Punk's Not Dead, but it Doesn't Have to Be.
101 Films… is available for in person purchase at:
Goner Records: 2152 Young Ave, Memphis, TN 38104
Quimby’s Books:1854 W. North Ave., Chicago, IL 60622
NOVEL., 387 Perkins EXTD, Memphis, TN 38117
SMASH Records: 2314 18th St. NW 2nd Floor, Washington, D.C. 20009
101 Films You Could See Before You Die is now available at
SMASH! Records
2314 18th St. NW
Washington, D.C. 20009
(202)387-6274
If you’re in the DC metro area. drop by SMASH! and get a copy. They also have Cramhole back issues.
Billups Allen’s 101 Films You Could See Before You Die available now on Goner Records.
January 12, 2023: 5:00-6:00
I’ll be on WYXR on Burnt Ends playing some tunes and talking to super-DJ Eric Plumley about the recent release of 101 Films You Could See Before You Die. Tune in for some righteous tunes and movie discussion.
January 26, 2023: 7:00
I’ll be selling copies of 101 Films You Could see Before You Die at the Thursday night Crosstown screening of Assault on Precinct 13 (1976).
The show starts at 7:00 at the Crosstown Theater. I’ll have the usual back issues of zines and we will have copies of the new book available. Join us for great screening of this John Carpenter classic.
You might occasionally have your interest peaked hearing about a band with a hint of AC/DC worship. Sometimes an album burns you with nothing to offer besides excessive power chord use. But the recent LP Stained Class by Alien Nose Job hits deep into the realm of your chord rock consciousness and offers a wild album capturing the tropes of the legendary boogie rockers. The album takes off in the right gear with a sly mid-paced rocker called “Beatles vs. Stones.” The main guitar riff is a plucky head-nodder surrounding the beat. It’s a great song, but nothing can prepare you for the rocket launch of the second track “Post Punk Posers”. (I think this actually gets at something AC/DC does intrinsically on their albums: hitting harder on the second track.) “Post Punk Posers” blazes at high speeds with a hint of boogie. “Shuffling Like Cows” ends side one with a back beat rocker in the vein of “The Rock ‘N’ Roll Singer” It’s a solid mover. The album continues this way with infections results. I hate to rely so heavily on AC/DC comparisons, but you don’t accidentally make an album like this. This isn’t just posers hitting power chords. This album has all the fun and precision of a classic Aussie outing packed into a punk package at a punk price. The album is a stone-cold gas. If you don’t think you’d like it, you should buy it and make yourself like it. – Billups Allen (Total Punk)
The Zips: Take Me Down: 7”
This is another one of those rare punk singles you’ll likely never find. The Zips were a great ’77 band from Glasgow. Sing Sing reissued this in 2009, and that version is now a forty-dollar slab. Fortunately, Mad Butcher Classics has pressed a new version for you. Song 3 on this single appeared on Bloodstains Across the U.K. 2. But even if you have that record, you’re going to want to shell out for the full-four songs in this re-ish. “Take Me Down” opens the record with a mid-tempo declaration with a catchy chorus scraping the borders of power pop, but staying in the bounds of solid punk. “Don’t Be Pushed Around” picks up the pace a bit with a solid opening riff on the guitar opener and another slammer of a punk chorus. Side 2 carries on in the same manner. “I’m in Love” and “Over and Over” are catchy classics. It’s a solid four songs and a great single for the KBD crowd. -Billups Allen (Mad Butcher Classics)
The pre-order of my new book 101 Films You Could See Before You Die went up today. Check it out on the Goner website:
GONER
GONER BOOKS SAYS
Why release a film guide now? There are loads of genre websites dedicated to exposing a new “lost” masterpiece. There are so many entities jockeying to define a canon. And lists. So many lists. Many of these lists are designed specifically to evoke clicking, and as more streaming services search for new content, more obscure movies now get their poster-sized screen icon for your perusal. Still, many are still passed over by viewers. Some of the mystery and fun of searching for “cult” or “lost” movies dissipates as websites throw everything at the wall at once to see what sticks. But one thing the Internet can’t control is the compulsion of being as film buff. Billups Allen is a film critic and pop culture enthusiast who enjoys writing about films languishing outside the arena of cult status and/or movies derailed from the curve of the academic canon. 101 Films
You Could See Before You Die: A Film Guide for the Disenchanted is not only a film guide, but a love letter to discovering movies: a handbook to expose films better run across than sought out. These are films reserved for turning on the television late at night or for accompanying a friend to the theater on a rainy day. The films in this book are a mixed bag. Some are lost classics. Others have interesting elements in place. But all of them deserve a look. Or not. You’ll be okay either way.
I was proud to be part of this short-lived band The Creamy’s with Travis from Freezing Hands.
I loved working with Travis ’cause he was really into trying anything. Listening to this I realize I had forgotten I was in a band that had whistling in one of the songs. He was a lot of fun to be in a band with. Also Matt Rendon played a big part in making these songs work in the studio. Some we were messing with up until we recorded them. We played a few fun shows.
These songs were recorded by Matt Rendon at Coma Cave.
It was a lot of fun and I’m proud of the songs, a couple I had a hand in writing. Check it out if you’re inclined. i hope you’ll enjoy them.
Sunday October 30, 2022 10AM-12PM
Sunday October 30, 2022 10AM-12PM
We had so much fun last Halloween we’ll be joining JB Horrell for Analog Delay playing two hours of mess, soundtracks, and Halloween jams. Join us on Memphis 91.7 WYXR.
I’ll be hosting Thursday night for Gonerfest 19. I’ll be cracking a few jokes, talking a little, and announcing the bands for the lineup Thursday. We’re going to have a great opening night. I’ll be at the store for a lot of the rest of the weekend, so stop and say hello if you’re in town.
Here’s a link to the schedule: Gonerfest 19
Here’s the lineup for Thursday:
Cramhole 