Jeff Conolly from Boston isn't a household name but he should be. He revered the 60's garage rock sound and punk rock, combined the two and made some thrilling second generation garage. His farfisa organ had a crazed sound that was irresistible, the very essence of rock'n'roll energy and abandon.
The Lyres (photo above) were one of the best live acts I've ever seen. And "Help You Ann" is one of my all time favorite rock'n'roll songs. It sounds as fresh today as it did upon its release in 1984:
I particularly love the drums on the track, Paul Murphy doing a turbo-charged take on the classic Stax records gunfire drum sound.
Conolly, Murphy and most of the Lyres had a prior band called DMZ which kept the garage rock flame burning with some great stuff that laid to waste all the excess of '70's rock, including this one from 1977, "Barracuda" (no, not the Heart song, I would never do that to you our loyal readers):
Jeff Conolly and the Lyres are still around. In fact they played in London last Friday.
Lyres Facebook page
Great album. Love the first two Lyres.
ReplyDeleteThe Standells did a rockin' version of Barracuda. Can't turn up much on who the original artist was.
ReplyDeleteEdoc, thanks for pointing that out about Barracuda. Well worth noting.
ReplyDeleteAlso appreciate your loyal readership.