Two Unrelated Things

Doing up some Lps so I have time to kill while they record.

Here's a quickie.

I Want the Blood of a Civil Servant (1986)

The Monkey Run hail from the Rochdale area of the riot torn streets of Manchester and that's about all there is to say. They featured Morrissey on the cover of their second single as one of what was intended to be a series of "Manchester Greats", unfortunately they didn't get further than that.

Perhaps if they had started with Mark E Smith...

Car Crash (1994)

Milo were from Champaign, IL.
This was their first release of two on the Bus Stop Label.

The Drill Remains the Same

I should really consider eating something before I start posting because I inevitably realize that I'm hungry and haven't eaten the moment I start typing and I'd have something more interesting to talk about as a lead-in to the rest of this nonsense.

Oh well.
A pattern is a pattern.
(and the beans and wienies in the fridge merely await a reheat for consumption.)

I also am aware that the previous post was the 666th one I've done which is scary in more than one way.

A Girl For All Seasons (1999)

Following up from the previous post of sweet pop music with the initial appearance by Allen Clapp and the gang calling themselves the Orange Peels.
It's on the Bus Stop Label so you know I would have picked it up regardless.

And now everybody's a winner.

Something Strange (1993)

The Non-Stop Kazoo Organization is a tad bit more mysterious than you might expect.

This one even confuses the folks over at Cloudberry Cake who are usually really good about digging up the dirt on these kinds of twee indiepop wonders.

No matter. The main dude involved is named Jacques Speyser and it's French. He's involved with a number of other bands also on the Cornflakes Zoo label.

The vagueness of it all should just make it more appealing which is not even particularly necessary since it's more than appealing enough on its own.

So there.

Only a Slight Reference and ten years

A decade separates today's pair.

That and very little immediate information.

(But I don't look too hard either)

Deeper Than the Ocean (1989)

The Mayfields hailed from Salisbury in the UK if the wiki page about a completely other band is to be believed. I'm just going to go with it. It's about all I came up with.

They released a grand total of two singles and a split single in their lifetime. This is the second and on the Bus Stop Label. It's a nice little Brit Pop double sider with the usual ever so just out of tune vocals that make these sorts of things so utterly charming.

The jangly A side is the winner.

Perfect song for putting on Tapes for Girls.
Make somebody special a playlist.

On Holiday With... (1999)

The Maulies. A few dead ends and eventually somebody else's blog where they were also looking for info turns up and reveals that these four fine ladies were from Austin, Texas.

One measly single and pair of compilation appearances later and they were gone.

This one is utterly fucking great though. Three songs. "Rude Limey" about a terrible English bloke which should brighten anybody's day, a decent cover of the Kinks' "Gotta Get the First Plane Home" and an instrumental called "Tofu π" 

Just fucking perfect.
Use wisely.

Still Local-ish and for Completions

I got nothing.
Not exactly my favorites, but needed to hit some blank spots in discographies that I'm working on.

Happy Ain't Coming Home (1992)

The acoustic pop on Bus Stop from the Leatherwoods.

Discogs says they originated in Lawrence, KS and subsequently moved to Minneapolis.

I'll accept them as from around here.

It's one of my less favorite of the Bus Stop singles but it fills a spot.
The sort of stuff that would absolutely kill at an open mic night.

They eventually made a full Lp on which Paul Westerberg played under a pseudonym.
You can use that as some sort of a recommendation if you will.

I Want to Function with You (1980)

Magnetic Head Cleaners.

More outright weirdness from your friends at Break'er Records.

It just is.

The Good and Bad and Things Reconsidered

It's another day. The next day from the previous post and I've still got a head cold.
Bear that in mind.

Matt Allison (1989)

I hadn't actually listened to this in quite a long time until now. I must have been having a bad time when I first played it because I'm totally reassessing my my original opinion. First off the a-side has the core of the Velvet Crush (Rick Menck & Paul Chastain) backing Matt Allison up to pretty sweet pop effect. The flip is all Matt Allison in his home studio.

Oh, and it's on the Bus Stop Label so if you've enjoyed anything else I've posted on that label, this is going to be right up your alley.

As for Matt Allison himself, it looks like he's been making his living on the other side of the recording booth with his own Atlas Studios in Chicago if you're in need of some recording done.

Neo Bar & Grill (1979)

I'd thought that I'd posted the second single by the D'gadband a long ass time ago, so this was supposed to be a simple follow up of a less interesting single for the sake of completeness, but alas, I hadn't posted the original. (or I just can't find the post. Holy shit I've done a lot of this crap...)

So anyway, we'll start with the first single from Minneapolis unknowns the D'gadband. And I'll preface it with a simple that it's not particularly good. It's the exact kind of Midwest 70's bar band noodling you might expect of the leather vest, mustache and bad hair on the band members on the back of the sleeve. It's competently done, but really really not my scene.

No Money, No Future (1980)

But what a difference a year makes.

It seems like the gents had ditched the 70's soft country rock sounds and found a bit more of an edge. Perhaps they just put the bong down for a little bit. It's not like the holy grail of lost punk rock records, but "No Money, No Future" is a start lyrically and in intent which hopefully scored them more gigs in the big city and maybe some coke.

The next year before the waters of obscurity swallowed them again they were on the "12x8" compilation that' on here somewhere if you search for it. It' compilation so check the 13th. That has some good trcks on it, but the boy in this band had obviously picked the bong back up for  tune they called "Mini Spliff". Don't let that deter you...

Still Not Feeling It, but Need to Complete

I'm still kind of pissed.

I'm also going through a fresh batch of things that arrived in the mail the other day and which may or may not appear here in the future. A couple of real gems so far tonight that I might not have found if a Discogs seller wasn't selling wonderful things cheap.

But that will be for another day. I'm typing and listening and doing a shit job at both.

Here's the other Bomb Pops single:

Won't Find It (1995)

Here's the other Bomb Pops single. This one is on the Bus Stop Label.

Bugbear (1992)

It's the first Bugbear single with noted economist Amelia Fletcher OBE and her brother Matthew. They were also in Heavenly and Talulah Gosh

That is all.

Shhhh....

Be very quiet.

From Here to There (1993)

There are currently a few different bands using the name of Hushpad that I came up with in the few minutes spent looking up things. None of  them are these guys.

Anyway, twee quiet songs about love and longing.
This on is on the Bus Stop Label.

Dear Jenny (1997)

Their second and final single. More of the same. Would have been right at home on Sarah records.
Let that be your guide.

Back to Rhode Island

Here we are again. I need to go to the store and drop off a check at the practice space for this month's rent. I am currently not doing that. I'm doing this.
It's not a problem yet, but it will be.

In the meantime, here's Honeybunch

Hey Blue Sky (1989)

Honeybunch was the band that Jeffrey Borchardt had before and during his tenure in Velvet Crush. It's a lot more twee than the powered pop of Velvet Crush. This first one was on the Bus Stop Label.

No More I Told You So' (1991)


More of the same. This time on Slumberland. I was introduced to them via the "Why Popstars Can't Dance" compilation that I posted here years ago.

Walking into Walls (1991)

Yeah, this is the song that first caught my ear. Perfect fodder for Tapes for Girls that was how music nerds attempted to woo women back in the dark ages before Tinder. It worked sometimes. You had to make lots. It was a numbers game. This one was on Summershine.

Where were you when the stars went out?

I'm going to a work related conference in a couple of days. I should be doing laundry. But I'd rather not to be honest. I am posting Godstar instead.

Brightest Star (1992)


Well, two of their seven inches anyway.

Godstar. One of the many bands featuring Nic Dalton who was also in the Lemonheads which some older folks and maybe an occasional "Classic Rock" station or two may remember from the 90's. It's only a matter of time before State Fairs and casino gigs become Evan Dando's future. But this isn't about him.

Godstar took their name from a 1985 song by Psychic TV about Brian Jones from before Psychic TV got all disco ravey and Genesis P-Orridge transitioned into the person they are today. (I saw them a couple years after this came out. I was appalled.)

This single is pretty straightforward jangly mid-fi pop. It's on the Bus Stop label (in the US anyway)
"Kitchen" would be covered by the Lemonheads on the same Lp that gave them their hit, but I can't honestly say it was an improvement over the original.

Four Seventy ep (1994)

The other one on Bus Stop is more of the same. Not quite lo-fi recordings of pop songs with a distinct antipodean vibe about them.
I quite like it.

You should like it too.

That's not a suggestion.

As Eerily Predicted in the Previous Post

Here's the other two singles by Fudge (8)

And the first of which is on the Bus Stop Label.

Spooky.

Astronaut (1992)


Blah blah blah words go here...

Bomb Pop ep (1992)

Even more mindless blather would go here if I felt like it.

Still procrastinating

I  was going to only queue one more post, but here we are.

Presence of Greatness (2001)

On the Bus Stop Label. Bronze was the brainchild of one Paul Handyside who had previously been in an 80's band called Hurrah! that I know fuck all about.

I got this to fill in a gap in my Bus Stop Label singles collection and have listened to it a sum total of twice so far.

We're all in the same boat now.

Girlwish (1992)

This is the debut single by Fudge who are the 8th band with that moniker on Discogs. This particular Fudge were from Richmond, Va. Here's a brief write up they got in the Chicago Tribune. It kind of lays shit out pretty succinctly. Their other two singles on the Bus Stop Label will follow in the next post.

Stay tuned.

More Guitar Pop

The cat is staring at me. I'll post this quick

East River Pipe (1993)

One man and his 4-track. I quite enjoy "Hey Where's Your Girl". Hell, I like both sides.

Engine No. 9 (1991)

Bus Stop Label 08. Low fi guitar pop that sounds fresher than the cleaned scrubbed faces of the band members on sleeve. Except maybe the drummer because, you know, he's a drummer so he probably smells like weed. This band mutated into another one called Fudge who also released a single on Bus Stop. Small world.