VARIOUS ARTISTS

Black Lace And Voodoo Drums – Lux And Ivy Dig That Sound

★★★★

Righteous Psalms PSALM 23112 (CD) Craziness that drove the Cramps

From the opening scream of pa-pa-oohmaw-maw by Bobby Lee Trammell on Tollie Frollie, Black Lace And Voodoo Drums... is a wild world of madcap vocals, pounding bongos and echoing guitars, 30 tracks of 50s-60s rockabilly-fuelled, soulswinging, R&B wonderment that transfixed youthful Lux Interior and Poison Ivy of the Cramps. The guitar on Dan Kubiak and the Sound Waves’ Finding You is a fabulous rock ‘n’ roll squark, Glen Willings’ You Tarzan, Me Jane is a veritable zoo – and Sugar Diabetes, Eddie Banks suffering too much sweetness from his baby, wouldn’t even get written now. Gimmicky 45s, yes, but they unite as a rock‘n’roll whole with witchcraft, cowboys, high schools, sneezing, cave men and lumberjacks amid guitartwanging, sax-roaring, drum-thumping music.

Nick Dalton

Gary Crowley’s Punk & New Wave Vol. 2

★★★★

Edsel/demon EDSLO 134

(4CD, 6LP/2LP)

77-track punk treasure trove from Mr Crowley

Taking in not just punk and new wave but also power pop (The Pleasers), mod revival (The Chords) and post-punk (The Raincoats), this excellent personal overview of the vibrant late 70s/early 80s scene compiled by effervescent DJ Crowley and his pal Jim Lahat takes in big names and complete obscurities.

The former are represented by B-sides and album cuts rather than over-compiled anthems so we have The Clash’s uncharacteristically pop 1-2 Crush On You, The Jam’s introspective Away

From The Numbers and The Stranglers’ relentless Tank while little-known acts include Scottish punks The Limps and power poppers The Wardens. It’s not all British – US acts the Ramones, Suicide, The Dils and The Skunks feature. Jon Harrington

Keeping Control – Independent Music From Manchester 1977-1981

★★★

Cherry Red CRCDBOX 145 (3CD) Orgasm addicts and warriors from space: Manc post-punk

Before it was mad for it, Manchester was intelligent about it, producing idiosyncratic, offcentre music in the aftershock of punk. This 76-track celebration of the city’s postpunk hustle is a sharp-focus sequel to 2017’s broader 7-disc Manchester North Of England compendium, but even within these four years there’s a wealth of weirdness and wonder. Quality control is lenient, as it was everywhere at the time, so some of the “funny” or “of the moment” cuts haven’t aged well: The Salford Jets’ Looking At The Squares or The Frantic Elevators’ Hunchback Of Notre Dame (with Mick Hucknall singing) leave dodgy hangovers. But from

Joy Division to New Order, Buzzcocks to The Fall, or Section 25 to Blue Orchids, ingenuity rains down.

Chris Roberts

Playing For The Man At The Door: Field Recordings From The Collection Of Mack Mccormick 1958-1971

★★★★★

Smithsonian Folkways SFW 40260 (CD, 6LP)

A trip inside the world’s best blues archive

The 66 tracks here were collected in Western Louisiana, East Texas, Oklahoma and Arkansas – recorded in juke joints, on the road and prisons.

When he died in 2015, blues documentarian Mccormick’s collection of 560 reels of tape along with accompanying notes were acquired by the USA’S Smithsonian Institution. Mccormick was a controversial character, rarely sharing his research - notably his work on blues legend Robert Johnson, which has only just been published. Blues scholars and collectors can now hear unissued performances by bluesmen Lightnin’ Hopkins, Mance Lipscomb, Cedell Davis, steel guitarist Hop Wilson and Texas pianists Buster Pickens, Grey Ghost and Robert Shaw along with complete unknown’s like Kid Riggins, Otis Cook and R.C. Forest. This treasure trove also includes a 128-page book on Mccormick’s life and research. Tony Burke

Too Much Sun Will Burn: The British Psychedelic Sounds Of 1967 Volume Two

★★★

Cherry Red CRSEGBOX 125 (3CD) His – and misses – of an iconic year

A collection that does so much more than simply justify the title, Too Much Sun Will Burn... contains 79 tracks that provide a Greatest Hits That Mostly Never Were soundtrack. Sure there are biggies – The Hollies’ King Midas In Reverse, The Flower Pot Men’s Let’s Go To San Francisco and Procol Harum’s Homburg – but interspersed with gems like Eric Burdon’s deranged Good Times, Go-go Girl, the Marc Bolan-penned single from John’s Children, and the soulful What Shall I Do by The Artwoods, Ronnie Wood’s brother Art with a pre-purple Jon Lord. It’s a heady concoction – early Genesis alongside the Troggs, Tremeloes and Traffic, and more fledgling creations from Elton John, David Bowie and Alex Harvey plus many names that truly remained cult. It all adds up to four hours of fun. Nick Dalton