Sunday night in Miami, Florida at Sweat Records, come boil your brains in the sun and gloss your mind over with a rare appearance of one of Columbus, OH's finest mongrels of muck, and Mike Rep's most prolific co-conspirator, Tommy Jay. As an unheralded star of the dimly lit world of folk/psyche aberrations, Tommy's long lost, yet recently reissued Tall Tales of Trauma album has found new life on Columbus Discount Records with a proper vinyl issue this past year. With recordings dating back to the mid 70s, Tommy Jay's recorded material is top notch weirdo shit that you really need to hear, if you haven't had the pleasure. As the cassette version of the original 1986 release is long gone, pick up the reissue HERE and try to wrap your head around the deranged grooves within, and see how hard they are to shake off. If you're already familiar, and if you're within hours of Miami on Saturday, you'll know seeing Mr. Jay will be a mandatory trip, especially when he's being supported by such a fine lineup of locals.
Florida has really blossomed over the past five years with a great crop of promising new bands, and Saturday's bill is testament to that fact. The Jacuzzi Boys have been gong-bangin' for the past few years with more and more folks going apeshit for their sound with every passing day, and with good reason. As a mesmerizingly-nuanced band with all the right moves, Jacuzzi Boys are continuously defacing the boringly sheepish term "garage" and creating some of today's most enduringly classic rock'n'roll music. With a brand new split 7" with Woven Bones due out any minute now on Needless Records, it's time you made a place in your rotten guts for one of Miami's finest. Keep an eye out for their anxiously awaited debut LP on Florida's Dying later this year, and grab a copy of their Rob's House and HoZac 7" singles while you still can.
Luckily, this town has a few more knockout tricks up its sleeve as Electric Bunnies are no slouches in their own right, and are responsible for three essential 7" singles that spread their sound over a vast array of styles that seem to have caused people to either swarm or run. From the bashing rhythm of "Eat Worms" on their debut 7" on Florida's Dying back in 2007, to their innocently vicious "Chewing Gum" on the second FD single, and on to that polarizing vocoder-propelled "Fantastic Metal Eye" on Columbus Discount, these kids never take the time to sit still for people to form an opinion. But with the vast majority of their songs going straight for the gut, they always have a winning curve ball song that blasts out of your back side with all the admiration they deserve. If you're like us and are always in need of more of a good thing, keep on the lookout for their debut LP on Florida's Dying later this year, as well. Opening up the festivities at Sweat Records are one of the more promising new Miami groups, and one of the best named bands in town, Melted Sunglasses. With a solidly delirious piss-take on the winning Flipper showtunes formula, these new sores on the back of Dade County are looking to spurt forth some impressive energy into the sun-baked psychedelic fuckosphere that is southern Florida. Don't show up late, as Melted Sunglasses seem to have a lot of nefarious potential and should leave a lasting, and sickening impression.
For more Florida madness of the highest power, check out like-minded bands such as TEEPEE, Lil Daggers, This Heart Electric, and Opus Finus.
and check out a video of Electric Bunnies performing "The Stranger" live at Churchill's in 2007, courtesy of cstonemoney, right here:
