Tanner - (Germo) Phobic

Lots of good stuff was coming out of San Diego in the early 90s.  Rocket From the Crypt (RIP) got lots of the attention, and deservedly so - you would be hard pressed to find a band more dedicated than RFTC to the absolute entertainment and enjoyment of every fan at their shows.  Of course, one of frontman John Reis' other bands was arguably far more influential.   Indeed, Drive Like Jehu is one of my all time favorites, and undoubtedly inspired a few others.  

One of Jehu's later tour partners were fellow San Diegoans Tanner.  One time ubiquitous indie behemoth Caroline even released their first LP, Ill Gotten Gains.   And if you search the interwebs for a minute or two you should be able to find a copy for yourself.  (If not, let me know.  I'll be happy to upload upon request).  

The follow-up LP (Germo) Phobic was far more difficult to find.  Not just in today's blog- and P2P-driven communities.  I mean that when the CD was hot off the presses you could not find the fucker anywhere.  The label never even serviced my old college station, WRCT - and in those days, EVERYONE serviced WRCT.  I never saw a copy at my local record store, either, and it was not for a lack of looking. The scarcity continues today.  Google doesn't seem to know about any other blog uploads, so I'm just trying to do my part.

Enough with the preamble.  If you like Jehu and similar-minded tight, tense, and intense guitar-driven rock, get to clickin'.

we were the right ones

Spoon - Live at Emo's [December 4, 2004]

If you are wondering why I'm making such a flurry of posts lately after several months of near extinction, here's the deal.  My company is doing so well in this slow economy that they decided to give me and everyone else in the organization one week off - unpaid.  This is my week.  Legally... technically... I am not supposed to do any work for my employer this week.  Fair enough.  

You must know Spoon by now.  They definitely got more popular after being dropped by a major, and IMHO got better, too.  This is a bootleg from a hometown show at the venerable Austin, TX rock club, Emo's.  This happened just a few months before Gimme Fiction was released.  That's the one post-major Spoon album I don't really like.  No biggie though; the setlist draws liberally from the entire Spoon catalog up to that point.  

It sounds awesome, too.  Kudos to the entrepreneurial fan and/or sound man who made this pristine recording.

i don't make any of this stuff

French Kicks - One Time Bells

In my mind this is an obvious follow up to my previous Natural History post.  More early-oughts NYC indie pop, with their own unique twists.  French kicks were more apt to put some abrasion in their guitar tones.  At the same time, their vocal harmonies could be sweeter and smoother than their gotham contemporaries.  

The reviewer who caught this album at pitchfork invoked Hall & Oates as a referential put-down.  In my book, that's a compliment.  Blue eyed soul never got any smoother or sweeter than that Philly duo's peak run a couple decades ago.  For what it's worth, I think there's a touch of Prince in some of the vocals and songwriting, too.  

we get lost every time

Cell - Slo*Blo

As I've mentioned before, there was a time when record store cut-out bins were stacked to the ceiling with all the WTF major label signings.  If you dig around long enough you probably still can find a handful of vintage 1993 DGC promo copies of this record at my local  favorite.  

I probably haven't listened to this since I first dismissed it as just another typical major label cash-in on my beloved "underground" sound.  But a funny thing happened recently.  I stumbled back upon the DGC Rarities, Vol. 1 compilation, and it turns out that the Cell track on there is pretty fucking huge.  One thing led to another, and I ordered this CD for one penny plus shipping.  

My penny saved is your penny earned (yeah yeah, not my best metaphor, I know).  Never mind this album is one of the more notorious relics of that borderline-psychotic post-Nevermind major label feeding frenzy.  After fifteen years, Slo*Blo actually holds up really well with such time-lapsed objectivity.  I am obligated to mention Sonic Youth here - Cell's drummer was a SY roadie before hitting the big time, as it were - but save for that relationship and being signed by DGC, that's where the similarities end.  This record is full of loud, midtempo rock songs with soaring guitar duels and anthemic choruses.  If I had to pick an indie rock icon as a reference, I would have to say Lungfish.  That's right.

now you wonder why

Crystalized Movements - This Wideness Comes

What the hell am I going to say about this?  I am not worthy to describe it accurately, but I will try anyway.  Crystalized Movements was the first in a long succession of bands led by underground psychedelic guitar icon Wayne Rogers. Eric Arn (of Primordial Undermind, and an underground guitar icon in his own right) played second guitar in earlier lineups of Crystalized Movements.  Prior to releasing This Wideness Comes in 1990, Arn was replaced by longtime Rogers collaborator and partner Kate Biggar.  The rest, as they say, is history.  

Most songs start out as melodic psychedelic rock, dive into one or more heavy freak-out rabbit holes, and occasionally splash around in the quicksand of Sonic Youth style noise.  Like I said, I cannot describe this accurately.  Take my word for it, this record is pure joy.  

I have never seen this album in any of the usual blog circles.  Why not? I would say that This Wideness Comes set the tone for the next eighteen years (and counting) of Rogers-Biggar creations.  After one more Crystallized Movements LP (Revelations From Pandemonium, 1992) the pair continued to expand their mind-altering vision of rock music in Vermonster, Bongloads of Righteous Boo, Magic Hour, and - currently - Major Stars.  

For fans of Twisted Village, Forced Exposure, rock music, and w33d.

the kitchen's out of sugar

Some Velvet Sidewalk - Whirpool

Some Velvet Sidewalk were contemporaries of Beat Happening in the late 80s/early 90s Pacific Northwest scene.  Not surprisingly, K Records released most of their recordings.  They shared Beat Happening's minimalist approach to rock, but Some Velvet Sidewalk were a bit more... there is no way to candy coat this... talented.  

Even then, it took SVS a couple albums to really get their stride.  Whirlpool is my personal favorite album of theirs.  It was certainly heavier than their earlier releases, but it was also more sprawling in its sound and tighter in its performance.  No doubt this was thanks in large part to production by Steve Fisk.  

If you like slightly atonal, sometimes noisy and droning, occassionally childlike, but ultimately melodic indie rock typical of the early K Records persuasion, check it out.

i blame you

XLIII