further - grimes golden ep (1994)

Imagine the joy on that summer day in 1993, when further's debut Griptape landed in my lap courtesy of the music director of the college station that I dj'd at, WBNY. I say joy because by then the Lou Barlow-free Dino Jr just wasn't cutting it for me. As anyone who has experienced further's scattershot first two albums, Griptape and Sometimes Chimes (both released by the micro-indie label, Christmas) it was clear that these saviors of indie-rawk were here to replenish the Barlow-void in the most lo-fi, and feedback friendly-way possible.

The Grimes Golden, or if you wish Golden Grimes ep followed the aforementioned albums in 1994. There was plenty of further singles and extended-players that preceded Grimes, but this one made it's way onto CD, which of course translated into convenience and accessibility. Stating the obvious I suppose, but it wasn't until this ep that further really embraced the whole splice and dice, cut and paste eccentrism of a certain band named seBADoh. This ep was the weirdest offering from the further oeuvre at that time, but along with that weirdness came bona fide melodic sensibilities, manifested in songs like "Quiet Riot Grrrl," and "California Bummer." This nine-song collection, in my opinion, is the most memorable and concise record they ever made.

As for a back story, further prime-movers Darren and Brent Rademaker had a stint in Shadowland, a major label outfit that was long on corporate pandering, and low on credibility.

More info on further can be found here and here. Brent Rademaker and future further member Chris Gunst would later go onto Beachwood Sparks and The Tyde, but nobody in the world is familiar with those bands, right?

01. California Bummer

02. Inert Pieces

03. Quiet Riot Grrrl

04. Summer Shorts

05. Artificial Freedom

06. 20 Pages

07. This Time Around

08. Teenage Soul

09. ...v.s. livingston seagull

 

Hear

further - griptape (1992, Christmas) + grimes golden ep (1994) re-up

I recently had a request for a re-up of further's grimes golden ep that I shared way back when I first began Wilfully Obscure.  That inquisitive requester also challenged me to posting further's super griptape disk, which unfortunately I don't own, but I'm compensating with the original version of griptape, which unfortunately offers fewer songs than said "super" version.  A completists nightmare, I know.

You can read a more detailed account of further's backstory here and here.  griptape was their first album. Upon it's release, it was pretty obvious to anyone who heard this wonderfully derivative, lo-fi sprawl that these guys picked up the ball J Mascis pitifully dropped after Dinosaur Jr.'s 1988 masterpiece, Bug.   Over the course of a second album, Sometimes Chimes, the aforementioned Grimes Golden ep and a few more short form releases, further evolved in much the same way Lou Barlow reinvented himself via Sebadoh.  All of their recordings were issued on micro-labels, like their own in-house Christmas Records imprint.  After dissolving in the mid-90s, members of further graduated to Beachwood Sparks and The Tyde.

griptape
01. Overrated
02. Filling Station
03. Flounder (Ubel)
04. Real Gone
05. Gimme Indie Fox
06. Still
07. Smudge
08. Greasy
09. Bazzoka
10. Fix It's Broken
11. Don't Need a Rope
12. Fantastic Now
13. Under and In
14. The Death of an A+R Man
15. Westward Ho

See tracklist for Grimes Golden here.

griptape: hear
grimes golden: hear

further - sometimes chimes (1994, Christmas)

Recently had a request for this long overlooked mid-90s artifact. I shared a further ep way back in '07 called Golden Grimes, that's still available for the taking. Consisting of Darren and Brent Rademaker, once of major label flunkies Shadowland, further was something of a 180 degree reaction to that regrettable endeavor. After imbibing an overdose of SST-era Dino Jr, Sentridoh, and perhaps a swig or two of Polvo, Darren and Brent decided to extend their spin on mid-fi indie rawk to a rather indifferent public, save for a few college radio djs and fanzine scribes. Sometimes Chimes, their second and final proper LP, was by far and away their lengthiest release, clocking in at over an hour with two-dozen plus selections of clangly noise pop. If you ever wondered what the "bridge" between post-Bug Dinosaur Jr and Lou Barlow's fully realized vision of Sebadoh (circa Bubble and Scrape) would amount to, Chimes will give you a fairly spot on idea. It features some of their finest moments, including "She Lives By the Castle 2," "Generic 7," and a cover of Unrest's "Isabel." Look for more further to come on Wilfully Obscure.

01. surfing pointers
02. generic 7
03. duck pond
04. ferrets and weasels
05. brian and ray
06. she lives by the castle 2
07. the kindergarten set
08. phase out
09. j.o. 2
10. unstuck
11. sometimes too
12. pioneer 10
13. isabel
14. jaded ball
15. doof amuz 6 (the love machine)
16. going to glendora
17. traction in the rain
18. ride
19. big spoon
20. katdancer
21. sickness
22. organ doner
23. further doh jr-q
24. alternative ulcer
25. new glass
26. untitled

Hear

Splitting the Difference # 28 & 29 - FSR Invention Series - Fluf/Further & Bum/Innerface (1993/94, First Strike)

Decided to pair these together considering they're both part of the "Invention" 7" singles on the British First Strike Recordings imprint. As you can tell by a brief glance of the sleeve art, there's an oddball theme going on here, namely some curious contraptions that never made it past the blueprint phase, but really nothing to do with the music at hand.

Denizens of southern California, Fluf and Further have graced these hallowed pages before. Fluf of course, featuring the noted Otis "O" Barthoulameu as ringmaster, were San Diegan purveyors of grungy pop throughout the better part of the '90s. Their cut here, "Lobster Tree" was also compiled on their singles compilation The Classic Years, which you can revel in another track from on Myspace. Futher's rather fractured brand of noise-pop drew heavy inspiration from early Dino Jr and early Sebadoh. You can listen to their Grimes Golden ep by going here. In the bio I wrote for them, I discussed their Sometimes Chimes CD. "She Lives by the Castle 2" is a slightly alternate version one of the many tracks from that teaming album.

I recently uploaded an inventory of Bum's 7" repertoire, but somehow their side of this split 7" with Innerface was omitted. I believe their "Resolution #1-21" is exclusive to this wax. As for Belgium's Innerface, if you have an appreciation for the Doughboys it's a safe bet you'll like their two tracks. Seriously, would I steer you wrong?

 

A. fluf - Lobster Tree
B. Further - She Lives by the Castle 2

 

A. Bum - Resolution #1-21

B1. Innerface - Headache

B2. Innerface - 8 am

 

Fluf/Further 7": Hear

Bum/Innerface 7": Hear

Welcome to Wilfully Osbcure, I'll be your blogger for today

Greetings and salutations ladies and gentlemen to Wilfully Obscure, my feeble attempt to channel the neglected corridors of my music collection into something other than dust-gathering artifacts.

While I primarily plan on sticking to the aforementioned genres, (see header) rest assured there will be plenty of breathing room. The emphasis here is on out of print, and otherwise unreleased recordings by artists that I feel are worthy of further exposure

If there are any questions, objections, concerns, reveries, requests, (and my personal favorite) praise, may I direct you to my profile for further information. Special thanks go out to Scott Rothschild, for enlightening me on the phrase this blog derives it's moniker from. Without further a do bon appetit!

First & Second nights of Chanukah: Big Star - I Got Kinda Lost 8 CD "box set" with live bonus.

**The music links in this file are no longer active, as I have not been granted permission to share them.  My apologies and thanks for your interest.**   

Where do I even begin with this one?   First and foremost, here's the general basis behind this whole mondo ball of menorah candle wax.  The 162-song I Got Kinda Lost is not a physical product (despite the jewel-box thumbnails depicted a little further below).

Initially prepared in 2007 by an obsessive Big Star adherent(s) as a four disk compilation, IGKL represented a parallel version of the band's catalog with all material represented in the form of demos/alternate takes/mixes/outtakes and the like.  It was expanded to double that length some six years later, coincidentally or not after, the release of the official 2009 Big Star box set, Keep An Eye on the Sky, and in 2013, the Nothing Can Hurt Me documentary soundtrack.  In essence, the premise of IGKL was to corral every abandoned take or mix of every Big Star song known to exist that didn't carry over to the group's original three albums: #1 Record, Radio City, and Third/Sister Lovers, circa 1972-75.  For an even better frame of reference, this collection serves the same function as Bob Dylan's recently released omnibus, The Cutting Edge - not a single note left behind.  Additionally, it excavates the prehistory of Alex Chilton and Chris Bell prior to joining forces in Big Star.  For a more "together" wrap of what this set entails here's a blurb from the liner notes (included in disk one).

This is the expanded 'I Got Kinda Lost' unofficial Big Star box set. Previously this set contained four discs and was jam packed with all kinds of Big Star related tracks.  Like the previous incarnations of 'I Got Kinda Lost', this expanded 2013 release attempts to tell the story chronologically of Big Star through their studio outtakes and alternate versions by keeping it more Big Star-centric through the prism of Chris Bell and Alex Chilton - the architects of the band.

The tracks are split up between the CD's to a timeline that carries the listener from 1965 to roughly 1975.

This massive compilation is what one would call a 'fantasy release'. It's designed to look 'official' but clearly it is not.  In fact, this box set carries a fake catalog number - ST100/6 which is a direct homage to Chris Bell and Andy Hummel who briefly had the idea (as a joke) that if Ardent/Stax didn't release their completed #1 Record they were going to do it themselves (à la bootleg it) and give it the mythical catalog number ST100/6. Their little idea has now come full circle back to that very same idea, like a bridge to the past.

With that out of the way you're likely to want to see the tracklist NOW.  You can do so in pictures of the sleeve art here.  Each disk contains a folder of all scans specific to that CD. I have provided a brief disk-by-disk synopsis' below, however I offer all of this to you with a few vital caveats to bear in mind before diving into the well.

• If you're new to Big Star, this rabbit hole is waaaaaay to deep of a pit to plunge into.  IGKL is designed for completists and is bound to alienate neophytes, or for that matter even casual fans.  Not everyone in the world is going to benefit from six different iterations of "The Ballad of El Goodo."
• Secondly, and even more significantly, Jody Stephens and the respective estates of Alex Chilton, Chris Bell and Andy Hummel, not to mention Ardent Records mainstay John Fry are not receiving any money from this hypothetical release.  You only have your own conscience to wrestle with, but if you opt to partake in any or all of this collection, my hope is that you've supported Big Star in the past or plan to do so, preferably via album purchases.
• The majority of this material is unreleased...then again some of it may be commercially available again.  I present all of this to you on a wing and a prayer that no one objects.  

Onto the disk-by-disk summaries.  Links to both MP3s and lossless FLAC are provided.

Disk 1. An all pre-Big Star affair beginning with four cuts from the short-lived Memphis combo The Jynx, featuring Chris Bell on guitar.  A bit further in our some psych guitar workouts from Chris, as well as recordings from his collaboration with singer/songwriter Terry Manning.  The latter half of disk consists of alternate takes from Alex Chilton's 1970 Sessions.  23 tracks total.

Disk 2.  Commences with five tracks with Terry Manning teaming up with Alex.  Among the tunes is the irrepressible bubblegum chestnut "Sugar Sugar."  The bulk of the disk is all Chris, and his two immediate precursors to Big Star, Rock City and Icewater (yep, all one word).  I prefer Icewater'a tunes to Rock City's by a hair.  Early versions of "Feel" and "My Life is Right" make appearances.  20 tracks in all.

Disk 3.  Here's where the first ladle of gravy meets the plate.  Alternate takes and mixes for the first half of #1 Record, including a fairly radical alternate recording of "The India Song" with different lyrics.  Other songs represented include "Feel," "Ballad of El Goodo," "In the Street," "Thirteen" and "Don't Lie to Me."  21 tracks.

Disk 4. As you might expect, outtake incarnations of the remainder of #1 Record, featuring "When My Baby's Beside Me," "My Life is Right," Give Me Another Chance," "Try Again," "ST100-6," and no less than three versions of the non-LP charmer "Gone With the Light."  45 seconds of studio banter and jamming to boot.  22 cuts.


Disk 5.  This one kicks off with some alternates of Chris Bell solo classics, with no less than five different versions of "I Got Kinda Lost."  A bit further in we encounter the makings of Radio City, with solo Chilton demos of "Life is White," and "What Goin' Ahn" clearly still works in progress.   "O My Soul" makes the cut four times, and "Way Out West" turns up with a vastly different vocal track.  18 songs.  .

Disk 6.  Part two of the Radio City-era recordings.  It's an overkill onslaught of "Get What You Deserve" and "Mod Lang," with "Back of a Car,", "Daisy Glaze," "September Gurls," and "Morpha Too" also present and accounted for in various different mixes.  Great stuff, but again, these disks cater to the most dedicated among us.  20 tunes.

Disk 7.  We roll into the Third/Sister Lovers sessions, packed with revealing demos of "Holocaust," "Nightime," and "Thank You Friends."  Surrounding these prototypes are alternates of "Jesus Christ," "For You," "Big Black Car," and "Kanga Roo."  23 cuts.

Disk 8.  Here's where the bottom of the barrel meets the scraper.  The eighth bag of tricks kicks of with no fewer than five version of "Lonely Day," a song that was eventually massaged into "Stroke it Noel" from Third.  There's outtakes of deeper album cuts including "Downs" and "Nature Boy," and we even get an alternate version of "Hot Thing," the "new" B/S song that appeared on the bands own tribute album Big Star, Small World.  The disk concludes with Chris Bell having the final say with a clutch of solo rarities.  15 tracks.

bonus: Till the End of the Day, 1974.  A live Big Star performance in Cambridge, MA, March 31, 1974. I don't have a wealth of details to impart on this one.  A very solid set that's either a soundboard tape or a fantastic audience recording.  "Femme Fatale" is covered.  Given the lineup of Alex, Jody and John Lightman, the only #1 Record song making the eleven track setlist is "In the Street."   This is a beaut.

Enjoy, and remember, this is a one-week only proposition. 

Close Lobsters - demos and such

This October saw the release of an exhaustive Close Lobsters singles compilation Forever Until Victory, on the British Fire Records label. Phenomenal news to me, as I have long considered the Glasgow, Scotland quartet to be by far and away the most consistent, sublime, and gifted outfit ever to arise from the UK' s indie jangle-pop, C86 movement nearly a quarter century ago. Their two proper albums, 1987's Foxheads Stalk This Land, and Headache Rhetoric from the following year have recently been made available via digital outlets, but viscerally indelible 12" and compilation appearances like "Going to Heaven to See If It Rains" and "Firestation Towers," are essential components in completing the Close Lobsters picture.

To help fill out that image even further is this 20-track collection of CL demos (and possibly radio session appearances) that span the course of their brief mid-to-late '80s tenure. Not sure who curated this set, but I had the good fortune of finding it on Soulseek a few years ago. The bitrate is a mere 128 kbps, and the material was obviously sourced from cassettes, but nevertheless these embryonic (and often low-fidelity) sketches lay out a compelling and often fascinating blueprint for a score of sprite, ringing pop tunes that would eventually be given the full studio treatment. A couple tracks here would be retitled for official release ("Don't Worry" = "Violently Pretty Face"; "Promise Me Back" = "In Spite of These Times"), and furthermore, there may be an entirely unreleased song or two in this collection as well (I'll leave you to figure that out for yourself). If this isn't enough to whet your appetite, you can also obtain the contents of a CL radio session from '88 that I made available on Wilfully Obscure earlier this year. To bone up further on these guys, their Wikipedia entry is quite useful in addition to their above linked Myspace domain.

BTW, if any of you are hankering for music in a similar, albeit modestly updated vein, I can recommend you none more suitable than New York's very own The Pains of Being Pure at Heart, and their thoroughly engaging self-titled album.

01. Don't Worry (later Violently Pretty Face)

02. Firestation Towers

03. Just Too Bloody Stupid

04. All the Little Boys and Girls

05. Promise Me Back (later In Spite of These Times)

06. Pimps

07. D.D.R.I.N.

08. A Prophecy

09. I Take Bribes

10. Sewer Pipe Dream

11. I Kiss the Flower in Bloom

12. What is There to Smile About?

13. Mirror Breaks

14. From this Day On

15. Loopholes

16. Lovely Little Swan

17. Knee Trembler

18. Nature Thing

19. Say Hello, Wave Goodbye

20. Float On

 

Hear

Mad Turks From Istanbul - Café Istanbul (1987, Greasy Pop)

Damn. Where has this album been my whole life? A couple months ago when I posted the Bad Timing Perth, Australia retrospective compilation, I name dropped a band that I could have sworn hailed from Perth, but actually didn't. The group in question was the Spliffs, an '80s jangle outfit in the mold of the Someloves that I unfortunately discovered way too after the fact. I did some poking around on Google to satisfy my Spliffs jones, and in the process learned of one of their contemporaries, The Mad Turks From Istanbul, or more commonly referred to as simply the Mad Turks. Originally based in Adelaide, and eventually migrating to Melbourne, the Turks would parley themselves into the Ice Cream Hands by the early '90s, though neither achieved mainstream notoriety.

Their debut, Café Istanbul is something of a revelation, though it doesn't sound far removed from such period acts as the Smithereens, Close Lobsters, and their own countrymen the Hoodoo Gurus and the Ups and Downs. Monstrous, gargantuan hooks, hard strummed Rickenbacker chords, and brisk tempos eminently define the dozen aces ensconced within this powerhouse of a record. "Under Review," "Chances Lane," and "Honestly Rita" all brandish an utterly timeless power-pop panache that parallel the work of any of the aforementioned. A second album, Toast was issued in 1990, and though I have not had the privilege of hearing it, one needs no further convincing of the Turks talent than Café Istanbul. The online "branch" of the South Australia State Library (linked above) provides further biographical info, a full discography, plus 30 second samples of this LP and some of the Turks singles. A great article on the group and their segue into the Ice Cream Hands can be read over at the venerable Noise for Heroes website.

01. Chances Lane
02. Lolene
03. Honestly Rita
04. Forbidden Fruit
05. Ten Words
06. Purdy Baby
07. Looking Forward to Destroy
08. Under Review
09. Holding My Breath
10. Suicide Style
11. The Crescent Moon

12. Café Istanbul
 

Hear

Singles Going Single #s 29 & 30 - Solomon Grundy (1991, New Alliance) & Dr. Janet (1990, Ringers Lactate)

The Screaming Trees will always be defined not only by Mark Lanegan's husky bellow, but it's colossal backbone, namely brothers Gary Lee Conner and Van Conner, rounding things out on guitar and bass respectively. Circa the Trees Uncle Anesthesia album in 1990, the Conners produced two worthy spin off outfits.

Van Conners's baby was dubbed Solomon Grundy, ostensibly named after the brute force villain in the Legion of Doom, but I won't go into that any further. Van's axe-squalling, pysch-freakouts that colored many a Screaming Trees tune were also adorned on Grundy's one and only album, unofficially known as Stone Soup and Other Stories. More hard rock than grunge, the band surged forth with sturdy, mid-tempo finesse, but as a whole, far from a classic. Alongside Stone Soup, Solomon Grundy also released a companion single, both releases coming courtesy of the SST Records offshoot label, New Alliance. Their lone single featured a rather faithful rendition of Rush's signature hit, "Spirit of Radio," and the non-lp, "I'm Not the Freak." Although a Rush cover seemed ironic at best, at the time anyway, it's arguably more entertaining then Van Conner's original compositions. In fact, if you listen closely as the song trails off, they segue into Rush's "Limelight." Neat. Really neat actually.

Both Van and Gary Lee Conner are of considerable...well...girth. Despite this fact, their vocals are surprisingly fey held up against Lanegan's golden throat. Gary Lee's day in the sun came in the form of The Purple Outside, who like Grundy also recorded one album (Mystery Lane) that happened to bear the New Alliance imprint. However, this intrepid crusader had another trick up his flanneled sleeve. Enter the 1990 one-off, un-super-group Dr. Janet. Spearheaded by Gary Lee, the group was further bolstered with axe/bass slinger Matt Sweeney of the then active Skunk (who you really should check out), and in years to come, Chavez and Zwan. Yo La Tengo's Ira Kaplan also straps on a bass, while drummer Lyle R. Hysen, formerly of Das Damen fleshes out the ranks. For better or worse, Dr. Janet's "Ten Years Gone" ain't the Zeppelin tune, but "Starry Eyes" is The Records power-pop classic for the ages. A good time was had by all - at least I hope so.

Solomon Grundy

A. Spirit of Radio

B. I'm Not the Freak

 

Dr. Janet

A. Ten Years Gone

B. Starry Eyes

 

Solomon Grundy: Hear

Dr. Janet: Hear

The Bobbies - Supersongs (1993)

Even after it's nearly two decades old expiration, I'm still excavating artifacts from the '90s, and some pretty damn enticing ones at that.  Veritable unknowns from Queens, NY, The Bobbies would have slotted comfortably into the more amped-out environs of the era's power pop revival.  Their apparent DIY angle put them slightly left of center, often sounding like an amalgam of Cheap Trick, Enuff Z' Nuff, and a smidge of '90s Buzzcocks to boot, especially on saucy, aggressive pieces like "Money Makes Honey" and "Afraid to Fall."  Further in, the going gets a little Beatles-esque on "What Else is There to Say" and "Please Pleasing Lady."  So, in the net-net of things does Supersongs live up to it's not-so-humble title?  If you gravitate to any of the aforementioned (and for that matter Material Issue) dig in and see for yourself.  A further critique of the album can be had here.

01. You Cannot Deny
02. Money Makes Honey
03. The Ballad of Me & You
04. Afraid to Fall
05. What Else is There to Say
06. Your Touch
07. Don't Hold Me Back (That Look)
08. Please Pleasing Lady
09. What We Need is Love
10. The Man That Time Left Behind

Hear

New noise: The Dying Elk Herd For Real This Time & Tenterhooks - Meanwhile in Another Part of Town ep - a brief overview

"One way or another we're all mixed up, it's ok my brother," opines The Dying Elk Herd's Dave Benner on "Another Restless Night," in a slightly deaf-tone drawl I might add.  It's this reassuring panache that seems to enhance the proceedings on that song, likewise on the deft opening foray, "Progress Has a Price," and a little further in, "Times of Peril."  At best, when the indie rock gods spread a ray of light or two on this Lancaster, PA trio, I get a similar rush to absorbing '90s era Figgs, and perhaps even Sloan.  Elsewhere, the going on For Real This Time gets considerably more hokey (e.g. "Don't Let the Riverbeast Get You), but bear in mind this is a through-and-through DIY endeavor, and the Herd are wont to do things on their own terms.  Fleeting as For Real's... most notable numbers are they're worth holding onto.  Feel free to draw your on conclusions over at the band's online merch page, iTunes, Amazon, or the venerable CD Baby.

Here's a refreshing concept - a Brooklyn band that doesn't sound an inkling like the trend-hopping hopefuls that typically emanate from that fussed over borough.  Featuring alumni from '90s indie scenesters Jennifer Convertible, the four-piece Tenterhooks pursue a linear meat-and-potatoes power pop muse.  Reminiscent of many Not Lame/Big Deal Records signees circa the turn of the millennium, Tenterhooks neither deviate or advance upon this all-too-traditional, albeit satisfying formula. "Unseen" is Meanwhile in Another Part of Town's most riveting moment, with the remaining tunes paling not much further behind.  Dare I say aficionados of Cheap Trick, The Well Wishers and Splitsville will be delighted with this?  Meanwhile... will be available in the near future from Sugarblast Records, but for now, preview some songs on Bandcamp. 

Reviews you can use: B-Movie - Hidden Treasures (2025, Wanderlust) & Chris Church - Obsolete Path (2025, Big Stir)

Considering Mansfield, Britain's B-Movie by and large "peaked" with a pair of low charting UK singles (1981's "Remembrance Day") and the slightly more renown "Nowhere Girl" a year later, you'd think that the quartet in question would have taken the inch they were accorded and attempt to stretch that out to a proper mile (or heck, maybe just a meter).  Truth be told it wasn't for lack of trying, and though a debut album, presumably to drop later in '82 by Phonogram Records, was never actually slated for public consumption (at least not in the first half of the decade) B-Movie nonetheless tracked enough quality tunes to make it a legitimate proposition.  Due to a band roster shakeup, and concerns from Phonogram over potential sales demand, said "album" was shelved - for some 40+ years in fact.  B-Movie eventually reemerged in reconstituted form, circa 1985, with a full length of predominantly fresh material landing on Sire in the guise of Forever Running, but much of the original hoopla surrounding the band had fizzled, and listeners on both sides of the Atlantic never quite took to the gussied-up, synth-pop penchant of this particular era.

Regrouping in the 'teens for 2012's The Age of Reason, and 2016's Climate of Fear, B-Movie were a going concern again, and have been an intermittent live presence ever since. Even with a successful reboot under their belts, the hunger to give the album-that-never-was a formal release never completely subsided.  It took some legwork, but upon finally obtaining the rights to these aforementioned vintage recordings they've finally arrived under the umbrella of the ten-song Hidden Treasures.  Despite a copious amount of New Romantic pigeonholing (both during and after their '80s halcyon era), B-Movie's nascent efforts in the studio revealed a quartet distinctly separate from the A Flock of Seagulls and Naked Eyes of the world, conceding much to the post-punk sphere, occasionally even wandering off further from the reservation than that.  Case in point, would be Treasures' opening salvo, "Citizen Kane," has more in tandem with the Psych Furs and the Teardrop Explodes than say, Depeche Mode.  Treasures... is bejeweled with no shortage of keyboards, rather moderation is the key watchword. 

Further in, the going gets even better, with the driving "Marilyn Dream," and the lusciously melodic "Crowds" weaving in plenty of deftly crafted panache. Naturally, signature B-Movie numbers "Nowhere Girl" and "Remembrance Day" make an appearance, without necessarily dominating the proceedings.  Treasures... bears no small semblance of diversity ensconced within it's ten proper  cuts, and furthermore there's a phalanx of supplemental material to be had, entailing remixes and some abandoned but promising song ideas.  B-Movie conjured up something aesthetically satisfying here without succumbing to the gratuitous extravagances their era was all too infamous for.  Absolutely no small feat in my book.  Hidden Treasures is available from Bandcamp, Rough Trade, and Amazon, and check out the band's official site here.

I've never been a huge mark for "singer-songwriters."  I'm not sure how/why my wet noodle has a tendency to differentiate, scrutinize, and perhaps even prejudice me to steer towards "bands" as opposed to solo-endeavors.  Ultimately several have broken through over the past few decades Laura Veirs, Mike Viola, Emm Gryner, and the dearly departed Nick Drake and Tommy Keene. Substantial as the catalogs of those go-it-alone troubadours are, I'm still naturally inclined to gravitate to full ensembles.  In 2023, I enthusiastically added Chris Church to my informal roster of reliable singer/scribes, thanks to his then-current sleeper LP Radio Transient.  Perhaps it was because that record not only bore the heft of a full-fledged 'combo,' so to speak, the compositions in themselves were resonant and thoroughly engaging.  

On Obsolete Path he's spun another web of twelve poignant songs, this time with an overarching sobering hue, albeit not the self-pitying variety.  I can't point to much in the way of convenient parallels to Church.  Faint glints of  Matthew Sweet, Tommy Keene, or pre-controversy Ken Stringfellow seep in, yet if there's any power-pop slant here it isn't purist so much as respectfully adjacent, a la Gin Blossoms.  The hooks are abundant and incisive, though they're rarely the centerpiece. Our protagonist gracefully applies the pinstripes of '80s modern-guitar rock on "Life on a Trampoline" and "I'm a Machine," summoning a transporting ambience in the process.  Bittersweet melancholia is tattooed over virtually every square inch of ...Path, evidenced on the vigorous "Sit Down," and later, this sentiment works just as effectively amidst the acoustic gestures of "Tell Me What You Really Are."  "Running Right Back to You" and "I Don't Wanna Be There" strike something of a middle ground, but this is hardly an album of extremes. Writ large, Obsolete Path is however persuasive, empathetic, and occasionally even visceral.  Bandcamp and Big Stir have you covered for physical and digital, and you can obtain it immediately. 

Aztec Camera - (mostly) live ep (1985)

I guess sharing this one is a no-brainer, seeing how popular my previous Aztec Camera entries went with you.  Before going much further sorry for the unsightly splotch in the upper right corner of the sleeve, that's the state it was in when I purchased it for a mere $2.  This is actually a 10" record housed in folder, roughly the same dimensions of the kind you probably stuck in your backpack when you were in grade school (with "pockets" on the inside no less).  The sole studio offering here is a cover of Van Halen's "Jump," a version I really resisted hearing when it came out, because the combination seemed too ironic to feasibly work. In the rear-view, Roddy Frame's reading of that smash hit was downright smart and tasteful, recalibrating the meter, melody and tenor where appropriate to make it fit in an acoustic context.  

The remaining four cuts are sublime performances culled from a 1984 concert at London's Dominion Theatre, which followed up Aztec's most recent LP, Knife. Fittingly enough we're treated to two songs from that record, and equally from it's even more renown predecessor, High Land, Hard Rain.  For the purists out there who never got over the impeccability of High Land (classic and crucial as it was), and opted not to venture further into A/C's catalog, "Backwords and Forwards" and "The Birth of the True" make a really convincing case for investigating what followed.  By the way, this EP was appended to no less than two different CD reissues of Knife, both of which I regrettably slept on.  

01. Backwards and Forwards (live)
02. Jump
03. The Bugle Sounds Again (live)
04. Mattress of Wire (live)
05. The Birth of the True (live)

Hear

V/A - Home Runs Vols. 1 & 2 (Songs That'll Take You All The Way) (2000/02, Sound Asleep)

The number of homegrown various artists collections compiling rare, turn-of-the-decade power pop and punk singles that seemingly materialize out of the blue never ceases to amaze or impress me, even in the event when I may not own physical copies of them. In previous years I've shared multiple volumes of well-curated series like Teen Line, Powerpearls, and Every One a Classic.  Home Runs (Songs That'll Take You All The Way) courtesy of  Sweden's Sound Asleep Records quietly cropped up in the early 2000's gathering up dozens of vintage of should-have been classic 45 sides from the late '70s to the mid '80s with a similar aesthetic to the aforementioned, and I've got volumes 1 & 2 on tap for tonight.

As much as I'd like to give insight to all of the 41 bands represented, a much more cursory synopsis will have to suffice.  For starters, there's not much overlap between the bands covered on Home Runs and Wilfully Obscure, though there are some relatively higher profile names that we've covered - Seattle denizens The Heats and Moberlys for starters, not to mention The Windbreakers are present, and I think I've namedropped the likes of Screen Test, Beat Rodeo and perhaps even the Incredible Casuals, but that's about the extent of it.  The rest of these names, generally speaking, are uncharted territory for the bulk of us...and as such are ripe for further picking and examination.  And what of this cavalcade of virtual unknowns you might ask?  The Shakers and Jimmy True are jangle-merchants of the highest order, New Jersey's Modulators are loosely on par with Shoes, and X-Dreams are a cheeky, rollicking blast.  Elsewhere, New York's Beatles-indebted Poppees appear with the melodious "If She Cries," Meantime proudly take a cue from Jonathan Richman and the Modern Lovers, and the Hi-Fi's featured a young Jim Cuddy and Greg Keelor, prior to their more renown stint in the long-running Blue Rodeo.  By no means are these the only highlights, but I'm not about to give anything further away.  I will mention there's a third volume in the Home Runs series that I still need to get my hands on...and I think you know what that portends.  Cheers.

Volume 1 (2000)

01. Gary Private – Home Run

02. Barry Knoedl – Baby Don't Give Up

03. Windbreakers - I Never Thought

04. Rikki Rush - Donna

05. The Patriots - That Way

06. Young Fresh Fellows - How Much About Last Night Do You Remember

07. Pete Holly & The Looks – What Did I Say

08. Eric Collis - Someone Better

09. The Rooms - She Loves Me/She Loves Me Not

10. The Shakers - Til I'm Gone

11. David Hines - I Go to Pieces

12. The Impossible Years – She's No Fun

13. David Quinton – Does It Matter To You

14. Willie English - I Can't Have You

15. The Badbeats - Lies

16. Tom Wilson - Break Down Your Door

17. Dynette Set - Learn to Love

18. X-Dreams – Space Shuttle Stowaway

19. The Incredible Casuals – Money Won't Buy You Happiness

20. The Mercenaries - oh Sally

21. Tommy Rock - It's Later Than You Think

Hear

Volume 2 (2002)

01. The Dawgs- Shot of Your Love

02. The Poppees - Is She Cries

03. Modulators - She's So Cynical

04. Tom Stevens - Just One Night With You

05. The Heats - Nights With You

06. Beat Rodeo - Mimi

07. Moberlys - You Know I Know

08. The Rubinoos - Gorilla

09. Saucers - A Certain Kind of Shy

10. Jimmy Rue - Cheap Fun

11. The B-Girls - Fun at the Beach

12. The Toys - I'm Telling You Now

13. The News - Don't Talk to Me

14. Meantime - Two For One

15. The Shout - Sha-Day-la-Day

16. Hi-fi's - Look What You've Done

17. The Nads - You Don't Know Me

18. Screen Test - I Am Sincere

19. Buddy Love - I Just Wanna Hold You

20. The Right Profile - Underneath the Window

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Humidifier - Gazer 7" ep (1993, Meat)

When Humidifier's Gazer ep (and to significantly wider visibility, their 1997 album Nothing Changes) made it onto the radar of indie rock geeks like yours truly, the popular misconception was that since the band's lineup featured bassist Jim Wilbur of Superchunk, Humidifier were naturally an offshoot of the now veteran Chapel Hill quartet.  Not so.  In fact, Humidifier pre-dated the Chunk by at least a couple of years, and put their roots down in Connecticut, not the Tar Heel state.  Gazer was released in '93, two years after Wilbur teamed up with Mac McCaughan and Co., but the fact that Humidifier bore a considerable resemblance to that quartets scrappy, mid-fi recording aesthetic didn't hurt in marketing the record.  Recorded in 1991, the Humidifier lineup consisted of Wilbur on bass, Denis Savkiner on percussion, John King on lead vox and guitar, and Annie Hayden on backing vocals.  King and Hayden would further their indie credentials in Spent, who would issue two full lengths on Merge, among some other short-form releases.

A six-piece serving of noise-pop manna, Gazer's conciseness isn't merely economical, it's damn near dizzying to boot, with the tuneful romantic quandary "Nicotine" being it's most notable moment, chockablock with a rock-solid hook, and as you might guess, numerous smoking metaphors.  There's a fairly exhaustive Humidifier fanpage with audio content that you can browse to your heart's content, and check out the link to Nothing Changes above for further enlightenment.

01. The Clothes You Left
02. Seven Hours
03. Flinging
04. Nicotine
05. Kickstand
06. Pool

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Pedaljets - tape (1986)

Before venturing further, please allow me to indulge with a rhetorical question.  What band wouldn't want to have a song in their repertoire called "Sensual Cardboard Event?"  With that ponderous notion out of the way, here's a vintage Pedaljets cassette with that dandy little number on it.  I shared their first album, Today, Today shortly after starting Wilfully Obscure in mid 2007.  Hell if I know if the Rapidshare link is still active or not (keep your fingers crossed).  An online bio described them as the missing link between the Replacements and Nirvana.  I think the quote from my write-up four years ago holds a little more water:

The Pedaljets are a good approximation of the earnest, but rugged guitar rock of the Replacements and Nils. The band's approach is further coloured with a penchant for ringing, jangly chords, popularised by REM and the like.

In terms of the wondrous clamor emanating from Mike Allmayer and Scott Mize's collective six-strings, I'd say "clangy" is an operative adjective as well.  This tape is largely all I could realistically hope for in the way of mid-80s indie rock.  A true artifact.  Enjoy, and make sure to check out Today, Today while you're at it, that is if it's still up.  If not, it looks like I have my work cut out for me.

01. Life Movie
02. The Calmest Room
03. Sensual Cardboard Event
04. When the Fun Runs Out
05. Hide & Go Seek
06. After the Window
07. Done For You

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Replicants - s/t (1995)

Covers albums.  Covers bands.  No small shortage of perils with either proposition, and this one ain't much different.  The Replicants were a one-off mid-90s endeavor featuring members of three bands -  one prominent, one considerably less prominent, and one virtually unknown.  I will reveal nothing further of the Replicants roster, but will kindly provide a link for your perusal here.

The four Replicants were utter perfectionists (to this day even) and were not shy about sporting a high-tech aptitude even on songs they didn't write/compose.  Sometimes the renderings here are a bit too straightforward and stiff for their own good (i.e. "Just What I Needed" and "Cinnamon Girl") - but powerful, boy these gents were powerful.  Much of this rigidity is eschewed a bit further in, with a jaunt through Steely Dan's "Dirty Work," fittingly accorded a more relaxed treatment.  Elsewhere, Paul McCartney's played-out ballad "Silly Love Songs" is turned inside-out into something considerably more insufferable than the original.  Signature tracks by Gary Numan, Missing Persons and T. Rex are also represented, as are much less obvious selections from Pink Floyd and Bowie.  Deep tracks baby, deep tracks.  As an album, Replicants is an eye-of-the-beholder affair, but it's architect's collective prowess (and taste) is virtually indisputable. 

01. Just What I Needed
02. Silly Love Songs
03. Life's a Gas
04. Cinnamon Girl
05. How Do You Sleep?
06. Destination Unknown
07. No Good Trying
08. Are Friends Electric
09. Dirty Work
10. The Bewlay Brothers
11. Ibiza Bar

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Swervedriver - I Wasn't Born To Lose You (2015, Cobraside) - a brief review

Swervedriver’s reunion is one of those rare rock and roll rekindlings that’s not the least bit questionable.   No need to ponder over the integrity of the singer guy's (Adam Franklin) vocals, nor should one be suspect about the group’s motives.  In fact, the only circumstance where you'll be paying three-figures a pop to see them perform is if they've attached themselves to a music festival.  Simply put, there's no acrimony between this band and their humble legion of hanger-oners , and despite the decade long layover once a Swervies fan, always a Swervies fan.

I was absolutely besotted with their debut Raise, when it dropped in 1991.  A seemingly effortless (and perhaps unintentional) amalgam of ear-bleeding dream-pop rock, buttressed with grunge-worthy heaps of distortion that found this Oxford, UK quartet traipsing on the coattails of both disparate spheres in more than respectable fashion.  No question about it, Raise was a revelation - an often murky latticework of amped-out feedback, woozy pedal-ridden effects, and subrosa melodies.  Truth be told I pined for the guitarsy freak-outs of "Sandblasted" and "Son of Mustang Ford" to be remolded on subsequent Swervdriver albums.  That selfish “pining,” as it were, remains unfulfilled to this day, but even with the more noisome attributes tamped down, the band's sinewy and complex arrangements were retained on Mezcal Head, Ejector Seat Reservation, and 99th Dream, albeit in a measurably more lucid modus operandi.  So where and how does I Wasn't Born to Lose You stack up after such an elephantine wait?

Amazingly, I Wasn't Born... sounds like a bona fide Swervedriver album, and not merely a continuation of Adam's solo albums, or stretching back a bit further, his post-SD conglomeration Toshack Highway.  Perhaps we can chalk this up to three quarters of the '90s line-up still loyally intact, with lead six-stringer Jimmy Hartridge and bassist Steve George remaining in tow - almost as integral to the band's chemistry as Adam Franklin himself.  The tuneful and glistening opening salvo, "Autodidact" doesn't pick up where 1998's 99th Dream left off, so much as their sophomore 1993 platter Mezcal Head.  "Autodidact" is a remarkably good sign of things to come, leading into Born's... most sonically dense cut, "Last Rites," which is accented with washes of flanged guitars and sturdy sonic musculature.  Further in, "Deep Wound" is about as close as the Swervies come to replicating Raise's feedback-layered aesthetic.  "Setting Sun's" chiming interplay and the resonating "For a Day Like Tomorrow" could also pass for outtakes of yore.  Aside from the overlong "Everso" and "Red Queen Arms Race's" bluesy, slow-burning stride, I Wasn't Born... is near faultless.  It's tempting to refer to this as Swervedriver's "return to form," but the fact is they've deviated negligibly from their twentieth century formula.  Furthermore, one is left to wonder how many more terrific Swervedriver albums we'd have on our hands had it not been for their fifteen year dormancy between records!

The band have concluded a run of dates in the States, and will be visiting Canada in May and June.  Check out I Wasn't Born to Lose You from Amazon, iTunes, and Insound.