The Screws

The Screws are perhaps the punkest of all the Mick Collins projects. While retaining the blues/garage/soul/R&B influences he's known for, the Screws have a harsher and more aggressive sound.
Back in 1997, the Red Aunts (then on Epitaph) went to Detroit to record Ghetto Blaster with Mick Collins as their producer. As a lark, the Aunts decided to have Collins record a duet with vocalist/guitarist Terri Wahl, planting the idea for the Screws into their respective heads. Collins and Wahl called upon Dan Brown and Marty Moore, a pre-fab rhythm section, who they knew from their work with '68 Comeback and Royal Trux. The Screws have remained primarily a side project, although they have toured to places as far away as Japan. In the Red released Hate Filled Classics in 1999 and their follow-up, Shake Your Monkey, in 2001.

~ Alexandra Zorn, All Music Guide

Hate-Filled Classics (1999)

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Shake Your Monkey (2001)

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Blacktop

Blacktop was the first post-Gories project for Mick Collins. While similar to the legendary garage punk three-piece, Blacktop is a clear progression, in terms of musicianship and songwriting skill, for Collins and is also the beginning of his movement towards noisier material. The band's sound was fuller and more sophisticated, due in no small part to the addition of a bass line and the songwriting input of Darin Lin Wood (Fireworks, '68 Comeback) and Alex Cuervo. While still drawing from a wealth of blues, soul, and mod influences, Blacktop crossed into seemingly new territory, even going so far as to cover Captain Beefheart's "Here I Am, I Always Am." I Got a Baaad Feeling About This, their first album, was recorded on an eight track at a friend's house in Dallas and was released in 1995. Half of the album's tracks, and several other unreleased ones, were assembled and released in Australia as Up All Night. As with all of Collins' other projects, Blacktop released several 7" singles throughout it's brief career. The band never made it back into the studio, although Collins and Cuervo went on to form King Sound Quartet with Tim Kerr.

~ Alex Zorn, All Music Guide

Up All Night (1994)

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We Desist! EP (1997)

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I Got a Baaad Feelin' About This - The Complete Recordings (2003)

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The Gories

The emergence of the Gories heralded a new Golden Age of Detroit rock beginning in the late '80s; a renaissance of noise and rustbelt rock which lasts through to today. Formed in 1986 by three Detroit natives, none of whom previously knew how to play an instrument -- Mick Collins, Margaret Ann O'Neill (Peg), and Dan Kroha -- they took their name from a band of the same name which appeared in the "Gidget" series of the late '50s/early '60s. Comprised of two guitarists and a drummer (i.e. no bass), the Gories concocted a primal, raw yet soulful blend of garage punk, culling a wealth of inspiration and cover material from Bo Diddley, Howlin' Wolf, and John Lee Hooker. The three-piece also paid homage to the Keggs and Nick and the Jaguars, two other bass-less bands from Detroit. The Gories began their recorded career in 1987 with two tracks on the Wanghead With Lips compilation It Came From the Garage, Vol. II, the same compilation which featured Nine Pound Hammer (who would go on to become Nashville Pussy). Len Puch, the owner of Wanghead, recorded and released their first album, House Rockin', in 1989. According to legend, these first Gories recordings were executed in a tin shack. For their second album, Alex Chilton of Big Star joined them as producer, recording I Know You Fine, But How You Doin' for the French label New Rose. Throughout this entire period, the band continued to release various 7" singles, including a cover of Spinal Tap's "Give Me Some Money" for the Sub Pop Singles Club. In 1992, Crypt released Outta Here, their last album, and then re-released both House Rockin' and I Know You Fine in 1994. Since the demise of the Gories, Mick Collins has continued to perform in Blacktop, King Sound Quartet, the Screws, the Dirtbombs, and has contributed to Andre Williams' Silky and The Black Godfather and Speedball Baby's Uptight. Dan Kroha spent some time in Rocket 455, but is primarily known for being one third of another Detroit bass-free rock band, the Demolition Doll-rods. Peg O'Neill recorded a few tracks with '68 Comeback and is in the Darkest Hours from New Orleans.

~ Alex Zorn, All Music Guide

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House Rockin' (1988)

1. Feral
2. I Think I've Had It
3. Charm Bag
4. Boogie Chillun
5. I'll Go
6. Hidden Charms
7. Sovereignity Flight
8. You'll Be Mine
9. You Done Got Wrong
10. Sister Ann
11. Give Me Love
12. Let Me Hear the Choir Song

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I Know You Fine, But How You Doin'? (1990)

1. Hey Hey We're the Gories
2. You Make It Move
3. Detroit Breakdown
4. Stranded
5. Goin' to the River
6. Early in the Morning
7. Thunderbird Esq
8. Nitroglycerine
9. Let Your Daddy Ride
10. Six Cold Feet
11. Smashed
12. Ghostrider
13. Chick-Inn
14. View from Here

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Outta Here (1992)

1. He's Doin' It
2. There But for the Grace of God Go I
3. Outta Here
4. Can't Catch Up With You
5. Crawdad
6. Omologato
7. I Got Eyes for You
8. Telepathic
9. Trick Bag
10. Drowning
11. Rat's Nest
12. 48 Hours
13. Great Big Idol with Golden Head
14. Ichiban

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bitrate: 192kbps
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