The Zabalas Debut EP Stream

The Zabalas is the collaboration of Buenos Aires' export über vixen Flor Zabala and New York rock producer David Pattillo.

Members

Flor Zabala - Vocals

David Pattillo - Guitars

Jimmy Caps - Bass

Wylie Wirth – Drums

After a chance meeting at a Wanda Jackson revival show in April 2011, the two began recording and exploring the musical worlds of late 70′s NY punk, and 60’s psychedelia in Pattillo’s NYC studio. 

David Pattillo is also the singer/guitar slinger in the garage blues duo The Dead Exs with drummer Wylie Wirth and Guitarist in The Dirty Glamour

Flor Zabala is a top Argentine model based in New York, a self described Psycho Banshee this young lady serves up a song with hot grease and lightning.

Jimmy Caps is the baddest Bassist for hire in NYC and in the band 'The Dirty Glamour' and also a music producer in his own right.

Wylie Wirth has extensive experience both sides of the Atlantic banging the skins.

I had the great fortune of seeing an impromptu performance of Flor with The Dead Exs at The Sulfolk. This young lady whips the pants off a song.

Here's Flor, David, Wylie and Jimmy performing The Stones 'When the Whip Comes Down' with The Bowery Bangs at Tammany Hall.

Have a listen to the new EP

Get the song 'Last Time' for FREE on the Beyond, Beyond is Beyond/Bang Bang Boogaloo Psych Comp
Give em a like on Facebook and stay up to date on Bang Bang Boogaloo

Shayfer James is masterful at what it is he does

Shayfer James: Vocals/Piano/Stories/Arrangements

Dusty Bones: Drums

Jeremy Gillespie: Bass/Backing Vocals/Percussion

Dante Edmont: Organs/Backing Vocals/Percussion

Frequent Guests:

Peter Horn: Fiddle

Sarah Zar: Singing Saw

Shayfer James is devilishly captivating and deliciously unusual. A man of bewitching grace, grisly humor, profound story telling, and whiskey-flavored wit. Backed live and in the studio by his band "The Well Behaved", there is a certain power and mischievous charm that permeates as they take the stage. A sense of foreboding builds and as Shayfer begins to sing, we are immersed in his darkly lyrical and evocative stories. The piano-driven music swaggers with danceable dark anthems, harrowing ballads, and experiments in chaos.

I first came across Shayfer James at Those Mockingbirds vinyl release party at Maxwell’s in Hoboken, I had never hear of him before but am sure glad I stuck around that night to catch his set.  I was in a musical transition or maybe just rediscovering a sound I have long liked of storytelling mixed with an old timey vaudevillian, carnivalesque sound and was reconnecting with past favorites like Dr. John, Leon Russell, Captain Beefheart and Long John Baldry.  I was also at this time discovering some new local talent like The End Men, Don Ryan, Elephant goes West, Skeletons in The Piano, The Bailey Hounds and The Dirty Urchins.  Which, as I look back this is what lead to the Popakazooza Compilations.

Shayfer James is masterful at what it is he does, great storytelling in riddles wrapped in enigmas, with a unique sound and stage persona. I was hooked. After the show I did my usual internet archeology and found his Facebook page and other portals. Not long after that, from his facebook postings I found out he holds an intimate webcast on many Sunday nights called Sunday for Sinners, with him and an occasional guest from his home at the piano. I now never miss an episode.

He seems to be a prolific song writer with quite a body of work in the last four years, when recently asked how he writes he said he most time writes without an instrument, while he’s walking or going about his daily business. His most recent album ‘Counterfeit Arcade’ released Nov. 2011 is follow up to 2010’s The Owl & The Elephant, which was lauded by the likes of WNYC and Indiefeed. Available on his bandcamp page and any other venue that sells music. Get it!

Counterfeit Arcade released Nov 2011

The Owl and The Elephant released May 2010

Red Room Vol 1 released December 2008 is a free download to get you started


Here's the linkie dinkies, check em out indeed Facebook Twitter the website and youtube
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Swamp Cabbage

Walter Parks - singing + picking

Jagoda - beating

Jim Devito – thumping

An electric blues trio inspired by the swampy gospel blues that wails from storefront churches and roadhouses in and around the SE Georgia low country. 

Walter formed Swamp Cabbage in 2001 as a means of exploring his southern musical influences and sharing his interpretations of them. Walter's electric guitar style is a mélange of Scott Joplin's ragtime and Jerry Reed's bayou pickin. Jim's bass barks like a tuba through a fuzz box and Jagoda drums like he's leadin' a New Orleans funeral parade. Lyrically, Swamp Cabbage offers a comedic travelogue through Walter's North Florida upbringing. On the the chance you catch a live show they guarantee you'll experience honest musicality and good laughs.

The group has three CDs – the self released debut "Honk" in 2006, "Squeal" released in 2008 on the ZOHO Roots label, and the 2010 "LIVE FROM NEW YORK ON THE IN TUNE". In May 2012 they will be releasing a new CD, 'Drum Roll Please' Pre-Order here

Steel Toed Slippers

Photo By John Chapman

Matt Moss - Drums, Percussion, Vocals

Will Nicoll - Guitar, Vocals

Nick Maury - Bass

Will Nicoll and Matt Moss formed Steel Toed Slippers in November of 2006 after meeting at their small high school in Humboldt County, California. What started as a simple guitar and drums 'jam' became something very ambitious after Nicoll introduced his own songs to the group. Enlisting Nick Maury on bass, STS went about performing all over Humboldt and Mendocino counties, rapidly creating an intriguing buzz around the community. Delta blues spirit fused with singer/songwriter elements and a strong funk vocabulary made these small town boys sound like they were on to something big. At a show, one may sense some overtones of the Red Hot Chili Peppers, Pink Floyd, and even Tom Waits. Steel Toed Slippers had their first major show as an opening act for Paul Barrere and Fred Tackett of Little Feat, who also served as one of STS' main influences. They would go on to open up for Little Feat three years later at the legendary Canyon Club in southern California.

Steel Toed Slippers W/ Bill Payne of Little Feat (Willin)

After relocating to the LA county area to pursue their music full-time, Steel Toed Slippers hooked up with Stephen Perkins of Jane's Addiction, where they recorded a demo in his home studio. This new era of STS songs was then brought to producer Roger Cole (Zappa Plays Zappa, The Monkees) who showed them a new level of discipline and self-development. The band toured up and down the state of California at notable venues such as the Harmony Festival, The Canyon Club, the Whiskey A Go-Go, the Roxy, the Mint, the Sacramento County Fair, and several colleges including UC Santa Barbara, Sonoma State University, Cal State Long Beach, Cal State Dominguez Hills, and San Francisco City college.

Per their Facebook page: Download the new album FREE! Give em a follow on Twitter

Upcoming Tour Dates

May 13 San Luis Obisbo @ SLO BREW w/ Royal Southern Brotherhood

May 17 San Diego @ Anthology w/ Royal Southern Brotherhood

May 18 Hermosa Beach @ St Rocke w/ Royal Southern Brotherhood

May 19 BAY AREA To BE Announced tomorrow!

May 20 Folsom @ Powerhouse Pub w/ Royal Southern Brotherhood

May 28 Topanga @ Topanga Days w/ Fishbone

June 3 Santa Monica Santa Monica Pier

Stream & Read: Sci-Fi Romance - The Ghost Of John Henry

We are excited to have the honor to be able to pre-release stream the new album by Sci-Fi Romance 'The Ghost of John Henry' for your listening pleasure. While you're listening read a review below by guest blogger Matthew Warburton of the blog Screaming at the Wall

The Album release date is May 8th with a CD Release Party May 11th. Pre-order link on iTunes Physical CD pre-order from the band

The Ghost Of John Henry: A Fitting Folklore Tribute

By Matthew Warburton of the blog Screaming at the Wall

Creating a concept album is a very meticulous process that requires a great deal of creative ability. If I could think of one way to describe "The Ghost Of John Henry," it would be complete. Vance Kotrla of Sci-Fi Romance has pursued an ambitious undertaking and has come out the other side with a unexpected but refreshing reunion with a legendary steel driver. John Henry's battle to prove mankind's superiority to technological advancement is motivated by very complex reasons and feelings, a point this album translates very well for the listener.

His pride in humanity drives his unyielding determination to prove the worth and strength of  a beating heart. He has compassion for those he works alongside, as the job is difficult and dangerous, but without it they would not be able to earn enough for the ones that matter most to them. Above all of this, he has a love for those waiting for him back home, and he wants more than anything else to return with his head held high. He knows that the fate of everything he holds dear hinges upon the rise of the technology out to rob him of a future, and you can feel the heat of his rage. For those of you familiar with this iconic figure, his showdown, and his fate, you will find yourself more than pleased with Sci-Fi Romance's interpretation.

You can really feel the passion behind the sounds, the lyrics speak from the echoes of a desperate man fighting against the rise of the modern world. In addition to to the impressive guitar and vocal work coming from Kotrla, this Los Angeles indie-folk band also has Kurt Bloom on drums and Jody Stark on cello, both of whom do an excellent job of complimenting the overall sound that this album was after. Kurt Bloom's style really adds a whole new level of intensity at specific intervals throughout, the ebb and flow of his parts are timed and placed perfectly. Jody Stark's cello pairs extremely well with Vance's guitar and vocals, giving each track that perfect feeling of foreboding sorrow that's so desperately needed to really resonate with the figure that is John Henry. I was immensely impressed with the musical ability of these three, and day by day I am becoming more enthralled with the appeal of it's sound and the clarity of it's message.

By the album's conclusion, there's a bitter-sweet sense of a story that has reached it's end, like a short-lived reunion with someone you hadn't realized you missed. In addition to the cathartic nature of the work as a whole, each track is an individual accomplishment worthy of praise. If you have any sort of ear for indie-folk and you're looking for something that stands out, Sci-Fi Romance's "The Ghost of John Henry" will not disappoint. Sci-Fi Romance is the literary man's indie-folk.

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Previously on this Blog: Here  and Here

Update: NEW EP Released Today - Bird Dog -'Cabin'

Photo by Hiroki Kobayashi

UPDATE! NEW EP JUST RELEASED:

Sometime's sharing music on this blog feels like sharing secrets, this one defiantly fits that bill. It captures some of my inner most feelings that seem hard to talk about except with certain people - Hello, my name is Popa Tunes, I'm a hopeless romantic, thanks for letting me share.

Featured on Popakazooza Vol 4  Bird Dog is a Brooklyn based outfit with a sound that draws on a wide set of roots influences from Aretha and Bobby D to S.E. Rogie, John Holt and The Louvin Brothers. Members of the band also play with the Avett Brothers, O'Death and Hospitality. Bird Dog's first full length will be released in spring 2012.
These downloads are free, you guys.

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