You burn like you're bouncing cigarettes on the road

A debut from 2005.  England's answer to Interpol?  Guess I'm not feeling to adventurous this week.  Hope you'll enjoy nonetheless.

**Please do not reveal artist in comments!**

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Parts Found In Sea – Seat Of The Writing Man ep (1984, Checkmate)

This is the second record I've shared by Ontario quartet, but unlike '87s Every Soul's House, Seat of the Writing man isn't a live document.  Bearing a collegiate indie rock aptitude Parts Found in Sea seem to chart in the same vicinity as a number of bands on the soon-to be emerging Homestead Records (think Nice Strong Arm, Salem 66). There's a cool subterranean charm at play here and Parts play the artful without being artsy shtick to convincing effect. Though lacking immediacy Seat of the Writing Man is an acquired taste that's worth acquiring. 

01. Seat Of The Writing Man
02. Look Through Water
03. Satellite
04. Ghost Train
05. Bird Song
06. Body Sends Us

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Reason lost you out at sea...

From 2014. We might never have it as good from this band again.

**Please do not reveal artist in comments!**

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Gels! - Quality Time (1991, Tension)

I went into this one a bit blind, but given it's $6 price tag I can't really complain, considering Quality Time has a few redeeming moments.  Gels!  Had no idea who in the hell this band was when I eyed their record at In Your Ear in Boston (sadly soon to shutter, if not already).  All signs point to them as being denizens of San Fran, with a handwritten address (no less) on the back cover that I partially Photoshopped out to assure no one's privacy was violated. And speaking of the rear sleeve, I took an educated guess that these guys might be down with the Descendents, Dino. Jr, or SST in general. I was relatively far off the mark but not completely.  Instead, Gels! seemed to be painstakingly taking cues from early Soul Asylum. Thoroughly loose and rambunctious, albeit not quite punk, plied to bumpkin tendencies a la Meat Puppets minus a healthy quotient of the charm. The better tunes here, "Sitting Still," "Quaker" and perhaps another nugget or two would have composed a pretty dandy ep, but Quality Time just doesn't consistently skew to the tenant of it's title. Gels! homage to Pirner and Co. is obvious to the point of being plagiaristic, however if you dig albums like Made to Be Broken as much as I do, the aforementioned tracks are actually something of a treat. The trio's rendering of the country standard "Good Time Charlie" plays the record out on an irreverent note.  Perhaps a bit too green for a full length when this initially dropped in '91, it would've been intriguing to hear what development they might have made on a follow LP, but for better or worse this disc was the first and final word on Gels.

01. Sitting Still
02. Lovejoy
03. Pinto
04. Flame On
05. Broth
06. mistRBig
07. Quaker
08. Domtar
09. The Shit
10. Good Time Charlie  

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Go ahead and do it, I don’t care anymore...

A two-fer this week from 1990-91. This band's debut album and a compilation of singles that barely preceded it. 

**Please do not reveal artist in comments!**

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Beer on the Penguin - Hold On (1987, Renaissance)

Another record not actually part and parcel of my collection, but one eternally grateful to have files of thanks to the time and generosity of whomever ripped it. Despite such a unique moniker, little is written about this Michigan quartet.  Beer on the Penguin skewed closer to the left end of the dial but were deft enough to compete on a mainstream level, given the opportunity. I'm honing in on nodes of everyone from Big Country to Crowded House, and the ringing guitar lines smack of Cactus World News, a delightful thing in my book. Though Beer on the Penguin may be a dandy name to you and I it may have not served these fellows well. Anyway, really dug what I heard here and hope you will as well.

01. Looking For You
02. Hold On
03. Pictures
04. Always Seems the Same
05. Better Days
06. Time For Tears
07. She

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Popdefect - Ode to Billie Joe ep (1987, Heart Murmur)

On the strength of an earlier ep, 1983's Playing For Time, I was compelled to investigate this L.A. three-piece further, for a relatively modest financial investment anyway. Though it strikes me as being something of a novelty the apparent "draw" here is a cover of Bobbie Gentry's fatality ballad, "Ode to Billie Joe."  Though the execution of said song is more than satisfactory thanks in part to some irresistibly jangly fretboard runs, it's hard to see how a rendition of such an aging chestnut could woo ears of '80s hipsters, but whatever.  This 10"'s two mildly sardonic flip-sides are more in keeping with what the garage-leaning Popdefect are about, sort of a low-rent  Meat Puppets peppered with glints of early Replacements. Perhaps nothing here could be deemed "crucial" in the canon of vintage indie rock, yet I was still impressed with what I heard to usher these songs into the digital realm.   

A. Ode to Billie Joe
B1. Devil in My Zip Code
B2. Futility Train

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No clue.

Early archival recordings from a veritable Memphis supergroup. 

**Please do not reveal artist in comments!**

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Eagertones - s/t mLP (1987)

If you like (slightly) spiky '80s power pop sans new wave or snythy frills Seattle's Eagertones fit that bill to a proverbial "T." Roughly in the same vein as the Romantics, Paul Collins Beat, and for the few of that might remember them Philly's A's, these fellas kept the formula pretty simple, but plenty fun, injecting an all important quotient of irony to liven up the proceedings. Probably nothing you haven't encountered before, but standout numbers including "We're Only Kids" and "Shanghai Shanghai'd" make this mini-LP a treat. There's not much out there by the 'tones save for a few songs on hard to come by locally released compilations, that I unfortunately am not fortunate enough to own. By the way, there's a slight jump towards the beginning of "Henry VIII" that at time I'm unable to remedy. I'll offer an updated version, perhaps at a later date.

01. It's Not the Way
02. We're Only Kids
03. Love Song 21
04. Henry VIII
05. Ink & Needle Tattoo
06. Shanghai Shanghai'd
07. Rock Rock (This Must be the Stone Age)

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