“Garage Girl Hand Clap Hockey Rink Rock 'n' Roll” — say that five times as quickly as you can!
Tonight’s selections from Tuscon’s (now SF Bay Area based) the Okmoniks. Party Fever!!! (2007) is their only full length album but the band is still active, playing festivals and smaller shows alike.
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I'll Let You In
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After the early 60s most Rhythm and Blues disappeared and had a mild resurgence in the surf rock craze. But California band The Okmoniks (named after Alf characters), are mixing that, party rock, garage, punk and cheap synths to make some of the best lo-fi rock music around. Fronted by married couple Helene “33” and Sam Claiborne (of IGN) the band have exploded in the California indie-scene and even been played on the reboot of 90210. Their music is fast and gritty and sounds like if Sex Bob-omb was a real band.
Their debut LP Party Fever!!! takes this sound and runs it through nine awesome songs, it’s also really the only easy recording to find by the band. The album continuous flow makes it feel like a non-stop party for the barely 20 minute run-time it has and every solo seems natural and quick. The album just comes off as completely genuine in every respect. “Hide and Seek” starts the album off racing through punk chords and surfy solos all topped by Helene’s retro sounding keyboard. Helene’s gain covered vocals come to the forefront in “I’m On My Own,” giving another cool sound to the bands already lo-fi aesthetic. “It’s Not You” keeps the music racing and has some awesome high notes for Helene. — OwenSound
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I'm Done
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The next song is full of putdowns of a boy that just isn’t cutting it. “I called you up on the telephone, you were last on my list but at least you were home” Anyone else remember doing that? Making an ordered list of girls or boys for you and your friend(s) to call on a Friday night? “What are you doing?” “Nothing, what are you doing?” “Nothing, just here with so-and-so”, etc.
Most of putdowns are silly, juvenile ones but the third line below. GOT DAMN! FATALITY!
You think you’ve got the coolest hair
You’ve got skid marks in your underwear
There’s nothing that you can do down there
You think you’re hip but you’re just square
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Not That Good
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When Slovenly offered to release a 45 RPM single for Tucson's The Okmoniks, they gave us 9 songs to choose from, but every song was a masterpiece of mid-60s organ driven frat dance bash a go-go, so we had to release it as the first ever Okmoniks long player, "Party Fever!!!" With a history of trashy live perfection, led by America's grooviest garage virtuoso Helene 33 (on the electric ivories), and a now-legendary stack of 7 inch sides under their belts, this LP was the obvious next step: an album loaded to the label with insane danceability, hilarity and speaker shredding fidelity. — Bandcamp
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It's Not You
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Was there a band you heard when you were young that inspired you to become a musician?
Sam Claiborne: Circa 1999 in high school, Helene and I loved records by the Cramps, the Mummies and Thee Headcoats. One afternoon our freshman year in college, our future friend (and budding mega collector) Tony invited us over to listen to records. He played all the songs those bands were covering by the Shadows of Knight, the Sonics, bands from "Back From the Grave" comps, etc. We didn't even know they were covers. We started to write songs, record and self-release records pretty much then and there.
How does living in the Bay Area affect your music?
SC: There are always 10 times as many people at our shows than when we were living in Tucson. People here are enthusiastic and genuine and share a history of great, local, stupid, fun music.
How did you come up with your band name and what does it mean to you?
SC: The name comes from the neighbors on "Alf." It was really just the sound of the name we thought was funny - a friend of ours came up with it because she was watching "Alf" reruns. We used to never tell people where it was from, and now it's really just the band name, it means nothing else. It's the phonetic name of the neighbors on the show. — SFGate
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Rustle Up Some Action
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The drummer for the Okmoniks, Justin Champlin is quickly becoming known for being attached to the most recognizable nutsack in underground music. His work with the Sneaky Pinks and Nobunny have certainly perpetuated the recent rise of grubby bubblegum we're all knee deep in recently. Nobunny is certainly on the right track updating the formula left by the founding fathers, GG Allin and of course the Ramones. He incorporates infectious and intoxicating pop songs with lyrical content that exude the sort of idiotic brilliance that turns everyone into the life of the party. — Victim of Time
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Nobunny :: Chuck Berry Holiday
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WHO’S TALKING TO WHO?
Jimmy Kimmel: Julie Bowen, Jamie Demetriou, Depeche Mode (R 3/21/23)
Jimmy Fallon: Gigi Hadid, Chase Stokes, Micky Dolenz, Dierks Bentley (R 2/27/23)
Stephen Colbert: John Lithgow, Wendell Pierce (R 10/11/22)
Seth Meyers: Laura Dern, Miranda Lambert (R 4/24/23)
James Corden: Lil Nas X, Zach Braff, Julie Bowen, Morvin Splaversby (R 3/27/23)
SPOILER WARNING
None. All repeats. Spoil away. You can spoil away. Stay all day. If you want to. (ICU Pixies fans)
LAST WEEK'S POLL:WOULD YOU RATHER LIVE IN A PLACE WHERE IT'S 32°C OR 32°F ON AVERAGE?
Freezing cold (32°F or 0°C) 46%
Tropical hot (32°C or 90°F) 27%
Pie 27%