Jonny Cat Collectibles

Found some old Jonny Cats artwork while visiting NM last week. Thought I'd share them. Here's some music to go along with the images.

Thanksgiving - giving music

 Happy Thanksgiving all. Just thought I would post the download links to all the music available here on Pen & Mallet. Not sure how many hours worth it ends up, but it would take ya all Thanksgiving day to listen to it, at least.

 ambient; experimental; noise; drone; improv; dream pop, warped, psych-folk, etc. 
ABOOMBONG: anaphora

ABOOMBONG: atrophic

ABOOMBONG: admixture

ABOOMBONG: amnemonic 
ABOOMBONG: asynchronic 
ABOOMBONG: aboombong 
ABOOMBONG (w/ dustdevil & crow): Taking Blue Mountain by Stages 
dustdevil & crow: accidental music

dustdevil & crow : .​.​.​and chuang tzu dreamed that he was me
dustdevil & crow: while speaking softly you can hear the insects sing 
Boom Dispenser: A Chronic Groove Feeder 
AZWARM: shelter 
AZWARM: a morning's work 
¡para!helion: Midaq Alley 
¡para!helion: 3 Miles From Mecca
¡para!helion: >3
¡para!helion: When Technology Fails
¡para!helion: Harpers Bizarre Film Festival
Icastico: The-ambient-Sundae bar 
Icastico: Étude for Six Mirrored Hands
Blotter: Once and Again - Minus Four - in Stereono 
Blotter: Sludge the Butcher
Blotter: Songs for Mommy
Psychic Enemies Network: Valis (with bonus tracks)
Psychic Enemies Network: P.E.N. (with bonus tracks)

Punk; No-wave; Post-punk, etc.
Waltz Bop Shop: All My Idears are Flawed in Sum Way + Quartet
Waltz Bop Shop: Name Dropping at Angela's and Melting
Waltz Bop Shop: All my idears are played live today
Waltz Bop Shop: A whisper in the airwaves
The Jonny Cats: Last- Ode to Sergio
The Johnny Cats: Burns Rubber 7"
Swayback: Outer Space Tonight
AOS: Rip It up! + live tracks
AOS: live and Raw in the Pit also (some cleaned-up live tracks)
DJJ: Throw it out there, not away

Shoegaze; Rock; etc.
Choke: Choke (e.p.)
Choke: Hard to Swallow
Choke: Gauze/Total Reverence
[redacted]: left blank 
Super Naam: two rough cuts

 Most of these links will allow you to download in FLAC, MP3 and Ogg Vorbis. Let me know if you have a request for a FLAC/WAV version of any of the other MP3 only files.

Pre-Jonny Cats: The Drones

Dave Chavez (RIP), the solid and heavy anchor for The Jonny Cats was in The Drones in the late 1980's. Here is a video slideshow of one of their tunes. There will be a memorial concert for Dave in Las Cruces next month at Hurricane Alley on the 17th.

Banksy Cat in Tokyo

The Jonny Cats bandcamp page now has the whole catalog - so you can make your own Cat Box set.

The Jonny Cats: S.B.C.P.M.F.

Recently uncovered masters from The Jonny Cats. These songs were released in very limited edition cassettes back in 1994. The Burrrns Rubber 7" was taken from these sessions. Hearing them now, in better fidelity, after over 15 years; they seem to have aged like fine whisky. Rumor has it that Kenta and Jon (along with High Iron) are playing these tunes again. Recordist: Ryan Martino. Also available on on bandcamp.

High Iron - Tiger Blood

Jonny Cats Kenta and Jon are in a great new band, High Iron. Kenta just posted a new track over at soundcloud. Check it out.



While you are there, you can also check out the aboombong page. Along with admixture,(also available on bandcamp) there are some tracks aboombong has contributed to the disquiet junto project. Have been having fun with these. If you are a musician both the junto and admixture are looking for your participation. Don't be shy.

teenage wearwolves- live in Santa Fe

A couple of videos featuring Kenta, from The Jonny Cats. These were recorded recently at El Corazon in Santa Fe, NM. Enjoy.

Teenage Werewolves at Corazon #2 from Santa Fe Pulse on Vimeo.

Teenage Werewolves at Corazon from Santa Fe Pulse on Vimeo.

Don't forget you can support our work here at Pen & Mallet by purchasing something from aboombong , psychic enemies network, or azwarm, (name your own price) or making a donation via a "donate" button here at Pen & Mallet.

Roots: Eric Hisaw

When I was a kid I spent many a summer on my grandfather's cattle ranch in Oklahoma. One summer when I was about 12 or 13 I remember going to a farm auction and there being a western swing trio tucked in the corner of the large metal barn beside a large combine while neighbors and strangers stoically examined the detritus of a family's crumbling business, looking for a deal. The strange combination of melancholy and perseverance that permeated the scene and the music stuck with me and changed my perspective on western music, which I had not really had much use for up to that point. As an adult I have been in several bands that played some variant of western-tinged music, the most successful being cowpunkers The Jonny Cats. Today's featured Friend of the Show artist, Eric Hisaw, is the man from the circle of Jonny Cat friends who, to my mind, most influenced The Jonny Cats' particular take on American roots music. He's the real deal...a true American troubadour with a deep sense of the musical tradition that permeates the Southwestern United States. He's now active on the very vital music scene in his adopted home of Austin Texas. You can check out a selection of his songs over at reverbnation.








You can, of course, hear/download The Jonny Cats at the internet archive.


In aboombong news: The new album is sequenced, and with some artwork and a few final touches should be available soon. Stay tuned. Also, shout out to The Light That Failed who has featured songs from asynchronic and aboombong along side a host of other cool underground music.

Serving up FLAC all day

As promised, lossless FLAC versions of recordings posted here at Pen & Mallet.

ABOOMBONG: aboombong
Waltz Bop Shop: All My Idears are Flawed in Sum Way + Quartet
Waltz Bop Shop: Name Dropping at Angela's and Melting
Choke: Choke (e.p.)
Choke: Hard to Swallow
Choke: (video) Live AIDS benefit Show
The Jonny Cats: Last- Ode to Sergio
Swayback: Outer Space Tonight
AOS: Rip It up! + live tracks
Psychic Enemies Network: Valis (with bonus tracks)

These links will, of course, also allow you to download in MP3 and Ogg Vorbis. Let me know if you have a request for a FLAC version of any of the other files already posted.

The Jonny Cats' Last: Ode to Sergio

Today we have the final album by The Jonny Cats. It was recorded in the waning days of the cowboy lounge just as the band's dedication to all things self-destructive began to take over and tore the band apart. Copies of the album have circulated hand-to-hand among friends of the band, but it has never had an official release. To my ears this is a more distinctive album than Burrrns Rubber with a clear connection to traditions in American roots music that recognizes punk rock's place as roots music. So, grab your best girl or guy, hop in the convertible Caddy, turn this one up loud, and hit the road...but be sure to hold on to your hat.

Record: Last - Ode to Sergio (FLAC, Ogg Vorbis, MP3)
Style: surfbeatcowpunkmutherfucker, Americana
Recorded in 1995, never released.


Tracklist:
1) Ode to Sergio
2) Bring Down the Bull
3) Parched
4) Johnny T's O.D.
5) Hellfire and Damnation
6) Fix Up My Tears
7) Face Down
8) Mi Vida es a Toda Madre
9) Creepin' Man

Enjoy.
Update: Now officially endorsed by the great PunksOnPostcards blog

The Jonny Cats burn rubber on a punk rock 7 inch

By request we have what will be the only vinyl posted here.

The second release by The Jonny Cats was this punk rock 7 inch. These sold out quickly, but if you are in Albuquerque, Dave over at Charley's Records & Tapes (7602 Menaul Blvd NE Albuquerque NM 87110, (505) 296-3685) tells me he has a few tucked away.

The Jonny Cats were:
Kenta Henmi - lead guitar
Dave Chavez - bass
Jonny Jarden - vocals, nudity
Jonny Reed - guitar
Johnny T- drum kit

Record: Burrrns Rubber
Style: surfbeatcowpunkmutherfucker
Released in 1994 on 7" vinyl (500 copies).
33 &1/3rd RPM
American Low Fidelity Recordings
Cover art by J.B. Jones (R.I.P.)

Download

Track list (player plays all tracks):
1) Pinky Black
2) Comfort
3) White Trash
4) Whiskey Woman

Stupid trivia...rumor has it that this poster was seen hanging on the wall at the Rock-n-Roll Hall of Fame.

Stay tuned for A.O.S., more Waltz Bop Shop, the unreleased Jonny Cats full-length, more experimental soundscapes, the genius of Joe Brown, and whatever else I can dig up.

Enjoy

covers: Waltz Bop Shop & Jonny Cats

Playing covers of other people's songs has never been a big part of any of the bands I have been in over the years. Today's post contains a couple of exceptions to that rule.

Up first is a cover of the T-Rex classic Liquid Gang performed by Waltz Bop Shop and recorded at KUNM. Waltz Bop Shop was a trio (and later a quartet) and was the longest lived project I have been involved in. Spanning most of the 90's Waltz Bop Shop played proto-math-rock and fractured jazz with a decidedly quirky mix of pop and experimental sensibilities.

Track: Liquid Gang
(from the cassette: All my idears are flawed in sum way)
Players:
Keif Henley - guitar
Rodney Cupp, ph.d. - bass, vocals, piano intro
me- drum kit

Get it here (@192)

Up next is a cover of Gun Club's Sex Beat by the infamous Jonny Cats. The Jonny Cats tore through the Albuquerque scene alongside bands like The Drags in the mid-90's playing surf-beat-cow-punk-mutherfucker. The Jonny Cats would have been household names if it weren't for a focused dedication to all of the most self-destructive aspects of the rock-n-roll life style. This track was recorded for a compilation cd that never happened.

Track: Sex Beat (unreleased)
The Jonny Cats were:
Kenta Henmi - lead guitar (now in The Violenta)
Dave Chavez - bass
Jonny Jarden - vocals, nudity
Jonny Reed - guitar
Johnny T- drum kit

Get it here (@ 192)

More tunes from both bands will follow.