V/A - Every One a Classic!! Vol. 6

Before I abscond on my jet setting lifestyle for the next few days, I thought I'd leave you with this, the sixth installment in the Every One a Classic!! bootleg series compiling neglected, but monetarily valuable British punk/powerpop singles and such.  Vol. 6 is a bit more unique in that it predominantly angles towards the more aggro side of the side of the neighborhood, with many of it's selections bordering the vicinity of straight-up hardcore/oi. If you could go for some rowdy, Cockney seasoning The Rong, Twisted Nerve, The Jermz, and The Commited are practically shouting your name.  The Limps subscribe to approximately the same aesthetic as the Adverts, The Bleach Boys opt for the same strenuous pace as say, Discharge and Dead Kennedys (albeit with a pinch more melody) and Jimmy Edwards dials things down a notch with "Drag it Back," a number suitable for the football hooligan contingent. Tying this affair up, the best known commodity, Protex coincidentally qualify as the most power-pop friendly specimen in the bunch, and "Don't Ring Me Up" is just about as compelling as anything I've encountered from them.  You can access all previous installments in the ...Classic series via the hyperlink above.

01. F-X - South's Gonna Rise Again

02. The Limps - Circa 2

03. The Rong - Union Jack

04. Noise Annoys - Living (in the World Today)

05. Twisted Nerve - Neutral Zone

06. The Commited - British Crimes

07. Machines - True Life

08. The Jermz - Powercut

09. The Bleach Boys - Stocking Clad Nazi Death Squad Bitches

10. Mad Dog - Someone Here Must Like Me

11. Jimmy Edwards - Drag it Back

12. The Ignerents - I Won't Be There

13. Nasty Media - Spiked Copy

14. The Head - Nothing to do in a town like Leatherhead

15. Protex - Don't Ring Me Up

Hear 

I'm over the precedent of a false security...

From 2002.  Believe it or not, I already shared the demos for this one closer to when I started this site.

**Please do not reveal artist in comments!

Buffalo Tom - WERS FM, Boston, 1989.

As much as I love and revere Buffalo Tom's 1992 mature masterstroke, Let Me Come Over, it was that album's two rawer and raucous  precursors, Buffalo Tom (1989), and Birdbrain (1990) that ushered me to the table. While the Boston trio were able to better differentiate themselves from Dinosaur Jr. (comparisons early on in B/T's career were virtually ceaseless) their somewhat derivative embryonic phase gave rise to a phenomenal host of songs.  This performance at WERS FM captured Bill Janovitz and Co's. relatively nascent steps, with an emphasis on the recently released self-titled album.  Visceral previews of Birdbrain's title track and "Guy Who is Me" are also featured in the setlist, and even if this was tracked in the auspices of a cozy radio station, those of us not blessed with the privilege of witnessing Buffalo Tom in the flesh circa the late '80s can be assured this is an accurate reenactment of what they doggedly brought to the stage every night.  This flat out smokes, and I'm making it available both in MP3 and FLAC. 

01 Racine 

02 Crawl 

03 Guy Who is Me  

04 She Belongs To Me (Bob Dylan)  

05 interview 

06 Enemy 

07 Flushing Stars 

08 Deep In The Ground  

09 Birdbrain 

10 Sunflower Suit 

11 outro  

MP3/FLAC

I don't know what's up ahead, don't think too much it'll hurt your head.

From 1991. Strangely enough this is the record that introduced me to the band, not their more coveted debut.  

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

Hear

The Tearaways - See the Sound (1993, Fried)

Something of an L.A. power pop institution dating back to the early '80s, The Tearaways didn't get around to issuing an album until 1993, specifically this one.  It's sleeve suggests something a little more gritty than the actual proceedings, but despite the presence of some comparatively precious, and frankly too polished ballads ("Black and Blue," "Leave it to Me") the Tom Werman and Earle Mankey-produced See the Sound houses plenty of meatier offerings, including "Jessica Something" which drops a downright devastating chorus hook.  If you're an aficionado of the Grip Weeds and Rooks, you might already be well acquainted with this these chaps, but if not you're in for a treat. Incidentally, the late, great Clem Burke was a onetime Tearaway (though he didn't lend his talents to this LP).

01. I Walk Alone

02. Nowhere Left to Turn

03. Jessica Something

04. Can't Get Through

05. Black and Blue

06. I'm Lost

07, For Free

08. Leave it to Me

09. 4 Letter Man

10. It Could Take Years

Hear

Itch - Spiraling Paper Planes ep (2001)

Hmmm.  What to make of this one?  Having zero familiarity with Itch, I chanced on this based on the sleeve art, and an irresistible price tag (merely a quarter).  I knew I'd be in for indie rock of some stripe, but superficially there were really no other signposts to speak of. My initial assumption is that Itch may have been Canadian, but alas, this quartet were from Leeds, England - and were a heck of a lot more wrought that anticipated.  Shades of aughts emo and post-hardcore abound, but Itch's method splits the difference between dynamic and mathy, with impassioned and occasionally screamy parlance circa the choruses.  The melody structures could use some expansion, but in fairness there are genuine tunes here.  Am detecting trace elements of everyone from Garden Variety to Jebediah, with "If You Ignore Him He Will Go Away" moving my proverbial indicator the most.  You can delve deeper into the band's catalogue here. 

01. All Our So Called Bad Luck Stories

02. If You Ignore Him He Will Go Away

03. Spiraling Paper Planes

04. Know Idea My Dear

Hear

No bandwidth, all I do is cry.

One of 2024's finest albums, and the runaway winner in the post-punk category. 

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

Hear
 

Curious Ritual - "How Fast" 7" (1993, Gila)

Sometimes I'm at a loss for describing music in the written word, but goddamn, it feels like my site outright exists for records like this one.  I didn't know one whit about Boston's Curious Ritual before this landed in my "buy" pile at an indie shop I've long since forgotten the name and place of, but this coed quartet's inclusion of a Big Star cover meant that I was certainly adopting it.  Sonic signposts point to another Beantown band of yore, Christmas, not to mention early Throwing Muses and Vomit Launch.  With it's droney guitar line, and hypnotic, layered vocals, "How Fast" is the stuff of sublime, collegiate radio alchemy.  An impeccable exercise in harnessing the appropriate quotient of every musical molecule without conveying itself as the least bit forced or formulaic. I'm stunned I wasn't tipped off to Curious Ritual sooner.  On the aforementioned remake, the band applies the same earnest veneer to the downcast "Kanga Roo," one of Alex Chilton's most moving pieces from Big Star's comparatively neglected  Third album.  C/R have made a handful of their other recordings available on Bandcamp and are well worth your attention. 

A. How Fast

B. Kanga Roo

Hear

I'll bring the heavens down screaming with me.

From 2003.  As was the case last week I wasn't able to deliver you much.  It doesn't help that I have no convenient way to digitize records/tapes for the time being, but am working on that as I speak. At the very least I'll try to wrangle up a single tomorrow evening, not to mention something more filling later in the week.

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

Hear