Sunday, March 24, 2024

This could be so much different, but it never will.

Seattle indie rock from 1994. 

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The Stench - Crazy Moon (1989, Running)

Hailing from Salt Lake City, UT, The Stench were SLC punk by default, although the cult movie referencing the near-non existent scene in that sodium-ridden locale wasn't even a thing when this trio was in business.  There aren't many sources for me to link to online regarding this crew, who according to Discogs had several other releases under their belt. Crazy Moon skews heavily in the vicinity of what 7 Seconds were up to around the same time, and coincidently or not what the Goo Goo Dolls were dishing out on their first couple of albums. If there was a half-pipe or two situated in the Beehive State, The Stench would have provided an apt soundtrack given the gnarly skate-punk vibes coursing through morsels like "Tiny" and "Heart," each boasting considerable melodic chops. Moon is not without a few anomalies; "You Drive," a sensitive, albeit out-of-place ballad, and sequestered on side two a docile piano interlude, "Peacock."  The CD variation of the album offers a host of bonus tracks, which for whatever the reason I have no access to.

01. Downhill
02. Pocket
03. Tonight I Fall
04. Heart
05. Once So Close
06. You Drive
07. Tiny
08. Thoughts of Tomorrow
09. Peacock
10. Never Follow
11. Yesterday
12. Wrong

Sunday, March 17, 2024

Such a slow steady slide, takes away so much inside.

From 1980, bundled with a contemporary EP.

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Saturday, March 16, 2024

The Blackjacks - Basic Blackjacks ep (1984, Homestead)

Yet more Boston guitar-rawk bluster.  The Blackjacks suspiciously remind me of another Beantown bunch, the equally bar-busting Classic Ruins, right down to the vocals in fact. However these guys are slightly more forward-thinking (along the lines of a more pedestrian Jim Carroll Band) not to mention even more ribald and apolitically correct. I wouldn't refer to these gents as innovators, but goddamn they're super tight and occasionally catchy (see "Dreaming Of Saturday Again"). Elsewhere you might encounter some bluesy or roots rock seasoning, albeit nothing excessive.  Apparently there was a double CD-R compilation of all of their recordings, but I have yet to encounter it.

01. The Generic N.Y.C. Woman
02. Dreaming Of Saturday Again
03. Junk Train
04. The Black Jacks' Manifesto (The Sweet Smell Of Flowers)
05. My Home Town
06. Demon Lover

Friday, March 15, 2024

Exploding White Mice 7" (1988, Greasy/Festival)

Demi-legends in Australia's garage-punk underground, the Exploding White Mice often veered to sheer power-punk overdrive, a la the Ramones to careen their point home. The flip side, of this wax, "Without Warning" is a bruising illustration of this, with an intense, not to mention speedy crush of guitars and all-guns-blazing histrionics in general. "Fear (Late at Night)" doesn't induce quite as much whiplash, but nobody would mistake it for a ballad. EWM released four albums and just as many more singles/eps in their 1983-1999 lifespan, and even gained a little bit of traction in North America by the middle of their tenure, but to a certain extent many of their recordings have been tough to come by in the Western Hemisphere.  

A. Fear (Late at Night)
B. Without Warning

Sunday, March 10, 2024

I'm on my last brocade, I've been cautiously laid and constantly harmed.

From 2023. A return to this band's gritty roots.

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Saturday, March 9, 2024

The Texas Instruments - Magnetic Home (1993, Doctor Dream)

It's been awhile since I dedicated any meaningful space to the Texas Instruments.  About a decade and a half, and that's not an exaggeration.  I submitted their 1991 album Crammed Into Infinity way back in 2008. You might say the Instruments aren't a high echelon priority for me, but I enjoy what I've heard by them, albeit I still have some catching up to do regarding their output in the '80s.  At any rate, prior to hearing Magnetic Home for the first time, many of it's song titles struck me as a bit trite, even hackneyed.  Glad I didn't judge this book by it's cover though, because as with Crammed... this is another batch of earnest tunes that would have slotted in with anything populating college radio, say in the late-80s.  Vying for a similar aesthetic to what the Feelies achieved on Time For a Witness, T/I bore an appeal straightforward enough to have been embraced by a considerably lager audience, however the band's aplomb for sincerity and minor chords (not to mention career-long independent status) all but ensured they would never be adopted as the flavor-of-the-month.  Perhaps not an outright revelation, Magnetic Home, illustrates that these Austin, TX fixtures were worth every morsel of adulation their small but dedicated fanbase were gracious enough to bestow upon them.   

01. Hittin' it Hard
02. The Gift of Age
03. A Generation Beat Away
04. When i Found You
05. Don't Give YOur Life
06. Part of the Whole
07. Say Something
08. The Sweet Modern Word
09. Vision
10. Armagideon's Child
11. Magnetic Home

Sunday, March 3, 2024

I kicked around in the big bad world after you sold all my action figures...

From 2015.  This band's sixth but hopefully not final album.

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Saturday, March 2, 2024

The Swimming Pool Q's - The Firing Squad For God ep (1987, DB)

Occasionally I share music not based wholly on it's merits, rather on other surrounding factors. Though I'm an admirer of the Swimming Pool Q's I can't profess to being a mondo fanatic of them, yet I know I likely have a decent quotient of readers who in fact are more appreciative of these Atlanta than I'll ever be. Hence my motive in sharing this EP, given that it contains several selections, that to my knowledge, never made the transition to the digital era. The record's title track is a gaudy, effects-laden surge of mechanized, heavy-handed studio excess that only an era like the '80s could have been responsible for. Pretty off-putting in comparison to the Q's relatively humble preceding efforts, but sardonically amusing, not unlike their contemporaries in say, the Screaming Blue Messiahs. It's backed with four b-sides, including a dollop of instrumentals (or quasi variants thereof) pretty much all of which border on frivolous. "Working in a Nut Plant," dating from 1982, is a fully realized tune however, and I find it's the most rewarding and recommendable item this slab of wax has going for it. Enjoy.     

01. The Firing Squad For God
02. El Presidenté
03. Working in the Nut Plant
04. Hip-Hype
05. Represidenté

Friday, March 1, 2024

00-Spies - demo (1996)

Better known as Double Naught Spies, this L.A.-based quartet made minor ripples in their local power pop sphere, and managed to crank out two albums before calling it quits.  Despite being demos, these three tracks sound fully realized, on the more guitars-y side of the spectrum I might add, slotting in splendidly with the likes of Super Deluxe, Material Issue, Gigolo Aunts and even Redd Kross.  I don't have much more in the way of details to dispel on these guys, but if this is your trip, you'll be happy to know that the band's back catalog is available in essentially one fell swoop on Bandcamp.

01. Dandelion
02. Jupiter
03. Love Letter Bomb

Sunday, February 25, 2024

I'm alone with Lucifer...

From 1990.

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Tubular Face - An Acoustic Disturbance (1984, Closet)

Talk about music that was completely devoid of the prevailing norms of it's era.  Enter Tubular Face, a San Antonio, Texas duo (Mike Escamilla and Gilbert Garcia) whose homegrown, DIY penchant didn't have a stitch in common with say, A Flock of Seagulls or even ZZ Top (though I've read the band was in cahoots with Daniel Johnston).  T/F didn't stay hemmed-in to any one particular style, and while some of this record is in fact acoustic, some of the more enticing selections (check out bookends "Movie Star" and "Change My World") are plugged in and all the better for it. An Acoustic Disturbance is intermittently mellow, boasting lo-fi folk inclinations, and at other times idiosyncratic with some downright tweaked interludes.  If anything else, you'd swear this album was cut in the mid-'70s, as it's 1984 copyright date is somewhat deceptive. Interesting and occasionally intriguing stuff.

01. Movie Star
02. Two Feet of Snow
03. Circle
04. Macho Muchacho
05. Big Sister
06. Apocalypse Now
07. Nerve Gas Party
08. My House
09. Everything Will Work Out Fine
10. It's Almost Over
11. The Oppressor
12. If There's Anything I Can Do
13. Echo of a Scream
14. A Dream Shared by Two
15. Change My World

Sunday, February 18, 2024

Being this month's model is the best, but you change your mind and heart like you change your dress.

From 1981. This L.A. institution's oft overlooked third album.

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Mystery Date - Zoom 7" (1985, Twilght)

Yet another single I've only been able to procure via ones and zeros. Despite not owning a physical copy, I know that Mystery Date (who were one of numerous bands with the same moniker - go figure) were Georgia denizens, possibly from the oft-noted Athens.  Beyond boasting some serious post-punk angularities, whether they were conscious of the fact or not, M/D were prescient enough to forecast the riot-grrrl movement, a dam that would all but burst in the not-too-distant future.  Sonically, they emanated a similar pigment to another Peach State cadre, Pylon, right down to some intermittently gruff vocal chops. Mystery Date bore a dazzling moxie, that for whatever the reason was never parlayed into a full-length.  

A. Zoom
B. Pink Ribbons

Tuesday, February 13, 2024

Stone Telling - s/t (1994, Network Sound)

Some mixed feelings on this one, which I've flirted with sharing almost since I started this page in 2007. So what took so long?  Not quite sure, perhaps the timing.  Stone Telling sound a bit dated three decades after the fact.  Too melodic and accessible for straight-up hardcore, yet thematically, too contemplative and thoughtful to label pop-punk...albeit not any obvious stripe of emo either. With a somewhat regrettably over-processed guitar tincture this Southern Cali quartet slotted in sonically with Dag Nasty circa Field Day with less memorable songs and no bona-fide anthems to speak ok. That said, this is still a genuinely consistent listen, and these fellows exude little to be embarrassed of.  Go into this with measured expectations, and if you're anything like me you might come away from it pleasantly surprised.

01. Disappear Here
02. Easy
03. Reach
04. Almost Again
05. For Times
06. Always
07. Nothing Lasts
08. Shine
09. Every Breath

Sunday, February 11, 2024

Life’s a messy table and someone’s gotta clear it.

A debut from 1999. The creator of this has album repeatedly disavowed it, but I still find it endearing.

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Sunday, February 4, 2024

It's secession time, paid for by cutting backwards.

Hard to believe this album is 30 years-old this week!  Could be my top pick of 1994.  

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Saturday, February 3, 2024

Tanjent Image – Suranland ep (1988, Nebula)

Here's a bygone Detroit-area quintet to rock your weekend. Tanjent Image strike an impressive visage on this stimulating four-song platter, representing the one-and-done entry in their petite discography. Mouthpiece Reed Richard bears similarities to Peter Murphy, but his approach is considerably less pious, and the resemblance is likely a coincidence. The one brief online reference I found for these guys corralled TI into the goth ghetto, though I find that inaccurate. These dudes were about as brooding as say, The Cult and would have fit splendidly on a bill with hometown mates The Orange Roughies, who I know for a fact were a going concern around the same time. Sort of post-punk-lite exploring serious themes, often pondering spirituality with nary any religious overtones. Not exactly the most original shtick for their era, yet a solid thumbs-up nonetheless.

01. Suranland
02. Faith
03. One Nation
04. Anytime

Thursday, February 1, 2024

Broom - Tranquility Forest 7" (1993, Echonet)

What a splendid blind purchase this turned out to be!  A coed San Francisco treat who roamed the Earth between 1989-93, I don't think I was even aware of Broom's existence until I came across this 45.  The A-side, "Tranquility Forest" is a sheer delight, the kind of lo-fi gem that contemporary east-coasters like early Versus or some upstart hopeful on say Simple Machine Records might have concocted. Slight and rough hewn, with oodles of intermediate charm and fuzzy analogue hues course through virtually every nanosecond of this keeper.  The flip, "Carpet" isn't quite as convincing, nonetheless still adequate, with a less-tuneful gentleman on the mic as opposed to the fairer sex fronting the aforementioned "Tranquility."  The only other proper Broom release was a preceding 1992 single. in 2015 Patterns and Tones blog offered a thorough interview with members Steven Brown and Eric Bluhm where it was revealed that guitarist Roxanne Rodriguez passed away in 2003.

A. Tranquility Forest
B. Carpet

Sunday, January 28, 2024

I could probably learn a thing or two about how to become unglued.

From 2013. For fans of The Drums (the band), or for that matter The Smiths.

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Saturday, January 27, 2024

The Elementals - Selling Out Big Time (1988, Gardenhose)

I don't have much info to go on regarding this Canuck trio, whose 1988 platter may have been the only release to their name. While not revelatory it's still generally satisfying in that left-of-the-dial manner, occasionally a little too color-by-numbers for their own good.  Some tangential R.E.M.-isms, and even a few subtle folk-pop maneuvers are palpable, albeit The Elementals were hardly inclined to strive for anything esoteric or even artsy here. Would love to have heard what a hypothetical follow-up to Selling Out... might have amounted to, because as promising as this wax was The Elementals hadn't necessarily "arrived" yet, so to speak. 

01. Huh, You Got It
02. Out on a Llama
03. World in Pieces 
04. Find Me a Place
05. Won't You
06. Toys and Dolls
07. Hummana Hummana 
08. G-Sharp Sideways

Sunday, January 21, 2024

Mrs. America why did you do this to us?

A 1986 compilation that was a high school staple for me.

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Sunday, January 14, 2024

Just give that rhythm everything you got.

A recent reissue of a 1980 album that should have cast a wider net.

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The Verlaines - You're Still Too Obscure For Me

Howdy.  If it seems I've been cutting back on posts even more lately there's a reason for that. I'm dealing with some unexpected health issues and could be for some time to come. In addition to taking care of myself I'm going to try to get to digitizing some more vinyl and/or tapes later this week.  

For now I'm offering a fan-curated mix tape of sorts by one of Dunedin, New Zealand's finest, The Verlaines. Not an official release by any stretch of the imagination, this 17-song set focuses on deeper album tracks, b-sides, alternate versions, and even Graeme Downes solo material. If you're unfamiliar with the band, particularly early halcyon-era albums like Hallelujah - All The Way Home, this is an enlightening, if a bit haphazard spot to dive in. Enjoy.

01. Crisis After Crisis
02. You Cheat Yourself Of Everything That Moves (new version)
03. Angela 
04. It Was Raining
05. Makes No Difference
06. Take Good Care Of It
07. Only Dream Left
08. Jesus What a Jerk
09. The Funnest Thing
10. It Was
11. Gloom Junky
12. Some Fantasy
13. Cattle, Cars, And Chainsaws [Graeme Downes]
14. Sunday Kickaround [Graeme Downes]
15. It's Easier To Harden A Broken Heart (Than Mend It)
16. Paratai Drive
17. A Call From Decades Past

Tuesday, January 9, 2024

...and when your metal seeker shines I will avoid its hungry beam.

Welcome to Mystery Tuesday everyone. We've got a live one from '07.

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