Numbers - Add Up (1979)

The Toronto based Numbers were a straight-up power pop quartet that released their one and only album, Add Up at the crest of that genre’s movement in the late-70s/early 80. Arguably, their moniker was accurate, in that their approach was pretty much by…well, the numbers. Not withstanding their lack of innovation, they delivered an excellent batch of tunes, with the emphasis particularly on the jagged lead-off cut, “Sideways Elevator,” which was also released as a single. Elsewhere on Add Up, The Numbers proved they could go head to head with such contemporaries as The Records and Plimsouls, evidenced by the sublime jangle of “Leave It To Me,” and “Can’t Take It.”

A good summation of the Numbers brief career can be found at Canoe’s Canadian encyclopedia of music here . I have also included the text of it below:

Coleman York (drums, backing vocals)

Jim Kennedy (rhythm guitar, backing vocals)

Ed Blocki (lead vocals, bass guitar)

Peter Evans (lead vocals, lead/rhythm guitar, keyboards)

Colin "Archie" Gerrard (keyboards vocals; replaced Kennedy 1980)

With Canadian record label Attic Records always on the cutting edge of new, innovative ways of developing talent while keeping costs low, they hit on the idea of a no-frills label called Basement Records. Their first signing was Toronto act, The Numbers, in 1979. The band went into the Soundstage studios in Toronto in October of that year with Jack Richardson's son Garth Richardson producing.

Attic co-owner Tom Williams wanted the Numbers to be the first album released in 1980 so, at 9:00 AM on New Year's day, key radio music directors and journalists were sent a copy of the album 'Add Up' to their homes along with a Bloody Caesar alcoholic beverage. The ploy worked as The Numbers received a bit of activity with the first single, "Sideways Elevator", but when it came time to follow that up with a second album the band demanded a larger production defeating the ability for Basement Records to live up to its mandate. As a result the band made a deal to re-sign with Attic Records under the new name Hot Tip (whereby Jim Kennedy was replaced by keyboardist Colin Gerrard). Unfortunately, the band broke up shortly after its two singles could be released in 1981. With notes from Kevin Shea and Michael Coxe.

01. Sideways Elevator

02. Sunday Afternoon

03. Out to You

04. BIts & Pieces

05. Can't Take It

06. Leave it to Me

07. Mr. Dempster

08. Won't You Call

09. She's Got Everything

10. Get Away

 

Hear

Johnny and the G-Rays - Every Twist Reminds (1980, Basement)

My initial glance at this strangely iconic sleeve suggested that I could appropriately sandwich this album between my 20/20 and Shoes LPs, if not, next to the Feelies or Talking Heads at the very least. Not so in fact. Toronto's Johnny and the G-Rays to a certain extent predicted such rootsy purveyors as The Del Fuegos and Green on Red, who would follow in the ensuing years. Frontman Johnny MacLeod works out his inner Tom Verlaine, on the opening, and furthermore standout cut, "Trying to Chew My Head," but the quartet's Television-cum-Velvets dabblings are the exception not the rule on Every Twist Reminds. On the other side of the coin, Johnny and the boys aren't wont to be tethered to a bar stool either (though they kick up some serious dust on rockabilly-ish hoe downs like "It Can't Be Right" and "Who Scared John"). Definitely not a band to judge by their jacket sleeve.

Every Twist... was released on Basement Records, a relative of the Attic label that issued the Numbers Add Up LP around the same time. Axe handler Harri Palm and skinsman Bent Rasmussen would eventually materialize in the Diodes. Click the hyperlink in the introduction for a detailed and fun filled biography on Johnny and Co. According to Palm's Myspace page, Every Twist... was remastered last year, and available for purchase on CD via Palm.  You can message the band via Facebook for ordering info.
 

Update:  You can now buy the reissue of Every Twist... on Bandcamp.

Hot Tip - Stop All Motion (1981, Attic)

Way back three years ago when this thing of mine called Wilfully Obscure kicked off, I introduced some of you to a long departed Toronto band, the Numbers, and more specifically their debut Add Up for the upstart Basement Records imprint. Technically that debut would be their only album, at least under the Numbers moniker.

For reasons unbeknownst, not to mention barely understood by me, Basement Records mutated into Attic Records in 1981, and with the label revision, the band opted to re-sign with Attic under a new name, Hot Tip.  Not an inappropriate move I might add, because although the Numbers and Hot Tip were dyed-in-the-wool power-popnics the original incarnation of the quartet possesed a slightly more angular tack than Hot Tip's ever so subtle radio-friendly gleam.  Furthermore, H/T took their cues from a pool of more traditionalist forerunners like The Records and Pezband, and managed to update their panache to propel them more in league with say, The Cars.  Unfortunately Tip only lasted for a pair of singles and the Stop All Motion album, which listening to in hindsight impresses enough to have earned it's rightful slot on the Shake Some Action - Ultimate Power Pop Guide Top 200 LP honor roll.  Too bad this jewel slipped through the cracks.

01. Teach Me Something
02. Father I Know
03. My Shoes
04. Friends
05. Eyes Are Blue
06. Fast Boys
07. Bridge to Manhattan
08. Stop All Motion
09. Hard to be Me
10. Never Look Back

Hear

Repaired links.

Thirty links or so revived from the dead.  Some of these were requests, others were items that may have been neglected or passed over when I initially posted them.  As usual, click on the artist to refer back to the original entry, while the titles will steer you directly to the download link.

Straitjacket Fits - Down in Splendour ep 
Incomplete Monday - I Am
Billy James - Sixes and Sevens
Pavement - Black Out 7"
Dambuilders - God Dambuilders Bless America  
Mad Turks of Istanbul - Toast and Cafe Istanbul
Mood Paint (pre-Pond) - demo
Playground - singles
The Fumes - singles
Touchables - More Than a Glimpse ep
Delusions of Grandeur - Picture Perfect Martyr
Chris Sievey (Freshies) - Big Record
Stiffs, Inc. - Nix Naught Nothing
Numbers - Add Up
Hot Tip - Stop All Motion
Classic Ruins - Ruins Cafe
Ups and Downs - singles & Rash ep
Naomi's Hair - Tara
Field Trip - Beautiful
Downsiders - s/t LP & All My Friends Are Fish
Jo Broadbery and the Standouts - s/t LP & House of Love
Local Operator - singles
Green on Red - Rev. Luther ep
Popular Front - This is the Rubicon
Mod Lang - Where Your Heart ep
Those French Girls - s/t LP
3 1/2 Minutes - Peep ep and Bleed Me Dry ep

Public Image Ltd - live @ the Astoria, London 9/28/87 + two John Lydon interviews (1986 & 2010)

Judging from who I normally write about in this lil' corner of cyberspace, you might be surprised to learn that Public Image Ltd was one of the key bands that indoctrinated me into the world of sub-rosa rock and roll. Thinking back to those numerous mornings in 1987 when I was gearing up for school, MTV treated my eyes and ears to PiL's rather manic video for "Seattle," the single for their freshly released Happy? longplayer. It wasn't long thereafter that I found an even bigger revelation in singer John Lydon's (Rotton's) more infamous career debut with the Sex Pistols. I combed through both the Pistols and PiL's catalog with rabid vigor and delight, and quickly discovered the latter of those two aggregations had a far deeper trove to plunder. But let's face it, PiL had been off everyones radar for the better part of two decades, but in early 2010, when word went out that the band had recently reformed (albeit with a significantly retooled lineup - Wobble-less I'm afraid) and were going to be touring North America this spring, my ears naturally pricked up. What better way to get psyched for this tour (well underway, I might add) than by revisiting a vintage concert from what I consider to be the band's most entertaining and substantive era. The 1987 London, Astoria show I'm sharing was in support of the aforementioned Happy? Featuring nearly twenty numbers, the set list is fairly reliant on Lydon and Co's more "pop" oriented albums, but does stretch back to First Issue, and more specifically, the seminal "Public Image." It's a respectable audience recording with a couple of brief glitches, but moreover a generous and satisfying setlist.

Lydon is renown for his scathing opinions and acerbic wit just as much as his albums and live performances, if not more so. The man's interviews are an entertainment medium unto themselves, wherein an unprepared or intellectually offensive "journalist" is shaken down and chastised in the most hilariously brutal and eloquent manner possible. In addition to the Astoria show, I'm offering a pair of interviews, one from 1986 and one from last month. For better or worse the first one, sourced from vinyl as part of the Lip Service magazine interview series isn't particularly revelatory of caustic. Quite casual in fact, though Lydon's voice has been sped up a notch for no apparent reason. The second interrogation, from April of this year, comes courtesy of the zany and restless Nardwuar (The Human Serviette) who painstakingly deluges Lydon with a laundry list of trivial inquiries and anecdotes. Does our man lose his cool? Have a listen and find out for yourself.

Public Image Ltd., 9/28/87

01 Save Me
02 Rise
03 Seattle
04 Allah
05 FFF
06 Open and Revolving
07 Low Life
08 Home
09 Rules and Regulations (cut)
10 Rules and Regulations (cont)
11 Hard Times
12 Fat Chance Hotel
13 Timezone (World Destruction)
14 Angry
15 The Body
16 Round
17 Public Image
18 Holidays In The Sun
19 This Is Not A Love Song (cut)
20 This Is Not A Love Song (cont)
21 Religion

Hear

Lip Service interview (1986): Hear
Nardwuar interview (2010): Hear

Graig Markel and the 88th St. Band - s/t (In Spades) & D. Smith - Groping for Luna, Vol. 1 (Dromedary) - A brief overview.

Graig Markel is back with a trio, and it's not (exactly anyway) his old Seattle three piece of yore, New Sweet Breath whom I've revered over the years.  In fact Markel ditched the distorto-punk thing almost two decades back, branching out considerably.  His new enterprise, Graig Markel and the 88th St. Band is touted as being forged on a foundation of soul and blues, but truth be told that isn't that drastic of a departure when you consider he was was dabbling with posh urban contemporary grooves and flavors all the way back on his 2000 solo outing Hard Grammar.  Ditto for his "R&B" dalliance with the newly minted 88th St Band, though I will concede the opening "Don't Stop" and "Back Into My Arms" adopt sonic motifs and textures that aren't far removed from the Stax and Motown aesthetic.  "Blame it on You" and "Take a Walk" on the other hand, wield an economical, mid-fi spin on the dirty garage stomp of the White Stripes and the Black Keys.

Post-Twentieth Century, Markel has really perfected an indigenous knack for crafting bittersweet soliloquies that split the difference between contemplative ballads and relaxed-fit jams.  "Holding On" and "Live It Up" fit said bill perfectly, and sound like business as usual even with new drummer Joe Patterson, and bassist bro and NSB alum Nicholas Markel in tow.  When all is said and drummed, the finished product isn't so much a purist genre piece, so much as a solid set of new Graig Markel tunes with some slight and often welcome tweaks to keep things from getting stale.  BTW, for those of you who indulged in Graig's insular 2012 solo album (highly recommended I might add), ...the 88th Street Band is considerably less despondent. Buy a CD here or digitally thru CD Baby, Amazon or iTunes.  You can preview one song in the sampler linked below.

Onto D. Smith (aka Dan Smith).  Remember the band Shirk Circus?  Yeah, I had a hunch you probably didn't, but you can catch up on them via a feature I wrote in 2011, in memoriam of front-man Josh Silverman.  Smith played bass for them, and from what I understand, Groping for Luna, Vol. 1 is his solo debut.  Alternating between muscular melodic rock and quieter reflective pieces, Groping... is chockablock with sixteen pensive and considered numbers that tend to err on the side of melancholy.  Comparisons to Bob Mould are inevitable, but if you're anything like me you might also hear traces of likeminded singer songwriters including but not limited to Jon Sondgrass (Armchair Martian, Drag the River) and Mark Eitzel.  Despite his weariness at times, Smith manages to brew up a howling, manicured maelstrom on some of Groping's most assertive slammers, nicely exemplified on "Worst Case Secnario," and "An Ultimatum."  You can preview/purchase the whole thing at Bandcamp or via the stream at Big Takeover online.  Hard copies are available from Dromedary Records, and as usual, iTunes and Amazon have you covered digitally. 

Reviews you can use: The Mosquitos, Falling Stairs and sparkle*jets u.k.

In case you haven't noticed I'm way overdue for some reviews of current releases and reissues, and I'm going to try to address that over the course of the next few paragraphs.  I appreciate everyone that has been gracious enough to set up vinyl and CDs.  Being provided with physical media is more of a luxury than ever, and if I haven't been thoughtful enough to those who go to the trouble your generosity is appreciated.  More critiques to come in the near-future, I might add. 

Spandex. Breakdancing. Mullets. And just about dayglo-everything.  For better or worse this is the world in which Long Island's Mosquitos were forced to toil and contend with.  But guess what? They weren't having a lick of it.  In fact, it would seem like this quintet hadn't gotten the bat signal that the world had evolved past say, 1966.  Stuck in their own time-warp, not unlike similarly bespoke San Diego brethren The Nashville Ramblers, this quintet carved out a small niche within the environs of New York's power pop circuit alongside contemporaries The Bongos and Fleshtones, yet their antecedents were entirely steeped in British Invasion and Merseybeat pop, with nary an inclination to the present day - and you can take that literally.  Their discography consisted of a well received 1985 ep, (That Was Then, This is Now), and if you want to get technical a few demo tapes, but that lone record was essentially all that was made available for public consumption - until 2023, which saw the release of the double CD This Then Are the Mosquitos, and the more concisely consolidated vinyl incarnation, In the Shadows.  

The Mosquitos replication of the Cool Britannia epoch was awe-strikingly spot-on, wherein the band's five protagonists uncannily could have slotted in precisely with Help!, Face to Face-era Kinks, or the Dave Clark Five, etc.  They completely had the instrumentation, tonality and poise of the mid-60s down to a science, so much so that "I Know a Secret," "You Don't Give a Hang (About Me)," and "Put Your Foot Down" could have passed for veritable oldies - that is if it wasn't for copyright dates revealing these tunes were actually minted two decades later.  The 'squitos were genuinely expert and adept at the card they were playing, but for every fan they successfully roped in, there was likely to be a dozen or so would-be-listeners that were put off by their schtick, or more realistically, completely checked out in a haze of MTV and video games.  That being said, the bustling forty song-plus This Then... is really aimed at two parties - Brit Invasion aficionados and the Mosquitos small but gonzo fanbase.  Though their studio work was limited (hovering around fifteen numbers) the band was remarkably well documented, with about ten quality soundboard recordings of live gigs surviving over the ensuing decades, yielding much of This Then's... retro-laden manna.  I'd be remiss if I failed to mention The Mosquitos were responsible for writing the original version of the Monkees '80s comeback hit, "That Was Then, This is Now," which might ring a bell to a lot of Gen-X'ers in the audience.  A bit cloying?  Sure, but if you're down for what these not-so pesky insects were dishing out there's a bountiful hive of music to adore here. This Then... is available directly from Kool Kat Musik or Bandcamp. 

Having surely made your acquaintance with Falling Stairs when I posted their marvelous That and a Quarter mini-album several years ago (2010 if you're keeping tabs), you'll be pleased as punch to know that they've made their slim but estimable catalog available again - physically no less. In  reference to the moniker of this long defunct Queens, NY quartet, you’ll find nary a stumbling block on Falling Stairs first record in 35 years.  Not that everything occupying the twelve grooves on Life is a Kick Trial 1988-1993 is actually ‘new’ per se, considering this is a retrospective absorbing the entirety of the aforementioned, That and a Quarter alongside five scarce and/or heretofore unreleased tracks.  F/S deserved a better lot than their meager exposure on a few left-of-the-dial outposts accorded them, with a warm, reverby vibe that smacked of halcyon era R.E.M., not to mention lesser renown buried treasures like Bleached Black, Beauty Constant and Lifeboat.  From the jackhammer power pop fervor of “Man-Made” to “Good Intention’s” acousti-folk lilt …Kick Trial makes a crucial argument for this combo's neglected legacy. It's available immediately as a limited vinyl and digital release here.

Not unlike the Mosquitos compilation I went on about at the beginning of this piece, my assessment of sparkle*jets u.k.'s 2023 platter, Best of Friends is loooooooong overdue.  So much so in fact the band is actually on the verge of releasing a new album this summer, Box of Letters, which I'll try to share my thoughts in a more timely manner.  So, why am I not dedicating space to the new one, when Best of Friends is several months (if not close to an entire year in the rear view)?  Because for me ....Friends is the most consequential item in the sparkle*jet's long and storied catalog. In a nutshell, back in the mid/late-90s I couldn't get enough of the groovy power pop (and adjacent) music scene emanating from the City of Angels.  It seemed as is every other month during the Clinton-era another crucial, revelatory album from a Los Angeles-based cabal was dropping, be it in the guise of new CDs from the likes of The Wondermints, Baby Lemonade, The Sugarplastic, and more that I'll be disclosing momentarily.  

Best of Friends is a covers album that's a self described "love letter" to the 'jets' local peers - bands and songwriters they shared bills with, came up with, and generally speaking, mutually supported.  It functions both as a flattering tribute and as an ingenious time capsule of sorts, revisiting the music of essential L.A. aggregations Cockeyed Ghost, Double Naught Spies, The Negro Problem, Sugarplastic, Shazam, and Big Hello just to rattle off a portion of those paid homage to here.  You'd think half the rosters of Not Lame and Big Deal Records are represented on ...Friends, because veritably speaking that's practically the case.  And represented reverentially at that, with the coed 'jets in almost all cases impeccably retaining the original arrangements. True, the original incarnations of TNP's "Mahnsanto" and The Wondermints' "In and Around Greg Lake" are stunningly priceless, yet the new coatings of paint they're treated to here illicit a similar visceral rush - a feat than any given tribute album should strive for, yet so rarely achieves. Heck, along the way I even discovered a handful of songs from phenomenal acts like the See Saw and Kompost that were brand new to this set of this ears, offering plenty of motivation for me to investigate their respective bygone catalogs. And with 21 selections, there's no shortage of hooks to engulf yourself in.  Best of Friends can be had directly from Big Stir Records and Bandcamp, digitally or on double-LP and CD.

VA - From '93 to Infinity (2013, Dromedary) - a brief overview

I haven’t made this proclamation public, and for that matter rarely in private, but I regard the 1990s as the last full decade which we had truly memorable music, coming at us from all directions I might add.  I’m talking about ten solid years in a row where I didn’t have to agonize about fleshing out any personal top-20 music list. Comparatively speaking, this is a minor beef in a real-world fraught with crises of macro proportions (need I make out a list?), but damn it, music was just plain more visceral in the twentieth century. 

Hence the notion for someone to compile a various artists collection of current (and one recently-out-of-retirement) acts looking over their shoulder to the bygone Clinton-era for music that moved them in a similar manner.  Enter From ’93 to Infinity, a truly stimulating covers album that fits said bill perfectly.  If it’s retreads of Smashing Pumpkins and Collective Soul numbers you’re craving, I can safely advise you tootle along lil’ grunge cowboy, because this sixteen-song agenda is downright indie-centric, from the bands reworking the magic ( Stuyvesant, The Brixton Riot, and Flash Flood) to the originators themselves (Swervedriver, Archers of Loaf, and Seam), respectively. 

True, there are a plethora of unknown quantities occupying From '93..., but that doesn't work to the detriment of the album, if only by virtue of it's predominantly familiar "setlist."  And it's a sweet setlist at that, featuring some bona fide indie classics, including Superchunk's rousing "Precision Auto" (The 65's), Liz Phair's iconic "Fuck and Run" (d.smithsucks), The Posies "Flavor of the Month" (Anderson Council) and Seam's "Autopilot" (Flash Flood) among a bevy of others.  The more straightforward the cover the better, and the bulk of From '93... is comprised of faithful readings, with some occasional deviations, like Cinema Cinema's unorthodox spin on PJ Harvey's "50 Ft. Queenie," which was really something of a freakshow to begin with.  As for the "out-of-retirement" participant, it's none other than New Jersey's left-off-the-dial tribe Dots Will Echo who close the whole affair out with a Mommyheads cover. 

From '93 to Infinity is available directly from Dromedary Records on CD, or digitally through Bandcamp.  Below is a link to a two song sampler I've set up.

Overlake - From A Motel 6
d smith - Fuck and Run

http://netkups.com/?d=7e2345a80b55d

The Bongos - demos (1985-ish)

I received this curious collection of unreleased Bongos recordings on a BitTorrent platform last year, and even though the archiver who posted them claim they originate from 1981 (right around the time the band was tracking all those scrumptious singles and so forth that would later comprise the Drums Along the Hudson album), I think otherwise.  In fact the first ten cuts here even include a song that would wind up as the title track to their 1983 Numbers With Wings ep.  Furthermore, this trio of Hoboken, NJ pop-meisters were working on an album in the mid-80s that would ultimately be abandoned, the working title of which was Phantom Train.  Curiously enough there's a song amidst these demos with the same title, leading me to believe that at least some of these tracks comprise said abandoned album. 

Perhaps the only thing certain about these songs is that they come from multiple recording sessions, with the noticeable fluctuations in audio quality being a dead giveaway.  Most of these demos are considerably more polished, and I hasten to add commercially ambitious, than the quirkier panache of all those early indie sides like "In the Congo," "Hunting," and "The Bulrushes."  The original curator of this collection did indicate that the last two selections "Once in a Blue Moon" and "My Wildest Dream" actually originate from a WNEW FM broadcast, but could pass for demos from these same sessions.  Hmmm.  Wonder if anyone out there can I shed a light on these rather catchy nuggets.  In the meantime, for those of you who aren't terribly familiar with the Richard Barone-helmed Bongos, you would do well to boogie on over to Wiki and a post over at Lost Bands... blog, and while you're at it, grab the reissue of the damn near-seminal Drums Along the Hudson as well.  

01. Run to the Wild
02. One Bold Stroke
03. Tangled in Your Web
04. Town of One
05. River to River
06. Phantom Train
07. Sunshine Superman
08. Number With Wings
09. Barbarella
10. Not So Sure
11. Once in a Blue Moon*
12. My Wildest Dream*

* from WNEW radio broadcast

I'm not 100% on this, but I think these recordings were released as Phantom Train in 2013.

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. 

Hagfish - Buick Men (1993)

Hagfish were by far and away my favorite band to come out of the Dallas/Ft. Worth 1990s music scene. A dapper, Brooks Brothers-donning quartet, who's relentless Ramones cum Descendent's punk-pop made an already fertile period for rock and roll that much more stimulating. Their often debaucheristic songs were all-surge, power-chord melees that you'd swear could induce whiplash, if only metaphorically.

Buick Men was the first of Hagfish's trifecta of proper albums. Released independently on the Dallas based Dragon Street Records in '93, It contained 19 blistering numbers, without a single one exceeding the three- minute mark. This cd would soon become the rarest and most coveted of all Hagfish releases, due in part to the modest national following they would garner via their second album ...Rocks Your Lame Ass. Rock's was in fact Hagfish's first and only major label offering. Roughly half of Buick Men's songs were rerecorded for this album, and were improved substantially I might add. An even better album, (self-titled) followed in 1997 on the esteemed Honest Dons label. The group is now defunct, but a handful of posthumous cds have been released. A "relapse" reunion album was supposed to surface in '04, but alas, bupkis. Just FYI, Buick Men was commanding up to $100.00 Ebay a few years. It's collectiblity may have diminished, but it's scarceness hasn't.
 

01. Happiness

02. Stamp

03. Flat

04. Secret

05. Gertrude

06. Moda

07. Sad

08. Trixie

09. New Punk Rock Song

10. Disappointed

11. Minit Maid

12. Hose

13. Shark

14. Lesbian Girl

15. Herve

16. Aquarium

17. Mouse

18. Ambulance

19. Land Shark (alt mix)
 

Hear

Crocodile Shop - Head ep (1987, Susstones)

Crocodile Shop underwent an unbelievable and IMO, unfortunate metamorphosis not long after this extremely promising ep was released.  A brief synopsis can be read on their Wiki page, but I prefer to speak only to their Head ep, issued on the Minneapolis-based Susstones Records.   Head's five numbers were a synthesis of what Game Theory and Let's Active had served up just a few years beforehand, albeit Crocodile Shop slightly retooled that winsome formula with a tad more aggression.  In fact, this (mostly) excellent disk could've easily passed for a Mitch Easter production.  For the record, the band later disavowed it.  I should add the last two songs, "Think of Things" and "Eyes Getting Louder," merge right into each other.  I did my best at editing the transition, strictly by personal estimation.  Hope you like.

01. April Reigns
02. Superheroes
03. Along For the Ride
04. Think of Things
05. Eyes Getting Louder

Hear