V/A
"Straight Outta Burbank: The Bomp! 25th Anniversary Collection Introducing Alive/Total Energy Records"
(Bomp!/Alive/Total Energy)
So you think that you know a lot about rock 'n' roll records? But you don't. Sure, you spend your hard-earned dollars at the CD store. You collect and you trade and you beg, steal and borrow as much as you can. You read all about it and you talk about it constantly but still, you don't know. You think you do but you don't. You don't know like Greg Shaw knows and you never will, so listen up. Before you were feasting at your mother's breast, Shaw was putting the Bomp! trademark on some of the most lowdown music this world has ever known. We're talking pre-punk icons like Iggy & The Stooges, The Heartbreakers with Johnny Thunders, and those English punk martyrs, The Dead Boys, as well as crucial LA bands like The Zeros, The Flesheaters, The Germs, The Weirdos and the Dils. Add to this list superlative maiden voyages for obscure-but-essential groups like the Beachwood Sparks (who have a new album out) and the devil-may-care Brian Jonestown Massacre, outrageous performances from Nikki Sudden, and you've got quite the imposing laundry list, true? Well, that's only half the story here, since the two-CD "Bomp Comp" also showcases Patrick Boissel's Alive/Total Energy imprints. This enthralling stable of artists includes legendary folks like The MC5, Sun Ra, The Swell Maps and my personal favorite, The Pink Fairies. What more do you need to know? Plenty kid, but don't sweat it. Bomp's already done your homework for you. Otherwise you probably never hear about groups like Certain General, The Deviants, The Streetwalkin' Cheetahs, The Silencers, Davie Allen & The Arrows or Tav Falco's Panther Burns. The only thing left for you to discern is: "Who Stole The Bomp (From The Bomp Sha Bomp)?"
by Mitch Myers
copyright 1999 New City Communications, Inc.