Thursday, February 28, 2008
Ultimate Fakebook - This Will Be Laughing Week (1999, Noiseome)
Hailing from Manhattan (Kansas that is) Ultimate Fakebook could have easily been pigeonholed as pop-punk, but they came from a far different place than yammering juveniles like Sum 41 and Good Charlotte. This exemplary trio also wisely avoided being circulated into the ersatz emo clusterfuck that was just about to break nationally.
Unfortunately, as high caliber as they were, Ultimate Fakebook never did break nationally, despite a short-lived stint on Sony Records in 2000/01. This Will Be Laughing Week, the band’s second and by far finest album was originally released on the Lawrence, KS-based Noiseome Records in 1999. When UFB were scooped up a year later by the bigwigs, the lp was retooled with slightly altered and/or remixed versions of all tracks. I am preferable to the original Noiseome version of TWBLW, and that’s what I’ve posted. There’s a bittersweet, underdog vibe that imbues this album in a way that’s indigenous to UFB, and a dizzying array of killer hooks is their not-so-secret weapon. In fact, even the most cursory listen to “Little Apple Girl,” and “Soaked in Cinnamon,” will you make an instant fanatic.
UFB capped off their lil’ career off with a third album in 2002, Open Up and Say Awesome, followed up with the Before We Spark ep a year later. Needless to say, given today's musical climate, they’re achingly missed.
01-She Don't Even Know My Name
02-Tell Me What You Want (I'll Be Anything)
03-Of Course We Will
04-Brokÿn Nëedle
05-A Million Hearts
06-Soaked in Cinnamon
07-This Will Be Laughing Week
08-Little Apple Girl
09-I'm All Out of It Now
10-Glitter & Glue
11-Real Drums
12-Perfect Hair
Are you ready to rock, it's not a question baby...
This can now be found on iTunes, Emusic, and Amazon.
Wednesday, February 27, 2008
Singles Going Single #17 - Bevil Web 7" (1996, Wabana)
Bevil Web was Tobin Sprouts first solo venture, although he did predate GBV with a band called Figure 4. Featuring a pair of four-track, home-recorded morsels, "Minutemen," and "Lariat Man," Tobin Sprout get's his lo-fi on, and the results are brilliant. "Minutemen," owes a sizeable debt to Pollard's sonic template, but the delicate "Lariat Man," is prototypical Tobin Sprout, and was a clear harbinger of what would materialize on several solo albums, and with his offshoot band, Eyesinweasel. Tobin's music career appears to be on indefinite hiatus, with his attention presently being focused on painting.
A. Minutemen
B. Lariat Man
Hear
Monday, February 25, 2008
Hagfish - Buick Men (1993)
Saturday, February 23, 2008
Singles Going Single #16 - Gnome - "13 Family" 7" plus Six-Hi Surprise Tower (1992)
Special bonus for this installment of Singles Going Single. I didn't think I could do justice to Gnome by merely uploading their lone 7." Gnome were a Seattle four-piece that knocked around Seattle during the early nineties. By 1991, I had familiarized my self with all the Sub Pop bands and began investigating other Sea-Tac bands and labels. One of these labels was C/Z Records, who included on their roster Coffin Break, Skin Yard, Treepeople, and Gnome.
Thursday, February 21, 2008
Dish - Mabel Sagittarius ep + 7" (1993)
Tuesday, February 19, 2008
The Replacements - Boink!! (the bootleg)
No longer shared. Sorry.
Monday, February 18, 2008
Singles Going Single #15 - The Deflowers (Platypus, 1995)
Sunday, February 17, 2008
Gary Myrick and the Figures - Living In a Movie (1981)
01. I'm Not a Number
02. Penetrate My Heart
03. Romance
04. Died on Television
05. No Violence
06. Living In a Movie
07. Madam B
08. Tattooed On My Forehead
09. My Girl (It's Simple)
10. Speak Up Now
11. No Crisis
12. Promises, Promises
Update: This was recently reissued on CD. Get it from Amazon, or directly from the label that put it out, Wounded Bird Records. iTunes also has it.
Saturday, February 16, 2008
Singles Going Single #14 - Blinker the Star (1996)
The glittery mylar sleeve, didn't translate well with my scanner, but nevertheless...
A. Bluish Boy
B. Transona 5
Hear
Thursday, February 14, 2008
I Love You - Live ep (1989) & s/t lp (1991)
In 1994, I Love You issued the dramatically different sounding All of Us, and wasn't heard from again until some reunion shows in 2007
Monday, February 11, 2008
Waxing Poetics - Manakin Moon (1988)
01. Where Your Name Is
02. Ghost Writer
03. Baby Jane
04. Iodine
05. Downstairs
06. Needles in the Camel's Eye
07. Side By Side Sometime
08. Father Sun & Ghost
09. Don't Tread on Me
10. Blue Eyed Soul
11. Marianne Faithful
On Amazon downloads
Sunday, February 10, 2008
Singles Going Single #13 - Belreve 7" (Anyway, 1994)
Saturday, February 9, 2008
The Pursuit of Happiness - I'm An Adult Now ep (1987)
I realize I'm probably not doing anyone a huge favor by uploading this, but what the hell. To know anything about the Toronto-based The Pursuit of Happiness is to know their classic Todd Rundgren-produced debut album Love Junk. Familiarity with TPOH's invariably horny lead-man, Moe Berg, doesn't hurt either.
All five TPOH albums are recommendable on their own merits, but Love Junk represents the band at it's most inspired, with thirteen feedback-laced power pop tunes that can essentially be summed up in one word - bitchin. The I'm An Adult Now ep, released independently in Canada, houses early incarnations of some of Love Junk's most crucial selections, including their signature hit, "I'm An Adult Now." Even recording sans the auspices of Mr. Rundgren, TPOH were still vitally potent, not to mention indelibly harmonious. By and large, the fully-realized album takes are a bit superior to these, but Love Junk wasn't quite capable of reflecting this ep's version of "Ten Fingers," with it's raw, ringing chords, lovingly seeping their way into your cranium.
01. I'n An Adult Now
02. Killed By Love
03. She's So Young
04. Ten Fingers
Pollen - Peach Tree (1997)
Thursday, February 7, 2008
Singles Going Single #12 - Armchair Martian 7" (1995)
A1. Barely Passing
A2. I'm Not Ready
B. Xenophobe (A Car)
Hear
Tuesday, February 5, 2008
The Buck Pets - 1987 demo tape
That album made a huge impression on me. I can still remember how stoked I was a couple years later when I found an original nine-song Buck Pets demo tape, that served as a precursor to the album, in an alleyway record shop in Schenectady, New York. Independently released in 1987, I'm assuming this is what sealed the deal with Island Records, if only for the fact that five songs (tracks 1, 4, 6, 7, and 9) were recorded for The Buck Pets. "Some Hesitation" wound up on the second Buck Pets album, Mercurotones, and the remaining three cuts are exclusive to this tape. To get a real appreciation of these demos, hearing the first Buck Pets album at the very least would behoove you, but if this is/was your first exposure to the band it's a highly convincing introduction nonetheless.
In 1990, The Pets follow-up, Mercurotones came and went with little fanfare. Uprooted from Island shortly thereafter, their third and final album, To The Quick, surfaced in 1993 on Restless Records, and that was about it. Do yourself a favor and check out The Buck Pets fansite Worldwide Smile for historical info and links to post-Buck Pets projects, particularly those involving BP lead singer Chris Savage.
01. Song for Louise Post
02. Sometimes
03. Other People
04. Hammer Valentine
05. Some Hesitation
06. Perfect
07. A Little Murder
08. Lost
09. Funny That Way
Hear
Monday, February 4, 2008
Singles Going Single #11 - The Nubs 7" (Businessman, 1980)
Fueled by a blistering guitar-line, the song's pro/antagonist not only denounces employment wholesale, but money to boot. Finally, to further demonstrate his anti-materialistic leanings, our man torches his car at song's end. Now that is punk. As for the b-side, "Little Billy's Burning," I won't give away the story, but it's almost as misanthropically fun as "Job."
I have no clue as to what quantity this record was pressed in 1980, but since it's such a highly sought collectible, it must have been a relatively small printing. The single was reissued, so to speak in 2003 as part of a self-titled Nubs CD, which also included 13 newly recorded songs from a reunited Nubs as a bonus. No longer available, the CD itself is ostensibly sought after as well.
Due to a series of recent unforseen expenses, I have been forced to put my Nubs single on the market. You can go here if you are interested (hint, hint). Please don't hate the opportunist in me! Breaks my heart to see it go, but I at least have a virtual version of it...and now you as well.
A. Job
B. Little Billy's Burning
Hear
Saturday, February 2, 2008
Singles Going Single #10 - The Moons (Broken, 1997)
No intense, angst-ridden punk here my friend, merely two slices of blissful, indie-guitar pop. On the leisurley, but reflective traipse of "Stolen Days," K.C. Staubach's delivery exudes Noel Gallagher, just as much as Elliott Smith, resulting in a sublime 191 seconds. "Step Back," revels in a comparatively vigorous motif, with it's guitar-work more notably prominent than it's flipside.
More can be discovered about the Moons here, including songs that never made their way onto this wax.
A. Stolen Days
B. Step Back
Hear
Rain Parade - Demolition (1991)
01. Sad Eyes Kill
02. Mystic Green
03. Shoot Down the Railroad Man
04. My Secret Country
05. Invisible People
06. Only Business
07. Crashing Dream
08. Depending On You
09. Gone West
10. My Dog's Last Dream
11. Tranquility Base
12. The Sniper
13. Murder Boy
14. Got the Fear
15. TV Stone
16. Undermine
17. Novacaine
18. Power
19. Every Morning Does
Get it on Bandcamp