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John Hughes Tribute

Interesting news come from American Laundromat Records. They are preparing a John Hughes tribute cd with contemporary bands covering hits that were a soundtrack to his movies. In 1998 Rhino had a similar project where the teen bands of the 90s (featuring then teenage Donnas) covered 80s movie hits, but ALR will hopefully do a better job this time. Legendary film maker John Hughes (Sixteen Candles, Pretty In Pink, Breakfast Club) definitely deserves it. If you wonder what's going on with John Hughes lately, he hasn't directed any movie ever since Curly Sue in 1991, but he runs a busy production company Hughes Entertainment and often writes scripts and stories for the films associated to his company. Sometimes he publishes under a pseudonym Edmond Dantes. John Hughes fan site is here.

new album==>
Holly Golightly - Slowly But Surely

Holly Golightly's success sky-rocketed when The White Stripes asked her to do It's True That We Love One Another for their album Elephant. But Holly was around since the nineties, first as a backup vocalist for her friend Billy Childish's band Thee Headcoats, and then as a solo artist, recording a series of very good albums in legendary Toerag Studios. Her newest effort is produced by the owner of the Toerag Studios, Liam Watson, who probably knows the best about vintage gadgets located in his studio. Compared to her previous album, this one is a bit more toned down and jazzy. General atmosphere reminds to the one that you can hear in pop standard Fever - it's mellow, rhythmic and sexy. Holly recently dropped by New Orleans and played a concert at One Eyed Jack's.


<==rewind
The Last - L.A. Explosion

In our previous issue of "news" we wrote about The Last reunion. This time, we will spend a little more time talking about their first long play album L.A. Explosion. They were a special kind of Los Angeles band as they were combining punk ethics with power pop sound and emerging Los Angeles hard core scene loved them. They shared scene with Black Flag, Dils and others. Their first 45s were neraly live dome-like recordings with all the dirt to attract a yound punk and all songwriting beauty to attract a skiny-tied new-waver. However, the sound on their firs LP, released by the legendary Bomp label, was more on a pop side, but with attitude and surprising riff bursts, they show their punk roots. Brothers Nolte deliver wonderful brotherly harmonies, sounding more like Beatless with cherokee haricuts than Beach Boys - although you might think they would, being a band of siblings in California. Some Beach Boys influence is evident in Every Summer Day, but more in songwritng technique than performance. Besides a wonderful vocal match, an important addition to the sound overall is Vitus Matare's keyboards, who left the band in mid-eighties to form Trotsky Icepick. As my firend Badger pointed out, those keyboards are equal part 80s new wave and 60s psych garage. Perhaps the most illustrative point on the album that describes this decade-linking trick is how I Don't Wanna Be In Love turns into Be Bop A Lula. The album made an incredible impact on Los Angeles scene, turning a lot of strict hard core bands to a bit softer approach. In particular, some of the most beautiful Descendents power pop songs were written under a direct influence of The Last. I, however, think that this album deserves even greater attention, and maybe the future will show that it is one of the best albums of both 70s American punk and power-pop.