The Invalids - Part II - Johnny K Took My Baby Away
Well, this is the first time i'm posting a band for the second time, but at least it's for something worthwhile. I received an email from Trevor pointing out that I missed this 7" in The Invalids discography in my previous post. The Invalids in fact have 3 7"'s and an album, not 2. A lot of times I go off strictly memory when writing this stuff and well, I forgot stuff. No biggie, as in addition to correcting the error, we have said 7" for your listening enjoyment. ...To put the icing on the cake they do a bitchin' Poison cover.
Before Dog the Bounty Hunter became one of Hawaii's most infamous icons there were The Power Pellets. I'm assuming they were named after the little yellow pixels that Pac Man eats when he's not running from ghosts but who knows. The Power Pellets sound like the kids next door that start a pop punk band after the guy at the record store turned them on to Screeching Weasel and Jawbreaker. This is not meant as an insult as they're lo-fi charm is one of the things that makes this record fun to listen to. Of course they do not go out of their way to avoid the topics of the day: girls, school, hanging out, etc. Enjoy.
Formed out of the ashes of the Ne'er Do Wells and with a passion for garage rock the Hi-Fives came on the scene in 1995. They have more hooks than a shower curtain and more class than a school teacher. Their unique brand of poppy garage pop/punk resonates joyfully to my deepest aural cavities. Jangly guitars usually distortion free, nasally but not too nasally vocals often dual harmonized and a sound that could have rivaled The Beatles ala 65. If they weren't associated with the East Bay Punk scene they could have easily been a favorite with the indie pop kids and power poppers.
In addition to the Ne'er Do Wells they also have had other incarnations such as Judy and The Loadies and Brents TV. I could have sworn that a member or two was in Sweet Baby (aka Sweet Baby Jesus) but I must be mistaken as I cant find that information anywhere!
The Hi Fives released a string of singles and albums ending with 1998's "Get Down" and have since disappeared. The last I heard is that some members are allegedly in a garage band called The Dukes of Hillsborrough but I may also be mistaken about that. Apparently, I don't know much about much.
