garage Archive
29 Apr 2019
Album Review: Chocolate Watchband — This is My Voice
Exemplars of 1960s psychedelic garage rock, San Jose, California’s Chocolate Watchband nonetheless suffered greatly at the hands of the band’s label and (to a lesser extent) producer. Over the course […]
16 Jan 2019
No Way Out: The Curious Case of The Chocolate Watchband (Part Three)
Continued from Part Two… “I can’t think of too many bands that manage to build a reputation through as small a body of work,” says Palao. “When anybody looks at […]
15 Jan 2019
No Way Out: The Curious Case of The Chocolate Watchband (Part Two)
Continued from Part One… The punky ethos of Watchband songs like “Are You Gonna Be There (At the Love-in)” and “Let’s Talk About Girls” was no put-on; the band could […]
14 Jan 2019
No Way Out: The Curious Case of The Chocolate Watchband (Part One)
(Note: An edited version of this feature appeared in Record Collector Magazine.) Throughout the history of popular music, certain managers, producers and promoters have been wiling to engage in a […]
22 Dec 2018
A Vinyl Roundup to Round Out 2018
So much good music has found its way into my ears in 2018. As the year winds toward its close, I’d like to share words on a few of these […]
04 Dec 2018
Hundred-word Reviews, December 2018
This will almost certainly be my last roundup of new releases – capsule review style – for 2018. Lots of great music came out this year; don’t let anyone tell […]
29 Jun 2018
Liner Notes News
I’ve been extraordinarily busy lately. After devoting a large chunk of 2017 to the writing of my first book, Reinventing Pink Floyd: From Syd Barrett to The Dark Side of […]
22 Jun 2018
Album Review: The Shadows of Knight — Alive in ’65
Sundazed and its affiliated imprints have been doing yeoman work of late, providing an astounding service to the history of rock. The label has unearthed live tapes of fabled garage-rock […]
19 Dec 2017
The 1960s Garage Rock Scene in Western North Carolina, Part Two
Continued from Part One… The Garage Band Aesthetic There’s an undeniable sense of immediacy to recordings made by garage bands of the 1960s; that quality is the result of the […]
18 Dec 2017
The 1960s Garage Rock Scene in Western North Carolina, Part One
The following is a story I wrote in 2016 on assignment for WNC Magazine. The feature appeared in print in the October 2017 issue of the publication, with great photos […]