Tuesday, September 01, 2009

ROCKABILLY FIREBREATHING FROM FIREWORKS

(This is a re-post from a couple years ago)

Circa 1991-94, no rock and roll label could touch In The Red Records. Most still can’t. I remember tearing up packages that would arrive in the mail from them, breaking nails & bloodying fingertips, all to hear the latest & best garage-inspired rock released in decades – during an era when the “form”, such as it was, was in a decided renaissance. At the time, outside of THE GORIES and the CHEATER SLICKS, my favorite In The Red platter was this 45 from Dallas, Texas’ FIREWORKS. Consisting of two obscuro rockabilly covers, the double A-side “Untrue” / “She’s a Tornado” are such wild paintpeelers you can hear the steam pouring out of the back of the amps. Full of reverb, distortion and great whooping, yelping vocals, it begs the question, “who were Fireworks, and why do I love ‘em so much?”. Glad you asked.

Darren Linwood, well, he seemed to be the main honcho behind this crew, and though I know he went onto ’68 Comeback and Mick Collins’ Blacktop (and had been in Dig Dat Hole too!), I kind of lost track of him. James Arthur, he of the mighty stun-guitar on this 45, now helps run Hook Or Crook records with el jefe Chris Owen, and went from Fireworks to killer combos like A Feast of Snakes and the Golden Boys as well. In any case, there were about 3-4 great Fireworks singles, none better then this firebreather on In The Red. Enjoy it here and let me know what you think.

Play Fireworks, "She's a Tornado"


Download FIREWORKS – “She’s A Tornado” (A-side of 1993 In The Red 45)
Download FIREWORKS – “Untrue” (other A-side of 1993 In The Red 45)

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