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It's probably going to be a couple more days until I have the chance to rip some more vinyl, but in the meantime, I'm giving you a vintage live show from TPOH that includes every song from Love Junk, and even the superb "She's So Young" b-side, "Let My People Go" to boot.  Moe Berg and pals also give the audience a preview of a handful songs that would appear on 1990's One Sided Story.  There's more than a few obligatory covers rounding this set out, not to mention banter and the occasional monologue.  It's safe to say that they couldn't have offered this crowd a more thorough performance.  This show comes from an above-average audience tape.  If you haven't done so already, check out Moe's pre-TPOH outfit Facecrime, whose Sex and Revolution ep is available for the taking here.

01. Killed By Love
02. Food
03. Man's Best Friend
04. banter/When the Sky Comes Falling Down/Walking in the Woods
05. Forbidden Fruit
06. Beautiful White
07. banter, Moe speaks
08. Consciousness Raising as a Social Tool
09. All I Want
10. She's So Young (cuts at beginning)
11. Ten Fingers
12. Tree of Knowledge
13. banter/Handsomest Man, Prettiest Girl in Town
14. Hard to Laugh
15. Let My People Go
16. Looking for Girls
17. Down on Him
18. I'm an Adult Now
19. encore intermission
20. Moe speaks/Couldn’t I Just Tell You/No Matter What
21. Little Sister

https://rapidshare.com/files/2965529647/tpoh_live89.rar

I recently had a request for this one.  Some four years ago when I unleashed a digitized incarnation of the Downsiders eponymous 1987 album on the masses, I merely liked it but have grown to love it.  As it would turn out, this Chico, CA four-piece had the drivin' and chimin' indie-guitar rock thing going quite dexterously, not far removed from the realm of Bleached Black and Carnival Season (references far too obscure for most of you, I know).  By the time the Downsiders took the reigns for their second and final record, All My Friends Are Fish, they opted for a slight detour, wherein varying textures and shifty moods wafted into the sonic ether.  There are several moments here, particularly in the first half, that graze the fringes of the Paisley Underground circuit which was in full gear a few hundred miles due south in L.A.  Even so, the Downsiders tended to favor the darker side of that coin.  Ranging from the sobering, reflective strains of "Ode to Traci" to the comparatively raucous "She's Alright," and even a droll reinterpretation of the Modern Lovers "Pablo Picasso," ...Fish swims through relatively disparate waters, but doesn't necessarily exceed the strength of the 'siders sterling debut.  

01. I Wanna Drive
02. Wild Honey Pie
03. Old Black Crow
04. All My Friends Are Fish
05. Pony Made of Ice
06. Cleaning House
07. Nobody Ever Called Pablo Picasso an Asshole
08. Kenny Koughdrop
09. Waiting for Nothing
10. Feet of Clay
11. She's Alright
12. Ode to Traci
13. Winnemuca
14. Find (We Can Hide)

https://rapidshare.com/files/1397844446/downsiders_fish.rar

Well, there's not much info to be had on Sheer Thursday, but some superficial stats on the back sleeve of this platter inform us they were based in Atlanta - that, and they were affiliated with Twilight Records, the imprint that released my favorite Pedaljets album, Today, Today.  Expecting the Grass peaks early on with it's ringing opening salvo, "Dodge," suggesting that ST had imbibed their fair share of Reckoning and Fables of the Reconstruction prior to these sessions.  If the remainder of this record was of the same caliber I'd be more enthusiastic, but luckily this quartet rolls a solid spare (if no more outright strikes) in the form of "A View From the Side" (esp the latter of the two tracks bearing that title).  Great, edgy post-punk, loosely in a Homestead Records mold.  Amidst some of the lesser selections there's too much collegiate-level ambling and artsy transgressions for my taste, but with the exception of ...Grass's most egregious foible, "Distance," it's a listenable and occasionally rewarding LP.     

01. Dodge
02. Distance
03. Fish form...
04. Moral
05. Gray Day
06. A View From the Side VII
07. Home Park
08. A View From the Side
09. The Dancing Bear

https://rapidshare.com/files/2236705955/sheerthursday.rar

We're just as much a heathen as anybody. - Barry Marler

Were I a little more "with it," I would have created this entry a week ago, and used it as on opportunity to plug two Dreams So Real reunion shows that had yet to happen (April 27th in Athens, GA, April 28 in Atlanta), but if those dates don't already make it obvious, I can only refer to them in the past tense.  On the ball as usual.

This isn't the first post I've dedicated to this Athens, GA trio, who were responsible for three stellar albums of rootsy jangle pop, circa the mid-80s thru 1990.  This tape was released by Arista Records as a promotional item coinciding with DSR's third and final outing, Gloryline.  Narrated entirely by leadman Barry Marler and bassist Trent Allen, the self explanatory motif of this nineteen-minute reel spans the group's early independent releases for Coyote Records right up to the then fresh Gloryline.  Not overwhelmingly revelatory, the guys at least have more to opine here than in their wide-screen appearance in the 1987 Athens, Ga Inside/Out rockumentary.  Interspersed between the spoken portions are one minute clips of key album tracks, including a demo take of "City of Love," that can only be enjoyed here - at least the few moments of it that are included anyway.  If DSR are unfamiliar terrain to you, this digitized cassette is a no-brainer as far as making your acquaintance, while seasoned ears will no doubt regard Audio Biography as a tasty curio.  Like what you hear?  DSR's crucial debut, Father's House is ripe for the picking at Power Pop Criminals, we're hosting the rarities and outtakes compendium Nocturnal Omissions, and the two Arista albums, Rough Night in Jericho and Gloryline are on iTunes and Emusic.

https://rapidshare.com/files/2698811892/dsr_bio90.rar

Another great, albeit posthumous find.  Gotta love the dollar bins folks.  My initial assumption was that Storch was a debut release, but through the miracle of Facebook, I have since learned that New Jersey-ites The Blisters, had an array of other releases under their belt, some dating back to 1987.  In fact, this three song jewel was to be the group's last recorded foray, which is sort of tragic given the tunes are so utterly, um...blistering.  "Teenage Flower" is par excellence bar-rock-cum-punk gold, and the two flips by and large follow suit.  The Blisters adhere to the same beer-battered recipe as The Figgs, Magnolias, Junk Monkeys (them again?) and The Leonards, but at the end of the day all roads lead to Minneapolis, or more specifically Paul Westerberg and Co.  I hope I have the chance to hear more of where this came from.  A tell-all bio can be read here at your leisure.  

01. Teenage Flower
02. Laughing At You
03. Five to Nine

https://rapidshare.com/files/3228221109/blisters7.rar

Don't have much time for a write-up tonight, but this one was requested on the heals of my share of a vintage Motocaster single from a few weeks ago.  Changing their name from the ill-advised moniker of Motorolla, this ever so economic power trio weren't your average Chapel, NC denizens.  Yes, they brought the rawk big time, but they weren't vying for college radio airplay or a slot at SXSW, so much as they wanted to blaring out of car stereos in 7-ll parking lots.  Stay Loaded was one of the most unaffected major label releases of its era, consistently cranked up to a rolling boil, and grizzled to perfection.  Good times.

01. The Buddha
02. The Habit
03. Straightfaced
04. Farah
05. Broken Eyes
06. Pull the Plug
07. Uranus
08. Dual-Active
09. Truth
10. Motorolla Blues
11. Sweet Pearl

https://rapidshare.com/files/570387689/motocaster_stayloaded.rar

It wasn't until a few weeks ago that I became acquainted with this Melbourne, Aussie lot - some three full decades after the fact.  Talk about arriving to the dinner table late.  Despite a major label pedigree (restricted to Oz anyway) Serious Young Insects didn't seem to make a huge dent in their homeland, and you can write off the States entirely.  After checking out the video for "Be Patient" (featured below) a feature track on Housebreaking, I became an instant convert, falling prey to it's plush, power-pop by way of tasteful new wave maneuvers...and a devastating hook that most bands would sacrifice a collective left nut for.  As for the video, "Be Patient" would have been quintessential MTV fodder of it's era, slotting in perfectly amidst a myriad of genius one-hit-wonders, but again, the album and single failed to make it stateside.  My theory?  Things might have gone in the Insects favor had Epic not been flexing all of it's marketing muscle behind Men at Work, but I digress

The trio's Myspace bio stresses that with it's über-slick production, Housebreaking failed to serve SYI justice stacked up against their live performances, which from the sound of it were plenty potent.  Sonically, the record's rich, state-of-the-art sound is still a pleasure to listen to, and perhaps even edgier that I'm leading on, but the songwriting is woefully deficient.  Despite receiving lyrical input from all three Insects, many, if not a full half of the cuts dotting Housebreaking's landscape are demonstrably underwritten and/or laden with half baked ideas that had yet to fully gestate.  One egregious example is "I Want Cake," which for most lesser bands wouldn't even qualify as a b-side.  In it's entirety, Housebreaking is still an impressive listen, just a bit frustrating in the lyrical department.  To my knowledge there are at least three SYI singles floating around out there (which I'd love to hear along with any unreleased studio material), and the group's Myspace page has five additional cuts (some live) that can be streamed.  If anyone cares to chime in about the Insects, comment as you see fit.  A big shout out goes to George for sending me these files.



01. Faraway Places
02. Things
03. I Want Cake
04. Parents Go Mental
05. I Don't Know
06. Be Patient
07. Safe
08. Housebreaking
09. Sad
10. Why Can't I Control My Body
11. Nerve

https://rapidshare.com/files/3957092729/syi_housebreaking.rar

One of my readers tipped me off about an upcoming one-off reunion gig involving one of the more oft mentioned subjects of these pages, Detroit's Junk Monkeys (see the flyer below for details).  The same gracious informant also alerted me that his own band, Hippodrome will be reuniting for an opening slot at this show as well, and he was kind of enough to pass along their 1989 CD dogbunny.  Having been contemporaries with the Junk Monkeys, Hippodrome were also of a similar post-Replacements stripe, aesthetically cross-pollinating with the likes of Material Issue, Smithereens, The Magnolias, and even left-of-the-dial obscuros Weird Summer.  Judging by the consistency of this album, Hippodrome had the songs and the talent to find a place within the same ranks.  Amidst the twelve originals is a fervent reading of the Velvets "Foggy Notion."  Singer and plucker Chris Richards went onto another combo in the '90s dubbed the Phenomenal Cats, and launched a variety of other endeavors including Chris Richards and the Subtractions. whose Sad Sounds of the Summer album saw a 2009 release.  In addition, I'd also recommend the Pathetic History compilation which selectively highlights Richards 1990s pursuits.

UPDATE: May 2nd - one of the Hippodrome guys just posted a bonus-sized version of dogbunny which you can check out on their Bandcamp page.  It supersedes my version by almost twice the number of tunes!

01. She's Raining On Me
02. Henry
03. Brenda Lee
04. I'm in Love With Everything
05. Under the Tree
06. Her Hair Was Way-cool to Me
07. Call
08. Hope She Didn't Hear Me Say
09. Village Idiot
10. Sunshine Girl
11. Caroline
12. Foggy Notion
13. Crumble

https://rapidshare.com/files/3672196934/hippodrome.rar

Graig's 2012 solo release, Graig Markel was written up here.