VA - Shreds Vol. 1 - The Best of American Underground Rock 1993 (Shredder)

Per the thoughtful blurb on the back cover, 1993 gave rise to some 4000 independent singles in the US alone (had no idea anyone was keeping score)!  Good on Shredder Records/Shredding Paper mensch Mel Cheplowitz for sorting out so many of the vital ones, particularity in such a robust era when it seemed like every week there were at least half-a-dozen must-haves hitting the shelves.  Remember when?  Anyway, Mel and I (not to mention probably a lot of you who frequent these pages) were on the same wavelength, evidenced by this who's-who of twenty subrosa luminaries.  The emphasis on Shreds Vol 1 is clearly skewed to indie and punk-pop outfits, or moreover ones that straddled the fence narrowly dividing those two contingents.  Not a lot of big indie farm-team type labels are represented (save for perhaps Fat Records' NOFX who contribute the seminal lesbian narrative "Liza and Louise"), rather there's a strong emphasis on records that bubbled up from micro-indies and private labels.    

A healthy portion of this coveted roster have materialized in one or more features on Wilfully Obscure - Corduroy, Parasites, Fig Dish, J Church, Bracket, Tugboat Annie, Jolt, and The Deviators, yet in many cases the music was sourced from my own vinyl rips, whereas the versions here strike me as being culled from the master tapes.  Shreds functions as both a time capsule and a goldmine of tuneful, indie-punk treasures worth their weight in Nuggets from a parallel universe. We're even thrown a couple curveballs via the bendy dream-pop of the Swirlies, and even the relatively demure Mary Lou Lord made the cut.  My favorite Prisonshake song, "2 Sisters" is included as are offerings from  the Karl Hendricks Trio, The Leonards, and Mr. T Experience.  Time won't allow me to extoll much further on the music contained within, so just go ahead and download this already!   Let me know what you enjoyed.

01. For Sale - Hanging By A Thread
02. Corduroy - I'll Be On My Way
03. Swirlies - Wrong Tube
04. Parasites - Something To Hold Onto
05. Moist - Be Young
06. Odd Numbers - Autumn Leaves
07. Mary Lou Lord - Some Jingle Jangle Morning
08. Karl Hendricks Trio - Baseball Cards
09. NOFX - Liza And Louise
10. Fig Dish - Rollover, Please
11. Prisonshake - 2 Sisters
12. Tugboat Annie - Stay Inside
13. Stink - Never Will Forget
14. Leonards - Thinking About It
15. Jolt - Let It Go
16. The Deviators - Falling Away
17. J Church - Made Life Simple
18. Fracture - Babbling Atom
19. Bracket - Imaginary Friend
20. Mr T Experience - Swallow Everything

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