No clue.

Jangly (sorta) dream pop from 2008. 

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

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Long awaited re-ups, plus, watch this space!

It's been awhile since I've tended to dead links, so here we go again, based on your requests.  Check this post later again this coning week for some additional links, and feel free to make a request or two.  Thanks!

Swallow - S/T and Sourpuss
Senseless Things - Empire of the Senseless
Versus - Let's Electrify! ep (MP3 or FLAC)
Crash - Everything Under the Sun
Material Issue - Issues Vol. 3
Wondermints - 1988 demos
Off Broadway - live 1980 and unreleased
John Wicks & The Records - Rock'ola
Facecrime - Sex & Revolution ep
Modern Minds - compilation cd
The Flys - Waikiki Beach Refugees and Own
Cheticamp - Aeroplane Vs. Automobile
Inner Sleeves - End it All 7"
Marnies - Electric Wire 7"
Outside World - tape
Baxters - Era Buffet
Eurogliders - Pink Suit Blue Day
Phantom Planet - rarities
V/A - Children of Nuggets - Discs 1, 2, 3, 4
V/A - Give Me the Cure  
V/A - Iowa Compilation Vol 1 & Vol 2
V/A - Punk USA
V/A - Austin, TX "So What" Tribute to the Replacements
The Gloria Record - Grace the Snow is Here 7"
Poi Dog Pondering - 8 Songs Tape
Outrageous Cherry - Stereo Action Rent Party
Lovers Under Pressure - The Elvis Years and Island tape
Eleventh Dream Day - s/t ep
Gaunt - Whitey the Man ep
Marshal Fields - EP
Virgin Release (pre-Marshal Fields) - Turn it Down 7"
14 Iced Bears - In the Beginning
Sand Rubies - Release the Hounds
The Misstakes - National Pastime
Datura Seeds - Who Do You Want it to Be? and S&P 
Junk Monkeys - Firehouse, Kick out the Jelly, Five Star Fling, Bliss
I Can Crawl - Desert
Go Four 3 - Six Friends
Swing Set - Life Speeds Up
Glass Eye - Marlo and Huge
Epic Rumors - The Feral Child
Enemies in the Grass - Blind Crossing ep & 7"
Human Television - demos
say-so - 1986 demo
American Standard - Wonderland and Trial Size 7"
Chopper - 4play ep and s/t LP
The Sneetches - Sunnyside Down 7"
Naiomi's Hair - Tara and Bag Truck tape
Overflow - The Worm 7"
Oversoul Seven - Fool Revelation and S/T
Lilys - A Brief History... ep and Services...ep
Bangtails - Hypnotic Downpour ep
Heliotroupe - Anything Under the Sun
Fat Tulips - Starfish
Get Smart - Words Move 7" and Action Reaction
The Side Effects - s/t ep
V/A - Enigma Variations 2
Alternate Learning (ALRN) - s/t ep and Painted Windows
The Edsel Auctioneer - Voice of the Harolds, Simmer, Slouch 7"
Study of the Lifeless - s/t LP
Poole - two eps
JFA - Nowhere Blossoms 
The Reels - s/t LP
Twice Shy - All the Right Noises
Two Helens - Reflections in Red
Notekillers - Zipper 7" 

Crumbs of Insanity - Spiral Stare tape (1989)

For a change I decided not to make you wait until Friday for some new tunes.  It didn't hurt that I had this one digitized and ready to go.  My initial draw to these Buffalo suburbanites was the involvement of one Mark Freeland (R.I.P.), a unique and talented savant-garde multimedia artist who made several records under his own name in the '80s-'90s.  It wasn't until I looked at Crumbs of Insanity's roster on the cassette inlay that I learned Freeland merely played percussion in this particular combo.  Nonetheless, not a regrettable purchase, albeit not the essence of what the man was responsible for. 

The Crumbs were actually spearheaded by Dave Rapp, whose parlance vaguely hovered in the vicinity of Boy George at times.  No shortage of hedonism is implied on these five cuts, with the Crumbs stopping short of any frivolous maneuvers.  Decked out in a white-boy, Caribbean melange of reggae-lite and new wave inklings (maybe a hint of Haircut 100 on "Keys"), I'm not sure what the band's ultimate objective was, or even if there were other releases surrounding this one.  World domination wasn't in the cards I'm afraid. Some of the material here strikes me as a tad underwritten, but I'm generally not apt to complain about what I'm hearing, particularly on side one (selections 1-3).  At some point I'll indulge you with some of Mark Freeland's proper studio delectation's.

01. Great Fire
02. Sentimental Drifter
03. Keys
04. Waves of Love
05. Lame Duck

https://www21.zippyshare.com/v/EeKy14Xc/file.html

Oil tankers and the National Guard...

From 2000.  This artist's only proper album outside of soundtracks and scores.  Some say it's a classic.

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

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Stealer - s/t (1982)

The album jacket depicted to your left may strike you as either innocuous, or perhaps even slightly off-putting.  Nothing about it screams "indie" or "post-punk, or in fact anything particularly visionary.  In some respects these assumptions are right on the money as Stealer were not indie kids, punk, or on the cutting edge of much of anything.  In fact, the foursome in question were marketed as hard rock and AOR.  Probably not the most enticing of musical propositions, and hardly the stuff of this blog's aesthetics, as it were.  "Hard rock," especially the pedestrian variety thereof, reeks of stock riffs, unimaginative FM playlists, antiseptic arenas, and all-too familiar themes of love, partying, and blue collar concerns.  Yet once in awhile I'll stumble across a forgotten hopeful of this ilk that stands out from the pack just enough to perk my ears up, and in this case even get me a little stoked. 

Stealer were major label casualties (we can thank MCA for the hiring/firing) who issued this lone self-titled platter.  While firmly in the AOR mold, the band (whose whereabouts remain unknown) had a stronger melodic prowess than the brunt of their competition.  Bearing a loose resemblance to early Loverboy/Foreigner with occasional tinges of Cheap Trick, their flirtations with power-pop aren't as frequent as I'd prefer them to be, but I'll gladly take what I'm hearing on "Never Again," "If You Want Me" and "Your Heart Will Burn."  If it's more meat and potatoes hard rock you're craving the opening "On My Own Again" is a screamingly obvious (should've-been) airwaves anthem," and the even hotter second song in, "E.S.P." is a punchy, melodic gut check that genuinely outdid anything along the aforementioned Loverboy/Foreigner continuum, tame as that may sound to many of you.  The only bum item on Stealer is the concluding "Johnny," which regrettably could pass for a limp Bad Company ballad.

Compared to say, any of my Big Star, Husker Du, or Posies entries, Stealer may rank as a comparatively low priority, but I wouldn't be making it available for consumption if I couldn't vouch for it.  Go into this one with an open mind and you'll be pleasantly surprised.  Btw, pickings are woefully slim online for shedding any relevant light on this one.  Best I could find were an album critique and a thread on a hard rock forum. 

01. On My Own Again
02. E.S.P.
03. If You Want Me
04. Ready or Not
05. Never Again
06. I've Got to Fight
07. Hold Tight
08. Your Heart Will Burn
09. Tell Me It's Love
10. Johnny

https://www97.zippyshare.com/v/Hav4cF0E/file.html

Elton Motello - Pop Art 7" (1980, Passport)

Elton Motello was the stage name of Alain Ward, and somewhat confusingly it was also the name of his band in total.   The UK-based Ward kicked off his career in a glam/punk combo, Bastard, before taking up the Motello mantle in 1978, a year which saw the release of their debut long player, Victim of Time.  That album's follow-up Pop Art, came down the pike two years later and also spawned a single of the same name.  The 45 in question served as my intro to E/M, and after surveying the deft chops and somewhat sardonic modus operandi of the A-side, I'd put Ward in the same league as B.A. Roberston, Donnie Iris and for that matter, Bram Tchaikovsky.  In short, a frontman brimming with character and sass, the likes of which we're in dreadfully short supply of these.  The flip, "20th Century Fox" isn't the Doors song, rather another cheeky original with a mildly grandiose sweep, a la something Motello's contemporaries The Motors might have turned in had they not been so straight-faced.  There's a lot of music floating around the halls of Wilfully Obscure, and amidst my numerous stacks and racks I may have the Pop Art LP I spoke of a moment ago, so who knows, maybe that one will materialize on here later.  Feel free to imbibe this two-songer for now.

A. Pop Art
B. 20th Century Fox

https://www54.zippyshare.com/v/i3L5ZqJa/file.html

I can't explain what I can't see.

This band's 1979 fourth album was almost as classic and gratifying as their first three.  Almost.

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

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The And - Day (1997, J-Bird)

With their origins dating back to the mid-80s, even then in the pre-search engine era, I'd think it a fools errand for any band to dub themselves with such an indistinguishable moniker as...The And.  Really, do you mean to tell me all the good band names were claimed by 1983 when these Wisconsinites released their first 45? Needless to say, uncovering any pertinent knowledge regarding this band was close to an impossibility, save for their Discogs page linked above.  Day's copyright date is 1997, and none other than Butch Vig is listed as producer for half of these songs.  Several of the titles on Day overlap with their Reagan-era singles.  The problem is I can't decipher if we're getting the 80s versions of "How Busy is He?," "Role Models" and "Marshmallow Through a Keyhole," or re-recordings of them.  The latter (and more satisfactory) portion of the album skews towards the aforementioned songs with "How Busy.." sounding like something Off Broadway USA might have conjured up.  Just the kind of skinny-tie power pop MTV might have aired at 3 AM, and ditto for "Who Do You Kiss."  "Marshmallow..." is a synthy confection that's also worth the price of admission.  Elsewhere, The And hop around from resembling a competent bar band to Big Country, with each of their tunes boasting something of a unique persona.  As you might surmise, "I Fall to Pieces" is the Patsy Cline number, with the band doing a fairly robust read of it at that - a lot more fun than Screeching Weasel's rendering of it I might add.  Finally, I track ten on this CD is mysteriously omitted from the track list on the tray card. Enjoy.

01. I Fall to Pieces
02. The World Ain't Round
03. Your Wish (Is My Desire)
04. Heart Fall Away
05. She's Not Alone
06. Marshmallow Through a Keyhole
07. Role Models
08. Hide Your Eyes
09. Who Do You Kiss
10. (title not provided)
11. How Busy is He?

https://www9.zippyshare.com/v/cD2vhT9c/file.html

Rarefaction - Modern Man mLP (1986, Jaffa)

Yet another cold case, a Canadian one to be exact.  Despite the noir album jacket, Rarefaction were relatively conventional practitioners of snyth-n-guitars modern rock.  More new wave than indie, but despite a lack of mystique still pretty appealing.  At their most stimulating this five-piece resemble what the Comsat Angels were attempting around the same time (think, 7 Day Weekend-era).  "Open Up Your Heart," "All the Broken Seams," and the title cut are all fairly exemplary, and even when they stumble occasionally on Modern Man, I can't think of anything egregious enough going on here to dissuade you from giving this a whirl or two.

01. I Dreamt
02. Open Up Your Heart
03. Ordinary Man
04. Abstract Minds
05. All the Broken Seams
06. Night Crawler
07. You In Me

https://www72.zippyshare.com/v/V2XsYzBI/file.html

You want a better risk?

Artful and immersive indie rock from 2015.  I love the sound of a band stewing in their own creative juices.

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

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Tappi Tíkarrass - Miranda (1983) (feat. Björk, pre-Sugarcubes!)

Of all the records I've shared that I don't possess a physical copy of this is certainly one of the rarest.  Tappi Tikarrass was the band Björk Guðmundsdóttir's (yes she has a last name too) joined before going onto international renown in the Sugarcubes.  If you've ever wanted to hear her as a wee little tyke, or at least in her mid-teens, dive in.  Singing entirely in Icelandic, Björk wasn't TT's original frontwoman, but to my knowledge she sings on all recordings made with the group.  Not as avant as the Sugarcubes or even nearly as shriek-y, Tappi Tikarrass were surprisingly diverse - not straight up punk (albeit borderline at moments) or boilerplate new wave, yet defiantly left of center.  There's nervy aggression aplenty (e.g. "Skrið" and "Drek-Lek") but just as much, if not more residing on the opposite side of the coin with "Íþróttir" and "Get Ekki Sofið" damn-near approaching the tenor of ballads, particularly that first one.  Personally, I prefer this coed troupe when they stake out a middle ground (or sorts).  "Beri-Beri" and "Kríó" are the choicest specimens in that realm, the first being a delightful stab at disco-lite wave pop, with "Kríó" angling in the vicinity of the B-52s of all things.  Wow.  The first 13 tracks comprise the Miranda album proper while the remainder are derived from unknown sources.  Found a fairly spot-on critique of this record here with more background details than what I've revealed in this relatively paltry write-up.  There also a batch of early 'cubes demos that I offered way back when that you're welcome to revisit. 

01. Miranda
02. Skrið
03. Kríó
04. Íþróttir
05. Tjet
06. Lækning
07. Drek-Lek
08. Beri-Beri
09. Hvítibjörn
10. Sokkar
11. Með-Tek
12. Get Ekki Sofið
13. Mýrin Andar
14. Afi (Björgvin Gíslason)
15. Worlds Collapse (Bless)
16. Yonder (Bless)

https://www47.zippyshare.com/v/9rWc2L7Y/file.html

Dr. Phibes & The House Of Wax Equations - Whirlpool (1991, 50 Seel Street)

When I plucked this one off the bargain rack, I was reasonably given the impression the band in question was Whirlpool...but upon further examination I was several syllables off.  By all accounts (namely the one I was able to peruse courtesy of the Guardian), Britain's long since departed Dr. Phibes & The House Of Wax Equations were something of a force of nature to witness live.  For most of us however, two scarcely distributed indie albums will have to suffice, Whirlpool being the first of them.  It would seem much has been made of their psych leanings, albeit Dr. Phibes sidestepped the whole Madchester miasma completely, and didn't bear much in common with the Spacemen 3, or even glorious drone merchants Loop.  No, the Phibes vibe was more in tune with the architecture of say, the Family Cat or Compulsion, with less pop appeal mind you.  Epic length ventures abound on Whirlpool, but the overarching effect isn't the stuff of drug-induced profundity so much as clangy, amped-out indie rock.  Guitarist/frontman Howard King Jr. makes for a throaty mouthpiece, yet "Mr Phantasy" and "When Push Comes to Shove" offer ample evidence that when emphasis is expended on melody his trio transcends the power quotient for something genuinely poignant.  As much as I wish there more tunes like the aforementioned populating Whirlpool, it's hard to knock Dr. Phibes enveloping sonic prowess.  A second album, Hypnotwister dropped in 1993. 

01. Eye Am the Sky
02. Marshmallow Madness
03. Mr Phantasy
04. Mirrors
05. When Push Comes to Shove
06. Dovetail
07. Dreaming (Insomnia)
08. Sugarblast
09. Eye Am the Sky

https://www52.zippyshare.com/v/oiOQa9ZD/file.html

There ain't no asylum here.

An ingenious covers album that just may encourage you to check out some of her originals.





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

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Calling it a week.

Realistically, I won't be posting again until Monday morning.  Keep yourselves amused in the meantime.  👽

A brief review - Those Pretty Wrongs - Zed for Zulu (2019, Burger) & Rob Laufer - The Floating World (2019)

The title of Those Pretty Wrong's second LP, Zed for Zulu, is a nod to something known as the NATO phonetic alphabet (which in 2002 Wilco finagled the same cultural reference to their Yankee Hotel Foxtrot album, but I digress).  The music enshrined within the record is decidedly less esoteric however.  The Memphis by way of L.A. duo TPW was initiated in 2012 when ex-Big Star drummer/Ardent Studios figurehead Jody Stephens and ex-Freewheelers frontman Luther Russell worked on the Big Star documentary, Nothing Can Hurt Me.  The collaboration on the movie inadvertently parlayed into a music outlet of their own, Those Pretty Wrongs, and an album of the same name followed in 2016.  Despite their setup as a duo, TPW subscribe to an insular aesthetic, one which often angles in the vicinity of forlorn, loner folk more than angsty rock.

Abundant throughout this album, Stephens and Russell can't help but echo Big Star's quieter traipses (think #1 Record's "Watch the Sunrise,"on Zed's "Tonight, Tonight, Tonight).  In fact, "Tonight..." even evokes shades of Chris Bell's "You And Your Sister," but generally speaking, the Wrongs opt for a discernibly genteel and straightforward tact, more in tandem with say, early CSN&Y and even Nick Drake than Chilton and Bell's idiosyncratic calling cards. In fact, the going on Zed has a tendency to veer a little too plaintive, flirting with songwriting so linear that it's hard not to predict the latter half of certain couplets.  If anything else, Stephens and Russell compensate with alternating tempos and moods imbuing somber tones to the doleful "Hurricane of Love," and "Life Below Zero," while applying comparatively lighthearted strokes to buoyant "Undetow," and even manage to flex some power pop musculature on "You and Me."  Zed for Zulu's benign tenor lends itself to a breezy, afternoon sway in the hammock, providing the pillow to comfort our collective aching heads in the Trump-era.  You can pre-order it straight from Burger Records or Amazon.

People are fickle about singer-songwriters, especially ones they're wholly unfamiliar with.  This is precisely why so many of them get lost in the shuffle.  Hopefully that isn't the case with Rob Laufer, who actually isn't a newcomer, rather he's taken an extended coffee break (since 2010's Excruciating Bliss to be exact).  His belated latest, The Floating World is his fifth album, and whether virgin ears mistake it as a debut or otherwise, it makes for an often stunning introduction.

Bearing a vocal aplomb that's passable at times to Fountains of Wayne's Chris Collingwood, Laufer's music isn't the stuff of topical, white-collar power pop.  More to the point, he's a sophisticated songsmith with musical chops and an arranging acumen that's anything but everyday.  You won't find much in the way of extremes wafting through this Floating World, though there are nuances aplenty.  "Bolt of Blue" and "Space and Time" are a pair of deftly crafted, up-tempo numbers, bustling with brisk rhythms and substantive prose that split the difference between groove and infectiously melodic prowess.  The denser "As Long As You Belong" richly channels George Harrison by way of Laufer's equally proficient contemporaries Rhett Miller and Jason Falkner, while the pedal steel accented "Highway Machine" is contemplatively bittersweet.  And if it's a consoling comedown you're craving the piano-ballad title track is the type of catharsis this beleaguered world should all get on board for.  The Floating World drops on August 23rd, and will be available from Bandcamp, iTunes, and Amazon.

Woke up screaming, god I hope I'm not bleeding.

Debut from 1993.  I've never been able to figure out why, but it seems as if everything this band ever committed to tape has been lauded in one circle or another...except this album.  No complaints here.

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

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The Dugites - s/t (1980, Deluxe)

Damn where had this band been my whole life?  Um, try Perth, Australia circa the late '70s/early '80s before I was really paying attention to music.  All legit rationale for ignorance aside, the co-ed Dugites were a better-late-than-never discovery, who I just happened to stumble upon while browsing someone's file list on my fave peer-to-peer, Soulseek.  Lynda Nutters straddled the mic for this ace new-wavey quintet over the course of three records, this being the first. She conveys an ever so faint hint of '60s girl-group kitsch to the Dugites formula, but writ large they struck a delectable merger of synth and power pop.  Blondie are an obvious (and frankly lazy) comparison, but Nutters and her compatriots (including keyboardist Peter Crosbie, whom she was married to for a period) were not tarted up, nor was the band particularly in-your-face, so to speak.  At least for this particular record, the emphasis was on tunes, and immaculately catchy ones at that, chockablock with indelible hooks, buoyancy and charm for kilometers.  "In Your Car," "Goodbye," and "Mama Didn't Warn Me," are all par excellence examples of  The Dugites chosen pop niche for their now bygone era, and the land down under was all the richer for it.  Am really grateful to have encountered this one.  Rock on Vinyl blog provides a more exhaustive diatribe on this record than I have, and are even offering a lossless FLAC rip of it. 

01. In Your Car
02. South Pacific
03. Mama Didn't Warn Me
04. Goodbye
05. Gay Guys
06. 13 Again
07. No God, No Master
08. No One Would Listen
09. Amusing
10. Six Weeks

https://www34.zippyshare.com/v/gwkTEpm7/file.html

David Marko & The Trade - My Baby's A Piranha & Other Selected Love Songs (1982, McClintick)

Despite it's strikingly miscellaneous cover art, this record boasted significantly more definition than I was expecting.  The name David Marko & The Trade has the ring of a power pop band, and indeed this trio is guilty as charged, albeit I don't think these guys slotted in too comfortably with the skinny tie brigade.  If anything they hail the old school here, as so much of ...Piranha is steeped in the first couple of Raspberries albums, early Rubinoos, and perhaps even the Scruffs.  Marko and Co. emanate a rather wholesome vibe, screeching just shy of a precious halt on the winsome "Hold Me" and "The Last to Know."  The beefier "Eden Again" is more in line with this disk's '82 copyright, but when all is said and done these guys were classicists who never really intended to rock the boat.  David Marko & The Trade are virtual no-shows on the search engines, and their whereabouts are an unknown quantity.  Perhaps my copy of this album was missing an insert?  Enjoy.

01. Maybe Baby
02. radio
03. Hold Me
04. I Think I Love You
05. Leave Me Alone
06. The Last to Know
07. Eden Again
08. Her Song
09. Kathy Ann
10. Love Me Tonight

https://www9.zippyshare.com/v/uZ2Fls3Y/file.html

Anything you wanna do, and she'll do it like a fool...

A recent reissue of a 1993 classic, though I think I appreciate the original mix more.

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

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Guided by Voices - Waterloo Records in-store, 04/12/01

Yet another tidbit from a band we've given plenty of HEED to over the years.  And I thought today would be appropriate to share this given the unfortunate #daytonstrong theme we're forced to grapple with (even though this is a non-Ohio performance).  This one is fairly straightforward - a fully electric in-store, Isolation Drills-era performance at the most renown music outlet in Austin, TX, Waterloo Records.  Robert Pollard and Co. sound right, tight and refreshingly sober.  Arguably the peak of the non-classic lineup era of GBV, though a couple of obligatory '90s classics round out the set.  The taper neglected to get to Waterloo immediately as the band commenced, hence the partial version of "Run Wild" at the beginning.  Am making this available in it's original FLAC rip as well as downsized MP3.

01. Run Wild (partial) 
02. Skills Like This
03. Chasing Heather Crazy 
04. Pivotal Film 
05. Teenage FBI 
06. Glad Girls 
07. Brides Have Hit Glass 
08. Game Of Pricks
09. I Am A Scientist

MP3  and  FLAC

Material Issue - What Girls Want promo ep (1992)

This is one of those weeks where I simply don't have an abundance of stuff prepped, but in the interim there's this.  A quick three-song promo released contemporaneously with Material Issue's sophomore album, Destination Universe.  The single, "What Girls Want" pales slightly when stacked against International Pop Overthrows now ubiquitous anthems, yet still thoroughly rocks.  That wah-wah effect on the guitars won't quit - not that you'd realistically want it to.  It's followed up by an exclusive non-LP cover of Grand Funk's "Bad Time, which i actually had more fun with than the original.  This shorty ep closes things out with an acoustic rendition of one of Destination's deeper cuts, "Next Big Thing."

This is one came packaged in a gatefold CD sleeve, and much to my dismay, the clerk at the store I obtained this from affixed a very stubborn price sticker right atop Jim Ellison's head.  I removed as much of it as I could, but still obviously blemished.

01. What Girls Want
02. Bad Time
03. Next Big Thing (acoustic)

https://www48.zippyshare.com/v/F7zlXeKu/file.html

A brief review - Chip & Tony Kinman - Sounds Like Music (2019, Omnivore)

If the monikers Chip Kinman and his brother Tony Kinman don't instantaneously flood your memory bank that wouldn't come as a shock (to me anyway).  Perhaps the names of some of their musical projects of yore would ring a bell, specifically The Dils, Rank and File, and Blackbird.  The Kinman brothers (including the sadly and recently departed Tony) were the driving force behind all three combos, not to mention an even lesser-known fourth, Cowboy Nation.  You'd think that a newly minted,  22-song compilation spanning the Kinman's quadruple-decade career would offer a comprehensive overview of their handiwork - and you'd be right...sort of.  Omnivore Record's Sounds Like Music is indeed a compendium of the duo in question, though it does not highlight "hits" (there weren't any) or career milestones (quite a few in fact), rather the emphasis is entirely on outtakes, demos, and unreleased curios.

Splitting vocal duties, Chip on guitar and Tony on the guitar with fewer strings cut their teeth in the late '70s in The Dils, an L.A. area punk trio who's minimalist and succinct approach yielded an equally scant discography, so brief (say eight songs) it might as well have fit inside a thimble.  Two singles and an EP was about the size of it to be exact, but despite the brevity of the Dils output they were responsible for bona fide nervy rants like, "Mr Big" and "I Hate the Rich," that have become nothing short of classics to punk connoisseurs.  In fact, the Dils cupboard was so damn lean, only one song by them is represented here, "Folks Say Go," a bouncy 1977 ditty, that's explores a slightly different wavelength than those aforementioned bratty and cutting 45s.

Their next endeavor, the Austin, TX-based Rank and File would become their most renown and commercially viable.  Operating almost solely on a roots/cowpunk continuum, Rank and File churned out three highly consistent albums in the '80s, all of which were infinitely more sophisticated than the Dils - then again that's not the most even comparison given the two groups divergent agendas.  Interestingly enough however, Rank and File began on a punk premise, not country.  Sounds Like Music enlightens us with two examples of the first-blush R&F sound few of us even knew existed via the band's theme song (of sorts), and the careening but melodious basher "Citizen."  Immensely revealing stuff and damn-near worth the price of admission alone.  Naturally, power chords and bratty ethos weren't what Rank and File would become renown for, so if you're looking to graze more familiar pastures, Sounds... offers four more rarities by the band in question in keeping with their twangier reputation.

If any of Chip and Tony's affiliated projects dominates this compilation, it's Blackbird, who check in with thirteen accredited numbers.  Typically, Blackbird was the most non-descript of their ventures, and in some respects left the smallest legacy - despite enjoying a brief tenure on a major label in the early '90s.  This post-Rank and File operation eschewed the bulk of the Dils/R&F's warmer, analog hues placing the emphasis on keyboards...and an omnipresent drum machine that grated on my nerves, particularly when absorbed in heavy doses.  Top this off with intermittently contrived vocals and an overarching tenor that bordered on impersonal, and voila, Blackbird comes swooping down for an oblique landing.  Nonetheless, there are melodic constructs tucked inside this band's lightweight industrial drone (check out the poignant "Old Paint"). "Dope," which tangentially channels the Doors "Twentieth Century Fox," is another minor saving grace, but the sheer amount of material presented by this idiosyncratic foray has a tendency to clash with the more earnest offerings by the Dils, Rank and File, and finally...

Cowboy Nation, who had the distinction of being the only Kinman studio entity (that we know of) to record music in the current millennium.  Three albums to be exact, all very much under the radar, skewing considerably closer to Rank and File's penchant, but with more of a traditional country flavor.  Then again, "traditional" wasn't exactly a watchword for the Kinman clan.  Two C/N songs made the cut for Sounds..., an alternate take of the galloping, bilingual "Paniolo," and another swift hoedown, "Rebel," a deep cut fleshed out with equally deep vocals.  Going into this album, I had no familiarity with Cowboy Nation, but I'm compelled to dig deeper.

Despite this being the only release on the market to span the arc of Chip and Tony Kinman's entire career, I should note again that it's not a best of or anthology, rather an outtakes compendium.  In essence, Sounds Like Music is geared towards existing clientele, but it's bound to parallel as a jumping off point for listeners who are brand new to the duo.  To newbies, I'd also recommend you invest in the Dils' Dils Dils Dils compilation on Bacchus Archives, as well as the debut Rank and File LP, Sundown, not only for a primer, but as examples of what the Kinman's were capable of both in and beyond the punk realms they abundantly contributed to for so many years.  Sounds Like Music is available straight from Omnivore or Amazon.

Pull me out, save me from the voices in my head...

From 2018.  Since this came out almost a year ago, I don't think a week has gone by when I haven't had the urge to listen to it.

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

Hear

Those XCleavers - First Album/The Waiting Game (1982-84)

Not unlike the Another Carnival post from a couple nights ago, here's more Wisconsinite rock o' the '80s spiffyness for ya'll.  Those XCleavers were from the Milwaukee side of the tracks, and from what I've been able to gather they didn't make huge inroads elsewhere, save for some airplay in the Midwest.  This foursome were hardly hipster snobs, opting for risqué AOR rock with some occasional reggae flavorings.  Their self-titled bow from 1982 isn't terribly remarkable, but still a fun listen, a la what the Greg Kihn Band was peddling at the time.  The band's 1984 follow-up, The Waiting Game was an overall improvement, boasting considerable new wave definition, even better songwriting, not to mention stronger hooks.  I'm not sure if they had any videos to their credit, but given their wily sense of humor, the XCleavers would have slotted in perfectly on the then-burgeoning MTV in the Reagan era.  There's two full albums (and then some) for you to feast on below, so have at it.

  s/t (1982)
  01. Smooth, Wild & Dirty
  02. Butt I Will
  03. 18 (Unprotected)
  04. Suzie La Bruzie
  05. Facts of Life
  06. Nocturn Dub
  07. White Reggae
  08. Trying To Have Fun
  09. Skip A Beat
  10. Klubb Talk
  11. No Brain Needed
  12. Mondo Commando
  13. What's In Style
  14. Reprise

  The Waiting Game (1984)
  15. In God We Trust
  16. Right Right Girl
  17. Nobody But You
  18. The Waiting Game
  19. Some One In My Dreams
  20. Duplicator
  21. Silence The Critics
  22. Quicksand
  23. Riot
  24. Take A Hint
  25. People

  bonus
  26. Little Drummer Boy
  27. Nice Legs
  28. Confusion (Do The)

https://www8.zippyshare.com/v/tSBIyT1n/file.html

Another Carnival - Seven Lines (1988, Janet Marie)

Another Carnival were the assumed pride and joy of Eau Claire, WI, circa the late '80s - early '90s.  And not a bad flagship band at that for a town of about 60,000 to boast, given Carnival's penchant for meat 'n potatoes jangle pop that seemed all too fitting for their midwest locale. Nervy guitar salvos illuminate "How to Find It" and the roiling "The Big Mistake," but this quartet was even more effective when sticking to breezier guitar pop motifs like "Stay" and "She Says it's Real."  Seven Lines entails a few clunkers (e.g. "Over Our Houses") but nothing egregious enough to weigh down it's overarching strengths. In short, a satisfying listen.  Two more Carnival albums would follow.

01. All Away
02. The Big Mistake
03. Hand Across the Heart
04. How to Find It
05. Banners Like Sirens
06. No Surprises
07. Stay
08. She Says it's Real
09. Seven Lines
10. Over Our Houses
11. Who Cares

https://www91.zippyshare.com/v/uTI4TtFA/file.html