Twister
Mums, Dads, and Ladyboys CD
Damaged Goods. damgood 181cd.
by Keith McLachlan.
January 4, 2001.
See more about this title.
Out of Stock.
I was never much for britpop. I was a Blur fan sure
but I always thought that in spite of their then less
than provocative disdain for all things American they
sounded less English than all of the other chump bands
of the time. I never got into 'Different Class' or
Supergrass cause the music was never really very good,
and I hated all of their interviews and the fake cool
Brittania. At the time I was certainly a huge
anglophile but somehow I had sense enough to avoid
Menswear and besides Britpop probably had reached its
nadir with 'Your Arsenal' released two years before
anyhow.
Twister probably would have fit right in with those sham britpop bands that concocted the whole britpop myth but somehow I don't despise them. Perhaps it is because of the perceived credibility of Damaged Goods in my own head but the music here sounds more legitimately characterizable as britpop the sort label types like to classify as circa Small Faces/T-Rex than anything Tiny Monroe ever did. It is snarling vocals done politely and jangly/shardlike guitars and look at the title--it along with the faux trashy cover shot make this record a bit dirtier than anything NME would have sold to you in 1995.
Thirteen mostly fast songs about urban domestica and bored restlessness. Anthemic almost, not really a punch to the gut, more like an indian rub burn given to a person wearing gortex undergarments. Oh and they are quite ugly too which is always a bonus as all the bands apparently worth anything these days seem to be on the familiar side of hideous.
Various Artists
A Smile Took Over ep Double 7" vinyl
Matinee. Matinee 005.
by Keith Mclachlan.
January 19, 2000.
See more about this title.
Out of Stock.
A double seven inch of Sarah covers meant as a tribute to maybe the
most influential label in indie pop ever and they chose to include a
cover of Boyracer? Of course we are all for 'I've Got It And It's Not
Worth Having' for it has the unusual distinction of being both the
debut and climax of Boyracer's career. But truly a singles label like
Sarah could have offered up a few more inspired selections from its back
catalog? How about 'Around the World in 80 Days'? or 'Our Love is
Heavenly'?
Even the Sweetest Ache inclusion covered by Sweet William might have been better served were it 'Tell Me How It Feels' rather than 'Briaris' -- though this new version is lovely, if only about half as charming as the original.
Uni has Brent Fairways in it so their version of the Sea Urchins 'You're so Much,' if a bit slavish to the original, is peppy and assured, if perhaps exposing Brent's voice to be less than commited.
The aforementioned Boyracer cover by the newly beautiful (in my heart) Lucksmiths is probably the best track since they actually put a new spin on the original and it is nice to hear their stabs at interpreting the semi-indecipherable lyrics of the original.
The closing track is Ego's bad singer bellowing his way through a Blueboy song I am not all that familiar with, even though I have the single it appears on, but I guess most Blueboy songs are like that, aren't they?
A nice idea but not as great as it should have been considering the talent of at least three of the contributors and the wealth of material at their disposal. Oh well.
Various Artists
ARC (Music Of Dunedin) CD
ARC. arcd-1.
by Keith McLachlan.
September 4, 1998.
See more about this title.
Out of Stock.
This is a compilation CD compiling a bunch of bands from the
Holy Land of Dunedin and released by the ARC cafe in that city which
is sort of an art collective establishment or something.
All I know is that I wish I worked there slinging espressos and lattes just so I could have seen Martin Phillipps and David Kilgour play 'Autobahn,' so I could have swooned while Demarnia Lloyd (she of the soon to be world dominating Cloudboy) breathlessly cooed her two tracks 'Pretty' and 'The Dawn,' or so I could have smiled while Toast (who are most of the Magick Heads (RIP) except for Jane) chirps their lovely contribution 'Where Angles Bathe.' Alastair Galbraith also is in the act along with some cool new acts, coolest of them all being John White and Mestar who have a real sort of Hefner vibe going on in their two contributions.
Dunedin is probably the coolest city on earth, you should listen and find out why.
Various Artists
Algebra Spaghetti CD
Siesta. Siesta 70.
by Keith McLachlan.
November 12, 1998.
See more about this title.
Out of Stock.
'You know, for kids!'-Norville
Barnes. There was an explanation of this record on the indie-pop list a
few days back but I seem to have forgotten all of the important
highlights. With my non-expert ears I can recognize that a few of these
songs are covers and with my non-expert eyes I can see a few were written
by people like Momus.
Apparently this is to be the first in a series of releases targeted at children on a new label called Reverie which is going to involve Mike Always and Siesta and well if your kids are listening to this they must be impossible hip and I am not sure I want my future kids to be cooler than I am so I may not let them play with your kids or listen to this. All of it is fantastically serene and innocent but nowhere near the crap patronizing aspects of most children's entertainment (see Barney).
I especially like the 1910 Fruitgum Company covers which are updated to a new sophisticated sheen. The spirit of the Cowsills seems to hover over most of the album but as the Cowsills were maybe the 57th greatest band ever you come away with a smile about as wide as the crack in the moon. Does my enjoyment of this indicate I am somehow not very mature? Probably, but then I already knew that.
Various Artists
B'ehl/Clag split 7" vinyl
by Keith Mclachlan.
February 2, 1997.
See more about this title.
Out of Stock.
Warning: this will rot your teeth. But don't worry I believe I have
enough Polygrip coupons for everyone, so go on indulge in this lovely
chunk of sweetness from the glimmering Aussie's Clag and the loverly
Canucks B'ehl. Prove how hard you are by being man or woman enough to
admit to liking this.
Various Artists
Breaking The Plastic Hymen 7" vinyl x 4
Fisheye. school02.
by Crayola Summer.
October 12, 1997.
See more about this title.
Out of Stock.
Awful title. But don't be put off because what you get is a collection of
22 bands - from the obscure Mother Tongue (who should perhaps remain that
way), to the not so obscure Wingtip Sloat (who should be stars). There's a
little bit of everything here - Refrigerator have that cool K records
sound, Starstruck are pop sonic youth, Bugskull are noise terrorists with
a sense of humour and Hood are, well, Hood.