
Wednesday, September 30, 2015
Heat - Rooms ep (2015, Kitsune) - A brief review

Sunday, September 27, 2015
Pezband - Thirty Seconds Over Schaumburg ep (1978)
01. Blue Wind/Stroll On
02. I'm Not Talking
03. I'm Leaving
04. Crash and Burn
05. Close Your Eyes
https://www44.zippyshare.com/v/zhVqiOsY/file.html
Friday, September 25, 2015
Private I - "Talk to Me" 7" (1984, 37 Records)
This one is a little on the slick side, but I'm hardly complaining. Private I wielded a synthy blend of AOR thrust with a mainstream new romantic aptitude. The driving "Talk to Me" is cloyingly catchy, a telltale product of '80s studio amenities, exuding a cozy homegrown glow nonetheless. A quasi ballad of sorts, the flip, "Here in This Life" is more subdued. No personnel details are provided, but the label responsible for this wax, 37 Records, is listed with an East Irvine, CA addy. Enjoy (or not).
A. Talk to Me
B. Here in This Life
http://www25.zippyshare.com/v/7aM4amu0/file.html
A. Talk to Me
B. Here in This Life
http://www25.zippyshare.com/v/7aM4amu0/file.html
Wednesday, September 23, 2015
Daddy In His Deep Sleep - Alone With Daddy (1987, Restless)

01. Play the Part
02. Queen of the Strain
03. Puppy Dog
04. Santa Claus and Jesus
05. Blue Sighs
06. Suburban Ranch
07. Tales From the Crypt
08. Jeeve
09. Life You Lead
https://www10.zippyshare.com/v/GFN4TMi8/file.html
Sunday, September 20, 2015
To keep your mouth shut, I'll keep my mouth shut too.
Saturday, September 19, 2015
V/A - Ben Weasel Presents" Punk USA (1994, Lookout)

One anomaly to point out. There's a sixteenth band populating Punk USA, who are not included on the track-list or mentioned anywhere in the credits. That would be Garden Variety, a coincidental favorite of mine who contribute a not-so-unreleased song, "Pretty Mouth," which originally saw the light of day in 1993 on their first album. Whether the omission of GV's name was a typo or intentional (as the song technically was already available) is unknown, at least to me anyway.
01-Scratch Bongowax - Nobody Home
02-Rattail Grenadier - Come On Back
03-Pink Lincolns - Rats
04-Moral Crux - Breakdown
05-Screeching Weasel - My Friends Are Getting Famous
06-Beatnik Termites - How Many Times
07-Thankless Dogs - Stan The Man
08-The Vindictives - I'm In Trouble Now
09-The Queers - Blabbermouth
10-The Pist - Threat
11-Submachine - Diseased
12-8Bark - Give Up
13-Face To Face - Dissension
14-Sinkhole - Casemaker
15-Garden Variety - Pretty Mouth
16-Jawbreaker - Sea Green Foam
https://www73.zippyshare.com/v/am0wGape/file.html
Friday, September 18, 2015
Moral Crux - Victim of Hype 7" (1996, Mutant Pop)

A. Victim of Hype
B1. Smash Your Face
B2. Firing Squad
http://www4.zippyshare.com/v/1M2Y8HFD/file.html
Thursday, September 17, 2015
The Micronotz - 40 Fingers (1986, Homestead)
01. Pay Your Bill
02. Mannequin Head
03. Scarborough Fair
04. Exit 301
05. Psychedeli
06. Push It Out
07. Fall Down
08. Black and White
09. 40 Fingers
10. Breakdown
11. I Want Your Soul
12. Carnival Freak Show
13. Summer of Hate
https://www42.zippyshare.com/v/dRqrsztm/file.html
Wednesday, September 16, 2015
Pollen - Crescent (1995, Grass)
I recently had a request for Crescent, the second album from Pennsylvania pop-punks Pollen. Way back when I started this whole ball of wax I shared the album that preceded it (Bluette) and their career best which followed it (Peach Tree). With an achingly profound affection for ALL (the band), this quintet not only ventured forth in their sheer admiration of the post-Descendents crew, they hired one of it's founders, Stephen Egerton to co-produce Crescent. The album is probably the least persuasive of their four long-players, but trust me, that's no knock, boasting crunch-all-istic beauts like "Foliage" and "Toaster." I could do without some of the slower five-minute tunes, but Pollen manage to cobble together a decent riff-pop fest that aficionados of All and Gameface will have no trouble gravitating to.
01. Freshly Broken
02. Foliage
03. Happy Hands
04. Bus
05. Crystal Clear
06. Wishbone
07. Toaster
08. Relics
09. Vanilla
10. Elsewhere
11. Butterworth
12. Away
13. Bicycle
https://www104.zippyshare.com/v/NeDvLlTd/file.html
01. Freshly Broken
02. Foliage
03. Happy Hands
04. Bus
05. Crystal Clear
06. Wishbone
07. Toaster
08. Relics
09. Vanilla
10. Elsewhere
11. Butterworth
12. Away
13. Bicycle
https://www104.zippyshare.com/v/NeDvLlTd/file.html
Sunday, September 13, 2015
My back is sticking to the seat, my heart is sticking to my dreams...

Also, I just wanted to share a couple of reminders about Mystery Monday posts. Please do not give away the artist or leave any obvious clues in the comments. Secondly, keep in mind that M/M links are only active for 24 to 36 hours. When they're gone, they're gone. Thanks.
Saturday, September 12, 2015
Korova Milk Bar - Talkings Boring (1989, Subway Organization)
Fair to say this one's a bit of a cold case. No substantive mentions of the co-ed and presumably British Korova Milk Bar outside of Discogs. Sonically nothing innovative here, but their overarching penchant appeals to me, as I'm picking up traces of Mighty Lemon Drops, Family Cat, Echo and the Bunnymen, and various C86 indie and Madchester swill. Everything about Talkings... strikes me as a bit casual and random, without anything too deliberate on KMB's part to claim a definitive identity here. A few dandy tunes though, with "Peculiar Patrica," "Calling Me Again" and "Satisfy" leaving the widest impressions. There's some dafter moments as well, but I'll let you sort those out for yourself. Per Discogs, only the first eight tracks comprised the album itself, with the remainder coming from an ep or two. Definitely a vinyl rip, but I don't own a physical copy. I purloined this one off Emusic way back in the good old days when it was a $20/month all you can eat buffet.
01. Something Missing
02. Breakdown
03. Calling Me Again
04. Desolate Despair
05. Satisfy
06. Killing Me
07, I Can't See
08. Stoney Ground
09. Do it Again
10. Something Will Happen
11. Off With Her Head
12. Peculiar Patricia
https://www104.zippyshare.com/v/uWRKPI1T/file.html
01. Something Missing
02. Breakdown
03. Calling Me Again
04. Desolate Despair
05. Satisfy
06. Killing Me
07, I Can't See
08. Stoney Ground
09. Do it Again
10. Something Will Happen
11. Off With Her Head
12. Peculiar Patricia
https://www104.zippyshare.com/v/uWRKPI1T/file.html
Thursday, September 10, 2015
Comsat Angels - Red Planet ep (1979, Junta)

A. Red Planet
B1. I Get Excited
B2. Specimen No. 2
https://www115.zippyshare.com/v/lnSS8D2z/file.html
Wednesday, September 9, 2015
The Aviators - Deed to a Ranch ep (1986, Lost Arts)
Sadly, there's not much to be had on The Aviators, although this wasn't their only record. Per the back sleeve notes, they recorded the studio side of Deed... in Colorado, but the live flipside was cut at Madame Wong's in Santa Monica, CA, so who knows which locale they were headquartered in. So far as the tunes are concerned, this four-piece strike me as possessing loose AOR ambitions, with a stronger foothold in the alt-rock realm, evidenced by the three satisfying cuts occupying the first half of this record. Frontman, E. Shepard Stevenson, tends to recall John Robinson of the Fluid, and much like the Fluid, the Aviators brew up a frothy punk alchemy on the live "Keeps Them Alive."
01. Happy
02. Goodbye
03. Everybody's Getting Down
04. Keeps Them Alive (live)
05. Big Slide (live)
https://www73.zippyshare.com/v/BflPAdX6/file.html
01. Happy
02. Goodbye
03. Everybody's Getting Down
04. Keeps Them Alive (live)
05. Big Slide (live)
https://www73.zippyshare.com/v/BflPAdX6/file.html
Monday, September 7, 2015
Sunday, September 6, 2015
Pugwash - Play This Intimately (As If Among Friends) (2015, Omnivore) - a brief overview
It would appear that all the power pop sophisticates (i.e. hipsters) have been putting their
eggs in one basket of late – this one. If you haven't actually heard Pugwash you've at least likely to have heard of them, a Dublin outfit who over the course of the last decade or so have gradually been acknowledged as the great white hope for the aforesaid genre. From what I'm able to surmise Play This Intimately (As If Among Friends), is the first proper album by the quintet to see an official US release.
The burning question is fairly obvious - can they possibly live up to the hype? If anything else they're purloining inspiration from the best of the Anglo side of pond, stretching all the way back to the Beatles and Byrds, while seemingly taking hefty cues from the US mainland by way of Jason Falkner and Matthew Sweet. An enviable start by many anyone's standards, and it's a formula that pays out convincingly on "Kicking and Screaming," "You Could Cry," and the deftly crafted "Hung Myself Out to Dry," squarely indebted to Jeff Lynne and ELO. I'd be hasty in downplaying the merits of any of the above titles, but the persnickety side of me would be remiss if I failed to note that Pugwash strike me as a little too professional for their own good. Play...Intimately is linear, impeccably considered and orchestrated to a lustrous chrome shine, that to the band's detriment is woefully short in the spontaneity department. My only other quibble regards the abundance of slowpoke ballads (for lack of a better word) that function like a four-minute snooze button on an alarm clock.
At the end of the day, maybe I'm not a true Pugwash believer, but given the band's history predates Play... by more than a decade, I'd recommend you also investigate their career recap compilation A Rose in a Garden of Weeds. As for their current record, Play is available directly from Omnivore, Amazon (at a particularly attractive price point I might add) and iTunes.
The burning question is fairly obvious - can they possibly live up to the hype? If anything else they're purloining inspiration from the best of the Anglo side of pond, stretching all the way back to the Beatles and Byrds, while seemingly taking hefty cues from the US mainland by way of Jason Falkner and Matthew Sweet. An enviable start by many anyone's standards, and it's a formula that pays out convincingly on "Kicking and Screaming," "You Could Cry," and the deftly crafted "Hung Myself Out to Dry," squarely indebted to Jeff Lynne and ELO. I'd be hasty in downplaying the merits of any of the above titles, but the persnickety side of me would be remiss if I failed to note that Pugwash strike me as a little too professional for their own good. Play...Intimately is linear, impeccably considered and orchestrated to a lustrous chrome shine, that to the band's detriment is woefully short in the spontaneity department. My only other quibble regards the abundance of slowpoke ballads (for lack of a better word) that function like a four-minute snooze button on an alarm clock.
At the end of the day, maybe I'm not a true Pugwash believer, but given the band's history predates Play... by more than a decade, I'd recommend you also investigate their career recap compilation A Rose in a Garden of Weeds. As for their current record, Play is available directly from Omnivore, Amazon (at a particularly attractive price point I might add) and iTunes.
Friday, September 4, 2015
Sloan - Recorded Live At A Sloan Party! (1997,The Enclave)

The album was bundled as a bonus CD with the U.S. version of Sloan's third album, One Chord to Another, upon it's 1997 release. Pictured to your left is the front of the slipcase. I'm not sure how limited it was, but 5000 copies might be a good guess. There are heaps of covers here - Jonathan Richman, Brian Ferry and even Canned Heat by way of Stereolab. Sloan's originals aren't quite as prevalent, but "I Am the Cancer" (a classic single from Smeared) seems to be spruced up with extra harmonies for this occasion. You can download it to your heart's content in either FLAC or MP3
01. Let's Get the Party Started
02. I Can Feel It
03. Dignified and Old
04. Glitter and Gold
05. Over You
06. I Am the Cancer
07. I Can't Let Go
08. Stood Up
09. On the Road Again/Transona Five
10. I Wouldn't Want to Lose Your Love
MP3 (320 kbps) or FLAC
Wednesday, September 2, 2015
Wishes and Water - s/t ep (1985, Fountain of Youth)
Fountain of Youth Records was a Washington D.C. based imprint that pumped out a slew of releases for hardcore titans Goverment Issue during that band's eighties reign. Most of FoY's roster was of the punk persuasion, but there were a couple of anomalies as well, Wishes and Water being key among them. Not much is known about the band, essentially a duo composed of Matt Riedl, formally of Braille Party, and Derrick Hsu, who I believe had a hand in running the FoY label itself. W/W weren't punk or abrasive in the least, skewing considerably closer to a singer/songwriter setup. Frankly the bulk of this record is too genteel, even for my tolerant palette. The jangly-ish "Tears" is probably the most creative notion on the record, and recommendable in and of itself. A traipse thru Lou Reeds “Perfect Day” fits like a glove, and the brisk Don Mclean cover that concludes this disk is more stirring than several of Wishes' originals. You can peruse another critique of Wishes and Water here.
01. Ocean City
02. Ellie
03. Perfect Day
04. Tears
05. Choice of Words
06. Oh My, What a Shame
https://www103.zippyshare.com/v/oczG229g/file.html
01. Ocean City
02. Ellie
03. Perfect Day
04. Tears
05. Choice of Words
06. Oh My, What a Shame
https://www103.zippyshare.com/v/oczG229g/file.html
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