Licorice Tree Records -- Shakin' in my Boots

Getta load of the Texans shootin' their mouths' off on this shimmy disc! Gimme some of this!

THE STEPBROTHERS (Austin) Capital City's purveyors of true rock and roll. Smoothly blended grit, soul, talent, sweat, and cool. American music to swagger to. The Stepbrothers' full length release coming out on Licorice Tree Records soon!

THE UGLY BEATS (Austin) Should have been playing dance parties in '65, but you would have missed em today! Beautifully crafted garage beat, swirly organ music with harmonies from heaven...

THE HOTRAILS (Dallas) What's hookier- vocals or geetar with these characters? Lots of sonic flare with early pop garage rhythms in one 3 piece pill. Pop it.

THE DRAGSTRIP BROS (Houston) From the smoldering embers of The Magnetic IV, The Dragstrip Bros are born. Surf's up and the reverb is on high. Picture the sleek, sneaky movements of "The Assassin" in this spy-surf classic ripper!

THE CRACK PIPES (Austin) With Screamin Jay Hawkins vocal stylin's, and bluesrocksoul instrumentation, The Crack Pipes never miss. This keys-heavy hit is no exception... yeah, yeah.

THE GOLDEN BOYS (San Antonio/Austin) Hardest in the lineup to explain, but this broken noisy mess of sound, layered with timeless lyrics, will bring a smile. Building chaos erupts by the end of this screechy masterpiece, that'll have you play 'er again & again.

JESUS CHRIST SUPERFLY (Austin) These characters have been around for over ten years spreading the gospel of high octane rock and roll. We say, "Thank ya Jesus!"

THE HARD FEELINGS (Austin) John Schooley, Trey Robles and Mike Poppit understand rock and roll better than most everyone else. Cheap-beer-fueled-slide-guitar rock and roll recorded live in a Belgian prison while touring with Wayne Kramer. Almost seems too perfect!

THE SUNDAY DRUNKS (Dallas) Ex-Mullens members together in the same band equals another barn-burning band! Faces, Heartbreakers, Motorhead, Kinks and the Who had an ugly baby, and named it The Sunday Drunks! 2nd full length on Deadbeat out now!

THE RAVENS (Dallas) Organ pumping beat, incessant guitar riffs, and a little too dark in the lyrics to let your daughters go watch them play...

THE DEADITES (Austin/Dallas) With their Frankenstein-style of 60's garage, punk rock, and rhythm & bruise, The Deadites keep the girls shaking their asses and the dudes pumping their fists!

McLEMORE AVENUE (Austin) Named after the street in Memphis where Stax Studios once stood, this instro party band can tackle soul, jazz, surf, R&B & lounge with the Hammond B-3 doing the majority of the work! Wail into the future with this space surf smash!

00 SPIES (Austin) Pour several drinks into this punk/drunk/rock machine, turn 'er on, and you'll get a perfomance of a lifetime that the Oblivians would cheer for! The song on this comp is a catchy insta-classic!

WHITE HEAT (San Antonio) With rough upbringings including childhood abductions and being left in dumpsters for dead, somehow these boys found each other, beer, and their love for rock just up the street from the Alamo.

THE KA-NIVES (Houston) Is this band broken? Is it supposed to sound this way? Can something so bad be good? Oh you betcha! The Ka-Nives are like an ape with sneakers on! Catch a 12 minute set in a Texas town near you- if you can!

Reviews!

No Brains Zine
2nd release of new Texas garage punk label. This time a compilation with Texas bands. Lot of cool (to me) unknown garage punk bands. Ugly Beats really kick ass, cool primitive fuzz + organ Back From The Grave garage punk - their cover of "I'll Come Again" (The Legends) is super - I hope to hear more from them; Hotrails - trash garage punk trio with loud fuzz, also fantastic; The Dragstrip Bros cool trash instrumental surf with primitive 50s r'n'r influence; The Crack Pipes neo 60s garage psych with organ; The Sunday Drunks mind blowing 77 style glam punk'n'roll - wooooow - I love "Hard Drinkin Woman" (check out their album on Dead Beat Records - fantastic!!!); Mclemore Avenue super super cool and groovy Hammond spacey surf lounge music; White Heat fast straight punk, but 1st class - love this song; The Ka-Nives I really miss Jewws so much and I'm glad The Ka-Nives are here - "Lets' Dance" sounds just perfect. There are more good tracks on this comp, but go buy the CD and you'll hear them. Licorice Tree Records is definitely one of the greatest labels at the moment.

Scram Magazine
V/A Shakin' In My Boots: A Texas Rock N' Roll Compilation CD (Licorice Tree)…

Brand new comp from a brand new label out of Texas–this baby goes crazy-beyond the Elevators and the Thaks, kids. Shakin' is a heady brew of rhythm n' booze, slop rock, organ scuzz, garage assault, plus a great outer space-laced surf instro that's worth the price of admission right there. Of course, with fifteen songs of raunch-rock there are bound to be a couple soundalikes, but when they sound like this, you can quit yer damn complaining. All in all, one xtra-fine house-party rocker if, you know, you're skipping town the next day and blowing off the security deposit. (Nathan Marsak)

Paniscus Review
V.A.: SHAKIN' IN MY BOOTS: A Texas Rock 'n Roll Compilation

With its retro party music abandon and often unconventional take on the tracks of the Sixties & Seventies, Shakin’ In My Boots could almost pass for a modern Southwest Pebbles. The round sounds of “I’ll Come Again” by The Ugly Beats, “Shut It Down” by The Stepbrothers, the Davie Allen drive of The Dragstrip Bros. “The Assassin,” The Crack Pipes’ organ-smoking “Rescue Party,” the frail threat of The Deadites’ “I Can’t Behave,” the spaced-out surf stylings of “A Toy Robot” by McLemore Avenue, and the JD fuzz of The Ka-Nives “Lets Dance” are loaded with psyche-glam R&R, and even more punk rockin’ numbers like “Twisted Up Inside” by Jesus Christ Superfly and The Sunday Drunks’ “Hard Drinkin’ Woman” aren’t too far removed from their roots. These and more pack this 15-song compilation with as many an organ grind and garage rattle you’d care to shake an ass at, and that’ll have you spinning bottles and shuffling heels in no time at all.

* * *

Time To Rock and Roll
Shakin' In My Boots – A Texas Rock N' Roll Compilation

Further proof that Texas is the current hot spot in a world other wise devoid of great rock n' roll music. Great compilation with good stuff from a bunch of bands that'll kick your ass and smile while doin it. Highlights:

The Stepbrothers – Mariconda's new gang of thugs make sounds that coulda been out of the Groovies session for Teenage Head…
The Ugly Beats – good organ driven garage rockin' psych. This cover of “the Legends” reminds me of the Mystic Eyes and the Vagrants.
The Dragstrip Bros. – Reverb drenched surfy trash rock.
The Ravens - Garage stomp in the same vein as the Lyres. Great organ and cool deep, throaty vocals.
The Deadites – Great snot-nosed lyrics. Sounds like a mix of a sped up sound of the Cramps or SCOTS and the lyrical and vocal moxie of the Stitches.
The Ka-Nives – lo-fi, rock n' roll, dig it. MG

New Sounds
Various Artists
Shakin' in my Boots: A Texas Rock 'n' Roll Compilation

This compilation explores the current state of garage rock in the great state of Texas. The collection opens it up with the barnburner "Shut it Down" by The Stepbrothers and then fires up the wayback machine. We end up in the '60s in the heat of the beat rock movement with "I'll Come Again" from The Ugly Beats. This slides nicely into the fuzzed-out "Down for the Count" from The Hotrails. From there we surf on the crime and spy wave with "The Assassin" from The Dragstrip Brothers. A tentative, understated organ groove that is just a bit funky is an excellent foundation for the cracked soul of "I Want You" by The Crack Pipes. Offering a primitive, deconstructed comment on the whole garage sound is the sonic cavemen in The Golden Boys (ex-Feast of Snakes and White Heat) with its song "I Want You". Part of the resurrection of Jesus Christ Superfly is the inclusion here of the punk rock anthem to holding it in: "Twisted up Inside". A broken blues with slide guitar shows up in "Half in the Morning", a live track from The Hard Feelings recorded at a Belgian prison. There is a good, swinging rhythm to "Hard Drinkin' Woman" by the ex-Mullens in The Sunday Drunks. Again back to the '60s with The Ravens ("Jealous Kind") and an especially good "I Can't Behave" from The Deadites. A Hammond organ goes into deep space orbit on "A Toy Robot" from McLemore Avenue. Tying it all together and perfectly echoing the sprit of this rowdy and rousing compilation is the simple but effective "Let's Dance" from The Ka-Nives (ex-Jewws). (4)

Ear Candy
Various Artists,"Shakin’ In My Boots: A Texas Rock N’ Roll Compilation" (Licorice Tree Records)

Licorice Tree Records is becoming one of my favorite labels. Two damn fine releases in one month. First with Thee Fine Lines killer debut full length release and now with this very cool garage rock compilation. “Shakin’ In My Boots” kicks things off with the Stepbrothers “Shut It Down”, a catchy little finger snapping slice of garage blues. Next up is the Ugly Beats with “I’ll Come Again” which is pure Nuggets perfection. The Dragstrip Bros. serve up some killer surf with “The Assassin” and the Golden Boys reach a psychotic reaction frenzy with “I Want You”. Eleven of the fifteen bands featured on this compilation begin their name with “The” so you know its garage rock before you even stick it in the player. Licorice Tree hit the nail on the head with this one. Now my only problem is figuring out which bands full length release to get first.

Maximumrockandroll

Razorcake

Mohair Sweets
* VA: Shakin' In My Boots – A Texas Rock 'n' Roll Compilation (Licorice Tree) All kindsa rockin' goin' on in Texas. Lawdy, yes there is. Gnarly trash rockin' (Stepbrothers), garage (The Ugly Beats), bad-time instro (Dragstrip Bros.), primitivo noise (Golden Boys), messed up blues rock (Hard Feelings), stylish organ coolness (McLemore Avenue) and every damn thing in between! You go Texas! (15 tracks. 40:50 playing time.)

Shindig Magazine
VARIOUS ARTISTS
Shakin' In My Boots: A Texas Rock'n'Roll Compilation (Licorice Tree; CD)
     To stand out from the crowd of compilations of obscure artists the first thing you need is a good cover which suits the contents. Two pairs of long legs in white leather boots tells me this is going to be a comp in a Wild Weekend/Las Vegas Grind vein! The legs belong to the Boom Chica Boom Go-Go girls, and the comp is from Licorice Tree, a new label from Austin, Texas. All of the bands are new to me, but then, I live a long way from Texas.
     The compilers have put some thought into the running order, rather than just throwing it all together, so that you get variety rather than 15 doses of the same thing. I really enjoyed McLemore Avenue's spacey organ instro, which gets bonus points for the cool title ‘A Toy Robot'! Also of note is The Ugly Beats authentic garage beat version of The Legends' ‘I'll Come Again'. The final song, The Ka-Nives ‘Let's Dance' has all the feral frenzy of The Gories at their best.
     My problem is that some of the other songs would work in the context of a bar or a small club, but they aren't strong enough or inventive enough to cut it on the CD player – and the punky songs I don't like at all. My definition of rock'n'roll is that it should put a big happy grin on your face. Songs with the emphasis on punk not garage don't do this; they just make a lot of fuss and noise without a boss tune, the vocals are horrible macho shouting and the Boom Chica Boom girls sure can't dance to them!
Phil Suggitt