Quibble with the Gizmos' album title if you must (their repertoire also includes "The Midwest Can Be Alright" and "I Used to Live in Indiana" and "Bible Belt Baby," and their record label is partially responsible for John Cougar), but there's plenty of evidence below to support their thesis: Austin's Honky reimagining early ZZ Top beneath a cover depicting a huge phallic neon sign, Detroit's Novadriver reimagining Hawkwind beneath a moniker that's pretty hilarious when you think about it, San Francisco's Killer's Kiss (probably accidentally) reimagining the Three Johns but peaking with the toughest version of Hoyt Axton's "Lightnin' Bar Blues" since Brownsville Station in 1973, L.A.'s Nick Castro giving incredibly stringed freak-folk the gravity of great Jethro Tull or Amon Düül II, L.A.'s Starvations and Austin's Golden Boys proving once again that Birthday Party rip-off bands beat Nick Cave's silly solo shtick any day. And then there's the Gizmos' own Bloomington, Indiana, heirs John Wilkes Booze, graduating wickedly from their EP and 45 tributes to Melvin Van Peebles, Albert Ayler, Tania Hearst, and Marc Bolan. New York's Psychic Paramount solidifying "Trans Europe Express" counts for something, though, no doubt.
NICK CASTRO & THE POISON TREE
Further From Grace
(Strange Attractors Kraut-rock-droned acid-folk album)
Download "Sun Song" (MP3)
GIZMOS
1979-1981: Rock & Roll Don't Come From New York!
(Gulcher frat-punk reissue)
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