Tuesday, July 30, 2019
"Established 1972 NYC" : The Planets Secure A Spot On The 10 Best of 2019
Back in March, I wrote about the debut single from Binky Philips & The Planets. The song, "Splitsville Or Bust" is a blast of desperately needed rock and roll at a time when three chords and a sexy guitar solo are about as rare as hen's balls.
Since that time, the full length, "Established 1972 NYC" has been unleashed into our world. That's right, "Established 1972, NYC." The Planets have been around the block and back. Yet, this is their debut release. This is a band that was all over the NYC rock and punk scene in the 70's; a band that came this close...I'm holding my thumb and forefinger about 1/2" apart...to signing a major label deal; a band that skillfully used their almost fifty years of chops and created an original record with both grime and finesse, in a brilliant, fast fucking assault that clocks in at just a second or two under 30 minutes. This is my kind of record!
Your fearless leader of all this is Binky Philips, who manages to sound fresh while still serving up his best "Live At Leeds" Pete Townshend and "Anderson Theatre" Jimmy Page on his guitar. This album is relentless with its earworms. One listen to "Goodbye To All That," and you're done. You'll be singing the refrain for hours. The very best thing about "Established 1972 NYC" is that it evokes the best parts of your heroes without an obvious reveal. The ten original songs are utterly and completely Planets songs and I am finding it hard to choose a favorite, though the groove laid out by Bobby Siems on the album closer, "Wear Out The Grooves" is to die for. (What can I say? I'm a drummer. I hear drums first!)
Give "Established 1972 NYC" a spin. It's the length of a TV sitcom and a hell of a lot more fun.
It's available at all of your favorite places to buy, stream or steal music.
I love this record!
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
8 comments:
I am LOVING this sooo much! Thanks!
blistering good.
Buying this. Its fantastic. Thanks for turning us onto it. Next question is, what else is out there by Binky Philips? Looks like 6 demos and a five song live EP, vinyl only. Anything else?
Sounds good. I'll check out the full release in the near future!
Binky Philips is an NYC treasure! He used to write a "column" for the Huffington Post... great stuff about growing up rock n roll in New York. Essential reading. I wish he still did it, but I believe it's all still archived:
https://www.huffpost.com/author/binky-philips?guccounter=1
Back in the '80s I used to share a rehearsal room with him in the Music Building up by the Port Authority.
Man, is this good. I hear a little NY Dolls in there also. The last Flamin Groovies, Fantastic Planet, also has some great rock tunes.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HGNhEfZCoHk
Binky worked at a short-lived (1990-ish) cd shop a couple doors down from the Continental Divide, around the corner from St Mark's Place. He was fun to talk to and made some good recommendations.
Post a Comment