…and I feel I never will.

 An indie rock stunner from 2014.

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Starkicker - Beach Music (1996)

Contrary to what the cover might project, Starkicker, in fact, are not a twee conglomeration, and the music involving the half hour that is Beach Music rarely lives up to it's title's sunny aesthetic. An all male trio with a correspondence address of St. Catherines, ON, Starkicker seemed to have more in tandem with fuzzy, amped-up contemporaries Transistor Sound & Lighting Co., and Australia's often grand and affirming Jebediah and Pollyanna, than say, Sloan or Matthew Sweet. Bittersweet yet hook-savvy notions including "Baby's Comin' Home" and "Careless Driver" will easily allow you to forgive these gents for not delivering on the straight-up power-pop the band's superficial hints (again, the deceptive album sleeve and title) often suggest. A very promising record that sadly didn't receive the push it deserved from the very established Epic Records. Three years on the group tweaked their formula and rechristened themselves as Dunk, monikered after the surnames of frontman Ben Dunk and bassist brother Nick. 

01. Get Up

02. Neil Armstrong

03. Baby's Comin' Home

04. Pitter Patter

05. Merry Go Round

06. Pick Up Truck

07. California's Cool

08. The Letter

09. Careless Driver

10. Going Downtown

11. 360°

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Doughboys - Live (Home Again) 7" ep (1991, Blackbox)

Hard to believe I waited this long to share this one, considering it's been in my collection since I started this whole shindig. The Doughboys, one of Canada's finest proponents of melodic punk-pop released this live ep via the European Blackbox label, featuring two originals and two covers (Cheap Trick and Kiss). Presumably tracked during their tour supporting Happy Accidents, given the inclusion of "Happy Home." Will try to get something else up for you later today as well, so check back.

01. Happy Home

02. Home Again

03. He's a Whore

04. Stole Your Love

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Only tomorrow the love comes easy.

My apologies for not getting any music up this past week. It was a busy one, but will try to rectify that soon.  As for Mystery Monday, is this really the album we were holding out 22 years for?  Definitely some flourishes of brilliance in the first half, but the concluding tracks are outright grating. Enjoy (or not).

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Why don’t you say goodbye to me?

An archival collection featuring two dozen+ timeless recordings from a singer/songwriter who passed away last week. 

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The Acid Casualties - Panic Station (1982, Rhino)

I suppose the main draw here (besides the surreal, Dali-esque album sleeve) was the Acid Casualties reworking of the obscure-ish Pink Floyd chestnut, "Point Me at the Sky." The tune in question (which fascinated me to no end) was released in 1968 as a stand-alone single, shortly after Syd Barrett's ouster from the group, and sounds deceptively written by him, but in fact was penned by Gilmour and Waters.  And the Casualties do it justice, despite mouthpiece Mark Avnet striking me as a tad too throaty when he manhandles the chorus.  

Elsewhere on Panic Station, it's a bit of a challenge determining where this apparently one-off combo was truly angling. Certainly not new wave or punk (though Trouser Press went to the trouble of critiquing it). The band did partake of Robbie Krieger's guest guitar finagling on no less than three songs here. And this album is home to yet another cover, a T. Rex deep cut circa 1972, "Fist Heart Might Dawn Dart."  Yet all in all, the Casualties don't sound obviously prodigious of the Doors or Bolan, though there is an unmistakable classic-rock, prog-lite tincture to many of side one's numbers with some discernable BÖC-isms wafting about, not to mention a few well placed Roger Waters style guitar fills.  Additionally, the finale, "Floating" sports swell Utopian-harmonies that would do Rundgren proud.  Writ large, Panic Station is a pleasure to listen to with nary any major hiccups, even if it is a bit of an anomaly for what I tend to share. 

01. Point Me at the Sky

02. Shadow Street

03. Canyons of Your Mind

04. Solid Sound

05. Armies of the Sun/The Battle

06. Fist Heart Might Dawn Dart (Funny How The Day Comes)

07. She's a Lost Soul

08. Floating

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Can't stop the press!

From 2010.  A deliriously tweaked kaleidoscope of hypnagogic pop. 

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What is This - Squeezed ep (1984, San Andreas)

Forever a footnote to history, L.A.'s What is This are generally known for being the band the late Hillel Slovak retreated to in the mid-80s when he decided to take a break from the Red Hot Chili Peppers (whom he'd rejoin in time for their 1985 LP, Freaky Styley).  Though WiT's modus operand wasn't funk rock/punk, the Squeezed ep coincidentally manages to commence with the decidedly groove-laden and feedback squall-ish "I Am a House."  In a nutshell, The Peppers, or even Gang of Four, What is This were clearly not, but even from the get go they exuded some smarter ideas on post-wavy salvos like "My Mind Still Have I," and Squeezed's finest moment, the Roxy Music endowed "Days of Reflection," which I damn near love.  Their subsequent self-titled album, arriving in 1985, was produced by Todd Rundgren, who strikes me as a logical choice based on what I'm occasionally able to glean from this ep.  

01. I Am a House

02. My Mind Still Have I

03. Squeezed

04. My Head is a Drum

05. Days of Reflection

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