Scruffy the Cat followed their highly enjoyable debut with Moons of Jupiter, which substitutes quantity for quality on 16 new songs. The band's crisp roots rock sound is intact, but the songs don't stick, and the album's kitschy "space age" theme seems like a half-baked attempt to find something -- anything -- to sing about. The album is easy on the ears, but the band was sliding by on pure, uninspired songcraft at this point, assembling superficially adequate songs with little substance. In places even the performances break down, as with the weak vocal on "Keith's Lament," and it came as no surprise when Scruffy the Cat disbanded afterwards. (AMG)
The Del Fuegos were proud sons of Boston, Massachusetts, but you might not have guessed that by listening to their debut album, The Longest Day, which mixed the swaggering thunder of heartland garage rock with the rootsy twang of Dixie-fried rockabilly and roots-conscious rock 'n' roll. While the band would later claim that producer Mitchell Froom slicked back their sound considerably from that of their raucous club shows, which earned them their hometown reputation, the results actually capture the band's swing and stomp without an excess of sonic affectation (something that would later become Froom's hallmark), reveling in the crack of Brent "Woody" Giessmann's drums, and the bark of Dan and Warren Zanes' guitars. And if Dan and Warren's songs didn't exactly stretch the boundaries of early rock archetypes, they honored the traditions in the best ways -- by playing roots rock with sweat, fire, good humor, and a lot of heart and soul. And you just can't argue the genius of this line from "When The News Is On": "And sometimes love is a lot like a shoe/ You run around too much and it'll fall apart." The Longest Day isn't the sort of album likely to change the way you look at rock and roll, but it will probably remind you why you love the stuff, and that's more than enough reason to slap it into your stereo and turn it up. [from AMG]
These posts of Pinoi artists is dedicated to another "Kabayan" blogger Dr. Stirring Rhod of The Doctor is In. I included Up Dharma Down with the Up Yours Comp and the Take 4 Collective Sampler since I know he's not much of a fan of the "noisy" bands that often graced these pages. I hope he likes Up Dharma Down.
Starting with a nuttily bombastic synth intro (courtesy of Squeeze's Jools Holland!) which sounds just like the music punk was supposed to be destroying might seem an unusual move for a band founded by the guy who chronicled the original London explosion. But it's that very contrariness in Mark Perry which made the original Alternative TV such a thrilling prospect, and which makes The Image Has Cracked an unfairly neglected classic from the late-'70s upheaval. Seizing on the promise of punk as being a new means of expression rather than a new set of musical rules to be adhered to, Perry, along with a solid-enough band, whip up a series of incendiary pieces that explore as much as they thrash, caught somewhere between the Fall's divine ramalama and three-chord snarls. "Alternatives" captures the tense spirit of the band's work perfectly, a live recording where over a gentle groove Perry invites audience members to come up and "use the soapbox," only to have a bunch of chancers and screamers talk a lot about nothing much at all, until Perry spits vitriol at a pair of people in a punch-up and complains about "diluted sh*t." As an expression of going down defiant while punk became a new fashion, it's fierce and brilliant. A good half of the album comes from the same concert, including the harrowing final track, "Splitting in Two," as perfect a capturing of nails-dug-in-flesh paranoia and indecision as anything in music history, revived as a live favorite years later by the Chameleons. The studio cuts include a solid run-through of Zappa's "Why Don't You Do Me Right?" and the closest ATV ever came to an anthemic single, "Action Time Vision." The 1994 CD version adds 11 extra tracks to the original album, including the reggae-inflected "Love Lies Limp" and "Life After Life" singles, among many others, making it the edition of Image to look for. - Allmusicguide
As Mark Burgess states in the liner notes, "Best of the Chameleons?! Contradiction in terms, mate!!" True, the Chameleons never had much chart success over the course of their five year existence (at least "hits" doesn't appear in the title!), but in retrospect they were one of the most excellent, awe-inspiring bands of the '80s. Their three studio LPs are works of genius, each with distinct qualities, each capable of consuming your soul and tugging your heartstrings. If you were to poll any number of diehard Chameleons fans as to what their favorite LP is, you would likely have a three-way tie. Even when considering the non-album tracks this Manchester band produced, you can count on one hand the number of less-than-quality tunes. That's a pretty good success rate! So why even bother with a best-of? After all, with brilliance running rampant throughout the course of their discography, which includes myriad radio session and live releases, it's a monster task to whittle a fair representation onto one CD. The track selection is excellent, though no compilation is likely to be seen as completely accurate from the judgment of one Chams fan to another. But since best-ofs are meant for beginners, this is a moot point. Avoiding the risk of making a fractured compilation, Return of the Roughnecks flows extremely well, and each of their LPs are represented quite evenly: five songs are from Script of the Bridge, three are from What Does Anything Mean, and four are off Strange Times (both sides of the "In Shreds"/"Nostalgia" single are included as well). Packaged lovingly with the involvement of the band, it's made to please the familiar as well. Some copies include their swan song, the Tony Fletcher Walked on Water EP, as a second disc. If given a choice between the single and double disc set, go with the double -- regardless of price difference.
Post-punk might've given way to the brighter and more pop-oriented sounds of new wave around 1982, but "post-punk" as a label has been affixed to many bands that have come and gone since, including a large cluster of herky-jerky yahoos that were floating around in the early 2000s, most of whom were quickly bundled together for their throwback appeal. The two-disc Post Punk, an addition to the Rough Trade Shops series, curiously binds two waves — if you'll pardon the use of the word "waves" — without considering the wealth of like-minded bands that came and went between them. Nineties bands like Six Finger Satellite, Dog Faced Hermans, and Trenchmouth could fit neatly into this design; however, the time apparently wasn't right for a revival of the '90s post-punk revival. That's a shame, because those bands were just as thrilling and are just as deserving of inclusion, if not more so than some of the lesser 21st century outfits. (What's more, the names are just as absurd as Crispy Ambulance, one of the names here.) With or without the gaffe, Rough Trade has put together another lovingly packaged and attentively sequenced compilation. It doesn't take the easy route, and instead mixes the obvious in with some rare gleams that are liable to placate the most fussy obscurantist. Scritti Politti's presence is likely to perplex those who are only familiar with the group's mid-'80s pop-chart run, yet their early days are ripe for the picking, best represented by the scratchy spirals and lazily swaying lurch of "Skank Bloc Bologna." Delta 5 never made an album that rivaled anything from like-sounding Leeds peers Gang of Four, but "Mind Your Own Business" — steady peasoup-peasoup rhythm, hectoring group vocals, jagged guitars — clings to the ribs as well as "I Found That Essence Rare." Other typically neglected acts, from Family Fodder to Essential Logic to Maximum Joy, are featured alongside more familiar ones like Wire, PiL, and the Fall. Out of the latest school, the Rapture, Erase Errata, and Gramme lead the way, along with the sadly departed Life Without Buildings, who bowed out in true post-punk fashion after a handful of singles and one great album. Along with continuing Rough Trade's excellent run of compilations, Post Punk also rates with In the Beginning There Was Rhythm, New York Noise, and Mutant Disco — fellow retrospectives that are just as fun as they are historical. - Andy Kellman
Darling's Cabinet of Sundry Horror is a goth folk band from Jersey (I think). This link was given to me by Blair. According to him, "Darling's Cabinet of Sundry Horror, and its kind of like gothic folk/protopunk/indie/circus music, For fans of the birtday party and the violent femmes, and maybe even marilyn manson or Tom waits."
