Eva Luna - Kick Out (At The Things You Hate)/She Shines 7"

It's weird when a band and I disagree over which is the A-side and which is the B-side. This A-side, in name and in sound, is pretty bad. Dumb, even. I picture someone in ballet regalia gesturing sideways out from his hips in jaunty little scissor kicks; seems an ineffective means of eliminating one's enemy. You should definitely kick right at the things you hate. The B-side is dumb too, lyrically (a stock vapid shoegazer theme: shining), but judging by the picture on the verso, Eva Luna were just four young (English, I think) lads at the time, so let's forgive and forget on account of the rockingness of the music (as we must forgive the majority of shoegaze). Released on A Turntable Friend in 1992.

Side A mp3: Eva Luna - Kick Out (At The Things You Hate)

Side B mp3: Eva Luna - She Shines

P.S. And then, mind you, they put out this rockingly good news on the Calling At Duke Street compilation, also on A Turntable Friend, the next year...



Side A mp3: Eva Luna - From Here to Who Knows When

Eighthundred - Wunderkind/Inebriation 7"

Nuthin fancy here folks, just two textbook indie rock songs from a Chapel Hill band who missed the scene bus. Wunderkind is so...well, textbook. I like it, but it's so devoid of personality and, I dunno, swagger. But it rocks quite well. As for the B-side, well, it is Friday after all, so go on. It's hokey in chorus department, but there's a spiff bridge near the end. This came out, appropriately enough, on D-Tox, back in 1992, while bands like Superchunk and Polvo were sopping up some limelight.

Side A mp3: Eighthundred - Wunderkind
Side B mp3: Eighthundred - Inebriation

The Earthmen - Cool Chick #59/Momentum 7"

Looks like this week's theme is La Musique Rock. The Earthmen hailed from Australia, and according to Mr. Slumberland, who released this single back in 1993, these two songs are "stunning slabs of pop squall". I'm quite sure I wouldn't go that far, but it truly, madly, deeply is a solid indie-rock/quasi-shoegaze single. Even though I have no clue what a "pebblemix" might be, listening to it may satisfy your urge to go for a Ride.

Side A mp3: The Eathmen - Cool Chick #59
Side B mp3: The Earthmen - Momentum (Pebblemix)

Dump - Bunny Boy

Here's where the D-train ends...one of last week's stops. Whoops. I wonder if Casiotone For The Painfully Alone's Owen Ashworth likes Walt too. How can a song like this, so chock-a-block with cheesy keyboards, sound so sad? It reminds me of the theme from The War Years, a weekly TV program about WWI and WWII that I used to watch every Sunday morning and can find nothing about through that useless Googler. As a kid, I never tired of watching bombs being dropped from B17s on cities full of innocent people, or of seeing dead soldiers caked with mud caught up in barbed wire only a step away from the safety of the trench. Do you think that might have something to do with everything?

Side B mp3: Dump - Bunny Boy

DQE - Home

The next stop on the D-train is NYC, circa 1993-94, where we will hang out in the Threadwaxing Space and listen to a band most of us know nothing about: DQE. Turns out that Grace Braun, the leader of this Atlanta-based band, is still in the biz, self-releasing some terrific indie folk with a lyrical acumen reviewers have compared to Iris Dement and Richard Buckner no less. You may wish to check out her myspace page here. Home is not a stellar song, but it's good in as much as it reminds me of The Cannanes, a long-running Australian indie-pop outfit I hold in high esteem. All the songs on Threadwaxing Space Live: The Presidential Compilation 1993-1994 were recorded live in this artspace. Or were they? The note on the back of the album implies that some of the songs may not have been recorded live: "Inquiries (specifically re the fake live one): e.mail TheDr.Blue@aol.com". Anyone out there have the poop? Is this the beginning of Threadwaxinggate?

Side B mp3: DQE - Home

The Dambuilders - Pennsylvania

This week marks the final voyage of the D-train. Our first stop is a short one, from a pretty in pink marbled slab of 10" compilation, Why Do You Think They Call It Pop?, released on Pop Narcotic in 1993. The Dambuilders beat Sufjan Stevens to the concept of writing 50 songs, one for each state of unitedness. I don't know if they ever completed this project, but thankfully Pennyslvania got a look in here, thus facilitating the YSKOD rubric. The other bands included on this 20" release are Sleepyhead, Small Factory, Versus, Polvo, Monsterland, Wingtip Sloat, Helium, Ruby Falls, Twig, Greenhorn, Kudgel, and Grifters. Unfortunately, despite an all-star cast, for me this comp turned out to be style over substance...the gorgeous packaging trumped the tunes.

Side A mp3: The Dambuilders - Pennsylvania

Crescent - Sun/They Are Rebuilding The City 7"

Formed in the early 90s, Crescent were the indie-noise brethren of Bristol's Flying Saucer Attack. The A-side of their 2nd single on the UK's Planet Records is the very quintessence of blistering, whereas the B-side is a loose and jazzy space rock number featuring a funky-drummer-like beat. Two great tastes that go great together. They still exist, in more of an indie-folk incarnation, and their 2007 album Little Waves is worth seeking out.

When converting this single to mp3, I noticed that I could see a faint outline of the previous record that had been pressed at the record plant on the white label. Closer inspection revealed that it was the UK version of the oddball 1993 hit single Freak Me by R&B boy-band Silk. A quick trip to YouTube revealed this video for the single. It would be tough to imagine pressing two more different records back to back.

Side A mp3: Crescent - Sun
Side B mp3: Crescent - They Are Rebuilding The City

Crayon - Moominland EP 7"

Crayon took a Jekyll and Hyde approach to their music. Half their songs are fun twee pop, half are indie rock with a punk attitude, and half mix the two together. Somehow the math adds up. Crayon released four 7"s worth of scribbles on Harriet Records, including 1992's six-song Moominland EP (see Crayon on TweeNet for a full list). I quite like half these songs; what about you?

Side A mp3: Crayon - Secret Goldfish
Side A mp3: Crayon - St. Michael and the Killer Whale
Side A mp3: Crayon - Cupid Said
Side B mp3: Crayon - Sit By Me
Side B mp3: Crayon - All the Stars
Side B mp3: Crayon - Barney, Garney

The Chameleons U.K. - Script of the Bridge LP

Here's an exception to YSKOD's usual mid-90s indie pop/rock fare. I only recently learned of The Chameleons via Nancy's excellent indie pop blog I'm Not Always So Stupid. I love their 1983 debut album; it probably sounds as hip now as it did then, thanks to the popularity of bands like Interpol, Editors, and The National. The two songs I'm sharing also bring a welcome whiff of 80s bands like Big Country, Flock of Seagulls, and Psychedelic Furs. They also help push the YSKOD agenda--that it can be fun to track and enjoy the lineage of indie music.

Side A mp3: The Chameleons U.K. - Up the Down Escalator (There Must Be Something Wrong Boys)
Side B mp3: The Chameleons U.K. - Second Skin

Butterglory - The Drummer Goes

Folks, what can I tell you about my next post? Most of Butterglory's butterglorious early material was collected on the Downed CD released on Merge Records in 1995. Here's one song that wasn't compiled but shoulda been. The I Like Walt! compilation this comes from was featured on YSKOD last round (see: Mountain Goats). Excellent indie pop that will take 2 minutes off your life but will make you so happy you'll live 3 minutes longer when you need it most.

Side B mp3: Butterglory - The Drummer Goes

Brian Jonestown Massacre - Hide & Seek/Methodrone 7"

Here's the third 7" from the BJM, jointly released by Candy Floss Records and Tangible Records (no more Bomp! for Anton by this point) in 1994. The A-side is different than the Spacegirl and Other Favorites album version, and in my view is better (read: rawer/rockiner'). The B-side, Methodrone, was recorded "live" (quotes theirs) in January of 1994; the following year, BJM released an album by the same name. Part of what you see scrawled on the label is the following list of "special thanx" (spelling theirs): Greg Shaw, Victoria, Tristan, Travis, Adrian, Dave, Naut, Mitzi, Joe, Erik, Gram Bonner, Joe Easter, Ian Curtis, Pete Kember, Jason, Loop, Donovan, Nick Cave, Love (L.A), Jesus and Mary Chain, Spin OK, Tha Beatles, The Zombies, The Animals, The Fall, Kevin Shields, W.S. Burroughs, no thanx MTV. Thought you might like to know. Loop, there it is!

Side A mp3: Brian Jonestown Massacre - Hide and Seek
Side B mp3: Brian Jonestown Massacre - Methodrone

Bomb Pops - Girl Daredevil/Riverside 7"

Here are both songs from Bomb Pops' 2nd 7" single, released on A Turntable Friend in 1994. The A-side is an especially welcoming burst of indie pop, recommended for fans of Sarah Records and The Field Mice in particular. The B-side is a bit slower and more The Ropersesque, to be needlessly esoteric about it.

Side A mp3: Bomb Pops - Girl Daredevil
Side B mp3: Bomb Pops - Riverside

Asha Vida - Eskimo Summer 7"

Asha Vida's 7" debut made a minor splash back in 1993 when it came out on Michigan label Audrey's Diary. The band managed to carve out a unique sound from their chunk of space rock. Both songs take their time to build, so give your poor mouse a rest. The B-side is dubbed "experiments in three tracks" but it contains five movements (dimwit, soft hollow, penny wise, drop of a waterfall, as eileene against a wall) and ends with a sample of someone saying "Two? What do you mean you only owe me two?". Oh indie rock, you subvert me so.

Side A mp3: Asha Vida - Eskimo Summer
Side B mp3: Asha Vida - Stellar Voices

Antiseptic Beauty - Rising 12" EP

Here are two very good gaze-at-shoes then gaze-into-space songs from the cool but destined to remain under-the-radar UK band Antiseptic Beauty, from their 5-song 12" EP Rising released on Germany's A Turntable Friend in or around 1994. Quality product.

Side A mp3: Antiseptic Beauty - Good to be Gone
Side A mp3: Antiseptic Beauty - Rising

Alison's Halo - Dozen/Calendar 7"

Howdy. Alison's Halo's singer doesn't lisp, but you wouldn't know it from this 7", their first release, put out on that home-of-overly-exquisite-packaging, Independent Projects Records, in 1994, in a 1,000 copy run. Band and label are both Tempe, Arizona based. Shame to press such quality indie poppin' shoegaze onto substandard vinyl, then dress it up in letterpress packaging. Still, both songs are certainly worth a listen, 'specially if you liked that Orange single I posted back in the day.

Side A mp3: Alison's Halo - Dozen
Side B mp3: Alison's Halo - Calendar