This episode is a little late as the day job interfered with ita production. However, I am going to cure the delay by filling Tales From The Drop Box Episode 145 with some juicy tracks from Bloodsucking Zombies From Outer Space and Tropical Fuckstorm - two bands who deserve a little more air time. Record Store Day was yesterday. The only real complaint that I have is the amount of price gouging that is taking take place. It is bad enough that the releases are somewhat iffy, but it is an insult to charge $40.00 for an official bootleg. If you checked the list, a number of the releases this year are bootlegs e.g. Ramones, Iggy Pop, Stereophonics, The Alarm, Johnny Thunders etc. Record Store Day may become a victim of its own success. Too bad that the major labels have gone out of their way to screw up a good thing. Enough about them. There is enough good stuff being released without the nonsense of record collecting. It is the music that matters, no matter how it is delivered. Episode 145 definitely delivers the goods with some solid left of the dial tunes. I guarantee it. Continue reading →

I am a little late this week with this Episode, but the delay is well worth the wait in my totally biased and not very humble opinion. Tales From The Drop Box Episode 144 is a mellow-ish affair but still contains a few rockers. Heck, I'm playing Slash feat. Lemmy and The Cramps so it cannot be all that mellow. There is also a couple of fairly recent releases in this episode including new tracks by Bis, The Coathangers, Martha and the very entertaining The Fews. These tracks are packed at the front end of the episode. I then stuffed a couple of gems from late last year on the end. I had a plan for this show, so you'll ;et me know if it works, right?

Take a chance on new romance and give this episode a spin!

Here is what you'll find in Episode 144: Continue reading →

Do you want to get high (no I don't) so says Maximo Park. I'm not sure how I feel about the new focus on cannabis as I read about the dramatic increase in traffic fatalities in those states that have legalized the drug in all of its forms. See Crashes Rise in First States to Begin Legalized Retail Sales of Recreational Marijuana. However, there will be no fatalities listening to Tales From The Drop Box Episode 143 and while you will get high, the music will cause your car to swerve with pleasure as you sing along, so let's be careful out there. Pray the the gods of the good shit, eh?

Here is what you'll find in Episode 143: Continue reading →

I know you won't take my advice this time. I know I can't help you change you life. But I can. Tales From The Drop Box Episode 142 should change the way you think about the place music plays in your life. Without it, your heart is empty. Music should make you feel love, passion, desire, or make you happy. I have final figured out that good music is your soul anchor firing the neurons as your brain finds the pattern that connects sound with feeling. So, as you listen to this, hear the passion and save your soul. Take my advice this time.

Here is what you'll find in Episode 142: Continue reading →

Down but not out, I survived the great toxic cold of 2019. 12 days of coughing, hacking, wheezing, with congestion causing my ears to leak. Not miserable now. Tales From The Drop Box Episode 141 is back just in time for St. Patrick’s Day! The only theme today is to have fun... It is St. Patrick's day after all!Your going to find this one a little more energetic, less pop action more rock action. This Episode has some amazing new tunes from Abjects, Reconciler, White Boy wasted, and of course new Millencolin and the latest and greatest from Masked Intruder. What else could you want? So, turn it up loud and melt your face! Continue reading →

Dropping in with another episode of Tales from the Drop Box. This episode celebrates a few more established artists from the long past in some cases. However, I found it very difficult to not be excited by the inclusion of musicians I grew up listening to as a youngster. A couple of these artists had not released tracks for a long while (decades!) but are back with new records that are vital, intelligent and honest. While Tales From The Drop Box Episode 140 shares new tracks from The Specials, and The Beat feat. Ranking Roger, The Dandy Warhols, and the Lemonheads this episode also features several brand spanking new artists who are making some well-deserved hipster noise including Queen Zee, Fontaines D.C. and International Teachers of Pop. So, tune in, turn up and tell your friends that there is still very interesting new music being released that is beyond the clutches of insipid commercial radio. Continue reading →

We celebrate President’s Day in the USA. I guess we do so in order to remind us of the times when we actually had capable, honest, intelligent leadership as President. That was then, it is not now. Tales From The … Continue reading →

Tales From The Drop Box Episode 138 is filled with slightly off kilter lunacy. Working with no plan, this episode arrives at your inbox as a mix tape of sonic goodness. There is still several tracks released last year in this episode because these tracks are just too good to not be heard by you. There are also several new tracks I think you are going to love, because they are so darned catchy you can't ignore them. Among these new tracks are offerings from Makhaverskan, the Spielbergs and the inimitable Cocaine Piss. Continue reading →

Another week and another new episode of Tales From The Drop Box. Episode 137 continues the trend of the past couple of episodes as it contains a couple of brand new tracks and a couple from last year. Of course, there is always one classic track. This week that track is from the Buzzcocks recently remastered version of their 1978 debut LP Another Music In A Different Kitchen. With Pete Shelley passing away a couple of weeks ago, the aging punk community lost a pioneer. The Buzzcocks much more than the Sex Pistols, produced the archetype sound for modern punk rock. If you are a young band looking for a "sound" then "Moving Away From The Pulsebeat" could be the blueprint for developing your own variant of punk rock. If you want to hear some more music from the Buzzcocks, then check out Tales From The Drop Box Episode 69 which is an episode dedicated to the Buzzcocks and what makes them special! Continue reading →

Tales From The Drop Box Episode 135 is about old and new. That is, this episode brings you some current music from this brand new year but also deals some older stuff but not so old that it is dusty. I am not sure why we as a society are so preoccupied with new because there is just simply too much recorded musical output to be dismissive of something because it is more that a year old. In that regard, I am going to try better this year to uncover some gems from the past few years and shine a little spotlight on them. Some have had brief moments of publicity ( mostly on the regular blogs you likely read periodically) but for some reason or another you just didn’t catch on to how good the track sounded. Some will be familiar names such as the Smashing Pumpkins or Rhett Miller. Continue reading →