Satan's Satellites

The members of Satan's Satellites -- singer-guitarist Tom Fallon, drummer Ant Petti, organist Mark Leddy, and bassist Jeff Curtis (who recently replaced Ricky Brom) -- could write a book on the history of garage rock. One look at the records (and they really are vinyl 45s) in the old-time jukebox at the Beachland Ballroom, the North Collinwood club Leddy runs, and you realize that Leddy, as well as the other members of the group, is well-versed in music that even the most educated critics haven't heard. The Satellites' self-titled debut proves as much. On it, they write their own songs, but also pay tribute to some forgotten classics.

Covers of "Land Beyond the Moon," a song by the Motions, a garage rock band that kicked around Cleveland in the '60s, and "The Trip," a track by the Interns, an act from the same era that played in the Canton area, don't sound much different from the Satellites' own material -- the raspy-voiced "Bad News Baby" and the equally acerbic "She's a Dog," for example, have an organ-fueled, garage rock punch. While not particularly original, Satan's Satellites at least score big points for having fun on Satan's Satellites, which was recorded by Gary Lupico and Russell Sherman at Cleveland's Inner Zone Studios and is the follow-up to the Satellites' 1998 single "Dope Run." On the track "Ghoul Powered," a song about local Friday night B-movie TV host the Ghoul, a trio of female background singers (Maria Gigante, Lauren Podis, and Annemarie Strassel) scream "ghoul-powered" over rumbling, Link Wray-inspired guitars and spooky organ riffs, adding some colorful camp flavor to the Satellites' retro trip.