I learned my lesson while I slept eternally.

This band isn't especially renown for their b-sides, but that didn't stop them from curating a presentable compilation of them in 2002.

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

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Bootcamp - s/t ep (1985)

So, I didn't exactly shower you with content this week, but since I had this ready to go I figured, why not?  I've got a buddy that's eternally wed to MTV's nascent era, specifically from the early to mid '80s.  He often requests I burn him music from lesser known acts, and by and large I'm probably the best source he has (not that I'm bragging).  While a lot of us have our ear to the ground, my friend in question had one very much glued to the screen, and is endlessly fascinated with early MTV playlists - that and the hundreds if not thousands of hopeful acts who never released much beyond a locally distributed single/LP whom also had the gumption to film a DIY video in hopes of it being aired nationally on a show like the network's much missed Basement Tapes.  Barring that small miracle, these artists might have equally lucked out by virtue of having their clip played once or twice in the wee hours of the morning.  

My understanding is that Bootcamp, a quartet with roots in Baltimore, submitted multiple videos to the outlet when they were still accumulating their now cobwebbed and largely forgotten library.  To their credit, these blokes were a lot more proficient than your average local yokels, and nearly succeeded at having their AOR and devouring their new wave cake to boot.  Their overall shtick virtually paralleled that of contemporaries the Producers, and maybe less the likes of the Outfield.  More polish than grit for certain, yet virtually every moment here lands in the comfortable pocket the band seemed to be striving for.  It appears Bootcamp CD-R reissues were once a thing, and I know a few songs have cropped up on Amazon digital, so don't be surprised if the link below eventually earns the strikethrough treatment.

01. A Woman's Touch

02. Shoot the Moon

03. Get a Hold of Yourself

04. Fire in the Hole

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The Crepitos - We Just Wanna Have Some Fun 7'' (1995, No Tomorrow)

This is one of about a half dozen singles pumped out by León Spain's, The Crepitos, who managed to bring one studio LP into the world circa 1995 (Pop 3000), coincidentally the same year that this very 45 was minted.  Questionable cover art aside, the rear of this sleeve finds the five-piece in question donning garagey-punk garb, whereas the Crepito's sonic aplomb hits closer to a lively, driving power-pop vein.  The first b-side here, "Far and Wide" inserts sweetly churning organ fills that merely accent the proceedings without dominating them, while the comparatively downtempo "Between You and Me," emanates faint but soulful Elvis Costello tinctures.  

A. Flock of Dumbs

B1. Far and Wide

B2. Between You & Me

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So many times I waited for you. I figured it out and now we're through.

From 2009.  Threw in a couple of extra tidbits, including a little something for you Greg Dulli fans in the audience. 

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

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Fixed Up - Vital Hours (1987, I.D./Closer)

I just can't escape the specter of 1987.  I've already posted two more titles from that year in recent weeks, but it's more coincidence than anything else.  And I can't say this French trio necessarily sounded like a product of their era, barely echoing the more mainstream foundations thereof.  Vital Hours is my first (and perhaps last) encounter with Fixed Up, whose dense aplomb wasn't straight-up garage punk, but at moments they resemble a nuanced hybrid of Lime Spiders bumping elbows with Hanoi Rocks. Fixed Up aren't exactly reinventing the wheel, but why futz with the formula considering such driving rave-up as "Purple Flashes" and the grand trifecta of tunes that close out Vital...? To my ears, the brass section augmented to "The Limit of a Legend" and "One Night Stand" makes for something of a fly in the ointment, as these chaps were in no way, shape or form The Saints.  That aside, other than a little sameness no complaints.

01. Purple Flashes

02. My Love For You

03. What's the News Today?

04. Between Her Hands

05. Speed Ahead

06. The Limit of a Legend

07. One Night Stand

08. Taste of Love

09. Physical World

10. Have You Ever Felt The Creeping Fear

11. Red Hot

12. Teenage Power

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When does this world keep away from me?

The 1988 swan song from one of the era's most consistent pop auteurs.  

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

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Claude Pāte 7" (1987, Pravada)

Following up my post from last night, here's another salvo from '87.  When I belatedly encountered Claude Pāte on the Iowa Compilation (also from 1987) I knew virtually nothing about them, except that I was eager to hear more.  Of their two proper releases, this 45 is all I own thus far, but if you're hankering for straight-up, no frills rock and roll, C/P satisfy along the same lines as Fire Town, Snatches of Pink, and Carnival Season (wilfully obscure references, I know). And btw, they were a band (a trio to be exact), not an individual.  The everyman grippes presented in their songs are seasoned with grit, earnestness, and riffy power chords, however these guys had enough class to keep things from careening off the rails.  

A. I Will, If You Will

B. Ain't There/It's Gone

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Roy G Biv - s/t ep (1987, Whitelight)

If not an outright cold case, Minneapolis' Roy G Biv didn't exactly leave behind a proverbial trail of crumbs with the exception of this disk.  This quartet clocked in/out circa that late '80s era when punks were slowing down a notch and getting more tuneful.  Ramshackle, albeit not particularly abrasive these boys could've rubbed shoulders with contemporaries the Nils and Junk Monkeys, when they felt enthused enough to apply themselves to such inspired nuggets as "Off My Path" and "Poor Little Baby."   Four songs does not a long record make, and frankly, "Carousel" could have used some editing, usurping a valuable five+ minutes here.  The folks that put together the Homework cd-r comp series must have been impressed, as "Off My Path" appeared on volume 4. 

01. Dallas

02. Off My Path

03. Carousel

04. Poor Little Baby

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One hundred cigarettes all alight...

"Field recordings" from a short-lived, UK post-punk proposition circa 1979-81, who never realized their loftier ambitions.

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God's Eye - Love's a Bargain (1990, 20/20)

Last year you came for God's Eye's "Back Again" 45, not realizing it was actually dessert for their main course, Love's a Bargain.  Not necessarily in league with the likes of other Beantown combos, Buffalo Tom or The Lemonhead's G/E do conjure the overarching modus operandi of the John Strohm/Freda Love fronted post-Blake Babies combo, Antenna.  This is to say, while God's Eye weren't innovators they were still passable. The aforementioned single "Back Again" is for better or worse the centerpiece of ...Bargain, wielding a big, juicy colossal hook - but was this nugget so potent that the trio in question weren't able to transcend it?  As for the album writ large, I might have to offer a reluctant "yes," yet it's still worth a few rotations. Merely one ep followed ...Bargain so we can only wonder if a hypothetical sophomore God's Eye album would have yielded the sort of knock-out punch suggested by "Back Again."

01. Rapunzel 

02. Back Again

03. Overground

04. Sea Chantey

05. Liberty

06. All Adds Up

07. Bright

08. Trial Size Hearts

09. Good Years

10. For Example

11. What's Love Worth

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