Splitting the Difference # 19 - Polvo/New Radiant Storm King (1994, Penny Farthing)

Behold, two bands that should need no introduction - at least in a perfect world that is. Chapel Hill, NC and Amherst, MA indie kids, brought together by the wise business sense of a record label in Arizona, circa 1994, arguably at the creative peak of the two conglomerations involved. As far as I know, none of the four cuts that appear hear have made it into the digital age, which is kind of hard to believe, especially from Polvo's end of the stick, but I digress. You can relive the excitement of the first Polvo ep that I posted in December here, not to mention one of New Radiant Storm King's more stirring albums over this way. Enjoy.

New Radiant Storm King

01. Back Door

02. Hey Baby

 

Polvo

01. Two Fists

02. All the Cliches Under Broadway

 

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Singles Going Single #111 - New Radiant Storm King - 2 Salvaged Songs 7" (1992, Trixie)

Massachusetts' long running indie pioneers New Radiant Storm King are no strangers to this blog (click on the hyperlink to bring up some of their previous entries). The two 1991 tracked songs that comprise the 2 Salvaged Songs single feature some serious six-string wrangling by one Peyton Pinkerton, the focal point of NRSK. "Smear" is as melodic as it is raucous, while the flip "Indiana Jones" makes a strong case as to why every household should posses at minimum one copy each of Daydream Nation and You're Living All Over Me. "Smear" would eventually wind up on an NRSK single and rarities compilation, Leftover Blues 1991-2003, which I believe is available from iTunes, Emusic and the like, while the b-side remains exclusive to this wax. If you like what you hear, do yourself a favor and check out New Radiant Storm King's website for more info than you can shake a mouse at.

A. Smear
B. Indiana Jones

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New Radiant Storm King - Rival Time (1993, Homestead)

One of the longest-running, but best kept secrets among the indie rawk cognoscenti, Massachusetts New Radiant Storm King have never been consistently thrilling, but their second album, the long out-of-print Rival Time, is the closest they've come to cultivating a masterpiece, however I'm sure there are a few fervent believers out there that would argue that's precisely what this album is. With a sound rooted in the essence of dissonant forebearers Mission of Burma and Sonic Youth, NRSK flirt with minor key melodies and play the dynamic card as if their lives depended on it. Like those legends, The King's modus operandi isn't immediately winsome, but Rival Time was accessible enough for Guided By Voices head honcho Rober Pollard to attest that track two, "The Opposing Engineer (Sleeps Alone)," went a long way in inspiring one of GBV's signature songs, "I Am a Scientist." In fact, Pollard and Co covered "Opposing Engineer" on an ace split single with NRSK in the mid-90s. For me, "Phonecall," a lively but bittersweet number regarding collegiate angst, is the one that really gets my juices flowing.

NRSK's recently reissued debut, My Little Bastard Soul, is even more wiry and fun, but many of the band's later works found them in a much quieter, and frankly un-enthused mode. A solid singles/oddities compilation, Leftover Blues 1991-2003, functions as one of the group's more durable albums, and is just as recommendable as Rival Time itself.

01. Viral Mind

02. The Opposing Engineer (Sleeps Alone)

03. Oil an Impatient Fuck

04. New Math

05. Phonecall

06. Hazardville

07. Commerical

08. 511 Little Mightmares

09. Happy For the First Time in Weeks

10. Country Box

11. Phonecall II

12. Do It For the Sensitive Guy
 

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Three highly stimulating vinyl EPs: Eyes, Modern Pioneers & New Radiant Storm King

Well, I didn't get around to putting together a batch of singles together this Chanukah like I did last (maybe next year?).  Got the next best thing though, a collection of some of the better EPs that made it to my turntable in 2020, including one that had been sitting on my shelf, shrink-wrapped no less for a good eight years since purchasing it.  And you think you're backlogged?  I think you'll appreciate at least two of these three, and just remember what Meat Loaf had to say about that quotient.

Eyes were bygone L.A. punks, who may have still been in existence when Penelope Spheeris directed The Decline of Western Civilization, although I'm pretty certain they weren't featured in it.  For their brief duration the Joe Ramirez-fronted combo only had one single to their credit, the "TAQN"/"Topological Lies" 7" on Dangerhouse Records.  In 2009 Artifix Records expanded the 45 to a six-song 10" containing everything the band ever committed to tape for Dangerhouse, and voila, here it is.  The word 'rollicking' comes naggingly to mind when describing the Eyes whirling, organ-laden punk pop, vaguely reminiscent of the Dickies and Pointed Sticks, albeit keyboards weren't really the Dickies thing.  At one point or another the Eyes lineup included member of X, Go-Gos, Screamers, Bags and Wall of Voodoo, but this band had something more unique coursing through their veins than all of the aforementioned could muster combined.  In the process, the Eyes delightfully parodied southern California culture on "Disneyland" and self-medication ("TAQN" was an acronym for "take a quaalude now"). There hasn't been anyone quite like them before or since.

01. TAQN
02. Research Bee
03. Eniwetok
04. Disneyland
05. Go Go Bee
06. Topological Lies 

MP3  or  FLAC

Another outfit that never quite made it to the album phase was Long Island, NY trio Modern Pioneers.  In fact, the EP I'm featuring was their longest proper recording, a glorified single with Ione of the songs, "Far Away Places" being an instrumental.  The "The Big Hookup" is a resounding left-of-the-dial anthem brimming with confidence and verve driving the point home that these guys didn't take the telephone, of all things, for granted. "Roman Times" chooses a subtler tack but is equally well written.  Excellent stuff, and if it's more content you crave from M/P, Jim Santo's Demo Universe has you covered with a live show at CBGBs from 1986 and even some unreleased studio tracks.

A. The Big Hookup
B1. Roman Times
B2. Far Away Places (A Tribute to Ben Gazzara)

MP3  or  FLAC

For a band I've been following for close to 30 years, it took me almost that allotment of time to become aware of the first installment in their discography.  Turns out, New Radiant Storm King had a 1991 ep under their belt that I didn't learn of until this very year - an unusual circumstance given I thought I had everything on them.  The title piece, "Milky Way" is one of the crown jewel's in their oeuvre I might add, a near-perfect five minutes of serrated noise pop.  Absorbed as a whole, Milky Way, tends to meander (and occasionally aggravate) on side deux, but as far as introductory releases go it was a nice lead into their 1992's commendable My Little Bastard Soul, and their second full length, Rival Time which I've been sharing nearly as long as this site's been in existence.  You can also find some further NRSK 7" action here.

01. Milky Way
02. Queezy
03. Ouch
04. Pipe

MP3  or  FLAC

VA - Unloved: A Tribute to the Music of Arthur Lee and Love ep (1994, Chunk)

As far as tribute comps go...let's just say this isn't one of the more appealing ones.  Plenty of reasons for that but none too dramatic to torpedo this affair outright.  Arthur Lee & Love are good enough  candidates as any for this type of homage, and in fact the same year this double 7" ep made it's way onto shelves so did an entirely unrelated Love tribute CD, We're All Normal and We Want Our Freedom.  For whatever the reason, Unloved only plucks songs from one of the group's albums, namely their 1966 debut.  Not a bad record at that, but if you're craving any favorites along the lines of "Andmoreagain," "The Good Humor Man..." or even "Seven and Seven Is," you're flat out of luck, Jack. 

My next big complaint is the performances. New Radiant Storm King who I normally enjoy could have really pulled off something sweet with "My Little Red Book" if it wasn't for the fact that Peyton Pinkerton decided to phone in his vocals.  Next, Love's "Signed D.C." wasn't exactly exciting to begin with (after all, it was a ballad) and the Lyres live take is respectful but anticlimactic.  The Supreme Dicks are/were true to their name, insisting on employing a ridiculous vocal effect on "Can't Explain," winding up resembling something like Ween.  The Veronica Cartwrights win this rather meager sweepstakes with a linear but heartfelt reading of "A Message to Pretty."  One more thing - Discogs' page for this record depicts an entirely different (and more attractive) sleeve than the one above.  Dare I say there were multiple pressings of Unloved?  But anyway...

01. New Radiant Storm King - My Little Red Book
02. Lyres - Signed D.C
03. The Veronica Cartwrights - A Message To Pretty
04. Supreme Dicks - Can't Explain

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Various - Blatant Doom Trip - a Tribute to Guided By Voices (1998, Simple Solution)

Roughly two months ago I posted a thing called Scalping the Guru, a homegrown, 1996 Guided By Voices tribute tape on Kelp Records, featuring predominantly Canadian acts. Blatant Doom Trip, released a couple years later, is inarguably more formal (albeit a bit on the lo/mid-fi tip itself), and has the roster to prove it. Nepotism is rampant here, with groups like Cobra Verde, Gem, and Swearing at Motorists all containing in their line past or future GBV alumni (Doug Gillard comes courtesy of those first two, Don Thrasher the latter). Local H's "Smothered in Hugs" appears here on the heels of that band's gold selling As Good As Dead, a convenient selling point to be sure. Thurston Moore and Steve Shelly hold the keys to Male Slut who tackle a real obscurity, "Stabbing a Star," plus there are also contributions from the relatively renown Portastatic, Lotion, and New Radiant Storm King (the last two "cheating" so to speak with tunes that had already appeared on singles). Best of all, since Blatant Doom Trip was minted in '98, the material covered within is drawn from GBV's halcyon era. There was talk around 1996 of yet another GBV tribute to see the light of day, with an even higher pedigree lineup including Bob Mould and Sebadoh, but twas not to be. Nevertheless, at least we have this, and BDT is pretty damn impressive at that.

01. Cobra Verde - Striped White Jets
02. Male Slut - Stabbing A Star
03. Chapter 18 - Matter Eater Lad
04. Gem - My Impression Now
05. Rally For Japan - Rubber Man
06. New Radiant Storm King - I Am A Scientist
07. Shove - Melted Pat
08. Local H - Smothered In Hugs
09. Earnest - Back To Saturn X
10. Resolve - The Future Is In Eggs
11. Real Lulu - Postal Blowfish
12. O-Matic - Motor Away
13. Swearing At Motorists - Volcano Divers
14. This Busy Monster - Gleemer (The Deeds Of Fertile Jim)
15. 84 Nash - Hot Freaks
16. Gem - Kisses To The Crying Cooks
17. Portastatic - Echos Myron
18. Lotion - Quality Of Armor

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Various - Hotel Massachusetts (1994, Chunk)

Been meaning to get to this one for awhile now (a recent request from one of our readers provided a pretty good excuse).  Although the album notes don't make any specific reference to it, the common thread running through all the bands that contribute to Hotel Massachusetts is that at one time or another, they graced the stage of the now shuttered Bay State Hotel in Northhampton, MA.  With the exception of the intro piece, "Invocation," the recordings on this comp are strictly studio endeavors, and wouldn't you know it there's no shortage of creme de la creme indie guitar rock (predominantly of the "mid-fi" variety I should note). Sebadoh, Zeke Fiddler, Home, Tizzy, Hoolapopper, Fuzzy, and New Radiant Storm King all fit under that gloriously teaming tent filled with more talent than you could shake a crab cake at (I've hyperlinked some of the aforementioned that I've previously dedicated space to on this blog).  Adding local fixtures Lyres to the mix only makes Hotel Mass an even more well rounded who's-who of the mid-90s Massachusetts scene.  Virtual unknowns The Unband, Skinner Pilot, and The Maggies show some potential as well.  The Silver Jews (yes, the Pavement spinoff) turn the lights out with a limp, not to mention truncated remake of R.EM.'s "Good Advices."  Per the commentary on The Chunk Records Story over at JM Dobie's blog, the cassette version of Hotel featured extra tracks.  I suppose that means most of us aren't getting the complete story.

01. "Invocation"
02. Sebadoh - Skull
03. Zeke Fiddler - Half Baked
04. New Radiant Storm King - Phone Call
05. Home - Sunday
06. Lumber - Hooked
07. Lyres - I'll Make It Up To You
08. The Unband - You're No Boy Wonder/Nothing You Can Do
09. Skinner Pilot - Traces Of Alignment
10. Tizzy - Miss America
11. Queer - I Love You Girl
12. Ray Mason Band - Falling Down
13. The Veronica Cartwrights - Frog
14. Angry Johnny and the Killbillies - Nuclear Man
15. Fuzzy - Four Wheel Friend
16. Steve Westfield - Alone at Last
17. Hoolapopper - Stolen
18. The Dots - Miami
19. The Maggies - Ten long Years
20. Miss Reed - Believe You Me
21. Squeek - I Should've Sued
22. Philth Snack - I Like My Life
23. Silver Jews - Good Advices

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Guided By Voices - The GBV Super, Fun, Wow, Xtra Valu-Pak!

When I was approached by a reader a few weeks ago to share some scarce and miscellaneous Guided By Voices songs, it dawned on me that while I've posted no less than three voluptuous collections of rare GBV material, there were still plenty of gaps.  Not only that, that aforementioned trifecta (consisting of To Trigger a Synapse, The Carefree Kitchens Are a Blast, and most recently Beyond the Bars and Churches) wasn't the product of my labor and/or assemblage, but that of other gonzo GBV sycophants.  It's kind of misleading to credit myself as the "curator" of this fourth batch of long deleted vinyl sides, compilation appearances, and home recordings, but it's the closest I've come thus far to piecing together something in that arena (though technically, a handful of the tracks were cherry picked from already cherry picked fan comps, that for one reason or another I failed to obtain in their entirety). 

Whatever the case, here's thirty more doses of Pollard scree, offal and debris, in all their mangled, half-assed glory.  Things commence with the four songs from their 1994 split single with the Grifters.  From there it's onto more studio gold, including the three bonus tracks from the Jellyfish Reflector boot (5-7), the Nightwalker singles (8-10), compilation tracks, outtakes (17-26), and I close things out with the stark, melancholic, and exceedingly arcane "The Mind Refuser," culled from the Japanese incarnation of Half Smiles of the Decomposed.  One song here, "Whiskey on Your Breath" was also included on my first clusterfuck share (Trigger a Synapse), but I'm presenting again with slightly improved fidelity.  It's my favorite GBV outtake, and in fact, the melody was lifted for a song (the title of which escapes me) that later appeared on Suitcase 2.

Given their extended and apparently open-ended run of "Classic Lineup" dates, one would hope the boys had the horse sense to sneak into a recording studio for a week or two to rekindle some of that prolific, Clinton-era magic, but don't hold your breath - not by a longshot it would seem.  At any rate, three cheers for the mind refuser...

from split 7" w/ the Grifters
01. Hey Mr. Soundman
02. Announcers & Umpires
03. Evil Speaker B
04. Uncle Dave

Jellyfish Reflector studio songs
05. Pantherz
06. I'll Buy You a Bird
07. Bughouse

Freedom Cruise/Nightwalker split 7"
08. The Freedom Cruise - Cruise
09. Nightwalker - Lucifer's Aching Revolver

Nightwalker - one sided 7"
10. Firehouse Mountain

11. Scorpion Lounge Shutdown (Ptolemic Terrascope magazine comp 7")
12. One Track Record (Sponic magazine comp)
13. I Am A Scientist (live) (Threadwaxing Space Live: The Presidential Compilation)
14. Invisible Man (Breeders cover on vinly vers. of Crying Your Knife Away live boot)
15. Sucker of Pistol City (Plugs for the Program ep)
16. The Opposing Engineer Sleeps Alone (split single w/ New Radiant Storm King)

Otherwise unreleased:
17. Foolish Booger
18. Dancing With My Gun
19. Whiskey On Your Breath
20. Talk to Me
21. Industrial Morning
22. Up We Go (aka New World Rising)
23. The Happy Song
24. Never
25. Ruth (fan mix)
26. Sea of Clover (Sprout on vocals)

X Fest 99 compilation
27. My Valuable Hunting Knife
28. Teenage FBI
29. I Am a Scientist

30. The Mind Refuser (from Japanese Half Smiles of the Decomposed)

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Ex Lion Tamer - Go Ghost (2006, Tinstar Creative Pool)

As if it wasn’t enough for the New York by way of Tel Aviv trio, Ex Lion Tamer to wear their Sonic Youth homage like a red band of courage on their collective sleeve, they even hired original SY producer, Wharton Tiers to lovingly helm the production of this disk. Singer/guitarist Zoe Polanski and Assaf Tager prodigiously exude the uncanny interplay that Thurston and Kim perfected during their mid-80s reign.  It’s hard not to succumb to Go Ghost’s more tuneful (read: accessible) forays like “In hope of An Evil Star” and “Japanese Flower“ both of which have dream pop tendencies. The art-damaged, druggy drone that spans most of the latter half of Ghost, often borders on a cacophony, if not a downright noisy sparring match.  Fans of New Radiant Storm King’s and Mission of Burma’s more unwieldy, dissonant escapades are also encouraged to partake.  

01. In Hope of an Evil Star
02. Japanese Flower
03. Shaky
04. My Little Lioness
05. Charlie Head
06. Toxic Avenger
07. Go Ghost
08. Pretty Spoon

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Viola Peacock - The Hangman's Beautiful Daughter (1996, Bedazzled)

Hard to believe, but it's taken me over a year to get around to following up my initial Viola Peacock entry from last summer.  At the time I remarked that this Ann Arbor, MI troupe had come to the table in 1995 bearing moderate dream pop inclinations, in keeping with one of their home states finest exports of the period, Majesty Crush.  Well, fast forward to 1996 for VP's first (and from what I gather only) proper full length, The Hangman's Beautiful Daughter, which illustrates the trio's desire to skew further into the vicinity of downer indie-rock, sans much of the woozy tremolo.  The result is an album with lengthier pieces (four surpassing the seven-minute mark in fact) and an unmistakably contemplative ethos.  If you're an aficionado of the droney, albeit tuneful soundscapes concocted by New Radiant Storm King, Sometime Sweet Susan, or even early Afghan Whigs, it would behoove you to give this a spin.  

01. The Big Slip
02. An Angel a Week
03. February
04. The City Behind Us
05. Burnt
06. Gael
07. Chemical Babies
08. Downtime
09. The Old Universe

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Revived links for Black Friday.

Your re-up requests have been coming at a fast and furious pace, but I aim to please.  Feel free to keep them coming.  Enjoy

Defenestration - Dali Does Windows and s/t ep
Sorry - The Way it Is
The Squares - Enjoy Yourself and Answer
V/A - Pure British Pop for Raw People Vols. 1 & 2
V/A - Diamonds and Porcupines 
Band of Susans - Blessing and Curse 
Polvo/New Radiant Storm King - split 7"
Splendor Head - Mirth
Swallow - s/t and Sourpuss
fig. 4 (Tobin Sprout) - s/t ep
Voodoo Gearshift - s/t
Get Smart! - Action
True Believers - Live, Harder... tape
Dreams So Real - Nocturnal Omissions, live in Charlotte 1988, Bearing Witness 7", interview promo tape
Young Officers Movement (pre-Dreams so Real) - 7"
Gigolo Aunts - Everybody Happy
V/A - Hotel Massachusetts 
V/A - Loud Ugly Pop
Tubetop - singles
Cinderblock - Greatest Hits
The Sneetches - Starfucker ep, Think Again ep, Sunnyside Down 7"
m.i.j. - 7" ep
Let's Active - Afoot demos & Cypress demos
Sheriff Jack - Let's Be Nonchalant ep 
Velvet Elvis - What in the World and s/t
Enuff Z' Nuff - demos
seade - (perf)
The Volcanos - s/t

Shelf Life 7" (199?, Cassiel)

I'm not sure what became of Shelf Life, if only due to the fact that I have no pertinent details on how/where they originated.  This single, apparently their lone release, doesn't even bear a copyright date, though a reasonable estimation is 1995/96. Nonetheless, it was a good era to be vending indie rock, and had Shelf Life stuck around for an album or two we might be remebering them in the same thought bubble as contemporaries New Radiant Storm King, The Multiple Cat and Raymond Brake.  I could go for a little more personalty here, but both sides still hit the spot with "Silver Lining" winning me over the most.  BTW Cassiel records was responsible for an early Mountain Goats single, and if you own it you've got a collector's item on your hands.

A. The Object
B. Silver Lining

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