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Sunday, December 22, 2024
Man I’m gonna destroy your cover!
Saturday, December 21, 2024
Watching the candles burn...it returns Wednesday night.
You might be asking what initially motivated me to begin this tradition altogether. For one, it gives me a convenient excuse to share several mind-blowing "gifts" instead of just one big reveal on Christmas. Secondly, Chanukah represents personal relevance to me. We all know you were envious of that kid down the block who had a yarmulke festooned to their head, who was given the privilege of lighting the menorah, and of course, reveling in eight glorious nights of presents. Once again, I'm paying it forward. Previous Chanukah entries have featured Wire, Velocity Girl, Jellyfish, Husker Du and Teenage Fanclub, but name recognition is hardly a guarantee. As in past years, there will definitely be familiar faces, but also provocateurs that have never or infrequently garnered face-time on W/O. Bear in mind that what's crucial and/or special to my ears may not be of equal essence to yours, but humor me folks.
At the top of each Chanukah upload will be a thumbnail photo of a menorah, with the appropriate number of lit candles to denote each succeeding evening until all eight slots in the candelabra are occupied on the concluding night of January 1.
- Look for the first Chanukah posting this Wednesday evening, and then for the remaining seven nights 'round supper time all next week.
- Mystery Monday will be taking a break the week of Monday the 29 so as not to disrupt or distract from the continuity of the eight consecutive nights of the holiday.
- Some offerings will be made available in FLAC (in addition to standard MP3).
Friday, December 20, 2024
Naúx - Light, Traps And Exploding Wires (1982, Noise New York)
Without much sleuthing online I was pleased to learn of a Naúx solo venture, a one-off solo LP, Light, Traps and Exploding Wire arriving merely a year after China Shop ostensibly shuttered. Painting from the unpredictable sonic palate that made Atomic Notions such a beguiling treat, Light, Traps'... most engrossing salvos including "Don't Know Love," "Forget Just Once," and "Atlantis" were akin to the choicest (albeit perplexing) persuasions C/S offered. Here, however, the bass guitar was uber prominent, not to mention doubly more elastic. Naúx exuded a clear penchant for challenging his audience, and no doubt himself, but for virtually every time he threatens to breach into something completely leftfield he counters with a naggingly accessible poise, reminding me why I took such a keen interest in the first place. I'd be remiss if I didn't mention that Robert Quine had a hand in this album as well. Light, Traps'... has previously endowed it's rays into the blogosphere, but what's presented here is my own private rip of the album, and by extension this meager critique.
Tuesday, December 17, 2024
Farmers - Packed in an Urban Area ep (1982, BFM)
Sunday, December 15, 2024
VA - Three on the Tree 7'' (1994, C/Z)
Wednesday, December 11, 2024
Johnny Rey & the Reaction - More Than I Can Do ep (1984)
Sunday, December 8, 2024
The president's laughing 'cos we voted for Nader.
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Plimsouls (Eddie Munoz) - MGM Music Hall @ Fenway Boston, MA, 7/17/24
Sunday, December 1, 2024
The twist of the knife can only bring us closer.
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Second Language - In Shadows ep (1984, Lingo)
Saturday, November 30, 2024
The Health & Happiness Show - demo (1992)
Three songs from this cassette made the migration to the first Health & Happiness Show LP, Tonic in 1993, with two more records to follow.
Sunday, November 24, 2024
I got a wine swept smile and a well-timed mile...
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Blackouts - Men in Motion ep (1980, Engram)
Friday, November 22, 2024
Delta Clutch - Shine 7" (1994, Lady, I Like)
Sunday, November 17, 2024
Can I not shop around...wait a second please!
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VA - Rock Turns to Stone (1988, Vild)
Sunday, November 10, 2024
Feel the world tapping on my shoulder...
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Pavement - Red Asphalt (1993, Bloody Buddies)
Saturday, November 9, 2024
Skyscraper/Grady Sisters 7" (1995, Omnibus)
Sunday, November 3, 2024
Five stripes shining in the sunlight.
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Saturday, November 2, 2024
The Trend - Crash the Bash (1980-96)
Though somewhat rudimentary, not to mention highly topical, The Trend's mid-tempo forte was competent with surprisingly robust arrangements. The Dead Boys or the Saints this trio were not, but they have moments here that almost parallel the Buzzcocks circa their nascent Spiral Scratch ep, bearing some of the same sardonic heft. Another loose comparison might be the Trends' Belgium contemporaries The Kids, but you're no doubt bound to draw parallels of your own. Love their spot-on rendering of the Mats' "Color Me Impressed," and they also delve into the Damned's Strawberries-era "Dozen Girls."
A thoughtful bio on the band can be read here, and the aforementioned Batman Live... was reissued in limited quantities on the always impressive Japanese Air Mail imprint.
Sunday, October 27, 2024
No one that survived this hurricane would dare deny...
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The Fat Lady Sings - Fear and Favour 7" (1986, Good Vibrations)
Saturday, October 26, 2024
Primary Colors - s/t ep (1983, Urbanoise)
Sunday, October 20, 2024
Then Jerico - Before the Future: 1984-1989 (2024, Cherry Red) - A brief review.
With sizable nods to Simple Minds, as well as lesser concessions to the likes of Duran Duran and U2 (the more preferable eras of all three I might emphasize), The Mark Shaw-fronted Then Jerico usually functioned as a five-piece and wielded a 50/50 sonic wallop of keys and guitars to match their manpower. No, this wasn't quite new wave, rather an advanced outgrowth thereof, buttressed with a manicured fury of dense, robust arrangements, a flair for the dramatic and colored with somewhat opaque socio-political themes. Heck, even the album title alone, First (The Sound of Music), reeked of ambition and sophistication. A volley of singles from the effervescent album in question commenced with 1986's "Muscle Deep" (reissued as a single for a second go-around in '87) , "Let Her Fall," "The Motive," "Prairie Rose," and finally "Blessed Days," the latter for TJ's Japanese market exclusively it appears. Sweeping, anthemic, yet wholly benevolent and above all else, melodically captivating, First... is practically a salvo of greatest hits unto itself. Not quite on the level of say, the Joshua Tree or Songs From the Big Chair, First.. but merely a rung or two down on the same ladder, deftly avoiding any ostentatious or preachy pitfalls. It's an unheralded classic with even it's deepest cuts, specifically "The Laughter Party" and "A Quiet Place (Apathy and Sympathy)" landing as effectively as it's more renown singles.
The version of First... presented on Before the Future, is sensibly enough the original British iteration of the album. When First... saw the light of day in America in 1988 several tracks were remixed, the U.S. variants thereof are included as bonuses here - and there's gobs more on top of that, with all the contemporary extras from the album occupying not one or two CDs, but would you believe three all told? We're treated to TJ's excellent premiere independent 12" "The Big Sweep," circa 1985 and it's follow-up, "Fault." From there on ...Future leaves virtually no stone-unturned, catching every solitary non-LP b-side (including gems like "Searching" and "Electric"), remixes of the more danceable cuts, and a plethora of single edits. It's a bit overkill, and the sequencing/intermingling a bit dodgy (occasionally separating A-sides and B-sides on different disks), but nothing egregious mind you, and this collection is very much assembled with the completist in mind. The fourth CD here, dubbed From the Vaults, houses something I've been craving for an eternity- demos for roughly half of First... Early takes of "Let Her Fall," "The Hitcher," and "The Motive" aren't necessarily raw or rough-hewn, per se, but certainly presented in an interesting embryonic context, and worth my decades-long wait.
Still possessing a healthy quotient of the grandiose sweep that imbued much of First..., TJ's 1989 sophomore effort, The Big Area is by significant degrees more of a commercial venture, demonstrating a tighter and more lucid approach, and notably guitar-centric. Even when the emotional pull isn't as evident as before, Mark Shaw & Co. don't yank the rug out from underneath much of anything, rather Jerico's collective stride pursues a comparatively streamlined tact. And they were still amassing solid material in the shape of "What Does It Take," the pulsing "Helpless," and "Reeling," the latter accented with strings. Six b-sides and such are appendixed to the Big Area CD, including an unlikely reading of Led Zeppelin's "Trampled Underfoot." Considerably uncharacteristic territory for Jerico, but they manage to pull it off.Overall, Before the Future... makes an exhaustive case for rediscovering Then Jerico's often neglected catalog, and its attendant bells and whistles (not to mention ace remastering) ushers all of the band's missing pieces into the digital era in one succinct space. It's available direct from Cherry Red, Amazon. and hopefully a brick and mortar retailer near you.
Can't rest on your laurels now, not when you've got none...
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Saturday, October 19, 2024
FAQ - Pre-Pay (1990, Spikey Music)
Sunday, October 13, 2024
You were my best friend, and I stood there and watched it еnd.
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Thursday, October 10, 2024
St. Johnny - High as a Kite (1993, Caroline)
Sunday, October 6, 2024
I slept through the thundershowers …the day that she pulled out the flowers.
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Wednesday, October 2, 2024
Sunday, September 29, 2024
I had a dream of the sea, but it didn't come for free.
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Saturday, September 28, 2024
House of Pants - Pressed ep (1984, Amorous)
Wednesday, September 25, 2024
Glass Torpedoes - Someone Different 7" (1979, Teen Beat)
A2. Morning, Noon and Night
B. Heart Surgery
Sunday, September 22, 2024
Was a has-been now's an am-is
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Saturday, September 21, 2024
Go Man Go - s/t (1990, Whet Regin)
Sunday, September 15, 2024
I was there to cash in my soul.
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Saturday, September 14, 2024
The Slowest Clock - Smile Futurismo! All I Heard Was Purple (2014, Eye Unseen)
Touted as psych/freakbeat revivalists, Slowest Clock weren't necessarily evocative of anyone from the original '60s vanguard. Not completely removed from that sort of ethos, there is some occasional evidence ("You're So Strange" and "Turning Green") regarding how these guys might have been loosely shoehorned into those environs. The winsome "Eastern Flowers" leaned in the vicinity of R.E.M., but wasn't quite in league with American indie rock either. Elsewhere, there are several songs here that strike me as unfinished, having miraculously surviving past the demo stage. ...Futurismo! is an album of anomalies with seemingly minimal connective tissue, yet still rewarding if you're willing to invest a few concerted listens.
Thursday, September 12, 2024
Green Pyramids 7" (1993, Susstones)
Sunday, September 8, 2024
Saturday, September 7, 2024
Voices - New Bamboo (1983)
Voices are a very bygone Rochester, NY cold case, who apparently didn't give the world much beyond this platter. A privately pressed LP that doesn't necessarily skew to the aesthetics of "indie rock," just one spin of New Bamboo reveals these gents were tempted to tap into a plethora of markets. Synthy new wave forays, "Return to Human," and "Out Tonight" aren't as sophisticated as say, Gary Numan but are satisfying nonetheless, particularly the latter. "Drive-in Show" sports a radio-ready power pop acumen, while the concluding morsel, "Death in a Hand Held Package" is subtly more serious, á la what Genesis were striving for around the same period. Elsewhere on ...Bamboo are a handful of not so new ideas, aimed in a decidedly more AOR direction. Nothing truly embarrassing, mind you, but a comparative curveball. At the end of the day, I'm pretty relieved that I didn't fork out a hundred for the better tracks.
Sunday, September 1, 2024
She met a man so understanding there was nothing he wouldn’t do.
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Saturday, August 31, 2024
Versus - singles 1994-95
Perhaps "Frog" isn't their most effective piece, yet it bears the dynamic, yet tentative lilt of the Baluyut brothers and Fontaine Toup's nascent work, which means it's loaded for bear in the charm department. "Go Tell it on the Mountain" and "Big Head On" exude the consoling mid-fi affectations of virtually everything that made the cut on Dead Leaves, but these numbers (esp "Big Head...") are particularly amped-out, to borderline intense and intimidating proportions. As for the only tune I have yet called out. "N.I.T.A." mines a slightly less strenuous vein, yet bristles with ample tension and texture. Marvy stuff.
Versus' palette would expand and become more lucid and approachable on subsequent records, beginning with Secret Swingers in 1996. And while they've never gone so far off the reservation as to piss me off, I can't help but wish they hadn't shed so much of their comparatively downer and insular vibe that's so meta to these songs.Friday, August 30, 2024
The High Bees 12" (1985, Supreme International Editions)
Sunday, August 25, 2024
I'm laughing but the jokes on me.
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Tiny - tape (1994)
Saturday, August 24, 2024
Symptoms - First Offense ep (1988)
The release of their first EP, "First Offense", caused a small controversy in the small town of Fort Pierce. The cover art contained a St. Lucie County Sheriff's deputy in his official uniform, his official patrol car, and a woman (Glenn's girlfriend) wearing an official St. Lucie County Sheriff's deputy shirt (she was not a Sheriff's deputy or employed with the Sheriff's Office). When the news reported on this "collaboration", a letter from the St. Lucie County Sherrif's Office was sent to the band requesting that the album no longer be sold in stores, as there was no authoritative permission given to use an official patrol car and uniform in the photo for the cover, otherwise, legal action would be taken. The Sheriff's deputy was also reprimanded for his participation without authorization from the sheriff. The stock of records that remained in stores was allowed to be sold, but no further stock could be provided for sale.