V/A - The Best of the Radio Tokyo Tapes (1987, Chameleon)

Radio Tokyo was a famed L.A. recording studio that enjoyed it's heyday during the 1980s, at which acts from Jane's Addiction to the Bangles laid down classic tracks. Owned and operated by the late Ethan James (an ex-member of Blue Cheer as well) the popularity and reputation of Radio Tokyo Studios and the artists that recorded there inspired three vinyl compilation LPs released throughout the '80s. The Best of... culls together 20 songs that appeared on these records, some entirely exclusive to these compilations.

Given the locale and the period, there are several Paisley Underground luminaries that take up residence here, including The Rain Parade, Long Ryders, The Three O'clock, and The Bangs (later the Bangles, although their contribution is 30 second jingle for a local entertainment rag). Outside the Paisley scene there was plenty of other local indie talent that made a pit stop to Radio Tokyo as well - The Minutemen, 100 Flowers, Savage Republic, Wednesday Week, The Last, Shadow Minstrels, and one of my fave unheralded acts of the time, Pop Art. And what would any various artists disk be like without some music from everyone's favorite Jewish lesbian folk-singer, Phranc.

 

01. The Minutemen - I Felt Like A Gringo

02. The Long Ryders - Still Get By

03. Alisa - Silent Scream

04. Savage Republic - Mobilization

05. Animal Dance - Under Pulse

06. Linda J. Albertano - S.O.S

07. The Three O'Clock - All In Good Time

08. 100 Flowers - The Long Arm Of The Social Sciences

09. Bay Of Pigs - The Fat Lady Sings

10. The Last - It Had To Be You

11. Shadow Minstrels - Oh Senorita

12. Phranc - My Favorite Women Newscasters

13. 17 Pygmies - Chameleon

14. The Bangles - No Mag Commercial

15. The Beef Sisters - The Hermit

16. Rain Parade - Saturday Asylum

17. Wednesday Week - I Hate Lying To Mom

18. Pop Art - In My Hands

19. Fibonaccis - Purple Haze

20. Cindy Lee Berryhill - Headin' For The Border Line
 

Hear

Dresden - Misadventure (1982, Fall Out)

Pretty standard synthwave on our hands here from a Canadian quartet named after the beleaguered German city. Don't know exactly where in Canada they originate from, but Vancouver, BC might be a good bet, given this is where Misadventure was recorded. Wouldn't surprise me, as they seem to tread lightly in the footsteps of another Vancouver keyboard crew, The Pointed Sticks. Dresden's mouthpiece Tim Bowes doesn't exactly have the pipes to set the world afire, so I wouldn't get too psyched. I'm picking up some occasional shades of Magazine here as well, which is always a good thing. Their remake of "Eve of Destruction," is a tad absurd, but note-for-note, definitely more reverent than the Dickies pillaging of the song. Enjoy (or not).

01. Yet to Come
02. Living Nowadays
03. Briangrip
04. Armchair Generals
05. Dreamland
06. Cycles
07. Looking for a Job
08. Heart of Desire
09. Freedom
10. Eve of Destruction
11. Civilized

Hear

Outrageous Cherry - Stereo Action Rent Party (1996, Third Gear)

Outrageous Cherry are a superlative, retro-fitted psyche-pop revival band, hailing from the Detroit, MI area. They've been kicking around since the early '90s and have most recently released their ninth album, Universal Malcontents. Check out their Myspace page for a full discography. One of their finest moments is actually an all covers affair, Stereo Action Rent Party, which I am presenting here in it's entirety. Released in a limited edition of 2000 copies in '96, the album was a super huge treat for O/C fans, but you didn't necessarily need an appreciation of them, so much as the myriad of bygone artists they pay tribute to including: The Smiths, Brian Eno, The Beach Boys, 10CC. Television, Leonard Cohen, Scott Walker, and Petula Clark. Classy taste to say the very least. As Allmusic so accurately points out:

By not including any list of who recorded the original versions anywhere inside the CD booklet, the group makes each song completely their own.

A great orchestral bent to a couple of tunes here, including their rendition of Petula Clark's "Sign of the Times," which pretty much outdoes the original. Can't necessarily heap the same praise on some of the selections that follow it, but Outrageous Cherry nevertheless do adequate justice to everything they revisit here. Enjoy.

 

01. Sign of the Times
02. Days
03. Qui Peut Dire?
04. Song from the Bottom of a Well
05. Wonderful
06. Boy Child
07. I’m Not in Love
08. Chinese White
09. Miss X
10. Ring Around the Moon
11. Reel Around the Fountain
12. Some of Them Are Old
13. Lonesome Heroes

14. Make the World Go Away

 

Hear

Beauty Constant - Like the Enemy (1987, Forehead)

As long as I keep unearthing vintage gold like this smashingly impressive platter from Beauty Constant, this blog will continue to occupy it's little slice of cyberspace. Found this one at the always-worth-the-trip Jerry's Records in Pittsburgh a few months ago. Right from the starting gate, the opener "Ed's Anthem" sounds as vital and visceral as anything on say, the Lemonhead's Lovey, or the Nils self-titled album. Just plain absolutely killer indie-guitar rock, with a totally riveting hook. And while the rest of Like the Enemy can't quite muster as much instant gratification, there are several moments that that come damn close. Too bad there were no promo inserts to accompany my copy of Like the Enemy, but via a quick Google search, I learned that bassist Sandy Smallens eventually went onto (slightly) bigger things in Too Much Joy. Really appreciate Chihoe Hanh and Steve Folta's guitar chops here, approximating a mixture of Bob Mould and Peter Buck. More recently, it appears Folta has recorded music under his own name, which you can download here. Enemy is a really cool left-of-the-dial find, with some sharp Rickenbacker bite from the sounds of things. If anyone can shed any more light on Beauty Constant don't be a stranger.

01. Ed's Anthem
02. Under the Gun
03. Like the Enemy
04. Catching You
05. Fortunately
06. It's One Life
07. Second Minor One
08. Site to See
09. Thursday Night
10. Send a World Apart

Hear

Splitting the Difference # 26 - The Gwens/Breezy Porticos (2001, Happy Happy Birthday to Me)

First off, I apologize for all the pesky snaps and pop, but hey, we're talking about vinyl here - and very limited wax at that. 500 copies. Sold out from my understanding, making it a prime candidate for a Wilfully Obscure redux. Denver indie kids Breezy Porticos were my incentive here, especially after falling in love with their Keep It Crisp CD from 2005. Dare I refer to them as "post-twee?" Probably the most accurate genre-fication I can come up with, vaguely recalling Poole, Small Factory, and of Montreal. Two exclusive cuts here. The latest and greatest from the Porticos, These Record Highs can be obtained here. Check out the press section of their website for further enlightenment.

Regarding The Gwens, the band they share this split with, my firsthand knowledge is sorely lacking, but I was able to locate an online discography for them. Not a bad pairing with the Porticos, but the Gwens are a little more distortion savvy, a la the Wrens. Am assuming they are defunct, but they did release an album that is still available from Insound.
 

Breezy Porticos

01. Gee Your Math Looks Great

02. Breaking Away
 

The Gwens

01. Skin 'n Bones

02. Chemical Man

Hear

Saturnhead - Introducing...Arizona's Thin Mistake (1997, Resolution)

Ok, so here we have 43 songs clocking in at around a grand total of 58 minutes. No, this isn't the product of some frantic hardcore brigade, or even a frivolous, tossed-off audio experiment. Saturnhead was the brainchild of a very prolific Vancouverite lad named Terry Miles, who had the good fortune of Guided By Voices' Bee Thousand falling into his lap a couple years before he hemmed together the three dozen-and a half tracks that comprised his jewel box debut, Introducing...Arizona's Thin Mistake. And he did it virtually all on his own I might add. While Robert Pollard and Tobin Sprout's early-to-mid '90s aesthetic may have seemingly been the principle germ for Terry's inspiration, Introducing's... fidelity isn't quite as lo as one might expect despite the vast majority of this disk being committed to 4-track. Truth be told, GBV's melodic sensibilities imbue only but a fraction of the songs here (with the title track and "Perfect Bliss Again" evoking the most obvious antecedents). Granted, titles like "Hail the Binkeepers" and "A Fast Airship Gazebo" would turn Pollard the greenest shade of envy, but while Terry's brand of songcraft may share his predecessor's brevity the creative process is demonstrably different. Introducing... does lose a little steam as it winds to a close, but there's comparatively little chaff to be separated from the wheat as they say.

Terry would record another Saturnhead album, Saturnhead, CA,which followed a more conventional (and in my opinion less engaging) path. In 2000, our man christened himself with a new assumed moniker, Ashley Park for a series of releases, but these days, Terry has made a name for himself via Cinemanovel, his independent film company based in British Columbia. As another quick aside, prior to his solo work, there was Cinnamon, a power pop band he fronted, who one enthusiastic listener likened to as "The Canadian Redd Kross." Maybe an upload of that one a little later, if another blog hasn't caught up to me already that is. 

Hear

Painted Birds - Green and Peaceful World ep (1987, Absolute-A-Go-Go)

I initially learned of these New Jersey college radio types through the now defunct Feelin' Kinda Froggy blog, and without much legwork on my part, found a near-mint condition copy of the Painted Birds ep, presumably their only release. Some nice strummy indie-pop here, taking their cues from the usual array of suspects: REM, Dream Syndicate, Feelies and a myriad of others, sans any of the irony and obliqueness. The label that released Green and Peaceful World, Absolute-a-Go-Go, put out yet another ep in 1987 by a likeminded outfit, The Wooden Soldiers, who as it turns out earned themselves an unpload just three months ago on these pages. You can read a Wikipedia article on Painted Bird's founder, Brad Morrison, which also delves further into the Absolute-a-Go-Go label, as well as other projects he's been affiliated with.

01. Green and Peaceful World
02. Mexico
03. Natasha on a Rainy Day
04. Someone Else's Dream
05. I'll Be There
06. Running

Hear

The Wind - Living in a New World (1986, Midnight)

The Miami based Wind's debut album, Where It's At With the Wind, from 1982 has long been regarded as a low-key power pop classic amongst such tastemakers as Jordan Oakes and Kurt Loder (the latter of the two happening upon the trio in a New York City elevator shortly after it's release). The Wind sadly failed to make any commercial headway and burned out in the mid-80s, eventually launching singer/guitarist Lane Steinberg's, follow-up act, Tan Sleeve, but not before releasing this second album in 1986 on the New York indie imprint Midnight Records.

Where It's At... was utterly red, white, and Mersey all over, with the early Fab Four being heavily employed as the template, but by the time they got around to Living in a New World, their Brit Invasion punch was spiked with the fresher, stateside leanings of the dB's and the Bongos. Dare I say this is the superior record? Sure I do, and with sprite jangle treasures such as "Something Tells Me," and "Happy to Know Her," who could argue with me? On a more frustrating note, when I bought this disk, I didn't know that the best song here, "Wake Up" had some rather pronounced scratches indelibly etched into the wax. If I come across a cleaner copy, I will gladly do a re-rip. BTW, one of the Wind's other finest moments was a track called "House On Fire," that came out on a 1984 ep, Guest of the Staphs. That ep and Where It at... were released in unison in 2002 on CD courtesy of Jordan Oake's Yellow Pills label. Additionally, Where It's at... was reissued this year on vinyl.

 

01. Living in a New World

02. Good News, Bad News

03. Something Tells Me

04. Apricot Drive

05. Nothing's the Same

06. More or Less

07. Wake Up

08. Happy to Know Her

09. Can't Say No to You

10. Stuck

11. Dying to Be Different

12. Sushi Bar

 

Now on Bandcamp

V/A - Another Damned Seattle Compilation (1991, Dashboard Hula Girl)

Back in 1991 when this disk saw the light of day, I would have bought damn near anything adorned with the Mudhoney moniker affixed to it. They were my primary motivation for obtaining this long out of print location-specific Damned tribute album, and as often is the case with compilations, I got a lot more than I bargained for including a greater appreciation of the band it was dedicated too. Mudhoney's lightning fast redo of "Stab Your Back," satisfied as much as I had anticipated, but I was even more floored when Flop's rendition of "Disco Man" came blasting out two songs later. Skin Yard's tackling of "Machine Gun Etiquette" erupts with whiplash fury from second one and doesn't relent one iota thereafter. Killer. Nirvana and Soundgarden may be absent here, but much of Seattle's indie creme de la creme is present and accounted for - The Posies, Fastbacks, Love Battery, Gas Huffer, and Young Fresh Fellows (the latter appearing twice, including their choice of "Life Goes On," an obscurity from the Damned's not oft heard Strawberries album). Virtual unknowns lost to the mists of time like Freak, Big Satan Inc, and Whitey do fine takes of "Antipope," "Melody Lee," and "Wait for the Blackout," respectively. Lots of Damned, Damned, Damned and Machine Gun Etiquette material is covered here, but lesser known albums (like the aforementioned Strawberries) are represented too. Most amazingly, who would have guessed in '91 that the Damned would still be cranking out records and touring?

01. The Purdins - 1 of the 2
02. Young Fresh Fellows - Fan Club
03. Coffin Break - Love Song
04. Skin Yard - Machine Gun Etiquette
05. Gas Huffer - Suicide
06. The Accused - Neat, Neat, Neat
07. Love Battery - I Just Can't Be Happy Today
08. Motorhoney - Psychomania
09. Freak - Antipope
10. Flop - Disco Man
11. Hammerbox - New Rose
12. Derelicts - Born to Kill
13. Gruntruck - Nasty
14. Mudhoney - Stab Your Back
15. The Posies - Smash It Up
16. Big Satan, Inc - Melody Lee
17. Whitey - Wait For The Blackout
18. Fastbacks - Hit Or Miss
19. Young Fresh Fellows - Life Goes On

Hear

Local Operator - singles (1979, Virgin)

Last January, I posted the sophomore album, The House of Love, by a late'70s/early '80s British post-punk act called Jo Broadbery and the Standouts. Only thing was, that "second" album was actually the first legitimate Broadbery/Standouts record, while the previous disk, Jo Broadbery and the Standouts, was originally issued as Pushing Out the Poets by his full-fledged band Local Operator. In that post, I delved into the possibilities as to what prompted the name change, which you can view at the House of Love hyperlink above.

Before Local Operator's Pushing Out the Poets hit the shelves, two singles were released on Virgin Records. While the LP is a little taughter and focused, the four tracks spread across these sharply dressed 45s provide ample evidence of Broadbery's seamless fusion of Elvis Costello's classy, poignant songcraft with the demi-reggae leanings of The Clash. Case in point, the song "Law and Order," which wouldn't sound out of place played in between Joe Strummer and Co's "Pressure Drop" and "Police and Thieves." Speaking of Clash songs, the theme running through L/O's "Law and Order" is a hell of a lot more gripping than breaking rocks on a hot day. "Pressure Zone" from the other single (which features a neat fold-out sleeve) is incessantly catchy as well. I'm also including a live version of "Law and Order" from a relatively obscure British comp, The Moonlight Tapes, in which Jo Broadbery sets the table by laying into prime-minister-to-be, Margaret Thatcher. If you like what you hear, download the first Local Operator/Jo Broadbery and the Standouts album here.

 

1st single

A. Pressure Zone

B. The Untouchables
 

2nd single

A. Law and Order

B. All We're Gonna Get

from Moonlight Tapes comp: Law and Order (live)

Hear

The Wondermints - covers/demos (1988)

A lot of you Wondermints and/or power-pop aficionados in general have already been acquainted with a plethora of demos and rare tracks cut before the band's self-titled debut, courtesy of some outstanding uploads posted on Power Pop Criminals. Between the Mintsmania! and Our Music is Blue & Green With Purple Flashes "boots" there are over 40 songs to revel in - damn near enough to fill a box set...yet there was more. In 1988, the Mints cut a little under a dozen cover tracks by the likes of Pink Floyd, The Doors, Pretenders, Monkees, the Hollies, tv themes, and more that weren't widely circulated, if at all. Well, here you go. I won't give away anything more, however, topping things off is a stunning, totally unreleased original, "No One's Girl," brandishing the appeal of early Marshall Crenshaw, with a bit of a mid '60s flair as well. I don't have a band roster for this particular session, but who cares - it's the Wondermints!

01. See Emily Play
02. I'll Be True to You
03. All I Really Want to Do
04. Kid
05. Bus Stop
06. Outer Limits theme
07. Touch Me
08. Everybody's Talking
09. Tuesday Afternoon
10. Lost in Space theme
11. No One's Girl

Hear

Beat Temptation (Tim Lee/Windbreakers) - Concerned About Rock Music? (1985, Big Monkey/Homestead)

The bio for this album states quite plainly that despite the fact that Tim Lee of Windbreakers fame is the key figurehead in Beat Temptation, it's not to be considered a side project. Appropriate considering B/T were put under their own separate umbrella, because they really are an entity unto themselves, if only for the somewhat annoying saxophone wails, courtesy of Robin Sutliff, that puncture so much of the proceedings here. Without giving away too much about this eclectic set, Beat Temptation are at essence a college rock outfit, and certainly shouldn't alienate Lee fans, with the jangly "Bad Sermonette" being of some consolation to pop traditionalists. Side A closes out with a woozy, boozy medley of "What Goes On" and "1969," but I still contest that the sax accompaniment mars more than it embellishes.

01. Some Name
02. The Talk
03. Amnesia
04. What Goes On/1969
05. Fuzztone
06. On Your Mark
07. Bad Sermonette
08. Oh No! Not Love
09. Better Than You

Hear

Radio City "North Sea" 7" (1993, VHF)

Nope, this isn't the same late '70s power-pop hopefuls Radio City (who btw recently enjoyed a reissue on Radio Heartbeat Records), rather an entirely different group from the Clinton-era. I have no pertinent background details or dossier to offer you on these, rather a blurb found here that describes them pretty well:

Dense layers of overdriven guitar, indie guitar rock, like Dinosaur Jr circa "Bug" but without the drip singing. Yeah lots of low in the mix vocals. "North Sea" is as tight as a gnats ass and twice as catchy. There's some enticing freakouts, during "Bent", which is held together with some solid drumming.

Tight as gnats ass. Now that's what I call classy praise. Seriously, "North Sea" is pretty fucking good, with a little flange flung onto that heaping pile of Mascis riffola, as noted above. Can anyone fill me in on these guys? No insert in the sleeve, save for a paltry catalog. 

 

A. North Sea

B. Bent 

Hear

Splitting the Difference # 25 Coffin Break/The Figgs 7" (1992, Negative Feedback)

Coffin Break and The Figgs are something of an unlikely combo for a split single, in regards to both genre and proximity. Granted, "Let Me Have It," cut in 1992, presumably for the Ginger sessions finds the (then) upstate New York quartet raising a little more of a raucous then usual. The jagged little squelch of feedback in the opening seconds leads into a treble-happy, two-and-a-half minute slice of pogo-pop as only the Figgs know how to cook up. Of course, I've extolled on them a few times on these pages, so I'm a little biased.

Truth be told, at the time of this release Seattle's Coffin Break were also of significant interest to me. Their side, featuring "Drain" is a taught exercise in thrashy punk rawk with a vague metal tinge to drive the point home. Concise and punchy as-all-get-out, but a trifle too amelodic for all you "pop fanatics" I might add.
 

A. Coffin Break - Drain

B. The Figgs - Let Me Have It
 

Hear

Paul Collins (The Nerves, The Beat) & John Wicks (The Records) - 2009 Fall tour details - plus two vintage live sets to get you stoked!

Sometimes the most ingenious combinations truly are the most obvious ones, and the pairing of Paul Collins and John Wicks for a joint tour is an absolute no brainer. Call 'em the other John and Paul if you catch my drift. As prime movers for power pop innovators The Beat and The Records respectively, Paul and John set the world afire more than they'll ever know, even though the world at large may not know or for that matter overtly appreciate them. This dynamic duo kicked their careers off separately in the mid '70s, with Collins igniting the fuse in L.A. with The Nerves, and Wicks setting off some fireworks of his own in the Kursaal Flyers. As thoroughly respectable as those combos were, especially the Nerves, the horizon would gleam even brighter when they embarked on their aforementioned subsequent projects. With the Records, Wicks and Co. penned some of the genre's preeminent anthems in the indelibly melodious shape of "Starry Eyes" and "Hearts in Her Eyes." As for the Paul Collins Beat, "Rock 'N Roll Girl" and "Walking Out on Love" would become mantras for lovelorn punks the world over.

Fast forward to 2009. With both men having recently released solo albums, but drawing smaller audiences than their late '70s/'80s halcyon period, Wicks and Collins explored a burgeoning live forum for touring songswriters and musicians - the "House Tour" circuit. This rather self explanatory performance phenomena has worked well for established artists like Pat Dinzio of the Smithereens and Mark Eitzel of American Music Club. With this new modus operandi in mind Paul and John kicked their tour off in May 23 2009...at a bar called the Thunderbird Cafe. Ok, that was a slightly unorthodox way to commence a house tour, but the remainder of those dates, from what I understand were held in more residential environs.

The gigs went well enough to prompt more joint shows this fall, however most of the US tour dates will feature Paul Collins only. If you're in Italy or Spain, you have a better chance of catching the duo in action (all gig info provided below), with some potential French dates to be added. And don't forget those Power Pop Kings dates in October in Spain featuring Wicks, Collins and Eric Blakely.

Since a lot of you on both sides of the pond can't make it to these dates, I empathetically offer a pair of live shows from 1979, one from debut album era Records, and the other from debut album-era Paul Collins Beat . Enjoy. Check back, as I may be adding some video clips to this post. And one more thing. Go to Power Pop Criminals to partake in a live session John and Paul did for WFMU's Cherry Blossom Clinic show. The next joint tour date date is at:

SU 8.23.09 McCabes Guitar Shop 7 PM
Paul's Fall West Coast DatesOn September 11 Paul Collins sets out on his early Fall West Coast Tour with The Avengers and Pansy Division. John Wicks may join Paul for a date or two. The schedule is as follows:

SA 9.11.09 Seattle, WA @ The Funhouse
SA 9.12.09 Portland, OR @ Dante's
SU 9.13.09 Medford, OR @ Musichead
TU 9.15.09 Sacramento, CA @ Fire Escape
WE 9.16.09 Santa Cruz, CA @ The Blue Lagoon
TH 9.17.09 Oakland, CA @ The Uptown
FR 9.18.09 San Francisco, CA @ Bottom of the Hill
SA 9.19.09 Santa Ana, CA @ the Galaxy (w/ John Wicks)
SU 9.20.09 Echo Park, CA @ The Echo (w/ John Wicks)

TU 9.29.09 Bresia, ITALY @ Lio Bar (http://www.myspace.com/liobar)
WE 9.30.09 Cesena, ITALY @ Club to be Confirmed
TH 10.01.09 Roma, ITALY@ Club to be Confirmed
FR 10.02.09 Thiene, ITALY (VI) @ Yourban (http://www.yourban.org/)
SA 10.03.09 Placenza, ITALY @ Madly Pub (http://www.myspace.com/madlypub/)
SU 10.04.09 Domodossola, ITALY (VB) @ Oste live (http://www.myspace.com/ostelive/)
SA 10.10.09 Viveiro - Teatro SPAIN - (Paul Collins & Eric Blakely)

Power Pop Kings Tour (John Wicks, Paul Collins, & Eric Blakely):

TH 10.15.09 Bilboa, SPAIN @ El balcon de Lola
FR 10.16.09 Madrid, SPAIN @ El Sol
SA 10.17.09 Valencia, SPAIN @ wah wah

Remember to check here for the latest concert info. Onto the bootlegs!

The Records - Live at the Palladium, Dallas 1979, KZEW broadcast
01. Paint Her Face
02. All Messed Up and Ready to Go
03. Insomnia
04. Hearts in Her Eyes
05. Vamp
06. Girl
07. Girls That Don't Exist
08. The Same Mistakes
09. Affection Rejected
10. Have You Seen Her
11. 1984
12. Rock & Roll Love Letter
13. Teenerama
14. Starry Eyes

Paul Collins Beat - Jabberwocky's, NYC 12-15-79
01. Rock 'n Roll Girls
02. I Don't Fit In
03. Little Suzie
04. I Will Say No
05. Different Kind of Girl
06. Don't Need to Lie
07. You Won't Be Happy
08. Walking Out on Love
09. Workin' too Hard
10. Across the USA
11. Work-a-day-world
12. On the Highway
13. Don't Wait for Me Tonight
14. I Will Say No 
 

The Records: Hear

The Beat: Hear

Mark Gardener (Ride) - Live & The Knitting Factory, New York (2003)

Tonight I learned of the passing of one of my aunts, who for the better part of the past two years fought a valiant effort against cancer. Naturally, in moments like this I tend to enter a contemplative mode. This excellent solo acoustic recording from former Ride frontman Mark Gardener is one of my all-time favorites, and it while it hardly qualifies as part of my "misery soundtrack" (for lack of a better term) it's nevertheless a sobering and consoling performance, at least to this set of ears. Tracked from an April 2003 gig at New York's fabled Knitting Factory in lower Manhattan, the fourteen-song set was released in a hand-numbered run of 1000 copies, and was a precursor to Gardener's debut (and at this point lone) solo album, These Beautful Ghosts. It isn't so much the setlist that imbues Live @ the Knitting Factory with it's transfixing charm, rather Mark's utterly crisp, sincere, and lucid delivery. Up until hearing this, I never would have guessed that the loud, gauzy cocoon that enveloped Ride's early recordings would translate so well in an acoustic setting, with nary an iota of passion lost in the process. What you get here are roughly half Ride/half solo Gardener compositions, that somehow intertwine seamlessly and empathetically by way of one man and one guitar. Not to be overlooked by anyone. I believe this disk was posted on another blog a couple years back, but this was ripped from my own copy (#349) at a higher bitrate, and I've included complete sleeve art as well.

01. intro
02. What You Get
03. Beautiful Ghosts
04. From Time to Time
05. Chrome Waves
06. Magdalen Sky
07. Vapour Trail
08. Twisterella
09. To Get Me Through
10. Dreams Burn Down
11. Snow in Mexico
12. Drive Blind
13. interlude
14. Turn
15. In a Different Place
16. Leave Them All Behind

Hear

Cameraface - After the Scream (1988, Incas)

Late '80s Connecticut outfit, Cameraface sport a myriad of hats on their After the Scream mini-album, with frequent forays into demi-goth and howling post-punk rock. In fact things get so diverse here Scream plays more like a various artists collection, then the unified thought of any single entity. The quartet eventually pin the tail squarely on the donkey in the shape of side two's lead-off track, "When It Gets Dry," bristling with pop smarts and sinewy energy, recalling era acts like Carnival Season, and such exemplary 415 Records groups as Wire Train and Red Rockers. The next song in, "Glass to Shade" follows in familiar footsteps but doesn't quite bare as an immediate hook. It looks like original copies of After the Scream may still be available through the page linked above. Hot rockin' video action below.

01. Working Papers
02. Meet Them
03. Image
04. Good Bye Cattle
05. When It Gets Dry
06. Glass to Shade
07. Long as the Day

Hear

Various - Ten of a Kind: Presented by CMJ (1988, RCA)

1988 was a good year for music, especially of the modern rock contingent. I'll spare you my laundry list of stellar examples from that year, but as it turns out, the now legendary College Music Journal, in all their infinate wisdom patched together a compilation of the ten best unsigned picks they could find. Needless to say, Material Issue are the boys done good here, checking in with what would become one of their signature tunes, "Valerie Loves Me," (yes, it's the same version on International Pop Overthrow). As impressive now as it was then, maybe even more so. Side A kicks things off in fine three-chord fashion with Little Rock, AR's Gunbunnies, quickly followed up by equally capable basement rock of Boston's Titanics (who would soon garner a record deal with Taang!). Ten of a Kind actually features three more Massachusetts hopefuls, Lazy Susan, Circle Sky, and Kid Crash, the latter taking the cake as Ten of a Kind's fiercest participants with their AC/DC cum quasi-punk panache. LaBlanc's spit-shined power ballad "Turn to Me" would have more appropriate for the Dirty Dancing soundtrack, and frankly, is something of a drag here. "King' and Queen's," courtesy of Raleigh, NC's Distance is effective but not quite modern guitar rock, while Paul K. & the Weathermen, who would go onto something resembling indie success in the mid-90s, deliver the rockabilly tinged "My Knife." And a good time was had by all...

01. Gunbunnies - The Emancipation of Helga (She's Not a Number)
02. Titanics - Clown Down
03. Lazy Susan - Faith Has No Other
04. Raging Fire - The Marrying Kind
05. Lablanc - Turn to Me
06. Kid Crash - Contact
07. Circle Sky - When the Life That I Lead Doesn't Lead Anywhere
08. Material Issue - Valerie Loves Me
09. The Distance - King's and Queen's
10. Paul K. & the Weathermen - My Knife

Hear

Orange Glass - Interstellar Interstellar (1996, Squirtgun)

Even for hardcore aficionados of '90s maritime indie-rock, Interstellar, Interstellar by Moncton, New Brunswick's Orange Glass just may have slipped off your radar. If this trio seems to be seeped in the same distorto-laden, lo-fi sensibilities of say, Eric's Trip, it probably won't surprise you to learn that frontman Ron Bates was also a member of the post Eric's Trip project, Elevator to Hell. Possessing a keener pop awareness than Elevator, Orange Glass were more in league with The Hardship Post, and for that matter early Sloan. Though they recorded primarily from 1994-96, O/G were relatively prolific, pumping out three singles, three CDs and a couple of tapes. On Interstellar, they were paired down to a duo with Chris Flanagan manning the percussion, and Bates handling all else. "Knock Wood" finds Bates proudly peeling off Mascis-y squalls of unruly feedback, but it's where the hooks meet the fuzz on "Wait a Day," "Saturn and the Moon," and "Em Pulse," that will have you scrambling for the repeat button. For further listening enjoyment, you can partake in a hypothetical Orange Glass "mix tape," courtesy of Milquetoast Brigade.

01. Saturn and the Moon

02. Wait a Day

03. Nashville

04. Knock Wood

05. Cosmic Pilot

06. Calm, Cool

07. Flashing Yellow
08. Parkbench

09. Iscandar

10. Corner

11. Fate

12. Em Pulse

13. Are You in Love With Me/Interstellar

 

Hear

The Grays - live at CBGB's 4/20/94

The Grays at New York's infamous punk club CBGB's? While not an outright oxymoron, the combination is a little confounding nevertheless. Last year when I posted the Grays Companion, a fan-curated compendium of non-lp tracks and acoustic cuts, I was thoroughly unaware that this live recording even existed. For a quick backgrounder on the Grays, here's a quip from my commentary on the aforementioned Companion:

Falling somewhere between a launching pad and a showcase for gifted singer-songwriters Jason Falkner (formally of Jellyfish and The Three O' Clock) and Jon Brion, The Grays were a four piece, filled out by bassist Buddy Judge and skins-man Dan McCarroll, who after their demise in 1995 were regarded as something of a cult legend in power-pop circles.

Perhaps what makes this CBGB gig so ironic is the fact that The Grays hung out on the gentler, radio-tailored side of the pop spectrum - but than again I have to remind myself of all the non-punks that graced the recently put-to-pasture Bowery stage, including Springhouse, Lush, and Yo La Tengo. The Grays released all but one album, 1994's Ro Sham Bo on Epic Records, and Falkner and Co. treat the crowd to a healthy six LP cuts here, as well as covers by the Monochrome Set ("She's Frank") and The Move ("Blackberry Way). We're also offered a little insight into what Jason Falkner's 1996 debut album, Author Unknown, would hold on "Eloquence." This is a good (not great) audience recording, with the occasional audio drop-out, so please bear that in mind before indulging. Would also like to give credit to the folks that run this splendid Jason Falkner fanpage for assembling the artwork. 
 

01. Everybody's World

02. Same Thing

03. Eloquence

04. Oh Well Maybe

05. Oh, Nevermind

06. He's Frank

07. Nothing Between Us

08. Nothing

09. Not Ready Yet

10. Is it Now Yet?

11. Blackberry Way 
 

Hear

The Sneetches - Sometimes That's All We Have (1988, Alias)

Fulfilling a request here in response to my Sneetches post from last week for their Starfucker and Think Again eps. For a sophomore album, Sometimes That's All We Have is remarkably accomplished, filled to the brim with deftly crafted, classicist pop, informed by the likes of John Lennon and Leonard Cohen. The album is extremely tough to come by on CD. This rip was taken from my vinyl copy.

01. Unusual Sounds
02. Don't Turn Back
03. In a Perfect Place
04. Empty Sea
05. Sometimes That's All We Have
06. Run in the Sun
07. Mrs. Markle
08. Nowhere at All
09. Take My Hand
10. Another Shitty Day
11. You're Gonna Need Her
12. It's Looking Like Me

Hear

Splitting the Difference # 24 - Pitchblende/Swirlies - Working Holidays (November) (1993, Simple Machines) + bonus!

Once upon a time, say 1993, a good-hearted indie label based in Arlington,Virginia had a brash and innovative idea - release a series of split 7" singles every month for a full calendar year, featuring the creme de la creme of the indie pop underground. And so it came to pass, from January to December of 1993, Simple Machines Records followed the clever blueprint outlined above, pumping out twelve split 45's, graced by such period luminaries as Small Factory, Versus, Nothing Painted Blue, Superchunk, and the Swirlies. A funny thing happened when Simple Machines decided to compile all the tracks onto one CD however wasn't enough room for all 24 songs. By sheer coincidence, two of the participants, Bratmobile and the Swirlies opted out of the digital migration. As luck would have it though, I bought the November installment which included the Swirlies, who we've featured here before. It's a damn good thing too because these fractured, heavily-flanged dream-popsters delivered a keeper, "Trudy," that you could only get here. In fact, this minute and forty-nine seconds of whammy bar wonderment would have fit like a glove on one of their early Taang! Records singles, or equally so their Blonder Tongue Audio Baton album. As for the band on the opposite side of the record, Pitchblende, their selection "A Penny For the Guy" did make the CD cut. I was never an aficionado for their dynamic brand of noisenik rawk, but that's just me.

As a bonus for you Swirlies fans, I'm also sharing a downright lo-fi four-song demo they cut in 1991, which features an early incarnation of "Trudy," as well as "Chris R," which would become a relatively popular single side.

Working Holidays November 7"
A. Pitchblende - A Penny For the Guy
B. Swirlies - Trudy

Swirlies - 1991 demo
01. Chris R.
02. Didn't Understand
03. Trudy
04. Crush

7": Hear
Swirlies demos: Hear

Pure Joy - s/t ep (1986, Dwindle); Unsung (rec.1987, released 1995, Flydaddy); Sore Throte, Ded Goat 7" ep (1990, No Threes)

In 1992 I went gonzo for a band called Flop, a Northwest combo I was exposed to via a Damned tribute CD, Another Damned Seattle Compilation (possible topic for a future post). Their rip-roaring remake of "Disco Man" had me scurrying for more Flop pronto, and as luck had it, they had recently released their 16-song debut LP, Flop and the Fall of the Mopsqueezer! Though they hailed from the city that put grunge on the map, the quartet helmed by the singular vocal timbre of one Rusty Willoughby, drew a hell of a lot more inspiration from the Buzzcocks than Black Sabbath, and were all the more refreshing for it too. After Mopsqueezer! came two more albums, the Epic Records minted Whenever You're Ready in '93, and their 1995, barely remembered swan song, World of Today, back on Frontier Records where they started. For all intents and purposes, this post isn't about Flop per se, rather Willoughby's prior band, Pure Joy - an outfit I discovered posthumously, but ultimately found to be just as substantive than Flop.

I'm presenting you with three Pure Joy releases, their first LP (Unsung) and a pair of eps. Starting things off is a four-song, self-titled 12" from 1986, quite possibly issued by the band themselves, as no bona-fire record label is given, rather simply credited to "Dwindle Music." On their maiden voyage, Pure Joy were clearly not punk...or grunge...or new wave...or none of that. There's definitely an indie bent to the ep, often times duplicating the ringing, modern guitar rock laid out by bands like the Church. The overall effect is that of a louder Three O'Clock (remember them?) sans the psychedelia. On this record, Rusty is accompanied on keyboards by his brother, Randy Willoughby. Definitely their most "pop" record, and in a class by itself when compared to their full lengths.

Technically, the first proper Pure Joy album to hit the marketplace was a disk called Carnivore on Popllama Records in 1989, but was actually preceded by an album recorded in 1987 that wasn't released until the mid-90s. That record was Unsung, and while Carnivore is still preferred by a lot of fans, Unsung ain't no slouch, containing some of Pure Joy's purely greatest, like "Calvin and Hobbes" and "Standing on a Bridge." The jangly guitars are thankfully still present and accounted for, but the sonic ante is upped significantly resulting in a thicker, more robust sound.

That leads us to the final Pure Joy release, a live 7" ep, Sore Throte, Ded Goat, recorded as trio in 1989 or 1990 (no exact date specified) at a joint called The Vogue. It features an especially potent version of "Standing on a Bridge" (as mentioned above) along with five more songs, including John Lennon's "Gimme Some Truth," which unfortunately cuts out at the end, because "the tape ran out," or so sayeth the sleeve notes.

 

Pure Joy reconvened in 1997 with their third album, Getz, the Worm, and again in 2003 for Gelatin and Bright. Rusty Willoughby has also released a couple of solo CDs, most recently Filament Dust, available here. If that wasn't enough Rusty had yet another band making the rounds a few years ago called Llama. In fact, go this page to download a whole mess 'o Llama songs. You'll be glad you did. I hope. More info can be gleaned on Pure Joy over at Lamestain blog.

 

Pure Joy ep

01. The Attempt

02. Courage

03. Ocean

04. Words Conceal

 

Unsung

01. New Psychotic Dream

02. Standing on a Bridge

03. Calvin and Hobbes

04. Essence

05. Deviant

06. Orphan Sky

07. Gun Thing

08. Holocaust

09. Turmoil

 

Sore Throte, Ded Goat ep

Side A: Jester/Mary the Whore/Division

Side B: Standing on a Bridge/Pieces/Gimme Some Truth

 

Pure Joy ep: Hear

Unsung: Hear

Sore Throte, Ded Goat ep: Hear

The Soup Dragons - The Sun Is in the Sky ep (1986, Subway Organization)

It was 1991 or thereabouts, and Scotland's Soup Dragons had brewed up a colossal hit with their acid-house reconfiguration of the Rolling Stones "I Feel Free"....and I could give a rats ass. In fact when they quietly disappeared a few years later (along with the rest of the Madchester scene), I'm sure I was subconciously delighted they were off the radar. That was until the mid-90s when I had read in more than a few places that early in their career, the Soup Dragons more or less aped The Buzzcocks.

Hmmm. Being the Buzzcocks fan I was/still am, I decided to do some investigating, within budget mind you. I found a tape of their full-length debut This Is Our Art. Hardly the stuff of Pete Shelley and Steve Diggle, but at least the breakbeats and wah-wah hadn't kicked in yet. I delved a little deeper and investigated their Hang Ten! release, a cobbled together collection of early ep tracks. I was getting a little warmer, but if anything the material on Hang Ten! (some claim this to be their strongest release, btw) was a loose afterthought of the just passed C86 indie pop phenom. It wasn't until the last couple years that I learned of the Soup Dragons pre-Hang Ten! ep, The Sun Is in the Sky. Bingo - or as close as I would come to what I had been pining for anyway. The slightly off-kilter tenor inhabiting "Swirling Round The Garden With You" and "Fair's Fair" did indeed pack some serious crunch, but not so much the firepower I had anticipated. At any rate The Sun... is a fun, respectable DIY record, and a motif that for better or worse, the Soup Dragons would quickly abandon.

 

01. Quite Content

02. Swirling Round The Garden With You

03. Fair's Fair

04. Not For Humbert

 

Hear

The Trypes - The Explorer's Hold ep (1984, Coyote); Speed the Plough - s/t (1988, Coyote)

Word went out late last week that the first two Feelies albums, the critically lauded Crazy Rhythms (1980) and it's somewhat belated follow-up The Good Earth (1986) will be reissued on Bar/None Records in September. Though this post is hardly devoted to the Feelies, it actually concerns two spin-off bands, The Trypes and Speed the Plough, who's first album I was inspired to dig up this week upon news of the aforementioned reissues.

During that six year hiatus between the first two Feelies albums, The Trypes were formed in 1984 and released one ep to their credit, The Explorer's Hold. To get a grip on The Trypes/STP exact lineage to the Feelies, Trouser Press once again lays it out a lot better than I ever could:

Speed the Plough began as the Trypes, a little-known but continuing band at one point joined by three Feelies (Glenn Mercer, Stan Demeski and Bill Million) on hiatus. Together with John Baumgartner (keyboards), Marc Francia (guitar), Toni Paruta (woodwinds) and Brenda Sauter (bass), they made The Explorers Hold, a placid and introspective 1984 EP. When the Feelies left (taking Sauter with them) to reactivate their band, the remaining threesome recruited new members and became Speed the Plough.

The seven-piece Trypes eschewed some of the spare, ringing guitar pop the Feelies reveled in on Crazy Rhythms, and instead opted for something multi-fold more textured and organic, with detours into heady psychedelia ("Love You Two") and Velvets-y folk ("The Undertow").

Regarding the last sentence in the blue text critique from Trouser Press, Speed the Plough were essentially Feelie-less by the time the released their self-titled debut. In theory, STP could have sonically manifested themselves as the exact same band had the Feelies not been within their sphere of influence. In a near-perfect assessment of the record, Ira Robbins of Trouser Press fame opines: Their eponymous debut is rough around the handsome, rustic edges; although clearly Feelies-influenced (thanks especially to Jim DeRogatis' prim and precise drumming). Rustic indeed, but there's also a contemplative element that imbues this album as well. The band's robust six-individual lineup, coupled with refined, glowing arrangements involving accordions, woodwinds and saxophones, lends itself to a dense, indigenous latticework of sorts, that by and large works to a tee. I have yet to come across this album on CD, and don't own the vinyl incarnation of it either. My rip of this album was culled straight from an original cassette. Not what you would deem perfect fidelity...but what are you gonna do about it?

The Trypes - The Explorer's Hold

01. (From the) Morning Glories

02. Love You Too

03. Music for Neighbors

04. The Undertow

Speed the Plough

01. River Street

02. Verzprem

03. Big Bus

04. Tommy's House

05. Ella's Way

06.Cardinal Rules

07. No Ones's Alone

08. Blue Bicycle

09. Everyday Needs

Update: The Trypes ep has been reissued and expanded.  Get it on wax or digitally.

Speed the Plough: Now on Bandcamp