A new issue of Ugly Things is a beautiful thing. Number 31 of Mike Stax’s encyclopedic garage-rock periodical is just out, 200 pages of gut-churning historical curiosities and fanatical opinions.
Never cared much for Hendrix (for me, what punks were really fighting against were long guitar solos), but even I can’t resist an article (by Tim Earnshaw) entitled “Dead Hendrix and the Last of the Hipster Mohicans—The Jimi Hendrix Albums They Don’t Want You to Hear.”
It’s actually unusual to see a story about such a well-documented rock star as Hendrix in Ugly Things. This is a magazine that hides in the dark corners, discovering shortlived bands, tangential projects of the later-famous, and bands which were so hugely derivative of the trends of their time that they alchemized into originality. Ugly Things readers know where to get their Beatles stories; they want stories about bands they’ve never heard of. (Even the most intent student of ‘60s music will be stymied by many of the references in a typical issue of Ugly Things.) The mag does have some mainstream heroes—The Pretty Things, for starters, which gave the publications its name and aim; Iggy & The Stooges also pop up with regularity (in this issue it’s “Now I Want to Be Your Dogumentarian—An Interview with Robert Matheu”), as do Them. But the lesser-knowns are the real show: The Coba Seas, The Sentinals, The Missing Lynx.
Why write about the Rolling Stones when you can exclusively interview Stones hanger-on Prince Stash Klossowski de Rola? Remember Suzi Quatro/ Well, Ugly Things interviews her sister Patti, about the tough girl they both were in, The Pleasure Seekers. Ugly Things singlehandedly rescues unsung bands from needless obscurity. The Masters Apprentices were a popular Australian band of the late ‘60s/early ‘70s. UT concludes a three-part, eight-chapter, dozens-of-pages series on the group in this issue. Another beneficiary of a multi-issue profile is Ollie Halsall, who ghosted Eric Idle’s bass lines in The Rutles. Still-active Stiff Records icon Wreckless Eric, misconstrued by many as a one-hit wonder, earns a comprehensive overview of his entire recorded canon.
Unlike a lot of scenes, Ugly Things shows respect for other obsessives doing similar work. In this issue, there’s a celebration of 25th anniversary of the garage-digging label Norton Records, which has reissued scads of ‘60s relics. Their review section tips hats to scores of avid reissuers, publishers and rock historians.
The Ugly Things empire includes a website, a monthly radio show (broadcast on www.realpunkradio.com, then retained as a podcast) and a lively blog forum, but that thick thumping magazine is the centerpiece. It’s only published once or twice a year tops, but I keep each issue at the bedside until the next one comes along, and it takes that long for me to really feel I’ve absorbed all that wondrous garage noise.