SCR-545 The United Space League 7" 45

Brand New

The United Space League is a new collaboration made up of members of The Riots, Fortune & Maltese & The Four-Gone Conclusions. Pure fuzz garage, recorded old school, without the use of protools, in high-fidelity Mono on dead stock vintage labels!

SCR-3402 Jonny Chan & The New Dynasty Six (Double CD)

Sound Camera is proud to present "I Hate You Baby" the Lost 2nd album by Jonny Chan & the New Dynasty Six. This release not only includes the album, but outtakes, alternates and demos as well secret bonus cuts. On top of all that there is a 2nd disc which includes a radio broadcast from WFMU, outtakes and demos from their first album, live tracks and rehearsals from their earliest incarnation and more. Over 50 tracks!

After a decade of delays, the second Jonny Chan & The New Dynasty Six album has finally lifted off the runway. It could be said that “I Hate You Baby” was a decade in the making or a decade overdue. Whatever your perspective, Sound Camera Records has ventured over the coiled barbwire and rescued this previously unreleased treasure from the dust yards of no availability. The reconditioned album, lovingly renovated by Sound Camera Records as a bonus tracks galore 2-disc edition, is ready to land under the glow and into the stereos of the sixties garage world.

Some may recall Jonny Chan & the New Dynasty Six made a major dent in 1998 with their debut album “So You Want Action” featuring “Little Black Egg” lyrically rendered in Mandarin Chinese. Others might remember their extensive interview atop an ambulance inFlipside Magazine. Still others might think back to their live shows and festival appearances (e.g., Fuzzfest ’97 in Atlanta and L.A.’s Dionysus Demolition Derby) where they opened up the sense of anything could happen and many times frequently did. In fact, during their "It's All About Me" finale, an amusement park character walked into Detroit’s Magic Stick (a venue loft above a bowling alley). It was a surreal and perfect jolt for a stripped-down garage festival called Gutterfest held during Indian Summer ‘98. So what happened in these intervening 11 years besides the usual compounding conflictions of work, school life, egos and musical differences? I will refer you to the CD booklet for both sordid details and brushes with fame. The music will be the main focus here.

You may be thinking, “This sounds like any garage band that managed to play a live set on WFMU, shake some NYC action at Manitoba's Bar and release a record on Dionysus or SFTRI.” Yes, the band was guilty of crash landing at any moment, being comprised of shifting and incongruent lineups while sending out infrequent communiqués over intermittent cut-rate websites. In this turbulence, lies the genius of Jonny Chan & the New Dynasty Six. They could sound so sharply focused and other times spinning out of control--and out of their heads. In the end, Jonny Chan is kind of like art or life itself—sometimes there’s understanding or momentum, but most other times something entirely else it transpiring. This is the soundtrack to both the clarity and chaos.

The instrumental “Hook, Line & Sinker” sets the album off in true go-go motion before setting stage for the downbeat and folked-up “I Say Yeah” featuring a soaring Rickenbacker solo that recalls the Optic Nerve and the Nightcrawlers at their finest. On "It's All About Me,” the band reaches its summit with the song’s perfect arrangement, shifting dynamics and musical execution. The first time I heard the flowery strums of the intro at the aforementioned Gutterfest show, I thought they were going to cover The Monkees’ “The Day We Fell in Love” which would not only be heretical, but truly dangerous to play in rough & tumble 1998 Detroit. Everything comes together for them in this instantly connecting and signature song touched by the divine spark. Next, “See My Way” surges things forward and displays their Kinksian side. (JC & ND6 belted out a charged up cover of the Kinks' "I'm Not Like Everybody Else." at the same Gutterfest show.) The song is also a perfect vehicle for Chan’s rush hour vocals conveying a native Detroit gunk accent clashing and converging with a transplanted snotty New York one. Chan’s vocals end up veering somewhere between John Felice of the Real Kids and the garage-pop sensibilities of Robert Wojz (of the Insomniacs). While this might not sound appealing under monitor glass, the voice is captivating, distinctive and a perfect fit for either a heartfelt ballad or a fast fuzz-filled ride.

The overflow reservoir department brims with an alternate and superior take of “This is the Place” overlaid with the more congruent vocals by Jonny vs. Wayne’s huskier straining lead vocals heard on the proper album. As every good architect has a trail of bad projects behind them there are a few throwaway pedestrian numbers (e.g. “Fatty Fatty Two by Four”) which were understandably sent to the impound. The real revelation is the pristine folk-rocker “I Want What I Can’t Have” which rates up with “Time Has Gone” from their debut album. One can only surmise sounding too much like Manfred Mann’s “Pretty Flamingo” layered with a veneer of “Norwegian Wood” disqualified this minor-key magnificence. While it may seem surprising this discerning Mr. Chan, who knows his Knaves from his Saturday Children, would have a Manfred Man blind spot, the head honcho of Sound Camera Records testified in Oakland County Circuit Court of no chicanery and Mr. Chan was truly unfamiliar with # 1UK hit from 1966. Flagrant rip off or not, this song is immaculate folk ‘n’ roll with an undercurrent of raga echoing in the distance. JC & ND6 always seemed attuned and aligned to regal feel and look of the Chicago ‘60s bands—from the Dunwich label in particular. This is testified in their glorious cover of “A Girl as Sweet at You” from their debut and the acoustic version of the Knaves’ “Your Stuff” which rounds out disc one. It’s not every decade that you hear a band covering the Knaves. Disc two features the Mosier Safe Sessions with its very apt echo making these rehearsals a Mondo Mid-sixties blow out. Also included on disc two, is a solid and satisfying WFMU set (15.5 songs from Joe Belock's Three Chord Monte program) from the dawn of this decade.

While coulda, woulda, shoulda surround the legend of Jonny Chan and the New Dynasty 6, these are only shadows contrasting with the moments of brilliance. With the perspective of time, Chan has come to terms with the missed opportunities, “It was 2000, Garage was hotter than it had ever been and we did everything wrong, we blew it big time. Nobody was willing to do what was needed to be done including myself.” Even if the band was able to ride the momentum, make an appearance on the Sopranos, play at the Randall's Island Donut Festival and release a glossy record on Wicked Cool, this path would have belied the unraveling energy of band lead by the unorthodox and unbounded spirit of Jonny Chan. Conversely, if the band was able to sidestep the fallows and minefields, they maybe could have achieved a string of releases and international festival appearances placing them in the upper echelons of the garage world. Nevertheless, this recovered bounty of previously unreleased recordings emanates with Chan’s considerable talents and vast capacities in commanding musical order while simultaneously dishing out the chaos. Furthermore, the story and sound are far from over as anything can happen when you enter the indomitable world of Jonny Chan and New Dynasty Six.

Ted Liebler

SCR -3401 Riots - Love After (CD)

One: Aftermath

In this current age besieged by so-called garage bands that lean more in the ponderous era of pre-punk 1975 than seminal 1965, the Riots have broken out to properly realign the currently misplaced garage banner back to the spark of its mid-sixties heyday. They do this by offering a musical authenticity and soulful sincerity not provided by the current bastion of bands prancing over stagnant landfills of burnt-out boogie under the misleading guise of garage. In addition, the Riots radiate a vitality and verve that marks them as true rogues in these current times inundated by sauntering bands who are essentially missing the beat and ignoring the roll inherent in the most striking garage music.

Two: The Sounds of Yesterday & Today
In the Riots sound, the spirit and spunk of such unheralded Michigan forebears as the Unrelated Segments and the Underdogs looms large--along with the repercussions of the Animals, ? and the Mysterians, the Chocolate Watchband, the Yardbirds, the Small Faces and Barry & the Remains. On a contemporary trans-world level, the Riots share some of the same magnificent mentors and buzzing transformers as the Chesterfield Kings, the Greenhornes, the Embrooks and the Hentchmen.

Three: The Sound of Love After
While so many flavor-of-the-week “garage” records have fallen through the bleachers on their own weight after the initial promo push, the Riots have unleashed an album that pulls elusive immediacy together with lasting presence. Freddy Fortune’s distinctive production radiates their reckless ambition while losing none of the band’s musical dimensions. Fortune, working in Grandpa Munster-like fashion down in the all- analogue galore of Sound Camera Studios, achieves this by compounding their essential elements, energy and essences into a formula of unified stereo action. The resulting mid-fi mix is a sonic blast constituted of gashing guitars, rollercoasting keyboards, pow-wow drums and hold-the-fort-down bass--all acting & reacting within corner turning arrangements.

The opening song "Hold on Me" storms out of the speakers like Paul Revere & the Raiders signaling a Union Jack Freakbeat attack. Throwing off spunk, sparks and combo organ dips, the relentless "Stop Knocking" belts it outs between staircases and steaming sewers with command and an indirect nod over to the Shadows of Knight. In the next 2:50 sonic adventure, "Broken Man" climbs to 99th floor of the emotions before reaching a rickety bridge suspended by handclaps and crossed with derailed determination. Once across, the Broken Man screams out a declaration of dependence before continuing into the end-of-wick confusion and the rip of the firecracker drumming.

Next, stuttering guitars, torn out of Love’s "My Little Red Book," introduce and reinforce, "Cold Hearted Woman" before expanding out in all directions and dimensions on the soulful psychedelicized chorus. "Tell Me Tonight" is a musical funny car in which a saxophone props up the frame to expose a pivotal Wurlitzer organ solo before charging down the musical strip still marked by the Royal Pendletons. Swirling sitars, bongo beats and buoyant organ notes (echoing the lost ‘60s band Afterglow) surround "Tomorrow" and take this recording out to new realms before reaching the final destination of this dynamic and vivid debut. Overall, the percolating flourishes of a vintage Rheem Mark VII organ (yeah, the same company known for their hot water heaters) and the impassioned lead vocals topped off by captivating co-ed backing responses conspire to make this album and band stand out in the current congestion of the garage.

Four: Tomorrow
Far removed from the recurring patterns of bands essentially playing seventies arena rock under the protective and now trendy roof of garage, the Riots reclaim and reflect the inextricable link between the mid-sixties and most vital and vibrant garage music. This is only the beginning of more essential and enduring things to come from Sound Camera Records and their unceasing quest to provide, “The Sound of Yesterday, for Today's Tomorrow.”

Ted Liebler

Tracklist:
1. Hold On Me
2. Stop Knocking
3. Wasting My Time
4. Broken Man
5. No More Talkin'
6. Cold Hearted Woman
7. Tell Me Tonight
8. Are You Gonna Love Me?
9. Move Me
10. So Long
11. Tomorrow

SCR-245 The Covingtons 7" 45 EP

Sound Camera release #2

The Covingtons blasted onto the Detroit scene in 1988. The 3 piece band featured Freddy Fortune, later of “Fortune & Maltese”, Johnny Chan, later to start “Johnny Chan & The New Dynasty Six”, and Greg Boes of “ Fester”. All had served time in earlier punk style groups, however, it’s the Covingtons that first gave the Motor City a kick in it’s 80’s heavy metal ass. With a deep love and inspiration for all things 66/67, the band started to make a name for them selves but never did get to put out that promised record. Due to many group member changes and the wise decision to buy a hearse with their band fund, all recordings were shelved. Now 22 years later 4 tracks make their vinyl debut.

The record consists of all known recordings made by the first two line ups of the group. Side A consists of a snotty original “I Hate You Baby” that would have been right at home on one of the early “Killed by Death” compilations. The other is a cover of the ultra obscure Pebbles classic “Red Light” by the Sands of Time.

Side B contains recordings of their 2nd line up when Farfisa player, Debbie Berne, joined in on the action. One Trashed Out studio cut of a Texas punk classic and a live version of “I Hate You Baby”. Get it Now, Only 400 Copies pressed, full color cardboard sleeve!!! Includes a 4 page insert with interviews, flyers and band pictures!!!

SCR-145 Freddy The Four-Gone Conclusions 7" 45

The Debut Sound Camera Record Release:

The A side is a snotty original from Freddy Fortune & Professor Schmiddy called (You're Just A) Waste of My Time. The flipside is a real treat, called Gotta Give It time. It is a Jeff Barry / Jerry Levine tune written and recorded for The Monkees, but for reasons unknown was never issued. The single was recorded with the utmost care for true Ultrasonic High Fidelity on an Ampex 440b four-track through a custom-made Astral Sound Labs 7 channel recording console. Then it was mixed to an Ampex Model 300 mono master recorder running at 15 ips. Microphones used include: Neumann U48&M49, Coles 4038, RCA 74B, Altec 645 and AKG D20. The 45 was mastered at Sound Enterprises, by the late great Ron Murphy. Murphy had made records since the 1950's, for all kinds of big labels including Motown. The 45 was mastered at -8 db to be as loud as an old Motown single. Pressed at Alpha with vintage label stock on good ol' thick bowling ball colored wax, presented in a full color picture sleeve. (Von Bondies trivia: Don Blum plays drums on this 45 while Jason Stollsteimer's older brother Eric, plays lead guitar.)