Thursday, September 8, 2011

Singles Going Single #184 - Tsar "Straight" 7" (2003, Birdman)

Seems like this just came out yesterday, but it's been more like eight years.  TSAR were a balls-out power pop outfit from L.A. who recorded a spectacular debut in 2000, but failed to follow it up until five years later.  That subsequent abum, Band Girls Money, found Tsar angling in a decidedly rawer, garage-rawk direction with fairly decent results.  Unfortunately, it went nowheresville and the proverbial "dream" slipped away.  I presume they have split up.  "Straight" is culled from that ill-fated record, while the b-side is exclusive to this release.   Close to three years ago, I shared a Tsar promo ep, King of the School, and a radio session, which you can still find here.  In the comments, it was mentioned that some pre-first album demos existed, which I'd love to hear.  If anyone is willing to cough them up, don't be a stranger.

A. Straight
B. The Creature in Disguise

Hear
at

15 comments:

  1. UnknownSeptember 8, 2011 at 2:59 PM

    not my cup of tea really this one. Its got good guitar and garage rock sound like you said, but its just still to clean for me


    'on a rope
    on a rope got me
    hanging on a rope'

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  2. powerpopsterSeptember 8, 2011 at 7:37 PM

    no download link...

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  3. spavidSeptember 8, 2011 at 8:32 PM

    Just tested it out and it worked. Are you getting an error?

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  4. DiggityDawgSeptember 9, 2011 at 6:16 AM

    Actually, they're back together. I help out on a fan site - www.tsarmy.com . I recommend checking the forums, they're the most current/up to date part of the site.

    The pre-debut demos you mentioned were commercially released under the name "The Drugboy Tapes" earlier this year. Available at Amazon/iTunes/etc. There's supposed to be a split-single & an EP coming out "soon".

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  5. powerpopsterSeptember 9, 2011 at 6:49 PM

    the link goes to Rapidshare but there's no download link there; just billing info. That seems to be a problem with a lot of blogs that used to use RS. And why RS is losing so much bizness....

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  6. spavidSeptember 9, 2011 at 6:50 PM

    Thanks for the heads up on that collection of demos Diggity. Just bought it from Emusic. I actually linked the Tsarmy website in my write-up but didn't check out the "news" section. Looked at the forums. Someone put several like Tsar shows up, but the links have expired. Oh well. Thanks again for the info!

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  7. spavidSeptember 9, 2011 at 7:24 PM

    Will see what I can do about the Rapidshare issue.

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  8. johnnybgoodeSeptember 12, 2011 at 5:44 AM

    rapidshare worked fine for me. thanks for the b-side!

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  9. powerpopsterSeptember 12, 2011 at 7:41 PM

    Sorry that I wasn't more clear in my original post; there's no more FREE option download link. The paid accounts do still work fine...

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  10. Anything Should HappenSeptember 14, 2011 at 3:29 PM

    Great debut. The first four songs are as good as any power pop album anywhere and the magnificent Girl Who Wouldn't Die as a closer is inspired.

    Live pretty ropey and the 2005 follow up you mention was really mediocre.

    Lots of talk about Kathy Fong being borrowed by songs since, but the song itself owed a lot to Sweet.

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  11. Anything Should HappenSeptember 14, 2011 at 3:29 PM

    New stuff sounds decent though

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  12. powerpopsterSeptember 17, 2011 at 4:45 AM

    ...hey, turns out that there was a Javascript error in their center "DOWNLOAD" button. They fixed it and the free download now works again.

    Crunchy Tsar goodness!

    Thanks spavid!!

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  13. OxyMarch 25, 2014 at 12:22 PM

    Hey,

    Any chance I can get this and your other Tsar posts reupped? Thanks!

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  14. spavidMarch 25, 2014 at 7:24 PM

    Just updated the link. Will get to the rest of the TSAR links a little later.

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  15. OxyMarch 25, 2014 at 8:39 PM

    I'm not sure how I missed these. Was listening to their classic first CD today, wondering just how a band could go so wrong with their next release. I started looking for live shows/rarities and was led here. Had no idea these existed. No rush uploading the other stuff. I'll keep checking. If I run into anything else of interest by them, I'll shoot you an email. Thanks again for the ups. Much appreciated.

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