The Continentals - Fizz Pop (Modern Rock) ep (1980, Epic)

Recently had a request for this one.  The Continentals Fizz Pop... 10" ep was released in conjunction with two other 10" eps by New Musik and Propaganda on Epic Records as part of their "Nu Disk" series which I opined about in 2009.   This trio was said to be of American descent, but were apparently stationed in the UK.  Indistinctive, but largely effective power pop/AOR in the mold of contemporaries The A's and Tommy Tutone.  Per Discogs this was ostensibly The Continentals parting shot, and was produced by Tommy Erdelyi (Ramone). 

01. Fizz Pop (Modern Rock)
02. Walking Tall
03. Housewives Delight
04. Two Lips From Amsterdam

Hear

Now the phone can ring and ring...

Twenty tracks of singles, rarities and dysfunctional glory from one of the best kept secrets in Athens, GA indie rock, with an emphasis on rock.

Here

Guided by Voices - Beer Thousand Insects Of Rock Tour 10" - Threadwaxing Space, New York, June 25, 1994

This one is pretty cut and dry.  2014 saw the twentieth anniversary of Guided By Voices breakthrough masterstroke, Bee Thousand.  Considering the onstage antics of figurehead Robert Pollard go hand in hand with booze, it was only a matter of time that the tradewinds of cross-marketing would propel the man in question to unite with a hip distillery to craft a hearty new brew.  An expanded Director's Cut reissue of Bee Thousand dropped on the album's tenth anniversary in '04, and I suppose the only fitting way to up the ante ten years later was to let the sweet amber flow.

You can peruse some pertinent details about the collaboration with Dogfish Head brewery here, where you will learn (if you haven't already) about a special 1000 pack bundle of the drink that was paired with an exclusive GBV 10" ep, featuring ten songs from a 1994 gig at New York's Threadwaxing Space.  This particular combo has long sold out, and to my knowledge the music hasn't been made available elsewhere.  That's about to change right about now.  Behold, a veritable dream setlist from the band's storied Pollard/Sprout/Mitchell et al incarnation, and a performance that can ironically be described as...sober.  Go ahead and get hammered.  I'm making this available in FLAC and MP3.

01. Shocker in Gloomtown
02. Non-Absorbing
03. Gold Star for Robot Boy
04. 14 Cheerleader Coldfront
05. Break Even
06. Postal Blowfish
07. Drinker's Peace
08. My Impression Now
09. Echoes Myron
10. I Am a Scientist

MP3  or  FLAC

The Stockings - Red Tango (1981, Rough Diamond)

I've got an Aussie import for you today that I was compelled to track down upon stumbling across an MP3 of The Stockings' "(She's a) Devil."  Hailing from Australia's left coast, this Perth combo indulged in driving, albeit straitlaced power pop/wave without resorting to any obvious gimmicks, not unlike contemporary country-mates the Serious Young Insects, who I featured a spell or two back.  The title track, which opens this thing up, is less than substantive, but once it passes, Red Tango is predominantly if not completely good news.  In addition to the aforementioned "(She's a) Devil," "Good Luck,""Boy Girl," and "Limbo" persuade me just as much.  I'm detecting negligible traces of XTC and Joe Jackson among others, but your results may vary.  An ep and some singles surrounded Red Tango, but it appears the album's track list overlaps heavily.  At any rate, enjoy (or not).

01. Red Tango
02. Limbo
03. This Girl That Girl
04. Make You Cry
05. Mercy Man
06. Good Luck
07. Boy Girls
08. Tiny Voices
09. Relief
10. (She's a) Devil
11. On My Knees

Hear

The Windbreakers - I'll Be Back 12" (1986, DB)

You know 'em, you (should) love 'em, Tim Lee and Bobby Sutliff, the duo aka The Windbreakers, one of the most genuine and consistently gratifying guitar pop acts to emanate from the deep south, circa the Reagan-era.  I've dedicated no shortage of space to them over the tenure of this site, be it via their Electric Landlady and At Home With Bobby and Tim cd reissues, not to mention a couple of Tim Lee side projects.  I have one more morsel from the Windbreakers oeuvre to impart, namely this 12"/ep, featuring the sitar-flavored "I'll Be Back," an emphasis track from the band's 1986 Run LP.  Like the Plimsouls?  You'll be totally down with this tasty jam.  It's backed with two exclusive tracks.  First up it's "Don't Take Her Out of My World," a cover of an early, pre-stardom Katrina and the Waves song.  The final selection, "Things We Never Say" was penned by Lee collaborator Howard Wuefling. 

BTW, in case you weren't aware, Bobby was critically injured in a 2012 car accident, which you can catch up to date on here.  While he was on the mend, a tribute CD, Skrang! Sounds Like Bobby Sutliff was curated to raise funds for his recovery.  It's still available through Paisley Pop. 

A. I'll Be Back
B1. Don't Take Her Out of My World
B2. Things We Never Say

Hear

Your first impression begs for one last try...

Two albums from a late '90s Midwest combo you've likely never heard of...but that's about to change.

Semion - Get a Grip mLP (2000)

The following blurb was taken from issue 49 of Big Takeover magazine.  I remembering liking this one at the time and still do, as well as a full length that followed a few years later.  Semion's website is dormant, and there's not much further info to be had on 'em it appears. 

These indie-Brit power-poppers have a knack for jangly pop that runs the gamut from The Ropers (“Paul Loves Derek”), Teenage Fanclub (“Dumb”), early Sloan (“Sunny”), and even Eugenius (“Year of the Monkee,” which cops a few lines from the Replacements “Talent Show”). While Get a Grip finds Semion cutting their teeth on all the aforementioned, it’s pretty apparent that the band has yet to grow into a fully distinctive sound that they can claim as their own.   Still, with what they presently aspire to, they’re off to a fine start.

01. Paul Loves Derek
02. Theme From Semion
03. Sunny
04. Under the Sea
05. Dumb
06. I Can Dream All Day
07. Year of the Monkee 

Hear

The Straight A's - Scientist tape (1999)

The Straight A's, a co-ed San Diego trio were one of several predecessor bands entailing guitarist Jimmy LaVelle, who would eventually make a name for himself with/as The Album Leaf.  Nonetheless, the focal point of this particular project was Leilani Marie Clark whose emotive vox and clangly chords resonating through the lead-off track "Wash It All Away" make for a blissed-out, two minute surge of peerless indie pop.  The remainder of the cassette doesn't quite maintain "Wash's..." melodious momentum, but the Straight A's tempered angst is still worth delving into.

01. Wash it All Away
02. Bad Habits
03. Queen
04. Linear Regression

Hear

Right as Rain - Undertown (1988, DB)

Hard to believe I dismissed this after one listen.  Were it not for a recent request I may not have given Undertown a second thought.  So far as their earlier material is concerned Right as Rain's straight-shooting take on power pop, emanated undercurrents of everyone from Fire Town to Guadalcanal Diary.  Striking a balance between sturdy riffs and some well apportioned janglier maneuvers, this Atlanta quartet dispenses taut and assertive morsel, including but not limited to "Highway" and "Understand," alongside relatively contemplative pit stops like "Undertow."  There ain't much mystique to Undertown, but it's plentifully persuasive on it's own terms.  It was also released on CD, however this rip was taken from a very clean vinyl copy.  A previous ep is available for the taking here. 

01. Rain
02. A Girl Like Jesus
03. Highway
04. If the World
05. I Believe in You
06. Our Town
07. Undertow
08. Judson Choir
09. Understand
10. Something Happened

Hear

…the water is gasping for your mouth.

From 2007.  My latest addiction.  Time to get in touch with your feminine side.

http://www2.zippyshare.com/v/e4JSVJTE/file.html

Light Sleeper - s/t (2003, Shmat)

I do believe this is the first Wilfully Obscure entry for an Alhambra, CA based band.  It's also one of the mellowest items I've offered in quite some time.  There's no info in the accompanying booklet as to whom comprises Light Sleeper, but I can confirm there's at least one boy and one girl, sharing and trading off on the mic.  Lightweight but not fluffy, twinkly yet barely twee - eight words that describe LS's chilled-out indie pop to a T.  You can find a few further details on this homespun outfit via Shmat Records site, who are apparently no longer vending CDs of this or anything else.

01. Febrile in February
02. Pop Song
03. Melting Point
04. Spellbound
05. Come on Baby
06. Go
07. Indian Giver
08. Leonid Sky
09. Where's My Happy Ending

Hear

Dot Dash - Earthquake & Tidal Waves (2015, The Beautiful Music) - a brief overview.

Between 2011 and '13 Dot Dash released three albums in as many years: Spark>Flame>Ember>Ash, Winter Garden Light and Half-Remembered Dream in that succession.  All stylistically concurrent, those records reliably presented us with approachable, Anglophile indebted post-punk, with a front-loaded pop emphasis.  Dot Dash prime-mover Terry Banks has his formula down pat by now, which largely spills over to album number four - albeit with a few tweaks.  First, the band decamped in North Carolina to track Earthquakes... with the ineffable Mitch Easter.  Secondly a new lead guitarist joined the DD ranks, specifically Steve Hansgen, formally of Minor Threat and Government Issue.  Neither of these developments are tantamount to a quantum leap for these fellows, yet Earthquakes... is indeed distinguishable from the band's trio of precursor albums.  And for the life of me, I can't quite point my finger on what that is.

Sonically, Hansgen contributes some wailing guitar salvos into the mix, predominantly on the leadoff "The Winter of Our Discontent" and "Rainclouds."  Not guitar magazine worthy shredding mind you, but a noticeable change of pace in DD-land.  The first half of Earthquakes... isn't weird or quirky, so much as hackneyed with Banks witty couplets hovering a few notches shy of trite.  "The only feeling left is a dull ache" he quips on "Tatters," and while it's not directly or even indirectly referencing his own combo, that's the sensation I'm left with to varying degrees here.  But not so fast.  Towards album's end we have a fine trifecta of tunes that go a long way in charting Dot Dash back on course.  The buzzing "Transparent Disguise" is downright visceral, "Thru the Dark" lights the way with passionate, pounding resolve, and "Semaphore's" fluttering axe squalls had me wondering if they enlisted the assistance of J. Mascis.  In the grand scheme of things Earthquakes... isn't a major shakeup for Banks and Co., but nor is it of the consequence it's cataclysmic title suggests.

Earthquakes &Tidal Waves is available direct from The Beautiful Music, or iTunes, Bandcamp and Amazon. 

Slanted - Forever (2015) - a brief overview.

As long as there are purveyors of lo-fi, pastiche ridden indie rock like Nashville's Slanted, you can bet I'll be willing to lend an ear (maybe even two).  Their debut, Forever is a gauzy mesh of Polvo guitar tunings, half-smothered vox (courtesy of ex-Diarrhea Planet's Casey Weissbuch) and a grab bag of enchanting foibles and techniques, batting many an eyelash to the "masters": Guided by Voices, Pavement, early Dino J, etc.  The highlight here, "Little Pocket/Bread House Bonanza," attaches scuzzy guitars to a skewed pop context, not unlike another one of my faves I've presented to you before, further.  Elsewhere, the hooks are tucked inside tunes with a subtler bent - "Sign," "Disc," while the going gets considerably more noisome on "Dog" and "Chris Takes."  I wish I had a more eloquent way of conveying that Forever is a promising debut, but I suppose I'll leave it at that.  Go get it from a price of your own choosing on Bandcamp.

Sammy "Babe Come Down" 7'' (1993, Smells Like)

In June of 1992 I remember buying Pavement's Slanted and Enchanted without hearing a note beforehand.  The only things informing that purchase were reviews and personal recommendations.  It proved to be a safe bet, even if I wasn't as bowled over as some of the press was.  Pavement had something genuinely indigenous and fresh to offer, so much so that I would never guess that in merely two years time that a trio of New Yorkers dubbed Sammy would belly up to the bar with a full length that sounded more like an appropriate follow-up to Slanted than Pavement's own Crooked Rain.  Sammy, bearing their Debut Album in 1994, were a seemingly slavish imitation, right down to Jesse Hartman's virtually total usurpation of Steve Malkmus' vocal prowess...which perhaps wasn't so indigenous and unique after all.

Truth is, Sammy had some incredible moments in their own right, first and foremost "Babe Come Down."  Steve and Co. had "Summer Babe," and Sammy elected to keep up with the Joneses, sporting a "babe" of their own, sans the minerals, ice deposits, and nibbling on fingers.  With it's bittersweet melody, subtly bendy guitar line, and doleful but none-too-maudlin verses regarding a fading romance, "Babe Come Down" is indescribably evocative of an era that was yet to be tainted by social media, ubiquitous cell phones, and yes, blogs.  A spellbinding perfect ten, despite it's near-plagiaristic tendencies.  The flip, "Roach Girl," was exclusive to this record.  Another good 'un, albeit illustrating Sammy were considerably more pedestrian than their telltale heroes.  I made a later Sammy single available here some moons ago. 

A. Babe Come Down
B. Roach Girl 

Hear

Clay Idols - Every Day Starts Like This ep (1988, Genius)

Every Day Starts Like This is the ep that preceded an LP by the Clay Idols I posted a few years ago called Falling Down Backwards.  Thoughtful, strummy guitar pop dangling toward the acoustic end of the spectrum, with some occasional crunch.  Perhaps not left enough for left-of-the-dial outlets, the Idols took themselves slightly seriously, a la Miracle Legion, and to a lesser extent early Toad the Wet Sprocket.  It's obvious from the get go that frontman Steven Schayer (brother to future Bad Religion drummer Bobby Schayer) is the immensely determined driving force propelling this band.  His timbre is none-too-dissimilar to that of John Faye, the crooner for The Caulfields and Beat Clinic (my apologies for such an arcane reference point).  I've noticed, the Clay Idol's were at their most rockin' when Schayer tamped down his more introspective inclinations, but by and large, Every Day's... every moment is worthwhile.

01. Nothing Lasts Forever
02. I Told the World
03. It's Raining Voices
04. The Blind Go Quietly
05. A New History Book

Hear

All I know is I'm hungry...

A 1988 debut, and by the looks of it, this quintet's
sole album.  From Limerick I believe.  Not quintessential Wilfully Obscure fare, but damn, what a colossal hook in that first song...

http://www5.zippyshare.com/v/XuB76UAg/file.html

Jawbox - My Scrapbook of Fatal Accidents 2xLP (Arctic Rodeo) & Zonaea Apocalypse Beach (2015, Zoo & a Movie)

I just had a particular thought prior to writing this.  Had vinyl not taken it's steep and steady decline in the '80s and '90s in favor of CDs, we would have potentially been treated to an array of spectacular LP jacket gatefolds and ingenious packaging.  Of course, the worm has turned in the other direction in the last five to ten years, and now we're actually being treated to more visual and tangible delights than we have Samolians to shell out for.  Jawbox's odds and sods double album makes a good case in point.  My Scrapbook of Fatal Accidents was originally released in 1998 only in a compact disk iteration.  While any Jawbox fan worth their salt already owns this collection, they have a real incentive to obtain it again, as Arctic Rodeo Records out of Hamburg, Germany have done a marvelous job of repackaging it as a colored vinyl, double LP set.  Per the photo above, mine is outfitted in a seaworthy blue/turquoise hue, and from what I understand purple is still an available option.  Like the DeSoto Records CD incarnation of Scrapbook..., this freshly minted wax comes with not one, but two booklets, one of which is a veritable scrapbook in itself of on and offstage Jawbox photographs and concert posters.  The other is text only, spelling out a thorough discography and gigography.  Last but not least, Arctic Rodeo's reissue contains an extra track, a cover of Tori Amos' "Cornflake Girl," which first appeared as a hidden track on the CD version of Jawbox's self-titled parting album.

Perhaps it's not realistic to encourage those uninitiated with Jawbox's smart, tuneful post-hardcore incisiveness to delve in with such a tricked-out package as this, yet Scrapbook touches on all phases of their tenure.  Essentially divided into four quadrants, the records make a case for this D.C. quartet by way of a 1994 Peel Session (circa their For Your Own Special Sweetheart LP), compilation appearances and b-sides, four live numbers from their RFK Stadium performance in 1996 as part of the HFStival, and an assemblage of cover tunes featuring interpretations of REM, Buzzcocks, Minutemen, and the Big Boys songs among others.   The vinyl edition of Scrapbook is available from Arctic Rodeo mailorder, Dischord, and  RevHQ.  BTW, several years ago I posted an unofficial "sequel" to My Scrapbook of Fatal Accidents, prepared by a fan containing a whole 'nother set of non-LP and live Jawbox goodies that's yours for the taking here.


As the phrase goes, they come in twos.  It's a new Zonaea record, in stunning splatter on clear wax no less.  I introduced you to this Charleston, SC bunch two years ago by way of their first ep, As the Stars Collapse.  They're as noisenik and mathy as ever, and they've got a truckload of unwieldy dynamics to prove it.  The soft/loud/soft quotient is in full effect on the shape-shifting opener, "Ghost Cycle: Ghost Mom," as well as it's immediate follow-up "Ghost Dad." Shortly thereafter, the trio go to the trouble of covering one of Sebadoh's deeper album cuts (Harmacy's "Crystal Gypsy") however it's one of Zonaea's own songs, the comparatively melodic "Eviscerate Me" that could pass for a primo Barlow/Lowenstein composition.  Apocalypse Beach is available physically in an extremely limited edition of 150 copies, and it actually comes in a more colorful sleeve than what I've depicted.  It can be obtained through their Bandcamp hovel, and if vinyl isn't your bag, there's a name your price download option as well.

V/A - Teen Line, Vol. 1 (covering 1977-86)

The Teen Line compilation series was the province of an archivist(s) falling under the larger Hyped to Death umbrella.  H2D was/is a fan-curated venture dedicating to exploring and exposing bygone DIY cult-classic recordings.  The Hyped to Death series itself was dedicated to American punk and like-minded variants thereof.  The H2D tent also housed the Messthetics series of homegrown post-punk and dissonant rock, extending to Europe.  The Teen Line compilations were more in my wheelhouse, with an emphasis on power pop singles, some exceedingly scarce and collectible.  Deriving it's name from a Shivvers song (included here), the eight volumes in the TL series were designed alphabetically around the first letter of the artist name.  R&S are the magic letters for Vol. 1, ironically not A-B, which featured later in the series.  Several letters of the alphabet are neglected altogether in the Teen Line collections, as future postings will reveal.  I'm working under the assumption that there were to be more Teen Line compilations to encompass the entire alphabet, but for whatever the reason the original concept for the series was never fully realized.

For a relatively informal string of cd-r compendiums, the folks at Hyped to Death exercised impeccable quality control, albeit their releases offered little in the way of household recognition.  In fact there's merely one outfit here your local person on the street might successfully identify, that being the Romantics. Combos like the Speedies, Scruffs, Riff Doctors, and the Sex Clark Five nonetheless left an indelible mark on those that were fortunate to encounter them, often wielding hooks and rhythms rivaling the par excellence output of more renown acts like the Shoes and 20/20.  In fact, think of the Teen Line compilations as the '80s equivalent of the Yellow Pills series.  An embarrassment of riches for any power pop connoisseur.  I don't have time to go into a play-by-play of Volume 1's teaming 28-song cavalcade, but the booklet does, and I've thoughtfully scanned it into the folder.  The tracklist is to your left.  Bear in mind, many of the tracks within were sourced from vinyl.

Hear

Hiatus.

King of long overdue, eh?  Will be back by the end of the week.  Be good.

Tell me lies, that’s what I’d rather hear from you.

A retrospective spanning 1981-84 from an unheralded Boston post-punk act (and it's not Mission of Burma).



http://www26.zippyshare.com/v/zwBFX8S2/file.html

Iron and Wine - Archive Series, Vol. 1 (2015, Black Cricket Recording Co.) - a brief overview.

To encounter Iron and Wine for the first time is one thing.  Bonding with Iron and Wine is quite another.  Of course not everyone who hears Sam Beam makes the connection.  For me, it was hearing the lullaby vignette "Jesus the Mexican Boy" on college radio, circa 2003, that whet my appetite.  I wanted to hear more, and I did.  Quite a bit more in fact.  In addition to his first official Sub Pop releases of acoustic home recordings, The Creek Drank the Cradle and The Sea & the Rhythm, there was a bevy of outtakes from the same session.  Transferred through the post-Napster, peer-to-peer speakeasies, these leftovers made "the rounds" if you will, and I indulged as much as the next guy.  The bonding part, however, transpired under less than preferable circumstances.

Around this time my Mom had passed away, and the responsibility fell upon me to clean out her house before placing it on the market.  It was a time of intermittent despondency, but in those rare moments where I was emotionally strong enough to carry out anything constructive I occasionally listened to music.  It was a shortlist of a soundtrack for sure - Slowdive, Pale Saints, This Mortal Coil, Glide...and a cd-r of various Iron and Wine selections.  Sam Beam's hushed soliloquies hardly had the capability of healing me, though at the very least they were impeccably consoling.  A bond had been formed, just as it had for perhaps thousands of other listeners, hopefully under less grievous circumstances.

Many comparisons have been leveled at Sam Beam ranging from Robert Johnson to Nick Drake, yet there are no definitive parallels.  Lo-fi is a term that's downright mandatory in any written description of his homegrown tapings.  These recordings sound not merely analog, but rustic - so much so that one get's the impression that Beam's four-track recorder isn't powered by "D" batteries so much as an actual hand crank.  Surely that's a sorry stab at hyperbole on my part, but when I hear Iron and Wine I envision Beam working in a creaky, candlelit attic placing a small piece of tape over the removed tab of a Cat Steven's cassette, plunging it into his Tascam, and letting it flow.  Beyond the aforementioned sonic aesthetic, our man's timbre is an invariably hushed, telephone whisper, perhaps a tad too close to the mic.  All ballads too, with an emphasis on heavy-hearted romantic ruminations, often incorporating slice-of-life tangents.  That's a bit of an oversimplification, but for the unacquainted, think folk music sans the social agenda, or singer/songwriter craftsmanship minus ego. 

As for Archive Series Vol. 1 itself, this sixteen song collection is culled primarily from tapes that slightly pre-dated the three dozen or some odd songs that birthed the watershed The Creek Drank the Cradle session.  From my per view as an archivist of those MP3 bootlegs, the bulk of Archive's sixteen-song set-list is wholly unreleased in any guise.  Cut from the same earnest sackcloth as the rest of his early output, there are no stylistic departures here.  In essence, the approach to titles like "Loretta," "Beyond the Fence," and "The Wind is Low" isn't a revelation itself, rather the songs are, ergo Archive Series Vol. 1 will be of immense interest established customers.  The unacquainted may want to reach for Iron and Wine's Sub Pop records first, but if and when they're convinced, they can backtrack to this enticing prequel.    You can find stream "Everyone's Summer of 95" below, and purchase the album direct from Black Cricket, or iTunes and Amazon.

Game Theory - Real Nightime (1985/2015 reissue, Omnivore) - a brief overview.

In all honesty, I didn't catch wind of Game Theory until the game was long over.  And it wasn't because I was a Loud Family fan first and worked my way backward.  I was merely a late bloomer. In the late '90s I was belatedly introduced to Scott Miller and Co., while I was beginning to indulge in another bygone band that had off of Mitch Easter's power grid, The dB's.  I can't recall the exact circumstances that led to my Game Theory plunge (perhaps a used copy of The Big Shot Chronicles procured at a local record shop)?  To cut to the chase, I didn't have the luxury of experiencing the band's evolution from nascent college kids to baroque indie visionaries.  I've heard lots of people, critics and music fans alike, extoll praise regarding Real Nighttime's overarching magnificence - and it's plenty warranted.  As music scribe Pat Thomas phrases it in the first paragraph of the liner notes to the fresh Omnivore reissue of 1985's Real Nighttime, "...in many ways this is Game Theory's first real album."  If you delve further into the text, you'll understand more specifically why he makes that claim, but there in fact was a first Game Theory album, Blaze of Glory, that was no slouch, spawning stunning, deftly arranged tunes like "Sleeping Through Heaven," that would equal anything on G/T's subsequent releases.

That being said, Real Nighttime was the pinnacle of Scott Miller's output at the time (and arguably, ever).  Mitch Easter was occupying the producer's stead, and not only does he maximize and expand Game Theory's sonic capabilities he elevates the group's wherewithal.  The vague esoteric tendencies that populated the band's earlier oeuvre are even vaguer on Nighttime, yet neither Miller or Easter seemed to be gunning for a streamlined, radio-friendly modus operandi.  This may have cost the band commercially, but had they pursued the opposite we might be looking back on them in disdain.  The seemingly intricate arrangements that garnished Blaze of Glory and it's two succeeding EPs, were tightened, not tweaked, and made more lucid without conceding to any of Miller's original intent.  

Game Theory scale perilously dazzling, melody infused heights on "Curse of the Frontier Land," "Waltz the Halls Always," and the tempo-shifting title track.  There's an anthemic moxie to all of the aforementioned, akin to what REM subtly achieved on Murmur a couple years prior.  The propulsive "Friend of the Family," is as close to punk as anything Game Theory attempted, and they do so with ample punch and vigor.  The pristine "24" find's Miller in a relatively soul-bearing light, and a rendition of Big Star's "You Can't Have Me," manages to sound even more stark and distinct than the original.  Be it rhythms, arrangements, or whatever, there's a certain sway to a Game Theory record and Real Nighttime manages to enhance this penchant that much more.

The Omnivore Records reissue of Real Nighttime tacks on an albums worth of bonus material.  The nine live cuts entail a casual reading of Gerry Rafferty's "Baker Street" (sans saxophone), a bevy of songs from the then current album and the barely vintage "Metal and Glass Exact."  "Any Other Hand" is reprised from the original ...Nighttime reissue on Alias Records.  A solo home demo, "Lily of the Valley (not the gospel standard) closes things out.  The booklet features among other things, an in-depth interview with Mitch Easter.  You can experience all of it direct from Omnivore, iTunes, Amazon and all the usual suspects.

I'm jumping up and down, I'm choking on a Tootsie Roll...

So it was announced in late 2014 that after 21 years apart, the Juliana Hatfield Three were reuniting - Jules, bassist Dean Fisher and drummer Todd Phillips.  It was the lineup responsible for the 1993's quasi hit album, Become What You Are, spawning the alterna-classics "My Sister" and "Spin the Bottle." This inevitably meant a requisite tour (in progress, btw) wherein the threesome would perform said album front to back.  While I wasn't utterly stoked on that aspect alone, the revelation of a new JH3 platter (crowd-sourced in part by yours truly) held even greater promise.  After all, Become... was the most substantive record of her career, post-Blake Babies, and maybe the reunion would rekindle some of those Clinton-era embers.

By the results of this year's Whatever, My Love, my suspicions were largely confirmed, as it housed some of Juliana's best songs since the 2001 Blake Babies reunion disk God Bless...  Closer to the release of Whatever, it was revealed that some of the songs were written and demo'd as far back as the mid-90s.  Coincidentally, some of those demos were temporarily made available as MP3s to the public via Jules website in the late '00s.  In fact dozens of songs were "leaked," most never released in any other iteration.  They've long since been taken down, but among the tracks I was fortunate to capture were no less than five songs that were re-recorded for Whatever, My Love, namely: "Invisible," "If I Could," "I'm Shy," "Ordinary Guy," and lastly "Now That I've Found You."  Now, wouldn't it be a hoot to hear demos of all the aforementioned?  You're in luck, because I'm making that proposal a reality - and not just for the sake of it.  These are some real, true-blue gems here, with hooks that leave miles of devastation in their wake.  But there's more.  I'm also including "Eye to Eye," my favorite selection from the unreleased, aborted, and quite fabled God's Foot album, the record Juliana had intended to deliver after Only Everything.  I also tossed in another good random website track, "Never Coming Out" dating back to 1996.

And it gets even better.  I'm padding this set out with seven long out of print b-sides from Juliana's '90s halcyon era.  "Ruthless," "Baby's Not My Name," and "Girl In Old Blue Volvo Disowns Self" parallel or surpass her most golden album cuts.  I should note that "Feed Me," culled from the I See You ep. is a rewrite of the Blake Babies "Boiled Potato."  A loose tracklist is below, but you dictate the sequence.

If you enjoyed the demos, please consider purchasing Whatever, My Love from American Laundromat, iTunes, Amazon and elsewhere.   Support the band!  One more thing - I re-upped a 1997 Juliana Hatfield concert in Toronto that you can check out here.

Demos, etc.
If I Could (2000)
I'm Shy (1997)
Invisible (2000)
Now That I Have Found You (1998)
Ordinary Guy (1998)
Never Coming Out (1996)
Eye to Eye (from God's Foot)

B-sides
Feed Me
Here Comes The Pain
Put It Away
Ruthless
Hello my Name is Baby
I Got No Idols (Piano Version)
Girl In Old Blue Volvo Disowns Self

Hear

Social Club - Flogging Peasants (1988, Petroleum By-Products)

Looks like this is the first entry I've dedicated to a San Jose combo (well, Cupertino anyway).  Close enough.  Social Club were your basic four-piece setup, more left-off-the-dial than left-of-the-dial by the sound of things.  I'm digging the lead-off number here, "Left to Understand," which bears a healthy dollop of the stamina and fervor of period Replacements or Buck Pets.  It's kinda downhill from there, but side-two's commencing "Jump Something Big," is the surlier and darker cousin to the aforementioned flipside cut.  A couple of appealing janglier stabs too - "Hide Your Tears," "Last Chance Home."  As for the rest, Flogging Peasants gets a little bit pedestrian in spots, vaguely reminiscent of David & David, but I'm not really complaining.  And I doubt you'll be either.

01. Left to Understand
02. Nothing New
03. Everywhere
04. Hide Your Tears
05. What Difference
06. Jump Something Big
07. Last Chance Home
08. Kook
09. Gotta Go
10. Up in the Sky

Hear

Did our chemistry cause a chain reaction?

From 1980.  This album garnered comparisons to Elvis Costello.  Go figure.

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