CRAMPS VIDEO! GOO GOO MUCK 1981, WITH KID CONGO!!

MOTHERFUCKERS! Can your ass stand the shocking true facts about the HIDEOUS, HEADHUNTING GOO GOO MUCK from WHEREVER THE FUCK!?!?! Well, ready or not, HERE IT IS!!!

Kid Congo Powers in OKC

Kid Congo Powers and the Pink Monkey Birds played in Oklahoma City on March 15, and I was there. I had heard from a number of people that Kid is a really nice guy and a joy to meet in person, and it's true. If I had done everything he's done, I would be a total superior elitist asshole about it. Hell, I'm an asshole now, with the pitiful few things I have managed to do...
So I guess let's thank God that I am not Kid Congo and he is.

Kid Congo, Oklahoma City, 3-15-2010
(Photos by Susan Wallace)

Anyhow, the club was small and seedy, and it smelled like small, seedy clubs everywhere, and that's the way I like 'em. The turnout was not very good, which probably had a lot to do with the fact that it was both Monday night and Oklahoma, neither of which have a reputation for excitement. But the ambiance struck a chord in me. It reminded me more of the gigs we used to play back when I was in a band than a big deal rock and roll show, and that made it special. We played more than one gig where my band outnumbered the audience-- and we were a trio. It wasn't quite that bad for the Pink Monkey Birds Monday night. In fact, it wasn't bad at all. It was intimate and friendly and I could have danced all night, if I could dance. And if they had played all night. Which I wouldn't have minded. Kid and his cohorts gave it their all and a massive good time was had by all.

On a more serious note, if you get a chance to see the Pink Monkey Birds in or near your town, or anywhere at all, take it. If you knew what you were missing, you'd never forgive yourself for it. And if you didn't know what you were missing, you wouldn't forgive yourself for that, either.

Your Humble Blogger has a brush with greatness.

Former Cramps, Gun Club, and Bad Seeds guitarist Kid Congo Powers and his band The Pink Monkeybirds play a song from their most recent album 'Dracula Boots' (available on LP and CD from Inthered Records) at Oklahoma City club The Conservatory March 15, 2010. Go see this band live. (Vidiocy by Perry Amberson)

Poison Ivy 1992 Interview

From PENETRATING INSIGHTS

http://nonozeroblog.blogspot.com/2009/02/poison-ivy-rorshach.html

Originally posted February 7, 2009

I have been really torn up about Lux Interior's death in the hospital a few days ago, and thinking about Lux and Ivy the last few days motivated me to hunt through my filing cabinet for this old interview transcription.

It's an interview I did with Poison Ivy Rorshach of The Cramps back on February 23rd, 1992; she was in Providence, RI, on tour at the time, and I was in Ottawa, writing for Trans FM (which was the magazine of CKCU 93.1, Carleton's University radio station). Portions of this interview appeared in the paper at the time.

CKCU had a weird little rubber-lined booth there at the station that you'd squeeze into, and then you'd pick up the phone and speak to whomever at the appointed time, and the interview would be recorded and theoretically ready to air.

I freely admit here at the outset that I asked really dumb questions, and said really embarrassing things - not the least of which was describing The Cramps' back catalogue as sounding "hollow" right at the start of the interview.

Luckily, Ivy must have realised I wasn't actually mean or ignorant, just incredibly clumsy with words. Things improved thereafter and, in retrospect, the first lady of rock'n'roll guitar was very generous with her time indeed.

My sincere best wishes to her at this time, and my greatest respect to the greatest couple in rock'n'roll, Lux & Ivy.



Pius: On the new album "Look Mom! No Head", you've achieved a very full sound - and I guess that's very much your doing as you produced it. Obviously the bass shows more prominence, because you didn't have bass until recently --

Ivy: Well, we did since "Date With Elvis". I played bass on "Date With Elvis" and... the other one on that. But we didn't have a bass player like this one though (Slim Chance), so that makes a big difference.

Pius: There seems to be a move away from the more hollow sound of your earlier albums. Was this intentional, or was this just the way things worked out?

Ivy: Um, OK. I guess I don't understand what hollow means in relation to sound.

Pius: Well, I think it's a really cool sound on the first few albums. It's hard to describe.

Ivy: For us, "Songs The Lord Taught Us" - we felt, even though the production on that is fascinating, it didn't showcase The Cramps for what we are, which is a tough rock'n'roll band. It didn't get what we do live, which is rock. It didn't really capture that.

It definitely had a creepy atmosphere, and that has a certain kind of appeal to it. But, at the same time, it didn't really show us for that (rocking sound). And then after ("Songs The Lord Taught Us"), we didn't know much about production either, and we were limited by budget restraints.

Pius: Do you ever think about going back to a creepy sound?

Ivy: We kind of like trying to do it all at the same time. I think we want the presence too, cuz in our early stuff, you couldn't - I think the vocals really suffered on our early stuff. You couldn't hear what Lux was saying or singing. I think there's just more presence now. But yeah, we've always liked to have a creepy edge to our music.



Pius: How did you hook up with the two new members (bass player Slim Chance and drummer Nickey Alexander) of The Cramps?

Ivy: Through word of mouth, mainly. We had met Slim Chance before, when he was in a band called The Mad Daddys. He was the bass player, and I really loved his bass playing in that band. We'd met him before cuz we knew the singer in that band.

We were just trying to get members who were really dedicated. We'd got to the point where we felt like Lux and I were kind of carrying the thing. The rest were acting like a back-up band. We just wanted it to feel more like it did when we started, like a real gang.

Pius: So have you got that now, do you think?

Ivy: Yeah, I do. I know I do (laughs). Those guys are crazy. Yeah, we're able to do songs now we couldn't do before. We'd wanted to do "Hipsville 29 BC" for years. We were never able to really get in a groove with it in the past.

Pius: And has the new line-up changed your live show?

Ivy: Yeah, it has. It really has. I know I go out on a limb more than I used to be able to. I feel freer and we play off each other more than we have in the past - in that sense. But, in other ways, it hasn't changed. It's still just us, you know. We've always gone out there with no props and just ourselves.

Pius: How did you decide to get the Reverend Horton Heat to open the show?

Ivy: We were made aware that they were available, and we had seen them do a show in Los Angeles at the Blue Saloon, and it was a real wild show - so that sounded like it would be a great opener. They're pretty frantic. They're all over the place (laughs). Guy lays on the floor and plays guitar and stuff.

Pius: Do you listen to a lot of Sub>Pop?

Ivy: Ah, not a lot. To be honest, I prefer the more Horton Heat kind of sound. I do like some of that music...a lot of the bands from that area (Seattle) seem like they're trying maybe too hard to be original. Too many chord changes and things that aren't really set in a groove that I can hear. But, you know, some of it's good stuff.



Pius: Do you play "Alligator Stomp" live?

Ivy: Yes, we do.

Pius: And do people ever actually, you know --

Ivy: Do the Alligator Stomp? (laughs)

Pius: Yeah.

Ivy: In some places they haven't. It seems like it hasn't totally caught on. They do something, but it's not like what we think the Alligator is, this dance where you literally have to be on the floor and knock people down. It was a dance that was (laughs) semi-popular in Cleveland back when the Dead Boys and Pere Ubu were in a band called Rocket From The Tombs.

I think this guy David Thomas, who used to be Crocus Behemoth, I think he started it or something. But it was this Ohio dance. People were doing it there. It was called gatoring.

Pius: Cool. That's one of my favourite tracks on the new one.

Ivy: Yeah, it's fun. It's fun to play.



Pius: Is there any one place where you consistently have the weirdest crowds?

Ivy: Umm, golly... Spain is the weirdest, Barcelona. They're, ah (laughs), they're very high. We're told that they take mescaline there, which is something you don't hear about anywhere usually. It seems like Lux'll just do some minor gesture with his hand and a wave of people'll fall backwards or something. It's a really strange kind of energy and there's people sitting on each others' shoulders and stuff.

Their culture was very cut off for years under this Franco regime, and now they've just gotten the equivalent of London in the 60s, Swinging London. They're just, uh - all flaming youth there right now (laughs).

Pius: A lot of the bands I talk to say they prefer playing in Europe to America.

Ivy: We don't. We love playing America. In a way, we're happiest here. There's great crowds here and it feels more like home, like...(sighs). In some ways it's similar, but in some ways, Europeans understand our background more, the roots of our music. Oddly enough, most Americans don't seem to know their own history.

But, at the same time, somehow it feels better, just for the moment at hand, that America feels like it's got more of a rapport. It didn't at first, you know. I mean, it took Europe - popularity in Europe - to bring attention to us in America. But now that we've got it, it's... I don't know, I just love playing America.

Pius: Do you have a favourite place to play there?

Ivy: I really like New Orleans, cuz I like the city a lot too, and then I like the crowds. There's a club there called Tipatina's and it's always just like a sweat bath. It seems really hellish in a good way.

Some of the smaller places up north... We feel really excited about being in New York again, and it was good - but we were more excited the next night when we played Trenton, New Jersey. It was (laughs) like a wilder rock'n'roll crowd, and a grimier venue and everything, and it just felt like old times.



Pius: Is it important to you that your albums be available on vinyl? Are you a vinyl purist?

Ivy: I wish they were. The only way they're available on vinyl now is through import - because you can't really make the record companies here do it. They claim to lose money and I guess it's true, because they don't even have the outlets to sell it themselves.

It's just evolved to that point. I certainly do miss it. I think it's even more important that people see a 12" cover. That gives more importance. I think the package is important.

Pius: Do you prefer to buy vinyl?

Ivy: I love both. I do like the way some things can sound on CD, but in some ways I prefer vinyl. The one thing I do like about CD, it's not the format itself, but see - the CD market has caused record companies to reissue a lot of old blues and old material that probably never would've come out and never would've been possible for anyone to acquire on vinyl even, because it would just be too hard or collectible.

Now it's available, and I think that is influencing culture. I'm hearing a lot of bands... I keep wondering if that is why bands are getting into guitar more. Maybe it is giving young people a chance to hear that kind of music. So, you know, there's a good side to it too.



Pius: Are you still collecting?

Ivy: Any form. Vinyl, CD, everything we can get our hands on, at all times.

Pius: Can you just run down a few of the ones that have most impressed you of late?

Ivy: There's a Bo Diddley CD called "Rare & Well Done", it's quite good. Some stuff I'd never heard, and I'm a big Bo Diddley fan too. The Howling Wolf box set's real good. I'm trying to name stuff that people can find, you know.

I could name rare stuff, but - oh yeah, the Trashmen have CDs out. One's the Trashmen live, you know the Trashmen who did Surfin' Bird? One is a live performance on a CD, and another is some rare album or something that's come out on a CD. This label called Sundazed, they offered a CD called "Surf 'N' Drag". It's called "Surf 'N' Drag Volume One". It's been out like three years and there's no Volume Two but anyways, it's really good.

Pius: The new album was recorded in Hollywood. Do you still live there?

Ivy: Yeah, we do, yeah.

Pius: This is kind of a dumb question, it's just personal interest, but have you ever met Winona Ryder?

Ivy: No, I haven't. I like her movies. I really like her vibe. She seems kinda eerie. I really liked Beetlejuice, real kind of Charles Addams vibe to it.



Pius: Why did you decide to have Iggy Pop guest on "Miniskirt Blues"?

Ivy: Well, we got lucky with that. We'd desired to have him do it, this duet on that song, and we'd met him the previous year. Done some festivals together and found out he was also a fan of ours. We're of course big fans of his. And then later when we wanted to see if he'd be involved in the song, we couldn't get a hold of him because he was touring.

So we just went ahead in the studio in Hollywood. And when Lux went out to buy some wine, he ran into Iggy buying some beer! He was rehearsing next door at S.I.R. for some tour or festival that he was gonna be doing, and he came and stopped by the studio, and when he got there, he said, "is there anything you want me to sing on?" So we didn't even have to ask him, cuz we kind of weren't sure if we should. He just did that song real briefly, one take. Got outta there, said, "gotta run".

We just thought it would suit him cuz we were just trying to make a really heavy, grungy Stooges-kinda thing. That was fun.

Pius: I don't know if this is a touchy subject, but one of the funnier things I found in reading "The Wild, Wild World of The Cramps" was the various theories on what might've happened to Brian Gregory. Have you heard anything new, or --

Ivy: No, and a lot of that initial thing was hype from the record company, when they thought they still had him signed as a solo artist, and they were trying to hype a solo career cuz they thought he'd want to have one. It turned out, he - you know, I mean, that didn't, umm - no, I just, I mean, he had drug problems and stuff, and just faded away.



Pius: It's probably an understatement to say that The Cramps have some unconventional, albeit more pure, ideas about rock'n'roll. I always hear you really hate the idea of benefits or things like that, or politics. Would you mind talking for a bit about what rock'n'roll means to you?

Ivy: It isn't so much against benefits, just using rock'n'roll as a political platform is not the purpose of rock'n'roll.

I also am very suspicious of the motives of...celebrities who use their celebrity to promote that. It seems like what they're really trying to promote is their own celebrity. I think it's pompous, you know, besides being corny. Maturity begins at home, and I think you should really take care of what's around you first, and that no one should question that.

A lot of big causes, that "We Are The World" thing with Ethiopia - for all the money raised, they couldn't even get it to the people because of the politics in that land, you know? There's just so much going on in our own country. I almost think people would let someone starve who's sitting right next to them and not, you know...

Also, it's just not the purpose of rock'n'roll to sing about something like that. Rock'n'roll is a certain type of music and it celebrates being in the body now. It's Bacchanalian. Whatever we're concerned about, we should take care of, but I don't think it should be a public platform.

Pius: Do you consider rock'n'roll a lifestyle as well as a form of music?

Ivy: Seems to be, yeah. It's a real all or nothing kind of thing, it has to be. I mean, we're always The Cramps. We're at different intensities. We're at our most intense when we're on the stage, we're most concentrated. We're at a different form of intensity in the studio and maybe we're less intense on some other occasion. People say you have different sides to you, and I don't feel like that. I think it's just different intensities. It's just stepping on the gas here and there.



Pius: What do you think of the allegations a lot of rappers are making that white rock'n'rollers really ripped off blacks in the 50s?

Ivy: It's unfortunately naive and it's an example of Americans not understanding their own culture. I've heard that criticism about Elvis Presley in particular, which is really a shame. He didn't rip off anybody. He actually was incredibly original. He synthesized many styles of music in a very innocent way, and no one was doing what he was doing.

He was a freak, he was from outer space, he was a pioneer in his day. It's a shame that he's not recognized as that, that he's been trivialized so much. I think it's misplaced frustration to blame him for something like that. I can understand the frustration, but I think they're misdirecting their wrath. I just wish people understood the origins of rock'n'roll more than they do.

Pius: He's becoming a scapegoat.

Ivy: He certainly is. What he did was phenomenal, no one else had done it (laughs). There wasn't anyone, black, white or purple, who was doing what he was doing. It's a shame that that's just one more way he's been trivialized.

You know, people focused on his health problems or his mortal failings to begin with as a way of putting him down. And now this is just one more new way. I think he was too intense for anyone to realise how significant he was. It'll probably take a hundred years for people to look back and realise.



Pius: A lot of the strength of rock'n'roll innuendoes - especially sexual innuendoes in the 50s and early 60s - came from the conservatism of the time. The Cramps have made an art of (lyrical innuendo), and I was thinking about this last night, and I thought it was really funny - because you've got things like 2 Live Crew, where people are being so blatant, and yet The Cramps are very subtle and I think it works. Do you ever think about that?

Ivy: Not consciously. I think what we do is natural. Sometimes I see bands being so blatant, I think they're trying to be outrageous. We don't try to be outrageous. We're just expressing ourselves in a natural way.

That blatant language (sighs) - it almost seems like, if you can't think of something to say, then that's a cheap way out or something. It's just easy to swear, and somehow it doesn't seem (laughs) romantic enough or something. We feel we're more traditional, like Howling Wolf or something. It should also be seductive. There's a point where something's so blatant it won't be seductive anymore.

Pius: Do you think that's why it still has that power? Because people still want that?

Ivy: I think so. I think that's why a lot of blues songs can appeal to me now, something that was from the 50s. Because of that same kind of innuendo that you're talking about. It's sexy, rather than confrontational. It's just more seriously about getting it on, rather than getting in a fight.



Pius: The Cramps have always had what I guess is a healthy fascination for serial killers. This may sound funny, but do you have a favourite?

Ivy: A favourite killer? Is that what you mean?

Pius: Yeah, yeah.

Ivy: For me, I would think Ed Gein. It sounds strange, but in a way he was just culturally different from the people in his area. He was reading a lot of books about cannibalism and headhunters and other cultures - the things that he did are actually common practises in some primitive cultures and in other countries, or maybe in another era. And since he was living alone, he was a total loner... In a way, you can almost look at it that that's what he was doing.

Then the thing that's amusing about him is that he never denied what he was doing. People would say, "gosh, we haven't been able to find Mary Hogan", and he'd say, "oh well, Mary's just hanging upside down in my shed right now". And they'd go, "ha ha, you're so funny", you know. And he knew that he could joke that way - so he had like a sick sense of humour (laughs) about the whole thing.

He was in a town full of really boring, dumb people and it's almost like (laughs) he had to amuse himself. Strange as that sounds, in a way it almost sounds like he did what he had to do. I don't feel that way about more vicious... There was just something about him that didn't seem vicious to me. He's just hunting for dear (laughs).

Pius: Have you ever heard of Starkweather? Charles Starkweather?

Ivy: Oh yeah. Yeah, I read that book. That's an interesting story. He ended up worshipped by all these girls.

Pius: I thought that might be a more Cramps type guy, cuz he was --

Ivy: Real, yeah, James Dean kind of era. And again, I think he was driven crazy cuz he was insulted so much for being short and having - didn't he have a speech impediment?

Pius: Yeah, and bow legs.

Ivy: So he was just ridiculed to the point...you know. I think he was driven beyond the brink.



Pius: Are you still really into horror movies?

Ivy: Oh yeah, all the time. Last night we watched "The Unearthly".

Pius: Have you seen any newer ones lately?

Ivy: I guess the last new thing we saw was "Naked Lunch", which we both liked a lot.

Pius: Do you go to the movies a lot, or rent them mostly?

Ivy: We go to them when we can. We don't get to see much when we're touring, but as soon as we get off the road, we like going to the movies. We liked "The Addams Family". It seemed like not many people did, but we thought it was good.



Pius: You and Lux met through hitch-hiking. Is this something you'd recommend?

Ivy: No, not now. And I know it sounds odd to say that, I was doing that. It was the mid-70s in Northern California. Even at that, looking back, I figure it might not have been that bright - but at the time it was pretty common practise. It seemed like a natural thing to do. It was kind of a time and place situation. No, I wouldn't advise, no. (laughs) Stay away from bars, pills and freeways.

Pius: Do you ever see a time when you won't want to do The Cramps?

Ivy: Not that I can think of. We don't plan our future as much as a lot of other bands, but I think that makes us enjoy what we're doing right now more. Maybe that makes us last longer - because we're digging it. That was the thing, getting the new members, we just wanted to make sure we were digging it right now.

Kid Congo U.S. tour dates

Kid Congo Powers and the Pink Monkey Birds have announced some U.S. tour dates for this year. They will be in Oklahoma City on March 15, and you're goddamn right I'm gonna be there. Who else in this world has the kind of credentials Kid Congo has? I wish my resume was a tenth as good. He was in three of the best bands of the latter part of the 20th century, and is currently in one of the best of the 21st! I mean, what's Paul McCartney got? The Beatles and Wings. Whoop-de-shit...

--Chuck

From KID STUFF, the blog of Kid Congo
http://kidcongopowers.blogspot.com/2010/02/kid-congo-pink-monkey-birds-road-to.html

KCP & the PMB's are happy to announce we will be playing some midwest shows along the way to SxSW in Austin this March. Will post more details as they reveal themselves.

3/13/2010 Lawrence, KS Jackpot Saloon

3/14/201 Kansas City, MO Record Bar

3/15/2010 Oklahoma City, OK The Conservatory

THURSDAY the 18th Sxsw begins, it is a busy one with 3 shows :

1.) 3pm at Spider House with The Ohh Sees and Slim Cessna,

2.) 6:30pm at Trailer Space (curated by Philip of Strange Boys)

3.) 12am (midnight) at Prague (our "official SxSW Showcase)

FRIDAY the 19th

1. Beerland INTHERED show... time still to be set

SATURDAY the 20th

1. Spider House Cafe again for Jonathan Toubin's New York Night Train party

Kid Congo Powers Pays Tribute to Mentors
Nov 30th 2009 

http://www.spinner.com/2009/11/30/kid-congo-powers-pays-tribute-to-mentors/

by Julian Marszalek

Most artists are lucky to play with - at a stretch - just one decent band yet Kid Congo Powers has had more good fortune than most having contributed his idiosyncratic guitar sound to psychobilly pioneers the Cramps, the influential blues-punk outfit the Gun Club and also Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds. An impressive track record by any standard, the guitarist has paid tribute to his former mentors.

Playing the legendary 100 Club Sunday night (Nov. 29) with his current band, the Pink Monkey Birds, Kid Congo was moved to praise the late Cramps front man Lux Interior.

Introducing a version of 'I'm Cramped,' Powers said, "I wanna thank Lux Interior for this. I wanna thank him for the music and the photography and everything. If it wasn't for him, I wouldn't be here. Actually, none of us would be here tonight!"

He also paid tribute to the Gun Club's deceased leader Jeffrey Lee Pierce by tearing through the band's classics 'Sex Beat,' 'For The Love of Ivy' and an instrumental version of 'Mother of Earth.'

The Gun Club's influence is keenly felt to this day, most notably on the White Stripes who have also been known to play the band's 1981 debut album, 'The Fire of Love', its entirety prior to taking the stage. Singer-guitarist Jeffrey Lee Pierce died in 1996 after suffering a brain hemorrhage.

The Cramps' Lux Interior passed away on Feb. 4 this year.

Spotted in the crowd at last night's concert were Spiritualized's Jason Pierce, Primal Scream's Bobby Gillespie and Power's former Gun Club colleague, bassist Rom Mori.

Furthermore

Kid Congo Powers is the stage name of Brian Tristan (born 1960, Los Angeles, California), an American rock guitarist and singer, best known as a member of The Gun Club, Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds, and currently the title role in Kid Congo and the Pink Monkey Birds. Most of his career has found him exploring the territory where punk rock joins older "roots music" styles.

Powers is a second generation Mexican American born and raised in El Monte, California. In 1976, he was president of The Ramones fan club, then ran a fanzine for The Screamers. After traveling to London and New York City he returned to L.A. and in 1979 met Jeffrey Lee Pierce. Pierce taught him to play guitar using open tuning, and they formed 'The Creeping Ritual', which became The Gun Club. Powers left that group before their recording debut, instead joining an obscure "punk-o-billy" band called "The Crabs" or some such thing, in December 1980. They it was who dubbed him 'Kid Congo Powers,' a name which appears to have stuck. He rejoined the Gun Club from 1983-1988, when he again left to join Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds in Berlin, for several albums and associated tours. Powers has also played with The Divine Horsemen, The Angels of Light and Die Haut. (Wikipedia- sort of)

The ultimate Kid Congo Powers resource - Kid discusses his life and career in over 4 hours of audio, text, mp3s, rare photos, and more from NewYorkNightTrain.com:

http://www.newyorknighttrain.com/zine/general/archive/kcp.html

You can also find further particulars here, as well as a few sample tunes for your engorgement and general groove improvement:

http://www.isound.com/kid_congo_powers

Kid Congo & The Pink Monkey Birds, Dracula Boots

http://popshifter.com/2009-09-29/kid-congo-the-pink-monkey-birdsdracula-boots/

By Julie Finley
Sept. 29, 2009

Kid Congo Powers (a.k.a. Brian Tristan) has been around. . . and around! If you know the name, you know his pedigree! If you are reading this, you probably dig at least one of the following: The Cramps, The Gun Club, Nick Cave & the Bad Seeds, Congo Norvell, Knoxville Girls, Kid & Khan, Fur Bible, Botanica, Mark Eitzel, The Divine Horsemen, The Angels of Light, Die Haut, etc. (or possibly all of them). He’s sort of a renegade musician—he shows up in a lot of things—but in the past few years, he’s finally doing his own thing, where he’s the focus.

In 2006, under the moniker Kid Congo & The Pink Monkey Birds, he released Philosophy & Underwear, as well as releasing Solo Cholo (which was a sort of odds & ends compilation of various works Kid had done, but were sporadic).

Dracula Boots is the follow-up to Philosophy & Underwear, and it doesn’t miss a beat. It’s equally as good! I’d actually say it’s a bit more playful and silly in a lot of ways, but it also has a sinister undertone throughout. The album evokes a rather retro production value (you can hear the squeak of the bass drum pedal pretty much throughout the entire album), and the guitar is very heavy on the reverb and tremolo. According to Kid’s MySpace page, the album was recorded in a high school gymnasium, in a Midwest town called Harveyville. That may account for the heavy echo that is omnipresent.

There are a few old covers on this one, like Thee Midniters’ “I Found A Peanut” (which seems rather coincidental considering there was that US peanut salmonella scare earlier this year) and Bo Diddley’s “Funky Fly.” There are a lot of groovy instrumental tracks on here like “Hitchhiking” and “Pumpkin Pie” (both are pretty much the same, with the exception of a few short phrases thrown in). “Robo Boogie” and “Kris Kringle Ju Ju” are also pretty much the same song with different phrases, and they both sound like Serge Gainsbourg’s “Requiem Por Un Con. . . ” (Which isn’t a bad thing.)

Additionally, there are a few tracks with ghostly and sparse spoken lyrics, which sort of give you the feeling that you’re lost in a Mexican sandstorm: like the songs “La Larona” (which was my favorite on the album), “Rare as the Yeti,” and “Late Night Scurry.” There’s a lot of heavy brooding organs, guitar oscillators, spooky laughs & shrieks, and of course, the theremin. If there were a Mexican version of The Munsters on Telemundo or Univision, this would be the soundtrack.

Overall, it rocks!

Another thing to mention about Kid Congo: he’s just a really cool guy overall. He’s very friendly and approachable, so if you catch him on his latest tour in support of his new album Dracula Boots, make it a point to say hello!

Kid Congo & the Pink Monkey Birds will be playing the West Coast of the US throughout October. Check his MySpace page for tour dates and to hear selections from Dracula Boots.

Kid Congo at Barreiro Rocks 2009 (Portugal)

http://cotonete.clix.pt/noticias/body.aspx?id=44171
(Translated from Portuguese for free by a goddamn computer.)

Kid The Congo & The Pink Monkey Birds

Kid The Congo Powers (in the picture) and Tav Falco' s Panther Burns (not in the picture) are some of the international names that are part of the large roster of the edition of this year of the Barreiro Rocks.

The festival elapses us days 11 and 12 of December in the Railway Sporting Group in the Barreiro. The price of the tickets varies between the 15 euros (a day) and 20 euros (two days).

The ex-Cramps and Gun Club, Kid The Congo Powers (artistic name of Brian Tristan), returns to our country after the passage by the Gallery Zé of the Oxen in Lisbon, in the past month of May. The North American musician, that it arrived do digressions with Nick Cave & the Bad Seeds, participated in the most recent disk of the Portuguese Dead Combo, "Lusitânia Playboys".

The French Destination Lonely, the Spanish Tokyo Sex Destruction and Jon Ulecia & Bizarre Tavern, the British [D-66] and the Mexicans Them Santeros are others of the names that pass for the city of the south margin of the Tagus in the two days of the event. The after-hours are assured by the new york DJ Shimmy.

The concerts begin about the 22h00. Here is a complete goddamn list of the fucking acts:

11 December

22h00 ­ Singing Dears (Barreiro, Portugal)
23 h 00 ­ Destination Lonely (Perpignan, France)
00h00 ­ Tokyo Sex Destruction (Barcelona, Spain)
01 h 00 ­ Kid The Congo & The Pink Monkey Birds (Washington, U.S.A.)

After:
02h30 ­ [D-66] (London, United Kingdom)
03h30 ­ Them Santeros (Chihuahua, Mexico)

12 December

22 h 00 ­ Shake Shake & Show Me Your Pussy (Alcobaça, Portugal)
23h00 ­ The Sullens (Barreiro, Portugal)

00h00 ­ Jon Ulecia & Bizarre Tavern (Pamplona, Spain)

01 h 00 ­ Tav Falco' s Panther Burns (Memphis, U.S.A.)

After:
02h30 ­ HIGH! (Barcelos, Portugal)
03h30 ­ Them Chicos (Madrid, Spain)

All the nights: DJ Shimmy (New York, U.S.A.)

Kid Congo Powers and the Pink Monkey Birds European Fall Tour Dates

Nov 25 2009 8:00P Cluny Newcastle

Nov 26 2009 8:00P Captain’s Rest Glasgow

Nov 27 2009 8:00P Marcus Garvey Ballroom Nottingham

Nov 29 2009 8:00P 100 Club/ Dirty Water Club London

Dec 1 2009 8:00P Stay Sick Club Brighton

Dec 2 2009 8:00P L’Alcatraz Roubaix

Dec 3 2009 8:00P L´Autre Club Nancy

Dec 4 2009 8:00P Queen Kong Neuchatel

Dec 6 2009 8:00P TBA Besancon

Dec 8 2009 8:00P Le Galion Lorient

Dec 9 2009 8:00P - Le Chabada Angers

Dec 10 2009 8:00P LA2 ( Primavera club fest) Barcelona

Dec 11 2009 8:00P Barreiro Rocks Festival Lisbon

Dec 12 2009 8:00P Wurlitzer Ballroom ( Primavera Club fest) Madrid

Dec 13 2009 8:00P Le Rendemains qui chantent Tulle

Dec 15 2009 8:00P La Boule Noire Paris

Dec 16 2009 8:00P UBU Rennes

Dec 17 2009 8:00P L´Abordage Evreux

Dec 18 2009 8:00P La Nef Angouleme

Dec 19 2009 8:00P La TAF Montpellier