Once you were the first in line and now you’re in the back...

From 2002. The muscular fourth album from a fellow who finally corralled a backing band, and along the way relegated his oft trademark sad ballads to the back seat. 

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

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V/A - Every One a Classic!!! Vols. 1 & 2

Even after all these decades, not only am I discovering artists from the classic era of Brit punk and power pop, I'm still discovering entire series of compilations dedicated to preserving them. Granted a good many of these collections are bootlegs, but nonetheless. Case in point, the six volume Every One a Classic!!! CD compendiums issued by a UK one-off imprint, Punk, Mod, Powerpop. From what I can discern, there's absolutely no copyright date provided as to when they were pressed, but with a little research the music featured on each set covers the era of 1977-81. Best of all, the cuts don't come much deeper than what's presented here. Between the two installments I'm presenting today, there are 30 acts, of which I only had direct familiarity with one (The Now) prior. 

Truth be told, I didn't have the opportunity to research everyone on the two rosters, but per my queries on Discogs and elsewhere, the vast majority of bands involved only stuck around long enough to mint a single ep or 45. Quite literally one and done, but as always, the brevity of an artist's discography is rarely indicative of the significance of the roughly seven minutes (or so) of music that's occupying the wax. Generalities are a bit fuzzy to level here, but Vol. 1 seems to skew slightly more towards power pop, while the second volume tends to shine the spotlight on more aggro punk. There are plenty of exceptions on both disks. At the very least, virtually everywhere the laser lands you're bound to encounter something good/acceptable, but a good half of the tunes are of significantly higher caliber than that. Highlights are plentiful, and though I'm strapped for time a few recommendations would have to include Quality Drivel, Shock Treatment, Moving Targets (UK), Train Spotters, Acme Attractions, Martin and the Brownshirts (very New York Dolls-y), Cyanide, and Radio City (the latter being as an enticing a power-pop proposition as the moniker might lead one to believe). Enjoy.

Volume 1
01. Acme Attractions – Anyway
02. Fascinations - Blue Movies
03. The Escorts - Bingo
04. The English - Hooray For The English!
05. Xpress - Junked-Up Judy
06. HorrorComic - England 77
07. Warm Jets - Big City Boys
08. Moving Targets - The Boys Own
09. The Trainspotters - High Rise
10. Fun 4 - Singing In The Showers
11. The Rivals - Here Comes The Night
12. Shadowfax - Calling the Shots
13. Blunt Instrument - No Excuse
14. Lenny And The Lawbreakers – Me And Bobby McGee
15. The Now - Nine O'clock

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Volume 2
01. The Perfectors – YT502951D
02. Quality Drivel - Stagnant Minds
03. Sta-Prest - Schooldays
04. Kidz Next Door - Kidz Next Door
05. Silent Noise - I've Been Hurt (So Many Times Before)
06. Bee Bee Cee - You Gotta Know Girl
07. Martin And The Brownshirts – Taxi Driver
08. Psykik Volts - Horror Stories #5
09. Long Tall Shorty - Win or Lose
10. Accident On The East Lancs – Tell Me What You Mean
11. Notsensibles – The Telephone Rings Again
12. Xtraverts - 1984
13. Shock Treatment - Big Check Shirts
14. Radio City - Love and a Picture
15. Cyanide - I'm a Boy

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Poisoned by the time, you know everything should rhyme.

Recordings from 1985-88. If you're into early Wedding Present and Close Lobsters this will be a treat. 

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

The Weeds - Windchill (1988, Permanent)

A friend with Weeds is a friend inde....oh never mind. But chances are this Wisconsin power-trio did have some friends and a gaggle of fans in their proverbial corner. No wet-behind-the-ears slack here. Much to the contrary - rather robust and resonant in fact, recalling the usual suspects from Minneapolis, but moreover the Weeds debut, Windchill has a discernible Midwestern tincture to it.  Loads of guitar-laden amperage, with ballsy, cranking salvos like "Replaced," "Leslie's House" and "Dicked," that are certain to leave a concussive impression on your little eardrums. If you've enjoyed some of the band's featured in the early days of this site like the Pedaljets and Hollowmen I doubt you'll go wrong here.  The Weeds followed this up with King Crow in 1992. 

01. Cold Blooded Snake
02. Replaced
03. California
04. Duty Calls
05. Funny
06. Leslie's House
07. Under the Bed
08. Hush Hush
09. Graceland U.S.A.
10. Dicked
11. Safer Than Sorry
12. untitled

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I'm drinking on a schedule to keep it in control so I don't ever have to quit outright...

Wicked, infectious piano pop from 2019.

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

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Human Hands - s/t (1982, Independent Projects) - 2 x LP w/ bonus 7"

This one was a lot of work to put together, if only due to the sheer heft of the album. Roughly 90 minutes of music from an obscure L.A. post-punk conglomerate, Human Hands, and I know that even among those who venture to download it, not all of you are likely to sift through it all. But that's more than ok.  My expectations are realistic. 

In their original 1978-81 incarnation, the quintet in questions managed to eke out one single, an ep, and somewhat posthumously, this two LP extravaganza in 1982 consisting primarily of demos and live material. Aesthetically, the band's closest kin might have been a slightly more renown local troupe, 100 Flowers (a band who had their antecedents in the considerably less serious Urinals). The Human Hands drew considerably from the left-of-center music that surrounded them, which meant everything from Gang of Four and Wire to the more tuneful reservoirs of the fledgling New York no-wave scene. They bore an uncanny noisenik flair, and while there probably isn't one morsel in this set that you might refer to as "polished" there's an accessibility there, especially if you were fond of staccato rhythms, flourishes of jovial Farfisa organ, and topical songwriting. "Dilemmas," "Stupid World," "I Got Made" and "Go Existential' are a handful of my favorites. The Mission of Burma-esque "The Man Who Knows Too Much" is a real peach, as is the icy, marathon length "Phantoms in the Darkroom."  

As I mentioned a great deal of songs here are either live or in embryonic stages. Several of them underwent more formal recording, and can be had on the 1997, Bouncing to Disc compilation. In the 2000's Human Hands resurfaced with an overhauled lineup and in the process expanded their discography considerably, releasing their debut LP Backyard Anthems in 2008 and a couple of subsequent EPs. Original drummer David Wiley passed away in 1988. More info can be had on Human Hands via their website. 

01. Hex
02. Dilemmas
03. Stupid World
04. The Man Who Knows Too Much
05. Rapture of the Deep
06. My Kitchen
07. Ghosts
08. Checkout
09. I Got Mad
10. She Eats Bugs
11. Lurk
12. Dog Food
13. Crazy Lies (live)
14. Dillemas (live)
15. New look (live)
16. Diplodicus
17. Sticks and Stones (live)
18. Go Existential (live)
19. Phantoms in the Darkroom
20. Beginner's Rap
21. Upside Down
22. Carnivore
23. Happy Ending (live)

bonus single
A. Sensible Guy
B. Fair

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Is this love out of fashion, or is it the time of year?

There was a lot of talk last week surrounding the fiftieth anniversary of a certain landmark album.  How about another pivotal record that just celebrated it's fortieth anniversary, and what if I was to offer you just the bonus disk to the deluxe version thereof?  Enjoy. 

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Throw 7" (1992, Limited Potential)

With a little more amperage and angst Chicago's Throw might have been convincing grunge contenders, and to the contrary, had they possessed a sunnier disposition and quickened their riffs they could have passed for punk-pop. I'd say that to everyone's advantage they wound up as genuine, distortion-driven indie rockers unto themselves, at least as far as this pair of tuneful and confident slammers were concerned.  Think in the same vicinity as Monsterland, Poole and other crunchy contemporaries of their era. This was Throw's debut, but they would soon buttress their profile with well received albums including 1994's Trace that found the band curtailing some of the fuzz and angling in a more nuanced direction with lengthier songs that arguably bordered on post-rock.  

A. All Too Human
B. Parasite

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Velouria - Smooth! Lite tape (1996)

No, they don't really sound like the Pixies, but would you believe a few '90s "small of fame" faves of mine like Fig Dish and the early Figgs?  I'm also picking up vague glints of everyone from Bracket to Triplefastaction, but this 1996 demo really isn't as derivative as I'm making it out to be.  Yeah, this is really impressive - hella power chordy with a firm grasp of melody. Self described "pop dorks," Velouria hailed from Silver Lake (that's L.A. to most of you) and went on to record a pair of 45s and just as many albums. This was a sweet find. 

01. Where Ford Falcons Come To Die
02. Audrey & Anguish
03. Sunbeam
04. Women's Wednesday
05. Perpetually You
06. Reville

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