“Sugar
Loaded”
Broadcasting from cheap
and sunny, Albuquerque N.M.... Dirt City Chronicles. Your active rock
music podcast, streaming over the interwebs, across the USA and
around the world. “Nothing could be finer than a 49er” and I'm
not talking about football. I make it a point not to repeat songs,
but on this episode I'm throwing that self imposed rule out the
window. Untethered by convention or morality, the heart of rock &
roll is still beating. The product of the working class, chafing at
the chains of conformity cast upon us by a polarized society that is
goosestepping it's way to a bad end. I present to those who have no
fucks left to give, a soundtrack for your many moods. Repeat play as
often as necessary.
“Ouch!
Welcome to Albuquerque” came out in 1999. That iconic double disc
set from Socyermom Records introduced a grip of music lovers to
Albuquerque's music scene and it introduced me to Electricoolade and
Frankie Medina. Española N.M. The self declared
lowrider capital of the Southwest has a rock & roll musical
legacy that most New Mexicans are unaware of. Going back to the
mid-1960s, The Moving Morfomen (also known as The Morfomen) guided by
the totally self confident musical genius of Dave Rarick (an
underrated New Mexican rock & roll icon if ever there was one)
resoundingly stamped their brand on the regional music scene.
The Morfomen
weren't alone, The Defiants scored a minor regional hit with “End
of the Highway” and The Era of Sound earned their indelible slot
on 60s garage rock compilations with “The Girl in the Mini Skirt”
(Cottonmouth i.e. The Wumblies, called Española home before they set
off to find neither fortune nor fame) “Everybody's doing
something...Soda riding like Pops was doing” Channeling the
past and predicating the future.... displaying more swagger than
Swaggy P... Frankie Medina burst out on the local scene
with Electricoolade, an alt-rock outfit from Española that Flipside,
a “legendary” punk rock magazine once compared to The
Replacements & Elvis Costello's Attractions.
Flipside described Medina
as having “a Westerberg-ish howl and Prince like vocals” they
sorta nailed it on the Prince influence. Beyond that, the magazine's
review of Electricoolade's debut album “Super Hero” is loaded
with generalized comparisons. The anonymous author, having perused Cd
Baby's “Sounds Like” tags for inspiration (seemingly without
doing any actual research on the band) gave the album a cursory
listen and not having achieved the level of smugness usually
associated with Flipside, tossed in a jab at the city different.
“Definitely an impressive effort from four kids from Santa Fe, a
quiet town better known for its art than its music” BLAM! Santa,
you got a taste of the bitch puddin.
Over at CD Universe,
Electricoolade's second album “Taste Me” didn't fare any better.
A house scribe wrote off Frankie's vocals as “Jovi-esque. He did
however give Medina and band credit for “creating well-written
music that bridges the gap between hair metal and
mainstream/alternative. It appears that the band did have some
redeeming pedestrian qualities. Check yo' self. By focusing on
clichéd tags and comparisons, both these chumps totally
missed the mark. Electricoolade was a work in progress. A hyperactive
buzzsaw of guitars and influences.... fronted by one of the
coolest rock vocalists to saunter down the road since Iggy Pop his
self.
Walking Down Congress
(Sucking on a Red Bull)
You can take the man out
of España, but you can't take España out of the man. Too cool for
school and Santa Fe, Frankie Medina and Calida Salazar (whom he met
at a Santa Fe recording studio) set off for Austin, Tx. circa 2005. It's
been their home ever since. With Frankie on guitar and Calida on
keys, The Dirty Hearts honed the Española sound down to a razor
sharpness.... chock full-o-attitude and swagger. Following the
release of their debut ep “Five Canciones Five Pesos” and their
self titled full length debut “The Dirty Hearts” Frankie and
Calida became Austin's darlings. They netted scant attention from
major labels, though the alternative press doted over them.
“Pigs” their second
album on Socyrmom Records was designed with success in mind, it
nonetheless failed to bust 'em out of the Austin scene. They've since
gravitated back to New Mexico (though not on a permanent basis) With
The Dirty Hearts currently on hiatus, Frankie and Calida are now
involved in a similar project, The Angel Babies, named after Rosie
Hamlin's hit tune from 1960. They have a self titled album out,
available on Band Camp. Save for Frankie dabbling in his Spanish
music roots, The Angel Babies are more an extension than a radical
departure from The Dirty Hearts. They bring the same kinetic garage
rock strut to the table that we dug about their predecessors.
Frankie teamed up with
Keith Herrera (founder of Resin Records and former drummer for
Albuquerque punk legends, The Drags) to form The Kill Spectors, a
psyche punk duo that we can only hope we haven't heard the last from.
(Their debut single Red River Street / Live Like a Dog was produced
by popular Santa Fe musician, Jono Manson) Calida, a professional
photographer as well as musician, has some solo recordings posted on
Soundcloud. Stripped down instrumentation and vocals that echo the
singing and songwriting style of obscure and mysterious Texas folk
songstress Jasmine Star, a gal with a paper thin whisper of a voice
and an aversion to having her face photographed.
Record Store ~ The Dirty
Hearts
Libertines in my Scene ~
The Dirty Novels
Blondie ~ Bring Back Dad
Don't Ask ~ Stabbed in the
Back
Getting a Raise ~
Scenester
Burning Bag ~ The Gracchi
Audience Reaction ~ The
Dirty Novels
U + M = Forever ~
Farthouse
High ~ Scared of Chaka
Bad ~ Scenester
Exile ~ The Scrams
No Action ~ Elevator Boys
Action Figure ~ The Dirty
Hearts
Pack Your Pistol ~ The
Dirty Novels
Gracchi Saturday Night ~
The Gracchi
Sweet Justice ~ Dead Town
Lovers
Song ~ Farthouse
Blew One ~ Gusher
An Empty Apartment ~ Swale
Goat Throat ~ The Scrams
We Love the Burning Silos
~ The Burning Silos
