The Health & Happiness Show - demo (1992)

I've probably thumbed by numerous Health & Happiness Show albums in used CD bins over the years, nary giving them a second thought.  Then I procured this tape, probably in a lot of other demos and such ages ago, and was pleasantly surprised when I actually had the notion to play the damn thing.  H&HS were based in Hoboken, NJ, and coincidentally or not resembled a more renown combo from that neck of the woods, specifically the Feelies.  These guys gracefully stir No Depression-esque affectations, a la Uncle Tupelo, into the pot yielding wholly earnest fare like "We Are Here," which happens to pack a dynamite chorus hook.  "The Man Who Married the Moon" with it's mandolin accoutrements isn't far behind, and like the aforementioned number you almost get the impression than the author experienced some sort of spiritual awakening, albeit nothing heavy handed. Frontman James Mastro partnered with the Bongos' Richard Barone, for the one-off Nuts and Bolts LP in 1983, and has collaborated with numerous acclaimed artists since.

Three songs from this cassette made the migration to the first Health & Happiness Show LP, Tonic in 1993, with two more records to follow.

01. We Are Here

02. The Man Who Married the Moon

03. Live Your Love

04. Drunk-Eyed Waltz

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I got a wine swept smile and a well-timed mile...

From 2000.  Probably the only thing I haven't already shared by this long defunct bunch. 

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

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Blackouts - Men in Motion ep (1980, Engram)

In multiple books I've encountered about the Seattle music scene, the Blackouts are commonly bandied about as antecedents to the more successful purveyors from the Emerald City that rose to prominence in the late '80s and beyond. Problem is, if you just merely read the text without hearing the accompanying soundtrack, you'd naturally assume that the quartet in question were decked out in flannel and had a floorboard of distortion apparatus at their feet.  Trust me when I say no one would mistake the Blackouts for Mudhoney, or god forbid someone like Candlebox.  Coming from a different template altogether, this artful cabal reveled in the jittery post-punk sway of Gang of Four, L.A. contemporaries Middle Class, and to a lesser extent the more approachable persuasion of the Talking Heads.  (The) Blackouts, were in fact even more dissonant, halting and skittish than the aforementioned, and were novel enough to insert their own indigenous flair into the pastiche.  Men in Motion was the band's second record, and is phenomenal both in terms of execution and creative acumen.  Ironically, the leadoff cut "Dead Man's Curve" isn't the Jan and Dean song.  While they would stick around until the mid-80s, a full length never came to pass... 

...however a compilation of Blackouts small body of singles and eps were compiled in 2004 as History in Reverse.  Physical versions of ...Reverse appear to be completely sold out, but if anyone has a line on where I might be able to buy an original CD of it please get in touch!

01. Dead Man's Curve

02. Probabilties

03. Being Be

04. Five is 5

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Delta Clutch - Shine 7" (1994, Lady, I Like)

I've owned a CD by this Mass. trio probably for a solid 60% of my life, yet the impression it left was somewhat nondescript.  The 45 I'm sharing today is another matter.  Two memorable, strummy numbers, with "Shine" bearing resemblances to certain late-80s SST signees, albeit nothing obvious.  A much more lackadaisical fIREHOSE or Angst perhaps?  Anyway, the chorus is undeniably the selling point that keeps this five-minute A-side pleasantly afloat.  The plaintive "Baby, The Rain" is a subdued, acoustic traipse, the kind of comfy, goes-down-smooth ditty that would be the perfect accompaniment for any given afternoon slouch in a hammock.

A. Shine

B. Baby, The Rain

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Can I not shop around...wait a second please!

From 1997.  The second album by these Aussie wunderkinds. 

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

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VA - Rock Turns to Stone (1988, Vild)

Here's one I've been intending to digitize for awhile.  A 36-year old compilation of Boston area bands that's both relatively consistent, and fits in within the overarching context of this site.  Side one is near-perfect, showcasing among other items an early incarnation of the Cavedogs "La La La," eventually rerecorded for their stupendous Joyrides For Shut-Ins album.  I've featured the Blackjacks Basic Blackjacks ep just earlier this year, and their contribution here, "Born Rude" coincidentally or not entails a chorus with a melody much akin to the Heartbreakers "Born to Lose."  The Titanics are another band I've long planned on featuring, but I hope the reverb-laced distortion of "High on Drugs" will tide you over in the meantime.  Screaming Broccoli are another Wilfully Obscure veteran, and "Somebody's Company" extends it's roots in the vicinity of Agent Orange with satisfying aplomb.  The little known Matweeds are straight-up power pop purveyors that I'm motivated to explore further, the Dogmastics are minor Beantown garage rock legends, and Rash of Stabbings turn in the considerably more serious, post-punk tinged "Hear My Call." 

01. The Slaves - Radio Daze

02. The Cavedogs - La La La

03. The Matweeds - Stay

04. The Titanics - High on Drugs

05. The Blackjacks - Born Rude

06. Neutral Nation - T.V. Salvation

07. Dogzilla - Lunch With Ed

08. Screaming Broccoli - Somebody's Company

09. Condo Pygmies - Take Cover

10. Rash of Stabbings - Hear My Call

11. The Dogmatics - Teenage Girls

12. Big Huge - I'm a Suck?!

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Feel the world tapping on my shoulder...

Recordings from 1987-89.  The word impeccable comes to mind.  Don't pass on this!

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

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Pavement - Red Asphalt (1993, Bloody Buddies)

This is essentially nothing more than a bootleg of an early-ish Pavement gig circa the spring of '92 (right around the time Slanted and Enchanted hit shelves), and a Peel Session.  Sounds like a soundboard taping, though this really doesn't entail the swanky sonic aesthetics of a 'proper' live album. You can't go wrong with a setlist like this.  Upon finding this I dove right into the unrecognized "She Believes," which actually starts off as "Greenlander," Pave's contribution to the renown Born to Choose compilation. For more fun, make sure to check out another Pavement banger I've been sharing for a good fourteen years now.    

Uptown Lounge, Minneapolis, MN 6/11/92

01. Here

02. Perfume V

03. Frontwards

04. Home

05. Conduit for Sale

06. Summer Babe

07. Texas Never Whispers

08. No Life Singed Her

09. Loretta's Scars

10. Trigger Cut

11. In the Mouth a Desert

12. Debris Slide

13. Two States

14. Zurich is Stained

15. Lions

16. Angel Carver Blues

17. From Now On

18. Greenlander/She Believes

19. Box Elder

20. So Stark

Peel Session 7/10/92

21. Circa 1762

22. Kentucky Cocktail

23. Secret Knowledge Of Backroads

24. Here

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Skyscraper/Grady Sisters 7" (1995, Omnibus)

Haven't posted a split single in awhile, and this one features a band that's brand new to these pages, Skyscraper.  Ostensibly hailing from Davis, CA the coed foursome in question, whip up a fury of serrated guitars and distortion sounding some like three parts Jawbreaker and one (or two) parts Archers of Loaf, circa Icky Mettle.  Their side of this wax, "Rockgirl" is the only tune of theirs that I've been enlightened to, and though they didn't persist long enough to give us an album, a couple of other Skyscraper items are floating around, if you can locate them.  The Grady Sisters were another Cali indie-rock proposition, whose 1993 ep on Geometric Records I offered a few years ago.  The Sisters' contribution to this 45, "Meridian" loosely hovers in the vicinity of their east coast contemporaries Chisel (yep, Ted Leo & Co.). Satisfying if not particularly remarkable.  

A. Skyscraper - Rockgirl

B. Grady Sisters - Meridian

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Five stripes shining in the sunlight.

From 1998.  The saucy sophomore LP from a Scottish band with a Japanese name.  

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

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The Trend - Crash the Bash (1980-96)

It's hard to believe that original copies of a single minted by a teen punk band from Syracuse, NY circa 1980 has fetched as much as $2000.  You can credit The Trend to that unlikely feat. Presented in reverse-chronological order, Crash the Bash, features both songs from that collectible 45 ("Electric Chair" b/w "Band-Aid"), and the trio's 1982 platter Batman Live at the Budokan, alongside unreleased material and reunion songs.  That reunion unfortunately didn't entail one of the Trend's principal members, singer/guitarist J. Marc Patenaude who perished in a 1985 car crash.

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.

01. Crash the Bash

02. Color Me Impressed

03. Isn't It Mine

04. Dozen Girls

05. Bake Bread Not War

06. Anyone But Me

07. Winneego

08. (Don't) Drink and Drive

09. Candy Striper

10. Office Friendly

11. The Butler Did It

12. Giddy Up and Go

13. Mommy is a Jilt

14. Quaranteen Teen

15. Pop Star

16. Toy Section

17. Peer Pressure

18. Zinc Tabletz

19. Don't Talk to Her

20. Electric Chair

21. Band-Aid

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