Topeka, Kansas in the 1980s - you had to be there. Full disclosure, I wasn't, and perhaps the "had to" portion of that statement might have been a bit of an exaggeration, but if you were present and of legal age to attend club gigs you may have been a better person for encountering some or all of the bands this entry concerns. All three of which, btw cut their music at the now defunct Leatherwood Studios in Topeka.

Between 1984-85 Psychic Archie were responsible for two ep length cassettes, remastered and re-sequenced on the newly minted compendium 4 Tracked. It's not necessarily a wall-to-wall goldmine, but the band's best moments are stunning. This is due in part to local Topeka collaborator Alan Oliver, who wrote two of PA's most memorable songs, "Happy Man," and "No Pictures of Dad." That latter gem was licensed to Josie Cotton (yes, of "Johnny Are You Queer" fame) who performed the song on an episode of the '80s sitcom Square Pegs. The Archies spin on "No Pictures of Dad" isn't as gussied up as Cotton's, rather they transform it into a mid-fi marvel, tweaking it to such a bittersweet extent that you might mistake it for something Guided By Voices wrote, say, in 1990. "Happy Man" was later adopted by a fantastic, one-album-wonder of a band, The Leatherwoods who covered it on their 1992 Topeka Oratorio LP. As you might guess, that band named themselves after the recording studio where PA recorded. And there are even more must hear salvos - "Don't Kiss Me Stranger," the previously unreleased "Flag of My Own," and "Every Time it Hurts," which if listened to attentively reveals a slight similarity to The Paul Collins Beat classic "Walking Out on Love," just when the chorus hits.

All three reissues are available as we speak via the Psychic Archie website as hard copy CDs or digital downloads. A fairly extensive article regarding the heyday of the Leatherwood Studios "scene," as it were , can be found over at Shea Magazine's site. For a limited time, I'm offering a sampler of what I've critiqued here. In addition to one song from each of the reissues, I'm including a live version of "No Pictures of Dad" performed by Lions and Dogs, a Psychic Archie spinoff band. Enjoy.
Psychic Archie - Every Time It Hurts
The Tunes - Crowded Heart
Abuse - Love is Alright
Lions and Dogs - No Pictures of Dad (live)
http://www10.zippyshare.com/v/Mi3vzWOc/file.html
3 comments:
Wow, I had no idea about these reissues. that Tunes EP is great--to me it sounds like the earliest Lookout! Records band to date....
here's my take on the EP: http://therecoup.com/2014/01/27/the-tunes-love-uncool-cheap-rewards/
Yeah, I saw your review yesterday when I ran a search in them. How dare you keep these guys a secret!
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