Wednesday, September 10, 2008

Singles Going Single # 68 - Huffy 7" (1995, Ringing Ear)

I know another band may come to me later, but in all my infinite wisdom, or more accurately, taste, Vermont never spawned a band so striking as Huffy. I fell in love at first listen with this single, particularly the A-side, "Anything Goes," a song that I still rank as one of the ten greatest songs of the 1990s. Possessing perhaps the most compelling guitar riff since Boston's "More Than a Feeling," Huffy's "Anything Goes" ushers you in like few pop-punk songs can. Once you're in the lobby, things become even more sonically spellbinding. By mid-song, you will doubt find yourself in a sublime state of conjecture, as you try to hem together the disparate lyrics entailing milk, steering wheels, and some nonsense about "shaking the way I feel." Yeah, I can't figure out what's going on myself, but it sounds phenomenal. If there's a classic one-liner to be culled from the track, it's surely, "one foot in the door, the other in my mouth." Furthermore, leadman Tim Lauben has one of the single most distinctive voices you're ever likely to hear.

The flipside, "Handlebars" lurks in the toppling shadow of it's better half, but carries on in the same Doughboys/Dino Jr., inflected pattern Huffy would further explore on their full length, No High Five on Me Too Records, still available for mailorder I might add. It was to be Huffy's parting shot, but Lauben would soon resurface in My Own Sweet, and in this millennium with The Red and the Black. These days, he's perfecting his solo muse, which you can sample here. More info on Huffy can be gleaned from an interesting 2003 post on Bradley's Almanac.

The rip of "Anything Goes" was taken not from the vinyl, but actually the Ringing Ear Records, Flex Your Specs compilation CD. I think that covers all the bases.
 
A. Anything Goes
B. Handlebars
 

16 comments:

Unknown said...

Great post. The internet always needs more Huffy.

Brushback said...

When Ringing Ear closed up shop I ended up buying a ton of their releases on clearance, but the Huffy single is one of the few I didn't get, unfortunately. Too bad for me, because I've got the "Flex Your Specs" sampler too, and "Anything Goes" is one of my favorite songs on that CD.

Unknown said...

Thanks for being one of the only resources on the "interwebs" with info on Huffy.

Interesting bit of Huffy alumni trivia, did you know that Nate Wells (Huffy's drummer) art directed the videogame "BioShock"?

I'd really love for someone to post some mp3s from "Sunny Drive Time." I wore out my cassette copy from overplaying it.

spavid said...

I have MP3s of the Sunny Drive Time demo I can post in the not too distant future.

Unknown said...

That would be AWESOME!

I haven't heard "She Won't Come Around" for about 5 years and that's one of my favorites.

Tim Lauben's new music on MySpace is really fantastic- thanks for reminding me about one of the brightest musical talents out there.

DeadBrokeRek said...

this band is absolutely great. soooo reminds me of a 90s pop-punk dino jr. I picked up this 7" single just recently from dr. strange for a buck (they still got it!), solely cus it was on ringing ear. Im a huge doc hopper/sinkhole fan, and this ringing ear never disappoints. Id love to hear some of this bands other material. anyone? (deadbrokerec@gmail.com)

Unknown said...

Hi this is Nate from huffy. I actually do not have a copy of this. (How sad it that?)

-N

foresme5 said...

Hi. If we could get an upload of the Sunny Drive Time demo, that would be awesome. Been looking all over the Internet for a copy with no luck. Thank you.

Unknown said...

Another request for the Sunny Drive Time!

JB said...

For all of you huffy completists, I can furnish you .mp3 copies of sunny drive time, just email me at barehandkiller@gmail.com and we'll figure out how to get it to you.

foresme5 said...

Jeff from Huffy was nice enough to send me a copy of the Sunny Drive Time demo. He was also nice enough to let me post a download link to the demo here:

http://www.mediafire.com/?tk7lmbusklmmq

Thanks Jeff!

Unknown said...

THANKYOUTHANKYOUTHANKYOU!!!!

Man, it's so good to hear these songs again. So happy...

Unknown said...

Any chance to reupload this album back? Thanks!

spavid said...

The link has been updated.

Anonymous said...

Re-Up, possibly? Thanks!

Brent said...

Can anyone upload the sunny drive time demo that would be sick I’m super late