Rabbits! … a salute to those burrowers of the field. Their influence on popular culture is considerable as the following examples will attest. Apart from being the bane of Bishop (Len) Brennan’s existence in “Father Ted”, there’s also Roger’s wah-wah rabbits (“heard eating endives”), who make a brief appearance in the Bonzo’s “Shirt”. Let’s not also forget the certainly less-than-fluffy “Watership Down” animation from Halas & Bachelor and of course Jefferson Airplane’s “White Rabbit” But, Ms. Slick (and Mr. Carroll’s) creation is certainly of a milder nature than the Snack Family‘s Bunny, being a creature appreciably longer of tooth and longer of claw.

And that’s all down to the Snax line-up; sax, bass, drums and blather. The perfect vehicle where all hell can break loose, providing it’s in the right set of gnarly, calloused hands of course. And as the cyclic riffola of “The Strange Outside” bursts forth, it’s clear that if you’re in the market for all things raggedy-arse/unkempt, then everything’s going to be o.k. The mutated strains of folk-blues, outsider jazz of the Very Revd. Ayler variety and Hasil Adkins-nuanced rockabilly are cheerfully fed through the band’s mincer, forming new but beautifully ugly characters that you might not care to meet in an alley on a dark night. At times, the Cro-Magnon croon of Andrew Plummer (ex World Sanguine Report) even suggests a Tom Waitsian figure that has willingly swallowed Dr. Jekyll’s potion. Imagine! James Allsop’s baritone sax is gloriously belligerent and has a surly aside for anyone within range, especially on “Automatic Lover” and “Anti-Climb” with its engaged tone synth pulse. Engine-room duties are covered by Tom Greenhalgh (another ex-Sanguinite), here captured whacking the very bejaysus out of a junkyard drum kit which threatens to separate itself from its hastily applied spot-welds at any given moment. Drums as drums should be!

One extra boost to the group dynamic appears in the form of composer/guest vocalist Seaming To, whose choir celestials offer an eerie counterpoint to the gruffness of the main vocal line. “I am Bunny” and “Repeated Views” reminiscent of Cherry Red’s Prolapse, with the beauty v beast tag-team of Ms. Steelyard and Mr. Derrick (psurely pseudonyms?), now sadly confined to the back pages of history…

Meanwhile…. during the A.G.M. of the (Anti)-Social Club (European branch), noted dischordians like Italy’s Zu and Vakki Plakkula, Russia’s Brom and dear old Blurt are debating whether to enrol a certain new member to their craft.

1. Link Wray and The Raymen, ‘Walking down the Street Called Love’
   From Missing Links volume 2: Big City After Dark, USA NORTON RECORDS ED 211 LP (1990)
2. The Bobby Fuller Four, ‘Baby My Heart’ (1972)
   From I Fought The Law, GERMANY REPERTOIRE RECORDS REP 4279-WY CD (1992)
3. Bobby Lewis, ‘Tossin’ and Turnin” (1960)
   From 20 Great Rock’n’Roll Hits of the 50s, UK CASCADE RECORDS DROP 1002 LP (ND)
4. Larry and The Loafers, ‘Panama City Blues ’62’
   From The Big Itch volume 2: Memorial Album for Joe E. Ross, US MR MANICOTTI RECORDS MM340 LP (1999)
5. Tony Shepperd, ‘Zach (Zack)’
   From Desperate Rock n Roll volume 1, UK FLAME LP (ND)
6. Donnie Nix, ‘Ain’t About to Go Home’
   From Desperate Rock n Roll volume 2, UK FLAME FLAME002 LP (ND)
7. Johnny Rebb, ‘Rock On’
   From Desperate Rock n Roll volume 3, UK FLAME FLAME003 LP (ND)
8. Clyde Arnold, ‘I’ve Got A Baby’
   From Desperate Rock n Roll volume 6, UK FLAME FLAME006LP (ND)
9. Ricky Jones, ‘Hate to Say Goodbye’
   From Desperate Rock n Roll volume 7, UK FLAME FLAME007 LP (ND)
10. Medallions, ‘Blowin’ Through Yokohama (part 1)’
    From Blowin’ Through Yokohama!, USA ATOMIC PASSION AP1958 LP (ND)
11. Phil Campos, ‘Street Fight’
    From Sin Alley! volume 4, USA SLEAZE RECORDS #5562 (ND)
12. The Shandells, ‘Go Go Gorilla’
    From Wavy Gravy (woman menaced by alien on sleeve), USA BEWARD 001 LP (ND)
13. Charlie Feathers, ‘The Man in Love’
    From The Sun Gods, EC DRESSED TO KILL DTKBOX66 3XCD (1999)
14. Ronnie Dawson, ‘Do Do Do’
    From Rocking Bones, UK NO HIT RECORDS NO HIT 001 LP (ND)
15. Jack Starr, ‘I Love My Baby’
    From Born Petrified, USA NORTON RECORDS NORTON204 LP (1988)
16. Mack Self, ‘I Vibrate’
    From Vibrate, GERMANY GEE-DEE MUSIC GEE-DEE 270130-2 CD (1997)
17. Hank Mizell, ‘Ready Freddy’
    From Jungle Rock, UK CHARLY RECORDS CRL5000 LP (1976)
18. Hasil Adkins, ‘Turning Off A Memory’
    From The Wild Man, USA NORTON RECORDS NORTON203 LP (1987)
19. The Champs, ‘Limbo Rock’
    From Best of The Champs, GERMANY REPERTOIRE REP 4770-WG CD (1999)
20. Metropolitans, ‘Screaming Pt.1’
    From The Big Itch volume 2: Memorial Album for Joe E. Ross, op.cit.
21. The Flee-Rekkers, ‘Stage to Cimarron’
    From Joe Meek’s Fabulous Flee-Rekkers, C-FIVE RECORDS C5CD 564 CD (1991)
22. Glenrays, ‘Haunted by Repetition’
    From Bloodshot: The Gaity Records Story vol. 2, USA NORTON RECORDS ED-236 LP (1994)
23. The Rendells, ‘Hot Licks’
    From Bug Out volume 2, CANDY RECORDS CA0005 LP (1991)
24. The Fall, ‘Rollin’ Dany’
    From Couldn’t Get Ahead / Rollin’ Dany, BEGGARS BANQUET RECORDS BEG134T 12″ (1985)
25. Jad Fair and Kramer, ‘Around and Around’
    From Roll Out The Barrell, NETHERLAND SHIMMY DISC EUROPE SDE8802 LP (1988)
26. King Usniewicz and His Usniewicztones, ‘Peppermint Twist’ (1975-1977)
    From Twistin’ and Bowlin’ with King Usniewicz and His Usniewicztones (volume 2), USA NORTON RECORDS ED-221 LP (1991)
27. Ganimian & His Orientals, ‘Come With Me To The Casbah’
    From Jungle Exotica volume 2, STRIP RECORDS ST-076 EFA 12888 LP (ND)
28. The Ramrocks, ‘Pasha’
    From Various Howlin’ Bananas – The Big Itch volume 5, USA MR MANICOTTI RECORDS MM344 LP (ND)
29. The Instrumentals, ‘Chop Suey Rock’
    From Born Bad volume 5, USA BORN BAD RECORDS BB005CD (1990)
30. Sheiks, ‘Baghdad Rock’
    From Louie’s Limbo Lounge (Las Vegas Grind vol. 2), STRIP RECORDS STRIP002 LP (ND)
31. The Cramps, ‘Journey to the Center of a Girl’
    From Stay Sick, UK ENIGMA RECORDS ENVLP 1001 LP (1989)

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