Alright, so in the interest of full disclosure, I gotta be straight up - and this candor stands in the cautious light of recent (mostly) unfounded charges of journalistic nepotism on my part - but Josh Johnson is one of my all-time main motherfuckers. When I say this, I mean we earned it, too, in the adolescent trenches. We’ve known each other since time spent in Dad's slacks, began playing together when we were snot-nosed virgins who didn’t know Billy Childish from Otis Rush, and have always caught up with each other in the musical realms when we can. So, in short, I’m biased. When it comes to parlaying the primal rhythms with utmost style, I think the cat is stone brilliant, and I get the pleasure of knowing I watched his genius bloom twixt the cracks of the ruined sidewalks of Greensboro, NC. But lucky for me (and you), almost everyone who’s seen him drum feels the exact same way - it's impossible not to be amazed by his maximal rhythmic expansion on the most minimal of drumsets. Back in the day (with groovy North Carolina pinheads Thee Spinns and The Greenhornes’ corpse-bearers The Griefs), he used but a ride cymbal, a snare, a kick and a tomtom. That’s skeletal, for sure, especially considering the mighty swing he conjured from his kit. Watching him with those dudes was like watching a sonically reduced Buddy Rich power The Gories or The Stomachmouths or something. Back then you knew that if one of his bands was playing, he and his drums were the reasons you should be there. So, it makes pure sense that he’s moved to Mexico City and gone even more gloriously minimal; he’s formed his own one-man garage-stomper, Pinche Gringo. I’m psyched he’s coming just to hang, but Athens should rejoice as well - the dude’s got a solid-gold soul, and he’s gonna swing your pants straight down. - Jim McHugh (dark meat vomit lazers family band) FLAGPOLE.

A piece of the sadly defunct Spinns. Pinche Gringo is the one-man band garage/blues project of Josh. it’s a sound that would fit perfectly at home on a label like Bomp! Records. Soulful, dirty, trashy and rawkus. I’m pretty psyched to see more of him around town! It’s a stiff dose of one-man bands past and present (Hasil Adkins/BBQ) with some great 60s garage worship. You can hear one hell of a record collection hiding behind his sound. WNN'G.

What do you do when the only bandmates you can find like to party as hard as you do, and that band falls apart? Start a one-man band, of course. Or so it is that Spinns drummer Josh Johnson moved to another country and started Pinche Gringo. Always a fan of primal garage blues, Johnson's found an appropriate idiom for his raw, electrified squalor. While pounding floor-bound bass and snare drums, Johnson unleashes swells of distortion grimy enough to soil your clothes. Johnson's making his way back north from Mexico City as part of an exchange program that will include a five-day November tour of Mexico by his old blues-punk outfit, the Spinns. Like those compadres, Johnson's focus remains more vibe than songcraft: "Friday on Izazaga" builds on a ragged drone, like the Velvets chasing a shuffling blues groove, while "Electric Orgy" is a goofy, gonzo blues rave-up fueled by Johnson's mischievous insouciance. INDEPENDENT WEEKLY.