A good many of you took to the Marshal Fields album I shared in January, and for good reason as far as I'm concerned, given their ample talent. Low and behold a couple months ago Fields guitarist and songwriter John Mac got in touch with me, and was more than patient to indulge my inquiries regarding the band's history and such. Part of that story was rooted in a Marshall Fields precursor band, Virgin Release who issued this 45 in 1983. Essentially four-fifths of M/F (minus keyboardist Brian Gary) Virgin Release set to tracking these two cuts just as key songwriter Eric von Radics entered the group's lineup. Judging from the band photo gracing the back sleeve of this single, the four gentlemen in question look all of sixteen, seventeen, possibly younger. V/R's sonic motif was notably more economical than that of Marshal Fields rich, layered finesse. Every parent's plea, "Turn It Down" offers modest proto-punk tinges, circa 1976 New York. Straight up adolescent garage rock that seals the deal in two and a half minutes. In the same span of time the boys kick out the boppin' "Hey Now!" a throwback of sorts to the Merseybeat pop that I'm sure they were lovingly weaned on.
A. Turn It Down
B. Hey Now!
Tuesday, July 31, 2012
Virgin Release (Marshal Fields) 7" (1983, 3 Square)
Sunday, July 29, 2012
Moving Parts ep (1983, MPI)
01. Blindman Walking
02. Under
03. Cities Return to Me
04. Princess and the President
05. Nothing's Gonna Bring Me Down
Hear
Saturday, July 28, 2012
Venus Beads - A Client ep & Shackled ep (1994, Equator)
A Client ep
01. A Client
02. Friendly User
03. In Disbelief (acoustic)
04. Glorious Defeat
Shackled ep
01. Shackled
02.You Wish
03. Every Street Tells A Story
Hear
Thursday, July 26, 2012
The Caretaker Race - Hangover Square (1990, The Foundation Label)
01. All Love Offers
02. I've Seen a Thing or Two
03. Two Steel Rings
04. Anywhere But Home
05. Fire in the Hold
06. Gun Metal
07. Two Minutes By Train
08. Borrow My Car
09. I Wish I'd Said That
10. You Always Hurt (The One You Kick)
11. Man Overboard
Hear
Wednesday, July 25, 2012
Piper Cub 7" (1995, Sub Pop)
A. Chance
B. Number One Sound
Hear
Tuesday, July 24, 2012
Neon Rock Garden (NRg) - "Never Listen" 7" (1986, Critical Mass)
A. Never Listen
B. Don't Say Baboon
Hear
Monday, July 23, 2012
Christ in Concrete - Future Men (198?, Sound & Vision)
01. Future Men
02. The Barracks
03. Never Fall
04. Remainses in Skin
05. The World is Ice
06. Dancing Man
07. Pain Likes Pray
08. What is a Facct
09. Really True
10. Crying/No End
11. Little Woman
Hear
Sunday, July 22, 2012
Um, about those re-uploads from the other night...
When I selected the updated links today the resulting page on Rapid's site indicated they were "illegal." A thoroughly arbitrary move on their part on these titles and dozens of others that have gone dormant. In short, R/S is ostensibly ok with me uploading fresh files seeing the light of the day for the first time, but they mean business about the established ones, that once again were removed arbitrarily in most cases. The vast majority of links I've posted since 2007 are still live, but I'm at a bit of a loss as to where to re-post that batch of "dead" files. I know Mediafire has been closing certain blogger accounts entirely, and a lot of the newbies like Rapid Gator and a bunch more are prone to depositing spyware, and nearly as annoying, depict misleading download prompts. I'll continue utilizing Rapidshare for brand new posts, but could use some help in determining where to park the links I have need to revive. Thanks.
Saturday, July 21, 2012
fenn - spanish (1993, Mean)
01. quietly vegan
02. not jelly
03. mild mannered janitor
04. anagram stan
05. numb
06. pop jop
07. saint's gate
08. lead limb
09. cosh
10. head realiser
Hear
Thursday, July 19, 2012
The Mice - Who Cut the Cheese? (1988, Waffle)
01. Blank Day
02. Carl's Jr.
03. My Jalopy
04. New Wave Country Song
05. Cheap Cigs
06. Ypupp
07. Pushin' 30
08. What's the Matter?
09. Hair and Image
10. We Ain't-a-Flamin'
11. So Long
12. Straight Up
13. My Hometown
14. Is It Too Late?
15. Labor Day
Hear
Wednesday, July 18, 2012
Heavy Into Jeff "Grime" 7" (1993, Jeff Jam)
A. Grime
B. Sick
Hear
Monday, July 16, 2012
Wolfie - Necessary Sailing tape (1997)
Ironically, I found out about the 1997 Necessary Sailing cassette from a fairly comprehensive band website that has inexplicably been removed from the web. The irony doubles as that website was introduced only around the era of the last Wolfie record, Tall Dark Hill, where I posthumously learned of this thirteen song cassette-only album that preceded all of the band's other releases. The kicker? It was limited to a startlingly meager 50 copies (or was it 75)? The prospect of this scarce recording fascinated me to no end, and I very much wanted to add it to my collection. The odds of fulfilling that ambition were pretty nil, thought to my good fortune, by the middle of the 'Dubya' era, Mike Downey had established a website, which featured no small amount of podcasts of his solo recordings (predominantly four-track stuff from what I recall)...and one featuring the entire Necessary Sailing tape. I was finally able to lay ears on it, albeit in one long contiguous track. My desire for an original copy never quite waned however, and when I added this particular title to a "want list" on the blog last December, who came through for me other than Mike himself, who informed me he had an extra copy and I would soon be the grateful and lucky recipient.
Judging by a quick Google query today, Mike's website has been shuttered, and with it all of the aforementioned podcasts. Since this was such a holy-grail find, I wanted to share it en masse, despite it not being the most representative Wolfie recording (the most notable circumstance being the apparent absence of Amanda Lyons in the lineup at this particular juncture in their career). This rip was taken from my original tape with all the tracks properly separated. This nascent and modest reel of lo-fi goodness may pale in comparison to Wolfie's sturdier vinyl and CD releases that would soon come in it's wake, but it's a worthwhile listen for established customers. Fans of early Eric's Trip and the like would equally be advised to jump aboard. A big, big thanks to Mike for his generosity. If you're reading this, I owe you one big time!
01. Noids
02. On Your Way
03. Suspension Catchs
04. Let's Say We Forgot About It
05. Life Saver Socks
06. On Cinder Blocks Looking In
07. Pinecar Derby
08. VFW
09. Looks Fine on the Ledge
10. A Dumb Life
11. Silent Autumn Parks
12. The Long Drive Back
13. Graph Chaser
Hear
Friday, July 13, 2012
Airlines - s/t (1994, Quixotic)
Thursday, July 12, 2012
Straitjacket Fits - KPFK FM, L.A. 10/21/89
01. Dialing A Prayer
02. Seeing You Fled
03. Bad Note For A Heart
04. Hand in Mine
05. Roller Ride
06. She Speeds
07. Follow & Fall
08. Headwind
09. Quiet Come
10. Hail
Hear
Monday, July 9, 2012
V/A - Boobytrap! Vol. One 2x7" ep (1996, Derivative)
01. Starbean - No Earthly Means of Transportation
02. Saturnine - Compromised
03. The Ladybug Transistor - Your Walling Tail
04. Blaise Pascal - Shielded
Hear
Sunday, July 8, 2012
Deep 6 - Garage D'or (1986, Coyote)
There's not a plethora of info to be had on Deep 6, a New York City trio who had an album on Coyote Records the same year another trio, Athens, GA's Dreams So Real, released their first LP on the very same label. Brothers John and Dan Braun had played in Live Skull and the Del-Byzantines prior to turning in this platter of gimmick-free modern rock that slots in comfortably with its era while not getting mired in '80s indulgences. The post-punk sway of "Stay Right Here" and "Open Mind" vaguely recall the Lucy Show and Comsat Angels, and in the process turn out to be Garage D'ors most charismatic offerings. The remainder is respectable, but not always moving left-of-the-dial fare. Side one ends with an untitled track threading together lines from a bevy of recognizable classic rock tunes and oldies that would've probably been more useful as a b-side. Go figure.
01. Sunny Day
02. The Lawn
03. Stay Right Here
04. Something/Nothing
05. I Protect Myself
06. untitled
07. Open Mind
08. Sarah T
09. TV Land
10. No Big Surprise
11. Beautiful Day
Friday, July 6, 2012
VA - Shreds Vol. 1 - The Best of American Underground Rock 1993 (Shredder)
A healthy portion of this coveted roster have materialized in one or more features on Wilfully Obscure - Corduroy, Parasites, Fig Dish, J Church, Bracket, Tugboat Annie, Jolt, and The Deviators, yet in many cases the music was sourced from my own vinyl rips, whereas the versions here strike me as being culled from the master tapes. Shreds functions as both a time capsule and a goldmine of tuneful, indie-punk treasures worth their weight in Nuggets from a parallel universe. We're even thrown a couple curveballs via the bendy dream-pop of the Swirlies, and even the relatively demure Mary Lou Lord made the cut. My favorite Prisonshake song, "2 Sisters" is included as are offerings from the Karl Hendricks Trio, The Leonards, and Mr. T Experience. Time won't allow me to extoll much further on the music contained within, so just go ahead and download this already! Let me know what you enjoyed.
01. For Sale - Hanging By A Thread
02. Corduroy - I'll Be On My Way
03. Swirlies - Wrong Tube
04. Parasites - Something To Hold Onto
05. Moist - Be Young
06. Odd Numbers - Autumn Leaves
07. Mary Lou Lord - Some Jingle Jangle Morning
08. Karl Hendricks Trio - Baseball Cards
09. NOFX - Liza And Louise
10. Fig Dish - Rollover, Please
11. Prisonshake - 2 Sisters
12. Tugboat Annie - Stay Inside
13. Stink - Never Will Forget
14. Leonards - Thinking About It
15. Jolt - Let It Go
16. The Deviators - Falling Away
17. J Church - Made Life Simple
18. Fracture - Babbling Atom
19. Bracket - Imaginary Friend
20. Mr T Experience - Swallow Everything
Hear
Thursday, July 5, 2012
Naked Soul (w/ Carlos Soria) - demo (1990)
I was pleased to come across an original NS demo last year, featuring the three songs listed below. "Lonely Me, Lonely You" would be re-recorded for the aforementioned Seed. As for my other kernel of enlightenment to share, Naked Soul's lineup included none other than Carlos Soria of The Nils - at least for the sessions on this tape. I'm not sure how long Carlos' NS stint was, but evidently it was brief, as once he left the band had been reduced from a quartet to a trio, before they were signed. And yes, he does seem to give these tracks a bit more of an edge than the Scotti Bros recordings, making this an extra special treat.
01. Lonely Me, Lonely You
02. Yesterday Man
03. Raining Dreams
Hear
Tuesday, July 3, 2012
Teenage Fanclub/Viva Saturn flexi (1992)
01. Teenage Fanclub - Everybody's Fool (live Cleveland 2-29-92)
02. Viva Saturn - Black Cloud
MP3 or FLAC
Monday, July 2, 2012
The Bounce - Things That Go Bounce in the Night ep (1981, Catch 22)
01. Don't Tell Me
02. No Choice
03. Another Instant Romance
04. Killing Me
05. Changing
06. Maybe Tomorrow
Hear
Sunday, July 1, 2012
White Animals - Ecstasy (1984, Dread Beat)
I had a request for this on the heels of White Animals' self-titled album which I shared a couple months back. Popular local favorites, this Nashville crew had a penchant for churning out immensely vibrant power pop in the mold of the Plimsouls, Producers and early Marshall Crenshaw among other key touchstones of the era. As the phrase goes, when the White Animals were on they were on big time, and for succulent, albeit a tad conventional pop/rock, you won't do much better than "You Started Something," "Don't Care," and the stunning title track. There is one rather big misstep permeating Ecstasy's grooves, a long-winded reading of Them's "Gloria" (popularized by the Doors of course). Absorbing half of side A and clocking in at over nine minutes, the Animals could have substituted a minimum of two more originals in place of this needless dreck, but such injustices are completely out of our control I suppose. A thorough assessment of the White Animals can be found here.
01. Ecstasy
02. Goodnight and Goodbye
03. Gloria
04. Dreamland
05. Don't Care
06. This Girl of Mine
07. You Started Something
08. For Lovers Only
Hear