Dr. Phibes & The House Of Wax Equations - Whirlpool (1991, 50 Seel Street)

When I plucked this one off the bargain rack, I was reasonably given the impression the band in question was Whirlpool...but upon further examination I was several syllables off.  By all accounts (namely the one I was able to peruse courtesy of the Guardian), Britain's long since departed Dr. Phibes & The House Of Wax Equations were something of a force of nature to witness live.  For most of us however, two scarcely distributed indie albums will have to suffice, Whirlpool being the first of them.  It would seem much has been made of their psych leanings, albeit Dr. Phibes sidestepped the whole Madchester miasma completely, and didn't bear much in common with the Spacemen 3, or even glorious drone merchants Loop.  No, the Phibes vibe was more in tune with the architecture of say, the Family Cat or Compulsion, with less pop appeal mind you.  Epic length ventures abound on Whirlpool, but the overarching effect isn't the stuff of drug-induced profundity so much as clangy, amped-out indie rock.  Guitarist/frontman Howard King Jr. makes for a throaty mouthpiece, yet "Mr Phantasy" and "When Push Comes to Shove" offer ample evidence that when emphasis is expended on melody his trio transcends the power quotient for something genuinely poignant.  As much as I wish there more tunes like the aforementioned populating Whirlpool, it's hard to knock Dr. Phibes enveloping sonic prowess.  A second album, Hypnotwister dropped in 1993. 

01. Eye Am the Sky
02. Marshmallow Madness
03. Mr Phantasy
04. Mirrors
05. When Push Comes to Shove
06. Dovetail
07. Dreaming (Insomnia)
08. Sugarblast
09. Eye Am the Sky

https://www52.zippyshare.com/v/oiOQa9ZD/file.html

There ain't no asylum here.

An ingenious covers album that just may encourage you to check out some of her originals.





**Please do not reveal artist in comments!**

Hear

Calling it a week.

Realistically, I won't be posting again until Monday morning.  Keep yourselves amused in the meantime.  👽

A brief review - Those Pretty Wrongs - Zed for Zulu (2019, Burger) & Rob Laufer - The Floating World (2019)

The title of Those Pretty Wrong's second LP, Zed for Zulu, is a nod to something known as the NATO phonetic alphabet (which in 2002 Wilco finagled the same cultural reference to their Yankee Hotel Foxtrot album, but I digress).  The music enshrined within the record is decidedly less esoteric however.  The Memphis by way of L.A. duo TPW was initiated in 2012 when ex-Big Star drummer/Ardent Studios figurehead Jody Stephens and ex-Freewheelers frontman Luther Russell worked on the Big Star documentary, Nothing Can Hurt Me.  The collaboration on the movie inadvertently parlayed into a music outlet of their own, Those Pretty Wrongs, and an album of the same name followed in 2016.  Despite their setup as a duo, TPW subscribe to an insular aesthetic, one which often angles in the vicinity of forlorn, loner folk more than angsty rock.

Abundant throughout this album, Stephens and Russell can't help but echo Big Star's quieter traipses (think #1 Record's "Watch the Sunrise,"on Zed's "Tonight, Tonight, Tonight).  In fact, "Tonight..." even evokes shades of Chris Bell's "You And Your Sister," but generally speaking, the Wrongs opt for a discernibly genteel and straightforward tact, more in tandem with say, early CSN&Y and even Nick Drake than Chilton and Bell's idiosyncratic calling cards. In fact, the going on Zed has a tendency to veer a little too plaintive, flirting with songwriting so linear that it's hard not to predict the latter half of certain couplets.  If anything else, Stephens and Russell compensate with alternating tempos and moods imbuing somber tones to the doleful "Hurricane of Love," and "Life Below Zero," while applying comparatively lighthearted strokes to buoyant "Undetow," and even manage to flex some power pop musculature on "You and Me."  Zed for Zulu's benign tenor lends itself to a breezy, afternoon sway in the hammock, providing the pillow to comfort our collective aching heads in the Trump-era.  You can pre-order it straight from Burger Records or Amazon.

People are fickle about singer-songwriters, especially ones they're wholly unfamiliar with.  This is precisely why so many of them get lost in the shuffle.  Hopefully that isn't the case with Rob Laufer, who actually isn't a newcomer, rather he's taken an extended coffee break (since 2010's Excruciating Bliss to be exact).  His belated latest, The Floating World is his fifth album, and whether virgin ears mistake it as a debut or otherwise, it makes for an often stunning introduction.

Bearing a vocal aplomb that's passable at times to Fountains of Wayne's Chris Collingwood, Laufer's music isn't the stuff of topical, white-collar power pop.  More to the point, he's a sophisticated songsmith with musical chops and an arranging acumen that's anything but everyday.  You won't find much in the way of extremes wafting through this Floating World, though there are nuances aplenty.  "Bolt of Blue" and "Space and Time" are a pair of deftly crafted, up-tempo numbers, bustling with brisk rhythms and substantive prose that split the difference between groove and infectiously melodic prowess.  The denser "As Long As You Belong" richly channels George Harrison by way of Laufer's equally proficient contemporaries Rhett Miller and Jason Falkner, while the pedal steel accented "Highway Machine" is contemplatively bittersweet.  And if it's a consoling comedown you're craving the piano-ballad title track is the type of catharsis this beleaguered world should all get on board for.  The Floating World drops on August 23rd, and will be available from Bandcamp, iTunes, and Amazon.

Woke up screaming, god I hope I'm not bleeding.

Debut from 1993.  I've never been able to figure out why, but it seems as if everything this band ever committed to tape has been lauded in one circle or another...except this album.  No complaints here.

**Please do not reveal artist in comments!**

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The Dugites - s/t (1980, Deluxe)

Damn where had this band been my whole life?  Um, try Perth, Australia circa the late '70s/early '80s before I was really paying attention to music.  All legit rationale for ignorance aside, the co-ed Dugites were a better-late-than-never discovery, who I just happened to stumble upon while browsing someone's file list on my fave peer-to-peer, Soulseek.  Lynda Nutters straddled the mic for this ace new-wavey quintet over the course of three records, this being the first. She conveys an ever so faint hint of '60s girl-group kitsch to the Dugites formula, but writ large they struck a delectable merger of synth and power pop.  Blondie are an obvious (and frankly lazy) comparison, but Nutters and her compatriots (including keyboardist Peter Crosbie, whom she was married to for a period) were not tarted up, nor was the band particularly in-your-face, so to speak.  At least for this particular record, the emphasis was on tunes, and immaculately catchy ones at that, chockablock with indelible hooks, buoyancy and charm for kilometers.  "In Your Car," "Goodbye," and "Mama Didn't Warn Me," are all par excellence examples of  The Dugites chosen pop niche for their now bygone era, and the land down under was all the richer for it.  Am really grateful to have encountered this one.  Rock on Vinyl blog provides a more exhaustive diatribe on this record than I have, and are even offering a lossless FLAC rip of it. 

01. In Your Car
02. South Pacific
03. Mama Didn't Warn Me
04. Goodbye
05. Gay Guys
06. 13 Again
07. No God, No Master
08. No One Would Listen
09. Amusing
10. Six Weeks

https://www34.zippyshare.com/v/gwkTEpm7/file.html

David Marko & The Trade - My Baby's A Piranha & Other Selected Love Songs (1982, McClintick)

Despite it's strikingly miscellaneous cover art, this record boasted significantly more definition than I was expecting.  The name David Marko & The Trade has the ring of a power pop band, and indeed this trio is guilty as charged, albeit I don't think these guys slotted in too comfortably with the skinny tie brigade.  If anything they hail the old school here, as so much of ...Piranha is steeped in the first couple of Raspberries albums, early Rubinoos, and perhaps even the Scruffs.  Marko and Co. emanate a rather wholesome vibe, screeching just shy of a precious halt on the winsome "Hold Me" and "The Last to Know."  The beefier "Eden Again" is more in line with this disk's '82 copyright, but when all is said and done these guys were classicists who never really intended to rock the boat.  David Marko & The Trade are virtual no-shows on the search engines, and their whereabouts are an unknown quantity.  Perhaps my copy of this album was missing an insert?  Enjoy.

01. Maybe Baby
02. radio
03. Hold Me
04. I Think I Love You
05. Leave Me Alone
06. The Last to Know
07. Eden Again
08. Her Song
09. Kathy Ann
10. Love Me Tonight

https://www9.zippyshare.com/v/uZ2Fls3Y/file.html

Anything you wanna do, and she'll do it like a fool...

A recent reissue of a 1993 classic, though I think I appreciate the original mix more.

**Please do not reveal artist in comments!**

Here

Guided by Voices - Waterloo Records in-store, 04/12/01

Yet another tidbit from a band we've given plenty of HEED to over the years.  And I thought today would be appropriate to share this given the unfortunate #daytonstrong theme we're forced to grapple with (even though this is a non-Ohio performance).  This one is fairly straightforward - a fully electric in-store, Isolation Drills-era performance at the most renown music outlet in Austin, TX, Waterloo Records.  Robert Pollard and Co. sound right, tight and refreshingly sober.  Arguably the peak of the non-classic lineup era of GBV, though a couple of obligatory '90s classics round out the set.  The taper neglected to get to Waterloo immediately as the band commenced, hence the partial version of "Run Wild" at the beginning.  Am making this available in it's original FLAC rip as well as downsized MP3.

01. Run Wild (partial) 
02. Skills Like This
03. Chasing Heather Crazy 
04. Pivotal Film 
05. Teenage FBI 
06. Glad Girls 
07. Brides Have Hit Glass 
08. Game Of Pricks
09. I Am A Scientist

MP3  and  FLAC

Material Issue - What Girls Want promo ep (1992)

This is one of those weeks where I simply don't have an abundance of stuff prepped, but in the interim there's this.  A quick three-song promo released contemporaneously with Material Issue's sophomore album, Destination Universe.  The single, "What Girls Want" pales slightly when stacked against International Pop Overthrows now ubiquitous anthems, yet still thoroughly rocks.  That wah-wah effect on the guitars won't quit - not that you'd realistically want it to.  It's followed up by an exclusive non-LP cover of Grand Funk's "Bad Time, which i actually had more fun with than the original.  This shorty ep closes things out with an acoustic rendition of one of Destination's deeper cuts, "Next Big Thing."

This is one came packaged in a gatefold CD sleeve, and much to my dismay, the clerk at the store I obtained this from affixed a very stubborn price sticker right atop Jim Ellison's head.  I removed as much of it as I could, but still obviously blemished.

01. What Girls Want
02. Bad Time
03. Next Big Thing (acoustic)

https://www48.zippyshare.com/v/F7zlXeKu/file.html

A brief review - Chip & Tony Kinman - Sounds Like Music (2019, Omnivore)

If the monikers Chip Kinman and his brother Tony Kinman don't instantaneously flood your memory bank that wouldn't come as a shock (to me anyway).  Perhaps the names of some of their musical projects of yore would ring a bell, specifically The Dils, Rank and File, and Blackbird.  The Kinman brothers (including the sadly and recently departed Tony) were the driving force behind all three combos, not to mention an even lesser-known fourth, Cowboy Nation.  You'd think that a newly minted,  22-song compilation spanning the Kinman's quadruple-decade career would offer a comprehensive overview of their handiwork - and you'd be right...sort of.  Omnivore Record's Sounds Like Music is indeed a compendium of the duo in question, though it does not highlight "hits" (there weren't any) or career milestones (quite a few in fact), rather the emphasis is entirely on outtakes, demos, and unreleased curios.

Splitting vocal duties, Chip on guitar and Tony on the guitar with fewer strings cut their teeth in the late '70s in The Dils, an L.A. area punk trio who's minimalist and succinct approach yielded an equally scant discography, so brief (say eight songs) it might as well have fit inside a thimble.  Two singles and an EP was about the size of it to be exact, but despite the brevity of the Dils output they were responsible for bona fide nervy rants like, "Mr Big" and "I Hate the Rich," that have become nothing short of classics to punk connoisseurs.  In fact, the Dils cupboard was so damn lean, only one song by them is represented here, "Folks Say Go," a bouncy 1977 ditty, that's explores a slightly different wavelength than those aforementioned bratty and cutting 45s.

Their next endeavor, the Austin, TX-based Rank and File would become their most renown and commercially viable.  Operating almost solely on a roots/cowpunk continuum, Rank and File churned out three highly consistent albums in the '80s, all of which were infinitely more sophisticated than the Dils - then again that's not the most even comparison given the two groups divergent agendas.  Interestingly enough however, Rank and File began on a punk premise, not country.  Sounds Like Music enlightens us with two examples of the first-blush R&F sound few of us even knew existed via the band's theme song (of sorts), and the careening but melodious basher "Citizen."  Immensely revealing stuff and damn-near worth the price of admission alone.  Naturally, power chords and bratty ethos weren't what Rank and File would become renown for, so if you're looking to graze more familiar pastures, Sounds... offers four more rarities by the band in question in keeping with their twangier reputation.

If any of Chip and Tony's affiliated projects dominates this compilation, it's Blackbird, who check in with thirteen accredited numbers.  Typically, Blackbird was the most non-descript of their ventures, and in some respects left the smallest legacy - despite enjoying a brief tenure on a major label in the early '90s.  This post-Rank and File operation eschewed the bulk of the Dils/R&F's warmer, analog hues placing the emphasis on keyboards...and an omnipresent drum machine that grated on my nerves, particularly when absorbed in heavy doses.  Top this off with intermittently contrived vocals and an overarching tenor that bordered on impersonal, and voila, Blackbird comes swooping down for an oblique landing.  Nonetheless, there are melodic constructs tucked inside this band's lightweight industrial drone (check out the poignant "Old Paint"). "Dope," which tangentially channels the Doors "Twentieth Century Fox," is another minor saving grace, but the sheer amount of material presented by this idiosyncratic foray has a tendency to clash with the more earnest offerings by the Dils, Rank and File, and finally...

Cowboy Nation, who had the distinction of being the only Kinman studio entity (that we know of) to record music in the current millennium.  Three albums to be exact, all very much under the radar, skewing considerably closer to Rank and File's penchant, but with more of a traditional country flavor.  Then again, "traditional" wasn't exactly a watchword for the Kinman clan.  Two C/N songs made the cut for Sounds..., an alternate take of the galloping, bilingual "Paniolo," and another swift hoedown, "Rebel," a deep cut fleshed out with equally deep vocals.  Going into this album, I had no familiarity with Cowboy Nation, but I'm compelled to dig deeper.

Despite this being the only release on the market to span the arc of Chip and Tony Kinman's entire career, I should note again that it's not a best of or anthology, rather an outtakes compendium.  In essence, Sounds Like Music is geared towards existing clientele, but it's bound to parallel as a jumping off point for listeners who are brand new to the duo.  To newbies, I'd also recommend you invest in the Dils' Dils Dils Dils compilation on Bacchus Archives, as well as the debut Rank and File LP, Sundown, not only for a primer, but as examples of what the Kinman's were capable of both in and beyond the punk realms they abundantly contributed to for so many years.  Sounds Like Music is available straight from Omnivore or Amazon.

Pull me out, save me from the voices in my head...

From 2018.  Since this came out almost a year ago, I don't think a week has gone by when I haven't had the urge to listen to it.

**Please do not reveal artist in comments!**

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Those XCleavers - First Album/The Waiting Game (1982-84)

Not unlike the Another Carnival post from a couple nights ago, here's more Wisconsinite rock o' the '80s spiffyness for ya'll.  Those XCleavers were from the Milwaukee side of the tracks, and from what I've been able to gather they didn't make huge inroads elsewhere, save for some airplay in the Midwest.  This foursome were hardly hipster snobs, opting for risqué AOR rock with some occasional reggae flavorings.  Their self-titled bow from 1982 isn't terribly remarkable, but still a fun listen, a la what the Greg Kihn Band was peddling at the time.  The band's 1984 follow-up, The Waiting Game was an overall improvement, boasting considerable new wave definition, even better songwriting, not to mention stronger hooks.  I'm not sure if they had any videos to their credit, but given their wily sense of humor, the XCleavers would have slotted in perfectly on the then-burgeoning MTV in the Reagan era.  There's two full albums (and then some) for you to feast on below, so have at it.

  s/t (1982)
  01. Smooth, Wild & Dirty
  02. Butt I Will
  03. 18 (Unprotected)
  04. Suzie La Bruzie
  05. Facts of Life
  06. Nocturn Dub
  07. White Reggae
  08. Trying To Have Fun
  09. Skip A Beat
  10. Klubb Talk
  11. No Brain Needed
  12. Mondo Commando
  13. What's In Style
  14. Reprise

  The Waiting Game (1984)
  15. In God We Trust
  16. Right Right Girl
  17. Nobody But You
  18. The Waiting Game
  19. Some One In My Dreams
  20. Duplicator
  21. Silence The Critics
  22. Quicksand
  23. Riot
  24. Take A Hint
  25. People

  bonus
  26. Little Drummer Boy
  27. Nice Legs
  28. Confusion (Do The)

https://www8.zippyshare.com/v/tSBIyT1n/file.html

Another Carnival - Seven Lines (1988, Janet Marie)

Another Carnival were the assumed pride and joy of Eau Claire, WI, circa the late '80s - early '90s.  And not a bad flagship band at that for a town of about 60,000 to boast, given Carnival's penchant for meat 'n potatoes jangle pop that seemed all too fitting for their midwest locale. Nervy guitar salvos illuminate "How to Find It" and the roiling "The Big Mistake," but this quartet was even more effective when sticking to breezier guitar pop motifs like "Stay" and "She Says it's Real."  Seven Lines entails a few clunkers (e.g. "Over Our Houses") but nothing egregious enough to weigh down it's overarching strengths. In short, a satisfying listen.  Two more Carnival albums would follow.

01. All Away
02. The Big Mistake
03. Hand Across the Heart
04. How to Find It
05. Banners Like Sirens
06. No Surprises
07. Stay
08. She Says it's Real
09. Seven Lines
10. Over Our Houses
11. Who Cares

https://www91.zippyshare.com/v/uTI4TtFA/file.html

Blow up the house that owns you.

An EP and full length from 1983 and '85 respectively from a band I haven't brought up in quite some time. 

**Please do not reveal artist in comments!**

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Monkey 101 - A tale of two 7"s (1990-92)

I find myself writing once again about a band I have scant knowledge on, but from my limited purview Monkey 101 qualified as one of the great "what-could-have beens" in indie rock - specifically had they stuck around beyond this pair of all-too-brief records.  M101's base of operations was Philly, but from a creative standpoint they paralleled the concurrent scene a few hundred miles due west in Ohio...though that's very much likely a coincidence. Still, these guys would have fit in splendidly with the Buckeye State's subterranean vanguard like Gaunt, Thomas Jefferson Slave Apartments and Prisonshake.  M101's lo-fi aptitude was likely the product of budget constraints and not so much hipster viability.  So be it, because their serrated, sassy and occasionally cantankerous moxie was a winning formula a good 75% of the time, culminating in such pearls as "French Feelings" and "Burgundy Wine." Inherent to their brand of distorto-laden dissonance, Arno's scuzzy guitars have a tendency to carry more of a tune than Paul K and Bob Turri's vocals.  More dichotomy, more fun.  Quite simply, they don't really make 'em like these anymore kids. 

Per their facebook page (linked above) they still gig occasionally, and additional audio exists over on Bandcamp.  Also, our colleagues at One Base on an Overthrow had a few things to say about their "French Feelings" single.

French Feelings 7" (1990, Siltbreeze)
A. French Feelings
B. Now That You Have Left Me

Transitor 7" ep (1992, Papa Popov)
01. Transistor
02. The Method of my Machinery
03. Kentucky Woman
04. The Man Who Sells His Votes
05. Burgundy Wine

https://www38.zippyshare.com/v/demOf6n2/file.html

Melinite - Push the Button and Run! (1983, Noose)

Melinite was the brainchild of a Canadian gentleman who evidently went on a last name-basis only, MacDonald, who was backed up by no less than a dozen players according to the credits (obviously not all twelve simultaneously).  Side one of Push the Button... sports some defiantly punk salvos via the urgent "Who Needs Foreplay?" and "Waiting 4-U," angling in the vicinity of the Heartbreakers and The Dolls, sans the glammy posturing.  The ambitious "My Anna of Discretion" offers a more up to date modus operandi with poignant melody and classy playing a la Tom Verlaine.  Probably this record's most convincing moment among several.  The remainder of Push... isn't as focused, albeit artful, concluding with two strikingly quieter numbers, most notably "For Now" an insular, downer piano ballad reminding me of the stuff Epic Soundtracks churned out on those solo albums of his.  All in all a unique and sometimes head-scratching record.

01. Who Needs Foreplay?
02. When You Turn Again
03. My Anna of Discretion
04. Waiting 4-U
05. Trouble in Sector 17
06. Another Attempt
07. Seasoning
08. A Daydream Dilemma
09. For Now

https://www39.zippyshare.com/v/u0VinhXt/file.html

She carries my confusion in the pocket of her jeans.

Thirtieth anniversary of this one, and quite likely the finest thing these guys ever came up with. 

**Please do not reveal artist in comments!**

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The Passions - Amersfoort, NL 7.14.81

I haven't spoken much about The Passions, a UK post-punk act, who barely made a blip in the States, say for their signature song "I'm in Love With a German Film Star" appearing on many "lost '80s" type compilations.  The co-ed quartet was highlighted by vocalist Barbara Gogan and axe-wielder Cliver Timperley whose chiming, echo-ing guitar lines went a long way in coloring the Passions often austere disposition.  Deep, introspective, cool, and just accessible enough for a small but dedicated clutch of fans.  Three albums ensued between 1980-82, the most renown being '81's Thirty Thousand Feet Over China.  This FM broadcast concert was in support of that record and captures The Passions as their most persuasive peek.  It features the aforementioned "German Film Star," alongside the equally convincing "Into Night," "Runaway," and the particularly winsome "The Swimmer," which unfortunately cuts midway on this recording. 

Barbara Gogan continues to perform occasionally in Europe.  More info on the Passions can be had at their Wiki page. 

01. I Radiate  
02. Bachelor Girls  
03. Oh No, It's You  
04. Don't Talk To Me (I'm Shy)  
05. Someone Special  
06. War Song  
07. Into Night  
08. Snow      
09. Alice's Song  
10. The Square  
11. Skin Deep  
12. I'm In Love With A German Film Star  
13. Run Away  
14. The Swimmer

MP3  or   FLAC

Closedown - 1993 demo

The title of the first track says it all.  Heavy-handed practitioners at that, alas there's nil I can inform you of regarding Closedown's background details, even as basic as where they called home.  Named after a Cure tune, but more in league with early Slowdive (and surprisingly, not even so much My Bloody Valentine) this was a defiantly noisesome lot whose amped-out histrionics must have had a concussive impact on their audience back in the day.  Case in point is the bracingly dense "Monolith," so overpowering it virtually mimics the sensation of ascending in an airplane.  Things chill-out as this tape progresses, with the instrumental "Sundown" emanating a soothing comedown of sorts...or I suppose in this case, a "closedown."

01. Shoegazer
02. Monolyth
03. Amber
04. Vitrescence
05. See Me Fade
06. Infinite
07. Sundown

https://www55.zippyshare.com/v/DQpOFxZz/file.html

Overdue re-ups.

My apologies for the lack of posts this week.  Hope this compensates.  Stay tuned this weekend

The Mice - Who Cut the Cheese?
The Meices - early singles
Donner Party - Complete Recordings - Discs 1 & 2
Ultra Vivid Scene - eps collection
Happy Hate Me Nots - Out
Haircut 100 - Blue Hat For a Blue Day
Korova Milk Bar - Talking's Boring
Winter Hours - Chicago 10-18-89 - MP3 or FLAC
Rain Parade - Chicago 6-28-86
Howard & Tim's Paid Vacation - I Never Met A Girl I Didn't Like
Outlets - Whole New World
V/A - 2015 Chanukah singles bundle (w/ Bandables, SVT, Diffi-cult, etc)
V/A - Another Damned Seattle Compilation
V/A - Blatant Doom Trip
V/A - WBNY Live on Air 
Spatula - Even the Thorny Acacia
Fitz of Depression - The Awakening 7"
Tinsel - Quite While You're Ahead & 7"
Pollen - Crescent, Bluette, Peach Tree
Think as Incas - Palestine One Mile ep
Crossfire Choir - s/t
The Verge - Habitual ep
Full Moon Tan - ep
The Westmorelands - For Life's History ep
Western Eyes - s/t LP
Wild Giraffes - Right Now
The Trace - Chilling With Binkey
Replicants - s/t
French - two eps
seade - perf
milf - ha ha bus!
No Knife - singles
The Laurels - Burn 7" & Neck
Jumpers - Sick Girls 7"
Tirez Tirez - Social Responsibility
X-Teens - s/t LP & Big Boy's Dreams ep
Alter Boys - Soul Desire 

Pay dirt is big trouble, yes sir...

From 1983/84.  This one's kind of a basic, but well beyond crucial in my book.

**Please do not reveal artist in comments!**

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Matt Finish - Fade Away ep (1981)

On Fade Away, Matt Finish (a band, not a solo act) sound as if they were straining to break out of Sydney, Australia's underground, but in fact the brunt of their career was spent on major labels.  Following up a pair of singles in 1980, their Fade Away ep bristled with post-punk urgency and boasted ringing, hard-strummed guitar chops that were equal parts rivetingly melodic and forward thinking.  The record's centerpiece is clearly it's seven-minute title cut.  Not the least bit "prog" or ponderous, it manages to mine a single riff to maximum extent and miraculously, never gets tiring.  The remainder of the ep, consisting of comparatively briefer songs, features more of Richard Grossman's irrepressibly chiming, but aggressive chord wrangling, and is largely a delight from beginning to end.  Fade Away was followed up the same year with the group's debut full length, Short Note.
  
Frontman Matt Moffitt died unexpectadly in 2003.  Matt Finish reconvened in 2006, featuring a revamped lineup of course.  A thorough bio of the band can be perused over at their Wiki site.

01. Introductions
02. Fade Away
03. It's On My Way
04. Eat Your Lips Off
05. Calls

https://www80.zippyshare.com/v/nei6fkRC/file.html

Tirez Tirez - Etudes (1980, Object)

My post of Tirez Tirez's '87 platter Social Responsibility probably flew under the radar for most of you.  Being that it wasn't the most revelatory album to see the light of day that year I suppose that's understandable, but it did have it's moments.  Etudes, it's precursor by a good seven years is cut from inconsistent cloth as well, but it's choicer cuts are damn-near remarkable, beginning with "Razorblade."

A pesky write-up in the Trouser Press Record Guide has embedded the notion in me that Tirez foreman Mikel Rouse took his cues from David Byrne and ran with 'em, but"Razorblade's" delicately clanging chords and mid-paced tempo exudes a catchy, minimalist allure that the Talking Heads rarely elicited so subtly.  Elsewhere, Etudes isn't routinely immediate in sparking such visceral reactions, though you don't have to dig too deep to excavate some of Rouse's more convincing ideas, which happen to reside on side one.  "Hair" is a particular anomaly, flirting with a traditional rock-ballad setup before settling into the more artful dabblings Tirez were known for.  The problem with so much of Etudes resides in it's patently repetitive rhythms, which might make sense in two or three minute doses but Rouse insists on treading water for double that length in most instances.  Nevertheless, I'll take magic where and when I can find it, and "Razorblade" and this album's other intermittent surges of inspiration are worth revisiting.

01. Radiation Dance
02. Razorblade
03. A Summary
04. World War
05. Hair
06. I'll Be That
07. West Led The Diamond King
08. Strike
09. Vowels
10. Observation

https://www23.zippyshare.com/v/5hfnuwdS/file.html

All I ask for is release no matter what the cost.

A somewhat lengthy 1988 debut album of lusciously hazy indie pop.

**Please do not reveal artist in comments!**

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