The Raves - Past Perfect Tense 1980-89 (1992, Hologramophone)

Here's a band that time forgot...but Not Lame didn't.  No, this wasn't a Not Lame Records release, rather a title I procured from their distribution arm of other labels they were thankfully carrying.  This Atlanta era quartet had roots all the way back to an early-70s group, Nod, before rechristening themselves as The Raves in the subsequent decade.  Unabashed power pop was their calling card, rooted in the likes of the Raspberries, but in practice more tangibly resembling Shoes, The Rubinoos, and a variety of their equally obscuro contemporaries on the Titan Records imprint (e.g. the Secrets and Arlis).  A handful of the songs here are culled from The Color of Tears LP, but the bulk of them are unreleased.  I don't have liner notes to refer to, as my copy only came with a b&w tracklist with no credits or background details to speak of.  The Raves were immensely competent and gratifying, and in fact their only shortcoming (if it can even be referred to as such) was their likeness to a myriad of similar combos during their tenure.  A second comp of Raves (and Nods) material supposedly saw the light of day in 2002 but seems to have vanished upon release. 

01. Every Little Bit Hurts
02. C'est la Vie
03. Make Up Your Mind
04. Now You've Really Done It
05. I Can't Take Anymore
06. Whatever She Says
07. I Bet You're Lonely Too
08. Calling Your Name
09. It Doon't Matter At All
10. When She's Gone
11. To Your Face
12. Nevermore
13. Any Way You Can
14. My, My, My
15. Tonight It's Gonna be Great
16. Chastity

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