QUOTE OF THE WEEK: “I think I’m just lucky I didn’t get paid enough to drown in the syrup of success.” — Iggy Pop

SONG OF THE WEEK: “Waiting for the Miracle” — Leonard Cohen

Front Porch Swingin’ Liquor Pigs
Last Album
2005
Self-Released

The inimitable FPSLP return with their third album proper, the cheekily-titled Last Album, which they admit in their press kit just might be a shameless publicity ploy. Let’s hope so, because these cats continue to lay down some of the most genuine, enjoyable, downright FUN pickin’ an’ grinnin’ in these here parts. Most of the usual suspects are present on this collection, including singer/guitarists Randy Webb and Dave Babb, bassist Rusty Jones, skinman Jimmy Tollefsrud and fiddler John Moline. As with their previous albums and live gigs, these folked-up, barn-burnin’ boogie boys gleefully put their own personal, wobbly spin on a handful of timeless classics and a smattering of their own compositions, but this time around they cover a few local songwriters—Curtiss A and Charlie Parr—with all the flair and downhome style we’ve come to expect. Fine readings of Roger Miller’s “Chug-A-Lug,” Willie Dixon’s (via Doc Watson) “Intoxicated Rat,” and Charlie Patton’s “Prayer O’ Death” ride comfortably next to Babb compositions such as “The Prodigal One” and A’s “The Damage Is Done.” But their respectful interpretation of local singer/songwriter Charlie Parr’s “Jesus At Palmer’s” probably best encapsulates—lyrically and musically—the raucous, joyful, honest blast of real American music that oozes from every pore of every member of this band. Really, really good shit.

Downtrodn
Missing In Distraction
2005
Pitfall Records

I caught this fiery young Ohio punk/thrash trio playing at a dive club in the middle of nowhere a few months back, and was mightily impressed by their tight stage chops, well-crafted, semi-political lyrics and ability to balance serious subject matter with down-to-earth live personalities. Highlights on this album include the absolutely ferocious lead cut, “12th Street,” the anthemic, timely “Drafted” and the skittery, paranoid axe assault of “America Lost,” a song that’s so true and so in the moment that it doesn’t have a chance in hell of making it to any airwaves anywhere this side of pirate radio: “This is what they call American life/ This is what they call America lost/ In the debris/ Oh, you’ll see ...” Righteously pissed, well read, and obviously not about to take any shit from anybody, Downtrodn are definitely an outfit to keep an ear out for in the next few years leading up to national elections. Somebody get these guys on a Rock The Vote tour, ASAP!!

Sigmund & The Seamonsters:
The Complete First Season
2005
Rhino Home Video

If you were in grade school in the early ‘70s and had a television, you’d have been hard-pressed to miss the brilliant work of Sid and Marty Krofft—whether it was the cheesy, over-wrought fantasy of “Land Of The Lost”; the zany, sorta-spooky razzle-dazzle of “H.R. Pufnstuf” (that witch still gives me nightmares ...); the musical superhero wackiness of “The Bugaloos”; or the superbly-written, beachside antics of “Sigmund & The Sea Monsters.” Actually, that title was a bit misleading, since Sigmund himself was a sea monster, but we didn’t quibble over our Captain Crunch about such trivial details. Nossir, we were far too busy following the groovy adventures of Sigmund and his human rescuers, Johnny and Scott Stuart.

See, it all started when Sigmund Ooze (a giant, seaweed-covered creature who plays a vaguely Cinderella-esque character to his evil brothers’ stepsisters ... or something like that) escapes his cruel family’s dank, dark cave by the California sea (bear with us here, it is fantasy-land) and gets hit by a car. The young brothers come across him just in time and wrangle his huge green ass back to their club house. The mandatory close-calls and near-misses ensue, with Johnny and Scott perpetually trying to both hide Sigmund from adults (they appear to have no parents, but are raised by an annoying, busy-body housekeeper who’s constantly flirting with a chubby local cop who loves her cooking and not much else about the family) and his siblings (Slurp and Blurp, under direct orders from parents Big Daddy and Sweet Mama), who have grown tired of performing the household duties formerly undertaken by their much more personable yet nearly equally unat-
tractive brother.

This DVD takes us from that very first, fateful meeting through the Stuart boys’ amazing reunion with their long-lost parents, and includes some great extras and special features, including interviews with one of the show’s writers and both of the actors who played the boys. Yeah, the adventures were great, the set was awesome, and the story-lines were engaging, but the Kroffts were going for something a little deeper here, as usual.

Looking back, it’s easy to see that this ongoing tale wasn’t merely about the milk of human kindness to be found in the sympathetic Stuart boys, who took in a freakish monster from the sea and put themselves in daily peril to keep him safe, or the petty, cruel, bullying ways of the Ooze clan, who reflected the worst of our own selfish, spoiled, American youth of the ‘70s attitudes (The ME generation, remember?), but ultimately revealed to us that most normal families had both sides to them, and by learning to accept differences both inside our homes and out, we’d find adulthood far easier to adjust to. Or maybe there was something in that Captain Crunch back then ... it sure don’t taste the same without Sid and Marty Krofft.

That’s it for this week, gang. Tune in again next week for the very last column of 2005, when we’ll finish up this stack and prepare for a New Year of rockin’ an’ rollin’ ... until we meet again, make yer own damn news.

If you have gigs/events/CDs you’d like to see mentioned in this column, or you’d just like to give me my pharmaceutical Holiday greetings a few days early, send replies to: Tmygunn777@peoplepc.com. ||