Expando Brain - Prouder Than Chowder 7" ep (1989, Vacant Lot)

By the looks of the record sleeve you might surmise Expando Brain weren't competing on the same wavelength as contemporaries U2 or Tears For Fears. The Flaming Lips might be a safer bet, but let's not carried away. Truth is, I've already shared a record (Mother of God...) by these Massachusetts natives several years back, and had some positive props to drop on them.  As for the record at hand, Prouder Than Chowder's copyright date is 1989, three years succeeding the Mother of God LP, leading me to think even before I slapped in on the turntable I'd be an encountering an older and more advanced Expando Brain.  In actuality these five songs were tracked in 1985, one year before the aforementioned album.  "I Blame You," and the even more inviting "Woodblock" hint at some of these guys' lovingly rough hewn, albeit vaguely tuneful attributes.  Perfect for the late night PM slot on your local college station. Side two offers a trifecta of serrated, minute-and-a-half bangers wherein E/B indulge their DIY punk itch exuding a combination of tension and gleeful abandon.  

01. I Blame You
02. Woodblock
03. Relationsheeps
04. Drug Yacht
05. God's Words

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