Paul Collins, Thirdborder in session this week

A big week at The Kennel as two of our favorite acts arrive for exclusive Rabid In The Kennel performances and interviews with host Jack Rabid of The Big Takeover.

On Friday, our guest is the great punk-rock/New Wave/power-pop star Paul Collins.

Paul Collins Beat were music video pioneers on early MTV and can be heard on the “Caddyshack” official movie soundtrack. Paul’s first band, The Nerves, formed in 1974 and is considered one of the early U.S. punk groups, funding their own tours and recordings. Led by Jack Lee, their song “Hanging On The Telephone” has been recorded by Cat Power, Def Leppard, L7 and Blondie.

When The Nerves disbanded, Jack Lee went solo, Peter Case formed The Plimsouls and Paul Collins formed The Beat. In his bands The Nerves and The Beat, Paul Collins has toured with numerous acts, including The Ramones, The Jam, The Police, Pere Ubu and countless other names. Paul Collins Beat continues to tour the world, playing concerts in the United States, Canada, Brazil, Canada, Mexico, Japan, France, Italy, England, Germany, and throughout Europe.

Today, we welcome NYC-based post-punk/psych trio Thirdborder.

Guitarist & singer Ben Miller is a thread between rock’s anarchic past and its reflective present. With brothers Laurence and Roger (the latter now leading Mission of Burma) he pioneered psych-rock in the fecund late ’60s Ann Arbor scene, and later teamed up with late Stooge Ron Asheton and Michael Davis of the MC5 in the seminal art punk outfit Destroy All Monsters. Subsequent decades of probing the potentials of avant-rock culminated in Ben’s forming Thirdborder in 2003.

Bass player Gerard Smith burst onto New York’s post-punk scene in 1984 with the incendiary Phantom Tollbooth, a psychedelic jazzcore triumvirate whose dizzying sound inspires to this day. (In 2003, Guided by Voices frontman Robert Pollard created new lyrics and melodies for Phantom Tollbooth’s 1988 album Power Toy, releasing the resulting work as Beard of Lightning.)

Another memorable trio, Brooklyn’s dance-punk phenomenon Proton Proton, was the fevered incubator for drummer Jarrod Ruby, whose explosive precision behind the kit is both anchor and engine of Thirdborder.

Thirdborder’s second LP, Sun of Water, Sea of Light, was a candidate for Grammy nomination in the 2006 ‘Alternative Album of the year’ category. The band’s new album, Return Return, was recorded last year at The Kennel Studio by NYC underground rock legend Wharton Tiers (Sonic Youth, Dinosaur Jr, Helmet).