X-Teens - Love and Politics (1984, Dolphin)

This isn't my first entry on the X-Teens, but it's likely to be the last, as I've exhausted the rest of their catalog previously.  As I've let on before, the X-Teens were a co-ed allotment from NC (Durham specifically) who fit in keenly with their respective era, without indulging too much in the gaudier affectations of it.  The Don Dixon-produced Love and Politics, while not wall-to-wall magic, is still the strongest thing they ever committed to tape, highlighting their penchant for plush, forward thinking power pop.  There are some near-perfect, ETC-endebted forays on Love... like side-A's robust trifecta of "Say it Isn't So," "Change Gotta Come," and "D.I.F.Y.," all thanks to guitarist Robert Bittle whose vocals are an uncanny dead ringer for Andy Partridge.  Kitty Moses gets her turn on the mic, delivering the stunning "All Day Long," and "Western Eyes," the latter a silky smooth ballad.  A really accomplished set of material, and it's unfortunate nothing by the X-Teens ever officially segued to the digital era.

01. Hostage of My Heart
02. All Day Long
03. Say it Isn't So
04. Change Gotta Come
05. D.I.F.Y.
06. Rain Rain Go Away
07. Western Eyes
08. Don't Listen to Him
09. You Belong With Me
10. Soaring
11. Kiss and Make-up Time
12. It Was Something

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X-Teens - s/t (1983, Dolphin)

Tarheel denizens the X-Teens weren't one of the most recognizable names on the Don Dixon/Mitch Easter production roster, but sonically they were one of the most indigenous.  The simple jangle and strum formula wouldn't quite suffice for this co-ed quartet, who instead opted for a kitschy spin on conventional new wave, substituting white-bread synths with a Wurlitzer organ (or at the very least a convincing imitation thereof).  On their 1983 self-titled disk, the band further filled out their charm offensive with a neurotic vocal approach, sardonically bordering on the maudlin when they saw fit.  From there it's all threaded together with a string of nimble, challenging arrangements, reconfiguring tidbits of XTC, B-52s, and occasionally even incorporating some of Devo's more wonky maneuvers along the way.  Side one predominately sticks to a relatively traditional pop premise, housing such jewels as "In Droves" and "Heaven in Your Eyes," while the Teens play it faster and much looser on side two of this affair.  More from the X-Teens to follow...

01. Nobody
02. In Droves
03. Tonight Tonight
04. Anyone Can
05. Baby John
06. Heaven in Your Eyes
07. Romper Rheumatism
08. Penny
09. Hard is a Love Departing
10. Nothing Left to Say
11. Emotion
12. Happy Again
13. Shift and Rotate
14. Cold War

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X-Teens - Big Boy's Dreams ep (1980, Moonlight)

I've been meaning to post this for awhile as a follow-up to the X-Teens LP I shared a good four years ago.  This co-ed NC five piece come armed with a Wurlitzer (or some stripe of organ) and boy, did they know how to wield that sucker!  The preceding Big Boy's Dreams ep is cut from even brighter cloth than the full length, kicking off with "Johnny's Having Fun," sounding like the love child of early Go Go's and Pointed Sticks.  "Fragile Beings" is another inviting slice of DIY wave, but by far and away the real prize here is "Venus," a primo power-poppy nugget with nods to X-Teens overseas contemporaries Elvis Costello and the Freshies.  What I wouldn't do to have a band of this caliber around today. 

01. Johnny's Having Fun
02. Fragile beings
03. In a Grey Circus
04. Venus
05. Big Boy's Dreams

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VA - Lessons From Little Hits, Part 2

Little Hits was an unrelated music blog that preceded mine, which largely dealt with left-off-the-dial indie rock obscurities circa the 1980s.  It left a substantial impression on me, so much so that I decided to throw my hat in the ring with Wilfully Obscure.  Last month I shared a self-curated compilation of some of the music I absorbed (or more accurately, downloaded) during Little Hits 2005-2009 lifespan.  At the time I promised two more L/H installments, so here goes with the second.

I won't make any bones about it.  This set is heavy-goes-it on the power pop side of the continuum, with juicy morsels courtesy of The Windbreakers, Shane Champagne, The Green, Marbles, and the X-Teens, most of whom I've yet to dedicate space to on my own pages, but by now I really should have.  There's punkier pop offerings from the likes of the Speedies, and Messthetics obscuros the Thin Yoghurts.  The Spliffs and Something Pretty Beautiful have the jangle bases covered, and New Zealand's Th' Dudes aren't far off that mark either, with their timelessly affecting signature tune, "Be Mine Tonight."  The Bird Nest Roys were another Kiwi delight, who should have made just as big a splash as the Chills if you ask me.  The Necessaries were a criminally overlooked New York troupe that I'm giving a little exposure to here (and maybe something more exhaustive in the future).  I'll leave the remainder of this roster strictly to your own interpretations.  For more background on Little Hits, and to experience the first installment in this three-part mini-series, see my original L/H post here.

Bird Nest Roys - Jaffa Boy
Died Pretty - Winterland
Marbles - Red Lights
Shane Champagne - Hold On to the Mystery
Something Pretty Beautiful - Expect a Miracle Today
Th’ Dudes - Be Mine Tonight
Green - Gotta Getta Record Out
The Maryland Cookies - Don't Lie To Me
Necessaries - Detroit Tonight
Speedies - Time
The Spliffs - You Know What They'll Say
Thin Yoghurts - Girl on the Bus
Windbreakers - Visa Cards and Antique Mirrors
X-Teens - Venus
Yo - Sun and Moon

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A slight case of underblogging - Best of the blog mix 2019.

It's cherry picking season again.  Here's my annual postmortem assemblage of the creme de la creme of what I just offered you a year prior.  A taster, or sampler if you will.  I'm really not sure if these yearly distillations are really hitting their desired audience (neophytes, stragglers, etc) or if I'm merely preaching to the choir.  At any rate, I've plucked 23 of the most succulent feathers from the wild array that was 2019.  As was the case in 2018, I've grown increasingly slack in the amount of shared content, and as such offered even less in the past year.  Turns out though that a decent chunk of what I managed to get up '19 was of particularly high caliber.

Thing was, I presented such a haphazard pastiche of styles and genres that it made sequencing this mix a bit of a bitch, but I think I pulled it off, beginning with a cluster of acts that loosely skewed to the power pop end of the spectrum.  Midway, I sort of hit a downcast stride with the emphasis on post-punk, but managed to conclude this playlist on a surprising note of levity.  I don't have an adequate amount of time to elaborate on individual cuts, though I plan on attaching links to the original artist entries later this weekend.  Included are three additional, previously unshared kernels that are noted with an asterisk.  One item not to be overlooked is that of a virtually unknown and unsearchable quantity, La Voix Celeste (circa 1983) who deliver the melancholic, minimalist wave piece "Phases," which doesn't just strive for mood, but a sublime hook as well.  This whole package concludes with one of my most listened to songs of the past couple years, a sleeper if there ever was one that you can read more about here.  Enjoy.

01. White Flag & Kim Shattuck - Dont Give It Away
02. NoNames - 1 2 3 Go!
03. X-Teens - All Day Long
04. Giddy'Up Einstein - Wasteland
05. Beat Feet - She's on Time
06. Start - Where I Want to Be
07. Signal Thirty - Wild With Me
08. The Big Picture - Poison Town
09. Honour Society - Ambition
10. Matt Finish - Fade Away
11. Monkey 101 - French Feelings
12. Popdefect - Can't Catch Up
13. The Necessaries - Back to You
14. Tirez Tirez - Razorblade
15. B Team - Right
16. DUSTdevils - Life Guarder
17. Actuel - Just Imagine
18. The Howl - Red is Red
19. La Voix Celeste - Phases*
20. Unity Station - History
21. Rarefaction - All the Broken Seams
22. The Expression - With Closed Eyes
23. Episode 1 - Maggie
24. The Dugites - Mama Didn't Warn Me
25. Koo De Tah - Body Talk*
26. Maria Takeuchi - Plastic Love*

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