Author Archives: Brian Robbins

Freelance word 'rassler, sloppy cartoonist, and thumper of stringed instruments. Tales, 'toons, and tunes at www.brian-robbins.com

Quicksilver Messenger Service – Live At The Winterland Ballroom: December 1, 1973

Those with a basic grasp of Quicksilver Messenger Service history might hesitate to put an ear to this album if they’re fans of the late, great six-string John Cipollina – the master of tasteful-yet-untamed psychedelic guitar. But if they do, they’re missing out – big time. For although it’s true that the amazing Cipollina (along […]

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Waydown Wailers – State Of The Union

Talk about making an entrance: the debut album from Canton, NY’s Waydown Wailers launches with all the majestic raggedy-assed ballsiness of an old Faces album. As “Mercy Mercy” begins, we join a shimmering guitar chord, already in process; everybody says hello: another guitar snarls and a barroom pi-any tinkles and cymbals start a’sizzling and a […]

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Scenes from “Church” – “Whiskey In The Jar” & “Danny Boy”

My end-of-the-year “Bearin’s” column in Commercial Fisheries News (the January 2014 issue on newstands now – or available online at http://fish-news.com/cfn/) recounts some of our Sunday morning music sessions at my brother Stevie’s shop in downtown Stonington, ME. Normally, the shop is where Stevie works on his lobster gear – but on Sundays, it’s become […]

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Andy Revkin & Friends – A Very Fine Line

If left to my own devices, I’d probably use the word “sweet” about 37 times in writing this here review of singer/songwriter/multi-instrumentalist Andy Revkin’s A Very Fine Line … because it is sweet. Not sugary, a-little’s-too-much sweet, but that savory/sweet like old Slim Chance albums; the kind of sweet that sounds as if it had […]

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Pierce Edens and the Dirty Work – Live

Combine the ache of Hank Williams Sr. with the fire of Hank III, hammer it together with Joe Strummer’s conviction, and send it a’flyin’ with Tom Waits’ gutter-gospel preacher delivery: now you have a little bit of an idea of what Pierce Edens sounds like when he’s burrowed into a song and, in his words, […]

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Delta Moon – Life’s A Song & Turn Around When Possible (Live: Volumes 1 & 2)

One of the many – many – cool things about Delta Moon is their ability to turn any ol’ place they so choose into a funky-assed ribs ‘n’ whiskey juke joint with a 1 AM vibe (never ominous; just cool and horny). It doesn’t matter what the address is – the south-of-the-Mason-Dixon-line locales visited for […]

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The Horseshoe Crabs: “Merry Christmas From The Family” > “I Ain’t Never Satisfied” (Live)

Now if this don’t get you in the holiday spirit, put a tear in your eye, and spill eggnog down the front of your sweater, there’s something seriously wrong with your soul. With apologies to the great Robert Earl Keen (and a side order of Steve Earle, to boot) here’s some raggedy-assed Horseshoe Crabness from […]

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Neil Young – Live At The Cellar Door

If nothing else, Neil Young’s latest archival release, Live At The Cellar Door, serves to remind us that the Neil we know now is the Neil that existed then: capable of doling out tunes that easily settle into your DNA and become part of your being; a near mono-syllabic speaker at times – who can […]

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The Dexateens – Sunsphere

The thing about the Dexateens (the blessing and the curse, in its way) is they have never tried to be anything except themselves. Given the Alabama-based band’s tried-and-proven abilities to rock like the sun is never going to rise again and then turn around and play it all raggedy-assed sweet like a Ronnie Lane Valentine, […]

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New York Dolls – French Kiss ’74 & Actress: Birth Of The New York Dolls (Box Set)

Here’s a double-disc box that might be just the thing to tuck into the fishnet Christmas stocking of the New York Dolls fan in your life. French Kiss ‘74 & Actress: Birth Of The New York Dolls offer up two important chapters of the band’s history – one early on; the other from what may […]

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