**Please do not reveal artist in comments!**
Wilfully Obscure
power pop * punk * emo * indie rock * shoegazer
Sunday, June 20, 2021
And what she couldn't take she found a way to break...
Saturday, June 19, 2021
The redo: Schatzi - Joni Loves Schatzi (1998, Humungous Fungus)
Luckily I had a backup ready to go. Way back in 2010 I lamented not being able to locate an original copy of a very obscure locally released title by a band that grew very near and dear to my heart in the early '00s, Schatzi. It took the better part of TWO DECADES for me to finally obtain a physical incarnation of Joni Loves Schatzi, the 1998 debut from the band in question. Yes it's merely a jewel case with an aluminum coated circle of plastic tucked within, but it felt like a remarkable effort after so many years of hunting and making hundreds of web queries. And here it as at a superior bitrate with scans of the entire booklet. The original 2010 write up is below. I'd be neglectful if I failed to mention Schatzi guitarist Monte Williams fell victim to a flood in the summer of 2020. R.I.P.
An Austin, TX outfit called Schatzi made the "Dubya" years at least a little more tolerable with two choice releases on Mammoth Records - the Death of the Alphabet ep in 2001, and the ensuing long player, Fifty Reasons to Explode a year later. Marrying seismic hooks to booming power chords, a la '90s Weezer and Smeared-era Sloan, but with even smarter songs than both, Schatzi possessed a winning formula, but received inadequate exposure (BTW, Fifty Reasons made it into my top-95
albums list of the decade). The band went their separate ways not long
after some 2003 recording sessions and a national tour with the Ultimate
Fakebook, but even after their demise, I was starving for more.
Sunday, June 13, 2021
...and the plans I've made don't include you, I'm afraid
**Please do not reveal artist in comments!**
Hear
Salvation Army (Three O'clock) - Live From Torrance and Beyond (2019, Burger rec. 5-22-82)
The Michael Quercio-helmed Salvation Army were well received in their native southern California and were just starting to make ripples nationally by the time their self-titled debut arrived. To give you an indication of how far the group's popularity had progressed, this live performance cut in May of 1982 found the band sharing a bill with two other very significant up and coming contemporaries, Red Cross (later Redd Kross) and The Minutemen (see a replica of the gig flyer to your right). If the Three O'clock veered to psych-inflected new wave, S.A. bore more of a punky sheen, reflected in this brief but delightfully raw set. The performance commences with with two of their album's most convincing songs, the hooky "She Turns to Flower" and the driving two-minute salvo, "Upside Down." In the banter that ensues just prior to launching into a cover of Pink Floyd's "Lucifer Sam," Quercio encourages the audience to engage in wanton free love, a la Woodstock (after all this '82 gig was an outdoor show). In between another wise choice of a remake (The Byrd's "Feel a Whole Lot Better") the band previews two soon-to-be Three O'clock fan favorites "Marjorie Tells Me" and "(With a) Cantaloupe Girlfriend." There's a mere eight songs all in all here, totaling roughly 22 unbridled minutes making for an enjoyable snapshot in time. The album was said to released in a limited edition of 650 copies, a few of which can be obtained on Amazon...and if it's to be believed, Target online.
01. She Turns to Flowers
02. Upside Down
03. Lucifer Sam
04. Marjorie Tells Me
05. (With a) Cantaloupe Girlfriend
06. Feel a Whole Lot Better
07. I Am Your Guru
08. Going Home
Friday, June 11, 2021
Solid State - "Let it All Out" 7" (1987)
A. Let It All Out
B. Be Bop
Sunday, June 6, 2021
At warped speed on the beltway loop...
**Please do not reveal artist in comments!**
Hear
Saturday, June 5, 2021
Fade to Black - Corridors of Gender ep (1984, CD Presents)
01. Black Box
02. Forward From Hell
03. Towers Open Fire
04. Soundtrack
05. Cinema Blue
Friday, June 4, 2021
Liquorice - Stalls 7" (1995, Simple Machines)
In music industry-speak Liquorice didn't have much "furniture" populating their humble and relatively serene parlor, relying predominantly on acoustic motifs and delicate interplay, albeit there's an oblique and slyly dynamic tenor to this single's centerpiece "Stalls." It's five and a half minutes of Toomey's indigenous stripe of tension and texture that's downright rewarding if absorbed in multiple doses. There are two b-sides, the downcast but affecting "Artifacts" featuring Littleton on the mic, and the hazy, ambient-esque "Squawk of the Town." Liquorice followed this 7" up with the considerably more widely circulated LP, Listening Cap on 4AD Records.
A. Stalls
B1. Artifacts
B2. Squawk of the Town
Sunday, May 30, 2021
Saturday, May 29, 2021
The Barking Boys - The Yes Girls (1987, World)
01. Cool it Down
02. Here She Comers
03. Ghost Story
04. Open City
05. Too Hot in Here
06. High Life/Low Life
07. Blood Money
08. Incident in St. James Town
Sunday, May 23, 2021
Saturday, May 22, 2021
V/A - Pop Matters (1995, Wagon Wheel)
01-The Grip Weeds - Salad Days
02-The Hippycrickets - Margaret Sez
03-The Critics - Every Good Boy
04-The Tearaways - Never Again
05-Big Hello - Your Mad Mad World
06-Major Nelson - No Home Outside This House
07-The Rockinghams - More Than One Way
08-The Jennifers - Keep It Up
09-The Kicksouls - Chickie
10-Twin Bees - Daddy Works For The Crime
11-The Idea - Private World
12-Million O'Clock - January Fool
13-Jeremy - I Want To Be With You
14-Cockeyed Ghost - Dirty Bastard
15-Prellys - The Peace I Might Have Lost
Friday, May 21, 2021
SLIP~ons - Bad TV 7" (2019, Scamindy) - A brief review
Brock Pytel isn’t exactly a household name, so if I may
impart a crash course, he was half of the singing/songwriting force behind Montreal’s
Doughboys, a rollicking, skate-punk
friendly setup who were lucky enough to benefit from his talents in the late ‘80s. The other half of the Doughboys, Jon Kastner, went onto slightly greater renown, steering his band to a major label in the '90s, albeit sadly, Pytel was out of the lineup by then. If you've familiarized yourself with the first two Doughboys records, Whatever (1987) and Home Again (1989), Brock's vocals are easily identifiable as the gruffer and more rugged of the band's mouthpieces, on cult-classic punk-pop bangers "You're Related" and "You Don't Know Me." The more I think about, he almost functioned as the foil to Kastner's comparatively more tuneful pitch.
He’s been a bit reclusive ever since, managing an under-the-radar solo LP, Second Choice in 2000, but he's
convened an ace new posse, the SLIP~ons, whose guitarsy power-pop is an apt
showcase for his rugged timbre and emergent melodious chops. The sonic palette on the band's second single, "Bad TV," isn't far removed from the canvas the Doughboys were won't to assault with spray paint, but it is more economical than what we heard from him in the '80s. The hooks set in deep on the nearly five-minute "Bad TV," not only exemplifying how far he's evolved over the past three decades, but makes a strong case for this being the most compelling song he's attached his name to. The even riffier "Cork & Kandy Glass" is another crunchy delight with a passionate melodic under-bite. Sure, there may only be two numbers amidst these grooves, but it will leave you craving more, desperately more if you're anything like myself. Many happy returns Brock!
Physical and digital versions of the SLIP~ons latest 45 are available on Bandcamp, and are also streaming on Spotify.
Sunday, May 16, 2021
I'm a businessman - we mean business, man!
**Please do not reveal artist in comments!**
Hear
Saturday, May 15, 2021
The Flex - From the Vacuum (1985)
By the time The Flex hit side two of this platter it's clear they have a bit of an identity crisis on their hands, with a haphazard melange of songs that run the gamut from the sloppy and unwieldy "Drunken Aerobics" to the dynamic, sax-enhanced "Tropikkana." Despite some occasional inconsistencies ...Vacuum is rewarding if not necessarily revelatory.
01. China Dolls
02. New Wavelength
03. 20 Minutes Late for Cocktails
04. What in the World?
05. #16 to Rambach
06. Art Babies
07. Dschungle World
08. Draw A. Blank
09. Drunken Aerobics
10. Lovely Day
11. Sleeping Boys
12. Acceleration
13. Tropikanna
Monday, May 10, 2021
no clue
**Please do not reveal artist in comments!**
Saturday, May 8, 2021
Chameleons UK & Mark Burgess - random rarities
This is merely a self "curated" pastiche of various Mark Burgess and/or Chameleons tracks stitched together from bootlegs and fan-assembled collections I purloined all the way back in the Napster era. I paid no attention to sequencing, nor am I familiar with the sourcing of several of these tunes. There are a couple tunes from the odds and sods Chameleon's comp Here Today, Gone Tomorrow, an alternate version or two from the band's BBC Evening Sessions, a remix, demos, and even some unreleased bullion. I included "Ever After" a song that appeared on the bonus EP that was bundled with Strange Times. For some reason this tune (possibly my fave Chameleons track overall) inexplicably didn't make it onto certain CD incarnations of that album. Also in this folder you can get an earful of Mark's pre-Chameleons outfit Mark Burgess & The Clichés, plus scarcities from some of his offshoot projects like The Reegs and The Sun and the Moon. In essence, I dedicate these melodies to you... Enjoy (or not).
Chameleons - Bobby Moore's Wine (Mad Jack demo)
Chameleons - Dear Dead Days
Chameleons - Ever After
Chameleons - Just Say No (unreleased)
Chameleons - Sally
Chameleons - Singing Rule Brittania (Radio One Evening Show, version two)
Chameleons - Splitting in Two (live)
Chameleons - Swamp Thing (loss mix)
Chameleons - The Healer (alternate version)
Chameleons - View From a Hill (Radio One Evening Show)
Mark Burgess - Mickey Mouschwitz
Mark Burgess & The Clichés - Leaving Town
Mark Burgess & The Clichés - Rock of Ages
Mark Burgess & White Rose Transmission - Digging for Water
The Reegs - The Dream Police
The Sun and the Moon - Angels
The Sun and the Moon - Love You, You Bastard
Friday, May 7, 2021
Sybil - Olympia 7" (1991, eMpTy)
A. Olympia
B1. Push Me Down
B2. Dream
Sunday, May 2, 2021
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!**
Hear
Saturday, May 1, 2021
Brakes - For Why You Kicka My Donkey? (1979, Magnet)
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
Sunday, April 25, 2021
Your famous last words started once your fingers hit the snooze...
**Please do not reveal artist in comments!**
Hear
Saturday, April 24, 2021
Uanattached - s/t ep (1988, Throbbing Lobster)
01. Yeah
02. Close Your Eyes
03. Midnight Love Thang
04. Help and Sympathy
05. It's Only Love
06. Down
Sunday, April 18, 2021
I know when everybody's got one you want one too.
**Please do not reveal artists in comments!**
Saturday, April 17, 2021
The Heebee Jeebeez - All Sales Are Vinyl (1998, Mooey Bueno)
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
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.
9353 - Overdoses at Your Mother's House
Arcwelder - Jacket Made in Canada/This, singles (MP3/FLAC)
Band of Susans - Blessing and Curse ep & Peel Sessions
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)
Blue Movie - Hearts in Clubs & Milking the Masters
Brown Lobster Tank - Our First Album
Cactus World News - Spin Radio 1986 concert LP
Comsat Angels - Red Planet ep, Unravelled, demos & live
Corduroy - Dead End Memory Lane & Lisp ep
The Downsiders - All My Friends Are Fish & s/t
The Fluid - Clear Black Paper & Freak Magnet
Fudge - The Ferocious Rhythm..., Southside Speedway, singles
The Fugue - Waiting for Something
G-Whiz - Eat at Ed's LP and split 7" w/ Lonely Trojans
Harvey Street - What About George? ep
Imitation Life - Scoring Correctly... & Ice Cubes and Sugar
Jane From Occupied Europe - Coloursound
Liquor Giants - Every Other Day at a Time & Here
Lovers Under Pressure - The Elvis Years & Island tape
Ludicrous Lollipops - A Part & Scrumdiddlyumptious eps
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
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 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 - The Kitty Comp - Pts 1 & 2
V/A - Metrojets, Vols. 1 & 2
Venus Beads - Incision, Black Aspirin/Transfixed, A Client/Shackled, first single
Velvet Elvis - s/t & What in the World
Verichrome Tulips - Le Lac Leman
Visitors - No Sign of Intelligent Life
Walt Mink - El Producto & Listen Little Man/The Poll Riders Win Again!