There is a lot going on in the world of former Cramps, Gun Club and Bad Seed member Kid Congo Powers, including two albums and a book.
The Wolfmanhattan Project, Kid Congo's supergroup trio with The Gories' Mick Collins and former Sonic Youth drummer Bob Bert, have announced their second album, Summer Forever and Ever, which will be out digitally on October 14 via In the Red. The album was recorded by Mark C of Live Skull and the band cite The Andrea True Connection, Captain Beefheart, the Count Five, and Eurythmics as influences on this one.
“My biggest influence is beatnik poetry,” says Powers. “Bob comes from the no wave scene. Mick is an incredible source of all kinds of very strange musical information. We all have library cards and we read. We listen to all kinds of things. Our thing is garage rock, and to be a good garage rocker you have to be informed by many other things, or else you’re just nostalgia." He adds, “It’s fun, it’s playful, it’s kooky and arty and rock ’n’ roll. It contains all those parts of us. We all share in the lyrics and the vocals, so it’s very much a mind-meld and a group effort.”
You can check out "Silky Narcotic," which is catchy but decidedly weird art garage, as well as album art and the tracklist, below.
Also out on October 14 via In the Red is Kid Congo Powers & the Near Death Experience's Live in St. Kilda which was recorded at St Kilda, Australia's MEMO Music Hall in November 2019. The all-Australian band includes Harry Howard, brother of the late Rowland S. Howard (The Birthday Party, Crime & The City Solution), and The Moodists' Dave Graney. You can listen to their take on his old band The Cramps' "Garbage Man" below.
Meanwhile, Kid Congo's memoir, Some New Kind of Kick, is out October 18 via Hachette Books. From the back of the book: "Some New Kind of Kick begins as an intimate coming of age tale, of a young, queer, Chicano kid, growing up in a suburb east of East LA, in the mid-‘70s, exploring his sexual identity through glam rock. When a devastating personal tragedy crushes his teenage dreams, he finds solace and community through fandom, as founder (‘The Prez’) of the Ramones West Coast fan club, and immerses himself in the delinquent chaos of the early LA punk scene."
Kid Congo will be on a book tour this fall starting in Brooklyn on October 18 at Powerhouse Arena for a reading and Q&A moderated by Lydia Lunch. There are also dates in L.A., Portland, Seattle and more.
Kid Congo & The Pink Monkey Birds also have live dates on the West Coast this fall. All are listed below.
attachment-wolfmanhattan project Summer Forever and Ever
Summer Forever and Ever 1. Like Andrea True 2. Countdown Love 3. Summer Forever 4. Respectable Pigs 5. Hypnotize Too 6. H Hour 7. Silky Narcotic 8. Very Next Song 9. New In The World 10. Shaman's Blues
kid congo Live in St. Kilda
Live in St. Kilda 1. LSDC 2. I Found A Peanut 3. Black Santa 4. La Llorona 5. The Only One 6. Sophisticated Boom Boom 7. New Kind Of Kick 8. Diamonds, Fur Coat, Champagne 9. She Doesn't Like It 10. Sex Beat 11. When He Finds Out 12. Garbage Man
Kid Congo & The Pink Monkeybirds live shows: October 6 - Yucca Valley, CA Awe Bar October 8 - Oakland, CA Halloween Meltdown October 9 - Los Angeles, CA Zebulon November 10 - Portland, OR Mississippi Studios November 11 & 12 - Seattle, WA Freakout Festival
kid congo Some New Kind of Kick
Kid Congo - Some New Kind Of Kick - Book Tour dates: October 18 - Brooklyn, NY Powerhouse Arena October 19 - Los Angeles, CA Stories Books & Cafe October 21 - San Francisco, CA Green Apple Books October 22 - Las Vegas, NV Writer's Block November 5 - Los Angeles, CA LA Review Of Books @ The River
