Popealopes - An Adder's Tale (1988), Kerosene (1990)

The Popealopes were psych-tinged rockers from Davis, CA that deserved their rightful spot on the Children of Nuggets box set, despite their inconsistency on album. On their debut, An Adder's Tale, the 'lopes sport covers of the Stones "2000 Light Years From Home and John Lee Hooker's "Crawling Kingsnake," but the album's centerpiece is their own "Poor Tom," a lazy Dream Syndicate-esque zinger. The CD version of the album, tacks on a bonus track, "Bovine Lament," which was the b-side to the "Poor Tom" single.

Kerosene helps put the Popealopes on a more straightforward rock trajectory, but as with the debut, a sizable chunk of the album isn't particularly memorable, but strangely fascinating in it's own special way. Were some of the halfway-there melodies fully realized here (perhaps with the title cut being the exception), Kerosene could have been downright dazzling.

You can see what Trouser Press has to say about the Popealopes here. BTW, both of these albums are damn near-impossible to find on CD, as well as their subsequent releases.

An Adder's Tale

01. Southern Mind

02. Poor Tom

03. Barbed Devil's

04. Pennance

05. 2000 Light Years From Home

06. Robber's Banquet

07. Menagerie

08. Beneath the Stone

09. Beautiful Friend

10. Crawling Kongsnake

11. Bovine Lament

 

Kerosene

01. Violet

02. Kerosene

03. Lionheart

04. Rosarium

05. Another Black August

06. Missouri

07. Tokyo Throat

08. Red Reaction

09. One Foot Down

An Adder's Tale - Hear
Kerosene - Hear

The Replacements - How Did the Vomit Get Up on the Ceiling?

Since my last Mats upload (Boink!!) was such a roaring success, I've decided to follow it up with this 26 track collection, predominately consisting of demos and outtakes for the Tim and Pleased To Meet Me albums, although there are a few b-sides from subsequent albums included as well. Sorry for the lame sleeve. Wasn't my design. Enjoy. By next weekend I will/may/possibly resume posting on a more consistent basis. Cheers.

01-Intro
02-Nevermind
03-Alex Chilton
04-Red Red Wine
05-Kick It In
06-Valentine (Instrumental)
07-Run For The Country
08-Going Out Of My Head
09-Trouble On The Way
10-Make This Your Home
11-The Ledge
12-IOU
13-Nightclub Jitters
14-Can't Hardly Wait
15-Learn How To Fail
16-Valentine
17-Skyway
18-I Don't Know
19-Red Red Wine
20-Shooting Dirty Pool
21-Cool Water
22-Route 66 (From B-Side Of "Alex Chilton")
23-Tossin' And Turnin' (B-Side Of German "The Ledge")
24-Ought To Get Love (Don't Tell A Soul Outtake)
25-Kissing In Action (All Shook Down Outtake)
26-Outro

Comments

Gladhands - Wow and Flutter (1999)

Chapel Hill's Gladhands, were an exemplary power pop trio who released two smashing albums on the venerable, but sadly departed Big Deal Records - From Here to Obscurity in 1995; La Di Da two years later. Neither records met with anything resembling mainstream success, but were highly lauded among the band's devotees. When it came time for album three in 1999, Wow and Flutter, Big Deal were on the cusp of bringing it to market, but when the label was abruptly bought-out in mid '99, the album was temporarily put on ice. Promotional copies made the rounds to the usual suspects (i.e. radio, print media) just in time however, making it a minor collectors item. To my knowledge, only the Japanese enjoyed an official release of this disk, but import copies were available stateside, at a rather steep price I might add.

Admirers of bands like Owsely, Tubetop, not to mention a good chunk of the Big Deal roster will revel in Wow and Flutter, despite it's somewhat slick leanings. This was to be the Gladhand's last hurrahs, excluding a couple of post-mortem archival releases. In fact, their departure is written all over Flutter's "Get Real," making for a fitting, if not bittersweet coda.

Buy it here: http://futuremanrecords.bandcamp.com/album/wow-flutter-deluxe-edition

Womb for improvement

Hey everyone. Just wanted to let you know that the pickings are going to be a bit meager for the next two weeks. By this weekend, I'll try to get another 'Mats boot up, as well as some more singles. I really appreciate all the positive feedback. Keep it lit!

Singles Going Single #18 - Cherry Smash "West Coast Rip-off" 7" (199?, Candy Floss)

The Cherry Smash are yet another band I belatedly became acquainted from a long out of print compilation, namely, Pure Spun Sugar, released all the way back in '98. I'm including their brilliant comp song, "Split Screen," as a bonus to the one and only single I have by the band.

Sounding like a byproduct of the '90s indie rock scene and the waning shoegazer movement of the time (wish they'd included a copyright date, sorry folks) The Smash deliver melodious, chiming guitar pop, a la Fudge and Small Factory...if that means anything to you of course. While "Split Screen" is the song that sold me on Cherry Smash, West Coast Rip-offs A-side, "Nowhere Generation," clocks in at a very close second. The B-side features two numbers. "You Made Me Hate the Beach Boys," kicks off with a bizarre mangling of the of the actual Beach Boy classic "Good Vibrations," before giving way to Cherry Smash's ultra lo-fi original composition, ostensibly recorded to a boom box. The follow-up cut, "Airport Girl," is crunchy and fuzz-laden as-all-get-out.

Should anyone in Cherry Smash, or anyone associated with them read this, please get in touch. I'm very eager to hear any more CS singles that made it to market unbeknownst to me. This is phenomenal stuff!
 

A. Nowhere Generation

B1. You Made Me Hate the Beach Boys

B2. Airport Girl
 

Hear

Bangtails - Hypnotic Downpour ep (1987)

First and foremost, I'd like to give props to Little Hits blog because if it wasn't for the fact I was exposed to the Bangtails on their site, this post simply would not exist. You can read the write-up as well as download two of the this ep's four songs here (or heck, just download the whole shebang from me). I was able to procure an original copy of the ep shortly after the LH post, and have decided to share it with the world at large.

The Bangtails were from Kansas City. These days, the band is considered to be a minor footnote in the career of Archer Prewitt, whom he served as bass player for. This was the Bangtails one and only release, which is a shame. Sonically, they are awash in chiming jangle pop, straight out of REM 101, circa Chronic Town. The Bengtails were further defined by singer Mike Winston, who's strained-to-the-max croon echoes of Squirrel Bait vocalist Peter Searcy. Though these diametric facets sound seemingly uncomfortable on paper, they actually translate well onto record. For me, this was a very pleasant find. Incidentally, the sleeve was designed by Archer Prewitt, but you can read more about that from the Bangtails link on Little Hits. Light up a stick of patchouli and enjoy.

 

01. Patron of the Arts

02. Full of Daylight

03. While Laughing

04. Giants/Dead Rain

 

Hear

Ultimate Fakebook - This Will Be Laughing Week (1999, Noiseome)

Here’s a band that was truly in it for the tunes. I certainly can’t say that about everyone I’ve listened to, even the ones I’ve graced on this webpage.
Hailing from Manhattan (Kansas that is) Ultimate Fakebook could have easily been pigeonholed as pop-punk, but they came from a far different place than yammering juveniles like Sum 41 and Good Charlotte. This exemplary trio also wisely avoided being circulated into the ersatz emo clusterfuck that was just about to break nationally.

Unfortunately, as high caliber as they were, Ultimate Fakebook never did break nationally, despite a short-lived stint on Sony Records in 2000/01. This Will Be Laughing Week, the band’s second and by far finest album was originally released on the Lawrence, KS-based Noiseome Records in 1999. When UFB were scooped up a year later by the bigwigs, the lp was retooled with slightly altered and/or remixed versions of all tracks. I am preferable to the original Noiseome version of TWBLW, and that’s what I’ve posted. There’s a bittersweet, underdog vibe that imbues this album in a way that’s indigenous to UFB, and a dizzying array of killer hooks is their not-so-secret weapon. In fact, even the most cursory listen to “Little Apple Girl,” and “Soaked in Cinnamon,” will you make an instant fanatic.

UFB capped off their lil’ career off with a third album in 2002, Open Up and Say Awesome, followed up with the Before We Spark ep a year later. Needless to say, given today's musical climate, they’re achingly missed.

01-She Don't Even Know My Name
02-Tell Me What You Want (I'll Be Anything)
03-Of Course We Will
04-Brokÿn Nëedle
05-A Million Hearts
06-Soaked in Cinnamon
07-This Will Be Laughing Week
08-Little Apple Girl
09-I'm All Out of It Now
10-Glitter & Glue
11-Real Drums
12-Perfect Hair

Are you ready to rock, it's not a question baby...

This can now be found on iTunes, Emusic, and Amazon.

Singles Going Single #17 - Bevil Web 7" (1996, Wabana)

True, Robert Pollard was Guided By Voices prime-mover, Tobin Sprout's inclusion in the band's lineup (from 1992's Propeller through Under the Bushes Under the Stars in '96) often eclipsed Pollard's role of songwriter extraordinaire. It's been said Sprout was to McCartney, what Pollard was to Lennon, but nevertheless their partnership was hardly competitive. Sprout's GBV material, was typically softer and nimbler than Pollard's, and the contrast convinced some fans to champion the McCartney over the Lennon. Sprout's departure from the band after Under the Bushes, actually gave a lot of GBV listeners a plausible excuse to ignore Pollard's further adventures - that, and the fact Sprout was entrenching into an increasingly prolific solo career.

Bevil Web was Tobin Sprouts first solo venture, although he did predate GBV with a band called Figure 4. Featuring a pair of four-track, home-recorded morsels, "Minutemen," and "Lariat Man," Tobin Sprout get's his lo-fi on, and the results are brilliant. "Minutemen," owes a sizeable debt to Pollard's sonic template, but the delicate "Lariat Man," is prototypical Tobin Sprout, and was a clear harbinger of what would materialize on several solo albums, and with his offshoot band, Eyesinweasel. Tobin's music career appears to be on indefinite hiatus, with his attention presently being focused on painting.

A. Minutemen
B. Lariat Man

Hear

Hagfish - Buick Men (1993)

Hagfish were by far and away my favorite band to come out of the Dallas/Ft. Worth 1990s music scene. A dapper, Brooks Brothers-donning quartet, who's relentless Ramones cum Descendent's punk-pop made an already fertile period for rock and roll that much more stimulating. Their often debaucheristic songs were all-surge, power-chord melees that you'd swear could induce whiplash, if only metaphorically.

Buick Men was the first of Hagfish's trifecta of proper albums. Released independently on the Dallas based Dragon Street Records in '93, It contained 19 blistering numbers, without a single one exceeding the three- minute mark. This cd would soon become the rarest and most coveted of all Hagfish releases, due in part to the modest national following they would garner via their second album ...Rocks Your Lame Ass. Rock's was in fact Hagfish's first and only major label offering. Roughly half of Buick Men's songs were rerecorded for this album, and were improved substantially I might add. An even better album, (self-titled) followed in 1997 on the esteemed Honest Dons label. The group is now defunct, but a handful of posthumous cds have been released. A "relapse" reunion album was supposed to surface in '04, but alas, bupkis. Just FYI, Buick Men was commanding up to $100.00 Ebay a few years. It's collectiblity may have diminished, but it's scarceness hasn't.
 

01. Happiness

02. Stamp

03. Flat

04. Secret

05. Gertrude

06. Moda

07. Sad

08. Trixie

09. New Punk Rock Song

10. Disappointed

11. Minit Maid

12. Hose

13. Shark

14. Lesbian Girl

15. Herve

16. Aquarium

17. Mouse

18. Ambulance

19. Land Shark (alt mix)
 

Hear

Singles Going Single #16 - Gnome - "13 Family" 7" plus Six-Hi Surprise Tower (1992)

Special bonus for this installment of Singles Going Single. I didn't think I could do justice to Gnome by merely uploading their lone 7." Gnome were a Seattle four-piece that knocked around Seattle during the early nineties. By 1991, I had familiarized my self with all the Sub Pop bands and began investigating other Sea-Tac bands and labels. One of these labels was C/Z Records, who included on their roster Coffin Break, Skin Yard, Treepeople, and Gnome.

I took a completely "sound-unheard" chance on Gnome's debut Six-Hi Surprise Tower which I believe came in 1992. If I remember correctly, the band christened the album title after an item in a dessert/confectionery mail-order catalog. I just hope it wasn't of the fruitcake variety...anyway. C/Z positioned Gnome as "bubble-grunge." While they weren't nearly as flailing or wired as Nirvana and Soundgarden, Gnome possesed a lively sense of abandon all the same, not to mention pop-savvy. I always thought they gravitated more to the power pop, end of the spectrum, and in fact Jon Auer of the Posies shared mixing duties on the album with Phil Ek. Gnome were if anything, unique. To this day I'm still trying to discern what they owe their sound to, but I think singer/guitarist Loren Evans is the biggest part of the equation. Six-Hi... is a quietly charismatic album if there ever was one, and if you're anything like me, you won't truly sense it's brilliance until long after your initial listen.

The "13 Family" single on Blossom Records predates the album, I'm estimating by a year (no copyright date provided for either this or Six-Hi). "13 Family" is a different recording than the LP version, and I can't help but wonder if early incarnations of the album's other nine cuts are languishing in a shoebox somewhere. The b-side, "Dog Energy" is exclusive to this wax.

Gnome went onto release a second album in 1993, Fiberglass, and soon after a single, Pop Cred./Punk Sens. The band later recorded an ep titled Juicy Mommy, which never saw the light of day: ( Loren, or if anyone else related to the band reads this, please get in touch! 

 

Six-Hi Surprise Tower

01. On the House

02. 13 Family

03. Up To

04. Watershed

05. Go Go Go

06. Peace

07. Roadhog

08. Freetoy

09. NoWonderChild

10. Pig Roast 

 

single

A. 13 Family

B. Dog Energy
 

Six-Hi Surprise Tower: Hear

single: Hear

Dish - Mabel Sagittarius ep + 7" (1993)

This arresting little pop combo from Raleigh, NC caught me by surprise when they opened up for Superchunk at a 1993 gig in Albany, NY. Fronting the band was Dana Kletter, formally a member of the Blackgirls, whom to this day I still have to plead ignorant about. Let me be blunt. Kletter posses an amazing set of vocal chords, perfectly suited for any song she wraps them around. I'm sure Tori Amos comparisons have been leveled on more than one occasion, but I like to think of her in the same league as Jenny Toomey and Sarah Shannon.

Dish "piqued" in 1995 with the Interscope Records release of their sole full-length, Boneyard Beach, an album that failed to deliver on the promise of the Mabel Sagittarius ep and the single on Shakedown records that this post concerns. On these two short-form releases, Dish alternate between brisk piano and guitar songs, with a lucid syncopation coursing through all of them. Production by Mitch Easter meshed well with Dish's slightly left-of-center approach I might add. 

 

The fine two cut single on the British Shakedown label is more challenging, with the b-side "And Then" winning handily over it's flip-side, "Moving Day."

Mable Saggitarius ep (1994)

01. Temptation

02. Meteor Mom

03. Love's Philosophy

04. Leave Yourself Alone

05. Eyes Peeled

 

Shakedown Records 7" (1993)

A. Moving Day

B. And Then

 

Hear

The Replacements - Boink!! (the bootleg)

I've been waiting to upload this for a little while now, and with news regarding the upcoming Replacements reissues due this April (read about them here) I thought this would make a good appetizer. Since some of this material is going to be included as bonus tracks on the reissues, I'll will be leaving this up no later than March 31. For what it's worth, this is one of my favorite boots, Replacements or otherwise.

Boink!! was an official eight-cut mini album, released in Europe on Glass Records in 1986, containing material from the band's Twin Tone releases, and a phenomenal outtake, "Nowhere Is My Home." This bootleg, also of the same name (and sleeve) is a chronological, 72 minute smorgasbord of demos, b-sides, and outtakes. It makes for an excellent companion to their first five releases (Sorry Ma...through Tim). Among other songs, Boink!! includes a couple of choice Let It Be outtakes (namely "Who's Gonna Take Us Alive" and "Street Girl") that won't make it onto the reissue. Always a snag. The tracklist below provides all the source info. 
 

01-Careless (Alternate Version)

02-More Cigarettes (Alternate Version)

03-Otto (Alternate Version)

04-I Hate Music (Alternate Version)

05-Shutup (Alternate Version)

06-If Only You Were Lonely (B-Side Of "I'm In Trouble")

07-20th Century Boy (Let It Be Outtake)

08-Hey, Good Lookin' (Live 1983, B-Side Of "I Will Dare")

09-Sixteen Blue (Let It Be Outtake)

10-Who's Gonna Take Us Alive (Let It Be Outtake)

11-Temptation Eyes (Let It Be Outtake)

12-Street Girl (Version 1) (Let It Be Outtake)

13-Street Girl (Version 2) (Let It Be Outtake)

14-Seen Your Video (Let It Be Outtake)

15-Nowhere Is My Home (From British Boink) (Early '85 Alex Chilton Sessions)

16-Can't Hardly Wait (Electric) (Early '85 Alex Chilton Sessions)

17-Can't Hardly Wait (Acoustic) (Early '85 Alex Chilton Sessions)

18-Valentine (Aug 86 - Last Session With Bob Stinson)

19-Birthday Girl (Aug 86 - Last Session With Bob Stinson)

20-Bundle Up ("Jungle Rock") (Aug 86 - Last Session With Bob Stinson)

21-Red Red Wine (Aug 86 - Last Session With Bob Stinson)

22-PO Box (aka Empty As Your Heart) (Aug 86 - Last Session With Bob Stinson)

23-Time Is Killing Us (Aug 86 - Last Session With Bob Stinson)

24-IOU (May 86 - In Studio Of Dutch Radio Station VPRO)

25-Bastards Of Young (May 86 - In Studio Of Dutch Radio Station VPRO)

No longer shared.  Sorry.

Singles Going Single #15 - The Deflowers (Platypus, 1995)

Yet another band that I probably wouldn't have been exposed to had I not spun rekids at my college radio station. The Seattle based Deflowers' debut album, Shiny New Pony, fell into my lap right around the time this 7" was minted. The recording credits, going to none other than Kurt Bloch (Fastbacks!) should be a pretty obvious clue that these guys rawk! It's all here - vigorous punk-pop, slashing power chords, solid melodies... These three taut numbers belie a raw, raucous underbelly, and boy is it fun!

The Delowers give us a choice Lemonheads cover here, namely the relatively obscure "Uhhh," which appeared on the 'heads debut, Hate Your Friends.

 

A1. Just What It's Like

A2. Uhhh

B. I'm the One

 

Hear

Gary Myrick and the Figures - Living In a Movie (1981)

This is the follow-up album to Gary Myrick & the Figures eponymous debut from 1980. As you may know, that album spawned a minor new wave/power-pop hit in the form of “She Talks In Stereo,” still considered a classic in some small circles. As for Living In a Movie? Well, don’t judge a book by it’s cover…even if it’s cover seemingly suggests that Epic went full speed ahead and marketed Myrick as the next Rick Springfield. Hardly the case. Movie is a darker, heavier album than it’s predecessor, and depending how much you read into it, this is arguably a “concept” record. At any rate, this is his last album with The Figures. You can read more about his career here. In 1994, “She Talks In Stereo” was included on the very belated Valley Girl soundtrack, thus reviving his prominence, if only temporarily.

01. I'm Not a Number
02. Penetrate My Heart
03. Romance
04. Died on Television
05. No Violence
06. Living In a Movie
07. Madam B
08. Tattooed On My Forehead
09. My Girl (It's Simple)
10. Speak Up Now
11. No Crisis
12. Promises, Promises

Update: This was recently reissued on CD. Get it from Amazon, or directly from the label that put it out, Wounded Bird Records. iTunes also has it.

Singles Going Single #14 - Blinker the Star (1996)

Blinker the Star seemed like the prototypical band for the "post-grunge," mainstream alternative-radio format in the mid-to-late '90s, but even a deal with A&M Records didn't garner them significant attention. Front-man Jordan Zadorozny had close ties with a similar-minded band called Failure, of whom Ken Andrews produced Blinker's second album, A Bourgeois Kitten that this single's A-side is derived from. "Bluish Boy," has a wild sense of dynamics, but what really dominates the song is a string-bending, angular guitar riff, that IMHO is naggingly infectious. The flipside of this promo single is a well-executed cover of Stereolab's "Transona 5."

The glittery mylar sleeve, didn't translate well with my scanner, but nevertheless...

A. Bluish Boy
B. Transona 5

Hear

I Love You - Live ep (1989) & s/t lp (1991)

Couldn't think of anything more fitting for Valentine's day.

Rarely would you find a band in late '80s Los Angeles that dipped their collective toes in their fair city's psych-revival movement and in the far more lucrative Hollywood metal scene to boot. Even rarer would you find an aggregation to pull it off with as much class and charisma as I Love You did. With roots in Florida band the Sinful Pigeons, the members made their way to the left coast to reinvent themselves as I Love You. After a handful of compilation appearances and a live ep (which I'll get to in a moment) ILY honed their chops convincingly enough to attract the bigwigs at Geffen Records, who issued their self-titled debut in the year of Nirvana, 1991. Straddling the fine line between the burgeoning alt-metal movement and their own recipe of retro-fitted rawk, the band's debut also serves as their defining moment. Chris Palmer pulls off many an impressive Morrison-esque maneuver, with Jeff Nolan liberally indulging in jammy axe solos, stopping short of a wank-fest. For it's era, I Love You's supernatural and religious references were something of an anomaly, but once this quartet's collective mojo lured you in, the pleasure wasn't the least bit guilty.On their preceding, scalding-hot live ep from 1989, ILY exude a raw, guttural panache, utterly lost in the translation to their Geffen debut. Informed by equal parts punk and psych (at this stage in their career anyway) ILY eke out a handful of bristling originals, as well as a smoldering rendition of Cream's "S.W.L.A.B.R."

In 1994, I Love You issued the dramatically different sounding All of Us, and wasn't heard from again until some reunion shows in 2007 
 

I Love You lp

01. Hang Straight Up

02. Open You

03. Love Is

04. 2

05. She's the One/I.N.S.E.T.

06. Swing

07. Jesus

08. Flies

09. Jamf

10. Fuzz the Whirl

11. The Lamb 
 

I Love You - Live ep

01. Steppin On Baby

02. Mortar Girl

03. Flies

04. Bone

05. S.W.L.A.B.R. 
 

LP: Hear

EP: Hear

Waxing Poetics - Manakin Moon (1988)

I am fulfilling a request for Waxing Petics long out of print Manakin Moon, the band's sophomore effort. Among the originals is a squeaky clean version of Brian Eno's "Needles in the Camel's Eye." Sorry this is in 128 kbps, it was the best I could do.

01. Where Your Name Is
02. Ghost Writer
03. Baby Jane
04. Iodine
05. Downstairs
06. Needles in the Camel's Eye
07. Side By Side Sometime
08. Father Sun & Ghost
09. Don't Tread on Me
10. Blue Eyed Soul
11. Marianne Faithful

On Amazon downloads

Singles Going Single #13 - Belreve 7" (Anyway, 1994)

This one has always been a huge personal favorite. I became acquainted with Belreve via a split single with Guided By Voices, probably around 1994. Not a power trio, so much as an anti-power trio, Columbus, Ohio's Belreve were short lived and sadly, less-than-prolific. In fact, their recorded discography boiled down to a mere seven songs! The fact that the band was spearheaded by Matt Reber of New Bomb Turks is surprisingly irrelevant given Belreve's modest by comparison motif. "Nothing," and "The Sky Is Falling," are unabashedly seeped in lo-fi, four-track goodness, brandishing feedback-ridden instruments that belie their chiming, indie guitar-pop. Belreve worked their magic by fusing sweet C86 style pop with the prevailing sound of the American indie scene of their era. And the results? Nothing less than brilliant.

These two songs were rerecorded for a seven track ep on Slumberland Records (link above), which also contains the rest of their meager output. Belreve, I barely knew ya.

 

a. nothing

b. the sky is falling

 

Hear

 

 

The Pursuit of Happiness - I'm An Adult Now ep (1987)

I realize I'm probably not doing anyone a huge favor by uploading this, but what the hell. To know anything about the Toronto-based The Pursuit of Happiness is to know their classic Todd Rundgren-produced debut album Love Junk. Familiarity with TPOH's invariably horny lead-man, Moe Berg, doesn't hurt either.

All five TPOH albums are recommendable on their own merits, but Love Junk represents the band at it's most inspired, with thirteen feedback-laced power pop tunes that can essentially be summed up in one word - bitchin. The I'm An Adult Now ep, released independently in Canada, houses early incarnations of some of Love Junk's most crucial selections, including their signature hit, "I'm An Adult Now." Even recording sans the auspices of Mr. Rundgren, TPOH were still vitally potent, not to mention indelibly harmonious. By and large, the fully-realized album takes are a bit superior to these, but Love Junk wasn't quite capable of reflecting this ep's version of "Ten Fingers," with it's raw, ringing chords, lovingly seeping their way into your cranium.

01. I'n An Adult Now
02. Killed By Love
03. She's So Young
04. Ten Fingers

Hear

Pollen - Peach Tree (1997)

If you can get past the somewhat frivolous album cover, you just might find Pollen's third effort to be a veritable jewel (or more appropriately, 'peach'). Pop-core bands like Gameface and All are telltale inspirations for this departed Tempe, AZ crew, even if they aren't as quick-witted as either of them. Bittersweet, without pitching themselves into full-bore emo territory, and subtle but never blunting their rigorous intensity, Pollen strike a mature, melodic-laden balance that's near-addictive.

Pollen's follow-up album, Chip, would be their last hurrah. Peach Tree was prefaced by Bluette in 1994, and Crescent in '95, both on the now extinct uber-indie label, Grass Records.

 

01. Almond-coated

02. Tiny shoes

03. Chalkboard dust

04. Fine, then

05. Demoted

06. Hyperventilate

07. A clear complexion

08. Sugarless

09. All but one

10. Colorful

11. Soda pop cold

12. Snowy

 

Now on Amazon

Singles Going Single #12 - Armchair Martian 7" (1995)

It's really hard to believe that this single is friggin 13 years old. Before I looked at the sleeve tonight, I had always thought this came out in '97 or later, but whatever. Commandeered by one Jon Snodgrass (who has gone on to greater notoriety with his alt-country project Drag the River) Fort Collin's Armchair Martian know how to dole out pummeling power chords with punk rock ferocity, not to mention gargantuan hooks. This is their debut single. It could be perfectly sandwiched between any given Husker Du and Jawbreaker 7," but with reasonable exposure, Armchair Martian should also be embraced by the Warped Tour set. This single was followed up by three exceptional albums and some eps, but most recently, the band issued a 30-song anthology in '07 dubbed, Good Guys...Bad Band on Suburban Home. Truly bitchin stuff. Dare I say a new album is coming?

A1. Barely Passing
A2. I'm Not Ready
B. Xenophobe (A Car)

Hear

The Buck Pets - 1987 demo tape

A brief album review in a 1989 issue of Circus magazine, of all places, described Dallas' Buck Pets as a cross between Guns N Roses and Mudhoney...or was it the Sex Pistols and Mudhoney? One of those two I think. Anyway, it was enough for me to run to the nearest Sam Goodys to buy their 1989 debut LP, The Buck Pets, on Island Records. They epitomized so much of what I was looking for in a great rock and roll band - some punk, a little grunge, '80s indie rock (think early Soul Asylum), but in contradiction to the aforementioned Circus review, definitely not metal. Though a little unaccomplished and rough around the edges, The Pets offered a humble charisma not dissimilar to The Replacements. And like the Replacements, they knew when to serve a scalding cup of Joe, and conversely, when to wax contemplatively. Check out their first album's "Iron Cock," and "A Little Murder," respectively to see what I mean.

That album made a huge impression on me. I can still remember how stoked I was a couple years later when I found an original nine-song Buck Pets demo tape, that served as a precursor to the album, in an alleyway record shop in Schenectady, New York. Independently released in 1987, I'm assuming this is what sealed the deal with Island Records, if only for the fact that five songs (tracks 1, 4, 6, 7, and 9) were recorded for The Buck Pets. "Some Hesitation" wound up on the second Buck Pets album, Mercurotones, and the remaining three cuts are exclusive to this tape. To get a real appreciation of these demos, hearing the first Buck Pets album at the very least would behoove you, but if this is/was your first exposure to the band it's a highly convincing introduction nonetheless.

In 1990, The Pets follow-up, Mercurotones came and went with little fanfare. Uprooted from Island shortly thereafter, their third and final album, To The Quick, surfaced in 1993 on Restless Records, and that was about it. Do yourself a favor and check out The Buck Pets fansite Worldwide Smile for historical info and links to post-Buck Pets projects, particularly those involving BP lead singer Chris Savage.

01. Song for Louise Post
02. Sometimes
03. Other People
04. Hammer Valentine
05. Some Hesitation
06. Perfect
07. A Little Murder
08. Lost
09. Funny That Way

Hear

Singles Going Single #11 - The Nubs 7" (Businessman, 1980)

I really can't think of any other band that should be more iconicized for releasing a classic punk single than San Francisco's Nubs. I was introduced to them not via this single, but rather another single, New Bomb Turks "Stick It Out" 7" on Fat Records in '96, which included a cover of the Nubs' "Job" as a b-side. So fascinated was I by this slice of semi-narrative, anthem of defiance, I tracked down the original Nubs' single shortly thereafter for $10 from a private collector.

Fueled by a blistering guitar-line, the song's pro/antagonist not only denounces employment wholesale, but money to boot. Finally, to further demonstrate his anti-materialistic leanings, our man torches his car at song's end. Now that is punk. As for the b-side, "Little Billy's Burning," I won't give away the story, but it's almost as misanthropically fun as "Job."

I have no clue as to what quantity this record was pressed in 1980, but since it's such a highly sought collectible, it must have been a relatively small printing. The single was reissued, so to speak in 2003 as part of a self-titled Nubs CD, which also included 13 newly recorded songs from a reunited Nubs as a bonus. No longer available, the CD itself is ostensibly sought after as well.

Due to a series of recent unforseen expenses, I have been forced to put my Nubs single on the market. You can go here if you are interested (hint, hint). Please don't hate the opportunist in me! Breaks my heart to see it go, but I at least have a virtual version of it...and now you as well.

A. Job
B. Little Billy's Burning

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Singles Going Single #10 - The Moons (Broken, 1997)

Yet another uno-single wonder that also made it onto the imitable Broken Rekids label during the '90s. The Bay Area-based Moons, featured in their lineup one Mr. Adam Pfahler, formally of Jawbreaker, on drums, but that's where the conicidences between these two bands start and end.

No intense, angst-ridden punk here my friend, merely two slices of blissful, indie-guitar pop. On the leisurley, but reflective traipse of "Stolen Days," K.C. Staubach's delivery exudes Noel Gallagher, just as much as Elliott Smith, resulting in a sublime 191 seconds. "Step Back," revels in a comparatively vigorous motif, with it's guitar-work more notably prominent than it's flipside.

More can be discovered about the Moons here, including songs that never made their way onto this wax.

A. Stolen Days
B. Step Back

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Rain Parade - Demolition (1991)

As it's title should literally imply, Demolition is a rare, 19-track CD of studio demos, specifically for the Crashing Dream album, which I uploaded here last August. Crashing Dream may not have been as arresting as Rain Parade's classic debut, Emergency Third Rail Power Trip, and as such, a collection of demos and outtakes for that album will only appeal to die-hard fans. That's pretty much the idea here. The demo incarnation of CD's arguably finest entry, "Mystic Green," sparkles as iridescently as the LP version, and some of Demolition's entirely unreleased outtakes, including "TV Stone," "Novacaine," and "Crashing Dream," which strangely enough never made it onto the album proper, are worthwhile curoios...but once again, for fans only.

01. Sad Eyes Kill
02. Mystic Green
03. Shoot Down the Railroad Man
04. My Secret Country
05. Invisible People
06. Only Business
07. Crashing Dream
08. Depending On You
09. Gone West
10. My Dog's Last Dream
11. Tranquility Base
12. The Sniper
13. Murder Boy
14. Got the Fear
15. TV Stone
16. Undermine
17. Novacaine
18. Power
19. Every Morning Does

Get it on Bandcamp