Friday, May 13, 2016

The Wishniaks - Nauseous and Cranky ep (1988, Bloodmoney)

This ep is a scant fourteen minutes, but hard as it may be to believe Philly's Wishniaks don't waste a nanosecond.  The quartet's winsome power pop formula was partially derived from the Stones rough-hewn nonchalance (albeit presented in a much more modest context here) and lusciously paired with deftly crafted jangle-tones, populating so many left-of-the-dial outlets of the day.  Aesthetically, this may not scream "cutting edge" but the Wishniaks arrangements are forward thinking and the band exude chemistry for miles, foreshadowing the like-minded pastiche that would eventually be thrown down by the Figgs and Sloan.  Nauseous and Cranky my ass, more like visceral and inspired.  Expect more Wishniaks to come on these pages.  

01. Point of No Return
02. Distraction
03. Double Takin'
04. 6 AM
05. Marianne Faithful

Hear

9 comments:

DiscConnected said...

Wow-even though I moved away a couple of decades ago, I pride myself on being up on Philly music, and I either forget these guys (lived there when this would have been released) or never heard of them.

Found a couple of the tunes on You Tube and now am jealous of your find! It looks like there was a full length CD release as well...both are on my want list.

Larry

DiscConnected said...

Plus, how can you not love a band named after my favorite flavor of Frank's Soda?

johnnybgoode said...

Great Band. My only regret is not seeing them live.

Harold Raisin III said...

This is great, thanks!

Andrew Chalfen said...

Thanks for posting this. There used to be some old stock of this ep and our 1st album around but I think the distributor, Skyclad, destroyed them when they went under. Our 2nd album which came out in Spain on Munster may still be floating about.
- Andrew (The Wishniaks, The Trolleyvox, I Think Like Midnight, etc)

Unknown said...

I loved these guys! And their earlier incarnation, Wicked Pygmy, played in my living room off the Penn campus, Summer of '87 or '88?

Ryan Shepard said...

Would you consider re-upping this? I stumbled on this record almost by accident around the time it came out, and it made a BIG impression on me. Long ago lost my copy in a move and would love to hear it again.

Unknown said...

I'm from NYC and back in 1989 I was in The Cost Of Living and we became friends with The Wishniaks, having played together on similiar bills in Philly and NY. They were a great live band and Andy Chalfen would write killer tunes that would stick with you.

Bloodmoney said...

Well, Andrew is right that their sole Long Player, , got caught up in the nightmare that Skyclad became, though Get Hip might still have a few copies. But this record I have a box or two left of. If you are interested in getting a copy, or one or the 7"s, you can write me at fs.morejunk@gmail.com.

David M. Snyder