Today’s Cool Album of the Day (#778 in the Series) is Firewater, International Orange (Bloodshot Records) If a drinking establishment existed that was a cross between the zombie cantina in Quentin Tarantino’s From Dusk Till Dawn and the beach bars in the Bikini Beach movies, Firewater would be the house band and International Orange would be their soundtrack. Firewater feels like a name from the 70’s, sounds like a band from the 80’s and was formed in the 90’s by bass player and band leader Tod A. (aka Tod Ashley) leading a musical collective that has produced seven consistently great and eclectically diverse albums over the years including Get Off the Cross, We Need the Wood For the...

Today’s Cool Album of the Day (#777 in the Series) is the Dave Clark Five, Glad All Over. Well Mr. Peabody, it appears you gave an extra cup of coffee to the Way-Back Machine this morning!! There was actually a short period, 1964, where The Dave Clark Five were battling The Beatles for most popular British Invasion band. There were a ton of hits on this album.  There were really strong songs that had some edge to them as well.  I also loved the “dirty sax” sound that The Dave Clark Five used in their mix. Highlights you ask?  Well of course the title track, “Glad All Over,” plus there were other classics like “Bits and Pieces” and “Do...

Today’s Cool Album of the Day (#776 in the Series) is Simple Minds, Sparkle in the Rain The band simple minds were one of those acts that really had to stick it out to find success.  They first got together toward the end of the 70s. Their first album, Life in a Day did quite well in the UK peaking at #30. It didn’t get a whiff of play here in the states outside of a couple very progressive stations and some college radio. It would take three years and five more releases before an album even charted here. That would be New Gold Dreams which featured the hit “Promised You a Miracle.” Still, the album only reached #69...

  Today’s Cool Album of the Day (#775 in the Series) is Romeo Void, Benefactor. Romeo Void’s Benefactor album is another perfect example of some of the cool post punk/new wave sounds of the early 80s. There was a refreshing blend that mixed a little bit of punk, a little bit of ska, a little bit of the new romantics and maybe even a touch of reggae at times.  It allowed many people to hit the dance floor again that might not have since growing tired quickly of the disco era. Benefactor was released in 1982 and stood up well alongside albums released by bands such as The Psychedelic Furs, Ministry, OMD, Our Daughter’s Wedding, A Flock of Seagulls,...

Today’s Cool Album of the Day (#365 in the Series) is the self-titled debut from Heartsfield Happy Birthday to Us, Happy Birthday to Us, Happy Birthday Dear “Cool Album of the Day.” Happy Birthday to You!!!  Well, not exactly.  This is our 365th entry. So we’re going to call this our birthday! Yeah, we may have started a little over a year ago but we did miss a few days early, but since this is # 365, it’s our birthday. Keeping that in mind, I’m going to feature another album by my dear friends, Heartsfield. Yes, we’ll be getting back to some more current goodies very soon, but since it’s our birthday, I’m going to give myself this gift...

  Today’s Cool Album of the Day (#774 in the Series) is Glen Campbell  & Jimmy Webb, Reunion: The Songs of Jimmy Webb. This album had its beginnings in those wonderful Glen Campbell hits of the late 60’s, five absolute gems released between 1967 and 1970 : “By The Time I Get To Phoenix,” “Galveston’” “Where’s The Playground Susie ?”, “Honey Come Back” and, of course, the ever shining jewel that is “Wichita Lineman.”  All five were written by one of the very best up-and-coming songwriters of the era, Jimmy Webb. Before those recordings both men had careers which were very much on the ascent but when Glen decided to record the first of those songs (Phoenix) as the...

  Today’s Kool Album of the Day (#773 in the Series) is The Kinks, The Kinks Present a Soap Opera Kronikling a Kool & Kollectable Kinks Klassic “The Kinks Present A Soap Opera” Emerging on the first tidal wave of the British Invasion, The Kinks quickly established themselves as one of the greatest bands to kome out of London.  Rather than following the footsteps of  Liverpool’s Finest, like so many other akts who kopied the Merseybeat and Liverpudlian sounds, The Kinks took about defining a sound that remains unique in Pop and Rock musik.  Along with Amerikan producer Shel Talmy, The Kinks went on to kreate The POWERKHORD …  even beating The Who-> to play the first POWERKHORD with...

  Today’s Cool Album of the Day (#772 in the Series) is King Cannons, The Brightest Light (Capitol) King Cannons are a hardworking band, and they want you to know it. They have fought poverty and hardship every day of their existence to be together. Their songs are full of cliché and nostalgia, being almost exclusively about being flat broke, escaping the oppressive factory dust, and the joys of finding solace in rock ‘n’ roll and the open road. They aren’t exactly original in style or substance, stealing from the slicked-back greaser ’50s style of American rock, to the angry punk-with-a-heart teachings of ’70s Joe Strummer, the anthemic bombast and big drums of ’80s Springsteen, with a sprinkling of...

  Today’s Cool Album of the Day (#771 in the Series) is Ry Cooder, Election Special (Nonesuch) Ry Cooder’s on a roll! After an extended 18 year break from solo work, during which he was extremely busy on soundtracks and collaborations of course, he made a remarkable return to the fray with Chavez Ravine in 2005, a well-received release which was followed fairly quickly by My Name Is Buddy and then I, Flathead, completing what he dubbed his “Southern California” trilogy. Just last year he was at it again when he released the wonderful Pull Up Some Dust And Sit Down, making four great albums in six years, a tremendous work rate in this day and age really. At...

  Today’s Cool album of the day(#770 in the Series) is the new self-titled release by The World Famous Headliners. (Big Yellow Dog Publishing) Out of the blue comes an album that I think will be in so many top 10 lists at the end of the year and no one even saw it coming. I think most reviews are going to start with who are these guys? That’s a good question and it’s a great answer but I wanted to start with what really matters, the music. The album’s 15 tracks slip effortlessly from rock and roll to funk, with bits of power pop, country, and 60’s style rock thrown into the mix. It’s a fun from the...