If you haven’t already made yourself familiar with them, there are a couple of compilation/companion albums you need to get yer lugs round.
The Bikini Bottoms – Inversion
First up, the companion release to one of last year’s top albums, Bikiniland from The Bikini Bottoms. Inversion is available to stream and features seven tracks; demos and live versions of songs that ended up in their polished form on the final cut of Bikiniland.
I’ve been stung before with albums that purport to be a document of the bands’ roots or sold as some amazing unearthed and unheard before demoes. On listening you realise they should have remained unearthed as you vow never to listen again to the grainy tinny shite recorded on a C90 on a battered old mono tape deck. Nirvana is a case in point, the record label cashing in on the death of Cobain and releasing screeds of frankly fucking awful unlistenable demoes. While I’m sure hardcore fans salivated over these historic documents of the band, I filed under never listen to this shite again.
Anyway, old bloke rant over. Inversion is none of the above. To see The Bikini Bottoms in their full glory, I urge you to get along and see them live, this is where the duo excel. While it is difficult to capture the energy and verve of a live gig (the best example I can think of in recent years is The Godfathers, great songs, great musicians and the energy captured perfectly in the production and mixing by Steve Crittall). The first two tracks here, I See Red and Long Black Hair do a pretty good job of capturing the Bikini Bottoms live experience. Don’t take my word for it though, go see them as soon as you can.
Long Black Hair
The rest of the tracks are radio bootlegs/demos. The pick of the bunch for me is the radio bootleg of Long Black Hair, but I can’t help but have a soft spot for Zombie (appearing twice on this compilation).
If you haven’t already got Bikiniland, my first question is, why the hell not? But, hey better late than never, get down to Love Music Glasgow and pick up a shiny vinyl copy, stick it on, enjoy, then listen to Inversion. That’s a good night right there.
The Graveyard Tapes – Vol 2
But to make your night even better, while you’re in Love Music, grab a copy of Graveyard Tapes Vol. 2 on green vinyl (and if you haven’t already done so, get Vol. 1 on CD).
Mental Records is the link here, the label run by Bikini Bottom’s Jack Elfick. Graveyard Tapes Vol. 2 is (another) lovingly compiled selection of some of the best psychobilly, rockabilly, surf & garage rock and horror pop around today. The reach is far and wide with bands from as far afield as deepest darkest Methil and Tampere in Finland, the album kicking off with Surfin’ Wombatz glorious tribute to horror movie legend Peter Cushing and ending with the appropriately monikered Graveyard Bashers and their fast-paced primal psychobilly on the growlingly sinister Baseball Bat Man.
Along the way the journey takes in the perfectly formed surf sounds of Edinburgh’s masked mysterio’s Secret Admirer on People in Hell, blues-infused hillbilly rock n roll of French Fry from Nottingham’s Howlin’ Bones and the perfectly plucked stand-up bass and laid-back psychobilly of Venus Fly Trap from Deathcaps amongst others.
The Graveyard Bash
Three of the four bands appearing at the next Graveyard Bash on Easter Saturday (11th April) in McChuills feature – The Bikini Bottoms share early single Living in a Twilight Zone (available on physical format for the first time) while Glasgow’s own spooks, Skellys, provide their unique brand of skeleton punk n roll on Graverobber and Methil’s 13 Tombs provide a re-recorded version of their goth-horror-punk track Vacusapiens. The line-up for the Easter Bash is completed by “hardcore scouse-neck hillbilly one-man band” Krank Williams. Judging by what has been delivered in McChuills on these nights previously, this is sure to be a night to remember.
Full Track listing of Graveyard Tapes Vol 2:
- Surfin’ Wombatz – Peter Cushing
- Howlin’ Bones – French Fry
- King of Pigs – King of Pigs
- The Bikini Bottoms – Living in a Twilight Zone
- Skellys – Graverobber
- Kings of Hong Kong – Shrunken Head
- 13 Tombs – Vacusapiens
- Deathcaps – Venus Fly Trap
- The Phlegm – Don’t Make a Fuss
- Secret Admirer – People in Hell (Want Ice Water)
- Graveyard Bashers – Baseball Bat Man
Get Bikiniland and The Graveyard Tapes (Vol 1 and 2) from Love Music Glasgow