Sunday, March 17, 2024

From 1980, bundled with a contemporary EP.

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

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Saturday, March 16, 2024

The Blackjacks - Basic Blackjacks ep (1984, Homestead)

Yet more Boston guitar-rawk bluster.  The Blackjacks suspiciously remind me of another Beantown bunch, the equally bar-busting Classic Ruins, right down to the vocals in fact. However these guys are slightly more forward-thinking (along the lines of a more pedestrian Jim Carroll Band) not to mention even more ribald and apolitically correct. I wouldn't refer to these gents as innovators, but goddamn they're super tight and occasionally catchy (see "Dreaming Of Saturday Again"). Elsewhere you might encounter some bluesy or roots rock seasoning, albeit nothing excessive.  Apparently there was a double CD-R compilation of all of their recordings, but I have yet to encounter it.

01. The Generic N.Y.C. Woman
02. Dreaming Of Saturday Again
03. Junk Train
04. The Black Jacks' Manifesto (The Sweet Smell Of Flowers)
05. My Home Town
06. Demon Lover

Friday, March 15, 2024

Exploding White Mice 7" (1988, Greasy/Festival)

Demi-legends in Australia's garage-punk underground, the Exploding White Mice often veered to sheer power-punk overdrive, a la the Ramones to careen their point home. The flip side, of this wax, "Without Warning" is a bruising illustration of this, with an intense, not to mention speedy crush of guitars and all-guns-blazing histrionics in general. "Fear (Late at Night)" doesn't induce quite as much whiplash, but nobody would mistake it for a ballad. EWM released four albums and just as many more singles/eps in their 1983-1999 lifespan, and even gained a little bit of traction in North America by the middle of their tenure, but to a certain extent many of their recordings have been tough to come by in the Western Hemisphere.  

A. Fear (Late at Night)
B. Without Warning

Sunday, March 10, 2024

I'm on my last brocade, I've been cautiously laid and constantly harmed.

From 2023. A return to this band's gritty roots.

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

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Saturday, March 9, 2024

The Texas Instruments - Magnetic Home (1993, Doctor Dream)

It's been awhile since I dedicated any meaningful space to the Texas Instruments.  About a decade and a half, and that's not an exaggeration.  I submitted their 1991 album Crammed Into Infinity way back in 2008. You might say the Instruments aren't a high echelon priority for me, but I enjoy what I've heard by them, albeit I still have some catching up to do regarding their output in the '80s.  At any rate, prior to hearing Magnetic Home for the first time, many of it's song titles struck me as a bit trite, even hackneyed.  Glad I didn't judge this book by it's cover though, because as with Crammed... this is another batch of earnest tunes that would have slotted in with anything populating college radio, say in the late-80s.  Vying for a similar aesthetic to what the Feelies achieved on Time For a Witness, T/I bore an appeal straightforward enough to have been embraced by a considerably lager audience, however the band's aplomb for sincerity and minor chords (not to mention career-long independent status) all but ensured they would never be adopted as the flavor-of-the-month.  Perhaps not an outright revelation, Magnetic Home, illustrates that these Austin, TX fixtures were worth every morsel of adulation their small but dedicated fanbase were gracious enough to bestow upon them.   

01. Hittin' it Hard
02. The Gift of Age
03. A Generation Beat Away
04. When i Found You
05. Don't Give YOur Life
06. Part of the Whole
07. Say Something
08. The Sweet Modern Word
09. Vision
10. Armagideon's Child
11. Magnetic Home

Sunday, March 3, 2024

I kicked around in the big bad world after you sold all my action figures...

From 2015.  This band's sixth but hopefully not final album.

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

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Saturday, March 2, 2024

The Swimming Pool Q's - The Firing Squad For God ep (1987, DB)

Occasionally I share music not based wholly on it's merits, rather on other surrounding factors. Though I'm an admirer of the Swimming Pool Q's I can't profess to being a mondo fanatic of them, yet I know I likely have a decent quotient of readers who in fact are more appreciative of these Atlanta than I'll ever be. Hence my motive in sharing this EP, given that it contains several selections, that to my knowledge, never made the transition to the digital era. The record's title track is a gaudy, effects-laden surge of mechanized, heavy-handed studio excess that only an era like the '80s could have been responsible for. Pretty off-putting in comparison to the Q's relatively humble preceding efforts, but sardonically amusing, not unlike their contemporaries in say, the Screaming Blue Messiahs. It's backed with four b-sides, including a dollop of instrumentals (or quasi variants thereof) pretty much all of which border on frivolous. "Working in a Nut Plant," dating from 1982, is a fully realized tune however, and I find it's the most rewarding and recommendable item this slab of wax has going for it. Enjoy.     

01. The Firing Squad For God
02. El Presidenté
03. Working in the Nut Plant
04. Hip-Hype
05. Represidenté

Friday, March 1, 2024

00-Spies - demo (1996)

Better known as Double Naught Spies, this L.A.-based quartet made minor ripples in their local power pop sphere, and managed to crank out two albums before calling it quits.  Despite being demos, these three tracks sound fully realized, on the more guitars-y side of the spectrum I might add, slotting in splendidly with the likes of Super Deluxe, Material Issue, Gigolo Aunts and even Redd Kross.  I don't have much more in the way of details to dispel on these guys, but if this is your trip, you'll be happy to know that the band's back catalog is available in essentially one fell swoop on Bandcamp.

01. Dandelion
02. Jupiter
03. Love Letter Bomb

Sunday, February 25, 2024

I'm alone with Lucifer...

From 1990.

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

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Tubular Face - An Acoustic Disturbance (1984, Closet)

Talk about music that was completely devoid of the prevailing norms of it's era.  Enter Tubular Face, a San Antonio, Texas duo (Mike Escamilla and Gilbert Garcia) whose homegrown, DIY penchant didn't have a stitch in common with say, A Flock of Seagulls or even ZZ Top (though I've read the band was in cahoots with Daniel Johnston).  T/F didn't stay hemmed-in to any one particular style, and while some of this record is in fact acoustic, some of the more enticing selections (check out bookends "Movie Star" and "Change My World") are plugged in and all the better for it. An Acoustic Disturbance is intermittently mellow, boasting lo-fi folk inclinations, and at other times idiosyncratic with some downright tweaked interludes.  If anything else, you'd swear this album was cut in the mid-'70s, as it's 1984 copyright date is somewhat deceptive. Interesting and occasionally intriguing stuff.

01. Movie Star
02. Two Feet of Snow
03. Circle
04. Macho Muchacho
05. Big Sister
06. Apocalypse Now
07. Nerve Gas Party
08. My House
09. Everything Will Work Out Fine
10. It's Almost Over
11. The Oppressor
12. If There's Anything I Can Do
13. Echo of a Scream
14. A Dream Shared by Two
15. Change My World

Sunday, February 18, 2024

Being this month's model is the best, but you change your mind and heart like you change your dress.

From 1981. This L.A. institution's oft overlooked third album.

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

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Mystery Date - Zoom 7" (1985, Twilght)

Yet another single I've only been able to procure via ones and zeros. Despite not owning a physical copy, I know that Mystery Date (who were one of numerous bands with the same moniker - go figure) were Georgia denizens, possibly from the oft-noted Athens.  Beyond boasting some serious post-punk angularities, whether they were conscious of the fact or not, M/D were prescient enough to forecast the riot-grrrl movement, a dam that would all but burst in the not-too-distant future.  Sonically, they emanated a similar pigment to another Peach State cadre, Pylon, right down to some intermittently gruff vocal chops. Mystery Date bore a dazzling moxie, that for whatever the reason was never parlayed into a full-length.  

A. Zoom
B. Pink Ribbons

Tuesday, February 13, 2024

Stone Telling - s/t (1994, Network Sound)

Some mixed feelings on this one, which I've flirted with sharing almost since I started this page in 2007. So what took so long?  Not quite sure, perhaps the timing.  Stone Telling sound a bit dated three decades after the fact.  Too melodic and accessible for straight-up hardcore, yet thematically, too contemplative and thoughtful to label pop-punk...albeit not any obvious stripe of emo either. With a somewhat regrettably over-processed guitar tincture this Southern Cali quartet slotted in sonically with Dag Nasty circa Field Day with less memorable songs and no bona-fide anthems to speak ok. That said, this is still a genuinely consistent listen, and these fellows exude little to be embarrassed of.  Go into this with measured expectations, and if you're anything like me you might come away from it pleasantly surprised.

01. Disappear Here
02. Easy
03. Reach
04. Almost Again
05. For Times
06. Always
07. Nothing Lasts
08. Shine
09. Every Breath

Sunday, February 11, 2024

Life’s a messy table and someone’s gotta clear it.

A debut from 1999. The creator of this has album repeatedly disavowed it, but I still find it endearing.

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

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Sunday, February 4, 2024

It's secession time, paid for by cutting backwards.

Hard to believe this album is 30 years-old this week!  Could be my top pick of 1994.  

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

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Saturday, February 3, 2024

Tanjent Image – Suranland ep (1988, Nebula)

Here's a bygone Detroit-area quintet to rock your weekend. Tanjent Image strike an impressive visage on this stimulating four-song platter, representing the one-and-done entry in their petite discography. Mouthpiece Reed Richard bears similarities to Peter Murphy, but his approach is considerably less pious, and the resemblance is likely a coincidence. The one brief online reference I found for these guys corralled TI into the goth ghetto, though I find that inaccurate. These dudes were about as brooding as say, The Cult and would have fit splendidly on a bill with hometown mates The Orange Roughies, who I know for a fact were a going concern around the same time. Sort of post-punk-lite exploring serious themes, often pondering spirituality with nary any religious overtones. Not exactly the most original shtick for their era, yet a solid thumbs-up nonetheless.

01. Suranland
02. Faith
03. One Nation
04. Anytime

Thursday, February 1, 2024

Broom - Tranquility Forest 7" (1993, Echonet)

What a splendid blind purchase this turned out to be!  A coed San Francisco treat who roamed the Earth between 1989-93, I don't think I was even aware of Broom's existence until I came across this 45.  The A-side, "Tranquility Forest" is a sheer delight, the kind of lo-fi gem that contemporary east-coasters like early Versus or some upstart hopeful on say Simple Machine Records might have concocted. Slight and rough hewn, with oodles of intermediate charm and fuzzy analogue hues course through virtually every nanosecond of this keeper.  The flip, "Carpet" isn't quite as convincing, nonetheless still adequate, with a less-tuneful gentleman on the mic as opposed to the fairer sex fronting the aforementioned "Tranquility."  The only other proper Broom release was a preceding 1992 single. in 2015 Patterns and Tones blog offered a thorough interview with members Steven Brown and Eric Bluhm where it was revealed that guitarist Roxanne Rodriguez passed away in 2003.

A. Tranquility Forest
B. Carpet

Sunday, January 28, 2024

I could probably learn a thing or two about how to become unglued.

From 2013. For fans of The Drums (the band), or for that matter The Smiths.

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

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Saturday, January 27, 2024

The Elementals - Selling Out Big Time (1988, Gardenhose)

I don't have much info to go on regarding this Canuck trio, whose 1988 platter may have been the only release to their name. While not revelatory it's still generally satisfying in that left-of-the-dial manner, occasionally a little too color-by-numbers for their own good.  Some tangential R.E.M.-isms, and even a few subtle folk-pop maneuvers are palpable, albeit The Elementals were hardly inclined to strive for anything esoteric or even artsy here. Would love to have heard what a hypothetical follow-up to Selling Out... might have amounted to, because as promising as this wax was The Elementals hadn't necessarily "arrived" yet, so to speak. 

01. Huh, You Got It
02. Out on a Llama
03. World in Pieces 
04. Find Me a Place
05. Won't You
06. Toys and Dolls
07. Hummana Hummana 
08. G-Sharp Sideways

Sunday, January 21, 2024

Mrs. America why did you do this to us?

A 1986 compilation that was a high school staple for me.

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

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Sunday, January 14, 2024

Just give that rhythm everything you got.

A recent reissue of a 1980 album that should have cast a wider net.

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

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The Verlaines - You're Still Too Obscure For Me

Howdy.  If it seems I've been cutting back on posts even more lately there's a reason for that. I'm dealing with some unexpected health issues and could be for some time to come. In addition to taking care of myself I'm going to try to get to digitizing some more vinyl and/or tapes later this week.  

For now I'm offering a fan-curated mix tape of sorts by one of Dunedin, New Zealand's finest, The Verlaines. Not an official release by any stretch of the imagination, this 17-song set focuses on deeper album tracks, b-sides, alternate versions, and even Graeme Downes solo material. If you're unfamiliar with the band, particularly early halcyon-era albums like Hallelujah - All The Way Home, this is an enlightening, if a bit haphazard spot to dive in. Enjoy.

01. Crisis After Crisis
02. You Cheat Yourself Of Everything That Moves (new version)
03. Angela 
04. It Was Raining
05. Makes No Difference
06. Take Good Care Of It
07. Only Dream Left
08. Jesus What a Jerk
09. The Funnest Thing
10. It Was
11. Gloom Junky
12. Some Fantasy
13. Cattle, Cars, And Chainsaws [Graeme Downes]
14. Sunday Kickaround [Graeme Downes]
15. It's Easier To Harden A Broken Heart (Than Mend It)
16. Paratai Drive
17. A Call From Decades Past

Tuesday, January 9, 2024

...and when your metal seeker shines I will avoid its hungry beam.

Welcome to Mystery Tuesday everyone. We've got a live one from '07.

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

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Wednesday, January 3, 2024

A considerable case of underblogging - the 2023 Best of the Blog mix.

It's summation time again - my annual wrap for the year that's just passed us by.  Behold, yet another sampler of the creme de la creme of what many of you have already made your acquaintance with in the past 365 days, but relax, for those of you who aren't up to speed or were merely holding out for a shortcut I've got you covered. I'd say a good 80% of the time the most immediate thing that greats you on any given day is one of my Mystery Monday banners.  I honestly need to rectify that, because as much fun as said weekly randomness, I know you're looking for unique posts with actual nomenclature and titles attached (what a concept, I know).  Slowly but surely, I think I'll get there, even if it means tweaking my personal schedule a tad.

Generally speaking, the first half of this year's compendium emphasizes the "pop" angle of things, but not entirely.  I tried to design the song-to-song transitions as smoothly as I could, albeit if anomalies arise that just comes with the territory (and since you're not playing his back on vinyl or 8-track you can always zap it to the next cut). I'm pressed for time to elaborate on any particular artist, but that's what the original write-ups are for, and if time allows later in the week I might even plug in links to the full record each song is derived from. Keeping with Best of the Blog tradition, I've included a handful of exclusive songs by artists I haven't covered previously, noted with an asterisk, the last one (track 24) being even more of a curveball than usual. Have at it, and naturally. a fruitful New Year. 

01. Durango 95 - Great Buildings
02. Laughing Stock - The Boy Who Never Sleeps
03. Waxing Poetics - Hermitage
04. Three Hour Tour - 'Til the Next Time
05. Upangybottoms - Christine
06. Life Without Principle - Find Yourself Inside
07. The Cradle - It's Too High
08. The Clergy - Pieces
09. Fear of Strangers - Shopping For a Dog
10. Agitpop - Straight Through To Nashville
11. Hunters & Collectors - Tow Truck
12. The Weeds - Replaced
13. The Acid Casualties - Point Me at the Sky
14. What is This? - Days of Reflection
15. Nu Este - From This Side of the Window
16. Fictions - Fixation
17. Accent - We Are Lost* 
18. Life in General - The Fog
19. Toby Redd - More Time
20. U.S. Mods - Jumping Off Niagara Falls
21. Moon - The Never Room
22. Invisible Pedestrian - Ordinary Taxpayer
23. To Heaven a Jet - Castles*
24. Company Of State - Dark*

Sunday, December 31, 2023

Life's a circle, that's for certain...

A 26-track singles compilation spanning 1982-87. And while I'm at it, Happy New Year.

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

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