Welcome back for another visit with real working-class stereos and the recording artists who rarely dust them. For the complete, shocking and true SOS story, look here. Now to matters at hand.


Who keeps The Rock alive? Not the Hard Rock or the Soft Rock or the Alternative or Country or Mope or Latin or Folk or Fusion or Classic Rock. Not even necessarily Rock & Roll. The Rock; the soundtrack of your first speeding ticket and sticky back-seat probing and bottles of Boone's Farm bought with a fake ID. The beating of Fury's own wings combined with a mischievous, shit-eating grin. The Rock that -- despite our advancing years and more refined pretensions --is likely the very last thing so many of us will hear dimly in the dark as our sensory centers power down for that final time. Who keeps The Rock for you and me?


The Fleshtones, that's who. The Greatest Party Band on Earth.

Recently back on planet Brooklyn following a typically triumphant tour of France (where the 'tones have displaced Jerry Lewis as lionized artistic treasures), Peter Zaremba (vocals, harmonica, & organ), Keith Streng (guitar & vocals), Bill Milhizer (drums & vocals), and Ken Fox (bass & vocals) allowed 6moons into Ken's Williamsburg loft for a chat about love, death and HiFi.



Is that elephant head real?



KF: Um, I never actually noticed that before.

BM: It's not part of an elephant, it's a possum and I gave that to you for your birthday - something like three years ago.

KF: Yeah? I swear I've never seen it before.

Really, what is this thing? Am I supposed to sit on it or scream and hit it with a stick?



KF: Where'd you find the stick?

PZ: Well, according to Bill, it's a possum and it's a gift so I would think you should probably just leave it alone.

KS: I thought I gave that to Ken a few Christmases ago?

BM: No, I did. You mighta gone hafizes with me on it.

I've seen possums. Dead ones on the road down south, anyway. That might be a Brooklyn possum, otherwise called...


BM: ...whoa! Just look at the time! Can we get on with this?


Right. Which of you guys has the best, the very finest home stereo system?


KF: I guess I do, kinda by default. It's right behind me here although it's covered by a lot of junk most of the time. The turntable ends up serving as an actual table for example.

KS: My stereo consists of all the components of Ken's stereo that are no longer working properly. He'll pass them on to me instead of throwing them out.

KF: Yeah, and you're about to inherit a CD player. I can't get this thing to play this disc - damn.

PZ: And somehow I wind up with the components that start to slip below Keith's standards.

BM: And I want that possum back if you don't even care about it.

Okay. Then which of you has the worst, the most unfortunate tattoo?



PZ: Actually, we're all blanks.

KS:Yeah, I always feared tattoo questions so I never got one.

KF: Instead we played it safe and developed massive drug and alcohol habits.

KS: Yeah, no regrets there.

What are the 10 or 15 best songs on the latest album?



BM: Yes.



What's Peter drinking out of that gas can? Is that a good idea?



KF: More importantly, where'd he find a gas can in here?

PZ: It was right over there by the Possum and the stick.

BM: If you ever paid any attention to the Possum, you woulda seen the gas can.

I just saw something duck under the kitchen counter. Is something else in here with us?



KF: I've never seen those women before in my life. Can we get back to the stereo questions?



What's in the CD player right now?



KF: Well that's the thing. I don't know. I'm having trouble getting the tray to slide out.

KS: Alright! Looks like I inherit a mystery CD along with the player. Twofer City!

KF: Wait, I can tell what I was listening to by what jewel case is empty - except that most of the cases are empty...

What station is the stereo's tuner usually set to?



KF: It's tuned to WFMU but it's a moot point as I don't receive any signals in this apartment. On a clear night, I can pick up 1010WINS AM, "All News All The Time" around three in the morning. The traffic reports alone are a joy to listen to at that time of night.


Can you all do the Powerstance at the same time? Or would something bad happen if you did that?


PZ: The Powerstance is not something to be taken lightly.

BM: Much like friendship and gift-giving.

PZ: In fact, I heard The Strokes tried to steal the Powerstance idea for a few of their early shows and things went horribly awry.

Thank you, almighty Fleshtones. Can I grab a cab outside or can I borrow your limo?


KS: Where are you going?

KF: You getting something to eat?

PZ: You have any money?

BM: Can we come along?

The Fleshtones' newest projected release Give up the Possum is expected whenever they get around to it. Check for the current discography and for US and rest-of-world tour info.