Sitting like a dumbbell with my eyes fixed on the tv...

What appear to be the complete studio recordings of a punky UK power-pop proposition from the late '70s.  

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

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The Seeing Eye Gods - s/t ep (1985, Epitaph)

While we're on the subject of psych pop/rock I thought this would piggyback nicely with yesterday's Shallow Reign entry. The Seeing Eye Gods were a one-off side project that was the brainchild of Bad Religion's "Mr. Brett" Gurewitz and as it's been reported, his dealer at the time,  Joe Bertini.  Taken from the website linked above here's a backgrounder. 

The Seeing Eye Gods is the name of the band Brett Gurewitz was is in in the early eighties. It was Brett's first side project and they released a self-titled 12" picture disc. It was released in 1985 on Epitaph Records at a time when he was heavily into drugs, and not on good terms with his Bad Religion band-mates.

Back then Brett had a distribution deal with a company called Sounds Good and they released about 1,000 copies. The album has a pop-psychedelic feel to it, with Brett singing on all tracks, and him and Bertini (his friend and pusher) playing all the instruments.  On this record Brett goes by the nickname "Billy Pilgrim" and John Bertini by the name "Ripped Van Winkle".

With that out of the way, the nearly half-dozen songs here presumably cut on nothing more sophisticated than an 8-track recording console aren't anywhere near the Bad Religion realm, even their botched 1983 synthesizer foray Into the Unknown. "Only One" and Psychedelic Suzy" uncannily resemble the work of the Three O'Clock, almost to the point of prompting me to wonder if SEG were something of a deliberate parody/send-up.  Seriously leaning into '60s sonic affectations, a faithful rendition of "Pictures of Matchstick Men" slots in seamlessly.  "Strawberry Girl" naggingly puts me in the mood for Buffalo Springfield, but maybe I'm alone in that observation.  A fun and surprisingly substantive record.  Per the snapshot above this was a picture disc accompanied with not-quite a proper album jacket.

01. Only One

02. Psychedelic Suzy

03. Pictures of Matchstick Men

04. Strawberry Girl

05. Happy

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Shallow Reign - s/t (1986, Pool)

You'd think there would be more mentions of this long begotten Dallas, TX artifact, if only due to the fact that bands of Shallow Reign's chosen persuasion (Paisley Underground) weren't all that ubiquitous, even circa the mid-80s.  After some four decades you'd think that the Dream Syndicate, Bangles, Three O'Clock and the Rain Parade were all said niche had to offer, given it's rather narrow anthologizing.  Truth is there were likely lots more worthy neo-psych hopefuls in the Reagan-era that simply weren't able to benefit from the widespread exposure of their Cali contemporaries. Not that what Shallow Reign brought to the table was as fresh and/or innovative as the aforementioned, but despite the arguable deficit of originality they compensated in spades with sheer capability and competence.  

On their debut LP they genuinely put in their homework, with certain numbers including "Understanding Kiss" and the driving "One Last Chance" veritably rivaling the most convincing missives from not only the Syndicate and Rain Parade, but also lesser spoken of entities Absolute Grey and Winter Hours.  They did earn a slot on the Sound of Deep Ellum compilation, yet none of the more Paisley-centric various artist compendiums (including Children of Nuggets, and the more recent This Can't Be Today) bothered to include S/R on their otherwise exhaustive rosters.  A very much under-the-radar find, and though I weighed the possibility of saving this one for one of my Chanukah posts, Shallow Reign struck me as being a tad inconsistent to qualify.  Eye of the beholder of course, so feel free to share your thoughts after giving this a listen or two.  I'm making it available in your choice of MP3 or FLAC.

01. Celtic

02. Understanding Kiss

03. In Your Mind

04. 328 Regret

05. Long Time Ago

06. Forever

07. One Last Chance

08. All Alone

09. Reflection

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Do you think she can change your life?

An indie rock touchstone from 1996. Sorry I wasn't able to deliver much in the way of new music to you last week.  Will try to remedy that soon. 

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I took sleeping pills to dream you never did me wrong.

A Don Fleming production from 2000. From the States, but the band's Elvis Costello-isms and Brit-pop angularities belie even sassier undercurrents.

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The Chrome Yellow Co. - Gathered Far Distant (2002, Northern Light)

A Canadian indie band that, surprise, reminds me a hell of a lot of other Can-indie bands, especially those populating the roster of Murder Records...yet ironically not so much Sloan.  I wouldn't say Chrome Yellow Co. strike me as a holdover from the 1990s, as they're not derivative of any one particular artist, yet the overarching aesthetic is well intact.  Not much else to remark on here, other than Gathered Far Distant is relatively consistent, with some songs discernably being more crunchy ("Sports Car") than others.  

01. You Always Love Happy Endings

02. My Teenage Bedroom

03. Summerside

04. Dreaming in Stereo

05. Monster

06. Sing the Stars

07. Autumn Leaves

08. Sports Car

09. Saturday Morning

10. The Ballroom Dancer

11. Night vs. Day

12. Dim Architecture

13. Trouble With the Law

14. Pale Hands Are Waving

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They caught him with his case in a public place...

From 2002. The bonus disk of a deluxe edition reissue housing b-sides, demos and even a Peel session. 

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Unit 5 - Scared of the Dark (1981, Clone)

Here's a bunch of Arkon-ites that didn't have a damn thing in common with DEVO other than locale.  Said to have contained ex-Waitresses alumni, the most resounding response to Unit 5 I could garner was their likeness to Blondie.  The Tracey Thomas-led combo were in fact (at least to my ears) a more enticing proposition than Debbie Harry and Co. in the respect they packed more kick, and furthermore, downplayed the whole sexuality bit. Seriously, I much prefer Unit 5's ratios in this department than Blondie.  A more accurate match for Thomas' vocal panache would be Belinda Carlisle, but I chalk that up to coincidence more than anything.  The songs frequently border on excellent, especially some of the punchier ditties on side one ("Ready," "No Ones Girl" and "Big Kids").  Scared of the Dark is one of the smartest mergers of wave and punk that surfaced during the halcyon era of these musical movements, and it's outright obscurity is a near travesty.  Here's Trouser Press' say on the subject.

Some members of this Akron, Ohio group were in an early incarnation of the Waitresses; Unit 5's vocalist, Tracey Thomas, however, is more from the school of Debbie Harry than the late Patty Donahue. The band plays sprightly, slightly synthesized pop with craft and dedication, making Scared of the Dark easy to like.

01. No One's Girl

02. Big Kids

03. Mental State

04. Ready

05. Decisions

06. Like Lovers Feel

07. Go Ahead and Kiss Her

08. Fickle Hearts

09. Gracefully and Ladylike

10. Lucky Charms

11. Believe It

12. Scared of the Dark

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