Winter Hours - Leaving Time (1986, Link)

Recently had a request for this one.  Winter Hours came to prominence in the "golden age" of collegiate indie rock, on the heels of REM's success with Murmur.  The Hours sonic lineage was mildly derived from Michael Stipe & Co. (check out "We Can Only Win"), but folk and roots-rock inflections endowed a more conventional hue to the bulk of their first proper long player (this one), and their self-titled second album which followed in 1989.  Ironically, Leaving Time trails off into the sunset on a markedly bluesy note with a rendition of Buddy Miles "Have You Ever Loved a Woman?"

For a taste of Winter Hours in their earliest incarnation, browse over here to encounter a scare set of demos.  

01. Up There Again
02. untitled (interlude)
03. Tell Me Today
04. The Confessional
05. September Street
06. Waiting for Thunder
07. Ten Minutes (acoustic vers.)
08. If I Could Make You Hear Me
09. We Can Only Win
10. Have You Ever Loved a Woman?

Hear

Sit tight...

As of right now, Netkups (my file hoster) is down, meaning none of the links are currently functioning.  Am hoping this is a temporary glitch on their end.  Will keep you in the loop.

The Fan Club - 15:20 ep (1982, Rude)

Once in awhile, gambling at the Casino Ebay really pays off (accurately judging an album by it's jacket factors in heavily folks).  So it was a relatively safe assumption that The Fan Club had "power pop" written all over them, it was just a matter of what stripe.  If you're at all familiar with the quasi-bootleg Teenline and Powerpearls compilation series, these New York co-eds will likely be of some interest.  A few notches shy of punk, yet wielding plenty of spunk, the Fan Club evoke the likenesses of the Pointed Sticks, the Speedies, and the (Connecticut) Bats in terms of approach, and sheer melodicism, which is never in short supply here.  "Just Another Kiss," "My Baby Loves It" and "I Won't Take It" are all pretty outstanding.  As for the album title, it would seem 15:20 references the length of this all too brief ep. 

01. Going Mental
02. Heartache
03. Just Another Kiss
04. My Baby Loves It
05. Future Problems
06. I Won't Take It

Hear

Everything I've heard you spill is sleepier than Seconal…

The lead singer on the two albums I’m presenting today is reuniting with his original ‘90s outfit for their first show in over fifteen years this very week.  Thursday to be exact.  

http://netkups.com/?d=bf4b453859245 

Simple Machines - Tool cassette series (1992)

For those of you who didn't browse the comments section of the recently posted Tsunami Cow Arcade demo that I shared a couple weeks ago, I wanted to pass along a few links.  The Arlington, VA based Simple Machines imprint predominantly stuck to vinyl and CD releases, but they had a soft spot for cassettes too, at least during their tenure in the early '90s.  So much so, they put out seven very limited tape-only titles by their friend's bands, including Dave Grohl.  The majority of these cassettes curios were album-length, and none (at least not in their entirety) made it to the digital realm in the years to follow.  For shame, because they contained a wealth of good music.

I don't have an adequate amount of time to provide an overview of the artists involved, but I've made links to all seven Tool tapes available below, with some very brief clues as to whom is involved with each release, some of the names you're sure to recognize.  A HUGE debt of gratitude goes out to Shane for digitizing, organizing, and providing us with everything presented after this paragraph.  I'm not sure how long the Zippyshare links will be active, so get downloading.  Enjoy.

SM TOOL 1 Geek - Hammer (See Tsunami)
Hear

SM TOOL 2 Slack - Bates Stamper (See Hated, Lungfish, Ida, Dag Nasty & Tsunami)
Hear

SM TOOL 3 Late! - Pocketwatch (See Dave Grohl)
Hear

SM TOOL 4 Hated - Awl (See Outrageous Cherry)
Hear

SM TOOL 5 Saturnine - Roto Chipper Paint Remover (See Versus & Nice Strong Arm)
Hear

SM TOOL 6 Mommyheads - Swiss Army Knife
Hear

SM TOOL 7 My New Boyfriend - Super Saw (See Bikini Kill, Seaweed & Tsunami)
Hear

True Believers - Live - Harder! Harder! Harder! promo tape (1986)

Austin's True Believers enjoyed a brief but highly lauded run, and were adored posthumously even more, despite having released just one album during their mid-80s lifespan.  Helmed by brothers Alejandro and Javier Escovedo, the Believers boasted no less than three potent six-stringers in their lineup.  Much has been made about their innovative "Americana" bent, but this quintet were rock and roll purists at heart, forward thinking ones at that.  The live cassette featured in this post was not an official release, rather a limited run promotional item that I assume was sent to magazine, radio, etc.  For the uninitiated, Harder! Harder! Harder! is bound to make for an ironic introduction, as it doesn't contain any original True Believers compositions.  The five songs within were sourced from hometown performances in 1985 and '86, via a live session on KUT FM and a gig at Liberty Lunch, respectively.  As far as covers go, the Believers tackle a familiar cache of classics, reinterpreting the Velvets, Chantays, T. Rex, Mott the Hoople and MC5 in precisely that order.  I'm making these files available in MP3 (320 kbps) and lossless FLAC below.

The band's aforementioned lone LP was reissued on CD in 1994, under the title Hard Road, buttressed by ten tracks from an unreleased second album, recorded in 1987. It's not to be missed. 

Live KUT-FM, Austin 11/10/85
01. Foggy Notion
02. Pipeline
03. 20th Century Boy

Liberty Lunch, Austin 9/5/86
04. Walking With a Mountain
05. Ramblin' Rose

MP3   FLAC

Dirty Face - I Can Hurt Myself (If I Want to) (1988, Overwellum)

If you can get past the funky album sleeve, you're in for one of the most straight-up rock and roll albums I've offered in awhile.  A little known Albany, NY trio, Dirty Face could have easily thrown down with such no-nonsense aggregations as the Neighborhoods, Magnolias, and perhaps Twin/Tone-era Soul Asylum.  Blue collar romantic concerns abound amidst these grooves, alongside a plea for respect for their chosen stomping ground ("My Town").  Dirty Face skate by with the stray minute-long instrumental or two, but I highly doubt you'll hold that against 'em.  After the jump, check out a video of them performing at an anniversary gig for a local college radio outlet last year.



01. I Can Hurt Myself
02. Too Young
03. Unfinished Too
04. Mistaken
05. My Town
06. Right By My Side
07. Worship the Beast
08. Backseat Driver
09. Hey Now
10. Everything to Me
11. Stella
12. On the Wall
13. Good to Be Back Home
14. Unfinished
15. All I Want to Say

Hear

So much to learn, so little to teach...

Presenting a slab of Can-indie, power-pop gold circa 1999.  Have at it.

http://netkups.com/?d=a5e0d62befdc2

Ultracherry Violet - I Fall to Pieces (1994, Bedazzled)

The D.C. based Bedazzled Records imprint was friendly to bands that veered towards the shoegazer or at the very least quasi-shoegazer end of the indie rock continuum.  Ultracherry Violet were the latter, dispensing noisy and ethereal particulates into I Fall to Pieces engaging sonic stew.   The trio bore a likeness to American practitioners Smashing Orange, Hum, and less so The Drop Nineteens and Fudge, but like any dream-pop unit worth it's salt they cast their collective "UV" rays across the big pond to such obvious entities as the Pale Saints and Slowdive.  Long-ish songs, with a decent emphasis on quality control.  I shan't give away much more than that, but This is That Song blog has a nice write up on Ultracherry that you can peruse here.  More UV to come (hopefully). 

01. Angela's an Angel Now
02. I Think You're Lying to Me
03. Remember
04. Post Wing-and-Prayer
05. Mexico Song
06. Losing My Friends
07. Anything is Feasible
08. I'm Gonna Burn
09. Recur Again

Hear

Gem/Jenny Mae 7" (1997, Spare Me)

If you've frequented my back pages, you may recall my affinity for Gem, a Cleveland area group fronted by former Death of Samantha/Cobra Verde figurehead Doug Gillard (who would eventually pair up with Robert Pollard in Guided By Voices for a spell).  I thought their two albums, the I Am a Tree ep, and a couple of singles comprised the sum total of their discography, but a couple years ago I learned I was pleasantly mistaken, when this rather arcane split single from '97 made a blip on my radar.  "A Clove of Harlots" is as rich and melodically resonant as anything on Gem's superlative Hexed album (which btw you need to investigate, even if the remainder of Gillard's pedigree doesn't compel you).  Sheer indie rock manna from heaven.  Unfortunately, I can't intone the same about the other Gem cut here, "Monochrome," a benign but unmemorable instrumental. 

Singer/songwriter Jenny Mae (Leffel) hails from the same neck of the woods, and like Gem, she shares a connection with GBV, courtesy of a 1993 split single.  I haven't been exposed to much more of her material beyond the singles, but I really enjoy the two ballad-esque pieces on her side of this disk, especially the stark, organ-laden concluding track that vastly contradicts it's frivolous title. 

Gem
01. A Clove of Harlots
02. Monochrome

Jenny Mae
01. Cancelling the Game
02. Crappy Piece-of-Shit 4-track

Hear

Tsunami - Cow Arcade tape (1991, Simple Machines)

Now this is my idea of wish fulfillment.  A couple years ago I compiled and published a list of hopelessly rare records (and even a few tapes) that I had been keeping my feelers out for, for years.  One of those super scarce reels was a demo cassette by one of my most cherished '90s favorites, Tsunami.  I knew only of it's title, Cow Arcade.  Much to my amazement, and deep gratitude, a fellow that frequents Wilfully Obscure was on the same wavelength as me, and he had procured an original copy of Cow Arcade for himself.  I would have been utterly jealous of his discovery were it not for his sheer generosity in sharing MP3s of said tape in it's entirety, not to mention copying the tape sleeve for me as well!

I had a couple of misconceptions going into Cow Arcade prior to my newfound tangibility of it.  First, I was expecting a traditional demo length release - three to five songs.  Not.  Instead, I would be treated to no less than an album's worth of material.  Additionally, I was operating on the false assumption that the songs contained within were exclusive to the tape.  Hardly.  In fact, the majority of these prototypes would be re-cut for a myriad of Tsunami singles.   And "prototypes" they are to a fault.  Arcade's ten tracks were cut fast, loose, and live in one five hour stretch to four-track in 1991.  As such, the audio quality is a little choppy and the performances a tad hasty, but the key ingredients were already baked into the cake.  From the get go, they had the formula down - jagged, jittery guitar mannerisms, Jenny Toomey's headstrong vocal panache, and Tsunami's overarching rhythms that swayed and undulated like...well, a small-scale tsunami.  For the unacquainted, Cow Arcade might not be where to jump aboard, as the more representative "finished" versions of many of these songs have conveniently been compiled on the 1995 singles anthology, World Tour and Other Destinations (that and their debut LP Deep End).  Otherwise if you've been sailing the S.S. Tsunami as long as I have, may I introduce you to this long lost port of call.  Enjoy.  A huge debt of gratitude goes out to Josh for setting me up with everything.

01. Answerman
02. Flameproof Suit
03. Kickball Babe
04. Breakdown
05. Ski Trip
06. World Tour
07. Jonathan (She Cracked)
08. Writing Letters
09. Andrew #1
10. Candyman

Hear

Every power lunch has a Goldcard lining. I'm the Karl Marx of dining.

From 1994.  The decidedly more streamlined follow-up to a classic debut I've mentioned recently.

http://netkups.com/?d=5efd32d80e1a5

Fluf - Songs 6 ep (2000, Cold Steel Facts)

For me, fluf more or less peaked by the time their first proper full length (Home Improvements aka Whitey on the Moon) hit in 1994.  With that in mind, Otis and his revolving cast of companions were still a pop-punk powerhouse, and dutifully carried on until the early '00s.  The Songs 6 ep was their last genuinely good record, but even this was half as satisfactory as their 1992 six-songer, Wasting Seed (later compiled on the Mangravy disk), which introduced fluf to me and my hipster pals.  Songs 6 is a bit of a misnomer, considering that it actually contained seven compositions (actually over twenty if you count that the entire Waikiki album was included as hidden bonus tracks),  Anyway, I'm offering just the ep songs here.  I'd be remiss if I failed to point out that most of fluf's back catalog can be purchased at Bandcamp. 

01. I Know I'm Nobody
02. Shit Talker
03. Stand in Your Line
04. 5 Years
05. Hey/U-Haul
06. Thick as a Brick
07. Girlfriend in a Coma

Hear

Pipe - 20th Century Masters: The Singles Collection (1992-96)

Pipe were never a top-tier favorite of mine, yet I would dutifully purchase anything with their named affixed to it.  Such was life in the '90s when a single was three dollars, post-paid.  That being said, I did enjoy them, and still pull out their plastic now and again.  They hailed from Chapel Hill, NC, at the height of that town's notoriety as a musical hotbed, in fact.  Surprisingly, that coveted locale didn't really factor into their ramshackle punk fervor, which fell somewhere on the spectrum between the Dead Boys and the Dwarves.  To be more specific, Pipe's scuzzy sonic aplomb was more aligned with second rung out-of-towners like the Derelicts, Fumes and the Putters (pardon the lack of name recognition there).  Pipe front-guy Ron Liberti possessed a ballsy punk sneer, uncontrived at that, while his backing mates, who so often threatened to teeter off the rails in their ferocity, always pulled the songs off. 

Amidst three riveting albums and a downright flooring ep (1992's Ball Peen) came a trifecta of singles that were equally as essential, and they're yours for the taking here.  Together, they comprise an apt introduction of what Pipe was capable of intoning in kinetic, two-minute surges.  Amongst six originals are Replacements and Joy Division covers, which I'll let you determine which is which on your own.  Pipe had two split singles to their credit, one with locals Small 23, who drummer Chuck Garrison had ties to (and for that matter, Superchunk).  And speaking of Superchunk, two of these singles were Merge Records titles, which might still be available.  Merge was also responsible for issuing the last Pipe full length, 1997's Slowboy.  Their earlier albums, 6 Days Till Bellus and Intl. Cement can be purchased on CD or digitally. 

01. Yr. Soaking In It
02. I'm In Trouble
03. Ashtray
04. Warsaw
05. Human Gutterball
06. Figure 8
07. Submariner
08. Raceway Park

1 & 2 from Amish Records 7" (1994)
3 & 4 from Merge Records 7" (1993)
5 & 6 Merge Records 7" (1994)
7 from split 7" w/ Small 23 (1992, Matt Label)
8 from split 7" w/ Rubbermaid (1996, Amish)

Hear

Third Rail - End It (1990, Caffeine Machine)

Third Rail mouthpiece Sperry wants to be Henry Rollins bad.  Desperately in fact.  So much so that End It might as well have been titled Hard Volume pt. 2.  Indeed, Sperry is/was a slavish imitator, meticulously approximating every moan, howl and sweaty pore of Hank.  But what exactly was the impetus behind this derivative-as-hell Berkeley, CA quartet?  Unfortunately, I'm merely limited to what the vinyl and sleeve have to say, and my conclusion comes down to this.  If you enjoy the hard-ass intensity, cathartic angst and tough-love empowerment of the Rollins Band, latter era Black Flag, and for that matter, even Flag copycats Bl'ast! End It is like discovering long lost tapes.  The kicker?  Third Rail often devise songs more hardcore and compelling than Mr. 2.13.61 himself (check out the barreling "Climbing the Walls" and "Here I Am" for starters).  And much in keeping with the Rollins tradition, Sperry & Co. close things out with a torturous, slow-burning jam (the title track), that I just can't commit myself to endure in it's 14+ minute entirety.  Interesting, but consider yourselves warned.

01. Climbing the Walls
02. Cold Inside
03. You Wouldn't Understand
04. Ashes
05. Losing It
06. Hot & Bothered
07. Here I Am
08. Bullet
09. End It

Hear

Crain 7" (1993, Compulsiv/Automatic)

Crain weren't unlike many of their Louisville, KY contemporaries when it came to raising an unholy raucous, however they weren't content with delving into the math rock thing, which to large extent put their hometown on the map in the early '90s.  They brought plenty of technical finesse to the proceedings, but the emphasis for this crew was on primal rancor, of which they looked to the Touch & Go/Amphetamine Reptile contingents for copious inspiration.  Also resembling the frantic outbursts of Drive Like Jehu, faint melodic glints managed to pierce through Crain’s overarching sonic schisms.  Shortly after this 45 dropped so did a new full length, Heater, which was cut from the same breathless cloth.  Preceding both of these was their 1992 debut, Speed, which was re-released in 2005 via Temporary Residence.  Crain bassist Jon Cook (and also of Rodan) passed away last year.

A1. Crackhouse
A2. Bricks
B. Hey Cops!

Hear

Check it out, I'm like a buzz bomb.

Here's a bit of a 180 for ya'll, not just in terms of Mystery Monday fare, but in general.  This music comes from a quartet who have been operating in their original incarnation for over two decades.  Something of an institution now in certain circles, but I find their earlier missives to be a lot more fun than their latest and supposedly greatest.  Drill sergeant vocals, pulverizing lockstep riffs (some of the meanest you'll ever hear), and a metronome-tight rhythm section comprise the key ingredients.

This 1993 full length is admittedly inconsistent, with righteously brilliant highs, and regrettably, some downright embarrassing plunges.  To compensate, I've included their concussive, and frankly crucial, debut ep from 1991 as well.  To those brave souls who opt to indulge, let us all blossom as hubcaps...

http://netkups.com/?d=5519cd514dc32

Shelf Life 7" (1995/96, Cassiel)

I present to you a not-so-golden (but still quite satisfactory) single from the golden age of indie-rock.  This one came down the Pike (ostensibly the Massachusetts one) sometime in the mid-90s.  I have nary any background morsels to offer on Shelf Life, and I'm furthermore stumped if their discography extended beyond this 45.

Mingling nimble major and minor chords, Shelf Life's take on the left-of-the-dial thing wasn't particularly distinctive, but these two selections emanate a kind of warmth and bittersweet moxie that we don't hear enough of in this newfangled millennium of ours.  RIYL Pavement, Gem, and Edsel.  

Hear

The Killing Field - Courage tape (1988)

Upon receiving this 26-year ol' relic just a few months ago, I assumed finding any pertinent info on this Portland, OR quartet would be a lost cause.  Not quite, thankfully.  At the very least, it would seem that The Killing Field made waves in their hometown, circa the late '80s when this demo made it's way into the slipstream.  Atlantic Records flirted with the band, but ultimately reneged on releasing anything by them.

Garnering comparisons to U2 and Tears For Fears, The Killing Field bore a similar sonic penchant that was actually more relative to The Alarm and mid-80s Simple Minds, paired with a lukewarm socially conscious slant, much in line with the aforementioned.  Thing is though, the songs were pretty damn good, not to mention deftly performed.  A independent full length album followed several years later, which you can investigate at Amazon and iTunes. 

01. Down With You
02. Strength
03. Ian's Song
04. Postcard from Holland

Hear

Fun w/ Atoms - Main Street (1985, Boat)

Proving Green Bay, WI has more to offer than the Packers and ubiquitous "Cheeseheads," Fun w/ Atoms were/are a potent power trio that slotted in perfectly with '80s contemps the Red Rockers, and Boat Records stablemates Fire Town.  The Atoms' ringing guitar rock was occasionally punctuated with faint spaghetti western inclinations, but despite their album cover poise they were not rockabilly in the least.  And like any Wisconsin act from this era worth their salt, this threesome had ties to Butch Vig, who was responsible for recording and mixing this project.  Primo standouts residing on Main Street include, but are hardly limited to, "Titletown" and "Last Cigarette."  Highly recommended.

In deference to the band, I'd be remiss if I didn't point out that a) they're still active and have a 2010 LP to show for it called Smart, and b) Main Street has been reissued digitally via CD Baby.  So why am I throwing this on the blog?  Well, I ripped this from a crackly piece of vinyl, and given it's fresh availability I'm only going to be keeping the link live for a few days.  If you enjoy what you hear, please consider upgrading by visiting the CD Baby link, and of course, you'll be supporting the band.

01. Warning
02. Alaska
03. I'll Be There
04. National Geographic Girl
05. Last Cigarette
06. Titletown
07. Ice and Snow
08. Summer
09. Killing You
10. Another Bend

Hear

A miscellanious affair, over-congested crazy hair.

Dashing power pop with a faint Merseybeat inflection.  Recorded between 1997-2000, but not released in it's entirety until 2002.  A good 'un. 

http://netkups.com/?d=ba70d35256eee

Coachella 2014 - My way or the highway.

Even if flying out to Indio, CA this April was a viable financial option for me, I doubt if I'd really get my money's worth.  That is unless I could massage the lineup to my every whim and fancy.  And now you/I/we can, thanks to createlineup.com which affords you the option of mixing things up, at least in ones and zeroes to your hearts content.  Take a gander at my results to your left, a veritable who's who of much of the Wilfully Obscure canon .  A man can dream...and dream I did this afternoon.  This little time-killer is the best widget going.  Have at it. 

Vim 7" ep (1995, Dry Hump)

Though this wasn't particularly the draw so to speak, Vim was the side project of the Geraldine Fibber's Kevin Fitzgerald.  I'm not a Fibb's fan in the slightest, but luckily Vim was a completely different beast, exuding a lo-fi aesthetic similarly employed by the likes of Polvo, further, early Sebadoh, and heck even vintage Dino Jr. at times.  It's all here gang - raw riffs, winsome wails, and crooked chords all over the goddamn place, bandaged together with telltale indie sensibilities.  I'd sure like to know if there's more where this came from.  If Fitzgerald is anything like Barlow or Bob Pollard he might have reels of this kind of stuff lying around, but I suppose it's useless to speculate.  My apologies for some of the extraneous vinyl choppiness, which perhaps I'll be able to rectify in some small way at a later date. 

01. carny
02. delbert
03. oyster
04. spin-off

hear

Love Camp 7 - s/t ep (1989, Bowlmor)

Love Camp 7 were a little known NYC export who issued a couple of albums in the '90, but this five-cut ep is where it all started.  "Take Love Where You Can Find It" is a dichotomy of feeble Beatles-esque harmonies clothes-pinned to dissonant instrumentation that only a slacker would applaud.  Their approach is not dissimilar to that of some of the more oddball SST Records bands like Painted Willie.  In fact, this wax doesn't really hit it's proverbial stride until "Janice in a Green Light" kicks, proving that LC7 can project a serious hook when they make the effort.  Ditto for the equally tuneful "Under the Sign of Saturn," bearing lite post-punk textures.  Indie rock, baby. 

01. Take Love Where You Can Find It
02. Father Serra's Children
03. Janice in a Green Light
04. Under the Sign of Saturn
05. Myra Breckenridge

Hear

In a flash I'll change the universe, or at least the world I knew...

In 1999 this band surprised their Warped Tour-going minions with a decidedly introspective and forlorn fourth LP.  Turned out to be my favorite, albeit it was a long acquired taste.  I'm also including the bonus ep that accompanied certain versions of the album.

http://netkups.com/?d=58920bbcdd01a