The 1986 Listening Post -The Mission - Gods Own Medicine

The Mission - Gods Own Medicine

#522

November 1986

The Mission

Gods Own Medicine

Genre: Goth Rock

3.75 out of 5

2 parts Sisters of Mercy, One part Red Lorry, Yellow Lorry and some others is what this record is, apparently. Seems like this was happening a lot back then. Bands getting fed up with each other, splitting off, creating new versions of the same thing but with slightly different takes. 

You know what, though? Instead of that slave-to-Bowie sound that was Sisters of Mercy, this is more accessible, more…Ocean Rain-ish/U2-ey. That just means it’s derivative of the latter instead of the former. There’s a reason I never heard of The Mission.

https://music.apple.com/us/album/gods-own-medicine/1444094589

The 1986 Listening Post - Red Lorry, Yellow Lorry - Paint Your Wagon

Red Lorry, Yellow Lorry - Paint Your Wagon

#318/1998

1986 Housekeeping

Red Lorry, Yellow Lorry

Paint Your Wagon

Genre: Post-Rock/Goth

4.25 out of 5

Highlights:

Last Train

Mescal Dance

Take Katrina and her Sunshine walk and throw it in a blender with Joy Division and that’s the opening track from Red Lorry, Yellow Lorry’s Follow up to the terrific Talk About the Weather. 

And much how the first one was a surprise in 85 this one is equally surprising. 

One of the things I learned about myself throughout this project was just how much I like that plodding, minimalist Joy Division, post-rock sound. I didn’t really explore it in my youth and it more often that not makes me happy.

This is one of those cases. It gets a little derivative at times (“Save My Soul”, for example) but, for the most part, I dig. 

https://music.apple.com/us/album/talk-about-the-weather-paint-your-wagon/202906307

The 1985 Listening Post - Red Lorry Yellow Lorry - Talk About the Weather

Red Lorry Yellow Lorry - Talk About the Weather

$485/1118

1985 Housekeeping

Red Lorry Yellow Lorry

Talk About the Weather

Genre: Goth/Post-Punk

4.25 out of 5

Highlights:

Talk About the Weather

Hollow Eyes

Strange Dream

Jeez there was a lot of music released in 1985. And, I’m not just talking about the major releases. There was such a tonnage of stuff that, while it’s available for streaming (!!!), either didn’t cut through (to me) or was relegated to imports or bargain bins or something.

Like Red Lorry Yellow Lorry. The ONLY way I would’ve heard this is if I happened to walk in to Sounds when it was playing, and then mustered up the nerve to ask what it was and then sullenly walked out of the store without it cuz you KNOW it was a $20 import. 

But maybe I wouldn’t have bought it back then since it took this project to really help me key in to what I loved about the post rock of Joy Division and the like. (Yeah, I know)

That’s what this is: a band that sounds like they loved JD and NO and Martin Hannett and wanna play on that playground. 

https://music.apple.com/us/album/talk-about-the-weather/277761688