The College Crowd Digs Me

"The Cabin At The End Of The World" by Paul Tremblay (2018) Hardcover, 272 pages NO SPOILERS: This “cabin in the woods" horror tale involves an adopted girl and her two dads who spend a weekend at a cabin far removed from cell phones and FaceTime.  While the little girl plays outside, a nice stranger comes along.  This encounter quickly turns into a home invasion.  Up to this point, the story seems very familiar.  But then the uninvited guests throw their strange and frightening agenda into the family's lap and suddenly the story becomes a very different potato.  And it could have really been intense, but for all the flashbacks.  FBs of the two dads.  FBs of the adoption.  Just a lot of filler.  Better to take the cabin invasion for a real thunder ride, but Paul Tremblay never quite puts the pedal to the metal. Also, the ending is way too ambiguous and thus, unsatisfying.  You can get away with these types of shenanigans in a short story or novella, but for a novel,

  "Jake Jones" - Jake Jones (1971) There was never an actual  Jake Jones in the band.  Jake Jones was just a name they chose to call themselves.  Nonetheless, Jake Jones had a loyal underground following in the St. Louis area.  KSHE radio was an advocate for the band playing their music often.  Their self-titled debut album is mostly melodic and jamming rural country numbers that are okay, but a few tracks on this album have a proggier, more organ-driven flavor.  And it's these types of songs I wish they would have explored more.  This isn't a great album or a must-own, but overall I quite enjoyed it.  Both the softer and the meatier.  I don't think the " Jake Jones" album is rare or anything like that...but I sure don't see it very often. There's not a lot of information floating in the clouds about the band other than being from St. Louis and releasing two albums.  But member  Phil Jost went on to become the assistant to Producer/Engineer

"Funk Off (sic) 1966-1967" - Terry Knight and the Pack (1973)   Prior to Grand Funk Railroad... Don Brewer and Mark Farner were rocking the garage with Terry Knight and the Pack .   "Funk-Off (sic) 1966-1967" is a two-record gatefold compilation of most of the band's output and it's a solid spin.  Really good.  The album is filled with catchy garage rockers and folk-rockers.   Some with tasty fuzz burns and a few with some light psych dust.  The few cover songs the band tackle do no damage.  All are very well done and high bar.  Terry Knight and the Pack had only one charting single nationally... "I (Who Have Nothing)" ...a song obviously meant for pop radio ears, and is also included on this comp.  Terry Knight and the Pack released two studio albums before closing up shop.  Don Brewer and Mark Farner went on to form the classic thunder-shaking  Grand Funk Railroad and Terry Knight became the band's manager. Favorites are "Numbers&q

  " Every book is a new book if you haven't read it!  And so, let us begin. "They Thirst" by Robert R. McCammon (1981) "They Thirst" is not the scariest vampire novel you'll read from this heavily populated genre, but it does have fast legs that will carry you long into the night. (full review) "Custer" by Larry McMurtry (2012) A biography about Gen. George Armstrong Custer and the players and events leading up to the historic battle at Little Big Horn.  Reads quick and is perfect for readers who want to start with a light meal, rather than a full course.  McMurtry gives us a fast and fascinating read and it satisfied an itch I didn't even know I had. (full review) "The Snowman" by Jo Nesbo (2010) The story moves along quickly with plenty of plot twists and ducks to keep everything edgy.  And the author plays fair with the clues, which is always cool.  "The Snowman" was all good, but for a few of the Norwegian names

"Born To Be Wild" - Kim Fowley (1968) Kim Fowley offers up a cash-in album covering a few popular songs in a very organ-driven...soul-rock 60s flavor.  All are instrumentals and are much better than one might expect. (Word is that this album only took four hours to record.)  There's a little fuzz here and there...and occasional horns show their head and together with the organ give a pretty full and enjoyable listen.  The album tries to flirt with psych, but in vibe only.  Like when girls are dancing inside hanging cages and Joe Friday from Dragnet walks in.  The music is groovy, but nothing even close to dangerous.  In fact, this is probably Kim Fowley's most behaved record ever. Most already know Fowley as the infamous manager of The Runaways , but he also wrote many songs for a wide range of artists from Kiss to Kris Kristofferson.  Unfortunately, he became a legend in the Rock world for as many bad reasons as good.  Google him if you want to go down a rabbit ho

  "The Crystal Mansion" - Crystal Mansion (1972) Hailing from New Jersey, Crystal Mansion released their 2nd album and the music is all over the place.  There are songs with a soft, almost country-rock sound that are just...okay.  A bit of folk-rock.  And a couple of attempts at some prog songs that just never quite take off.  Nothing bad, but nothing memorable either.  It's only when the band takes a more funkier and groovier path that Crystal Mansion gets interesting.  This is where the cooler vibes set up shop...and what one might expect from a band just signed to the rockier Motown  Rare Earth label.   The album is sometimes labeled as being a bit psychedelic, but it's really not.  A little dusting at best.  But when Crystal Mansion gets their rock-funk on, the songs are quite enjoyable and worth an extra spin or two. The band's first album was in 1968 on Capitol Records, but it went nowhere.  Although they did have a charter with their pop-rock song ... &