The Beths - Expert in A Dying Field

 The Beths - Expert in a Dying Field       

Label: Carpark

After two fantastic Indie Rock records I was simultaneously excited to get my copy (early from pre-order) of the new one by my new favourite band and terrified that I wouldn't like it as much as the first, judging it harshly against hype and the previous two.

Jump Rope Gazers and Future Me Hates Me have been on constant rotation here since I heard them. One great track after another (even though I SWEAR my copy of JRG is warped at the end of each side. But Beth's voice doesn't sound wavery like the instruments so...damn you, interesting production!) has had me extolling this band like a crazed fanboy. 

Did I try to go see them an hour away the day after I came back from an East Coast work trip? Yes. Did I fall asleep way before the concert so there was no way I would make it? Also, yes. Did I purchase tickets to their upcoming spring show? Hell yes. 

Fanboy. 

And then I heard Expert's singles. And I was absolutely sure I would love this one, too. And I did. Not right away. That's because I had to do the weighing of this record against the previous two, which played like discoveries, having zero build up. And then, on listen 3, I got it. I was able to let it stand on it's own instead of in the shadow of those two terrific records. It's another in a series of gems by Beth Stokes and her merry band of New Zealanders. 

The very concept of a relationship having come to an end and the participants being "experts" on each other and matching that to the coldness of said relationship being a "field" that is "dying" is brilliant. It's poetry the likes of which we rarely get in music these days. Sure we get the forlorn. We get the brokenhearted. But we don't get the kind of wordplay that calls to mind a field where romance could blossom also being a workplace where you have overstayed your time. 

It calls to mind the dual uses of the word "Whatever" in that song from the debut and makes me hate my own writing. But that's okay. I've always hated my own writing. 

And I can always sing along to Beth. 

Grade: A

Packaging Grade: A

    The gatefold is packed with Polaroid photos of the band in various stages of work on the record. The lyrics are printed on the other side of a giant poster of that...fish. And my copy is the early order Spring Green from Carpark and it's lovely. 

A Side: Expert in a Dying Field, Knees Deep, Silence is Golden, 2AM

Blind Sides: Best Left, The Passing Rain, I Told You That I Was Afraid

Local Drags - Keep Me Glued

 Local Drags - Keep Me Glued 

I don't recall the moment when I discovered that there was a plethora of Power Pop made in America but only available from labels overseas. I mean, sure, I've always known that there have been scads of US artists that never get nationwide distribution but this was the first time as I reentered the vinyl world, that I learned about just how MUCH there was. 

I think the throughline starts with a Facebook page about Power Pop. The playlist in one particular post led me to a series of bands and singles that perked me up. Lovebreakers. The Yum Yums. Radio Days. And more. 

Searching for those records, the latter two being on Screaming Apple records took me to The Machine Shop Rocks, an American distributor and that brought me to a page where Local Drags lived. Or sold. 

And, when I finally pulled the order trigger, I made sure to order those records because the entire MO of my vinyl journey was to support smaller artists. I mean, the Taylor Swifts of the world don't need my money (Yes, I bought Midnights....dammit) but the Lannie Durbins of the world? He could use my $20. 

Like the Starter Jackets project Lannie is involved with, these records are filled to their short running time brim with 2 minute razor sharp pop rockers that, 40 years ago, would have seen them move to a larger label and try to make it in the era of skinny ties and weird Nielsen guitars. 

My main complaint? I've already stated it and I will again when the other records of his come up: 23 minutes is not an album. It could be called a "mini-album" but, then, who would spend full ticket price for that, right? 

The music, however, is another story. Because no song wears out their welcome, the album is a breeze. The guitars are crunchy, the choruses work, the understated vocals never pushing too far into RAWK. This follows the Power Pop motif laid out by the likes of The Raspberries, albeit, Local Drags' music is edgier. 

Grade: A-

Packaging Grade: C (No inner sleeve, no notes, no lyrics, but the Chemical Lake Blue platter is gorgeous)

A Sides: Springfield Discount Cemetary, Cash Bar, Keep Me Glued

Blind Sides: Give a Shit Anyway, Ghost Runner

The 1982 Listening Post - Mark Freeland's Electroband - American Googaloo

 Mark Freeland's Electroband - American Googaloo

1982 Housekeeping

Mark Freeland’s Electroband

American Googaloo

Genre: Zappesque

2.25 out of 5

This could be Zappa. With a deep understanding of R&B that isn’t pandering or racist. I’m really not sure what to make of this record, but it’s quick and it’s dynamic. Much of these tracks could and should be used by DJs to sample into other tracks and be Mcd over. 

These tracks are skittish and manic and each of them sound like they could be the theme song for some public access show in 1982. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ttpMvYT2k3g

The 1982 Listening Post - Sharks - Altar Ego

Sharks - Altar Ego 

1982 Housekeeping

Sharks

Altar Ego

Genre: Glam

2.25 out of 5

Rick Czerny, legend has it, was one of Axl Rose’s influence, at least as far as stage presence went. 

Sharks became Shark Island and they were legend on the Sunset Strip. 

This is a VERY early collection of what sound like demos. Given their reputation I had high hopes but, what we get here is a poorly mixed, muddy set of glam tracks that want to have more heft than they do. So, to me, this sounds like a band with ideas of what they want to sound like but unable to execute. The energy behind the vacuous “Rock Kids” suggests what they were hoping to be but they haven’t quite figured out how to update the 70s glam sound to capture the imagination of would-be fans in 82. 

Is this the nascent sound of hair metal? It’s right on the heels of Crue’s first foray so I imagine they all knew and played with each other. Spencer Sercombe

has chops. I’m surprised I never heard of him based on this band’s pedigree. Just like Jimmy and Randy, they give Spencer his shot at an instrumental and its…boring. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gbbna60BIMk&list=RDgbbna60BIMk&start_radio=1&t=5s

The 1982 Listening Post - Alliance - Alliance

 Alliance - Alliance

1982 Housekeeping

Alliance

Alliance

Genre: Stadium Rock

3.75 out of 5

Highlights:

How Does It Feel

Make It Right

We really should have cataloged all the bands that came on the heels of Styx and Supertramp and ELO and Foreigner because there were a ton of them and, instead of spending eternity playing in the lounge of the local Playboy club they got record deals. 

Alliance managed one. And I dare, say, it’s not terrible. 

There’s a ton of energy and soaring vocals and some fun, heady lead lines. I especially had fun listening to the lead in Love on the Line which, I don’t know, maybe Loverboy could have turned into a hit.

They do it all right here, including shoving the unctuous ballad towards the end, making it the penultimate track that leads into a closer, which could be a single or just a track that all fans really know well and sing along to while everyone else is confused. “It’s the one after the ballad, Craig!” 

“Oh. I always turn it off after that song…”

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7Ev2uv-SZBY&list=PLgH4WGd534TFvXc6Y1UFH7ltjXzKIsyHK

The 1982 Listening Post - Colin Newman - Not To

 Colin Newman - Not To

1982 Housekeeping

Colin Newman

Not To

Genre: New Wave

2.75 out of 5

Requisite 80s Cover: an ugly version of “Blue Jay Way”. Blech. 

In the early 80s two groups has as much influence as others would on the prevailing sound of the day: Joy Division and Gary Numan. Their listeners and acolytes created as many records as those who said they started a band after hearing Sex Pistols for the first time. 

I add Wire to that list but I never cared for them, so it’s hard for me to etch them into that lineup. And Newman feels like he picked up the baton from Joy and Gary and not from his own group, for which these songs were originally intended. But Joy Division had self-destructive sexiness at their forefront and Numan had that robotic disaffection working for him. 

And both of those groups songs are more attractive, even when they are trying to repel you, than Colin’s. 

Somewhere in the middle Colin fancies himself a garage poet and I can’t help but feel like he would have fit in well with the Velvets. 

As on A to Z, I like this more than Wire, but, sorry, Colin, I shan’t be returning to your world. 

https://open.spotify.com/album/7gr3eJg9WYylqyPr75N8Rm?si=hjxFhOeZRKC1HzsKGkLbQA&dl_branch=1

The 1982 Listening Post - New Age - All the Monkeys Aren't in the Zoo, Marylou

New Age -  All the Monkeys Aren't in the Zoo, Marylou

1982 Housekeeping LISTENING POST DISCOVERY

New Age

All the Monkeys Aren't in the Zoo, Marylou

Genre: Post-Punk

4.25 out of 5

Highlights:

Acception

On the Inside

Amidst the morass it’s sometimes easy to forget what the defining sound of 80s were. It isn’t Hair Metal or punk…when you think of the day glo era there are big, jangly guitars and moody bass with time keeping drums that offer more by showing less. You know…the Joy Division/Duran Duran/U2 thing. The Sound was great at creating these soundscapes. 

And here is a band that is feeling it as well.

Trouble is, the songs aren’t as cohesive as the mood and rhythms.  But when it swings it swings, Jack. There’s just no single. I know, I know, but, dammit, without a “Girls on Film”, this is destined for the dustbin.

But it’s every bit as good as the Durans first record. 

Better, even.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LVXQrH5eues

The 1982 Listening Post - Artemis Pyle Band - A.P.B.

 Artemis Pyle Band - A.P.B.

1982 Housekeeping

Artemis Pyle Band

A.P.B.

Genre: Rock w/Southern Flavor

3.25 out of 5

Highlights:

Town to Town

Don’t Know Her Name

Requisite 80s Cover: A honky tonk version of “Maybelline” that is ultimately unnecessary and, while I’m sure it went over well at BBQs and beer fests, it pales to the rockabilly that has been set forth at this time. 

Drummers in the 80s…they all got record deals, huh? Here’s the latest. The drummer for Skynrd. I assume that the label figured there was some “Jessica” magic to be spread around from that group. 

What it comes across like is a .38 Special clone.

Since Darryl Smith is credited on most of these songs and is the primary vocalist I imagine this record deal was in place to capitalize on the Skynrd name.

There are some neat little licks here. And John Boerstler employees them with deference and aplomb. And the only track written by Pyle, “Make Some Rock”, shows more life than I expected. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dr3hJheVczg

The 1982 Listening Post - Kraut - An Adjustment to Society

 Kraut - An Adjustment to Society

1982 Housekeeping

Kraut

An Adjustment to Society

Genre: Punk

Highlights:

All Twisted

Unemployed

Arming the World

Correct me if I’m wrong but there were two decidedly different kinds of punk in the early 80s. If I am not addled about this there was the West Coast Skateboard punk sound that was fast and snotty and sometimes hilarious. With a very “what the fuck do we care” California sensibility.

And on the east coast it seemed, to me, to hew closer to metal. Like when The Ramones came out with Too Tough to Die and that sound was deeper and sludgier. And the humor was more “Chip on their shoulder”.

Maybe I’m making a gigantic generalization but Kraut sounds like the latter. They amped up the garage sound, deepened the bass, investigated metal licks and came out swinging. Some of it, like “Abortion” and “Kill for Cash” could fit nicely into a Dead Kennedys setlist and others, like “Bogus” are hybrids of the two. And then they can also sound like and emulate The Clash, (“Sell Out”).

This is an excellent punk album from the time when this sound was important and defining. 

https://music.apple.com/us/album/an-adjustment-to-society/567660448

The 1982 Listening Post - Toby Redd - A to Z

 Toby Redd - A to Z

1982 Housekeeping LISTENING POST DISCOVERY

Toby Redd

A to Z

Genre: Power Pop

4.25 out of 5

Highlights:

Can’t Get a Job

More Time

Make It Up to You

Melea

Requisite 80s Cover: An unrecognizable “It Ain’t Me Babe” that proves that good songs are good songs are good songs. 

A tight power pop group from Detroit that boasts Pre-RHCP Chad Smith as the drummer. But not on this record, apparently. He would join on the next one. 

What’s happening here is a solid set of rockers with swagger and punch. Are they in the wrong timeline? Yes, definitely. But they got the riffs and the licks and I bet they threw a helluva party. The pair of quntuplet drum hits in the solo of “Make It Up To” made me wish that fucker streamed. I neeeeeeed that on a playlist. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bVKN5d3lN2A&list=PLlvn8uktX5LsIpLvIKM4MhplxiOo47W7B

The 1982 Listening Post - Five or Six - A Thriving and Happy Land

 Five or Six - A Thriving and Happy Land

1982 Housekeeping

5 or 6

A Thriving and Happy Land

Genre: Post-everything

2.25 out of 5

This is 40 minutes of sound design work. Sure, there are instruments but mostly they are pretending to be Brian Eno creating ambient soundscapes and talk singing over them. It isn’t all that interesting and, ultimately background noise that makes passers by say, “could you play something else?”

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4N9TplCvEHc

The 1982 Listening Post - The Penetrators - A Sweet Kiss From Mommy

 The Penetrators - A Sweet Kiss From Mommy

1982 Housekeeping

The Penetrators

A Sweet Kiss From Mommy

Genre: Rock

4 out of 5

Highlights:

We Can Talk

Cassanova

Ok, go with me here. Listen to “We Can Talk” and tell me…am I crazy or does that sound an awful lot like if The Feelies went roots rock? 

I had to do some reading on this band and, lo and behold, the drummer would change his name to Country Dick Montana and form The Beat Farmers. That’s why this is so good. That’s why the Beat Farmers are so good. Country Dick, man. 

You know who knows this band? Eddie Vedder. Here’s the story: “There was the time we played at the San Dieguito high school gym, and someone in the band got caught either smoking pot or drinking. The principal stopped the show, and the kids went crazy and had a teenage riot. One of those kids reminded me of that show years later; his name was Eddie Vedder.” The future Pearl Jam vocalist would appear on Heffern’s album Painful Days.”

In college we would all fall in love with Beat Farmers and roots rock and all and, guess what? I think we owe a lot to The Penetrators.  (And so does Mojo Nixon, also from the San Diego area, I believe).

This is the sound of a local band getting it’s feet wet and starting a career on the right one. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4nJaRKLOjLw

The 1982 Listening Post - The Secrets - ...Secrets

 The Secrets - ...Secrets

1982 Housekeeping

The Secrets

…Secrets

Genre: Power Pop

4 out of 5

Highlights:

It’s Your Heart Tonight

Shy Around Girls

Radio Heart

The genre that just won’t die. When you have the skinny tie songs but access to new studio tech, you might find yourself dialing ups the fuller sound and dialing back the dryness that I always loved about the late 70s aspect of Power Pop.

But, here’s the thing, this is what Raspberries would have sounded like 10 years later, I think.

Songs like “Uniform” and “Radio Heart” are simple in subject but powerful in their own way that scream that they want to be sung in front of 50,000 people but I don’t know that The Secrets ever got in front of 500. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XORFKr-G0Lk

The 1982 Listening Post - Zoogz Rift - Amputees in Limbo

 Zoogz Rift - Amputees in Limbo

1982 Housekeeping

Zoogz Rift

Amputees in Limbo

Genre: Novelty Experimental Weirdness

2 out of 5

Highlights:

Secret Marines: The Sequel

It saddens me that Robert Pawlikowski died so young. He was either a genius or a lunatic. The atonal reworking of “Sunshine of Your Love” as “But the Picture Has a Mustache” is inspired wackiness. 

There’s a freaking Jew’s Harp on this thing. Sometimes it sounds like what I would expect from a good album by wresters, as opposed to that garbage in the 85. Other times it just goes on and one and on and…you are not left wondering why Zoogz was a radio star. 

This is Daniel Johnston with an electric guitar…and friends. 

https://music.apple.com/us/album/amputees-in-limbo/1213287978

The 1982 Listening Post - Phil Seymour - 2

 Phil Seymour - 2

1982 Housekeeping

Phil Seymour

2

Genre: Power Pop

2.5 out of 5

Lowlights: 

Suffering (Which I did throughout that meandering Cars wannabe)

For Phil, it’s still 1975. “Don’t Let Daddy Find Out” is as Bay City Rollers as you can get and not be wearing tartan. Trouble here is that Phil isn’t really bringing anything to the table and this album is mostly songs by others. 

First 10 songs on this comp, which is weirdly missing the Twilley written track, “Looking for the Magic” and I bet there’s a story there. 

https://music.apple.com/us/album/archive-series-vol-2/467267130

The 1982 Listening Post - John Hiatt - All Of a Sudden

 John Hiatt - All Of a Sudden

1982 Housekeeping

John Hiatt

All of a Sudden

Genre: New Wave/Rock

4 out of 5

Highlights:

I Look for Love

This Secret Life

Some Fun Now

The opener, “I Look for Love” is what you get when you take Elvis Costello and try to make him Peter Gabriel. The slathering of synths and gloss is too knowing of the era. It’s a good song, I bet, but Visconti and Hiatt are trying to get a hit in 1982 and that’s what happens when you do that.

I just looked at every LP review of Hiatt and I keep referencing Elvis. Truth is, these songs are all perfectly fine but lacking in urgency or hooks to make me want to return. “Some Fun Now”…that’s an Elvis song, yes?

And I wish that John had had more success so I wouldn’t make these comparisons but, they are impossible for me to avoid. 

In the end, this record is really good. Not sure it is a Hiatt fan’s go-to. But it’s good. 

https://music.apple.com/us/album/all-of-a-sudden/1443745256

The 1982 Listening Post - Taco - After Eight

 

Taco - After Eight

1982 Housekeeping

Taco

After Eight

Genre: Novelty New Wave

1.5 out of 5

Anyone know Richard Cheese? He does lounge versions of popular rock/pop songs. 

How is it that Taco is anything different? These are all ~30-40 year old standards (at the time), with a drum machine and synthesizers. It’s all very wink-wink, get it stuff.

I think it just helps prove what mashups did in the early 00s: All music is the same just dressed up differently. “Singing in the Rain” and “Puttin’ On the Ritz” are the biggest examples of this but, man, that latter just fucking goes on and on and on forever. 

Now, it’s not JUST covers. Taco wrote some stuff. Hit me in the face with a…taco…I had no idea. His stuff is steeped in that white glove aesthetic so, “Tribute to Tino” is his play at being Iriving Berlin. Meh, Taco. 

We were really just trying anything in the 80s, huh?

https://music.apple.com/us/album/after-eight/1317414598

The 1982 Listening Post - Vice Squad - Stand Strong Stand Proud

Vice Squad - Stand Strong Stand Proud 

January 1982

Vice Squad 

Stand Strong Stand Proud

Genre: Punk

2 out of 5

Highlights:

Propaganda

If there is one thing I don’t like about some 80s punk is the same thing issue I have with some mediocre Queen songs. They have a title and that’s the chorus, regardless of whether it can sustain a song or not. “If You Can’t Beat Them” is one of those. It feels like they were writing to that phrase instead of letting the song come together organically or be led by the melody or even a poem.

Adam Ant did that a lot as well.

But in both cases, the musicianship and/or the charisma could make up for what the song(s) lacked. 

“Stand Strong Stand Proud” doesn’t have that musicianship, craft or charisma in Beckies Bondage’s frontwoman posing. So it follows that annoying “let’s write a song around a phrase” trope. And then its followed by the opposite where, on “Humane” she hews, melodically, so close to the chorus that it comes off as amateur hour. Or…punk. 80s punk.

It gets weird at the very end and I appreciate what they are trying to do on “Propaganda”. It’s really the only time the record shows any interesting ideas. 

https://open.spotify.com/album/1eN0PXAzbqlmpbxKqnBOg7?si=oUArkQ0wRHWm8g9sRTGmKQ&dl_branch=1

The 1982 Listening Post - The Fleshtones - Roman Gods

 The Fleshtones - Roman Gods

January 7 1982

The Fleshtones

Roman Gods

Genre: Garage

3.75 out of 5

Highlights:

Let’s See the Sun

Shadow-Line

Requisite 80s cover: A sludgy and party ending version of “Ride the Pony”. 

It all really begins to make sense. 

I have never been a Fleshtones devotee. Until this project I don’t think I knew them. But I knew OF them because X name checked them in “I Must Not Think Bad Thoughts”. 

And, as I have heard more and more of those listed bands I have found that I don’t think the Venn diagram of what John Doe and Excene loved and what I love(d) has much in common. Because more often than not I find that I am not interested in that music. Not to say it’s bad. In fact, it isn’t. But it doesn’t cut or bite the way I want it to. They way Wild Gift did. 

The Fleshtones have more in common with late 60s garage than what I expect from “punk”. Danceable riffs that echo the catacombs of whatever club is in en vogue, with cage dancers and cat eye makeup.

Add a tinge of Elvis to it and that’s what I get here. Actually…it’s more Mojo Nixon than Jello Biafra. Case in point: “R-I-G-H-T-S”. 

There’s nothing wrong with, say, Link Wray. It’s just that, like all that rockabilly from 1980/81, I’m ready to move on.

However. That don’t make it not good, as Kirk Lazarus might say. 

Hard for me to reconcile that 1982 is just 14 years after 1968. As I write this 2007 is…well…14 years ago and that’s like yesterday. And I still think music from 2006 sounds fresh. I gotta check in with my 14 year old. 

Or my 10 year old. He likes Ed Sheehan. How did that happen?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qfCxW5dCO8w&list=PLZ4JbF9rN12gDAAe2ZKLuUaE69fyAvvjl&index=4