The Fleshtones: The Band Drinks For Free (Yep Roc/2016)

In 2016, New York's The Fleshtones celebrated their 40th anniversary. They're the only band from the mid 70's downtown scene to remain active every year of their existence. Celebrating this milestone, the band released their twenty-first record, The Band Drinks For Free.

A groovy cover of Ten Years After's "Love Like A Man" (which features guest vocals from Lisa Kekaula of The Bellrays) starts things off confidently enough, and that confidence doesn't seem to let up. The album reveals a few modern-day Fleshtones classics in "Rick Wakeman's Cape", "Suburban Roulette", "Living Today" and "Stupid Ole Sun". The band also cover the forgotten surf-movie ditty "The Gasser" by The Hondells. The band rocks in it's usual way; classic garage rock with stomping beats, fuzztone bass, Farfisa-organ strains all laced with the right amount of harmonica wails.

Lead singer, keyboardist and harmonica man Peter Zaremba (aka the host of Count Zaremba's Crypt on SiriusXM) is in excellent form, as always. guitarist/vocalist Keith Streng, bassist/vocalist Ken Fox and drummer extraordinaire Bill Millhizer, are, as always, never less than excellent.

Yep Roc offers a Bundle which includes the vinyl LP, the CD, an MP3 download code of the album, a 7" single of the non album title track (which for my money is the best song by the band in years) and the album B-Side of "Love My Lover". And the real selling point, for fans of the stealth carrying of liquors is a Fleshtones flask!

Most very highly recommended!

Here's the video review:

The Fleshtones, Dirty Fences, Paul Collins' Beat, Big Huge. Monty Hall: Jersey City, NJ 7/22/2016

Jersey City's WFMU-FM has a concert space known as Monty Hall, also in Jersey City. It has a decent-sized stage, carpeted floor, fairly good acoustics and two gentleman selling beer cans (Sierra Nevada, Brooklyn Lager, etc) out of two coolers behind a small table. It has a welcoming, relaxed and funky vibe.

Brooklyn, NY's Big Huge started the night off and I was surprisingly captivated by the bands natural cohesion and the lead singer's easy confidence. Since they arrived late, they only played a few songs. All of which were pretty great.

Next up was Power Pop legend and ex-member of The Nerves, Paul Collins, with a new version of The Beat. His band sounded great and Collins himself also sounded like he wouldn't know how to phone it in if he tried. He was enthusiastic and had an easy rapport with the audience. He performed "Rock N Roll Girl", "The Kids Are The Same", "Walking Out On Love" and "Working Too Hard" - all Power Pop classic standards, written by the man himself. He also belted out a version "When You Find Out" from his days with The Nerves. If you have the opportunity to see the good man in person, by all means do.

I spent the majority of Dirty Fences' set talking to my friend Susan in the back of the venue. The band had a fairly generic, hard-rock sound informed by mid-late 1990's MOR guitar rock.

I've seen The Fleshtones at least a dozen-times since 2001. The band is celebrating their 40th anniversary this year. And if their performance at Monty Hall is any indication - they're nowhere near retirement. The band, with their easy showmanship and stage moves and who are all in their fifties, put bands in their twenties to shame.

Count Peter Zaremba - who also has a program on Little Steven's Underground Garage - came on stage in a cape, played Farfisa Organ, blew harp and sang like a virtual garage rock legend. Bassist Ken Fox and guitarist Keith Streng's synchronized moves recalled Paul Revere And the Raiders. And drummer Bill Milhizer was as reliable and rock steady as always. The biggest surprise of the night was the return of sometime Fleshtones saxophone player Steve Greenfield(!).

The Fleshtones are a band that sound even more ultra-stupendous with a saxophone. A portion of their brand of freak-beat garage-rock basically demands it. Greenfield played on "I Was A Teenage Zombie" and "Theme From The Vindicators". The band played such latter-day classics as "Bigger And Better", "Feels Good To Feel" and "Let's Go". They encored with the classic single "Shadow Line" and "My Kinda Lovin'". They were phenomenally tight this evening. Great show. Also, I hung out withYo La Tengo's Ira Kaplan and author of Sweat! The Story Of The Fleshtones, America's Garage Band biography author, Joe Bonomo. All in all, an awesome night.

You must go to a Fleshtones show to truly experience The Fleshones.

The Fleshtones: I Surrender b/w Dominique Laboubée (Yep Roc Records/2015)

New York Garage Rock legends The Fleshtones have been signed to Yep Roc Records since 2002. In that time they've released six great albums, six fantastic singles and one delightful EP. 2015 saw the release of the bands "I Surrender" single.

The A-Side is a faithful cover of the 1968 Bonny St. Claire mod anthem. The production here closely mirrors that of the original recording. The band sounds in fine form and it also marks the return of a Fleshtones horn section. Both Steve Greenfield (on sax) and Joe Loposky (on trumpet) have played on and off with the band since the late 80's. In my opinion, the only thing that is missing from a modern day Fleshtones show or recording is a horn section. And "I Surrender" is proof of that. The song also seems to musically reference the classic Fleshtones rave-up "Whatever Makes You Happy".

The B-side is a tribute to the late lead singer of the French band The Dogs, "Dominique Laboubee".
The song has a nice, moody harmonica line that recalls The Beatles' "There Is A Place". It's a nice tribute to Dominique Laboubee.

"I Surrender" was something of a Summer hit on Sirius Radio's Little Steven's Underground Garage. In fact it was even nominated for Little Steven's Coolest Songs In The World for 2015. The vinyl single comes with a digital download code. And all in all a fine slice of vinyl from The Fleshtones.

Here's The Video Review:




Special Thanks To: Cassandra Fowler.

The Fleshtones: Speed Connection: Live In Paris 85 & Speed Connection II: The Final Chapter (IRS Records/1985)

New York's The Fleshtones are one of the longest-running CBGB's era bands. They've continued for the last 39 years (since 1976) without a single year of inactivity. Their blend of freakbeat soulful garage rock has always resonated with live audiences throughout the world. In 1980 they signed with Miles Copeland's legendary I.R.S. Records. They released two magnificent studio albums (Roman Gods and Hexbreaker), two EP's (Up Front and American Beat '84), about a dozen American and European singles and two live albums; Speed Connection: Live In Paris 85 and Speed Connection II: The Final Chapter(Live In Paris 85).

The album was recorded live at The Gibus Club, Paris, France on March 7, 1985. The band were booked to play nine shows at the club over a two-week span, in two segments (March 5–9 and March 13–16). The band had recorded the first show (March 5, 1985) and - at the urging of the French division of I.R.S. Records' vice-president (and original Police guitarist) Henri Padovani - subsequently rush-released it to sell at the venue during their two-week stay. The record was titled Speed Connection: Live In Paris 85 (ILP 26412) and was only released in France. The cover art was by famous French illustrator Serge Clerc. However the band was unhappy with the record as lead singer Peter Zaremba had a severe case of laryngitis the night that show was recorded.

The band owed the American I.R.S. Records one more record to fulfill their contractual obligations. In September 1985 the label released Speed Connection II - The Final Chapter (Live In Paris 85) - a recording of their third night (3/7/85) at the Gibus Club. "Return to the Haunted House" was actually a studio recording with canned applause taken from the live album Rock Will Never Die by Michael Schenker Group. The same recording also later appeared (minus the canned applause) on the Angry Years 84-86 compilation album on Impossible Records in 1993. The cover artwork was by organist and lead singer Peter Zaremba. Both albums were produced by ex-Strangelove Richarard Gottehrer of “I Want Candy Fame, who had also produced albums by The Go-Go's & Blondie.

The album contained many cover versions of songs by other artists. "Trouble" and "Haunted House" by The Kingsmen, "Wind Out" by R.E.M., "La La La La Reprise" by The Blendells, "When the Night Falls" by The Eyes, "Twelve Months Later" by The Sheep (who were actually The Strangeloves under a pseudonym) and "Hide & Seek" by Bunker Hill. 

In critical terms, Speed Connection really only hints at what a Fleshtones show was like in the 1980's (as sadly the horn section hasn't really been a fixture of live shows since the mid 90's). Peter Zaremba's laryngitis is only partially to blame for the lack of success of the record. A comparatively limp recording is basically what mars the proceedings. Speed Connection II is far and away the superior of the two recordings. Although both albums have nearly identical tracklistings, everything sounds slightly better on SC:II and Zaremba's voice is in fine, wild form. The band is tight as it generally always was at the time (and still is for that matter). R.E.M.'s Peter Buck makes a special guest appearance on two songs on guitar and the horn section sounds nice and appropriately sloppy. The album received uniformly excellent reviews at the time of its' September 1985 release but the label did literally nothing to promote it.

I'm wondering if this is the best starting place for a Fleshtones novice to start looking into what the band sounded like in the 1980's. This is possibly the best representation of the band's live prowess. As it has a loose, sloppy and sweaty soundtrack to a mid 80's party appeal.

Here's The Video Review:

Special Thanks: Joe Bonomo & No Such Thing As Was, Maxwell Max, Robert Barry Francos and Zorro Zero & The Warlocks.