Not much, but a little

Once again, this week we have just a very brief post.

The next post will be more exciting though. We were lucky enough to hook up with Vern Shank of the Cherry Drops, maybe the best purveyors of bubblegum rock in the biz today. If bubblegum is not your thing, they do more edgy rock and roll too. Expect that post March 13.

We have also been in contact with a major-league garage rock band from Ireland. More on that as soon as we can.

We've also contacted some other fantastic artists who have indicated a willingness to talk to us, but just haven't committed to a specific time. We'll keep at it, though, because these are some truly awesome people whose music is very well-known to anybody who listens to the kinds of music we feature on this blog.

A couple of other odds and ends: As many of you are no doubt aware, a new Iggy Pop album, Post Pop Depression, is due March 18. You can hear at least three songs from the album by checking the usual places you find streaming music.

“Gardenia” has already garnered some airplay, and if this song is any indication, this well could be one of Iggy’s best. Collaborating with Iggy Pop on the new album is Josh Homme of Queens of the Stone Age, and the guitars in  “Gardenia” bear that same trippy vibe you might expect from Homme.

Add to that the dark lyrics and melancholic tones from Iggy’s voice, and you have the makings of a proto-punk masterpiece. Certainly not as raucous as some of Iggy’s best, but the brooding moods make this music far from cuddly.

The two other readily available songs (some of you probably know where to find the whole album), “Sunday” and “Break Into Your Heart,” though textured and tempoed differently, have that very same vibe.

We’re really late on this, but Z.Z. Top guitarist Billy Gibbons has also released a solo album, Perfectamundo. Of course, Gibbons first found notoriety back in the late ‘60s with the Texas band Moving Sidewalks, which if you listen, sort of presaged Z.Z. Top,

The new album’s sound has very little in common with the likes of  Tres Hombres or Eliminator. Instead, the album is heavy on Afro-Cuban – far from surprising, seeing how almost every Z.Z. Top album had un nombre en Espanol --  beats and a much lighter touch melodically. But, when Gibbons – a bona fide guitar hero – rips into a solo, there’s no mistaking who’s playing.

There are also some garage rock covers that get the Benny Moré treatment, including “Watching Chicks on Dowling Street” and Slim Harpo’s “Got Love If You Want It.”

Overall, it is very much a worthwhile effort, at least to our ears.