Groovie Records (Lisbon, Portugal)

(apologies for the wonky photo...seems I lost my balance on the cobbled street)

Even in 2016 when record shops are thinner on the ground than they've ever been, it's hard not to judge a city by the quality of its record shops.  It's just as well for Lisbon, therefore, that it has Groovie Records; if there are any other great shops, I didn't find them.  It occupies a small space near the fab Time Out Mercado but has a commendably high density of top garage punk lps and 45s.  Of course Groovie's own output was prominently displayed including the hot new lp from Russian 60s stylists The Karovas Milkshake whose "Cryptique" has to be the best Jacques Dutronc homage/facsimillie since the great man's heyday: 

"Allez les saxophones!"

As well as bagging a few of Groovie's lps (very reasonably priced they were, too!) I took the opportunity to pick up some thumping Get Hip singles including this hyper-ventilating monster from 1988 which was surely recorded at the bottom of a reverb-enhanced garbage can:

All in all a solid Not Unloved thumbs up for Groovie! 

The Event

Had I been home when the postman arrived today I would have struggled not to give him a hug as the parcel he had in his bag for me contained the lp on which this giddy-making slice of British Invasion revival (it's from 1989 not 1965) POP appears:

Now, that's how to open an album!  I think it's safe to say that the singer has heard Alex Chilton.  If you'd asked me a fortnight ago if I'd ever heard The Event before YouTube's algorithm kindly suggested I give them a whirl, I would have told you unequivocally that I hadn't.   I would, of course, have been entirely wrong as a good friend had included them on a compilation for me a few years back.  I must have been so snowblind from the avalanche of other great pop songs on that disc to notice it at the time.  On first listen "Pop Think In" was only one of a number of tracks on "This Is The Event" to set the pulse racing. "She's Our Girl", in particular, is pop art POP at its best:

Getting to grips with "This Is The Event" (Voxx) over the next few weeks is going to be a blast. 

Mystic Eyes

London's now defunct Minus Zero Records was a total knee-trembler of a shop when I first went there.  At the time Velvet Crush figured big in my life and they seemed to have countless records by Paul Chastain and Ric Menck's side-projects and previous groups such as The Reverbs, The Nines, The Big Maybe etc. for sale.  Unfortunately, I wasn't in possession of the requisite funds to buy them but it was just exciting to see them (see also the records in the hallowed glass case on the wall of the now also gone Intoxica in its heyday).  One 7" I could afford to purchase from Minus Zero was by Buffalo, New York's Mystic Eyes on that beacon of 80s garage goodness, Get Hip Records.  It's one of the strongest two-siders from that decade's garage revival to cross my path with an endearingly romantic (those cute lyrics!) folk-punk stomper on the top side and a seriously twangy tale of a serial heartbreaker getting a dose of his own medicine on the bottom.  Get Hip still has unplayed copies for sale via its ebay store for a devilish $6.66.  Go on...it's what Paypal's for!

a-side: "I Can't Wait To Love You"

(Is this a cover?)

b-side: "Taste Of The Same"
(originally by The Bad Seeds and available on this Sundazed Records ep)

Lies

Confessions of and accusations of lying have been flying around these parts today.  It's like the House of Commons! A recent trip to the wonderful, if over-stuffed (there are piles of records heaped on top of the racks and boxes and boxes of lps at your feet while you browse) Wah Wah Records yielded a copy of Groovie Records' 2011 compilation of the output of Swedish mid-80s garage revivalists The Crimson Shadows.  "Even I Tell Lies" is the finest example of frenetic, organ-led garage I've heard since The Chesterfield Kings' "She Told Me Lies" knocked me clean off my feet a couple of years ago.  Alternating the two at volume is a sure-fire way to whip yourself up into a frenzy of hand-claps and high-kicks!  

The first appearance of the tambourine and harmonies is one of those indescribably brilliant pop moments.  Sure it's been done time and time again but, when it's done that well, it's a genuine thrill.  I've always preferred my cavemen to have a refined side, too.

Years ago I proclaimed to a friend that only The Seeds could do keyboard-riddled pop/garage well.  I'm happy to report that I was completely wrong.  Only an ignorant fool would make such a pompous, needlessly definitive statement!