But then I laugh and it burns up in flames.

From 1985, and I still can't believe that it's not...them.  As they say, talent borrows, genius steals - and this is practically like finding a "lost" album. 

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

Hear

Suns of Silence - Some Suns ep (1987, Isti Mirant Stella)

At some point in '87 a gaggle of Quebec-based (Montreal?) creative types got the notion to make some noise and they wound up putting five songs on a flimsy slab of black vinyl and came up with this.  What isn't so flimsy however is Suns of Silence's choicest moment here, namely, "Ultra Terrestrial" a post-punk braised slice of sophisticated wave-pop, not unlike what the Icicle Works were wont to emanate around the same time. Almost as notable is the winsome jangle folk motif that is "So Thought You Could Fly," on par with the Rain Parade's most expert handiwork.  In fact, there's precious little on Some Suns, that you would regard as half-baked, and comes more than recommended from yours truly. 

I'd be remiss if I didn't point out that after digitizing my own wax for this post, it appears the Suns have occupied their own corner of Bandcamp, and are featuring this record plus a subsequent one - however the download fees are a tad, shall we say, striking - for one in particular at least.  In short, I'm not sure how long I'll be keeping this up.  Finally, I want to give props to whomever posted the album jacket on Discogs, as the spine of my ragged copy looks like a cat mistook it for a scratching post.  

01. Ultra Terrestrial

02. So You Thought That You Could Fly

03. Tell Me Why

04. Let Me Have Another One

05. Some Suns Seem So Sad

Hear

Rein Sanction - "Deeper Road" 7" (1992, Sub Pop)

Ever come across a record/CD that despite having some remote appeal, you opted to pass on simply because you decided you didn't "need" it at the time?  I had over 30 years to ponder whether I really "needed" Rein Sanction's "Deeper Road" 45, and didn't jump on it until a few years back.  After all, I already possessed the A-side on R/S's sophomore long-player, Mariposa. Long story, I happened upon a discounted used copy of the single to your right, and was all the richer for it.  There isn't much more I can say about these that I hadn't already intoned in my write-up for their prior 7," "Creel," circa 2015. Imagine if you will buckets of spindly, stemwinding feedback a la, Zuma-era Neil Young, clad to the atonal vocal schematic of J. Mascis, all bundled up in a grungy subtext, and that's Rein's formula in a nutshell, albeit conveyed in a denser and drony sonic panache. And yes, the non-LP flipside "R.K" was indeed worth the price of admission.

A. Deeper Road

B. R. K.

Hear 

The sky is bringing grey reflects in your eyes.

A compilation from '93 surveying the first half of this punky French aggregation's career.

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

Hear

VA - An Oasis in a Sea of Noise (1985, Greasy Pop)

How about another compilation to follow up last week's Laughtour?  Only this one was considerably more aggravating in the respect that no less than four songs exhibited jumps/skips. The vinyl itself looked absolutely pristine, so I'm not sure what the culprit was.  Maybe I didn't set the weight of the tone arm correctly?  Since I didn't have an adequate and immediate fix, I was able to find alternate sources for two of the faulty tracks, and will denote the (slightly) flawed ones with an *.  If I'm able to eventually straighten this out I'll supply an amended link.

An Oasis in a Sea of Noise was am immediate must-buy when I eyed it in the racks at the Record Collector in Bordentown, NJ a few years ago. Greasy Pop record's reputation for quality control is almost in a class by itself, but the concept of this local-specific disk is to shine a light on the somewhat neglected scene bubbling up in the South Australian town of Adelaide.  With the inclusion of the Mad Turks (From Istanbul) and Exploding White Mice Oasis... was a no brainer.  And while these were the names that brought me to the table, I gladly stayed for plenty of others.  The Verge's "Here With No Fear" deserves it's rightful spot on a hypothetical '80s Nuggets collection, with Dust Collection follow in similar fashion, but Primitive Painters proved to be the most enlightening winner in the obscuro sweepstakes.  Their "Undertow" jangles and pulses with the fresh urgency of some of their due-southeast Kiwi contemporaries on Flying Nun, seemingly informed by the likes of Mitch Easter/Let's Active as well.  The slightly more established Garden Path also tap into the Rickenbacker aesthetic, and the aforementioned Mad Turks dazzle with an exclusive cut, "Yet You Wonder Why," while the Exploding White Mice cap this affair off with a raucous rendering of the Stooges "Down on the Street."

01. The Verge - Here With No Fear

02. The Verge - Outside Eden

03. Dust Collection - Ingrid

04. Ded Nats - How to Keep Your Husband Happy

05. Primitive Painters - Undertow

06. The Garden Path - This Place

07. The Spikes - Spy in My House*

08. The Mad Turks - Yet You Wonder Why

09. On Heat - Headlines

10. The Plague - Axeman

11. The Primevils - Mosquito Soup*

12. The Primevils - Wasting Away

13. Exploding White Mice - Down on the Street

Hear

...but it's superficial and it's only skin deep, because the voices in your head keep shouting in your sleep.

From 1984.  Not considered their halcyon period by a longshot, but I loved the MTV hit, and this album was more substantive then a lot of people gave them credit for.

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

Hear 

V/A - Laughtour ep (Mighty Lemon Drops, Ocean Blue. etc) (1990)

In a case of wonderful and purely coincidental serendipity I prevent you with this gem of a record - but I'm going to leave you in suspense and explain myself more fully towards the end of this write-up regarding the fortuitous aspect.  First and foremost, the era of thoughtful and well-curated major label promo-only releases has loooong been phased out - but then again so has quality music from the majors in general. I'm grateful to have lived to see the last gasps of this epoch, and Sire's Laughtour compilation is a delightful example of one of those "extras" bestowed to radio stations/record stores prior to the internet shaking things up - and eventually spitting out everything positive, worthy and fun like so much stale gum.  

The concept of Laughtour was fairly simple - an eight song record featuring non-LP goodies and rarities from three Sire Records bands who found themselves bundled up on a 20+ date package tour of the States in 1990.  I'm not sure who signed off on the song-quotients-per band, but The Mighty Lemon Drops were accorded an entire side of wax unto themselves.  Any why would anyone complain when they lead this affair off with an inspired reading of the Standells' cult-classic "Sometimes Good Guys Don't Wear White?"  We're also gifted with a decent b-side, "Forever Home at Heart," and a pair of captivating live cuts, including the Lemon Drop's early single, "Like an Angel."  The then-up-and-coming The Ocean Blue are also present with a more than solid outtake from their 1989 debut in the guise of "Renaissance Man," plus an alternate mix of the relentlessly jangly "The Circus Animals." 

But it's the final artist in this trifecta, one relatively ignored by yours truly, John Wesley Harding, whom dazzles with a double shot of magic, out-impressing just about anything I've encountered on his proper albums.  His acoustic go-round of "Devil in Me" leaps off the grooves with the wit and tuneful acumen of Billy Bragg, almost as if JWH was born to be his doppelganger.  As for the synchronous angle I alluded to early, when I went to digitize this last week I wasn't conscious of the fact that Harding's second cut here, coincided with the fortieth anniversary (to the day, in fact) of the song's topic "July 13, 1985!"  For those of you who need me to spell it out, the paean concerns Live Aid, which a gaggle of us Gen-X'ers are commemorating this very weekend.  The song is part flashback, part confessional and wholly spot-on... and I shan't give much more away.  Enjoy.

01. Mighty Lemon Drops – Sometimes Good Guys Don't Wear White

02. Mighty Lemon Drops – Forever Home At Heart

03. Mighty Lemon Drops - Like An Angel (Live Club Version)

04. Mighty Lemon Drops – At Midnight (Live Club Version)

05. The Ocean Blue – Renaissance Man

06. The Ocean Blue – The Circus Animals (P.A. Mix)

07. John Wesley Harding – The Devil In Me (acoustic)

08. John Wesley Harding – July 13th 1985

Hear

Dirty Looks - "Let Go" 7" (1980, Stiff)

Dirty Looks may not have ruled the roost at Stiff Records (heck, they weren't even British), but I'll be damned if what these Staten Island power-popsters brought to the table wasn't every bit as potent at their more renown contemporaries.  "Let Go" is a gripping three-minute slice of taut rock and roll, that's more viscerally persuasive than any Elvis Costello basher, and could practically wipe the floor with the Knack.  "Accept Me" is equally flawless, exuding a less vigorous stride but just as indelibly catchy.  Even with this much quality control at play, the Looks weren't entirely successful at differentiating themselves from the pack, yet toss on any of their records (including two recommendable full lengths) and tell me you're not an instant convert.  

A. Let Go

B. Accept Me

Hear

I never said to feel relaxed, I never said to love me back...

A solo debut from 2006.

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

Hear

Lovers and Other Monsters - In My Mood Balcony (1990, Den of Iniquity)

Shucks, there were some moments here so stimulating, I was tempted to reserve this as one of my Chanukah uploads.  Ultimately, Boston's long departed Lovers and Other Monsters weren't quite that consistent, but I'll get to that further in.  Those there's little of relevant details for these folks online, Lovers is billed as a duo on the back of ...Mood Balcony's album jacket, but in a live scenario I'm pretty certain they would have at least amounted to a trio.  Lead-Lover Tony Schinella, previously had a guitarist stint in the psuedo-industrial Sleep Chamber, though the Lovers premise was of an entirely-different, left-of-the-dial sort. 

What minimal press this combo garnered during their brief lifespan pegs them as Anglophiles, a la Echo and the Bunnymen and The Jesus and Mary Chain.  That's somewhat accurate in terms of depth and approach, yet they couched it in a Yankee pastiche recalling everyone from Galaxie 500 to Guadalcanal Diary.  They're wont to dip in and out of a few different styles, yet there's no particular tangent on ...Mood Balcony that you'd deem untenable.  The highlights are downright divine - the Paisley-inflected "Windows and Icing" would have done the Rain Parade more than proud, "Breathing Walls, Breaking Glass" scintillates with spindly guitarwork that sounds like it was ripped from Dean Wareham's hands, and "Nowhere Girl" is a wave/post-punk should've-been-anthem that 120 Minutes neglected to shoehorn into their playlist.  Am not crazy about the noir experiment, "The Dark Corner," and some of the shorter filler numbers, but don't let that dissuade you from a fine one-and-done LP of (mostly) keepers. 

01. Train of Thought

02. Breathing Walls, Breaking Glass

03. Around You

04. Girl Who Flies

05. All I Ever Wanted

06. Night Approaches

07. My Addiction

08. The Dark Corner

09. Windows and Icing

10. Nowhere Girl

Hear