We fill our heads with safety nets...

From 1992.  If you were a Sundays fan, safe to say this one will be your bag, as it were.

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

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Lakota - Hope For the Haunted (2005, Pop Up)

This is going to be a quick write-up, but really how many words do you need to impart that something's great?  Vigorous guitar-rock, sturdy as all-get-out with enough hooks to fish out your android phone that fell between the slots of the sidewalk drain.  Seriously, not one nanosecond of Lakota's Hope for the Haunted falters. RIYL: Hey Mercedes, The Stereo, Reeve Oliver, Doughboys, and for that matter the Foo Fighters choicer moments. 

01. Hope For the Haunted
02. She Has It
03. Quiet
04. Slow Fade
05. Julene
06. Video You
07. Ember
08. Make or Break
09. Perfect Faith
10. Ornaments
11. Wait and See
12. Holiday Heart

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Stockyard - Garden of Neglect (1989, Stockyard)

So, I'm not exactly where this one "fits" so to speak, this site included to a certain extent.  Despite Stockyard's hard rock bent, these guys sure in hell weren't going to be sandwiched between Foreigner and Damn Yankees on 99X FM.  A Chicago three-piece, Stockyard's penchant and approach was certainly a few notches above your garden variety happy -hour bar flunkies.  Some intermittent, bluesy guitar shreds are prevalent among the bulk of these nine tunes, but we're also treated to nervy punk salvos on "You'll; Get Yours" and "The Verdict."  Mouthpiece, bass slinger and all around natural frontman Jaime Gardiner is a flexible mofo, wielding a dexterous timbre that touches on everyone from Jim Morrison to Elvis, though he usually settles on something a little more natural.  No regrets at all about sharing this one, just slightly our of the Wilfully Obscure mold.  The aforementioned Mr. Gardiner and drummer Marty Mroz had prior involvement in Poison Squirrel.

01. You'll Get Yours
02. With a Ven
03. Boy in a Uniform
04. Garden of Neglect
05. The Problem
06. The Verdict
07. Days to Remember
08. This is What I'd Say to You
09. Mess and Panic

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You've got a motor for a mouth and a pack of cigarettes that keep your cardigan lousy.

From 2016.  

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

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swimming 7" (1994, Rough Trade)

Not to be confused with the more current indie conglomerate of the same name, this Swimming were a largely unknown quantity, and per Discogs this was their lone release. They are said to have connections to a contemporary UK indie band, She (who were later rechristened Glitterbox) but this 45 packaged in a relatively scant black and white sleeve offers no personnel details.  The quartet in question was an immensely noisome bunch, with their a-side "cut her out" sounding like Sunny Day Real Estate jettisoning off on a fiery, dream-pop rocket, soon to crescendo into a smoldering plume of feedback and fuselage cinders.  Their second act, "crawl," is a heavy (and heavy handed) spasm of feral stoner rock, possessing some of the trappings of Monster Magnet and Spaceman 3. Not bad at all.

a. cut her out
b. crawl

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Creatures of Habit ep (1990, Fuel)

Another record I picked up, without a single note heard prior, simply because it looked interesting and had a reasonable price tag attached to it. Creatures of Habit were evidently creatures of the Twin Cities, but for what it's worth didn't follow in the footsteps of any of the more obvious Minneapolis forerunners (whose names I'm too lazy to type out).  Instead this quartet suitably fit the bar band mold, albeit they had a batch of original tunes worth unleashing to the world at large.  Despite bearing some discernable pedestrian appeal the Creatures fit the indie mold better than AOR, and more power to 'em if you ask me.  The band's rootsy, and even milder twangier inclinations were in fact smart, not hokey - a trick that can be hard to pull off, but these gents possessed the charm and chops to hone these five cuts into winners. 

01. Forever
02. Stand Up
03. Throw it Away
04. Are Here
05. Use It or Lose It

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Only his blue eyes still drill me as I get to know my friend the floor.

A 1991 collection featuring the bulk of this band's first three EPs spanning 1984-86.

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

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Butterfly Child - Tooth Fairy ep (1991, h.ark!)

Apologies for not getting more music to you this past week.  I remember getting a request for this one a few years ago.  Tracking down files of it seemed like a wild goose chase at the time, but I was able to locate it more recently.  Butterfly Child wielded under the radar dream pop from the UK with occasional extra-heady guitar follies to keep things interesting, not unlike those early Moose eps. "Softest Things Since Skin" alone is alluring enough to make me seek out the rest of their catalog.  Surely I've passed over their recordings in used bins over the years being none the wiser. Enjoy.

01 softest thing since skin
02 words that end in 'g'
03 jaqueline frost
04 hollycopter

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The Farewell Party 7" (1988, Cut Out)

I was encouraged by what I heard on the The Farewell Party's 1988 LP, Here a few years ago, and was compelled to seek out this single contemporary to the album.  The F/P's setup was essentially a quartet of Americans whom for whatever the reason decided to eke out a living in West Germany instead of the U.S.. Had this combo been a Stateside endeavor, I'm sure college radio outlets would have embraced them wholeheartedly, given this foursome's penchant for lucid indie-pop creations laced with artsy angles, vaguely hinting at the Go Betweens, Felt, Galaxie 500, and otherwise.  The two originals on this 45, "32 Views of Emma" and "(Such a) Fragile Thing" are at once inspired and  tuneful, bristling with freshness and potential that sadly didn't translate into a follow-up album or even another single.  If you're wondering if their take on the Door's "People Are Strange" is faithful to the original you'll just have to download this joint to find out.

A. 32 Views of Emma
B1. People Are Strange
B2. (Such a) Fragile Thing 

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We're just two deep space lovers and this feels alright...

From 2012. Breezy, chilled-out synth pop my ears haven't been able to let go of for the past few weeks.  In a nod to the album title, this is one "variant" you'll crave being infected with.

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

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Regular Guys - Jayhawk Pop (rec. 1979-1981)

I have a feeling this one is going to be available as a limited engagement folks, so don't sleep.  The label responsible for this reissue, Hyped to Death was behind the wonderful Teenline compilations which I've made available on here for quite sometime.  Unfortunately, H2D's website is down, indefinitely it would appear, and I'm unable to determine if the Regular Guys Jayhawk Pop is still available to purchase. 

Though it may not have been a deliberate gesture on their part, rarely has a moniker so aptly summed up a band's m.o. Regular Guys were a turn-of-the-decade Lawrence, KS contingent who played power-pop inclined rock 'n roll, pretty much straight down the middle, with no oblique angles or artsy proclivities. Perhaps a tad too non-descript on some levels, they played a linear but potent game not unlike their midwest contemporaries Off Broadway (USA), Secrets and Hawks.  

During their lifespan they managed to eke out a remarkably memorable 1980 ep, It's a Secret, but it wasn't until 20+ years later that the full extent of their recordings were made available to the world at large.  Jayhawk Pop, commences with the four cuts from It's a Secret, and for it's plentiful remainder the compilation, traces the history of a slightly different permutation of the Guys, with Dave Stuckey replacing original guitarist/mouthpiece Mark Gilman.  And it's not all straight-up power pop either, as the Regular Guys explored related tangents such as proto-punk, roots rock, and less obviously Americana. The booklet, which I've scanned in, provides a more thorough backgrounder on the band than I ever could, and there are generous track-by-track liner notes to boot from bassist John Odell.  So dig in. The full track list is to your left.

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And when he can't speak from too much wine, you're always there with his line...

I was just reminded that it's the 25th anniversary of this one. This double album didn't merely introduce the world to a new band, but a full fledged collective to boot - one that paid dividends for a good decade or so. 

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

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Plain Characters - Invisible Yearnings (1981, Abstract)

There probably isn't much I can tell you about these avant, UK post-punkers, or more specifically frontman Colin Lloyd-Tucker, than what's been conveniently disclosed on Nothin' Sez Somethin', wherein you can explore the arch of the man's entire career.  Plain Characters, who were responsible for this LP and some surrounding singles, were not the least bit plain as their ironic namesake suggests. At this stage in his career Tucker's timbre sat somewhere between Peter Murphy (albeit with more warble) and a less melodically inclined Bowie. Not a great selling point to start off with, and much of Invisible Yearnings exudes enough abrasive gestures to ward off all but the most adventurous of eardrums. The songs do bear structure however, with each of it's ten cuts possessing a relatively unique persona (or multiples thereof). Contrary to Nothin's assessment of this one, there are more than just a couple of memorable tunes here.  The aforementioned site's mention of the rhythm-prone "Menial Tasks" being amongst the more memorable ones is indeed worth singling out, suggesting what Duran Duran would have in store on their first two records.  Although the vast majority of Yearning isn't linear new wave, the mild melodic undercurrents that float "Not For Resale No. 2," "Counting Sheep" and the irresistibly percussive "O" make this an album worth tuning in for, even if it means lifting the needle now and again to bypass some of Tucker's more grating, experimental forays.  As for the rather beaten up sleeve, I resisted the temptation to make it more presentable in Photoshop, but the vinyl itself was thankfully in relatively flawless state. 

01. Affair 19.10.80
02. Labyrinth
03. Not For Resale No. 2
04. Zero Zero
05. Fingerprint City
06. O
07. Menial Tasks
08. Julia
09. Counting Sheep
10. The Four Lies

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Mercy Rule - demo (199?)

To paraphrase my friend's description of the amount of quality alt-rock to peruse in the early/mid '90s, the pool was flooded. Utterly in fact. Beyond the ubiquity of what was assailing (and sometimes delighting) us from the Pacific Northwest, there were other excellent regional scenes in locales ranging from San Diego to Dallas and Boston more than worthy of our attention.  Add to that tons of substantive American indie rock/pop from virtually every speck of the map. Indies like Amphetamine Reptile, Dischord, Teen Beat, Sub Pop, C/Z, Big Deal, and Caroline to name some of the more renown ones were all peaking during this epoch. Dream pop/shoegaze from both sides of the pond was a veritable banquet all to itself, and lets not get started on the pros/cons of Britpop. Lincoln, NE's Mercy Rule, were among hundreds of commendable 'fringe' acts jockeying for attention in the Clinton-era, that were passed over by well-intentioned listeners (myself included) who were utterly overwhelmed with all of the aforementioned and then some.

Mercy Rule were a female-fronted power trio who were ostensibly ingratiated into the post-hardcore/emo circuit, of which their one-time home label Caulfield Records were stalwart purveyors of.  Thing is, Mercy Rule didn't necessarily fit in with that contingent, and sonically their recordings were plenty emblematic of that.  Albeit plenty guitar-driven and angsty, they angled more in the vicinity of contemporaries Tsunami and the Poster Children - a pretty good place to be, unless you were making a break for the mainstream.  Nonetheless, by 1994, Mercy Rule had escalated to the roster of Relativity Records for their second and most successful LP Providence.  Three years later MCA had intentions of releasing the band's third full-length, eventually pulling the rug out from under them before it even made it to the pressing plant. What I'm sharing today is presumably the trio's first demo tape, in all it's rough hewn and borderline over-modulated glory.  Several songs here made it to their first EP, 100 MPH, though I couldn't tell you if the versions are the same.  A fairly concise roundup of the band's tenure can be read here, and two of the members folded into a subsequent combo Domestica. 

01. Someone Else
02. How it Feels
03. I Have Enough
04. Stand on Fire
05. It's Sad
06. What a Life

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Things are looking up, Shirley’s looking down.

From 1989. The third album from this Minneapolis bunch, just not who you're probably thinking of.

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

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The Zimmermen - Way Too Casual (1989, Mushroom)

So it's been awhile since I revisited this Melbourne export - about thirteen years in fact since I shared a digitized version of the Zimmermen's 1986 debut Rivers of Corn.  One website (linked above) went so far as to describe them as "country rock," but to my ears Rivers... sonic aplomb lent itself more appropriately to the indie pop spectrum. Anyway, three years between albums can be a lifetime in the realm of a rock band and the Zimmermen, while still sounding familiar on Way Too Casual had adopted a more pedestrian bent. Not full blown hard rock or even Americana mind you, yet they were angling toward a tauter and more linear modus operandi.  ...Casual bears plenty of confident and driving rockers: "What Really Hurts," "Moral Obligation" and "Makes No Difference," all of which emanate varying shades of anthemic incisiveness.  These chaps were traditionalist as could be when it came to churning out ballads, with "All the Boys Need Love" and "Corsican Dreams" conveying themselves as all too ordinary, yet still listenable.  All told, Way Too Casual clocks in a solid, earnest day at the office.  

Unfortunately there's a small scratch on my copy of this record, affecting the beginning of "Shaking Hands" for one or two rotations, so pardon the 'jump' about ten seconds in.

01. What Really Hurts
02. Shaking Hands
03. Saddle Brides
04. All the Boys Need Love
05. Moral Obligation
06. Ties That Bond
07. Makes No Difference
08. Intellectual Dishonesty
09. Waiting
10. Corsican Dreams
11. Forever After

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Speak the new language!

I think I outdid myself in terms of "avant" specimens for this week's Mystery Monday. Surely this 1994 disk is one of the most artistically daring and downright bizarre albums to bear a major label logo. And would you believe the drummer later became an SNL alum and this years Record Store Day ambassador? 

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

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Well! Well! Well! - What Life's About 7'' (1986, Big Store)

I said it ten years ago when I shared their first album (...And Rise) and I'll say it again - it's impossible to believe Well! Well! Well! weren't born and bred in the States, based on that record, and this single which I came into possession of even more belatedly. These four gents made music that smacks of what your typical Homestead Records band would amount to if Mitch Easter took them under his wing - though I can't seem to think of any direct comparisons to their contemporaries on either side of the pond.  The clangly, chiming guitar-work is to die for, and the bittersweet edge WWW seemed insistent on incorporating into both songs here (doubly so for "Killing Memories") is icing on an already delectable cake. I definitely need to get my hands on more of their stuff, which is cheap enough from the usual vendors, so long as you're willing to shell out $20 for shipping, but anyway.  Enjoy.

A. What Life's About
B. Killing Memories

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Pounding Serfs - s/t (1989, K)

This strummy, Calvin Johnson-produced quartet gave deference to both electric and acoustic guitars, with the latter winning out in terms of frequency employed on their debut (and finale) LP for the storied K Records imprint.  Seizing on a mid-fidelity sweet spot, the Pounding Serfs were about as "folk" as say, The Walkabouts and Feelies, yet not rambunctiously high strung either (one fine exception surfacing in the slice-of-life tale of mistaken identity "Let Go," wherein the combo kick up some angsty aggression).  Sticking to a plaintive and often topical songwriting formula, the Serfs don't necessarily hit you over the head with too much of anything, save for relentlessly earnest charm, well placed harmonies, and a penchant for warm, raw analogue hues. This is a fine way to spend a half hour.  John Lunsford eventually graduated to The Crabs, and Dale Robinson spilled over to Gravel. 

01. Calling Colleen
02. Let Go
03. Slightly Salted
04. All Day Long
05. Spend Some Time
06. No Big Story
07. She Drove By
08. Big Foot
09. Gravel Road Girl
10. To Go Nowhere

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I tried to wish you away, I'll do more than wishing someday...

My apologies for not posting much of anything last week.  Fatigue really got the best of me. At any rate there's four eps in this weeks bundle. Hopefully one (or more) is just right for you. 

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

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Maybe you would like to see the tug of war that goes on inside of me.

Hard to believe it's already the thirtieth anniversary of this one. Absolutely no sophomore slouch here.

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

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Notes on new music: Amusment Parks on Fire - An Archaea (2021, EGB Global) & Deadlights - s/t (2021)

Picture this. Christmas party 2006.  A friend who knows I'm a pretty substantial musichead approaches me about what's been rocking my boat lately. A few names surely came to mind, but the only one I distinctly recall telling him was Amusement Parks on Fire, who's Out of the Angeles from earlier that year still had it's tenterhooks in me. He let off a bit of a scoff, bemused by the band's moniker.  Truth be told APOF's name of choice is both a blend of savage iconoclasm and the stuff of over-the-top, grade school fantasy. The defilement and destruction of the ultimate symbol of juvenile hedonism, if you will.  By and large the music produced by this Nottingham combo isn't quite that incendiary or apocalyptic, but since their 2004 inception, APOF have delivered a consistently visceral experience, entailing a voluptuous dose of heady, effects-laden dream pop with the bruising intensity of muscular alt-rock purveyors on our side of the pond, ranging from Hum to the Deftones. By the way, they took some profoundly serious cues from their own contemporaries and countrymen My Vitriol, if that name is of any significance to you. Between 2004-2010 the Parks were on a concussive tear, unfurling a trio of vital albums and twice as many singles and EPs. As the teens rolled around, the Fire had been extinguished, albeit temporarily, until the band reconvened for 2017's "Our Goal to Realise" single and their 2018 follow-up, "All the New Ends," picking up exactly where they left off on 2010's wonderful Road Eyes.  In the intervening years frontman and fulcrum, Michael Feerick kept busy with the similar sounding Young Light, who gave us a primo EP in 2013, and had involvement with a couple of other projects I have yet to acquaint myself with (Red Shoe Diaries and We Show Up on Radar).  Finally, there was Moral Mazes, his collaboration with J. Robbins (Jawbox, Burning Airlines) among other musicians that yielded one of 2020's best singles.   

APOF's much belated fourth full-length, An Archaea just saw the light of day June 25th, and the band's self described "88-month moratorium" is officially in the rear-view. The album's opening salvo, "Old Salt" find Feerick and Co. tenacious as ever, melding consoling vocals to a dynamic backdrop of heaving, distortion soaked chords, inhaling and exhaling at the precisely apropos moments.  "No Fissions'" startlingly dramatic beginning soon settles into the mid-tempo forte they've made their current calling card. "Breakers" is a serrated, dream-gaze stunner that builds to an absolutely divine hook, and "Boom Vang" finally scratches that Loveless itch the band has been stretching for all these years.  An Archaea offers some uncharacteristically "ambient" (for lack of a better word) reprieves in the guise of "Gamma" and the moodier "Diving Bell," while the poppy, piano-steeped title track emanates an innovation altogether unique in the Parks oeuvre.  

Even when this album doesn't consistently ascend to the heights of past triumphs like their 2004 debut single "Venosa." or their aforementioned sophomore masterstroke, Out of the Angeles, An Archaea is utterly representative of APOF's strengths which are still as indigenous and gratifying as ever. You can experience the entire thing on your format of choice (even hot pink vinyl, arriving later this fall) via Bandcamp and the band's store.

When is a Well Wishers album not a Well Wishers album?  To get the definitive skinny on this you'd have to go straight to the source, in this case none other than Jeff Shelton. To save you the effort I'll try to sum it up in a nutshell.  The Well Wishers, is Shelton's musical meat and potatoes proposition of which he's staked his power poppin' reputation on over the course of roughly ten albums and shorter form releases since 2010.  Somewhere in the vicinity of 2012, he had conceived a stash of songs that were slightly more aggressive leaning than the fare he normally relegated to Wishers records (not to mention his like-minded predecessor act the Spinning Jennies). With that, Hot Nun was born, as a new vehicle if you will for his brattier "alter ego."

Additionally, Shelton has always had an affection for Anglophile post-punk (think The Chameleons), not to mention shoegaze.  Over the course of the pandemic, his muse led him to hone an entire album that would extrapolate these tangents that have seemingly been accumulating inside him for decades. With that, a whole 'nother umbrella was opened to corral a new set of raindrops, and Deadlights was established.  There aren't 180 degrees of separation between Deadlights and the Well Wishers, or for that matter 90 or even 45 degrees, but the ten songs populating this album rightfully deserved a neighborhood of their own.  I wouldn't go into this one expecting the kind of woozy, tremolo soaked vistas My Bloody Valentine and Slowdive graced us with three decades past, however the driving and loudly ringing guitar-chitecture informing the distortion addled "Breaking Down," "Come Down Slowly," and "Lazy Eye," exude robust textures and a dense firmament we're not accustom to experiencing from indie-pop's favorite well-wisher, so to speak.  Elsewhere, Deadlights' roar is curtailed into dreamier and lucid sonic swells when the chiming "The Knowing" and "Carefree" infiltrate your earbuds or audio portal of choice.  Shelton's newest endeavor is still ultimately rooted in pop, albeit with a decidedly contemplative subtext...and more effects pedals.  Deadlights is available to have, hold and purchase at Bandcamp and Amazon.

Kill me if I'm sleeping 'round.

This week it's a little spoken of 1998 indie rock platter from a trio that resided in an equally under-the-radar locale, Norway.

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

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Bamboo Steamers - (I) Walk Alone 7" (1985, Pajamarama)

Yet Another single Discogs managed to miss (one of these days I'm going to have to become a contributor on there).  The Bamboo Steamers were four New England lads with a correspondence address in Springfield, MA, who on the a-side of what's ostensibly their lone 45 tear it up on the splendid garage-pop rager "(I) Walk Alone," with urges and inclinations not far removed from the likes of the Flamin' Groovies and even the mighty Lime Spiders.  The flip "Mary Carney," subtitled "Oct '69" accurately suggests that it's mining a period-piece vein, in this case, acousti-folk with some mild flamenco seasoning. I was so impressed with the eloquence and wit of their accompanying bio, I went to the effort of scanning it in for you.

Per their FB page (linked above) the Steamers may still be rolling at full boil, with what might have been their first album dropping last year.

A. (I) Walk Alone
B. Mary Carney (Oct, '69)

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I Love Ethyl - s/t (1987, Mad Rover)

Did they?  Did they really love Ethyl that damn much that they not only took that notion and parlayed it into their namesake, but also turned it into one of their song titles?  Or maybe these fellas were simply inspired by a random tattoo or something. Who knows, but all signs point to this trio hailing from Sacramento, CA - and not giving a damn about fitting in with the likes of INXS or other such contemporary chart-toppers.  I Love Ethyl played with a relatively casual gait and were organic in that left-of-the-dial way I so appreciate.  Frontman Jebby K. peels off sweetly echoing guitar lines that don't dominate or saturate so much as they gently imbue on "I Know" and "Beautiful Fascist," suggesting what a mashup of the Comsat Angels and the Red Rockers would have yielded in some alternate universe. A cover of "I Am the Walrus" goes down more pleasantly than you might expect, so much so that I think I prefer it to the original.  The simple, DIY album jacket schematic belies surprising depth that never gets to heady.  BTW, the whole LP was cut live - side one in front of an audience, with the flip side captured in the studio.

01. Real World
02. Primary Concern
03. I Know
04. I Am the Walrus
05. Sound Society
06. I Love Ethyl
07. Beautiful Fascist
08. Haven't Got a Clue

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