I still pretend that I don’t drink alone.

A debut from 1994.  

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

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Groceries - s/t ep (1983, RD3)

I saw this one pop up on Ebay a few times while doing genre searches and was more than intrigued by the cover. Low and behold I found a copy in  the wild a few years ago and finally got around to digitizing it.  What little I had read about Groceries is that one point or another they bore something of a ska bent, but there's nary a trace of that here. In fact, "cheeky" would be the operative word in summing up the m.o. of this New Jersey five-piece.  Groceries were long on topical themes and performing acumen, yet didn't make a huge name for themselves despite a heavy gig presence in New York City.  Had they put more emphasis on  crafting tunes that were a little more melodically sentient, and curtailed the sardonic angle there might be a little more here for me, but for what it's worth I really admire the guitar textures coloring the concluding "Intelligentsia Junkie."  Other Groceries records are floating around (assumedly challenging to locate at this point) and 4/5 of the lineup has reconvened in the guise of the startlingly different sounding Groceries 2.0 which you can ascertain more about here.

01. Part of the New America

02. Hieroglyphic Shuffle

03. Government Rock

04. Tropical Island

05. Noon on Tuesday

06. Intelligentsia Junkie

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Tirez Tirez - Under the Doorstep 12" (1984, Another Side)

I'm dealing with heavy, flu-like side effects from the latest Covid immunization (funny how that works) so I may keep this one sort.  This isn't my first go-around with this seemingly clandestine Kansas City duo, as I've shared no less than two Tirez Tirez releases, one issued in 1980, and the another a few years subsequent to this single, but the mere two cuts that were allocated to this '84  wax just might be the most stimulating tuneage they ever committed to a black plastic circle.  A healthy chunk of press clippings that accompanied my copy of this record played-up Tirez's dance floor appeal. While I can't be any entirely dismissive of that notion, this is synth-pop/rock of a more sophisticated nature endeavoring in a conspicuously more layered sonic heft, that also nurtures a discernable hook in the guise of "Under the Door." The elongated flip-side, "Sleep" with it's near-trance inducing redundant rhythm/riff slowly blooms into a heightened tuneful savoir faire all it's own.  I'm not sure if any full-scale Tirez reissues are in the pipeline, but their 1983 import-only Story of the Year has recently been made available for streaming.  

A. Under the Door

B. Sleep

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You said to ring you up if I was in Toronto...

A reissue of a 1980 Canadian classic (eye of the beholder I suppose).

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

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VA - Art'sAPassion (1985, Art'sAPassion)

What's actually supposed to be a faint blue album sleeve came out more black and white than it should have.  And oh yeah...the music.  I can talk about that as well.  The Art'sAPassion compilation is simply screaming for an album insert or something more than a plain track list on the reverse sleeve, as not a morsel of info is shared about any of it's five participants.  From what minimal sleuthing I was able to do, it appears everyone on here is from Connecticut, potentially with a heavy emphasis on the New London region based on a correspondence address for the label.  I've covered one band here, namely Paisley Jungle, who if I recall correctly consisted of two bass wranglers, minus an actually six-string guitarist or keyboardist.  Their two numbers are faintly reminiscent of the direction the Minutemen were angling towards during their all-too brief post-Double Nickels... era, albeit in a mellower context.  I've laid ears on New Johnny 5 (typed as one word on the album jacket and label) previously and don't remember hearing anything as good as the driving "The Reasoning," or conversely the drastic white-boy rap curveball of "Let Go."  Millenial Aspect, one of multiple cold cases here really should have put out an APB for a more charismatic mouthpiece.  Their "Trance State" is still fairly enticing and would have functioned quite effectively in the hands of Pylon.  Finally, Dangerous Club's "Breakthru" exudes an offbeat allure, riding the crest of a goes-down-easy snyth riff. Does anyone in the audience have the scoop on these guys?

01. New Johnny 5 - The Reasoning

02. Millenial Aspect - Trace State

03. Dangerous Club - Breakthru

04. Fugitive Colours - Don't Stop

05. Paisley Jungle - Cool Vacation

06. Paisley Jungle - Rip Torn

07. Fugitive Colours - Our Situation

08. Dangerous Club - I Forgot

09. Millenial Aspect - Proclaim the Truth

10. New Johnny 5 - Let Go

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All those friends you've been talking to...

A mostly complete compendium of this band's first three eps, released 1984-86. 

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

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Someone & the Somebodies - Bops on the Head ep (1981, Modern Method)

It's a pretty shocking coincidence that Someone & The Somebodies had the inclination to cover "Workin' in a Coal Mine" the very same year Devo dished out their own rendition of it.  Then again, this was well before the internet, and Devo were from Ohio while this foursome were situated in New England...so who knows.  I just hope these guys didn't have egg on their face, because at the very least they do the tune justice, and perhaps coincidentally or not they also bore an eccentric, spastic electro-rock modus operandi of the same genus that Akron's boys-done-good took to the bank.  Admittedly, Someone's overarching pastiche recalled early 415 Records geeks the Units more than anyone else. The closest this troupe approaches the realm of the serious/conventional evidences itself on "It's Only Extazy" loosely dangling a melodic, post-punk carrot over it's near five minutes.  Subsequent S&tS releases would follow though I've yet to encounter them.   

01. Workin' in a Coal Mine

02. We Were Only Kidding

03. It's Only Extazy

04. Mombo Sombo

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I learned my lesson while I slept eternally.

This band isn't especially renown for their b-sides, but that didn't stop them from curating a presentable compilation of them in 2002.

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

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Bootcamp - s/t ep (1985)

So, I didn't exactly shower you with content this week, but since I had this ready to go I figured, why not?  I've got a buddy that's eternally wed to MTV's nascent era, specifically from the early to mid '80s.  He often requests I burn him music from lesser known acts, and by and large I'm probably the best source he has (not that I'm bragging).  While a lot of us have our ear to the ground, my friend in question had one very much glued to the screen, and is endlessly fascinated with early MTV playlists - that and the hundreds if not thousands of hopeful acts who never released much beyond a locally distributed single/LP whom also had the gumption to film a DIY video in hopes of it being aired nationally on a show like the network's much missed Basement Tapes.  Barring that small miracle, these artists might have equally lucked out by virtue of having their clip played once or twice in the wee hours of the morning.  

My understanding is that Bootcamp, a quartet with roots in Baltimore, submitted multiple videos to the outlet when they were still accumulating their now cobwebbed and largely forgotten library.  To their credit, these blokes were a lot more proficient than your average local yokels, and nearly succeeded at having their AOR and devouring their new wave cake to boot.  Their overall shtick virtually paralleled that of contemporaries the Producers, and maybe less the likes of the Outfield.  More polish than grit for certain, yet virtually every moment here lands in the comfortable pocket the band seemed to be striving for.  It appears Bootcamp CD-R reissues were once a thing, and I know a few songs have cropped up on Amazon digital, so don't be surprised if the link below eventually earns the strikethrough treatment.

01. A Woman's Touch

02. Shoot the Moon

03. Get a Hold of Yourself

04. Fire in the Hole

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The Crepitos - We Just Wanna Have Some Fun 7'' (1995, No Tomorrow)

This is one of about a half dozen singles pumped out by León Spain's, The Crepitos, who managed to bring one studio LP into the world circa 1995 (Pop 3000), coincidentally the same year that this very 45 was minted.  Questionable cover art aside, the rear of this sleeve finds the five-piece in question donning garagey-punk garb, whereas the Crepito's sonic aplomb hits closer to a lively, driving power-pop vein.  The first b-side here, "Far and Wide" inserts sweetly churning organ fills that merely accent the proceedings without dominating them, while the comparatively downtempo "Between You and Me," emanates faint but soulful Elvis Costello tinctures.  

A. Flock of Dumbs

B1. Far and Wide

B2. Between You & Me

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So many times I waited for you. I figured it out and now we're through.

From 2009.  Threw in a couple of extra tidbits, including a little something for you Greg Dulli fans in the audience. 

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

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Fixed Up - Vital Hours (1987, I.D./Closer)

I just can't escape the specter of 1987.  I've already posted two more titles from that year in recent weeks, but it's more coincidence than anything else.  And I can't say this French trio necessarily sounded like a product of their era, barely echoing the more mainstream foundations thereof.  Vital Hours is my first (and perhaps last) encounter with Fixed Up, whose dense aplomb wasn't straight-up garage punk, but at moments they resemble a nuanced hybrid of Lime Spiders bumping elbows with Hanoi Rocks. Fixed Up aren't exactly reinventing the wheel, but why futz with the formula considering such driving rave-up as "Purple Flashes" and the grand trifecta of tunes that close out Vital...? To my ears, the brass section augmented to "The Limit of a Legend" and "One Night Stand" makes for something of a fly in the ointment, as these chaps were in no way, shape or form The Saints.  That aside, other than a little sameness no complaints.

01. Purple Flashes

02. My Love For You

03. What's the News Today?

04. Between Her Hands

05. Speed Ahead

06. The Limit of a Legend

07. One Night Stand

08. Taste of Love

09. Physical World

10. Have You Ever Felt The Creeping Fear

11. Red Hot

12. Teenage Power

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When does this world keep away from me?

The 1988 swan song from one of the era's most consistent pop auteurs.  

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

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Claude Pāte 7" (1987, Pravada)

Following up my post from last night, here's another salvo from '87.  When I belatedly encountered Claude Pāte on the Iowa Compilation (also from 1987) I knew virtually nothing about them, except that I was eager to hear more.  Of their two proper releases, this 45 is all I own thus far, but if you're hankering for straight-up, no frills rock and roll, C/P satisfy along the same lines as Fire Town, Snatches of Pink, and Carnival Season (wilfully obscure references, I know). And btw, they were a band (a trio to be exact), not an individual.  The everyman grippes presented in their songs are seasoned with grit, earnestness, and riffy power chords, however these guys had enough class to keep things from careening off the rails.  

A. I Will, If You Will

B. Ain't There/It's Gone

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Roy G Biv - s/t ep (1987, Whitelight)

If not an outright cold case, Minneapolis' Roy G Biv didn't exactly leave behind a proverbial trail of crumbs with the exception of this disk.  This quartet clocked in/out circa that late '80s era when punks were slowing down a notch and getting more tuneful.  Ramshackle, albeit not particularly abrasive these boys could've rubbed shoulders with contemporaries the Nils and Junk Monkeys, when they felt enthused enough to apply themselves to such inspired nuggets as "Off My Path" and "Poor Little Baby."   Four songs does not a long record make, and frankly, "Carousel" could have used some editing, usurping a valuable five+ minutes here.  The folks that put together the Homework cd-r comp series must have been impressed, as "Off My Path" appeared on volume 4. 

01. Dallas

02. Off My Path

03. Carousel

04. Poor Little Baby

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One hundred cigarettes all alight...

"Field recordings" from a short-lived, UK post-punk proposition circa 1979-81, who never realized their loftier ambitions.

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

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God's Eye - Love's a Bargain (1990, 20/20)

Last year you came for God's Eye's "Back Again" 45, not realizing it was actually dessert for their main course, Love's a Bargain.  Not necessarily in league with the likes of other Beantown combos, Buffalo Tom or The Lemonhead's G/E do conjure the overarching modus operandi of the John Strohm/Freda Love fronted post-Blake Babies combo, Antenna.  This is to say, while God's Eye weren't innovators they were still passable. The aforementioned single "Back Again" is for better or worse the centerpiece of ...Bargain, wielding a big, juicy colossal hook - but was this nugget so potent that the trio in question weren't able to transcend it?  As for the album writ large, I might have to offer a reluctant "yes," yet it's still worth a few rotations. Merely one ep followed ...Bargain so we can only wonder if a hypothetical sophomore God's Eye album would have yielded the sort of knock-out punch suggested by "Back Again."

01. Rapunzel 

02. Back Again

03. Overground

04. Sea Chantey

05. Liberty

06. All Adds Up

07. Bright

08. Trial Size Hearts

09. Good Years

10. For Example

11. What's Love Worth

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Rock 'n roll lose control, just forget you're on the dole.

I don't think I've featured anything by this long-running UK band to date.  Bit of a confusing release this, as it's not a best-of, rather a compilation of b-sides and unreleased material from the first half of the '80s.  Who knew at the time they'd still be going?

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

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Standing Waves - Vertigo ep (1981, Classified)

Not particularly Texan sounding, Standing Waves were nonetheless denizens of Austin, and for a few years (mostly early-eighties) were responsible for some alluring new wavish pop/rock.  They didn't stick around long enough for an LP, so the six-song Vertigo was as close as we got. Typically favoring organs over traditional synths, S/W were more in league with the Pointed Sticks than say, Naked Eyes.  I hear a little bit of The Units in their sonic pastiche, yet I wouldn't go into this expecting any full-blown revelations.  Vertigo's two bookends, the hooky title track, and the comparatively reflective "Never Say" make the deepest impressions.  This was produced by The Pool's Patrick Keel (of "Dance it Down" fame).  Standing Waves have a compilation collection available here and Bandcamp.  

01. Vertigo

02. Crash and Burn

03. Can't Let it Go

04. Behavior Mod

05. Sensory Overload

06. Never Say Die

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Positive Noise - Positive Negative 7" (1981, Statik)

Like a lot of bands that impressed me on college radio circa the early-'90s, I didn't immediately follow up on Positive Noise, simply due to a sheer lack of resources (say, like the internet).  By the time I actually thumbed across their records in the wild, I had completely forgotten the track in particular that exposed me to them.  Upon seeing this for $2 I decided to take a stab at the band's debut 45, "Positive Negative." Oddly enough, the song in question came out as the same year, 1981, as their debut LP, Heart of Darkness, but didn't appear on it.  That's actually logical, as "Positive Negative" presented itself as bubbly new romantic synth pop.  Nothing egregious mind you, just a bit generic for it's niche.  The flip, "Energy" fared better.  Albeit not too far removed from it's aforementioned A-side, "Energy," nonetheless boasts a chillier façade, situating itself in a more natural construct, dovetailing more appropriately with what I encountered on the comparatively brooding ...Darkness. 

A. Positive Negative

B. Energy

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I just wanna hold you, I bought and sold you...

A two CD collection of pretty much everything this New Zealand quartet committed to tape between 1979-80.  I wasn't able to scan the entire booklet, just the most important bits.  

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

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Chris Bailey - Prime Numbers (1983, Shower Fantasies)

No, not that Chris Bailey (the deceased frontman for Australia's legendary Saints) rather another guy with ditto moniker, possibly with ties to Vermont or somewhere else in New England.  No correspondence address provided, and with such a common name, there's little relevent info to be had on this privately pressed curio.  1983 may have been the era of new wave and AOR, but Bailey and his three compatriots simply weren't having it.  More like DIY pop abundantly punctuated with funky basslines, rarely sounding comparative to anyone else. The spry "Easier Done Than Said" boasts plenty of catchy sway and could have easily been massaged into something Top 40-worthy.  "Pablum" is a bit of an anomaly, a punky two-minute basher that would have slotted in nicely on one of Joe Jackson's first two albums.  Prime Numbers houses plenty of other satisfactory moments, but few outright revelations, and as I alluded earlier, a bit non-descript.  My copy of this was defaced with all manner of radio station call letters and assorted markings, so I took it upon myself to purloin a cleaner jpeg of the cover art from an Ebay listing.  Imagine that.

01. Easier Done Than Said

02. Oooof -- Why Girl?

03. Lover's Plight

04. Pablum

05. My Shadow

06. Such a Blur

07. Shrapnel

08. Do It! (Again)

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It's just form and function.

Primo post-punk stuff from 2007.

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

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Bouncing off Bob - Cha Cha Cha at the Coral Reef ep (1987, Stretch)

I've had this 12" kicking around my "to-be-listened-to" pile of records for a considerable amount of times, and wouldn't you know I finally gave it a spin.  BOB were from Jersey, and before ostensibly  functioning as a quartet, they were a five-piece, at least for this record.  Cha Cha... kicks things off with the band's finest number, "Bedside Manners," a rootsy albeit manicured slice of left-of-the-dial pop benefiting from a subtle splash of organ.  "Whoops! (Baby's in Love)" boasts a rollicking, rockabilly bent and admittedly pretty fun if you have appetite for the stuff.  The seven-minute ballad "Through With You" could have respectfully used some editing, but BOB compensate with the lively concluding salvo, "Dear Editor." 

01. Bedside Manners

02. Whoops! (Baby's in Love)

03. Bust Some Heads

04. Through With You

05. Dear Editor

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Couldn't find you any place upon my screen...

Disk two of a retrospective covering the second half of this band's career. Some of this material was made available on subsequent reissues and "vault" type releases, but it's nice to have these b-sides and outtakes all in one concise spot.

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

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