Shakin' Street by The Sick Rose

Finally released on Cd an italian garage cult band from the 80s!
That's their 2nd album for this great combo from Turin.
Along with that a double 7" released two years before and called 'Double Shot'!

Way back in 1989, when this album was released, originally on Claudio Sorge's Electric Eye label,the Italian and the international underground r'n'r scene was evolving very fast.
A strong wind from the USA was bringing harder and more aggressive rock and roll sounds, that within a few years will develop into a phenomenon that today is known as grunge.

At this point of their career also the Sick Rose was moving to a much more guitar oriented sound, partly abandoning the original garage-punk with folk and psychedelic influences of their beginning (the legendary 7" Get Along Girl! and the seminal debut album Faces), getting closer to the classic American rock'n'roll bands like MC5, The Real Kids and The Flamin' Groovies.

Besides the natural evolution of the band, a further contribution to the style change was given by a line-up turnover that saw the replacement of the farfisa organ player Rinaldo Doro by a second guitarist Jacopo Arrobbio, the group's former roadie.
With this new line-up - Luca Re (vocals), Diego Mese and Jacopo Arrobio (guitars), Maurizio Campisi (bass) and Dante Garimanno (drums) - the Sick Rose recorded Shaking Street.

An explosive album, with an absolute balance among original songs (Little Girlie Pearl, She's Got, Like The Other Kids, A Kiss Is Not Enough) and three perfect cover versions: the title-track stolen from the MC5 repertoire, Raining Teardrops by the obscure mid Sixties Australian band Sir Barrington Power Pack and Up Is Up by The Real Kids from Boston.

Two years before the Sick Rose had released, again on Electric Eye, a double 7" that you can also find for the very first time on a CD.
"It was a "buy-one-get-two-records" deal, that is the explanation for the title "Double Shot", recalls Luca Re today.
Two originals and two covers: the opening track that displays a heavy, very much guitar oriented sound (It's Hard), followed by an outstanding synthesis of garage sound and Hammond beat (When The Sun Refuses To Shine) and two vibrant remakes, Nothin' by the Canadian Ugly Ducklings and My Time by the Golden Dawn from Texas.
The new CD is completed by two previously unreleased bonus tracks, two unreleased demo recordings from 1989 done on a small 4 track recorder: a fascinating acoustic version of Shaking Street and a cover of Yesterday Numbers by The Flamin' Groovies, at that time one of the band's major influences.

The second phase of the extraordinary artistic adventure of the Sick Rose can be found in its entirety here.
All you have to do now is to turn on your cd player and play these song at maximum volume!

Roberto Calabrò
author of "Eighties Colours. Garage, beat e psichedelia nell'Italia degli anni Ottanta"
Coniglio Press

Tracklist

1.	Little Girlie Pearl	2:58

2.	Like The Other Kids	4:20

3.	Shaking Street	2:51

4.	She's Got	2:16

5.	Raining Teardrops	3:01

6.	A Kiss Is Not Enough	2:58

7.	Don't Keep Me Out	3:27

8.	Little Sister	4:07

9.	Up Is Up	2:59

10.	Teenage Nightdrive	3:59

11.	It's Hard	3:42

12.	Nothing	2:30

13.	My Time	3:40

14.	When The Sun Refuses To Shine	3:37

15.	Shaking Street (Alt Version)	2:24

16.	Yesterday Numbers	3:37

Credits

released April 1, 2011

TRACK LISTENING:

1. Little Girlie Pearl
2. Like The Other Kids
3. Shaking Street
4. She's Got
5. Raining Teardrops
6. A Kiss Is Not Enough
7. Don't Keep Me Out
8. Little Sister
9. Up Is Up
10. Teenage Nightdrive
(taken from 'Shaking Street' Lp)

11. It's Hard
12. Nothing
13. My Time
14. When The Sun Refuses To Shine
(taken from 'the Double Shot' Ep)

15. Shaking Street
16. Yesterday Numbers
(Bonus tracks: recorded on a four track machine
down in the basement February 1989)

License