01. La Bete Humaine
02. Lost Seekers
03. Temples
04. Son of Sam
05. Ball & Chain
Wilfully Obscure
power pop * punk * emo * indie rock * shoegazer
Saturday, September 26, 2020
The Front - Le Bete Humaine ep (1987, Nocturnal)
Thursday, September 24, 2020
Rockin Bricks - Havin' A Wild Weeknight!! ep (1982, Major Label)
01. Planning My Weekend
02. Heartbeat
03. Foreign Girl
04. Can't Say No
Sunday, September 20, 2020
Notes on new music - Exploding Flowers, Sofa City Sweetheart, Bye Bye Blackbids and Stutter Steps.
What possesses the benignly mercurial affectations of the Rain Parade, the mid-fidelity penchant of early Guided by Voices, and is chockablock with comely, chiming arpeggios and empathetic vocal aplomb? Why it’s none other than Stumbling Blocks, the new LP by L.A.’s Exploding Flowers. Applying just any one of the aforementioned characteristics would likely emanate a certain magic unto itself, but with all elements functioning in tandem the Flowers imbue “Among Burn Out Stars,” “Far, But Never Gone,” and the especially striking title cut with an even more mesmerizing alchemy altogether. Contrary to the album moniker, no stumbling blocks here, just a dozen winsome stepping stones with myriad charms and a keen forward-thinking temperament that’s retrofitted in all the right places. Stumbling Blocks is available from the band's Bandcamp page or The Beautiful Music.
It's been awhile since I checked in with San Diego's Sofa City Sweetheart, just over a decade in fact, when their self titled 2008 effort made it's way into my CD player (remember those?). Not many more sofa albums have filled the gap between that one and 2019's Super(b) Exitos, which surprisingly finds focal point Juan Lopez bartering in the same thoughtful, warm-hued singer/songwriter pop that's equal parts invigorating and empathetic. Tunes including (but not limited to) "Stanley Waited" and "Stop the Thinking" exude the competent, harmony-ridden craftsmanship of Sloan and Mike Viola, while simultaneously bearing the emotional heft that the late Elliott Smith made his calling card. There are lilting ballads along the way as well, featuring ornate and refined flourishes of piano, strings and even an abundance of cooing oohs and ahs. Much to revel in here, as well as SCS's Bandcamp site, which not only offers Super(b) for a modest amount of shekels, but other goodies like an even more recent collection of Elliott Smith covers.Seemingly exploding into the spotlight just this year (but actually boasting a good decade or so under their belts) Bye Bye Blackbirds featuring frontman Bradley Skaught are one of the hottest commodities in modern day power-pop. No, I ain't talking about the three-chords-in-three-minutes-and-we're-outta-here variety of said genre, rather the more immaculately prepared and considered variation thereof, entailing rich, deftly honed musicianship and an uncanny melodic finesse. Wedding the aesthetic of bygone, under-the-radar pop classicists the Grip Weeds and The Rooks to Roger McGuinn-esque guitar fills, not to mention a twenty-first century aptitude, The Blackbirds have seized on a polished but breathable formula that practically screams "class." Produced by Doug Gillard, with engineering assistance from another vaunted pop demigod, Chris Von Sneidern, Boxer at Rest is a bouquet of sophistication, harmonies and appropriate nods to the past, yielding such should-be hits, signature songs, etc as "So True" and "All Our Friends." Skaught and Co. even have the wherewithal to break out a horn section on occasion. Boxer at Rest can be had via Amazon, and physical versions are for sale over at BBB's Bandcamp corner of the web.
Once or twice a year an unsolicited gem makes it's way into my mailbox. Here's one of 2020's most impressive entries into that not-so-expansive rectangular receptacle. Bathed in analogue hues with an ever-so-slight undercurrent of keyboards supplementing the usual guitars and drums, the real key to Stutter Steps' charm doesn't merely reside in their sonic facets, rather Ben Harrison's mildly melancholic and casual parlance. Bearing a resemblance to East River Pipe, Outrageous Cherry, Galaxie 500 (Stutter Steps collaborated with Dean Wareham previously) and to a less obvious extent the Velvets, the Steps are going for depth on Reeling without outright sinking. What Harrison extols about isn't always identifiable to the listener, but his ruminations never overreach into any sort of histrionics or gratuitous drama. My only quibble with this otherwise excellent disk is it's general sameyness from song to song. Then again it's hard to argue that I'd want them to upset the apple cart when their results are so uniformly effective. Reeling is available now from Blue Arrow Records and, you guessed it, Bandcamp.
Saturday, September 19, 2020
Red House - 25 Reasons/Teenbeat 7" (1983, Wave Seven)
Here I am sharing a single I don't actually own (but really have no excuse not to). This isn't the Red House from New Jersey whose album I shared eons ago, rather this was an even less renown band bearing the same moniker. The Red House in question were actually Minneapolis denizens, and frontman Mark Freeman came from a late '70s post-punk outfit, NNB, who also released but one single before closing shop. Both tracks here border on excellent, with "25 Reasons" representing itself as a comparatively insular but forward-thinking pop-rock number. The darker "Teenbeat" is antithetical to it's title with minor chord shadings and a subtle but well-placed piano line situated around the chorus. A big thanks to whomever ripped the files for this one.
A. 25 Reasons
B. Teenbeat
Friday, September 18, 2020
Pinko Pinko - Traffic (1996, North of No South)
I learned of Pinko Pinko the old fashioned way - a friend lent me their CD. I already knew going into this one the band was of Swedish stock, but had I not I would have unsafely assumed them British, because right down to the seemingly mimicked accents they sounded every bit the part. Traffic was their parting shot, and after a few spins it occurred to me that this is what I had really hoped the first couple of Blur albums could have amounted to back in the day. Blur didn't truly win me over until Parklife, and even on subsequent albums they didn't do a whole lot for me, but Pinko points to where those guys might have gone if they had modified their aesthetic a tad and went for something more ironic. Another one of Pinko's Britpop contemporaries, Salad, come to mind on more than a few occasions here, albeit no one in P/P is female. Traffic isn't swimming in obliqueness, though it's hard to ignore its creators wry and not-so-obvious maneuvers. Again, this band sound nothing like their Swedish brethren and are Anglophiles to the ever lovin' core. Check this out and draw your own conclusions. In addition I've tacked on a couple of era b-sides.
01. No. 1
02. Lately, My Mind's Been Going Lots Of Places Without Me
03. Nosebleed
04. On the Show Tonight
05. Shangri-La
06. Juvenile Delicay
07. Mad helicopter
08. Cheekbone
09. Oh Mother, Oh Brother
10. Sirocco
11. People in Motion
12. Nature is Hasty (Nosebleed b-side)
13. Nobodyknows (Cheekbone b-side)
Sunday, September 13, 2020
Waiting, hoping for a sign that what's forbidden can be mine.
VA - Unloved: A Tribute to the Music of Arthur Lee and Love ep (1994, Chunk)
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
https://www3.zippyshare.com/v/b5QJbQq3/file.html
Saturday, September 12, 2020
White Animals - Nashville Babylon ep (1981, Dread Beat)
01. Old Jazzmaster
02. For Your Love
03. Only Sorrow
04. Tobacco Road
05. I Need Somebody to Love Me
06. I Need You So
https://www67.zippyshare.com/v/nAvNMHor/file.html
Sunday, September 6, 2020
Sometimes I feel like a palm tree in the middle of the pavement...
**Please do not reveal artist in comments!**
Saturday, September 5, 2020
Weather Permitting - Into the Ground (1987, VOT)
Into the Ground isn't an outright revelation, as there were so many records sharing its aesthetic that made it to the table prior to Weather's arrival, but the band's acumen and quality control are demonstrably impeccable wherever the needle lands. I could name several favorites here - "Almost
Happy" and the sorta two-for-one "Land/Goldmine," but I'm content to let you pick one of your own. In 2011 Raised on Canadian Radio blog offered a brief but informative backgrounder on the quartet that you may wish to refer to.
01. The Hounds
02. Almost Happy
03. In the House
04. I Needed You
05. Into the Ground
06. Love is Good
07. Land/Goldmine
08. After All This
09. Her Moods Will Change
https://www81.zippyshare.com/v/17uVqpHz/file.html
Friday, September 4, 2020
Children's Crusade - Scorpio Moon 7" (Scat, 1990/rec. 1985)
A. Blue Venus Aflame
B1. Your Time is Through
B2. St. Jack's Bible
https://www4.zippyshare.com/v/u9ip688p/file.html
Sunday, August 30, 2020
No man breaks ranks, no foe outflanks!
Mudhoney – On Top! (KEXP Presents Mudhoney Live On Top Of The Space Needle) (2014, Sub Pop)
01. Touch Me I'm Sick
02. I'm Now
03. The Final Course
04. Into the Drink
05. Chardonnay
06. Who You Drivin' Now
07. What to Do With the Neutral
08. I Don't Remember You
09. Suck You Dry
10. The Only Son of the Widow From Nain
https://www30.zippyshare.com/v/56PJtgLh/file.html
Friday, August 28, 2020
The Holidays - Restless Heart (1989, Broken)
01. Tear the Curtain
02. Two Times Two
03. Round and Round
04. Touch Me
05. Should I Tell You
06. Sunshine
07. Promises
08. It's a Fight
09. Color Me While
10. My Love
11. The Lines of Time
https://www54.zippyshare.com/v/Ed0rkT7n/file.html
Thursday, August 27, 2020
Broken links from last weekend's re-ups fixed.
It was brought to my attention that a lot of the download links from my re-ups post this weekend were not working. I just remedied that. If you any broken links please post them in the comments. By the way, hope you like the facelift I gave the site. Well overdue.
Sunday, August 23, 2020
Sex is mine, this body is good. Tired of being misunderstood.
**Please do not reveal artist in comments!**
Saturday, August 22, 2020
Dick Tracey - Movin' to the Beat ep (1983, DT)
01. Movin' to the Beat
02. A Modern Experience
03. When the Lites Go Out
https://www4.zippyshare.com/v/vVv7TN5f/file.html
Long overdue Re-ups.
Thanks for your patience. Behold your reward. I think I got to over ninety of them this time, including some links that had not been updated for almost ten years. Enjoy.
Guided By Voices - To Trigger a Synapse, GBV Fun Wow Pac, Carefree Kitchens, Learning to Hunt, Beyond the Bars and Churches
Hüsker Dü - Zen Arcade demos, parts 1, 2 & 3
The Records - Paying for the Summer of Love (MP3 or FLAC)
The Chameleons - Tripping Dogs & Dali's Picture
Mega City Four - Wallflower and Superstar CD singles
Hagfish - Buick Men
Jawbox - Another Scrapbook of Even More Fatl Accidents
The Marshes - Fledgling
Salem 66 - Your Soul is Mine...
Creeper Lagoon - live 1998 & rare
The Church - Sum of the Parts interview LP & rarities
The Hairs - Subcutaneous
Two Helens - Reflections in Red
Helmet Boy - s/t LP
The Sweat - No More Running
Sloan - Live at a Sloan Party (MP3 or FLAC)
Local Rabbits - This Is It Here We Go
French - two eps
Barely Pink - Starduster ep
Superchunk - Faith/Void (RSD 2013) 7"
Straitjacket Fits - Done ep
Critics - Braintree
The Fluid - Punch n Judy LP, purplemetalflake demos, single and eps
No Knife - singles
Failure - Comfort demos
Private Plain - Godwatching ep
Outside World - tape
Ramrods - Jivin' 'n Twistin ep
milf - ha ha bus!
The Soup Dragons - The Sun is the Sky ep
Ten Ten - Ordinary Thinking
Shepherds of Hot Pavement - s/t
further - griptape & grimes golden ep
Spoon - some b-sides
Trilobites - Turn it Around
White Flag - Thru the Trash Darkly
The Dickies - Philadelphia 1/3/09
Dramarama - The Days of Wayne and Roses
Bent Backed Tulips - Tie Me Down 7"
Nobody's - 7"
Died Pretty - True Fools Fall 2x7"
Baby Lemonade - Wonderful ep & 7"
Cotton Mather - Payday 7"
The Crime - Crash City USA ep
Alter Boys - Piles 7" & Soul Desire
Hege V - House of Tears
Phones - Stick Man ep
White Animals - s/t LP, Ecstasy, In the Last Days
McGuires - Start Breathing
Fire Town - live & demos
Sister Psychic - Catch and Release
Three Leaning Men - Fun in the Key of E
Permanent Green Light - Against Nature
Odolites - Face Down in the Violets, Chimes 7", Persistence of Memory ep
Crash - Everything Under the Sun
Killjoys - Starry
Ben Kweller - Freak Out... & Bromeo
Versus - demos
Fig Dish - Onanism & Unleash the Cracken
Neon Rock Garden (NRg) - Perfect Sounds tape, Never Listen 7", Suicide Song 7"
Velvet Elvis - s/t & What in the World...
Cherry Blades - In-Dependence
The Proof - It's Safe
V/A - Echos From the Nation's Capitol
V/A - Boobytrap Vol. 1
The Furys - Indoor/Outdoor ep
Yanks - Made in the States ep
The Raves - Past Perfect Tense
Breeding Ground - Tales of Adventure
Parrish Blue - Western Roads
Drumming on Glass - Asparagus Tea
Something Blew - s/t
Swing Set - Life Speeds Up
In One - Ascension & Fade
Rainyard - Ice Cream Overdrive tape
Crumbs of Insanity - Spiral Stare tape
Populuxe - tape
Neurotic Blondes - tape
kiaro • skuro - tape
Pigpen - Tard 7"
Jabberjaw - Novelty 7"
Punchbuggy/Treble Charger - split 7"
Ant Lions - 7"
Lines - Standby ep
Driving School - s/t ep
Breakfast in Bed - Australian Coffee
Ten Inch Men - Hours 'n Pain ep
Steve Naive - st LP
Ceedees - Hit the Ditch
Outrageous Cherry - Stereo Action Rent Party
Adding Machine - Suspicious Package
Radio Blaster - Sugar-Shock
Spaghetti Western - s/t LP
Noise Petals - s/t LP
The Cripples - What's in a Name ep?
Pivot - Oscillator ep
Graig Markel - July 7"
A Few Good Men - 7"
Monday, August 17, 2020
Fellow bloggers please read/respond - cannot update previous entries.
That being said, Blogger has switched to a new graphic interface, which will become a mandatory replacement for the "classic" interface. It has several inherent flaws, most notably the feature that allows us to edit previously established content (i.e. "old" entries). Typically once I'm signed into Google/Blogger I can search for any given entry and scroll down to the bottom right hand corner of the post and click on the Quick edit (pencil) icon (). This will take me directly into that entry to make any necessary modifications.
While the Quick edit icon is still present in Blogger's new interface it does NOT take me to the original entry as it has for almost twenty years, rather a list of ALL previous entries in reverse chronological order. I am nearing 3000 entries on this page and it is virtually impossible to access a specific entry with this method. While I can create and edit new posts (say, one's created in the last two months) it could literally take me hours of loading and scrolling this list to reach the one I intend to. In essence, I will not be able to modify previous entries in the future. This translates to no more refreshed download links. I have a posted to Blogger's "support" page, but Google is notorious for not replying to any queries, and email/chat/phone support is not existent. There isn't even an option to pay for support.
If any of you utilize Blogger on a regular basis and can duplicate the issue I'm describing please leave a response in the comments. If you have a direct contact to a Blogger/Google developer and are brave enough to share their contact details you can email me as well (please check my profile). Thanks so much for your help!
Sunday, August 16, 2020
Reject your will, you'll find it's not your own.
Have a great week Kevn Kinney, wherever you are.
Hear
Saturday, August 15, 2020
Jet Black Factory - Days Like These ep (1986, 391)
01. Real Down Ticket
02. By the Temple
03. Tonight
04. Chelsea
05. The City Sleeps
06. Waters Edge
https://www59.zippyshare.com/v/yy8Ln8Ln/file.html
Friday, August 14, 2020
Passionate Friends 7" (1983)
A. Passionate Friends
B. Wake Up/Shake Up
plus: What's the Odds
https://www31.zippyshare.com/v/dZoPI8E5/file.html
Thursday, August 13, 2020
Precisely in our wheelhouse.
Sunday, August 9, 2020
Do you think I should take a class to lose my southern accent?
**Please do not reveal artist in comments!**