Tuesday, August 7, 2012

Black-eyed Susans, The (1990, Turn of the Century)

If the moniker of this band rings familiar, I wouldn't be surprised in the least given that there are/were many Black-eyed Susans floating around in the annals of rock and rock, some of which have gone by alternate spellings of course.  Unfortunately I wasn't able to conjure up anything relevant to this quartet, who may have been denizens of Connecticut.  For me, the album jacket gave this one away - clangy, collegiate college rock in league with so many 415 Records bands.  There are a plethora of additional trace elements - Winter Hours, the Pedaljets, Carnival Season, and when the Susans apply a little grit, even Drivin 'N Cryin come faintly to mind.  Wouldn't call this one a game changer, per se, but "Knowing When to Leave is an Art," "Look Outside" and "Sister Mary's Tears" rank up there with the primo accomplishments of the aforementioned.  Can anyone shed some more light on this one?  Enjoy (or not).

01. Forever Girl
02. Flying
03. One to One
04. Look Outside
05. It's Not Easy
06. Just In Case
07. Sister Mary's Tears
08. Living With a Friend
09. Knowing When to Leave is an Art
10. Walkin' Over You

Hear

8 comments:

Unknown said...

The black eyed susans were actually from Perth, Western Australia, and were the second act of the late David McComb, songwriter and singer of legendary (in WA) band The Triffids, who were contemporaries of Australian alternative bands like he Birthday Party and the Go-Betweens in the 1980s. The susans existed during the 90s, between the split of the triffids and David's untimely death in, I think, 2000.

Michael Toland said...

Raif - this is not the same Blackeyed Susans as the Australian band (who are still going under the leadership of singer Rob Snarski and bassist Phil Kekaulas). That band's debut is Welcome Stranger. They have no self-titled records and definitely don't sound a 415 Records band.

Michael Toland said...

Not sure why my comment published twice - apologies about that.

Just to confuse things further, there was also a hair metal band called Blackeyed Susan running around in the early 90s.

spavid said...

Thanks for catching that Michael! For better or worse these guys were from the States, and yes, I do have a vague recollection of the metal band Blackeyed Susans as well.

D'artagnan said...

There was also a powerpop act called Brown Eyed Susans to further complcate matters (O;

Unknown said...

Looks like this is the band and their offshoots :

http://www.musicalfamilytree.com/band/black_eyed_susans
http://www.musicalfamilytree.com/band/arson_garden
http://www.musicalfamilytree.com/band/snack_time

Damian Stachelski said...

can you re up this please? Thanks!

Anonymous said...

reup please this one. Many thanks!!