Bob Bert finally released his debut solo album Beach Bongo Bloodbath on June 12, 2026 via Bar/None on 12” vinyl LP, CD, digital download and streaming. Bert is perhaps best known as an in demand drummer since the early 80s and as a member of Sonic Youth, Pussy Galore and many other outfits since that time including more recently Lydia Lunch Retrovirus and Jon Spencer’s HITmakers. His CV is indeed one of the most storied in modern left field music. The record feels like a piece of schlock science fiction cinema with interludes and reworks of classic songs to fit the mood of the album. Where else are you going to hear a beat-driven version of “Mississippi Queen” by Mountain, a surreal percussion heavy cover of “Love Comes in Spurts” originally performed by Richard Hell and the Voidoids, a spectral, haunted garage interpretation of Modern Lovers’ “Pablo Picasso,” a Tiki bar New Wave rework of The Barbarians’ “Are You A Boy Or Are You A Girl?” like something that should have come out on K Records. The album closes with possibly the best version of “Foggy Notion” by The Velvet Underground not performed by the original artists. It’s the kind of experimental pop record we would hope to hear but pretty much never get from an artist who has added so much to his other bands as a percussionist but on Beach Bongo Bloodbath, Bob Bert showcases his versatility as a player as well as his broad, creative imagination.
Listen to our interview with Bob Bert on Bandcamp and follow Bob Bert at the links below.
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