The Llano Idea

Roky Erickson is a singular and towering figure in the history of Texas rock. As part of Austin Based 13th Floor Elevators he was one of the pioneers of psychedelic music. In the 1966 The 13th Floor Elevators were beginning to gain recognition charting on Billboard with “You’re Gonna Miss Me” off The Psychedelic Sounds of The 13th Floor Elevators. Roky exudes musical talent; he has an amazing voice and seems to naturally produce music with little effort, and he seemed to be on his way to great things. Things took a wrong turn for Erickson as he became addicted to harder drugs, and it started to interfere with his music career. In 1969 he was arrested on drug charges; his lawyer got a successful insanity plea after which he spent several years in different mental institutions and received ineffective treatment. After his release in 1972 his mental state only worsened as he often went without proper treatment. He enjoyed some success during this period, scoring a hit with “Two Headed Dog,” but it was hardly comparable to his time with The 13th Floor Elevators. Through the almost 30 years that followed, Erickson lived in relative obscurity.  While many musicians noted his influence, he was pretty much unknown to the public. Read more…

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FINALLY PUNK (www.myspace.com/finallypunk ) are a four piece band that scream out minute songs and switch instruments intermittently to bring the next dose of awesomeness. Many have put this band in the riot grrl genre, but in an article in the Austin Chronicle, Veronica Ortuño, one member of Finally Punk, says

“I definitely believe that riot grrl is relevant to culture today … I think some people hear the term and get the wrong idea of what it stands for. It’s like an automatic notion that it’s “anti-males” or something. There are a lot of males who support the idea of “pro-female” as a form of expression. A lot of my personal influences are predominantly female musicians, but my idea for Finally Punk is to learn my instrument and have fun with my friends. If I had to put it any way, I see us more as an existential punk band fronted by women.”

The band have a new EP out on Ann Arbor’s M’Lady’s Records (mladysrecords.com) called HYPERTENSION. If you want, follow the link and check out plenty of other releases that these fine folks have put out including TAMARYN and MUTATING MELTDOWN (which actually features two members of Finally Punk).

They are scheduled to play the KVRXplosion 2009 Party March 19th with Vivian Girls, Total Abuse, AIDS Wolf + plenty more during the SXSW festivities. If I could make one wish with the Make A Wish Foundation, I would want Finally Punk to bring their “twelve hits of acid, ice sk8rs, m.a.s.h., gg allin singing to a baby” influenced music out to Lubbock. Until then enjoy the videos!

-Snuffy

Finally Punk Vid 1

Finally Punk Vid 2

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