Raymond Brake
"New Wave Dream" 7" vinyl
Simple Machines.
by Gary Miller.
December 31, 1995.
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Out of Stock.
This Simple Machines seven-incher is the second release (as far as I can
tell) from The Raymond Brake. This young, four-piece band from
Greensboro,
NC has a more traditional "Chapel Hill" sound than most bands actually
living
there. That, however, is not meant to say their brand of noisy-pop is
derivative.
"New Wave Dream" is quintessential T.R.B. material with its on-the-verge-of-being-out-of-tune guitars, jumpy feel, and melodic vocals. The b-side is a more straight-forward poppy number called "Secret."
While it still doesn't move me as much as their live show, this release is tons better than their first 7" (on D-tox). This can be traced to the newer release's better production and higher energy levels. I'm looking forward to the Simple Machines-released full-length due later this fall.
Helen Love
"Beat Him Up" 7" vinyl
Damaged Goods. Damgood 89.
by Scott Zimmerman.
December 31, 1995.
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Out of Stock.
Alert: The CD-single of "Beat Him Up" has a third song "Matthew Kaplan
Superstar" that's not available on the 7"! Argh. I hope there's a good
explanation for this! I'll be forgiving this one time and just assume
that the bonus track is available elsewhere on vinyl. But if not, I hope
Damaged Goods knows that the baby blue vinyl of the 7", as nice as it
looks, doesn't quite make up for the fact that the record is missing a
song!!! Anyways, as for the music on the record, it's the usual
smiley-keyboard-pop perfection we've all come to expect from Helen Love.
And the usual super lines, too: "All the girls in the world go 'woo! what
a really great guy!' in his great black trousers, with the beer stains
down the side!" Too great!
Prolapse
"T.C.R." 7" vinyl
Love Train. PUBE06.
by Scott Zimmerman.
December 31, 1995.
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Out of Stock.
Mumbling incomprehensible boy, with screaming incomprehensible girl,
whining guitars and driving bass make Prolapse's "TCR" song of the year?
Could be! It's so wild and unusual, it demands to be replayed
and replayed. And the flip side "Irritating Radiator" is quite an
interesting experience, too. Granted, the catchiness of the A-Side
is not present, so there will be no song of the year honors here, but
based on the nicely descriptive title, the characteristic of
overflowing pop sensibility probably was not meant for it anyways.
little a
"You" 7" vinyl
Say Aahh.
by Scott Zimmerman.
December 31, 1995.
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Out of Stock.
Sound aspects of Smashing Pumpkins and Stone Temple Pilots
combine here to form quite an intense little 45 in
the form of "You/My Lover" by the Massachusetts' group Little A.
It's musically adept, with an original crossing of noise,
quiet, melody, anger, intensity, and calm.
the Heartworms
"If Everything Goes As Planned" 7" vinyl
Popfactory. poof-4.
by Scott Zimmerman.
December 31, 1995.
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Out of Stock.
Archie Moore gets all the lead vocals on this 3 song Heartworms
7". They're overcast songs, with damn fine guitar work, up there with
the best of the Heartworms. "A Lover Sings," a Billy Bragg cover, has
the Heartworms sounding like Camper Van Beethoven (or Cracker if you
prefer, sigh). Too cool!
Various Artists
Double Agent 001 7" vinyl
Double Agent. DA 001.
by Scott Zimmerman.
December 31, 1995.
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Out of Stock.
Rose Melberg and Dustin Reske singing and composing a song
together--is that a musical match made in heaven or what? At the very
least, it's a record label's dream. Ok, so maybe it wouldn't be DGC's
dream or Warner Bros. dream--they might be thinking more on the line
of Eddie Vedder/Courtney Love, or Michael Bolton/Whitney Houston. But
since we're talking about indie-pop, something which the major labels
probably think is a cola not unlike Pepsi that's popular with Bombay
teenagers, we can just dismiss their dreams as irrelevant. So, as for
this indie-pop musical dream, Double Agent lives it on its very first
release! The song is "The Love We Could Have Had," a fuzzy, catchy,
totally lo-fi offering with (of course) brilliant vocals. However, the
must hear song that it is, I had higher expectations that it might end up
being the best song ever written in the history of all music. But it's
not. Oh well. It's still awazingly good though.
And the three songs by the other three artists on this EP are a treat, too. Papas Fritas contributes "Here She Comes." And if the Dustin Reske/Rose Melberg duet was a pop dream, this is a pop miracle! I really need to pick up their album soon.
Zaius, which is an alias for Peter of the Double Agent label, starts up the B-Side, with "29th Scroll, 6th Verse," the most mellow track on the EP. It's a bizarre crossing of soft folky guitar pop with samplings from the movie Planet of the Apes!
And with "Cult Here, Come Home," My Favorite bring the EP to a close, with an upbeat, yet nostalgically sad male/female vocaled guitar pop tune, the kind you just know you'll still love years from now.