The Movement That Never Was: BLOCK #7

Block 7

The last and final block of The Movement That Never Was 1997-2005 compilation. 60 bands - 60 songs. We could've easily pushed that number to 100, but we had to cut it off at some point. I wish I had time to delve into all this further and write the short bios for all the blocks, but I got caught in the middle of a move, so time is/has been scarce. We hope you all enjoyed the music. Now go and buy what you liked.

Yeah Yeah Yeahs – Our Time
Master – Wichita / Touch and Go (2002)

The Ponys – I Wanna Fuck You
So Sentimental 7” – Contaminated (2003)

Miss Alex White & Chris Playboy – Pop/Stall
Miss Alex White & Chris Playboy 7" - Missile X (2003)

The Blackouts – Let You Down
Living in Blue – Lucid (2004)

The Greenhornes – Can’t Stand It
The Greenhornes – Telstar (2001)

Thee Lordly Serpents – But You Think So
Thee Lordly Serpents – Pro-Vel (2004)

The Dishes – Use Your Arms
3 – File 13 (2003)

Black Rebel Motorcycle Club - Whatever Happened to My Rock n' Roll
B.R.M.C. - Virgin (2000)

The Little Killers – Volume
The Little Killers – Crypt (2003)

King Khan – On a Brass Bed
Mr. Supernatural – Hazelwood (2004)

The Movement That Never Was: BLOCK #6

Block 6

The White Stripes – Lafayette Blues
Lafayette Blues 7” – Italy (1998)

The Von Bondies – It Came From Japan
Lack of Communication – Sympathy (2001)

The Dirtbombs – Stuck Under My Shoe
Stuck Under My Shoe 7” – Some Assembly Required (1998)

The Go – Keep On Trash
Whatcha Doin’ – Sub Pop (1998)

The Sights – Don’t Want You Back
Got What You Want – Fall of Rome / Sweet Nothing (2002)

Detroit Cobras – Hey Sailor
Life, Love, and Leaving – Sympathy (2001)

Demolition Doll Rods – Doo Walka Walka
Tasty – In the Red (1997)

The Paybacks – Just You Wait
Knock Loud – Get Hip (2002)

Clone Defects – Stray Boy
Shapes of Venus – In the Red (2003)

The Movement That Never Was: BLOCK #5

Block 5

The Deadly Snakes – Closed Casket
Ode To Joy – In the Red (2003)

Spaceshits – Can’t Fool With Me
Misbehavin’ – Sympathy (1999)

Les Sexareenos – Everybody Sexareeno!
Live! In the Bed – Sympathy (2000)

Mando Diao – Sheepdog
Bring ‘Em In – Mute (2003)

The Datsuns – Lady
The Datsuns – Hell Squad / V2 (2002)

The Hells – He’s the Devil (But I Love Him So)
He’s the Devil 7” – Artrocker (2003)

Country Teasers – I’m a New Person, Ma’am
Science Hat Artistic Cube Moral Nosebleed Empire – In the Red (2002)

The Kills – Black Rooster (Fuck and Fight)
Black Rooster EP – Dim Mak (2001)

Cato Salsa Experience – So, The Circus is Back in Town
A Good Tip For a Good Time – Emperor Norton (2002)

Tokyo Sex Destruction – Break-Out Town
Le Red Soul Communnitte – Dim Mak (2003)

The Movement That Never Was: BLOCK #4

Block 4

The Spits – Don’t Shoot
The Spits (3) – Dirtnap (2003)

The Lost Sounds – Lost and Found
Black-Wave – Empty (2001)

The Husbands – Dirty Mouth
Introducing the Sounds of The Husbands – Swami (2003)

Mystery Girls – Circles in the Sand
Circles in the Sand 7” – In the Red (2003)

The Black Lips – Throw it Away
The Black Lips – Bomp! (2003)

The Forty-Fives – Out of My Mind
Fight Dirty – Yep Roc (2002)

The Gossip – Don’t Make Waves
Movement – Kill Rock Stars (2003)

The Makers – No Count
Hunger – Estrus (1997)

The Gris Gris – Everytime
The Gris Gris – Birdman (2004)

Mr. Airplane Man – Uptight
Moanin’ – Sympathy (2002)

The Movement That Never Was: BLOCK #3

Block 3

The Tears – Don’t Care About Nothin'
She Ain’t Right 7” – Bancroft (2002)

Reatards – Your So Lewd
Your So Lewd 7” – Empty (1999)

The Liars – Grown Men Don’t Fall in the River, Just Like That
They Threw Us In a Trench… - Gern Blandsten (2001)

Soledad Brothers – Break ‘Em On Down
Steal Your Soul and Dare Your Spirit to Move – Estrus (2002)

Catholic Boys – Sometimes Baby
Psychic Voodoo Mind Control – Dropkick / Trick Knee (2004)

Reigning Sound – Straight Shooter
Time Bomb High School – In the Red (2002)

The Mistreaters – SC Twist
Grab Them Cakes – Big Neck (2000)

The Bloody Hollies – Swing
Fire at Will – Sympathy (2003)

Tyrades – Cut Your Feet Off
Tyrades – Broken Rekids (2003)

Fatal Flying Guilloteens – Cup of 1000
Get Knifed – Estrus (2003)

The Movement That Never Was: BLOCK #2

See the entry below or go to The Crutch website to read about The Movement That Never Was 1997-2005.

BLOCK #2

The Hunches – Explosion
With the occasional Screamin’ Jay Hawkins styled vocals and extra dirty punk rock and roll in the ass pocket, The Hunches are somewhat of an acquired taste for many, but salty enough for the barrage of fans they picked up in the early part of the 21^st Century. Listen to Yes. No. Shut It. and you’ll come out the other end looking like you’ve been wedging your hands in every crevice of the 289 on your ’65 Mustang. They haven’t released a full-length since 2004, with the release of their Leper Parade 7" on Dusty Medical this year and a recent tour with Miss Alex White and the Red Orchestra, we may see something new soon.

Immortal Lee County Killers – Killer 45
Chet “Cheetah” Weise came from Quadrajets fame – another band that could fit in this movement. The Killers easily carry one of the heaviest sounds out of these bunches of bands, but their punk blues gets your attention like stepping on a nail. The hard riffs are catchy and the drumming is simple, but they have managed to push some envelopes with their three full lengths. They’re loud and…fun – yes, fun – and they’re still on the scene, releasing These Bones Will Rise to Love You Again on Funhouse Records this year.

The Horrors – When I Get Home
These hawkeyes may have crafted one of the best albums in the last 10 years with their 2003 In the Red Records release, Vent. A little on the blues-rock end, The Horrors came and went before NME could call them the best band in the world. It’s quite a shame, but luckily they left us a couple albums to listen to and wonder “what if…”

Porch Ghouls – Little Candy For Tessie
Another tragedy of this era, the Porch Ghouls only released two albums. Their first was a self-titled 10” – produced by legendary Jeffrey Evans, and filled with blues covers, including R.L. Burnside, Willie Dixon, and Hound Dog Taylor tracks. Their second, Bluff City Ruckus, is a fucking barnburner, and was released by Roman Records (Joe Perry of Aerosmith’s label, who personally brought them in) and Columbia, but nothing came of it. It’s surprising, since this dirty country blues album blows away anything the widely popular Black Keys have ever recorded. Drummer, Bruce Saltmarsh, also briefly played in ’68 Comeback, but otherwise, these Memphis kids completely disappeared from the map.

Vue – Pictures of Me
First known as The Audience, San Francisco’s Vue was one of the more promising bands of the late 1990s. Jumping from GSL to Sub Pop, and finally to RCA, they had the backing to do something. They also had a sophomore stunner in Find Your Home. There isn’t a bad track on that album, but plenty outside of it. With a the Marc Bolan and Jim Morrison influences, they quickly found themselves regurgitating their own work and sound. Regardless, Find Your Home still stands as one of the better albums of 2001.

Go to BLOCK #1

The Movement That Never Was

In 1972, Jac Holzman (founder of Electra Records) and Lenny Kaye (guitarist for Patti Smith and Jim Carroll) put together one of the best compilations ever assembled: Nuggets: Original Artyfacts From the First Psychedelic Era 1965-1968. It contained 27 obscure garage bands, highlighting a group of artists that would've otherwise been forgotten, including Thirteenth Floor Elevators, Electric Prunes, Shadows of Knight, and Count Five. All of these bands, and even more that made the inevitable Nuggets box set released in 1998 by Rhino Records, sat in the shadows of the British Invasion, but with the original Nuggets and the later box set, there is a recorded testimony for all music fans to remember bands that can easily be counted as some of the most influential to come out that era. Names like Captain Beefheart and Love still get thrown around as influences, and The Sonics could even be seen as the godfathers of punk.

30 years later, in the late 1990s, those who were paying attention saw a similar type of moment happening in rock and roll, with a number of bands forming and following in the practically invisible footsteps of rock revivalists like The Gories, Thee Headcoats, '68 Comeback, Gibson Bros., Cheater Slicks, Flat Duo Jets, and The Oblivians. But by 2002, there was an accelerated repeat of the grunge era's final years, where the big media began noticing the surge, shamelessly touting every new band as the next big thing, and the major record labels started snatching up every band they could possibly fit into the marketing tag of "garage rock." The term was not only inaccurate in most cases, but it also quickly became the label of death - for the bands branded and also for a rock and roll movement that never happened.

Detroit got the most attention, but bands were popping up everywhere - New York, Chicago, San Francisco, Austin, Memphis, Toronto, London - Sweden, Australia, New Zealand, and Japan. There were many bands mining similar sounds, but the diversity of the music was actually quite impressive, and the quality gave many the tingling feeling of a possible rock and roll movement about to explode - after all, we were, and are still over due. However, like the underground movement in the mid-to-late '60s, there are only a few bands from this most recent period that found success and that remain on the international scene today. Most have either dismantled, changed their sound to be more marketable, have been demoted to the basements of major label PR departments, or simply have never got popular enough to consistently tour and play in front of large audiences.

The White Stripes and The Strokes are the only two bands out of the 1997-2005 crop that have gold records hanging on their walls, and some others who got exposure by the media actually saw a backlash from the underground rock dwellers, but in the end, it was an exciting and prolific time for modern rock and roll. And just because we no longer have a viable environment for another rock and roll movement, due to our over zealous media trying to force revolutions instead of allowing them to evolve, doesn't mean we have to forget the bands and the songs that could have made a much bigger impact on the history of rock and roll and also the current music world.

Hopefully, someday, someone will compile an official release so that these great songs and artists won't be written in the wind. Until then, The Crutch is happy to provide blocks of an unofficial compilation: The Crutch: The Movement That Never Was 1997-2005.

CLICK HERE FOR BLOCK #1