The Phoenix Network:
 
 
About  |  Advertise
Adult  |  Moonsigns  |  Band Guide  |  Blogs  |  In Pictures
 
Nominate-best-2010

Mp3 of the Week: Mighty Mighty Bosstones cover Unnatural Axe

DOWNLOAD: Mighty Mighty Bosstones, "Shoppin' for a Friend" [mp3] 

If you were around in 1978, it’s possible you could’ve bought Unnatural Axe’s legendary seven-inch "They Saved Hitler’s Brain' out of the bin at Newbury Comics, then gone to see Richie Parsons’s obnoxiously loud (or loudly obnoxious?) OG punk band tear the Police a new asshole at the Rat. Thirty years on, the Rat is dead, but the Unnatural Axe and Newbury Comics are still with us. They even share a birthday, which they’re celebrating together with three Parsons-curated gigs at Church August 21 and 22 and the Middle East downstairs August 23. For those who would dispute the continuing relevance of either institution, there’s Ruling the World from the Back Seat, a new double-LP (yes, vinyl) tribute to the Axe on which their songs are played by the likes of Mission of Burma (“Creeper”), the Neighborhoods (“The Man”), Jerry’s Kids (“Bombing”), the Queers (“No Surfing in Dorchester Bay”); there are even takes on “Hitler” B-side “Summertime” by both the Bags and the Dogmatics. Here we’ve got the Mighty Mighty Bosstones rampaging through “Shopping for a Friend,” a song that could still pass for a Johnny Thunders tune if not for the local details. As in the original, Dicky Barrett name-checks Filene’s Basement, which is (essentially) lost to history, along with (you guessed it) Newbury Comics, which is not. 

BONUS TRACK: Another new Dicky Barrett song!

Longtime Phoenix contributor and former music editor Ted Drozdowski is about to release Luck In a Hurry, a new album by his punk/blues duo SCISSORMEN (with the drummer from Blaine "Nashville Pussy" Cartwright's old band Nine Pound Hammer).Ted taught OTD most of what we know about the blues, which is not bad tutelage considering Ted learned partly from the late critic Robert Palmer, and partly from the hill-country virtuosos of Clarksdale, Mississippi, including the late R.L. Burnside. The new Scissormen record is the fucking balls, and this track is even gnarlier thanks to a cameo by the Bosstones' Dickie Barrett -- who with his grizzly-bear growl is actually a much more believable blues singer than he is a ska singer. HE MISSED HIS CALLING. Kidding, plaid ones, kidding. 

DOWNLOAD: Scissormen and Dicky Barrett, "Whiskey and Mary Jane" [mp3] 

  • Share:
  • Share this entry with Facebook
  • Share this entry with Digg
  • Share this entry with Delicious
  • Email this article to a friend
  • Print this article

1 Comments

  • aladinplaid said:

    We love them both.. VIVA Unnatural Axe. Thanks to The Pheonix.. well.. for being so friggin cool.

    The 737

    August 24, 2008 2:12 PM

Leave a Comment

Login | Not a member yet? Click here to Join
Follow the Phoenix
  • newsletter
  • twitter
  • facebook
  • youtube
  • rss
All Blogs
Related Articles

Boston Phoenix
HOMEWORK: Assignment #2: D-Tension
Published 10/22/2009 by Michael Brodeur
VIDEO: The honorable D-Tension presents, "Can You Dig It" 1. HOMEWORK For our second installment of Homework -- our still-shiny-new monthly series of brand new...

MP3 of the Week: Doomriders, "Come Alive"
Boston Phoenix
MP3 of the Week: Doomriders, "Come Alive"
Published 10/16/2009 by Carly Carioli
Like Motörhead before them, DOOMRIDERS live up to their name: they sound fucking evil. They’re one of the few side projects whose careers might actually...

more by Carly Carioli
Walking Edge: The iPhone app that killed Coakley | January 21, 2010
Glenn Beck on Senator Scott Brown: "This one could end with a dead intern." | January 20, 2010
Why Martha Coakley's loss wasn't about health care -- and what Barney Frank can do about it | January 20, 2010
New Facebook fan page: 1000 people Flip the Bird at the Voters of Massachusetts | January 19, 2010
Massachusetts polls are closed: Democrats bracing for a Coakley loss | January 19, 2010

 See all articles by: Carly Carioli

ADVERTISEMENT
Latest Video
OTD Categories
Out
VIDEO: Arctic Monkeys at the House of Blues
Rare Frequencies
Rare Frequencies: Trouble and treble
Playlists
Lady Lee's Lion's Den Playlist
MP3 of the Week
HOMEWORK: Assignment #2: D-Tension
Hot Tix
Ticket On-Sale Alert: Muse, Mariah Carey, Black Eyed...
Latest Comments
The Touching Tale Of Labor And Scott Brown - Blocking nominations is a time honored tradition that both parties partake in, most recently by Barry...

By Fake Name on 02-06-2010 in Talking Politics

MP3 of the Week: Vikesh Kapoor, "Newspress Scare" - stream the 7" here: vikeshkapoor.bandcamp.com/.../newspress-scare-7-2 tickets to the show here:...

By hootenanny on 02-05-2010 in On The Download

Dear Rush Limbaugh: Please Drop Dead. Love, Twitter - Shows the kind of exemplary trash that festers under the banner of the Democrat party. Wishing ANYONE...

By pirogue on 02-05-2010 in Phlog

The Touching Tale Of Labor And Scott Brown - Want a real conversation about the Massachusetts gubernatorial race? Watch Basic Black live TONIGHT ...

By saltzmas on 02-04-2010 in Talking Politics

Thugs and goons: Howie Carr explains--updated! - Oh, he got it from the comments! Nice job, Howie. So, according to Mr. Carr, it is the New York Times...

By Farnkoff on 02-04-2010 in Dont Quote Me

Latest Comments from On The Download
Most Viewed
MP3: Casey Dienel goes Gaga on White Hinterland's new Kairos
MP3 of the Week: Conservative Man, "The Heist"
Together at last: Amanda Palmer and Kay Hanley duet at Lizard Lounge [video]
Photos and Video: Julian Casablancas at the Paradise Rock Club, and live on WFNX
Ticket On-Sale Alert: The Thermals, Trey Anastasio, Spoon, Jay-Z, Xiu Xiu, and more
Andrew Fenlon speaks! Former Eli Reed trombonist on what you didn't see in his American Idol performance
Gen. Larry Platt's "Pants on the Ground" spawns instant remixes, Facebook group, YouTube covers
Most Viewed from On The Download
Search Blogs
 
Links
Bradley’s Almanac - Lower Allston blogging and bootlegging since 2001
Band in Boston -
Basstown -
Wayne&Wax -
Aurgasm -
Onward Charles -
Compound 440r -
Anti-Gravity Bunny -
Clicky Clicky -
Soul Clap -
Lemmingtrail -
WMBR -
WFNX -
Beginning To See the Light -
Jump the Turnstyle -
Heads Up Boston -
Loaded Gun -
Enough Cowbell -
Vanyaland -
On The Download Archives
Sunday, February 07, 2010  |  Sign In  |  Register
 
TODAY'S FEATURED ADVERTISERS
thePhoenix.com
Phoenix Media/Communications Group
Copyright © 2010 The Phoenix Media/Communications Group