I'd been meaning to repost this for a while but kept forgetting. Then I stumbled onto a post at Crying All the Way to the Chip Shop with Steve Miller's "Jet Airliner'. I remembered the Romans covered it and I was reminded. The Roman's second, a solid LP, is out of print, but one of the band members put it online. It's worth it. Here's the old post:
I ran into that fake album cover above on Pinterest a week or so ago. It's one I did for a post about the Romans, posted a year ago. Distraction prone as I am, I was off to re-visit their music and, you know what? I try to be as objective as I can, this is some hot ass shit. I do know two of the guys, but trust me on this one, you'll want this stuff. It's almost impossible to find, it's really really good. And it's guilt free, posted on a site by one of the band members.
I ran into that fake album cover above on Pinterest a week or so ago. It's one I did for a post about the Romans, posted a year ago. Distraction prone as I am, I was off to re-visit their music and, you know what? I try to be as objective as I can, this is some hot ass shit. I do know two of the guys, but trust me on this one, you'll want this stuff. It's almost impossible to find, it's really really good. And it's guilt free, posted on a site by one of the band members.
If you're hesitant, do this. Listen to "Last Days" below. It's five minutes long. Dig the guitar interplay, take it all in. At 2:56, an extended outro begins. Guitar, then drums. Then it gets wicked sick all up in there. At 3:13, feeding back guitar and a banjo fade in at the same time, to great effect. It's a most awesome racket. And it gets noisier. It's the Velvet Underground on The Beverly Hillbillies.
~ NOTE: ALL MEDIA IS HOSTED BY THE BLOGS & SITES NAMED BELOW ~
Listen:The Romans - Last Days mp3 at House of Here
The Romans - Greed, Hate and Drinking mp3 at House of Here
The Romans - You're Coming With Me mp3 at House of Here
Unreleased:
The Romans - A Wretched Son of Satan mp3 at House of Here
The whole collection:
The Romans - Last Days at the Ranch at House of Here The whole album plus 12 unreleased tracks, in individual mp3s.
Visit:
The Romans at House of Here
The Romans at Facebook
The Romans - You Only Live Once available at Warning Label Records
3 comments:
A special thank you for the Romans post. The weirdest thing... It 'seemed' like I remembered them, wasn't quite sure. Clicked on "In My Hometown', and instantly started singing along with it. I knew the words (!) which really caught me offguard, but an hour earlier I couldn't have told you who the Romans were. I figured I had heard it on some Restless Records comp or something. I started Googling around but couldn't find the track listed anywhere else but "Last Days...". Then I clicked Vicki 70. Damned if I didn't know every note of that song, too. So, I MUST'VE owned the Last Days LP at some point, just don't remember. After that, I jumped over to some Green On Red reminiscing, clicked on a bunch of old tracks, came across a Dan Stuart solo LP from a couple years ago. Clicked on those vids... the songs were awesome! Somehow the rabbit hole took me to the Dils, then the True Believers, Sidewinders, The Flies "Get Wise"... great stuff. Next thing I know, I killed three hours surfing for old music. That's why blogs like yours are valuable; hear some new stuff, get reminded of some old stuff, get jazzed to explore more on one's own. Thanks for all the good stuff you put out there.
Thank you SO much for that comment. What happened to you is exactly what my intent was when I started this mess ten years ago and you're the first person to describe that rabbit hole type scenario. The surprising thing is that I know members of two of the bands that you also revisited (the Dils and the True Believers) as well as a couple of the Romans, one of whom was a total Dils freak back in the day. Not that their music is the same as their old bands, but both Javier Escovedo (True Believers and before that the Zeros) and Chip Kinman (the Dils, later Rank and File, Blackbird and Cowboy Nation) are still at it. Javier under his own name (and regular Zeros reunions) and Chip (in Ford Maddox Ford). But, back to the Romans, if I was you I'd download all of their stuff. I know how panicked I was when I thought I'd never hear it again, I actually contacted one member and brought up reissuing it on my own dime just so I'd have a copy of it (my original copy was on cassette and we all know what happens with old tapes). Thankfully his bandmate posted it so I didn't have to go through the hassle. To me it remains one of those LPs that never got the acclaim it deserved. It was nothing like the other bands the members I knew had been in (Monitor and the B People) or even the first Romans LP for that matter. I remember buying it, putting it in my Walkman and strolling down St. Marks Place thinking "Where the fuck were they hiding this?"
Thanks again Shayne. Don't be a stranger!
I assure you I won't be a stranger... because I read your blog every day - along with AD, RSTB, Hear Ya, Mad Mackeral, (back in the day) 9B. It's my CNN for music. :-) BTW, I live in Louisville and as you no doubt know, the music scene here is and has been for a long time, excellent. Perhaps some Louisville-related posts might come down the pike soon? A Slint revisit, Squirrel Bait? A current Quiet Hollers post? And used to live in Texas, so the True Believers/Escovedo connection is strong for me. (Saw TB on New Years Eve 1985 at the Continental Club with Glass Eye opening. Great memories). Anyhoo, keep up the good work and I'll keep reading. Shayne
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