Contoocook Line - Oliver's Garden (1988, Rughead)

Would you believe another blog got to this one a good fifteen years before I did?  For starters they didn't share the whole record, but they did disclose a kernel of info that would have been lost on me otherwise.  Contoocook Line contained in their humble four-piece lineup future Pavement drummer Steve West, who for some unspecified reason goes by the moniker of Jonah West here.  Hmmm. Anyway, C/L hardly sounded like a logical precursor to Stephen Malkmus' soon-to-be hallowed slack attack.  As the piece on Vinyl Mine notes, Contoocook had more in common with REM (think, Life's Rich Pageant but with less zest) at least on some of Oliver's Garden's livelier cuts.  The chaotic album sleeve, not to mention intermittently rambunctious song titles, belie a fairly garden variety, DIY college rock record with too many sleepy (and even folky) underpinnings for it's own good.  Fortunately, OG awakens from it's slumber for a handful of peppier respites like "Western Sizzlin'" and "Same Ol', Same Ol'" which should still encourage an abundant number of you to tune in.  As for the concluding acoustic ballad, "Go to Hell," the sentiments expressed within are sadly as true today as they were in the Reagan-era.

01. All the Things
02. Western Sizzlin'
03. Allen
04. Acoustic/Blurb
05. Painted Dreams
06. Goliath
07. Sister Time
08. Same Ol', Same Ol'
09. Sour Grapes
10. Go to Hell

https://www36.zippyshare.com/v/aOHXBcAb/file.html

Stark Raving - Sniveling and Whining ep (1987, Incas)

Stark Raving were a Connecticut export whose lone record, Sniveling and Whining came courtesy of Incas Records, one of my favorite indie imprints of the '80s.  Thing is, this fast(ish) and loose co-ed punk trio would have been a more suitable fit for SST, particularly among that label's stable of second-tier acts.  They're a bit on the ramshackle end of the spectrum, and their charm begins and ends there.  Sniveling and Whining produces the occasional gnarly tune, like "Too Much to Take" and the relatively ambitious "New Highways," which vaguely resembles what X were attempting around the same time.

01. Andy's Brain
02. Job With no Future
03. Guns
04. Too Much to Take
05. Crazed New World
06. New Highways

https://www13.zippyshare.com/v/XoJ4lI4i/file.html

It's never too late to enjoy dumb entertainment.

From 1980.

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

Hear

V/A - The Wiener Dog Comp (2012, Burger) - 71 songs!!

Alright, I practically had to take a day off from work to lasso this one all together.  Per above, 71 tunes, three hours of content spread across two packed cassettes, and limited to a mere 500 copies.  Between digitizing, separating tracks, scanning artwork and the rest of it this took up a good six hours or so of my time.  I hope it was worth the effort, but in hindsight what's on here may be of limited appeal.  You can chalk that up to the Wiener Dog Comp's relative lack of star-power, or it the very least, a roster of veritable unknowns.   

The backstory to this one is pretty simple - a benefit album to cover the expenses of a dachshund's large (and evidently lifesaving) veterinary bill.  Burger Records was a relatively fresh indie imprint at the time (and now something of a fixture).  The idea was to get every band on the label (and beyond) to contribute an exclusive song, making it an extra enticing label "sampler" as it were.  To my knowledge a few songs carried over to subsequent releases by a handful of contributors (Paul Collins and Cleaners From Venus come to mind), but otherwise this material is unique to these tapes, and was never made available digitally.  An L.A. area label (and physical store as well if I'm not mistaken), Burger has a discernible penchant for indie rock of all stripes including punk, garage, psych, and lo-fi.  Over the years they've earned a reputation as ear-to-the-ground taste-makers to boot, and even if they never garner a reputation as lofty as Sub Pop or 4AD, pretty much any act with the Burger Records logo emblazoned on their record is guaranteed a modicum of respect.

And what of the bands that occupy these lengthy reels?  Most I can't impart very much about, but there are a bunch that caught my eye upon seeing their name on the roster: Pop Zeus, The Resonars, Tenement, Gap Dream and more notably Redd Kross and the Three O'clock, both of whom contribute live covers.  Of the more established acts, Thee Oh Sees, The Tyde, King Tuff, and Paul Collins (of Paul Collins Beat fame) all show up and make it count.  You'll find some pleasant surprises along the journey as well.  I was introduced to the likes of the succulent Frausdots, Nightmare Boyzzz, and the Blank Tapes and regard myself as all the better for it.  Finally, I'd be remiss if I failed to point out Dirt Dress' sterling mid-fi spin on Wire's 154-era classic "The 15th."

Click on the images to your left and above right for complete tracklists (though bear in mind the last two songs on side D are errantly printed in reverse order).  If you dig what you hear, you can also check out Burger Record's similarly themed Kitty Comp from the same year right here. 

Tape A (sides A & B): https://www103.zippyshare.com/v/dTHCGdtx/file.html
Tape B (sides C & D): https://www103.zippyshare.com/v/Jt1Mf17K/file.html

John Wicks and the Records - Rock'ola (1998, Rock Indiana)

Word went out on Sunday afternoon that John Wicks, who had been battling cancer on and off for the past few years, had tragically succumbed to the disease and passed away in hospice.  As was expected, dozens of social media posts and blurbs from online news outlets touted his inarguable claim to fame as co-founder of The Records and author of the band's signature piece "Starry Eyes." While those details might not be particularly revelatory to you and me, The Records themselves were in fact a sheer revelation for a good lot of us.  Through Wicks and the three near-perfect albums issued during the band's original late '70s to 1982 inception (Shades in Bed, Crashes, and Music on Both Sides), I made a conscious effort to delve deeper into power pop in general (albeit, my discovery of the Records and the genre didn't happen until the mid-90s).  Better late than never, and as it turned out there was a lot more to unearth, including dozens (at minimum) of bands that seemingly took a discernible cue from Wicks and Co.  In short, were it not for The Records, Wilfully Obscure may have taken on a far different trajectory. 

Seeing the original Records lineup in the flesh was long out of the question for me, but I did attend a collaborative gig with John and Paul Collins of the Paul Collins Beat in Pittsburgh, roughly around 2009 or so).  In person and in email John was always gracious to me, though we hardly got to know each other.  The music alone sufficed.

Shortly after I made my acquaintance with the Records posthumous catalog, I learned John Wicks had convened a revamped version of the band.  This incarnation of the group didn't contain any of his original bandmates - Phil Brown, Will Birch, etc, rather a brand new assemblage of players, presumably hailing from America where Wick's had emigrated to in the mid-90s.  The resultant album, Rock'ola was typically released on a European label, but import copies were easy enough to come by.  Though it may not have exuded the warm analogue glow of their big label efforts from two decades prior, Rock'ola managed to revive all the telltale calling cards - penetrating hooks, reliable chord progressions, and the linear but occasionally witty aplomb that made the Records so vital to begin with.  A lot had changed...but thankfully far more hadn't.  "Her Stars Are My Stars," "That Girl is Emily," and the Townsend-y-riff fest "Union Jack" are sheer charmers, and Wicks even dedicates ten percent of the album to his idols the Beatles by way of "Liverpool 6512."  The man in question really hadn't lost a thing over the years, and though we've sadly lost him, his legacy speaks (or more acurately, sings) for itself.  R.I.P. John Wicks.

01. Edges of a Dream
02. That Girl is Emily
03. So Close to Home
04. Different Shades of Green
05. Liverpool 6512
06. Every Word We Say
07. Union Jack
08. Cry a Million Tears
09. Her Stars are My Stars
10. Forever Blue

https://www23.zippyshare.com/v/JSfRpA61/file.html

I'm so caught up in the tree of stars falling in my backyard...

From 1996.  I'm pretty certain a good 30% (or more of you) have heard this one, but to anyone who hasn't, try to set aside some quality time - say a little over an hour.

Hear

Doughboys - Turn Me On (1996)

By the time the Doughboys turned in 1993's wonderful Crush, this celebrated Montreal crew with an ever-evolving lineup had graduated from melodic hardcore to something a little more down-tempo on the continuum, still resembling punk, while gracefully sidestepping grunge.  The subsequent Turn Me On was to be their parting shot, and given the band's continuing development it's kind of frustrating that was the case.  Still capable of pulling off ferocious, and visceral slammers like "Nothing Inside" and "My Favorite Martian," John Kastner and Co. indulge in a little dumb fun to boot on the looser "Diamond Idiot."  The more subdued yin to the Doughboys characteristically raucous yang turns up in spades as well, on the not-quite-ballads "It Can All Be Taken Away" and Everything and After."  Turn Me On was the most varied, and perhaps polished record they had tracked to date, but a slightly mellowed Doughboys never yielded the kind of yawn-worthy muck their contemporaries were pumping out at the time.  At the end of the day, all I you can really fault the band for was not sticking it out.

01. Lucky
02. I Never Liked You
03. Everything and After
04. My Favorite Martian
05. Diamond Idiot
06. Coma
07. It Can All be Taken Away
08. Perfect Garden
09. Nothing Inside
10. Slip Away
11. Tears
12. Down in the World

https://www101.zippyshare.com/v/lCN2eFW5/file.html

Re-ups for early fall.

So I haven't exactly been generous this week.  That will have to wait 'til tomorrow...unless you're looking for some revived links, which I have for you below.

The Buck Pets - Rares CD, 1987 demo tape, later demos
Pipe - singles
Halflings - singles
No Knife - singles
Vivid - singles
The Trypes - demos
Romantics - Bomp Blues
Drowners - Destroyer & World Record Player
Fools Face - Tell America
Scott Wilk and the Walls - s/t 
Rapture of the Deep - Under Quabbin ep
Native Tongue - s/t ep
Tobin Sprout - Waxnails ep
Sugarplastic -  Ottawa Bonesaw, Radio Jejune, Polly Brown ep, Primitive Plastic, Sheep 7", demo
Monsterland - Loser Friendly ep & At One With Time ep
Senator Flux - The Criminal Special & Storybook
The Fiendz - Wact
Mega City Four - Magic Bullets & CD singles
Teeze - s/t ep
Numbers - Add Up
Cactus World News -  Spin radio concert
Space Needle - Panic Delaney 7"
Metal Flake Mother - Beyond the Java Sea
Ratcat - This Nightmare 
Doll Congress - s/t ep
The N - s/t ep
This Afternoon - When Everything is Seven
Wash - demo
Slumber - demo

When I met you on the outskirts of town...

So you wanna know what Vaporwave is all about?  Of course you do.  I've got two prime examples for you below. 

Hear

The Swimming Pool Q's - Pow Wow Hour rarities 1982-86.

More request fulfillment.  I didn't have much of a relationship with the Swimming Pool Q's music during their '80s heyday.  In fact, you might argue that they didn't have much of a heyday at all at least not commercially, but on their two albums for A&M (1984's self-titled effort and Blue Tomorrow a couple years later) they made a noble run for the big time.  A coed quintet from Atlanta, the Q's favored forward-thinking rock with rootsy undercurrents and themes that often reflected the dichotomies of operating as such in the deep south.  

In 2013, A&M reissued the band's output for the label in a limited edition CD collection.  The deluxe variant of this set included alongside the aforementioned records, an hour-long compendium of b-sides, outtakes and such all funneled under the title of Pow Wow Hour.  Only problem was, the packaging fell a bit short and shoddy, and nowhere in the liner notes is the rarities portion mentioned or acknowledged.  Translation: I can't tell you much of anything about where these songs were originally derived from, other than the time period of the mid-80s.  Listening to it however, you do get a sense of the Q's diverse aplomb and overall tenor as a band with mainstream crossover potential, albeit with enough stubborn integrity to ensure they never sounded like a slick product of their era. 

I'm not sure if I'm going to share the proper albums themselves at some point, as they might still be available from the usual suspects, but I'm pretty certain that the Pow Wow Hour tracks are unavailable at this point.  Enjoy.

01. Power and Light
02. Baby Today
03. The Bells Ring
04. Fading Star
05. Purple Rivers
06. Baby Today
07. Pretty on the Inside
08. Think
09. She's Lookin' Real Good (When She's Lookin')
10. Last Goodbye
11. Blue Tomorrow
12. Tears of a Clown
13. Miss Sensitivity
14. 14-More Than One Heaven (Scott Litt Remix)
15. El Presidente
16. Make Me Bigger Than The U.S.A
17. More Than One Heaven (Jeff Vocal)

https://www68.zippyshare.com/v/fHCWMAtt/file.html

The McGuires - Start Breathing (1987, Righteous)

Recently had a request for this one.  The McGuires were a pop-centric San Francisco treat with something of an acoustic bent.  Think a more pedestrian Camper Van Beethoven with a few glints of Crowded House, and to an even lesser extent Aztec Camera and R.E.M.  On Start Breathing (apparently their one and only record) the McGuires launch a decidedly digestible and plaintive attack, but incorporate an ample amount of cheeky observations and heart, not to mention heightened tuneful sensibilities, acutely illustrated on "Russian Hill," "Talk About Love," and "Problem With Decision."  And in case you're wondering "TV Party" isn't the same tune as the Black Flag classic, but is pretty appealing in it's own right.

01. Talk About Love
02. TV Party
03. Looking Glass Neighbor
04. She's a Lawyer
05. Start Breathing
06. Just Pretend
07. Russian Hill
08. Problem With Decision
09. Let You Down
10. Eliahu
11. The Barbecue Song (Time to Go)
12. You Won't Find It

https://www32.zippyshare.com/v/OoAH2UHs/file.html

The Red - s/t ep (1986, Lost Moment)

Not to be confused with the American '80s band The Reds, the band we're dealing with today, The Red were obscuro Brit exports whose self titled EP was bifurcated into "fast" and slow" sides.  The "fast" tunes arrive on side A, and only rapid by sheer comparison to the other half of the coin.  Sounds like these guys were putting an Anglo spin on Stateside contemporaries Wire Train.  Not quite straightforward new wave, "Promises" and "Hell and Morning" are inviting, forward-thinking slices of modern rock rife with melody and ringing guitars.  Sorta predates what bands like the Ocean Blue and Then Jerico would soon have in mind.  "Sail Away," one of the slower pieces, is indeed more subdued, not to mention polished.  Overall this record is a solid thumbs up.

01. Promises
02. Hell and Morning
03. Sail Away
04. Conclusion Festival

https://www97.zippyshare.com/v/XLaytzIg/file.html

Dark clouds are moving in, dogs howl out in the wind...

Two late '80s albums from a Washington state quartet who have been defunct for a good two decades now.

Hear

Are these words distraction to the words you want to hear?

What would possess someone to gather up every single take and remix of U2's "Two Hearts Beat As One" and have it pressed to CD risking the repercussions a bootleg such as this might entail?  Not sure, but despite it's inherent redundancy I'm happy Two Hearts and Other Strange Things exists.  It's certainly not the most iconic song off of War, and for that matter it strikes me as a tad underwritten on certain listens.  Nonetheless, it's a perfect snapshot of Bono & Co's development since Boy and October, if not lyrically, sonically.  "Two Hearts..." delights with an alluring, bittersweet chorus hook and the chiming, jagged fretwork is quintessential Edge.  There's a semblance of restraint here that would expand exponentially on future U2 records, yet it doesn't cut the line completely with the band's earlier aesthetic.  In short, a downright respectable balance.

The thirteen variations of "Two Hearts" is followed up by a thirty minute extraction from a late '87 acoustic jam session with Bono and the Edge, fleshing out two new songs we never saw the finished versions of, plus previews of "Heartland" and "Van Diemen's Land" songs that would soon crop up on Rattle and Hum. 

Two Hearts Beat as One - thirteen versions
01. vocal session take
02. vocal rough take 1
03. instrumental alt take
04. alternate vocal take 1
05. alternate vocal take
06. vocal mix take
07. vocal rough take 2
08. vocal classic mix take 1
09. vocal classic mix take 2
10. instrumental classic take
11. vocal dance take
12. instrumental dance take
13. avantgarde mix take

14. acoustic jam session, Nov 1987

https://www110.zippyshare.com/v/Lq0JGRiL/file.html

X-Teens - Big Boy's Dreams ep (1980, Moonlight)

I've been meaning to post this for awhile as a follow-up to the X-Teens LP I shared a good four years ago.  This co-ed NC five piece come armed with a Wurlitzer (or some stripe of organ) and boy, did they know how to wield that sucker!  The preceding Big Boy's Dreams ep is cut from even brighter cloth than the full length, kicking off with "Johnny's Having Fun," sounding like the love child of early Go Go's and Pointed Sticks.  "Fragile Beings" is another inviting slice of DIY wave, but by far and away the real prize here is "Venus," a primo power-poppy nugget with nods to X-Teens overseas contemporaries Elvis Costello and the Freshies.  What I wouldn't do to have a band of this caliber around today. 

01. Johnny's Having Fun
02. Fragile beings
03. In a Grey Circus
04. Venus
05. Big Boy's Dreams

https://www3.zippyshare.com/v/CrmV56za/file.html

Newsbreak - s/t ep (1983)

I'm down with the band, the frontman, not so much.  Tomy Brennan passes himself off as a goofy caricature of David Byrne, drooling all over everything with sardonic, amusingly unhinged vocals, that were so in vogue circa the era this record found it's way into the marketplace.  At the very least, the L.A.-based Newsbreak manged to redeem themselves with competent players like Richard Lo Guercio who peels off a bevy of dandy guitar leads alongside bassist brother Randy.  More 'modern rock' than 'wave,' exuding the faintest modicum of reggae, so slight it may not make it onto your radar.  This four songer closes out on a relative high note with "Hidden Eyes."

01. In Your Eyes
02. Why You Do Me
03. Victim
04. Hidden Eyes

https://www95.zippyshare.com/v/xmQoRjGl/file.html

Everything won't be ok all the time...

From 1994.  Their first (or third) album, depending on how you're counting.

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

Hear

Breather.

Realistically, I'm probably not going to be able to post anything else for the remainder of the week.  Maybe on the weekend, but that's a slim chance.  In short, please stop back Monday.  Cheers.

Notes on new music: Bird Streets, Guadalcanal Diary, St. Lenox, Dot Dash & the Jeremy Band.

Here's a rundown of some new releases recently sent my way.

Throw a dart an any given project or musical entity Jason Falkner is associated with and if you’re don’t land precisely on the bulls-eye, anywhere in the near-vicinity is at the very least satisfactory.  John Brauder, an as-yet-to-be heralded singer/songwriter from New York was conscious of this as anyone.  Upon reaching out to Falkner (former mastermind of such vaunted outfits as Jellyfish and The Grays, not to mention Beck’s current road guitarist) with a fresh batch of songs in mind, the two settled on a new collaboration, ergo Bird Streets.  Neither party set out to reinvent the wheel here, and luckily they didn’t necessitate such an endeavor given Falkner’s penchant for rich, contrarian pop smarts and Brauder’s contemplative, albeit narrative prose.  At its most intoxicating, Bird Streets peels off resonant pearls in the guise of “Direction” and “Same Dream,” not only recalling channeling its two architects but just as rewardingly Nada Surf.  Likely a coincidence, but I’ll take it.

Guadalcanal Diary were one of the more neglected "should've made it" propositions of the '80s, and furthermore were a huge credit to the Georgia's already vibrant alt-rock milieu of the Reagan-era.  Murray Attaway and Co. were responsible for four full length albums, the last one, 1989's Flip Flop saw them depart on something of a flat note with a record that just didn't have the oomph a lot of fans were accustom to.  The band reconvened in the winter of 1998 for a two night stand in Atlanta, and were pleased enough with the results to commemorate the occasion, and perhaps Guadalcanal in general, with a privately released live record in '99, At Your Birthday Party.  It became a minor collector's item over the years, and is now enjoying a bona fide widespread release on Omnivore.  Say what you (or more, acurately I will) about their aforementioned lukewarm swan song, because I'll be damned if the fellas didn't cook live, even when running through some of the Flip-Flop's paces like "Pretty is As Pretty Does" and "The Likes of You."  The brunt of the record concentrates on earlier material, dipping all the way back to the independently released Watusi Rodeo ep.  Assertive and affirming Guadal classics "Litany (Life Goes On)," "Lips of Steel," and "Trail of Tears," among an assortment of others, are all present, accounted for, and brought back to shimmering life again.  ...Birthday Party is a primo bookend to GD's career, and truthfully, not a bad way to sample their legacy if you're a newbie.  Both this and Bird Streets are available now from Omnivore.

“You asked me what I like to do for fun in East Columbus, and I told you I wrote poetry to music in my mind” intones St. Lenox’s Andy Choi on “First Date.”  However, my friends, Choi is not your run of the mill poet cutting third rate material, rather a singular force of nature who’s back with his third spellbinding collection.  Possessed with a bellowing vocal range and a knack for stitching together verbose, cathartic diatribes that eschews mundane metrical composing (i.e. “rhyming”) entirely, the bard in question goes straight for the jugular.  Adopting a discernibly more stream-of-consciousness tact on this go-around, Ten Fables of Young Ambition and Passionate Love isn’t always as soaringly melodic as St Lenox 2015 debut, ...Memory and Hope.  Yet despite the fact that the hooks aren’t consistently frontloaded, you won’t mind chilling a few seconds longer as Choi waxes on a bouquet of romantic quandaries, and throws down a fever dreams's worth of cathartic, rapid-fire truisms throughout.  And pay close attention to the presumably semi-autobiographical “Gold Star,” which loosely analyzes why he isn’t keen on relinquishing his day job for the full time music career that St. Lenox fans (to our tortured chagrin) wish he would just finally embrace. Ten Fables is available September 28 from Anyway Records or Amazon.

But what, there's more.  Dot Dash have just dropped LP #6.  The D.C. area denizens whose antecedents lie in such esteemed indie rock conglomerations as Swervedriver, Tree Fort Angst, and Strange Boutique among others have been pumping out a deluge of strident, clangy power pop, with lite post-punk affectations (not to mention a solid dollop of wit) for almost a decade now, and Proto Retro is another sturdy link in the chain.  Dot Dash aren't ones to alter their recipe, as what they started with was downright effective.  One borderline anomaly on Proto I'd be remiss if I failed to mention is "TV/Radio," a fun, briskly paced cut with Anglo-punk leanings, briefly name-checking some rather recognizable public figures.  A video for "Unfair Weather" recently dropped here, and the album is available as we speak from The Beautiful Music and Amazon among other sources.

Last but not least, Portage, MI's finest son Jeremy Morris is back with a new collection of plaintively, pleasant guitar pop, in the guise of Joy Comes in the Morning.  Credited to his most recent ensemble, The Jeremy Band, the album is a continuation of his jangle-inflected, chin-up aesthetic that's as reliable as a rooster's morning croon.  Call it twelve, middle-aged symphonies to God (and otherwise) if you will.  And being it's a Jeremy record, the ageless hippie in him doles out his usual allotment of psych guitar treatments as well.  Joy Comes... is available now straight from Jam Records. 

Tell those men with horses for hearts...

Debut from 1981.  Falls a few notches short of landmark status, but still a hell of a way to kick off a career that's still in progress.  Two bonus tracks on this one, the latter of which is an extremely scarce b-side.

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

Hear

Re-ups

Thanks for your requests!

Miracle Legion - Simple Thing tape MP3 or FLAC
further - grimes golden ep
Jellyfish - Fan Club box - Disks 1, 2, 3, 4
Cavedogs - Joyrides for Shut-ins
Windbreakers - At Home With Bobby and Tim/Terminal, Electric Landlady, I'll Be Back 12"
Pink Lincolns - Headache
Sorry - The Way it Is
Hagfish - Buick Men
Gnome - Six-Hi Surprise Tower, Fiberglass, 13 Family 7"
Sister Psychic - Catch and Release
Olivelawn - Sophomore Jinx  
Ten Bright Spikes - three eps
Treebound Story - I Remember ep
V/A - Cash Cow: The Best of Giorno Poetry Systems
Deviators - singles
Barely Pink - Starduster ep
Grip Weeds - See You Through ep
Wondermints - Proto-pretty 7"
Bobbies - Supersongs
Defenestration - Dali Does Windows & s/t ep
Pollen - Peach Tree
Manifesto - Burn 7"
Skiploader - Name Dropping 7"
Neighborly - By the Way 7"

Swing Set - Life Speeds Up (1986, Blackberry Way)

When doing what research I could on this one, I discovered that Minneapolis' long defunct Swing Set ironically had something of recent posthumous profile boost, courtesy of the inclusion of this album's "Blackout" on an episode of Stranger Things.  The TV show in question, of course, is based in the '80s.  Otherwise, Swing Set hasn't exactly been on many lips.  Life Speeds Up is above average modern rock that's not particularly exotic, accented with keys that thankfully don't dominate in the way the band's era was  renown for.  I could certainly imagine these guys digging on the likes of SVT or some of the more pedestrian acts who roosted on 415 Records.  Pretty straightforward stuff but a solid listen.

01. Blackout
02. Laying Low
03. Runaway
04. Victim
05. Walking in the Night
06. Lost Track
07. The Dance
08. I'm On Fire
09. Rain on Our Parade
10. So Long

https://www27.zippyshare.com/v/InGwb46p/file.html

Absolute Grey - Painted Post ep (1987, Midnight)

I was in for a bit of a shock when I first heard this one, expecting the same Absolute Grey who dazzled me (albeit posthumously) with their '84 debut, Green House.  The Rochester, NY co-eds' initial proposition was that of a neo-psych band, with ample nods to their west coast contemporaries the Dream Syndicate.  For the predominantly acoustic Painted Post, the quartet was paired down to Mitch Rasor on guitar and bass, and Beth Brown on the mic.  It's such a departure that I'm inclined to regard PP as less of an Absolute Grey record, and more of a solo vehicle for Brown.  Those observations aside, the record by and large succeeds on it's own premise of contemplative, unencumbered ballads that are virtually impossible not to appreciate...just don't expect much in the way of mystique or guitar feedback. 

01. Closer Apart
02. Painted Post
03. Gardens (remix)
04. Sylvia
05. Abandon Waltz
06. Fences

https://www60.zippyshare.com/v/SCC3u2qE/file.html

Webster gave me light, Judy gave me poem...

The 1997 follow-up that bested his debut.

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

Hear

Zipgun - 8 Track Player (1992, Empty) & Baltimore (1993, Empty)

I can't believe I've neglected Zipgun this whole time, considering I've been listening to them waaaaay longer than I've been doing this site.  Anyway, even if they've evaded you're proverbial radar altogether you can be forgiven.  Every sweepstakes garners only a handful of winners, and this Seattle foursome finished well behind in the Emerald City's grunge/punk contest.  Not that they were deliberately pursuing the grunge angle (so far as I could tell) but they were plenty vigorous for the punk circuit.  And damn competent at it too, falling squarely in league with such contemporaries as Swallow, the Supersuckers, The Derelicts (of which Zip guitarist Neil Rogers was a member of) and even beloved Denver cousins the Fluid.  Zipgun's lifespan was accordingly brief as their catalog, which consisted of two full lengths and a clutch of singles.

8 Track Player hit the racks in 1992.  It's subterranean scumfuck quality was evident, but not overpowering.  Z'gun were undeniably groomed on Motorhead and Raw Power and not the latest NOFX offering.  Like the aforementioned acts they were akin to, Zipgun were upping the ante to something meatier and more potent than what proto-Warped Tour skate punks were getting off on.  Suggested (first) listening: "Together Dumb," "The End," and "Cool in the Cell."

Arriving just one year later, Baltimore is doubly more assertive, tighter and balls-out rockin' than the already blistering debut I just got telling you about.  I'm tempted to dole out some recommended selections, but this sucker is an all meat, no gristle affair.  Relentless in it's breakneck pace and muscular aptitude, you could argue that Baltimore served as a precursor to just around the bend speed punks like Zeke and REO Speedealer.  As for the album sleeve, I'm really not sure what the hell Zipgun had in mind, but it sorta works.  More info available on Wikipedia.

8 Track Player
01. Forward
02. Down in the Hole
03. Together Dumb
04. The End
05. Hallway
06. Ego a Go-Go
07. Put Me Away
08. Cool in the Cell
09. Third Prize
10. Feel it Wearin'
11. Can't Think Straight
12. 10
13. Chase the Ace
14. Backwards

Baltimore
01. Long Hot Kiss
02. Home at Last
03. Just the Way it Sounds
04. Highball
05. Through the Roof
06. Shadey
07. 4th Prize
08. I Can't Wait
09. Missionary Miracle
10. In the Wire
11. Holiday
12. Hades

8 Track Player: https://www42.zippyshare.com/v/Czjhxf87/file.html 
Baltimore: https://www42.zippyshare.com/v/7ygLSSdd/file.html