This single surrounds two bands who were eventually scooped up by the majors in the wake of the Smashing-vana hoopla circa the mid-90s. In the case of
Scarce, originating from Rhode Island, there's a pretty fascinating backstory to be had. Frontman
Chick Graning fresh off of a stint with gnarly, indie distortion-mongers
Anastasia Screamed suffered an aneurysm shortly after the release of Scarce's 1995 debut
DeadSexy, which necessitated him to relearn to walk and speak. By 1996 Graning recovered enough to warrant Scarce to book shows again, but ultimately, the band splintered a year later and wouldn't reconvene until the late '00s. Bearing a throaty timbre, Graning's vocal aplomb on the dynamic and lovingly scrappy "It Was Dry" recalls the cathartic wail of Squirrel Bait's Peter Searcy. This tune also wound up as a b-side to an
import ep.
I've covered Dallas'
Funland by way of their fantastic
Sweetness ep, which saw the light of day a full thre decades ago. In a classic case of "I loved their early stuff," by the time the band (with a pre-Centro-Matic
Will Johnson in their lineup) got around to tracking this single's contribution, "Blue Sister" they were beginning to shorn the power-pop affectations that made
Sweetness such a treat. What they still had was impressive even if "...Sister" rang a bit repetitive, not to mention a little lyrically underwritten.
Scarce - It Was Dry
Funland - Blue Sister
2 comments:
I love Scarce. Saw them live opening for Echobelly. Joyce Raskin, the bassist wrote a memoir mostly about her days in Scarce called Achin' To Be which was great and really interesting.
They never got round to doing another full album, though there was a great EP and a handful of demo releases. Such a special band!
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