have a confident looseness about them, and though they tackle serious issues, they also have a dark sense of humor that leavens the content of the songs. You can even dance to them! They are like a funny Gang of Four, or the urban insurgent cousins of Chicago shitkickers The Waco Brothers, who are also a Langford endeavor.

At this point in history, the Live in Chicago album is the only thing in print by these guys, and it is a corker. They are a band that leaves no target unskewered.



And at one moment they are performing Death of the European, a tremendous satirical number. Right after this, they break into a parody of Madonna's Like a Virgin. Perhaps a bit more topical back in 1985 when she ruled the Earth with a lace glove.

I went through the wilderness,
With a hole in my shoe,
I was wearing a big dress
And I was sniffing glue.

The essence of the fake 80's in a pithy nutshell. But one great tune flows into the next, like The Devil's Music, the awesome World of the Workers is Wild, Windolene, English White Boy Engineer! You have to love their moxie, their attitude, their razor sharp wit, their compassion for the people who need it. Their disdain for the music industry--see Teenage Nightingales to Wax for details. Choppy harsh guitars, catchy hooks, dance beats. Fervor and invective. And there are the great asides scattered between songs throughout the show.

These guys are absolutely great, and sadly forgotten by most people. Even sadder is that most people probably never heard of them. Music like this tends to get marginalized by the mainstream. Some of the music deals with events and issues that were current in the eighties, but quite a few of them reflect themes that are going to continue as long as we have people fighting over a piece of the economic pie, political power, and what people think. I think it would be a beautiful thing if these guys got back to creating music together again, turning their jaundiced eyes on the current state of affairs. Or at the very least getting Atom Drum Bop, World By Storm, Death of Everything and their Singles collection back in print. The Live in Chicago album is available on Langford's Buried Treasure Records. I highly recommend this excellent live document--it makes me smile and gets my blood boiling at the same time. Check it out!