think i was cooler when I hated myself...

From 1996. Despite being released by a major label, this one might have met a better fate had this trio stayed indie.  

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

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Brakes - For Why You Kicka My Donkey? (1979, Magnet)

The largely under-referenced (online anyway) Brakes were a London quartet, falling several few notches shy of punk. Think more along the lines of pedestrian power pop and pub rock with slightly more enlightened songwriting.  The closest comparison I can draw on their home turf might be The Flys, and stateside they bore a sonic resemblance to oft overlooked contemporaries the Tuff Darts and A's. Speaking of all things North American, For Why You Kicka My Donkey? never enjoyed the light of day in the U.S., but was somehow deemed fit for a Canadian audience. Some of the better songs here border on phenomenal, not the least of which, "The Way I See It," emanating a glorious pop acumen. "Blame it on the Brakes" bleeds shades of Cheap Trick's "Auf Eiedersehen," managing to insert some faint glammy tinctures in the process. "Last Man at the Station" is equally effective, and their reading of Dylan's "Like a Rolling Stone," if not wholly innovative, puts a spicy spin on things.  

01. What Am I Gonna Do?
02. I Don't Know Nothing About Hollywood
03. Doing Life
04. Who's That Man
05. Like a Rolling Stone
06. Blame it on the Brakes
07. The Way I See It
08. Last Man at the Station
09. Strange Man in the City
10. Yesterday's Arrival
11. It's a Shame

https://www117.zippyshare.com/v/2vKui9cN/file.html

Your famous last words started once your fingers hit the snooze...

I hope you willing to indulge me this week with one of my most listened to albums of the last six months.  It's a tribute album filled wall-to-wall with thoroughly unrecognizable contributors. No household name talent here.  So why not go with one of the original album's by the band in question?  Well, it's quite possible I shared one of them already on a previous Mystery Monday.  More significantly, their material is stimulating enough to translate effectively in virtually any set of hands that pick them up. To me this band's first three albums are to die for.  BTW, the physical CD version of this album was bundled with a label sampler that I'm omitting as it's irrelevant to the tribute - plus too many of the groups sound alike.

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

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Uanattached - s/t ep (1988, Throbbing Lobster)

Yet another Beantown proposition, who to their/our detriment only produced this one platter, a mere ep no less, but hey, I'll take six songs over four any day. The Unattached were one of those rare acts that knew how to mix it up from song to song without exuding anything resembling an identity crisis. Bearing a rootsy and rollicking no-frills penchant these four guys (who by the group pics on the back cover misleadingly suggest they were headbangers in the making) were potent rock and roll purists touching on such local luminaries as the Del Fuegos and the Neighborhoods. My pic hit of this platter is none other than "It's Only Love" a power pop basher that would have done the likes of Material Isssue more than a modicum of justice. To the contrary the bluesy slow jam, "Down" which concludes this joint is a lazy maneuver that luckily doesn't mar the whole of the record.

01. Yeah
02. Close Your Eyes
03. Midnight Love Thang
04. Help and Sympathy
05. It's Only Love
06. Down

https://www51.zippyshare.com/v/tZNFbIXT/file.html

I know when everybody's got one you want one too.

It's time for another round of four eps. A dazzling quad-fecta of unrelated artists spanning as many decades as there are titles occupying this weeks folder. 

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

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The Heebee Jeebeez - All Sales Are Vinyl (1998, Mooey Bueno)

This week I stuck primarily to reviving dead links (see my last two entries for details), and I didn't have a chance to fool around with my turntable or tape deck...but I do have this, and it's more promising than you might surmise from this quartet bearing a rather hokey moniker.  Details are a bit scant on the Heebee Jeebeez (boy, I hope that name didn't doom them from scoring gigs) but this Bay Area export were a talented combo, specializing in plaintive, sonically spartan power pop who wagered on the trebly end of the spectrum.  No overproduction or slavish studio pizazz here - not by a longshot in fact. It's a bit tricky to link them to the modus operandi of many (if any) of their '90s contemporaries. Cockeyed Ghost perhaps, but even that comparison isn't especially accurate.  All Sales Are Vinyl is saturated with concise, incisively catchy salvos, with "Somebody Else's" and "Outside" winning the most points with yours truly.  The Heebees only falter on the unlisted concluding cut, "Push It," which can easily be excised from your playlist if you so choose.

01. Don't Tell Me
02. Calling All Over
03. Come On
04. Outside
05. Walk Away
06. Out of Time
07. Somebody Else's
08. Favorite Song
09. Anytime
10. Certain Kind of Girl
11. Told You
12. Wherever You Go
13. Push It

https://www81.zippyshare.com/v/et5chHJq/file.html

Long, long overdue re-ups, part 2

This is a completely different set of restored links than the one I posted a few nights back.  I think I've attended to all (if not most) of your requests from the past four months, and have renewed a couple dozen more on top of that.  Again, sorry for the extended delay.

11th Hour - 7" ep

84 Nash - Band For Hire   

9353 - Overdoses at Your Mother's House

Arcwelder - Jacket Made in Canada/This, singles (MP3/FLAC)

Jon Auer - 1994 demos

Band of Susans - Blessing and Curse ep & Peel Sessions

Bender - tape

Big Star - live Chicago 6/8/94 

The Black Watch - Short Stories ep 

Blake Babies - Sunburn demos, Nicely Nicely ep, live Columbus, OH 1991 (FLAC only)

The Blases - s/t

Blue Movie - Hearts in Clubs & Milking the Masters

The Books - Expertise  

Brown Lobster Tank - Our First Album

Cactus World News - Spin Radio 1986 concert LP

Cameraface - After the Scream  

Change of Heart - Soapbox

Citrus Groove - Sunswayed ep

Comsat Angels - Red Planet ep, Unravelled, demos & live

Corduroy - Dead End Memory Lane & Lisp ep 

The Crime - Crash City USA

Cucumbers - Who Betrays Me...

The Dads - s/t  

The Downsiders - All My Friends Are Fish & s/t

Even the Odd - s/t

The Fluid - Clear Black Paper & Freak Magnet

Fossil - s/t

Fudge - The Ferocious Rhythm..., Southside Speedway, singles

The Fugue - Waiting for Something 

Furys - Indoor/Outdoor ep

G-Whiz - Eat at Ed's LP and split 7" w/ Lonely Trojans

Huw Gower - Guitarophilia ep

Happy Hate Me Nots - Out

Harvey Street - What About George? ep 

Imitation Life - Scoring Correctly... & Ice Cubes and Sugar  

Instructions - s/t

Jane From Occupied Europe - Coloursound

The Johnsons - s/t

Lifers - This House 

Liquor Giants - Every Other Day at a Time & Here

Lotion - two eps

Lovers Under Pressure - The Elvis Years & Island tape

Ludicrous Lollipops - A Part & Scrumdiddlyumptious eps

Marshal Fields - s/t  

Material Issue - Eleven Supersonic Hit Explosions

Mega City Four - live album, Terribly Sorry Bob, Magic Bullets, cd singles

Mercyland - No Feet on the Cowling

Not Shakespeare - ep & Edge of the World

The Ocean Blue - s/t LP live (MP3/FLAC) & Cerulean (MP3/FLAC)

One Million Pieces - Deep Dark Hole 7"

Outskirts - Heaven's on the Move ep

Plasterscene Replicas - Glow (MP3/FLAC))

Pluto - Shake Hands With the Future & singles 

The Reels - s/t  

Right As Rain - s/t ep & Undertown

Sheriff Jack - Let's Be Nonchalant ep

Shortfall - Hooray for Everything

Small 23 - Cakes ep, singles, split single w/ J Church

The Squalls - Rebel Shoes

Starry Eyes - s/t ep

Sweet Jesus - discography 

The Talk - Not Just Hearsay

The Tickets - retrospective

The Town Cryers - All's Well ep 

Timco - Friction Tape & singles 

Ultracherry Violet - I Fall to Pieces & demo

Ups and Downs - singles & Rash ep 

V/A - Fish Hips & Turkey Lips

V/A - The Kitty Comp - Pts 1 & 2

V/A - Metrojets, Vols. 1 & 2

V/A - Propeller

Venus Beads - Incision, Black Aspirin/Transfixed, A Client/Shackled, first single

Velvet Elvis - s/t & What in the World

Verbow - Chronicles

Verichrome Tulips - Le Lac Leman

Vigil - s/t

Visitors - No Sign of Intelligent Life

Voodoo Gearshift - s/t

Walt Mink - El Producto & Listen Little Man/The Poll Riders Win Again!

Werefrogs - It's Real 7" 

Long, long overdue re-ups, part 1.

Well, I'm about four months behind my game in refreshing dead links you've requested.  Here's the first of what's looking like three tranches of updates I hope to be posting this week/weekend, and possibly into next week.  The emphasis in this list is on requests that were posted in December and January. Thanks so much for your patience, and btw, I'm looking into a more permanent storage solution that I might have up and running later this summer or fall.

Off Broadway - live in the studio & unreleased 

Gladhands - All is Well (That Ends Well)

Senselesss Things - Empire of the Senseless

Buzz of Delight - Soundcastles ep

Bangtails - Hypnotic Downpour ep

Winter Hours - live Cabaret Metro 1989 (MP3 or FLAC) 

Dramarama - Live at House of Blues San Diego 2008

Summercamp - unreleased second album & Tonight ep 

Reeve Oliver - California ep, You're Gonna Win ep & Reevolution ep

V/A - 2015 Chanukah Singles bundle 

Riff Doctors - tape

Hege V - House of Tears

Sheer Thursday - Expecting the Grass 

Frontier Theory - Atlantic & No Waltz in the Meadow 

Pop Art - Long Walk to Nowhere, Perfect Mental Picture, s/t ep 

Parasites - Pair of Sides

New Math - Wake the Dead

Pooh Sticks - Formula One Generation 

Study of the Lifeless - s/t  

Edge Park - Personal Fable

The Restless - s/t LP

The Pony - Thorns and Cutlery

The Dentists - Heads and How to Read Them, Powdered Lobster Fiasco, Naked ep  

The Numbers - Add Up

Redd Kross - Third Eye demos

Otis & the Elevators - Some Career & Cross the Bridge

Third Floor Strangers - Last Chance

The Suburbans - Pop Life

NoNames - End of the Beginning 

Nothing But Happiness - Detour

China Shop - Atomic Notions ep 

Parallel 5th - s/t ep 

Boys Life - s/t ep

Expando Brain - Mother of God LP 

The Bardots - Eye-Baby & Sad Anne

Velo- Deluxe - House of Sin Recordings

Antenna - two eps 

The Special Goodness - At Some Point... 

Cost of the Living - Comic Book Page & Day of Some Lord 

Opossums - (marsupial eruptus)

Alcohol Funnycar - singles

Menthol - USA Capable 7" 

Newkeys - Acts of Love & Not Just Alright 7"

Enemies in the Grass - Blind Crossing ep & 7"

Kid With Man Head - Awful, Terrible.... 7" & demo

Pitchfork - Needle in a Haystack demo

Gentleman Jesse & His Men - Singles and Rarities 

Shaking Hands - No Laughing Matter ep

The Wrench - Worry When We Get There & Cop Krueller ep

People Have Names - 7" 

The Scruffs - 7"

Sammy - Babe Come Down 7" & Chili Lite 7" 

Gathering Ground - Figure it Out ep

The Hook Generation - s/t ep 

Populuxe - tape

V/A - Wiener Dog Comp - part 1 & 2

The Mockers - Culprit and the King 

Loomis - You're No Tiger... & How Much is Too Much

Troubled Hubble - The Sun Beamed...

Underneath silk riches sixty six million giving slaves...

Two CD compilation of b-sides spanning this band's career from 1991-2003, including an entire disc dedicated to covers.

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

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VA - A Wicked Good Time! (1981, Modern Method)

Population only counts for so much. Cities like Houston and Phoenix each boast roughly double the populous of Boston, MA, yet Beantown (at least during the eighties and nineties) outdid some of their larger locales in terms of pumping out renown bands by seemingly exponential margins. And it seems like that's how it went for not-so-renown Boston bands as well, the focus of A Wicked Good Time!  This bountiful seventeen song feast was issued by Modern Method Records, an in-house label for the wildly successful and still operating Newbury Comics chain.  Even though many Newbury Comics outlets resemble FYE's these days, the moniker for this record remains the store's slogan some forty years after the fact.

AWGT starts with a bang, via a combo called Pastiche, an edgy power pop act who only bore a trio of singles in their lifespan, sadly without a proper LP to show for themselves. Pastiche's hooky merger of guitars and keys should have cemented them as Boston's answer to the Pointed Sticks, and a definitive compilation of their studio recordings has been decades overdue.  The Outlets punky "3rd Floor for Me" is perhaps the most aggressive song they ever attached their name to, Swingers Resort were splendid power pop kids who really epitomized what was so enticing about that turn-of-the-decade aesthetic, and Future Dads wield a catchy sax line amidst their bangin' foray "New Feeling." And we're still not done talking about side one!  We're also treated to no less than two cuts from Boston's legendary punks La Peste whose "Lease on Life" plays out like a delightful re-write of Agent Orange's "Bloodstains." Finally, the Young Snakes featured future 'Til Tuesday front-woman Aimee Mann, who exudes a very different vocal dialect then we're used to on "Brains and Eggs." Love the Pylon-esque guitarwork on this one.

The album's second side is a bit spottier and somewhat more avant, with the likes of abrasive no-wavers Bound & Gagged, and on the opposite end of the spectrum Bird Songs of the Mesozoic (featuring Mission of Burma alum Roger Miller) whose instrumental "Pulse Piece" channels a Tubular Bells vein. We get another tasty nugget from Pastiche, and the otherwise unheard of Someone and the Somebodies lead us on a quick post-punk tear. Hometown heroes Boys Life also get it on the action with a pair of sassy, mid-paced punk churners.

01. Pastiche - Psycho Blonde
02. The Outlets - 3rd Floor for Me
03. Future Dads - New Feeling
04. Boys Life - I Wasn't Me
05. La Peste - Army of Apathy
06. Swingers Resort - Hit List
07. Young Snakes - Brains and Eggs
08. Vacuumheads - Preppie Girls
09. La Peste - Lease on Life
10. Suade Cowboys - Master
11. Bound & Gagged - Black Sand
12. Someone and the Somebodies - Before and After
13. Pastiche - This Reminds Me of the Future
14. Birdsongs of the Mesozoic - Pulse Piece
15. The Loners - Planet Spirit
16. Bound & Gagged - Personal Monsters
17. Boys Life - Heroes of the Dead

https://www10.zippyshare.com/v/Cs6jtF6z/file.html

Doctors' Mob - She Said 12" (1986, Wrestler)

Doctors' Mob were part and parcel of Austin, TX's so called "new sincerity" indie movement circa the mid-80s, alongside contemporaries Glass Eye and the Reivers among several other bygone aggregations.  The word "sincerity" of course is subjective and is a lousy descriptor of any piece of music, but this guitars-y cabal were considerably amped-out and boasted the kind of integrity most of you will appreciate.  This three-songer finds the Mob applying a Husker Du-ish treatment to their cover of the Fab Four's "She Said, She Said."  They keep things at a rolling boil on this single's pair of crankin' originals, "Time's Up" and "Lost of Course," the latter of which appears to be exclusive to this 12". Additionally, there are two Doctors' Mob full lengths (1986's Headache Machine and '87s Sophomore Slump) to supplement this hearty appetizer.

A. She Said, She Said
B1. Time's Up
B2. Lost of Course

https://www16.zippyshare.com/v/hX8MwzlW/file.html

...in Edmonton, Alberta or home in Halifax?

From 2001. A not-so difficult sophomore solo record to say the least - though technically it's not a "solo" affair.  Sorry for any confusion. Perspective is everything!

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

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radioblue - warehouse mLP (1989, mercybeat)

I've been a sucker for U2's tell-tale guitar technique upon hearing "Pride (In the Name of Love)" in '85.  The Edge's serrated but jangly, echoing chords are impossible to tire of, even in the hands of scores of other guitarists, albeit many less capable. radioblue were no doubt tuned into said innovation, but the Bono & Co. comparisons largely end there on the band's warehouse, mini-LP.  Poignant but anything but pompous, this Bethesda, MD foursome didn't merely posses a plethora of raw, tingly licks, rather the songs they're ensconced within were ultimately the main attraction. Sure, by twenty-first century standards this record doesn't strike me as nearly advanced as when these seven tunes were laid down in separate sessions circa the late '80 (side one was committed to 8 track recording apparatus, while the flip went the even more basic 4 track route), but the intervening decades haven't diminished a smidgen of power and appeal from "instead," "love tornados," and "empty sky."  Love what I'm hearing, even if I am three decades late to the party.  Two more radioblue offerings would surface in the coming years, neither of which unfortunately are readily available anymore.  

01. instead
02. siamese
03. everything for you
04. blues
05. untitled interlude
06. lvoe tornados
07. instrumental in d minor, a basic history of art
08. empty sky

https://www43.zippyshare.com/v/wEpkXorw/file.html

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

https://www43.zippyshare.com/v/3BB8mLcT/file.html

...and I'm losing all the stupid games that I swore I'd never play.

From 2000.  One of the first great albums of the twenty-first century.

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

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Land of the El Caminos - Subourbon (2001, boojm)

Though it does take me awhile (in this case almost five years!) I eventually make it through the mounds of bargain bin CDs I buy, and just a few months ago I slid this marvelous disk into my auto in-dash. Land of the El Caminos were a Chicago trio who really had their fingers on the pulse of the indie rock motherlode that befell an appreciative world in the 1990s.  Grabbing inspiration not so much from their hometown scene, rather Chapel Hill, NC, the Caminos pilfered a lesson or two from the likes of Small 23 and Archers of Loaf.  In fact mouthpiece and six-string wrangler Dan Fanelli bears a scratchy vocal timbre not far removed from the Archers' Eric Bachman.  No, you're not getting 75 mph pop-punk here, but instead a wiry, but melodically-enhanced splay of bittersweet notions and amped-up sonic appeal that doesn't lean too hard on your typical slacker fence posts.  The surprisingly sober Subourban emanates charm and "feels" for miles - or as long as it's eleven gallon tank will carry us on "Boxed in a Wind Tunel," Sold Me Out," and the concluding "Fragments," which features some shredding J. Mascis-esque fretwork. Two more LotEC albums exist, and I hope to get my mitts on them soon.

01. Slouching in My Spine
02. Boxed in a Wind Tunnel
03. We Never Learned How
04. Heaven
05. Keep On
06. Sold Me Out
07. Greener
08. So Sick
09. Knee Deep
10. Rock Star Crush
11. Fragments

https://www79.zippyshare.com/v/AkLfa4NB/file.html

Classix Nouveau - The Liberty Recordings 1981-83 (Cherry Red, 2021) - A brief review

Arriving in the London new music scene in 1979, Classic Nouveaux were born a few minutes late to be forerunners of the soon-to-be-ample goth and new romantic movements, but were nonetheless earmarked and shoehorned into the latter whether they desired said placement or not.  They bequeathed a catalog of memorable singles and albums, albeit the quartet never ascended to the echelons of the Duran Durans or Culture Clubs of the world, despite bearing a fairly unique image, not to mention a pedigree that consisted of two expats from punk ground-breakers X-Ray Spex.  While three quarters of this foursome brandished a well-coifed visual aplomb that could have comfortably slotted them amidst the rosters of A Flock of Seagulls and Kajagoogoo, it was frontman Sal Solo who bore the band's most striking visage. Egg-bald, with pasty white skin and gaunt facial features, Solo also dabbled in gender bending attire and makeup, with an austere, commanding poise to match.  Take even the most furtive glance at any Classix press photo and it's a cinch to determine who the alpha male of the group was.  Boasting several charting UK singles, sadly none of them were chart toppers.  They were hot to trot for a moment across the pond thanks to heavy rotation on MTV, but success was an even more elusive proposition in the States otherwise. Ironically, they translated best in former eastern bloc locales Poland and Yugoslavia, and even performed in those nations while the iron curtain was still a metaphorical sword of Damocles. Cherry Red has remastered and consolidated C/N's three (technically four) LPs with their accompanying singles and remixes into the handy micro-box The Liberty Recordings 1981-83. In addition to one stop shopping it also remedies the fact that the separate CD reissues of their album have fallen out of press.  

Despite the aforementioned inclusion of two X-Ray Specs (Jak Airport and BP Hurding) Classix did not specialize in avant punk meanderings in the least, instead opting for a more current and streamlined forte wherein the band opted for a quasi-noir tact on their debut platter, Night People, a record that at it's apex yielded a catchy-as-all-get-out stunner of a single, "Guilty." It's driving rhythm and keen melodic strengths garnered them modest chart placement in their native Britain, and the video was a cult hit in America thanks to the quickly burgeoning MTV.  Night People wasn't Classix' most accessible record, and that could be due in part to Sal's discernibly gruff vocal aplomb on several of the deeper album cuts.  Still, the album offered plenty of fun respites with some tunes even exuding a mild theatrical sway (e.g. "Inside Outside" and "Tokyo).  Comparatively raw and frenetic stacked up to later triumphs La Verité and Secrets, Night People was fit for release in North America as a self-titled release with a slightly altered and reshuffled song selection and entirely unique art.  But why?  I have yet to come across a definitive account for the alternate Yankee version, but strictly by virtue of my own perceptions, I reckon Liberty wanted to substitute some of Night People's less approachable cuts for a smoother listening experience for discriminating American ears. Both versions of the record are presented in their entirety on The Liberty Recordings, with unique but contemporary b-sides added to each. 

1982's La Verité massaged and contoured Classix' overarching approach without blunting it.  "Because You're Young" is bejeweled in soaring hooks, and a more pronounced new-wave aptitude is present on the record with an abundance of soothing, lucid keyboard fills.  Less consistent than the debut, it spawned the combo's biggest hit, "Is it a Dream' (scaling it's way to #11 in Britain).  Truthfully, La Verite houses a handful of tunes that should have been as prominent as the aforementioned, namely "Never Again" and "Because You're Young." "1999's" post-punk sub-context is a relative anomaly here, and a highly  rewarding one at that.  If you're seeking an analogy that correlates with Classix' musical development at this phase of their tenure, you could make a solid case that La Verite was their equivalent to the Psychedelic Furs Forever Now, as both were key transitional albums that blended a retention of the band's respective nascent gestures, simultaneously forecasting what would shortly be in the offing. A generous ten bonus cuts, including a cavalcade of single versions/edits and worthy non-LP b-sides are appended.

Classix Nouveau's swan song, Secrets found the band making a break for the dance floor without tripping over themselves, and better yet, maintaining enough restraint to keep themselves from spilling over the brink altogether.  More in keeping with what David Bowie was offering around the same era than caffeinated troupes like Dead or Alive, Classix Nouveau adopted sophistication as their new calling card on Secrets, splitting the difference between rhythmically sentient appeal and plush, deftly crafted songwriting. Though a departure from their early modus operandi, "Forever and a Day" and "Never Never Comes" downplay the melodrama, and instead reroute the emphasis on accessibility, if not sheer infectiousness.  As with the other albums in this collection, we're treated to a phalanx of supplemental material, entailing extended remixes, and a fine stand-alone single "The End...or the Beginning," which preceded the album.  

In 1985 the band called it a career, with singer Sal Solo literally going solo with his first album Heart & Soul arriving later that year. He soon thereafter pursued arranging and performing Christian music.

Classix Nouveau's The Liberty Recordings 1981-83 collection is available direct from Cherry Red Records and Amazon. 

Soak me in soul-shifting light...

Hard to believe this one has reached the thirty year mark. One of '91s most transcendent and immersive albums. This is the 2005 reissue including seven blissful b-sides to fill out the disc. Enjoy.  

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

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The Unknown - s/t (1988, Fetal)

According to the mighty Discogs, there are/were no less than fifty bands running amok at one point or another named The Unknown.  I wouldn't have guessed there would have been quite that many who would have opted for such a self-deprecating moniker, but so it goes.  This one was a Maryland quartet who slotted in comfortably with the college rock set, specializing in "serious," but breathable tunes. The pensive "Eternity" and "Perfect Ground" bleed melancholic, naval-gazing hues, without emanating anything overly indulgent. While the aforementioned were pleasant enough, the band up the ante on side two of The Unknown, which is where these guys really sink their teeth in, with the strident, up-tempo "Dear Mrs. Jones," followed-up the even janglier "Slow Song" wielding tingly arpeggios like there's no tomorrow.  

I was only able to find a couple of relevant references to these guys, including the Unknown's follow-up, Fall, here. On YouTube you can check out frontman Jonny Alonso many years after the fact performing a solo version of this album's closing piece "Songinsee."

01. Eternity
02. I Wonder Why
03. Perfect Ground
04. The Clock
05. Dear Mrs. Jones
06. Slow Song
07. Salvation
08. Songinsee

https://www22.zippyshare.com/v/pZAwoeza/file.html

Perfect Vision - ...Our Broken Crown ep (1984, Leave it Art)

This was a sweet dollar bin surprise I snagged a few years ago (not that you see many quality dollar vinyl bins anymore, but I digress).  Perfect Vision, were a creative synth/post-punk proposition from Cambridge, England.  From what I've been able to glean the band had two lead singers, one whom sounded mildly akin to Peter Murphy, and likewise one who bore a slight vocal resemblance to Dave Gahan, but largely that's where the comparisons ended.  Our Broken Crown gets off to a dissonant, art-damaged start with a foray titled "Laugh at the Breakage," that sad to say could frighten you off from the rest of the record.  I wouldn't let it, because side two is wholly redeeming with these chaps making considerable melodic strides on "This Hook" and "Swim to Me," the latter of which could adequately compete with the best of anything the Comsat Angels gave us in the earliest phase of their tenure. Poking around the blogosphere, I soon realized there were other sources discussing Perfect Vision, but the songs I'm presenting here are rips from my own copy of ...Broken Crown.

01. Laugh at the Breakage
02. Drive Me
03. This Hook
04. Swim to Me

https://www74.zippyshare.com/v/EfSqlIlP/file.html

I wanna go bang on every door...

No clue other than the title.

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

Hear
 

Dramarama - The Best Was Yet to Come (199?)

Well, another week of embarrassingly minimal content for ya'll. Sorry folks.  Dramarama.  No strangers to this page, but I haven't followed up on them in awhile. This was a fan-curated collection of songs, seemingly thrown together haphazardly, but the emphasis on songs that were recorded when they were on their last legs in the '90s (pre '00s reunion of course).  We get what appear to be demos of songs re-recorded and properly made available for public consumption, ironically just in the last few years. "It's Only Money," "Swamp Song" and "Everyday" eventually appeared on their last LP, Color TV.  "Indian Gin and Whiskey Dry" was their contribution to a Bee Gees tribute, and likewise was "Raw Ramp" for a Marc Bolan & T. Rex covers comp.  I think "Sincerely" (Dwight Twilley cover) and "7 Minutes More or Less" were taken from the band's 18 Big Ones hits collection. I don't know where "Crime Scene" is from. Might just be a random outtake.  Anyway, it's a neat, but curiously random listen.  Enjoy.

01. Crime Scene
02. Sincerely
03. Indian Gin and Whiskey Dry
04. Prayer for Survival (acoustic)
05. It's Only Money
06. The Swamp Song
07. Everyday
08. 7 Minutes More or Less
09. Raw Ramp

https://www90.zippyshare.com/v/9ge8T9SH/file.html

And if all the world's a stage, count me out of this play...

I was reminded this weekend that it's the twentieth anniversary of this one.  My favorite album of 2001, a debut so good the band didn't release a follow-up for another decade!  This is the two CD version with an equally populated bonus disc of all the contemporary b-sides and more.  Awe inspiring stuff.

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

Hear
 

DT and the Shakes - Masquerade (1990, Impact)

Not to be confused with a covers band of the same name, this DT and the Shakes called the environs of Washington D.C. home and were mostly active in the late '80s, bleeding into the next decade a tad as well.  Per the Washington Post (who provide more details than I ever could) this foursome were purveyors of "garage thrash." Fairly accurate assessment, as were other acts in their league like early Soul Asylum plus late, great lesser knowns Carnival Season, Finger and The Junk Monkeys. Call it a melodically-informed holy racket, or whatever, but despite the 31 year-old carbon date on this sucker, I'll take "I Found My Disguise" and the dazzling title cut over most of what passes for 'rock' these days.  The only legitimate curiosity surrounding Masquerade is the inclusion of no less than four, minute-long unlisted pieces which are predominantly mellow instrumentals providing no logical continuity or segue, and add not one iota to the eight structured songs that surround them. Why?  Because they could I suppose.  I included them in the audio but omitted them in the tracklist below.  

Finally, if you enjoy what you've heard here, dive into, Smooth Studio Crafted Teen Fodder over on Amazon downloads, which evidently compiles an early DT&S ep and single.  

Masquerade
Thirty Miles
Brother John
Lotus
Garage Song
I Found My Disguise
Take a Dive
Last One Out

https://www24.zippyshare.com/v/8TNvIWxX/file.html

Expando Brain - Prouder Than Chowder 7" ep (1989, Vacant Lot)

By the looks of the record sleeve you might surmise Expando Brain weren't competing on the same wavelength as contemporaries U2 or Tears For Fears. The Flaming Lips might be a safer bet, but let's not carried away. Truth is, I've already shared a record (Mother of God...) by these Massachusetts natives several years back, and had some positive props to drop on them.  As for the record at hand, Prouder Than Chowder's copyright date is 1989, three years succeeding the Mother of God LP, leading me to think even before I slapped in on the turntable I'd be an encountering an older and more advanced Expando Brain.  In actuality these five songs were tracked in 1985, one year before the aforementioned album.  "I Blame You," and the even more inviting "Woodblock" hint at some of these guys' lovingly rough hewn, albeit vaguely tuneful attributes.  Perfect for the late night PM slot on your local college station. Side two offers a trifecta of serrated, minute-and-a-half bangers wherein E/B indulge their DIY punk itch exuding a combination of tension and gleeful abandon.  

01. I Blame You
02. Woodblock
03. Relationsheeps
04. Drug Yacht
05. God's Words

https://www50.zippyshare.com/v/kLmXZru9/file.html