damned if I can make out the lyrics...

 ...but this was one of the most flawless albums to grace the racks in 2018.  A heady, enveloping mélange of dream pop and subtle electronic affectations. Dig in.

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

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The Drive - The Journey is the Reward (1987, Thrust)

How about some no frills rock 'n roll?  This is one is situated far more to the middle of the dial than what I normally give you, and in fact only about half of The Drive's lone LP really slots into Wilfully Obscure territory.  That's not to say the rest of deserves to be omitted - anything but, however The Journey is the Reward is considerably...pedestrian.  

From what little I've been able to glean on this quartet, they actually had ties to another band I introduced you to some time ago, the vaguely new-wave inflected The Lines from Boston, who dished out a wad of independently released wax in the early/mid-80s. It appears that the Drive's keyboardist/mic fiend Pat Dreier is the one who specifically had a role in both bands.  Journey's... tenor isn't far removed from the likes of the Hooters, John Cafferty, and less-so Drivin 'n Cryin' - not necessarily power pop, so to speak, but often adjacent with mid-tempo salvos "Something There," "Life Ain't Without You Baby," and "In Her Head," striking me as compulsively catchy.  The Drive weren't pompous enough to work an arena, but definitely a notch or two above your typical bar band fare. Nonetheless, this is ambitious and tight as a duck's ass, impeccably produced and engineered by the band alongside a gent named Phil Greene.  Enjoy (or not).  

01. Something There

02. In Her Head

03. Key to Heaven

04. There's a Reason

05. Goin' No Where

06. It Must Be Bedtime

07. Ain't What You Say

08. Tunnel of Love

09. Life Ain't Without You Baby

10. No Way Out

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The terrible shouting in my ears, we wouldn't last the year.

My apologies for not getting any new music up last week.  Will try to remedy that soon.  As for M/M, this one is from a NJ indie trio circa 1994.

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

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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!**

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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

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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.

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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!**

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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

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...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!**

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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

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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

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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!**

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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

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We can all sit and watch with our eyes closed.

Four eps, most of which are quite recent.

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

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The Marbles - Old from Lack of Sleep (1989, Flammedia)

Not to be confused with the Robert Schneider (Apples in Stereo) side project, or the there-for-a-minute indie/power-pop NYC wunderkinds who released a single on the legendary Ork Records in 1976, these Marbles hailed from New Jersey, and if anything else were responsible for a somewhat interesting album sleeve.  As for the music contained within...at least there's a lot of it, practically two LPs worth of tunes, albeit this trio never really settle on a definitive sound.  Sort of very intermediate AOR dabbling sprinkled in with some occasional power pop-adjacent maneuvers.  "Raining" would have made for a convincing outtake from say, Black Vinyl Shoes, and I like what the Marbles flex on the meaty "She Writes." Elsewhere they sound like they're really going somewhere on "Dark Confetti," and the appealing opening salvo, "Love." Overall, Old From Lack of Sleep would have benefitted from an edited setlist, and a little more focus and distinguishability from it's three architects.  Still worth investigating, and with seventeen songs you're bound to find something you like. 

01. Love

02. Drunk and Insane

03. Corridors

04. Raining

05. Clayman

06. Randabelle

07. Train to London

08. The Age of Nothing

09. Book of the Crazed

10. Really, Really, Really

11. Dark Confetti

12. Interwoven Touchy Thoughts

13. She Writes

14. Cat Song

15. Fineline

16. Anger

17. Tired

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Reviews you can use: B-Movie - Hidden Treasures (2025, Wanderlust) & Chris Church - Obsolete Path (2025, Big Stir)

Considering Mansfield, Britain's B-Movie by and large "peaked" with a pair of low charting UK singles (1981's "Remembrance Day") and the slightly more renown "Nowhere Girl" a year later, you'd think that the quartet in question would have taken the inch they were accorded and attempt to stretch that out to a proper mile (or heck, maybe just a meter).  Truth be told it wasn't for lack of trying, and though a debut album, presumably to drop later in '82 by Phonogram Records, was never actually slated for public consumption (at least not in the first half of the decade) B-Movie nonetheless tracked enough quality tunes to make it a legitimate proposition.  Due to a band roster shakeup, and concerns from Phonogram over potential sales demand, said "album" was shelved - for some 40+ years in fact.  B-Movie eventually reemerged in reconstituted form, circa 1985, with a full length of predominantly fresh material landing on Sire in the guise of Forever Running, but much of the original hoopla surrounding the band had fizzled, and listeners on both sides of the Atlantic never quite took to the gussied-up, synth-pop penchant of this particular era.

Regrouping in the 'teens for 2012's The Age of Reason, and 2016's Climate of Fear, B-Movie were a going concern again, and have been an intermittent live presence ever since. Even with a successful reboot under their belts, the hunger to give the album-that-never-was a formal release never completely subsided.  It took some legwork, but upon finally obtaining the rights to these aforementioned vintage recordings they've finally arrived under the umbrella of the ten-song Hidden Treasures.  Despite a copious amount of New Romantic pigeonholing (both during and after their '80s halcyon era), B-Movie's nascent efforts in the studio revealed a quartet distinctly separate from the A Flock of Seagulls and Naked Eyes of the world, conceding much to the post-punk sphere, occasionally even wandering off further from the reservation than that.  Case in point, would be Treasures' opening salvo, "Citizen Kane," has more in tandem with the Psych Furs and the Teardrop Explodes than say, Depeche Mode.  Treasures... is bejeweled with no shortage of keyboards, rather moderation is the key watchword. 

Further in, the going gets even better, with the driving "Marilyn Dream," and the lusciously melodic "Crowds" weaving in plenty of deftly crafted panache. Naturally, signature B-Movie numbers "Nowhere Girl" and "Remembrance Day" make an appearance, without necessarily dominating the proceedings.  Treasures... bears no small semblance of diversity ensconced within it's ten proper  cuts, and furthermore there's a phalanx of supplemental material to be had, entailing remixes and some abandoned but promising song ideas.  B-Movie conjured up something aesthetically satisfying here without succumbing to the gratuitous extravagances their era was all too infamous for.  Absolutely no small feat in my book.  Hidden Treasures is available from Bandcamp, Rough Trade, and Amazon, and check out the band's official site here.

I've never been a huge mark for "singer-songwriters."  I'm not sure how/why my wet noodle has a tendency to differentiate, scrutinize, and perhaps even prejudice me to steer towards "bands" as opposed to solo-endeavors.  Ultimately several have broken through over the past few decades Laura Veirs, Mike Viola, Emm Gryner, and the dearly departed Nick Drake and Tommy Keene. Substantial as the catalogs of those go-it-alone troubadours are, I'm still naturally inclined to gravitate to full ensembles.  In 2023, I enthusiastically added Chris Church to my informal roster of reliable singer/scribes, thanks to his then-current sleeper LP Radio Transient.  Perhaps it was because that record not only bore the heft of a full-fledged 'combo,' so to speak, the compositions in themselves were resonant and thoroughly engaging.  

On Obsolete Path he's spun another web of twelve poignant songs, this time with an overarching sobering hue, albeit not the self-pitying variety.  I can't point to much in the way of convenient parallels to Church.  Faint glints of  Matthew Sweet, Tommy Keene, or pre-controversy Ken Stringfellow seep in, yet if there's any power-pop slant here it isn't purist so much as respectfully adjacent, a la Gin Blossoms.  The hooks are abundant and incisive, though they're rarely the centerpiece. Our protagonist gracefully applies the pinstripes of '80s modern-guitar rock on "Life on a Trampoline" and "I'm a Machine," summoning a transporting ambience in the process.  Bittersweet melancholia is tattooed over virtually every square inch of ...Path, evidenced on the vigorous "Sit Down," and later, this sentiment works just as effectively amidst the acoustic gestures of "Tell Me What You Really Are."  "Running Right Back to You" and "I Don't Wanna Be There" strike something of a middle ground, but this is hardly an album of extremes. Writ large, Obsolete Path is however persuasive, empathetic, and occasionally even visceral.  Bandcamp and Big Stir have you covered for physical and digital, and you can obtain it immediately. 

Layer under layer of now fanatical desire.

From 1982, with a preceding EP included.  If Pylon is your bag dig into this.

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

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Ten Tall Men - Find Your Saint (1988, Vacant Lot)

You were no doubt regaled by Ten Tall Men's 1986 ep, Nickelbrain, back when I posted it some eight years ago.  If that was the appetizer, get ready to feast on the main course.  Find Your Saint extrapolates on the same sonic aptitude of the aforementioned ep - staccato syncopation, palm-muted guitar fills, and abrupt, halting pauses/false endings, with ample deference given to the templates laid out by Gang of Four and especially the Minutemen.  TTM were sticklers for quality control, but that doesn't mean the going here gets a bit samey, especially when FYS is absorbed as a whole.  Ironically, a song dubbed "Dull Moment" is something of a pleasant anomaly here, thanks to Winthrop Eliot Jordan's heightened, melodic chord wrangling.  This piece of wax was a minefield of clicks and snaps, and edited out the more egregious ones as best I could.

01. Dominoes

02. If I Was a Beefy Guy

03. Honor

04. Dull Moment

05. My Last Life

06. Wheels Spin Round

07. This Responsible Life

08. Get Back to Work

09. Mr. Fist

10. Double Heaven

11. Not

12. The Westheads

13. Trust

14. Anxious

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It's nearly impossible. Highly improbable. But not hopeless.

From 1999, and I think I've shared this before.  It's not Pet Sounds, nor in the same genre, but thematically there's some significant crossover with this one.  Eye of the beholder I guess. 

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

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The Effigies - live WZRD, Chicago 1981

How is it that I've neglected The Effigies for so long?  For as long as I've been acquainted with the late John Kezdy and Co, they've never been an obsession.  In some respects that's been a convenient proposition, since so much of their back catalog has been long unavailable.  And while there have been the occasional Effigies reunion gigs, and even albums, including last year's Burned, nothing engendered me to super-fan status.  Nonetheless, I'm sure at least a few of you are, thusly this post will have your name written all over it.  Broadcast live for WZRD's "Sunday Morning Nightmare" program, this seven song set finds Chi-town's hardcore heroes bracing, hungry and in sheer take-no-prisoners mode.  Still three years away from unleashing their debut LP, 1984's For Ever Grounded, the songs from this performance were culled largely from their Haunted ep, and songs that would appear on subsequent short-form releases, including '82's classic "Bodybag" 7" and their debut release for Engima Records, We're Da the Machine.  I certainly wasn't the one who had the notion or wherewithal to tape this off the radio (much less digitize) it, so a hearty thanks to whomever did.  Btw, along with the aforementioned Burned, a fortieth anniversary remaster of For Ever Grounded dropped just last year. 

01 Below the Drop
02 Blank Slate
03 Quota
04 Strongbox
05 Techno's Gone
06 Bodybag
07 Guns or Ballots

Band lineup:
John Kezdy - vocals
Earl Letiecq - guitar
Paul Zamost - bass
Steve Economou - drums

MP3  or   FLAC

GhostShirts 7" (1992, Cypher)

Yet another casualty of the pre-internet era, and I'll be damned if i can shed much relevant info on this bunch who boast a Brooklyn correspondence address.  GhostShirts were produced by Kramer, at his fabled Noise New Jersey studio, yet these guys weren't particularly avant/weird.  Definitely more Homestead Records than say, SST, although the faint fIREHOSE-ism's I'm picking up are likely more coincidental than anything else. The turbulent "Here is a Compass" wins this two song contest with a compelling rhythm guitar line and wily dynamics.  Not unlike what Agitpop gave us a couple years prior.  The flip, "...(Song X) sports fuzzy bass and jazzy juxtapositions, and is indicative of GhostShirts' jammier proclivities.  

A. Here is a Compass

B. 38th Subjective Rant (Song X)

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...twist and rearrange, the spaces always show.

A debut from 2006.  Not dissimilar to the grand gestures Interpol gave us, but with even more flexibility and nuance.  

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

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Shrubs - Somebody's Watching tape (1996)

It's been yet another bummer of a week, and I know I haven't provided you with much since MM, but hopefully this lil' reel will tide you over until tomorrow. Not sure where I acquired this Shrubs cassette, but clocking in at a half hour with a solid ten (or arguably eleven) tunes, it's definitely more in line with an album than a demo.  Hailing from downstate New York, or thereabouts this trio had a jones for no frills riff-pop, settling on a mid-tempo clip, not overtly resembling anyone in particular.  The aptitude is pedestrian, but earnest and occasionally a tad wry.  The two-minute, "Never Go Back" possesses plenty of punch, and while little else on Somebody's Watching can compete with it's pace this tape bears at least a few repeated listenings.  Said affair closes out with an unlisted, insurgent 46-second hardcore-punk throwdown, out of character with everything preceding it.

01. Hail Mary

02. Never Go Back

03. Memorial Day Poppies

04. Things We Could Have Been

05. Space Threat

06. Lover

07. Time Fades

08. Born Too Soon

09. Underground

10. I Don't Know

11. unlisted mock hardcore song

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I ain't run out of track...

This band's parting shot from '93.  Maybe not as glorious as the albums that preceded it, but in terms of the alterna-rock era it's still well above average. I've also tacked on a b-side, a cover no less. 

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

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The Passions- Sanctuary (1982)

You'd almost think "I'm in a Love With a German Film Star," was the only song The Passions ever committed to tape - and regrettably for about 98% of listeners who were fortunate to encounter them at some point that might as well have been the case.  Virtually no other tune in their repertoire has garnered anywhere near equal facetime, despite the Barbara Gogan-helmed London conglomeration having released three near-incendiary albums: Michael & Miranda (1980), Thirty Thousand Feet Over China (1981), and Sanctuary (1982), and roughly half a dozen singles.  However, those that delved beyond their aforementioned 1981 hit were privy to an intoxicating body of work. 

The loss of Passions guitar-chitect Clive Timperley, whose crisp, crystalline chords colored so much of "I'm in Love's..."  atmospheric persuasion, prior to the recording of Sanctuary, did virtually nothing to stifle the newly whittled down core-trio's ability to devise memorable, moving vistas.  Not as allegiant to the noir post-punk air of relatively close sonic contemporaries Siouxsie and the Banshees, the Passions didn't make a play for mystique, so much as depth - and they were all the better for, even if long-term success eluded them.  Sanctuary found them leaning into the nuances of the New Romantic movement with subtlety being the key watchword.  No, this wasn't quite your little sister's garden-variety "pop" setup, The Passions were considerably more advanced than that, yet they boasted a melodic allure and sophistication that should have roped in devotees by the millions.  Instead, they settled for a few thousand hangers-on, who were no doubt dazzled by plush, sublime propositions, "Small Talk," "Into Night," and Sanctuary's title piece.  Though not necessarily flawless, you won't encounter any filler amongst these grooves, and it's almost startling to realize the band would be defunct in merely another year.

And speaking of defunct, so is the label that curated the first digital release of Sanctuary, Rubellan Remasters.  In addition to a bright, resonant remastering of the album in question, this reissue boasts all surrounding singles and b-sides, as well as appending the contents of a four-song live ep that was bundled with certain original pressings of the LP.  Rubellan's somewhat tortured and occasionally heartbreaking saga has recently been laid out in nearly six-hours worth of narratives on YouTube, which you're encouraged to partake in, that is if you have any interest in learning how the sausage is made before it's submitted to the marketplace. It's quite an enlightening tale.   

01. Jump For Joy
02. The Letter
03. Into Night
04. Small Talk
05. White Lies
06. Cars Driven Fast
07. Love is Essential
08. Your Friend
09. Hold on Don't Go
10. Sanctuary

bonus:
11. Africa Mine
12. I Feel Cheap
13. The Story
14. Tempting Fate
15. Stop That Man
16. The Square (live)
17. Why Me (live)
18. Snow (live) 
19. I'm In Love With A German Film Star (Live)

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