A couple of you have requested some vintage
Velocity Girl wax, particularly 45s, and today I aim to please. Before proceeding, this is
not a complete collection of VG singles and I'm going to tell you why. I omitted the "My Forgotten Favorite" and "I Don't Care if You" singles that were compiled on a CD ep for
Slumberland Records, which I believe still might be available through
Amazon, or possibly from the label. Then there's the "Sorry again" CD maxi single (containing three exclusive b-sides) that can be had on
iTunes. Two buzzkills right off the bat, I know. Finally, I'm missing the "Audrey's Eyes" 45, which contained a b-side, "Stupid Thing" that I don't believe I've ever heard. With that tricky business out of the way, there's still about an albums worth of material in this compilation that you won't find on Velocity Girl's three full-lengths.
You might as well slip the first cut, "Clock" a very lo-fi, and frankly unrepresentative song from a comp 7" with Powderburns and Black Tambourine. I think this was before
Sarah Shannon took the mic. Things improve profoundly on a string of dream-pop friendly oldies like "Warm/Crawl," "What You Say," and "Creepy." Their Christmas tune never really moved me, but it's included here, as are three Peel Session tracks circa-
Copacetic. Then we're onto several ace numbers spread across a handful of singles they tracked toward the nadir of their career, including New Order, Beach Boys and Echo and the Bunnymen covers! If "Anatomy of a Gutless Wonder" isn't the most brilliant song titles ever I don't know what is. It's also a total keeper, and is one of Sarah's best vocal showcases. I've had a random live track, "Blackzilla," floating around on my hard drive for what seems forever, so I bundled that one in as well. The concluding "It's All Alright By Me" was released on a web-only compilation (
Flirt) in 2003, in tandem with VG's brief reunion that year. So there you have it. If I ever find that stray b-side I might offer a revised version of this collection - and maybe even the Slumberland stuff it doesn't surface elsewhere. Track list is below, with sources and dates to the best of my ability. A very exhaustive Velocity Girl discography is available
here.
Update 12/10/12: Good news. A longtime reader has been generous enough to fill in some of the gaps by sharing four additional scarce VG songs, including the elusive "Stupid Things." You can grab them
here, and the addendum tracklist follows mine below. Enjoy.
01. Clock
02. Tales of Brave Aphrodite
03. What You Say
04. Warm/Crawl
05. Creepy
06. Merry Christmas, I Love You
07. Here Comes
08. Always
09. Crazy Town
10. Your Silent Face
11. You're So Good to Me
12. Seven Seas
13. Breaking Lines
14. Anatomy of a Gutless Wonder
15. Blackzilla (live)
16. It's All Alright By Me
added 12/10/12: (see separate download link above)
Stupid Things (Audrey's Eyes b-side)
What You (Echoes From The Nation's Capitol comp CD
Crawl (different than Warm/Crawl) from Sub Pop/Sassy mag comp
Not At All (live) possibly from same comp
Sources
1.
What Kind of Heaven Do You Want comp 7" (1989)
2.
Fortune Cookie Prize comp (1992)
3.
Screw 7" comp (1991)
4. split single with Tsunami (1991)
5. b-side of "Crazy Town" (1992)
6. second split single with Tsunami (1992)
7-9 - Sub Pop Peel Sessions comp (1992)
10 & 11 Merge Records 7" (1994)
12 & 13 Heaven Records 7" (1995)
14. b-side of Nothing (1996)
15. ?
16.
Flirt comp (2003)
Hear
01. Clock
32 comments:
Song 15 is actually by "The Gotterdemocrats," an early version of VG that was featured on a live comp, Pre-Moon Syndrome Post-Summer Of Noise...even though it's listed as VG on the LP listing in Discogs
http://www.discogs.com/Various-The-Pre-Moon-Syndrome-Post-Summer-Of-Noise-Celebration-Week/release/1170273
Also, the new track was from a compilation compiled by Excellent Online. It was a new recording, and supposedly part of a demo of a new record that never came to be.
Thanks for your insight Joseph! Holy cow, you really are a Velocity Girl fan.
A quick search on youtube and I found a live version of "Stupid Thing". Not the studio version, but at least we can hear the song.
I think it was a live clip, right? Hopefully I'll get the $$ to pick up an original copy of that single one of these days. Really wish VG had put out a b-sides and rarities comp like Tsunami did...
I once asked Archie Moore why hadn't VG put out a singles comp..."because we have boxes with hundreds and hundreds of unsold singles already!"
Yeah, the clip on that comp was credited to VG, but was a live recording at a benefit concert. It's a great record to have, and it's not terribly expensive....got some great stuff on there, like Lungfish, Tsnumai, and Unrest...
Happy to have this round-up, nice present in the wrapping.
Joseph, I don't have the PreMoon comp at issue, but found the cover which does appear to list VG, for what it's worth. http://www.pettediscographies.com/vgirl/vgirlcompA.asp
"Clock" featured their first singer, Bridget Cross, who left to join Unrest. It's not unrepresentative of what VG sounded like at the time, but they lost a lot of their shoegaze edge and took on a more pop sound when they got Sarah. I remember seeing their early gigs with Sarah and thinking that as good a singer as she obviously was, the style really didn't suit her. Eventually they started writing in a way that complemented her voice much better.
On the back of the comp, there are blurbs about each bands, and the one for the VG track states that it was recorded when the band was known as "The Gotterdemocrats" but by the time the comp was released they were already known as Velocity Girl.
I just added four more songs as a separate download. See post for full info.
Thanks again for your input and observations everyone. I agree Cinnamon Girl. I saw the live in 1992 or '93 when they were just beginning to transition from their shoegaze fixation.
Thanks for this great comp. I saw the band in Chicago supporting ¡Simpatico! in `94.
Stumbled upon your blog following a Screamfeeder search - and I don't even know whether you have them because I discarded that notion soon as I saw this post of VG goodies! I had tracked down just 7 non-LP/EP songs so these is will be a real treat. Velocity Girl are currently ranked as my 26th favorite band of all time so every new discovery is a genuine pearl from a band that had all-too-few recordings. Big thanks, I think I've finally found a music blog to my taste.
Great post! Wilfully Obscure you never disappoint me. I remember wearing out my cassette version of "Copacetic" and scrambling to get a replacement copy. Velocity Girl has been one of my favorite bands since I was a freshman in high school so I want to say like 1994 yet some of these songs I never came in contact with so this is a real treat. Thanks!
Glad ya'll are enjoying this.
Soniklife, hand over that further collection this instant!
Deleted previous post to update some info. I researched the song 'Not at All' which comes from a comp called WMBR Presents: Clear the Room! released in 1992. The Jesus Lizard have a song on the A side with Thinking Fellers Union Local 282 and Velocity Girl on the B side. http://tinyurl.com/VGWMBR
It also appeared on a Matador comp from 1993 called Teenbeat 50.
http://tinyurl.com/VGTB50
There's a live video up on YouTube of "Not At All" from 1990. Featuring Bridget on (somewhat off-key) vocals.
thanks makes me so happy!
Hi Folks! I just stumbled upon this early mix of Warm/Crawl posted up by Archie Moore on Soundcloud!
https://soundcloud.com/archie-moore/warm-crawl-first-mix
Here's a podcast featuring Brian and Kelly of Velocity Girl from October of last year, where they give some history about the band and sadly, dispel any reunion rumors.
http://www.podfeed.net/episode/1-10-12+Velocity+Girl/3270495
And if you haven't done so already, get your post-Velocity Girl fix from the 4-song EP from Starry Eyes, with ex-VG'ers Sarah, Kelly and Jim (http://wilfullyobscure.blogspot.com/2009/06/starry-eyes-ex-velocity-girl-st-ep-1997.html) and the excellent two-song compilation from Piper Cub (more Jim)(http://wilfullyobscure.blogspot.com/2012/07/piper-cub-7-1995-sub-pop.html).
And the single “I Found Love” from Styrofoam, with lead vocal from Sarah is a keeper as well.
I discovered these tunes right here — hurray Wilfully Obscure.
I hope you can upload Gilded Stars and Zealous Hearts... I can't find it in the web
Thanks for posting digital versions of these songs. Underrated band!
Huge thanks for making this (and keeping it) available. Wow. Fantastic.
Thanks for these. I think Blackzilla is from "The PRE-MOON SYNDROME POST-SUMMER (OF NOISE) CELEBRATION WEEK!" L.P. | SUN DOG PROPAGANDA | 1989
All live DC Band compilation. Hope this helps!
I was stationed in D.C. from 92-95 and acquired quite a few 7" singles from VG, Tsunami and others but somehow never managed to see either band live...….or even Fugazi for that matter. Yeah, I was dumb. At least I did see Clutch multiple times and Jesus Lizard once.
Any chance of you being able to reupload this one? I don't know how I ever missed but having an MP3 version of the Echo & the Bunnymen cover is a Holy Grail for me.
The link is still live on this one. Give it another shot.
link is dead for me now.
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