Tales From The Drop Box Episode 146 has a really good mix of juicy new music! This episode features a number of very recent releases, most from this past month. As you probably are a little worn out from Record Store Day (RSD) held on April 13, these tracks are from bands not involved in that special day, such as new Cherry Pickles, Band of Skulls, Audacity, Yawpers, Cage The Elephant, Clowns and D.O.A. Whew!

As for Record Store Day, I have found that the RSD releases, for the most part, miss the mark on bringing forth truly special offerings. The focus is clearly on reissues (although the Flaming Lips released a new album!) and this year there were very few gems to be found amidst the more than 500 releases that also justified the inflated prices. For me the following were the true gems:

• Pixies front-person Frank Black reissues of his first two records ( Frank Black & Teenage Of The Year) received their first U.S. release having only appeared on CD here when initially released.
• Hockey Dad reissue of their debut EP which is impossible to find in the U.S and released on “glow-in-the-dark” vinyl with a couple of bonus tracks.
• UK duo Insides debut album “Euphoria” which was released in very small quantities in 1993 and trading for hundreds of $$, gets another very limited release on 2000 foil-stamped numbered copies.
• Iggy Pop live show from the Hippodrome in Paris recorded September 23, 1977 during the “Lust For Life” tour is a 2LP that demonstrates Iggy at his peak in my opinion. I had a bootleg of this excellent radio show, but this is a direct master from the original 1st generation tapes is spectacular.
• Joe Strummer EP containing two tracks ‘Forbidden City (Demo)’ and ‘Cool Impossible’ recorded at Rockfield Studio in 1993. This is a follow up to the excellent ‘Joe Strummer 001’ which was the first compilation to span the entirety of Strummer’s recording career outside of his recordings with The Clash featuring remastered and unreleased recordings from the 101ers, The Mescaleros, solo albums, soundtracks, and rarities.
• Ramones special RSD releases continue again this year with the first vinyl release of Live At The Palladium, New York, NY (12/31/79). This show first appeared on CD only as part of the Road To Ruin 40th Anniversary Deluxe Edition. This recording of the Ramones entire 1979 New Year’s Eve concert, was mixed live by Ed Stasium and broadcast on WNEW-FM with audio sourced from Tommy Ramone’s original cassette soundboard recording.

There were also some other recordings of note including live shows by the Blasters and Matthew Sweet, Green Day’s show from Woodstock 1994 gets a polishing and release, and Idles’ Meat and Meta EPs are released on vinyl for the first time. Hopefully record company greed will not prevail and they will truly try to find a balance that justifies the inflated prices for these releases.

So, what about Episode 146, you ask? You are going to smile as you listen because the songs are so good! I promise you!

Here is what you’ll find in Episode 146:

1. Cherry Pickles – “Let’s Be Bad” (Cherry Pickles Will Harden Your Nipples)
2. Colly – “You” (I Can’t Sleep At Night)
3. Band of Skulls – “Cool Your Battles” (Love Is All You Love)
4. Audacity – “Red Rum” (Bewildered Heart EP)
5. Yawpers – “Forgiveness Through Pain” (Human Question)
6. Ages & Ages – “Needle and Thread” (Me You They We)
7. The Foreign Resort – “Send Your Heart To The Riot” (Outnumbered)
8. Martha – “Curly & Raquel” (Blisters In The Pit Of My Heart)
9. The Thlyds – “Pure Pop Single” (The Great British Fuck Off”
10. Kakkmaddafakka – “Runaway Girl” (Diplomacy)
11. Cage The Elephant – “Broken Boy” (Social Cues)
12. Arre! Arre! – “All Time Low” (Tell Me All About Them)
13. Clowns – “Soul For Sale” (Nature/Nurture)
14. D.O.A. – “The Enemy (Demo)” (1978)
15. PassCode – “Ray” (Clarity)