I don't know what I expected New York indie band Jacksonknife to sound like, but the "Americana/indie" tag made me think more twang than brass. Instead, the six tracks on "You Don't Know What You're Talking About," are soulful, with a range of added flavors, like ska ("The Morning"), folk ("Catholics") and good old poppy rock and roll ("Rate Plan"). The result is a varied affair that is uniformly catchy and infectious.
I was excited to find a live New York Dolls disc recorded at the Fillmore West land on my desk. But that was tempered by the kicker that it was recorded in December 2007 and I got more worried when I saw that the "New York Dolls" are now David Johansen and Sylvain Sylvain with Steve Conte, Sami Yaffa and Brian Delaney.
I make no secret of my lack of passion for reunions (read: bank balance builders). All the hits are here on this 10-track disc and the performance is quite good. If you're a Dolls fan, you'll be thrilled. If you not a fan, this is far from essential.
On the other hand, there is the live disc that accompanies the deluxe edition of Elvis Costello and the Attractions' "This Year's Model." Now, don't get me started on how many times I've felt constrained (by geeky fandom) to buy and re-buy each of Elvis' records, thanks to countless reissues packed with rarities (different ones each time, of course), but this one is great. The first disc has the original disc alongside some live tracks, b-sides and demos (most of which you heard on the Rhino reissue).
But disc two is a 17-song gig recorded at the Warner Theater in D.C. on Feb. 28, 1978 and it captures the young Attractions at the height of their vigor and power. It's a must for fans. Of course, "This Year's Model," Costello's second disc and his first with the Attractions is a must not only for devotees but for even casual Costello watchers.
Irish ensemble Lunasa looks back on its 10-year career -- so far - on "The Story So Far..." on Compass Records. In addition to tracks from each of the group's six discs, there are extensive liner notes and a fun photo journal.
Davey La -- ex-Ambershades -- makes his solo debut with the "Rotten in Denmark" EP on Rephlektor Records. The four tracks here will have you thinking about The Killers, Franz Ferdinand and the others in the post-punk revival. NME called Ambershades "beautiful, optimistic, alluring and unashamedly uplifting" and the same could be said for La's solo career so far.
Last, but certainly not least, Clinic released "Do It!" last month and the Liverpool band continues its quest to create the perfect fuzzy psychedelic pop mélange. On this, its fifth disc, there are shades of Electric Prunes ("Corpus Christi"), Bo Diddley ("The Witch (Made to Measure") and even old R&B ("Free Not Free"). Always on the edge of "out there," Clinic has carved out a niche that is totally its own. How many bands can say that these days?
Born in Brooklyn, N.Y., where he lived until he was 17, Bobby received his BA-Mass Communications from UWM in 1989 and has lived in Walker's Point, Bay View, Enderis Park, South Milwaukee and on the East Side.
He has published three non-fiction books in Italy – including one about an event in Milwaukee history, which was published in the U.S. in autumn 2010. Four more books, all about Milwaukee, have been published by The History Press.
With his most recent band, The Yell Leaders, Bobby released four LPs and had a songs featured in episodes of TV's "Party of Five" and "Dawson's Creek," and films in Japan, South America and the U.S. The Yell Leaders were named the best unsigned band in their region by VH-1 as part of its Rock Across America 1998 Tour. Most recently, the band contributed tracks to a UK vinyl/CD tribute to the Redskins and collaborated on a track with Italian novelist Enrico Remmert.
He's produced three installments of the "OMCD" series of local music compilations for OnMilwaukee.com and in 2007 produced a CD of Italian music and poetry.
In 2005, he was awarded the City of Asti's (Italy) Journalism Prize for his work focusing on that area. He has also won awards from the Milwaukee Press Club.
He has be heard on 88Nine Radio Milwaukee talking about his "Urban Spelunking" series of stories, in that station's most popular podcast.
