THE HAZEY JANES "Hotel Radio"
HOODOO GURUS "Stoneage Romeos"
HOODOO GURUS "Mars Needs Guitars"

Is anyone still debating what is "alternative" music or not? It's a pretty banal conversation to have, but one thing I've noticed is, the word "indie" has taken the place of "alternative". As long as you slap "indie" on there, you're different. Pretty soon, real unknown underground stuff will be called "Corprock", short for corporate rock, because, of course, corporate will have its meaning twisted as well. Dude, we're so corprock!

OK, in the 80s, I ingested anything that anyone deemed "alternative". If WHTG or WPRB played it, I bought it. Looking back, I can see how certain things were not destined to be "alternative", they just were. Screaming Blue Messiahs? Oh yuck. Enough old man ramblings (I haven't had any coffee yet), let us get to the good NEW music, shall we?

The Hazey Janes are from Scotland. They are young and cute. Their record "Hotel Radio" is a little schizophrenic, bobbing and weaving from Teenage Fanclub to Flying Burrito Brothers to The Primitives. Overall, it's very charming. My guess is they slapped on some early singles at the end of this and that's what gives it that wanderlust. No surprise, my favorites are tracks 9 & 10, here for you to enjoy.

The Hazey Janes play Union Hall in Brooklyn on March 9 and at SXSW at Maggie Mae's rooftop at 11:00pm on March 17.

Getting back to "alternative", I loved the Hoodoo Gurus. Still do really. I'm floored that they are playing at SXSW. I saw them on the Blow Your Cool tour with Redd Kross opening and the Bangles came out and sung "Good Times" with them. These Australians are not alternative, they have a twang and a rock that anyone could easily dig. The Hazey Janes are similar except they don't seem to be dirty hippies.

Bust out your sandalwood, the Hoodoo Gurus play the Blender Bar/Ritz at SXSW on March 16 at 11:40pm. Below you will find my absolute two favorite Gurus tracks. There's a cute video for "My Girl" on YouTube, too.