It's April And The Show Must Go On

This past weekend was a personal and musical funfest with The Flashcubes, where a lot of old great habits ceased to die. Rock and roll flailing away with Paul Armstrong singing about glue, Arty Lenin singing about a Girl From Germany, Gary Frenay still nailing the rip of Todd's "Couldn't I Just Tell You" on "No Promise" and Tommy Allen playing the tar out of "Do Anything You Wanna Do" and "Walking Out On Love." The 'Cubes brought it home and they ruled.

The other upshot of this reunion was the obligatory 3-piece gig the night before with Gary, Arty and Tommy (as The Neverly Brothers) where they do 3 sets of covers and originals, all unrehearsed. There, I got to hear some new Arty material that's as great as he's ever written and some amazing '70s pop covers like Artful Dodger's "Silver & Gold" and The Raspberries' "It Seemed So Easy."

Deeper details about the late Nikki Sudden came from 'Cubes roadie and Yeah Yeah Yeah comrade Matt Mac Haffie, who knew Sudden back in the day and had friends who stayed in touch. It's not a pretty picture. Google Sudden and you should be able to find out. Mac Haffie also told some wild stories about the recent Neighborhoods reunion which sounded like they must be the band to catch before they decide to stop again.

The Flashcubes are finally beginning work on another project, beginning with a recording of The Move's "Hello Susie." Let's just say it may be the greatest cover version of all time. I've seen it live and it's quite the spectacle.