Tommy Keene - mid-80s outtakes/demos

You might consider this to be a follow-up or sister post to a collection of Tommy Keene demos I shared all the way back in 2009, back when the man in question was still alive and well.  Why the long layover?  First, I didn't realize that more unreleased mid-80s material existed (it's not like anyone keeps me filled in on these things), and secondly, per the torrent I purloined these from earlier this year these songs have all been recently remastered.  Here's the story from my purview on the origination of these seventeen songs.

Tommy's first album, 1982's Strange Alliance was released roughly four years before his next one, 1986' Songs From the Film, which was also his major label debut. In the intervening years, a couple of EPs (Places That Are Gone and Back Again) broke the silence, but he had far more than a half dozen songs (or so) heating on the burner. In fact, his pockets were loaded with more than twenty, some of which found a home on the aforementioned EPs. 1984 and '85 were essentially Tommy Keene in the studio. Per some of the copy from my original '09 entry:

The album Songs From The Film was essentially recorded twice, first with T-Bone Burnett and Don Dixon producing, and then again, for the version that was ultimately released, with Geoff Emerick producing. Some of the Burnett/Dixon recordings were later released on the "Run Now" vinyl EP. Those tracks, plus a few more outtakes, were then included on the 1998 CD reissue of Songs From The Film.

Now, from the yonder Tommy Keene post mentioned above I was sharing five demos/outtakes from this era, when unbeknownst to me there were approximately four times as many songs laid down in the studio in preparation for Song From the Film.  The question I have, are these demos he recorded on his own, or if these are the Burnett/Dixon produced tracks that were ultimately scrapped?  They certainly could pass for rough album mixes at the very least. Moreover, the treatment of many of these songs bear more subtlety than what were ultimately released for public consumption. Not in an acoustic or li-fi sort of tenor, rather just a bit slighter and restrained, with perhaps less guitar bite. In fact, that's what I love about these versions. 

All of that comparative minutia aside, there's some phenomenal music here, some of the most compelling Tommy ever committed to tape including, "Listen to Me," "Safe in the Light" and "Drowning." There's nothing here that's less than sumptuously warm and melodic. Tommy Keene possessed a bona fide magic that so many of us took for granted over the course of his roughly 40 year career that can legitimately be termed as peerless. 

01. Back Again (Try)
02. I Fall Down Too
03. Stop
04. Save My Life
05. Safe in the Light
06. As Life Goes By
07. Drowning
08. Astronomy
09. Faith in Love (elec vers.)
10. The Story Ends
11. Run Now
12. We're Two
13. Nothing is Grey
14. Listen to Me
15. Gold Town
16. Call On Me
17. The Story Ends (2)

MP3  or  FLAC

R.I.P. Tommy Keene - Songs From the Film expanded ed. (1986/1998)

This wasn't what I intended to share with you on Thanksgiving, but considering the number of mentions of him I've doled out on these pages, I'd be remiss if I didn't extend my condolences to his followers, or at the very least acknowledge that Tommy Keene passed away today unexpectedly in his sleep.  In this year/era of premature celebrity deaths, I've nearly become desensitized to the ever mounting and staggering accumulation of losses, but as I'm sure is the case with a great many of you, this one really stings.

Not only did Tommy record and issue an immense amount of spotless, par excellence guitar pop in his own right, his touchstone was wielded like a giant, melodic dragnet upon a myriad of artists that were "captured" subsequent to the start of his solo endeavors in the early '80s.  So many of his acolytes have been praised on Wilfully Obscure it's downright mind boggling. 

Much, much more can be spoken of Tommy Keene, and no doubt will be, but for toight I will leave you with this reissue of his first proper solo album, Songs From the Film from 1986.  R.I.P. TK.

Hear

PS: I will try to attend to any and all broken Tommy Keene download links from earlier posts in the coming days. 

Tommy Keene - unreleased demos (1981 & 1984)

The response to last years post of Tommy Keene's very scarce and out-of-print debut record Strange Alliance was so big, I'd be crazy to sit on an albums worth of unreleased material from the same era and shortly thereafter.

First up are seven tracks left on the cutting room floor from the 1981 Alliance sessions. Within the folder are some liner notes (not penned by myself) to browse, but here's a quick breakdown:

Tommy Keene recorded a number of demos in 1981. Some of those recordings were later used on his first LP, "Strange Alliance." The remaining songs presented here:

End Of The World

In Our Lives

Walking On The Street

I'm Your Friend

You Break My Mind

Someone To Blame

Foolish Mind

In April and May of 1981, Tommy recorded five songs at Track Recorders in Silver Spring, MD. Tommy and Ted Nicely produced. The remainder were tracked at another 1981 recording session (see liners for full details).

Keene's quality control among the Strange Alliance album itself, and it's associated outtakes is something to marvel at, with each clangly, resplendent track so flawless it's almost as if these songs had written themselves. On to five more demos, these from '84, produced by T-Bone Burnett and Don Dixon at Reflection Studios in Charlotte, NC. As with the above selections, here's a synopsis from the folder notes: 
 

The album Songs From The Film was essentially recorded twice, first with T-Bone Burnett and Don Dixon producing, and then again, for the version that was ultimately released, with Geoff Emerick producing. Some of the Burnett/Dixon recordings were later released on the "Run Now" vinyl EP. Those tracks, plus a few more outtakes, were then included on the 1998 CD reissue of Songs From The Film.

These five tunes are recordings from the original sessions that remain unreleased. Four of them were re-recorded for the second version of the album, but none of these particular recordings appear on any officially released version of SFTF. Track listing: 
 

01 Call On Me

02 Run Now

03 Fall Down Too

04 The Story Ends

05 Gold Town 
 

Gold Town indeed. Get both sets of demos here.

Tommy Keene - You Hear Me - A Retrospective 1983-2009 (2010, Second Motion) - a brief evluation

With three decades invested in a music career that has to date spawned roughly a dozen albums (counting b-sides and rarities comps), I’d say Tommy Keene is deserving of an anthology outlining his finer efforts, and fortunately that time has beckoned. You Hear Me, A Retrospective 1983-2009 is a double disk summary that clocks in at around 2 ½ hours boasting 41 tracks spanning his early ‘80s eps for Dolphin Records to his relatively high profile years on Geffen, and all the way up to his most recent studio venture, 2009’s In the Late Bright.

A jangle-meister to the Nth degree, Keene has always had a razor sharp panache when it comes to embellishing sweet chords with gritty distortion, and this robust formula has informed his songs seemingly from the first day he ever grasped a six-string (most likely a Rickenbacker).  Over the years he has not made any wholesale attempt to reinvent himself, and though his "if it ain't broke" strategy has yet to earn him chart domination or widespread cult status, time after time Tommy Keene delivers consistent records.  The veritable four albums worth of material that populate You Hear Me is chronologically sequenced, but it need not be considering our man's sonic palette and linear approach has deviated so minimally over the years.  The bulk of his better known songs are all present and accounted for - "Places That Are Gone," "Paper Words and Lies," "Run Now," and what is arguably his signature piece "Nothing Can Change You," which has even been covered by the Goo Goo Dolls.  There are several deep album cuts infiltrating this set as well, but not much in the way of previously unreleased material, save for a live take of "Long Time Missing" (the incisive leadoff track to 1998's Isolation Party), and an acoustic version of "Black and New York." Nevertheless, You Hear Me offers plenty of music that has been unavailable for years, and is an ideal launching pad for those that need to be acquainted with Keene's repertoire.

If it's TK rarities you're looking for however, there's still time to pre-order this collection directly from Second Motion Records, which will also entitle you to a a bonus digital collection of ten unreleased works (including live and demo material). 

Tommy Keene - Strange Alliance (1981, Park Avenue)

The eight-song mini-album Strange Alliance was the world's (or at least the US') introduction to Tommy Keene (formally of the D.C. based Razz) as a singer/songwriter and ultimately, jangle-rock demi-god.

From song one, "Landscape," Keene established a recipe that he would rarely deviate from on future recordings, up to and including his last studio record, Crashing the Ether. Much sought after (going for $100 on Ebay!), Strange Alliance bears an unmistakable prescience, foreshadowing a remarkably consistent career that would follow in the ensuing decades. Here are some further observations from music scribe Rob Cladwell:

Strange Alliance was originally released in 1981, and then re-released the next year with a 7" single containing the song "Back to Zero." This bonus single was a smart move, as "Back to Zero" was a big jump forward in songwriting from most of what was on the album. Strange Alliance wasn't bad by any means, but there were fewer hooks and fewer memorable songs than on future Keene releases. Basically a power pop record with a raw garage -- almost punkish -- feel, it was better than most of what was being released in the same period. Overlooked then and now, the album is by no means a classic, but is definitely worth seeking out by Keene fans and those with an interest in music akin to Jules & the Polar Bears and early Greg Kihn. by Rob Caldwell

1. Landscape

2. All the Way Around

3. Don't Get Me Wrong

4. I Can't See You Anymore

5. It's All Happening Today

6. Strange Alliance

7. Another Night at Home

8. Northern Lights
 

Hear

Tommy Keene - Retrospective digital bonus (2010)

Tommy Keene has been a relatively frequent mention on Wilfully Obscure, and three years ago when Second Motion Records released his two-disk, career spanning set, You Hear Me - A Retrospective 1983-2009, I offered a rather charitable assessment of it.  And why not, considering the man has given us album after stellar album of intoxicating guitar pop?  As if the 42 tracks occupying that collection weren't enough, Second Motion had a pre-order bonus prior to it's release - an exclusive digital collection of ten Keene rarities.  I for one wasn't about to pass up on the offer, and it was probably the best decision I made that month.  Suffice to say that promo has long come and gone, and as such, I'm placing it directly at your fingertips.  Live cuts, demos, etc.  The tracklist below tells the story.  Hope you enjoy.

01. Places That Are Gone (alt mix by Bill Wittman from Songs From The Film)
02. Stuck On A Ship (Demo 1983 from Dolphin Places That Are Gone EP)
03. Fall Down Too (Unreleased track from T-Bone/Don Dixon album recorded July 1984)
04. All Your Love Will Stay (Home Demo 1999)
05. Eyes of Youth (Home Demo 1999)
06. Never Really Been Gone (Live in Chicago 1998)
07. Nothing Is Grey (demo 1982)
08. Call One Me (Live at Campbell University NC - 1996)
09. Compromise (Live at Campbell University NC - 1996)
10. Love Is A Dangerous Thing / Brad's Boogie (Live at Campbell University NC - 1996)

Hear

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. 

Nightman - No Escape (1981, Limp)

You could say that any friend of Tommy Keene is a friend of mine.  What aroused my interest in Nightman, was drummer Doug Tull, who I learned was formally enlisted in the greater D.C. area Razz in the late '70s, a group which prominently featured a pre-solo Tommy Keene in it's lineup.  In fact, the label that released No Escape, Limp Records, was also home to the Razz.  For a record of it's caliber, I'm damn near shocked that No Escape hasn't been reissued, or found it's way into the sharity blogosphere.  It will come as no surprise to most of you that Nightman slotted nicely into the power-pop side of the tracks.  Think more Knack than say, Shoes.  There are some occasionally routine moments here, but the truly inspired selections (e.g. "Waiting" and "Headline") glisten superbly.  The band's ska parody, "Skanky" would have been better left on the shelf, however.  As it would turn out, Nightman generated a rising star in bassist Ted Niceley, who would subsequently launch a prolific career as an in-demand record producer. 

01. Headline
02. Not Together
03. Playing's Done
04. Love Warfare
05. Skanky
06. Waiting
07. Remember You
08. No Escape
09. Critical Line
10. Working
11. Secrets
12. Find a Way
13. Time to Go

Hear

Titanic Love Affair - No Charisma ep (1992, Crackpot) & Their Titanic Majesties Request (1996, TRG) R.I.P. Jay Bennett

Upon news of Jay Bennett's untimely passing last week (May 24), most of the web chatter emphasized his affiliation with heyday era Wilco. Rightfully so, considering he was a driving force behind that band's much heralded Being There through Yankee Hotel Foxtrot albums. While he enjoyed most (if not all) of his commercial success during that period, the news stories and blogs barely touched on his pre-Wilco accomplishments. A longtime riff-broker for Tommy Keene, as well as other alt-pop godheads like Jellyfish and Adam Schmitt, not to mention Sheryl Crow, some of Bennett's finest moments are enshrined on the disks he made with Urbana, IL's couldn't-catch-a-break '90s rawkers Titanic Love Affair.

From everything I've been able to glean, Bennett was the guitarist and backing vocalist for TLA (the brunt of the singing was courtesy of a fellow named Ken Hartz who has seemingly disappeared into the ether). TLA's eponymous 1991 debut (which I strongly encourage you to experience) was well received by critics and a modest legion of fans, but no match for the grunge onslaught that was in full swing. The back of the album sleeve was inked by none other than Chris Mars of the Replacements - taken as an entirely fitting gesture to those who lazily approximated TLA to Minneapolis' fab four. Regarding their two later recordings (which I'm featuring here) the similarities are over exaggerated, if anything leaning more towards Tommy Stinson's post-Mats work than Westerberg's.

The title of the No Charisma ep was an unscrupulous dig at the label who dumped them after their aforementioned debut failed to set the world on fire. Released on the tiny Crackpot label, it's become something of a scarcity over the years. Earnest and more developed than Titanic Love Affair, Charisma unintentionally predates the vigorous power-pop Superdrag would make their calling card in the not to distant future. Though not as raucous as the ep, TLA's belated swan song, Their Titanic Majesties Request is as earnest and endearing as anything else in their brief cannon. Fans of the Leatherwoods/Todd Newman will really dig this stuff. For a further critique of TLA, Trouser Press is the resource to turn to.
 

No Charisma

01. Out to the Fun

02. One Day

03. Being Cool

04. Poster

05. Good Side

 

Their Titanic Majesties Request

01. Pull You Through

02. Living on the Wrong Side

03. Bever

04. From the Inside

05. At the Show

06. Every Little Chance

07. The Last Now

08. Turn Your Eyes

09. Out on a Limb

10. Neither I Love You

11. drum beats (hidden track)
 

No Charisma: Hear

Their Titanic Majesties Request: Hear

The Martyrs - s/t (1982, Swab)

They look like the Shoes and thank the Vertebrates on the back sleeve, but ultimately, Champaign, Illinois' Martyrs don't particularly sound like either. While I can't pigeonhole them as power pop or punk they do sort of lean to the former. From what little I've been able to glean about them, The Martyrs had a popular local reputation back in their time. Later on in the '90s, singer/mouthpiece Kent Whitesell would contribute to the band Three Hour Tour, while skinsman John Richardson would later work with Tommy Keene. Word has it, the band was in their teens when this album was recorded. Fidelity wise, you'll hear your fair share of pops and static here, but if I get the opportunity, I'll give this baby a proper cleaning and re-upload should the results prove satisfactory. Til then, enjoy.

01. More Rubbish
02. Only Girl
03. Well of Hope
04. No Sense Makes Sense
05. Workers Anonymous
06. Trends of the Turmoil
07. Cruelty
08. Spur of the Moment
09. Offtrax
10. You and Those
11. Blind Faith
12. Killer
13. Open Your Eyes

Hear

The Rangehoods - Rough Town ep (1984, Big D)

Some of you older folks in the audience may recall a Seattle power pop combo, The Heats who issued an acclaimed album, Have an Idea at the dawn of the eighties.  Scintillating as that platter was, lead Heat Steve Pearson went onto a somewhat lesser known quartet, The Rangehoods whose quality control was even more stringent, at least as far as the contents of this ep are concerned.  Possessing a timbre almost identical to Tommy Keene, Pearson leads his fellow Rangehoods through five Plimsouls-ish jewels, without over or under-doing a god damn thing.  Dare I say this is borderline stupendous and one of my best retro finds of late?  Dare I do.  Masterful stuff.  Enjoy.

01. Rough Town
02. Chip on My Shoulder
03. Dangerous
04. Used to Be You
05. Not a Boy

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Primitons - Don't Go Away: Collected Recordings - A brief overview + 1983 tape

A lot has been made of the fabled "new south sound," both on these pages and elsewhere.  I'm generally speaking of the often telltale stripe of left-of-the-dial, Rickenbacker-wielding pop provocateurs from such 1980s locales such as Athens, Georgia or North Carolina, who armed with a small bevy of songs and a modicum of aspiration would gravitate to the counsel and coveted production capabilities of one Mitch Easter.  During the mid-80s there would seem to be a ton of bands befitting said stereotypes, most of whom aside from the big fish (i.e. REM, dB's, Matthew Sweet) faded into long distant memories...and are now the province of music bloggers and archivists such as myself.

After teasing us die-hards for a few years, Arena Rock Recordings have finally seen it fit to shine a light on one such departed Dixie conglomeration, Birmingham, AL's Primitons whose small but powerful discography is enshrined on the chronological, eighteen-track Don't Go Away, compiling their '85 self-titled mini album for Throbbing Lobster Records, the Don't Go Away ep (1986) and their 1987 parting shot, Happy All the Time.  The Primitons lineup, sometimes a trio, and at one point a quartet, involved a constant nucleus of guitar/keyboard toting frontman Mats Roden and percussionist Leif Bondarenko.  The group boasted an advanced sound beyond sweet minor chords and tingly arpeggios, one that's hard to properly distill in the written word.  The initial seven-song salvo that comprises Don't Go Away was tracked under the auspices of Mitch Easter, and whether by osmosis or whatever you choose to peg it, Let's Active had profoundly rubbed off on Roden and Co.  Nonetheless the early Primitons material boasts an indigenous sonic strain of it's own, sparked by an uncanny chemistry interwoven between it's three architects, resulting in fluid, jittery jangle-pop with no shortage of idiosyncratic overtones.  From Alabama you say?

That aesthetic carried over to the three song ep this compilation shares it's namesake with.  In addition to the title cut which became a fan favorite, the record also included the Primitons faithful reading of The Left Banke's "Something On My Mind."  By the time they got around to recording their second and final album, Happy All the Time, Roden's six-string wrangling was buttressed with considerably more musculature, but that extra buzzsaw grit didn't diminish the Primitons rich, resonant arrangements and melodic moxie (although per the liner notes, many fans had a preference to the first record over Happy). A dozen-and-a-half song oeuvre is slim no matter how you slice it, but the band make every moment count, and so far as these ears are concerned, they could throw down with the best of what their like-minded contemporaries Tommy Keene and The Plimsouls had to give.  The Primitons body of work is that considerable and praiseworthy.

A funny thing precipitated the release of Don't Go Away.  On Ebay, I recently found what appeared to be a homemade Primitons demo tape, dating back to 1983, two years before they had a record out.  It was in fact a genuine Prim's artifact, however the four songs on the cassette weren't "demos," so much as rough mixes of four tracks that would appear on the Easter produced mini-LP for Throbbing Lobster.  The variances are slight, with the most prominent difference being the allotment of bass guitar in the mix.  "Five Lines" has a slightly different ending than the finished product.  In any case, instead of sharing a song or two from the CD, I'm giving you the tape to whet your appetite.  If you like what you hear, you will love the top-notch mastering job on the reissue, which is available physically/digitally from Amazon, and also through iTunes and Emusic (though if you buy the CD you also get a download code to eleven unreleased songs!).  No April Fools joke people.  The track list and link to the cassette follows below.

01. You'll Never Know
02. Stars
03. Five Lines
04. She Sleeps

Hear

37 Targets - Another Day (1986, JA! Music)

Until I get the opportunity to rip some more vinyl (which should be very soon) I thought I'd share another album I obtained from the late, great Feelin Kinda Froggy blog. My firsthand knowledge of 37 Targets is pretty nil.  They hailed from Chatanooga, TN, and in addition to recording Another Day with renown producer Don Dixon, they had a video that received a spin or two on MTV, back when that station wasn't so petrified of bands signed to small indie labels (and for that matter when MTV played music videos period).  Nothing particularly fascinating here, just you're standard synth/guitar rock of the era, packing a dose of that all so crucial "edge" with mainstream potential aplenty.  Could this be Tommy Keene moonlighting with The Truth (anyone remember them)?  Or how about Dreams So Real had they gone more commercial?  Apparently, Another Day was released on a German record label, but I'll be damned if I know the story on that. BTW, thumbs down on the Johnny Cash cover.

01. Trains of Richmond
02. Ring of Fire
03. Buddah's Hand
04. Another Day
05. Rumor's Mill
06. Crisis
07. Bett Rebels
08. Water From the Moon

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Digital resuscitations of three smashing vinyl EPs: Matt Barrett, Richard X. Heyman & Home.

Well, I don't have a string of 7" vinyl queued up for this Chanukah, but how would three records in a slightly lengthier format grab you?  It dawned on me as a I set to type this out that I don't think I've mentioned any of the three following acts on this site before, so you're truly getting something original for a change.  Please make your acquaintance below.

Matt Barrett - The Ruse ep (1980, Moonlight)

Matt Barrett's back story is quite literally strewn on the rear album cover of The Ruse.  Since I've included a fairly legible jpeg in the folder I'll try not to overlap with it too much.  In 1978, two up and coming scenesters in Chapel Hill, NC, vocalist/guitarist Barrett and accompanying guitar slinger chum Rick Miller had some songs sans a full fledged band.  You know how just about every batch of these annual Chanukah uploads somehow involves Mitch Easter to one extent or another?  Well here he comes into focus again, as Barrett and Miller hooked up with Mitch (and frequent collaborator Don Dixon) to fill on drums and bass respectively for a one-off recording session in 1978 yielding two songs for an intended single.  Intended is just how it stayed due to lack of resources to usher them to market.  Fast forward to 1980 for the recording of two newer cuts concocted by the Barrett/Miller axis, this time with a less renown rhythm section. The Ruse collects all four recordings...and it's something of a mixed bag.  Regarding the Mitch Easter/Dixon cuts, "My Baby's M-M-Makin' Me Dance" is a rootsy stomper wielding a bit of a Rockpile angle.  No foreshadowing of anything approaching the likes of Let's Active, but fun.  The remaining cut from this session, "Restless" is a sluggish classic rock jam, accomplishing nothing in it's four tired minutes.  The two newer songs on side two are exponentially better by comparison, veering in the vicinity of radio-friendly power pop.  Both "Six Pack" and "How Could I Have Known?" are wholly sturdy and respectable.

01. My Baby's M-M-Makin' Me Dance
02. Restless
03. Six Pack
04. How Could I Have Known?

MP3  or  FLAC

Richard X. Heyman - Actual Size ep (1986, NR World Records) 

When Actual Size fell into the laps of a none-too-assuming public in 1986, it was more than just another power pop record, rather the dawn of singer/songwriter Richard X. Heyman marking his first solo venture.  He made a bigger splash a few years later, landing on Sire Records for '91s excellent Hey Man!, and has been releasing records independently ever since.  In spite of everything he's come up with since this little homegrown EP, it's probably the most arresting thing I have yet to hear from him.  Touching on everyone from '80s Tom Petty to Marshall Crenshaw and Tommy Keene, the six-slice Actual Size is a transcendent pie of ringing, snyth-enhanced pop, that doesn't succumb to the gaudier recording and performance techniques of it's otherwise superficial era.  "Hoosier" alone is time capsule worthy.  A front to back winner.  Heyman re-recorded the entire record and some of his other early songwriting ventures for 2007's Actual Sighs.  Well worth picking up if this makes any impression on you.

01. I'm That Kind of Man
02. Hoosier
03. When Giants Fall
04. The Gallery
05. Masquerader Man
06. Special Love

MP3  or  FLAC

Home - Dirt ep (Homestijl, 1987)

I know for a fact there have been numerous bands monikered Home, but perhaps none more clandestine and intriguing than the one which set up shop in the environs of Albany, NY circa the mid-80s.  The brainchild of lo-fi  home-recordist Bob Lukomski, Home bore some austere, noir affectations, just not the brooding or navel-gazing variations thereof.  Dare I say they had an affection for what Peter Murphy was up to around the same period?  Intelligent, tuneful post-punk rock nibbling on the same edges as contemporaries For Against is how I would typify Home and this thoroughly wonderful four-song record.  They played out frequently from what I recall, but despite originating from their neck of the woods, Lukomksi and Co. were a posthumous discovery for me.  Additional Home material is available on Bandcamp along with some of Lukomski's other endeavors.

01. Mona
02. Heaven
03. Mexican Sunset
04. Tick Tock

MP3  or  FLAC

Life Without Principle - s/t (1989, Intrepid)

My takeaway from this one? Surface level perception in only worth so much. My expectations for Life Without Principle were far from what I actually got. What I thought would be a band solidly steeped in left-of-the dial aesthetics, either of the serious post-punk or lovingly shambolic (a la The Replacements) varieties instead skewed considerably closer to mainstream notions. Surprisingly, even the presence of synths doesn't particularly imbue this trio with new wave bona fides. By and large, the eight songs occupying this self-titled platter can stand on their own, though LWP's commercial aspirations (try the frequent, wailing guitar salvos on for size) were loftier than I could have anticipated.  "Find Yourself Inside" is my clear favorite here, suggesting the band had tuned in to some of Tommy Keene's then-most recent albums. My copy of LWP was no-so-tastefully defaced by a radio station, so Discogs for the win for supplying me with a non-blemished pic of the front sleeve. 

01. I Hear You Singing

02. Find Yourself Inside

03. Much Too Much

04. Let's Go There Anyway

05. Don't Cry For Me Now

06. Business as Usual

07. No Going Home

08. You Can't Hide From Love

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Various - Declaration of Independents (1980, Ambition)

When Declaration of Independents was released some 28 years ago, a various artists collection used to mean something. These days, 90 % of what passes for "compilations" are actually label, tour, or festival clusterfuck samplers packaged in a flimsy cardboard sleeve with little regard to sequencing, annotation, and most vitally, musical consistency. For example, take Big Deal Records Yellow Pills series from the '90. For those of you well versed with those collections, you'll be quick to realize that there is virtually no equivalent for those wonderful, revelatory albums being produced today. Given that taste in music is purely subjective, there's really no such think as a "perfect," start-to-finish compilation, but the one in question here got it mostly right. With it's emphasis on "new pop" mixed in with a smidgen of roots-rawk, Declaration of Independents makes it's mission clear, literally, with thorough liner notes on the back sleeve delving into info on a band-by-band basis. Most of the contributors here are unknowns now just as much as they were back then, but a few ring familiar, including Athens, GA-based eventual cult faves, Pylon. Robin Lane and the Chartbusters made some minor ripples nationally, as well as D.C.'s long departed Razz, who prominently featured a nascent Tommy Keene. Any indie compilation worth it's salt should host at least a few worthy newbies, and there are some jewels here indeed, starting off with SVT, an edgy (and unlikely) Jefferson Airplane offshoot, who released some primo records on the then burgeoning San Francisco, 415 Records imprint. Des Moines' Luxury, and the Wyoming-based News gracefully add their respective wave/power pop variations to the canon, and Jim Wunderle contributes his spin on the Seeds garage rock classic, "Pushin' too Hard." As for D. Clinton Thompson and Root Boy Slim, let's just say they're slightly out of sync with the music that usually inhabits this blog. 

01. SVT - Heart of Stone

02. Jim Wunderle - Pushin' Too Hard

03. D. Clinton Thompson - Driving Guitars

04. Pylon - Cool

05. Razz - You Can Run (But You Can't Hide)

06. Kevin Dunn - Nadine

07. Robin Lane and the Chartbusters - Rather Be Blind

08. Luxury - Green Hearts

09. The News - Bring on the Night

10. Ragnar Kvaran - It's All Different Now

11. Tex Rubinowitz - Feelin' Right Tonight

12. Root Boy Slim and the Sex Change Band - The Meltdown

13. Bubba Lou and the Highballs - Love All Over the Place

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V/A - Scared to Get Happy - An Addendum (aka "the sixth disc").

Just as a quick disclaimer, I am not sharing any part of the newly released Scared to Get Happy compilation box set on Cherry Red Records.  Onto the text. 

When it rains, it pours, and this is the type of torrential onslaught that only comes once every ten years or so.  In 2005 the honors went to Rhino Records Children of Nuggets four disc box, which focused on the creme de la creme of (mostly) American bands with psyche/garage tendencies, primarily taking root in the '80s and thus updating the template accordingly.  For the last eight years I've deemed Children of Nuggets to be the most delightful various artists box set to sink it's teeth into the market...but this month it just got bested.  Not by another Nuggets compilation, rather Scared to Get Happy, a mondo five CD extravaganza, strictly dedicated to obscurish indie UK guitar pop hopefuls spanning 1980-89.  134 of them to be exact!  If you've already caught wind of this six hour long collection, chances are you were already familiar with some of the heavy hitters: Primal Scream, House of Love, Mighty Lemon Drops, Jesus and Mary Chain, Dentists, Primitves, etc...  However in putting this together, Cherry Red dug waaaaay deeper stretching it's reissue-happy tentacles into the realms of labels like Sarah, Midnight, Postcard, not to mention a myriad of DIY imprints.  The roster is as impressive to look as listen to.   Scared... harkens back to the Smiths era of Britpop, when romantic ruminations, nervous energy and homespun moxie were spun into chiming, two-and-a-half minute surges of heart and soul.

So what's the deal with this post?  With a compilation that's exhaustive enough to include the likes of the Siddeleys and the Suede Crocodiles you'd think Cherry Red had all the bases covered...and to great extent they do.  But hypothetically, what if I were to construct a sixth CD of equal worthiness?  Here is my meager attempt at stringing together a "companion" album to an already bustling box set.  Though I can't say there were a terrific number of glaring omissions, there were at least three I couldn't quite rationalize, specifically the Field Mice, Candy Skins, and the Outskirts.  For the Field Mice I opted to go with a demo take of a song that later wound up on the band's Skywriting compilation.   I thought the Outskirts insidiously catchy "Blue Line" (later covered by Let's Active) would have also made for an apt fit, as would the Candy Skin's "She Blew Me Away," sounding like the sweetest thing Tommy Keene never busted out.  That leaves another nineteen StGH worthy nuggets including longtime favorite tracks of mine by James Dean Driving Experience, Church Grims, North of Cornwallis, Hey Paulette, Stray Trolleys (incognito Martin Newell of Cleaners From Venus), the Visitors, among a bevy of other unknown quantities from the British Isles.  If you like what you hear, don't deprive yourself of obtaining the smashing box set that inspired this mix!  Amazon UK has the best deal of all the retailers I investigated, and it's an absolute must have.  The addendum track list is as follows:

01. Visitors - Goldmining
02. Moss Poles - Go Down
03. Remember Fun - Train Journeys
04. Field Mice - I Thought Wrong (Run away) (demo)
05. The Church Grims - Plaster Saint
06. Candy Skins - She Blew Me Away
07. Outskirts - Blue Line
08. Various Artists (the band) - Original Mixed Up Kid
09. North of Cornwallis - Billy Liar
10. Hellfire Sermons - Rachel Clean
11. Potting Sheds - Happy Again
12. The Perfect Disaster - Call it a Day
13. Hey Paulette - I Really Do Love Penelope
14. Jane From Occupied Europe - Ocean Run Dry
15. James Dean Driving Experience - Drop Dead Darling
16. The Rose Of Avalanche - Always There
17. Power of Dreams - The Jokes On Me (demo)
18. Palisades - Knight in Gale
19. This Scarlet Train - Picture Frame
20. St. Christopher - Even The Sky Seems Blue
21. Stray Trolleys - Secret Dreams Of A Kitchen Porter
22. extra special mystery bonus track

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Reviews you can use: Chris Church, Popular Creeps, Jeremy Porter and the Tucos, The Black Watch, the Well Wishers.

I've been on a review hiatus for quite a few months now, which I apologize for. To whomever has sent me music in late '22 to the present thanks for your patience.  Here are a few words on a handful of titles that have made an impression or two. 

I've been guilty as the next guy of ignoring the most recent release(s) from a prolific artist, namely one who has say, ten+ albums to their credit. From Robert Pollard to Neil Young to Motorhead, I've quite literally taken all of these institutions for granted simply because I have so much from them already. I may not be as familiar with Chris Church's quickly accumulating catalog as the aforementioned, but I'm conscious of the fact that just about every time I turn around I learn he's got a new CD under his belt. I'm glad I opted not to sleep on Radio Transient, because it's one of his most inspired and inventive in recent memory. Church has always been a deft power pop craftsman, yet there's something different about this album's commencing tune, the brash, multilayered "GCRT," that grabs you by the collar with it's mix of lush instrumentation, technical finesse and frantic vocals. Although the going on the remainder of RT isn't always as urgent, it's an embarrassment of riches, much in league with what Tommy Keene, Marshall Crenshaw, and even Todd Rundgren were supplying us with in the mid/late '80s. Yes, there's a certain slickness to the arrangements here that could seemingly pass for major label-budget muster, say three decades ago, but every iota of this disc is thoroughly heartfelt and delivers a spate of stunning high water marks, like "Going Til We Go," and "Over and Out." Radio Transient is already a contender for one of 2023's best albums, and has me scurrying to see what else I've recently missed from Chris Church. It's available now straight from Big Stir Records. 

Hailing from Detroit but distinctly conjuring up a musical reference due west in Minneapolis, Popular Creeps swiped their moniker from a Chris Mars solo cut. Truthfully, there aren't exactly 180 degrees of separation between this quartet and the Mats, but the Creeps rough-hewn stripe of warm, reverby rock n roll eschews any semblance of filler or pretense. Frontman Lenny Grassa previously made a name for himself in a wonderful, like-minded outfit dubbed The Leonards in the latter increments of the twentieth century and hearing him again on the mic is a welcome surprise. Both of his bands seemed to be tilting in the vicinity of early Figgs, not to mention bygone southern aggregations like Snatches of Pink and Finger. Given the low visibility of these names however, my observation might amount to nothing more than sheer coincidence. Their second album (and first for Big Stir) All of This Will End in Tears wields some serious pent up aggression in the guise of the absolutely cranking "Tear Me Apart" and "From the Past," both of which embrace pure punk, or at the very least the biting power chords thereof. Overall these guys tend to function at a less strenuous pace on Tears, just don't hold out for any ballads lurking on this record. It's 2023 kids, and this is about as earnest as it's going to get.                                                                                                                                                                   

I've got even more Detroit tuneage to enlighten you about, namely Jeremy Porter and the Tucos, a combo who've been in business for about a decade or so who are touting their most recent album, 2021's Candy Coated Cannonball. Nothing too unusual here - singer-songwriter fronting a sharp, guitarsy three-piece whose plaintive confessions usually hit the mark and occasionally yield something gnarly, like the indelible "Dead Ringer," which strikes me as the best slice of power pop Wilco forgot to come up with on A.M.  In fact, there are shades of '90s indie rock cropping up delightfully all over ...Cannonball, and when these guys really nail the bullseye on the power chord enhanced "Girls Named Erica" and the looser "What Could Be in That Box" Jeremy and the Tucos impact along the same lines as the Lemonheads. I discovered more than a few interesting ideas here.  Smash the hyperlink above and set yourself up with a copy of Cannonball on CD, digital, or even clear wax. 

And now we're up to the Black Watch's difficult twenty-second album...or is their twenty-third?  At any rate, John Andrew Frederick and Co. have given us a hell of a lot of music over the years, and seem to up the sophisti-rock ante with virtually every successive release. As for this being a "difficult" album, I say that partly in jest as Frederick strikes me as a bit wearier and perturbed than usual on Future Strangers, albeit not by much. No, this isn't the Black Watch's Disintegration or Unknown Pleasures or really anything uber-cathartic, yet it is divinely moving and contemplative. In fact, any given salvo Frederick utters is likely bejeweled with an advanced quotient of depth. Occasionally the scope of what B/W offer isn't immediate and takes a few listens to unfurl, but Future Strangers offers a bevy of visceral charges in the guise of "Off You Go Redux!," the compelling title track, and "In My Head" which emanates a waft of frosty, post-punk entrails. If this album isn't their masterstroke it's at the very least one of their most poignant and affecting. Atom Records or Bandcamp have you covered should you opt top indulge (and yes, it's available on wax).

Not unlike Bob Mould or Sloan. San Jose's Well Wishers insist on stringent quality control, so much so that even before the laser hits the disk, or you push "play" on your streaming portal of choice, satisfaction is virtually a given.  That's a pretty small pantheon of artists you can pin such a claim on, but prime-Wisher Jeff Shelton has been proving my point over and over on roughly a dozen albums over the course of two decades. And while I haven't shared much in the way of WW music over the years, I've offered plenty of text regarding Shelton's modus operandi - an evenly paced mix of guitarsy crunch and chime, an ace melodic acuity, and an unimpeachable consistency. 2022's Blue Sky Sun, plays to the Well Wisher's strengths to more gratifying effect than practically any other installment in Shelton's catalog I can think of, and he just may have outdone himself on "Idiot Smile" and "Who Lost That Feeling." Tossing in a cover of Guided By Voices' "Game of Pricks" is a swell and even welcome gesture, but given that our protagonist is on something of a streak, I would have easily forgiven him for another original. Blue Sky Sun is yours for purchasing on Amazon and Bandcamp.