Jack the Ripper

There's something new coming out of Southend, UK. Something menacing, the likes of which hasn't been seen since The Meteors terrorized us with their psychobilly stomp in the '80s. The Cramps were doing the same thing at the same time, but The Meteors had this evil, dark thing going on, much like The Horrors do now.

The Horrors aren't even old enough to legally drink in this country, but somehow have been on the cover of NME twice, and have a video directed by Chris Cunningham featuring Samantha Morton. You gotta see this to get an idea of where these guys are coming from: Sheena Is a Parasite.

There's this darkness that makes me think of Nick Cave, but then there's the trash/camp/Elvis worship of The Cramps. I should explain that the 'billy' in psychobilly here is really more like surf guitar with Elvis-style vocals. Mean, skeery Elvis vocals. Oh, and I almost forgot the organ, there's lots of that. Addams Family style. Even better, sometimes the vocals and guitar style are like The Fall! They dress in suits, kind of like The Strokes, but these kids would kick the latter's fashionable asses. Their first EP comes out on October 24th, but you can check them out right now MySpace right here.

All Tomorrow's Parties

So the Yeah Yeah Yeahs put out a new album a couple months ago called Show Your Bones. For the video for the single "Cheated Hearts," they called on fans to record themselves lip-synching to the song and then send it in. Then the best parts were compiled together along with some actual footage of the band. I remember when I first heard about it, I thought it sounded kind of cheesy. But, it works - real well. There's a very human and 'close to home' element to it. These are people like you and your friends and your six-year old sister, plus a handful of all-out weirdos. Check it out:

And tonight the Yeah Yeah Yeahs will be on Conan O'Brien at 12:30am EST on NBC. Click the pic below to check out their website.

Bitches Brew

From the golden Congregation/Gentlemen era of the Afghan Whigs...sometimes this song is referred to as "Miles Iz Dead," and sometimes as "Rebirth of the Cool." It appears on an early EP and then also as a bonus track on Congregation, which is personally my favorite Whigs album.

Lately I've been going back to a lot of stuff that I was really into in the mid to late nineties. I know it's typical, but this is the stuff that's timeless. It doesn't sound dated to these ears.