Power Pop Icons The dBs Deliver The Goods At Eulogy, Asheville, NC 9-20-24

Posted on September 23, 2024 by postpunkmonk
The dBs in full flight harmony [L-R]: Wes Lachot, Chris Stamey, Will Rigby, Peter Holsapple, Gene Holder

It pays to be nimble! Last Friday morning I was reading the latest freekly that my spouse brought home the day prior [it distributes on Tues.-Wed.] and to what to my won’dring eyes should appear but an ad in the club listings for the club Eulogy; the live venue adjacent to the Burial Beer taphouse. And the evening’s entertainment were Power Pop royalty; The dBs! And they were playing last Friday evening, so I was lucky that I saw the ad in time. I was on that ticket like white on rice then I texted my neighbor who went to college in Athens all those years ago. If he wasn’t a dBs fan I’d have eaten my proverbial hat.

As it turned out, he was glad to be in on my scheme and would join me in an evening’s fun last Friday night on short notice. The stinging irony was that a few weeks ago an offline thread with commenter schwenko of NYC revealed that he had tickets for The dBs of his own and at that time I expressed slight jealousy at his… well, I can’t call it luck. Every act that tours America pretty much performs a NYC show. For some reason I didn’t look up online to see if there were any tour dates here at the time; my usual modus operandi! But the gig goddesses had decided to smile on me any way.

I’d never seen The dBs, but 15 years ago, I had the pleasure of seeing Peter Holsapple and Chris Stamey in town promoting their duo album, ‘hERE aND nOW.” So this would be my first rematch with those gents. This time with their classic rhythm section also playing. The full band had regrouped in the original lineup in 2012 for a new album, their first in 25 years at that point, but the occasion for this tour was that Jefferson Holt’s [ex-R.E.M. Manager] label Propeller Sound Recordings were releasing the band’s iconic one-two punch of the albums “Stands For Decibels” and “Repercussion” on LP for the first time in America at this time. “Stands For Decibels” is out now [CD + LP] and “Repercussion” is due for release on October 18th.

The band were famously a very American jangle-pop band who had their first two albums released on the UK-only Albion label. So this most American of bands, inspired by Big Star [where Stamey played in a late lineup pre-dBs] and The Byrds while soaking up the New Wave of the time, could only be bought on import in their native land. They were anticipating the sound and values which would later manifest via bands like R.EM., who had much better luck with getting their records released and distributed than The dBs did.

That’s not to say that the band don’t proffer a top quality performance by Power Pop icons who have perfected a blend of tuneful hooks cheek-by-jowl with inventive, leftfield excursions that deliver on terms larger than the sum of their impressive parts. Abetted by their clear, powerful harmonies. As a fan of artists like Mitch Easter and Don Dixon, seeing them live was a glimpse at the prowess of the masters of the form who had emerged form the Head of Zeus while their peers were still in development.

The show this evening was a masterclass in the Joy of Pop, performed with a love for its many pleasures as well as a need to push artistic boundaries. The quartet were aided this evening by their keyboardist, Wes Lachot, who allowed them to add the filigree necessary for attaining those reaches for the sublime in excess of that a four piece rock band can achieve. I’ve always loved bands with more than a single lead singer and Holsapple and Stamey traded off material from their excellent catalog, with the exception of numbers that they sang as duets.

The sick, sad thing is, that I’ve never owned any dBs albums [I did buy the 2009 Stamey/Holsapple disc] but fortunately, I had a reasonable familiarity with a few songs from the band’s canon via the medium of cover versions! I’d been a big Marti Jones fan from day one and she had impeccable taste in covers, with two classics on her amazing debut album, “Lonely Is As Lonely Does” and the rip roaring “Neverland.” Both of these tracks would be the only songs I knew front to back here this evening, but the sweet, simple fact was that they were but the tip of the iceberg.

The band had a tight set of 90 minutes and there wasn’t a duff minute among them. This was the sort of show that sees me with a huge grin pasted on my puss the whole time. And as if that wasn’t reason enough for hosannas, the show began right on time at 8:00 PM and ended shortly after ten so we could get home and in bed by 10:20! And the best part of all, the concert sound was the second show in a week with blissfully modest sound volume and a clean mix. Honestly, if I didn’t already have tinnitus, I would not have bothered with earplugs.

My only regret here was that I had been completely unaware that The dBs were touring up front. I would have posted the dates in advance on the blog, and would have been planning to buy my ticket much sooner than the day of show, though the whole quick pivot thing worked out magnificently. My neighbor and I had a great time and were telling our wives about the show yesterday when visiting. If you would like to see the next leg of the tour, here are the dates as the band is now taking a little break.

THE DBs | US FALL ’24 TOUR

  • Oct. 11, 2024 | Saint Paul, MN | Amsterdam Bar And Hall
  • Oct. 12, 2024 | Chicago, IL | Old Town School Of Folk Music [SOLD OUT]
  • Oct. 13, 2024 | Milwaukee, WI | Shank Hall
  • Nov. 14, 2024 | San Francisco, CA | The Chapel
  • Nov. 16, 2024 | Los Angeles, CA | Zebulon
  • Nov. 17, 2024 | Los Angeles, CA | Zebulon [SOLD OUT]
  • Dec. 6, 2024 | Winston-Salem, NC | The Southeastern Center For Contemporary Art
split black and white LPs look fetching

And sadly, I didn’t buy the CD of “Stands For Decibels” on the merch table as there will be a lot of dining out planned over the next week for us, so I had to show some restraint. But there is no shortage of CDs, T-shirts, and LPs of the classic at The dBs webstore. CDs are $15 with black + white split LPs just a tenner more. I didn’t know about the “I Thought You Wanted To Know” compilation of ’78-’81 rarities and unreleased material that might be a real corker! But right now it’s on sale at the Propeller Sound Recordings website with CDs for a ten spot and double green vinyl for $25. So if you need any of this tuneage, then DJ hit that button!

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Posted in Concert Review | Tagged , , , | 6 Comments

TVLKINGHEVDS:77 Ultrabox Prepping For Launch

Posted on September 20, 2024 by postpunkmonk
talking heads 77 monktone
TVLKINGHEVDS L-R: Chris Frantz, Tina Weymouth, Jerry Harrison, David Byrne

Okay. so I’ve been busy. Work and home is buzzing with activity, not to mention faint signs of a social life, so can you blame me for just finding out today from commenter schwenko that there’s a new ultrabox vying for our consumer dollar? This time, its perennial Unhappy Family of New Wave® TVLKINGHEVDS who have seemingly found the time and space to overcome their strained relationships to arrive at a consensus.

And the first fruits of what I’m sure will be a massive reissue campaign will reach our ears on November 8th, 2024 with the HYPR DLX version of their beguiling debut album, “TALKINGHEADS: 77.” It was 2006 when their catalogue last got the full attention for the ambitious DualDisc program that saw the albums remixed by Jerry Harrison in 5.1 surround sound on one side of the disc [compatible with DVD] and the albums with a handful of bonus tracks on the CD readable side.

Back then the band issued all eight studio albums in DualDisc format a plastic box called “brick” and now that will set you back many hundreds of dollars. The new boxes will cost a fraction of that and will feature further extra features to make the deal sweeter. And the package comes in LP and CD versions, thankfully.

3xCD + Blu-Ray

TVLKINGHEVDS: TVLKINGHEVDS: 77 – 3xCD + Blu-Ray [2024]

DISC 1 – Original Album

  1. Uh-Oh, Love Comes to Town
  2. New Feeling
  3. Tentative Decisions
  4. Happy Day
  5. Who Is It?
  6. No Compassion
  7. The Book I Read
  8. Don’t Worry About the Government
  9. First Week/Last Week… Carefree
  10. Psycho Killer
  11. Pulled Up

DISC 2 – Outtakes/Alternates/Rarities

  1. Sugar on My Tongue
  2. I Want to Live
  3. (Love Goes To) Building On Fire
  4. I Wish You Wouldn’t Say That
  5. Psycho Killer (Acoustic)
  6. Uh-Oh Love Comes to Town (Alternate Pop Version)
  7. New Feeling (Alternate Pop Version)
  8. Pulled Up (Alternate Pop Version) [Previously Unreleased]
  9. Stay Hungry (1977 Version)
  10. First Week/Last Week… Carefree (Acoustic)
  11. I Feel It in My Heart
  12. Psycho Killer (Alternate Version) [Previously Unreleased]

DISC 3 – Live @ CBGB 10-10-77

  1. (Love Goes To) Building On Fire
  2. Don’t Worry About the Government
  3. The Book I Read
  4. New Feeling
  5. A Clean Break
  6. No Compassion
  7. Thank You for Sending Me an Angel
  8. Who Is It?
  9. Pulled Up
  10. Uh-Oh Love Comes to Town
  11. Psycho Killer
  12. Stay Hungry

DISC 4 – Live @ CBGB 10-10-77

  1. Atmos Mix of Talking Heads: 77
  2. 5.1 Mix of Talking Heads: 77
  3. Hi-Resolution Stereo of Talking Heads: 77

Rating: 5 out of 5.

And the whole shebang is wrapped up in a 80 page hardcover box with full participation of the entire band and undoubtedly stuffed with memories and ephemera. The Blu-Ray has what I’ll assume are the 2006 5.1 remixes by Harrison as well as au courant Dolby Atmos® mixes and high-res 2.0 files because there’s room for lots on a Blu-Ray!

As someone who has a few of the Dual Discs, as well as the “Sand In The Vaseline” compilation which had a few of these rarities already, as well as DLX RMs of both live albums [and then some], I’m not sure that this one is calling loudly to me. Especially when taking the price of admission into consideration.

talking heads sand in the vaseline

The three formats will cover most person’s points of interest. There will be the following choices:

  • CD/Blu-Ray box: 3xCD, Blu-Ray, 80 pp. hardcover book @ $99.98
  • LP box: 4xLP, 4×7″, 80 pp. hardcover book @ $149.98
  • Gatefold 2xLP: original LP, outtakes/alternatives/rarities LP @ $34.98

I like that debut album, but not that much. Depending on the way it plays out, I may buy-in on “Fear Of Music” or “Remain In Light.”‘ My two absolute faves from the band, but seeing how I have plenty of live recordings of those eras and the Dual-Discs of those…we’ll adopt a wait-and-see posture. For this who can’t wait, then all I have to say is…DJ hit that button!

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Posted in 5.1, Core Collection, Live Music, Want List | Tagged , , , , , , | 7 Comments

Monastic Music Mining: More Parenthesisdotdotdot? Yes, Please!!

Posted on September 19, 2024 by postpunkmonk
The deeper one digs, the more Parenthesisdotdotdot one finds!

A few weeks ago we discovered that Popmeister Tim Benton was active under a branding new to me, Parenthesisdotdotdot. But that’s only because I’m old and feeble. Actually, Parenthesisdotdotdot had been active for at least a decade and I was only now joining the party [of twelve]. Hopefully soon to be much larger. First off, Parenthesisdotdotdot guitarist Rob Britton helpfully pointed out that there had been a 7″ single as early as 2016, and a few more online releases had filtered out in the interim between then and this summer’s “Raptor EP.” Which I listen to repeatedly. Let’s consider them now and report back with our findings!

parenthesis dot dot dot your excellency
Where Its At Is Where You Are | UK | 7″ | 2016 | wia016007

Parenthesisdotdotdot: Your Excellency – UK – 7″ [2016]

  1. Your Excellency 3:28
  2. CATS HOME/DOGS HOME 3:29

Squelchy synths, a stomping beat and glassy synth horn stabs hit the mid-late 80s target full on as Mr. Benton vocally gave this tune the ebullient strut necessary to ascend to a certain euphoric standard that he’s been known to favor on occasion. I loved the dinky rhythm guitar figure keeping time throughout and the witty lyric reference to “A Nightingale Sang In Berkeley Square.”

Then it was quite another kettle of fish for the frantic pop thrash of the enervated B-side, “CATS HOME/DOGS HOME.” A buzzing battery seasoned with hard stereo pans and high contrast music to support the theme of the battle of the sexes as manifest in the metaphor of cats and dogs. One they were together and now they’re apart and canine Tim wants none of it. He’s out in the cold howling at the moon complete with acidic distorted guitar leads from the aforementioned Mr. Britton.

Then there was another Bandcamp track from a compilation of Cure cover songs releases just over a year ago for a charity [MIND] from Welsh music collective God Is In The TV. Parenthesisdotdotdot cut right to the heart of the matter with a transformative cover of what may be my favorite Cure song.

God Is In The TV | UK | DL | 2023

Various Artists: Pictures Of You A Compilation Of Cure Covers – UK – DL [2023]

7. Parenthesisdotdotdot: Push 4:23

It began with lone “piano” while Mr. Benton began his recitation that wove through the entire long introduction that still embodies half of this amazing song. then the mood shifted towards a Bontempi organ aesthetic complete with rhythm box percussion as Benton indulged in his penchant for heartfelt storytelling; full of knowing detail and skirting, as usual, the bittersweet shores of heartbreak as he best knows how.

The detailed spoken word interlude called back to such classic Baxendale material as “I Love The Sound of Dance Music Parts 1 + 2” for half the length of the song before the track burst through to another level at the midpoint when the singing began. Just like in the original. The synths got fatter and and were joined by guitars and the ambivalence gave way to wistful glow at the song’s conclusion.

There are more things out there on disc that I don’t have yet. The same label that released “Your Excellency” put out a Christmas themed compilation in 2011 called “24 Soon-To-Be Christmas Classics” with Parenthesisdotdotdot adding “The Betsey Gets me [Christmas Special]”

And then there’s this; what appeared to be point zero for Parenthesisdotdotdot: the Ellepsis Like Sugar EP from Soundcloud from 2014. Four tracks including:

  1. Run Out Groove
  2. Sixteen Weeks
  3. Wondaloveaffair [Dimitri from Paris + DJ Rocca mix]
  4. Straight A’s

Sadly it’s not present on Soundcloud any longer so these tunes may be extremely immaterial by now.

…To say nothing of the other songs on the Parenthesisdotdotdot home page. But at least we can assuage ourselves with the immediate gratification of the two reviewed releases which are yours for a pittance in Bandcamp right now! DJs hit those buttons [so fast you heads will spin]!

YOUR EXCELLENCY

PUSH

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Posted in Immaterial Music, Record Review | Tagged , , , | 11 Comments

NZ’s Car Crash Set Returns To Print…Just In Time This Friday

Posted on September 18, 2024 by postpunkmonk
Car Crash Set rocked skinny ties and that Post-Punk action in NZ

Car Crash Set have long been one of those “heard of but not heard” phenomena for my ears.. Referenced here and there over the years, but I’ve certainly never seen the goods in any bins! Given that their 40 year old album,, “No Accident” is a three figure album to buy, maybe that’s a good thing. If you think that’s bad, things only got worse with every reissue! Germany’s Anna Logue Records, who have resuscitated Poeme Electronique for the digital age, had already released a definitive compilation, “Join The Car Crash Set,” on wax twice and the silver disc once already in the current millennium. The LPs will set you back three solid figures and the CD isn’t cheap either!

So it’s welcome new that Anna Logue Records is going for another pressing, this time on both formats, as demand is obviously outstripping supply. This Friday the collection will once more be available, albeit in the modest numbers that are a fact of life in this era of dwindling physical products. So what is this music like anyway?

Anna Logue Records | GER | CD | 2024 | ANNA 016-CD.2016

Car Crash Set: Join The Car Crash Set – GER – CD [2024]

  1. Hit And Run 3:20
  2. Outsider (12″ Version) 5:58
  3. Toys 4:42
  4. Heart Of Stone (Demo) 6:58
  5. Another Day (Demo) 5:55
  6. Heart Of Stone 5:08
  7. Dreams 2:42
  8. Fall From Grace 7:52
  9. Those Days 4:32
  10. Imagination (7″ Mix) 3:09
  11. Justice 5:07
  12. Love Situation (Early Synth Version) 5:20
  13. Your Eyes 4:50
  14. Lost Tape 4:53
  15. Fall From Grace (Demo) 6:23

The mid-tempo “Hit + Run” played like a minimal synth cousin to a song like “Open Your Heart” as a minimal synth creature in full with swooping synths and a drum machine that sounded as if it were going to rattle itself off of the table. On “Outsider,” the subtext of the album became truly manifest. Car Crash Set were aiming for the sound of New Order in their naggingly familiar songs, with “Everything’s Gone Green” laying the groundwork for this one. It had the same drum machine fills stabbing repeatedly as did its forebear.

“Toys” explored elsewhere with a jittery minimal synth vibe graced with a rubbery acid lead and atmospheric synth patches. The energetic sequencers vied with the earnest vocal from Nigel Russell. Then it was back to the music factory for “Heart of Stone [Demo],” which hewed closely to the template that “Age Of Consent” had mapped out. The guitar tone of Trevor Reekle emulated that of Barney’s while Russell’s vocals didn’t seem to care what Sumner had done on “Age Of Consent” and freely plowed its own furrow.

The demo of “Another Day” juxtaposed cheerfully twangy guitar amid the synth string patches and drumbeats and the final studio recording of “Heart of Stone” took a half-step away from the New Order template. Singer Russell’s vocal production also moved further away from sound of Barney’s vocals but his added yelps straight from the Sumner playbook only cemented the end result here as New Order pastiche. Then “Dreams” scurried closer to a minimal synth sound with gloriously dinky drum machines recalling the earliest Men Without Hats material, ca. 1980.

Sooner or later it had to happen. “Fall From Grace” was the re-write of “Temptation” I’d been waiting for. If you’re going to lift, lift from the best! One can almost sing the New Order lyric to the music bed here. “Those Days” eschewed the Manchester band’s vibe for something radically different. A Freestyle track with call backs to the plinky sixteenth note sequenced synths that Arthur Baker initially made his name [okay, and “Confusion”] with. Then it was time for the most obvious track here, and “Justice” bit down hard on “Blue Monday” to make a late addition to my “Blue Monday Ripoffs” list! The relentless drum programming with fills at the end of each bar were de riguer. And Russell added not only more yelps, but also an emphatic grunt just to throw me off a little.

“Love Situation” was something different…yet eerily familiar. No, it didn’t suggest New Order, but what it did suggest very strongly was something that was utterly New Order adjacent! It could have been part of Paul Haig’s “The Warp of Pure Fun” album [which had New Order sitting in and producing some tracks] with Russell coming very close to sound-alike status with his vocal. I can’t’ say I’ve ever heard anyone else with quite the sound of Haig’s delivery…until now!

The compilation was as close as anything I’ve heard to being a New Order record without it actually saying that on the cover. I felt that Cold Cave captured the vibe of New Order on “Cherish The Light Years” but those tracks sounded like the best record I expected after “Power, Corruption, and Lies.” In contrast, “Join The Car Crash Set” challenged me to guess which discreet songs had been studied to inspire half of the material here. What the listener brings to the equation depends on how comfortable one is with magpie syndrome carried to a pretty far degree. I have to say that it was the Haig-like track that impressed me the most. I would think that it would be a harder target to hit that garden variety New Order. I liked it but would I buy it? Given that the material is historically so transient in the marketplace, in the face of a higher demand, maybe I should suggest buying now and deciding how you feel about it afterward? Your mileage may vary.

Anna Logue Records | GER | Yellow LP | 2024 | ANNA 016.2008

Car Crash Set: Join The Car Crash Set – GER – YELLOW LP [2024]

  1. Hit And Run 3:20
  2. Outsider (12″ Version) 5:58
  3. Toys 4:42
  4. Heart Of Stone (Demo) 6:58
  5. Another Day (Demo) 5:55
  6. Heart Of Stone 5:08
  7. Dreams 2:42
  8. Fall From Grace 7:52

Rating: 5 out of 5.

Admission to the party is modest since the boutique label is not run with the intent of making a profit. An approach that I’m happy to see spreading in this era of Late Capitalism. Of course the shipping might clobber your wallet, so there’s always the Bandcamp store for lossless DLs. Even so, non EU purchasers may shave the 19% VAT from the prices listed below. More than fair, yes?

  • Yellow vinyl [180g] LP + lyric sheet/poster, sticker, postcard – ed. of 317 • €22.00 [EU]/€17.82 [rest of world]
  • Digipak CD + sticker + 7 bonus tracks – ed. of 200 • €13.00 [EU]/€10.53 [rest of world]

If you are pining for the scarce and costly music of Car Crash Set, then DJs hit those buttons!

LP + CD

DL

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Posted in Record Review, Want List | Tagged , , , , | 12 Comments

Definitive Afterimage Anthology Paints Piquant Picture of Post-Punk L.A Ca. 1981

Posted on September 17, 2024 by postpunkmonk

Independent Project Records is once more diving deeper into the Los Angeles underground to once more find rare examples of Post-Punk in the L.A. morass of Hardcore and Hair Metal. I love having my biases eliminated by heretofore unknown sounds; this time courtesy of the band Afterimage. Once described om the Los Angeles Times as “L.A’s answer to Joy Division,” the real story is a little more nuanced than the lede.

The new reissue captured the eight full studio tracks the band released in their debut single and the six track “Fade In” EP and abets the package with a selection of live tracks and demos. It’s all there in an action-packed CD in the requisite beautiful IPR letterpress packaging. The fans of analog have deluxe LP packages to consider, each with a bonus flexi-disc with three further unreleased tracks, in black or white numbered vinyl, and even a sealed original pressing of the “Fade In” EP if so desired. All of this is interesting, but what’s the music like?

afterimage - faces to hide 2024
Independent Project Records | US | CD | 2024 | IPO82SECD

Afterimage: Faces To Hide – US – CD [2024]

  1. Strange Confession
  2. The Long Walk
  3. Afterimage
  4. Relapse
  5. Soundtrack
  6. No Dreams
  7. Surf Generator/Part of the Threat
  8. Satellite of Love
  9. Idol (Live)
  10. Afterimage (Live)
  11. Faces to Hide (Live)
  12. Just a Laugh (Demo) 03:55
  13. Relapse (Demo)
  14. Afterimage (Demo) 02:32
  15. No Dreams (Demo)
  16. Sonic Switch (Demo)
  17. Surf Generator / Part of the Threat (Live)
  18. Just a Laugh (Live)
  19. Rhythm Equation (Live)
  20. Satellite of Love (Live)
  21. Soundtrack (Live)
  22. The Long Walk (Live)
  23. Submission (Version 1)
  24. Submission (Version 2)
  25. Breaking Point (Live)
  26. Faces to Hide (live in studio)

Spacey synthetic keyboard percussion faded in from nowhere on “Strange Confession” until crowded out by the urgent drumming and slashing guitars. Synthetic trills repeating throughout added cyber cicada thrills to the mix and the bass by Rich Evac grounded the foundations of the song. Vocalist Alec Tension hovered over the busy, frenetic arrangement; taking time out only for a sax break redolent of Duncan Kilburn of the Psychedelic Furs. So yes, you knew this would have been something right up my alley in 1981, had we only still lived in L.A. instead of Orlando. By the time it was barely getting started, it was already over. Leaving us wanting more. But there was plenty more left here to chew on.

“The Long Walk” featured plenty of tasty buzzing synths from guitarist/keyboardist A Produce while Tension seemed to be channeling Iggy Pop ca. “The Idiot.” Certainly a ripe target for any band with Post-Punk aspirations in 1981! The lazy sax proffered by Tension added a jazzy fatalism to the keyboard-led sound. The lyric citing “listening to the radio” seemed to be a point where the influence of “Transmission” was certainly evident. As the song wound down, the last word was given to the bass of Rich Evac. Then the music from the “Fade In” EP followed.

Beachside environmental foley effects heralded “Surf Generator/Part of The Threat.” While the band were looking to primarily British acts to inspire their songs, you can’t discount the SoCal environment completely as this medley clearly showed. I always find the willingness of even left-field musicians to dip into the sounds of Dick Dale fascinating. And I get it. Surf Rock is a powerful thing, as I learned when I got my mind blown by Dick Dale in 1994! It was A Produce who had the vision to unite the tense spy-fi leanings of “Surf Generator” and “Part Of the Threat” into a successful medley. The transition was as natural a seam as was musically possible.

The numbered, white vinyl folio edition, complete with bonus flexi.

The frantic gallop of the rhythm section led “Soundtrack” as shards of trebly guitar careened overhead in jangly arcs while Tension yelped out the lyrics to match the fierce tempo. The sax solo seemingly at odds with the frenetic pace of the song. The guitar freakout in the coda was a thrilling thing that ended abruptly.

While Magazine, Wire, and Joy Division all had their imprint on this band, I was beginning to hear other, less esoteric influences coming to bear on the music. The iconic title track “Afterimage,” featured stuttering riffage that I swear looked back to Jimmy Page as a starting point, but where the band took that building block was miles down the road from Led Zeppelin! Never moreso than in the middle eight where the abstract guitar harmonics and Alec switched to a spoken-word delivery. Where had this song been all of my life?

Next followed “Satellite Of Love.” No, not that one! This was a much more angular slalom through corridors of guitar anchored by some ferocious double-picking in the explosive coda. Flanged bass and skittery, violin-like guitars opened “No Dreams,” with a enervated guitar solo in the middle eight accompanied by widescreen swoops of synth crossing the stereo image back and forth like waves crashing.

With that the rest of the program was relegated to demos and live recordings to widen the scope from the admittedly iconic reissued material. “Idol” was recorded at the Whiskey-A-Go-Go and it’s hard to imagine the brittle, minimal synth track, replete with chittering, insect-like rhythm box, sating the audience I imagine in the classic rock venue. The self-excoriating lyric imagery was the furthest thing imaginable from hedonistic.

The live version of “Afterimage” featured a far more dissolute take on the riffage form the studio take, and the drenching of echo on Tension’s vocals moved the song even further away from its flirtations with the norm. The title track, “Faces To Hide [live]” featured a classic motorik drum pattern by Holland DeNuzzio driving that one inexorably tautly forward.

The live take of “Relapse” differed from the EP version with a guitar riff inspired by Creedence Clearwater Revival’s “Up Around The Bend” to radically different ends. “Sonic Switch” was just a handful of unfinished riffs in search of a song hard edited together to fill 5:13 of space. Missable. The live version of “Surf Generator/Part Of The Threat” managed to raise quite a head of steam, showing that this band certainly had no fear of Rock.

The sloppy chaos of “Just A Laugh [live]” also managed to capture some of the adrenaline thrill of the band’s live set quite capably. The sax of Tension careening downhill like a semi-truck with no brakes. Likewise, the live “Satellite Of Love” was all about the headlong allure of velocity. Showing that this band had at least speed in common with the plethora of L.A. Hardcore bands of the day.

Rating: 5 out of 5.

The album will be released this Friday on September 20th, 2024, with pre-orders available at the label’s Bandcamp page. The following formats are available:

  • lossless DL – $12/£9.11/€10.79
  • letterpress folio CD [as reviewed] – $15/£11.39/€13.48
  • letterpress 2x black LP + flexidisc [tracks 23-26] – $40/£30.38/€35.96
  • letterpress 2x white LP + flexidisc [tracks 23-26] – $45/£34.18/€40.46
  • letterpress 2x black LP + flexidisc [tracks 23-26] + original mint copy of “Fade In” EP from 1981 – $55/£41.78/€49.45
  • letterpress 2x white LP + flexidisc [tracks 23-26] + original mint copy of “Fade In” EP from 1981 – $60/£45.578/€53.95

There’s a listening party tomorrow at noon PT, presumably online. RSVP at the Bandcamp page. As usual with Bandcamp, every purchase there comes with a 24/44.1 high-res lossless DL in addition to any physical goods. With the care that the Independent Record Project put into the packaging, I’ll just say that the physical goods are the way to go. I think the CD hits the sweet spot [you knew that I’d say that, right?] but if any of these fine formats are calling out to you then DJ hit that button!

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Posted in Record Review | Tagged , , , , | 4 Comments

A Gothic Night Out With Rosegarden Funeral Party + March Violets @ The Grey Eagle 9-12-24

Posted on September 16, 2024 by postpunkmonk

Here was a concert that I was delightfully surprised by the date in my sleepy town of Asheville, North Carolina. I was even happier when I saw that Rosegarden Funeral Party was the opening act for this leg of the March Violets US tour. I would have gone to see them without the considerable bonus of March Violets, but the twofer of Gothic goodness was impossible to pass up. My Post-Punk fan neighbor [a.k.a. leftymcrighty73 in the comments] also agreed, so I had company for the show last Thursday night.

We arrived at The Grey Eagle in time to actually get a parking spot in front of the club, so we entered and I scoped the merch table, hoping for the silver disc and only March Violets could slake that thirst. They had LPs and CDs of their latest opus, “Crocodile Promises,” so I bought one. Alas, Rosegarden Funeral Party had only fabric goods left on this, the last night of their tour with the headliners. The club was populated by what I’m assuming was the cream of the Asheville Gothic scene; about 40-50 people [most much younger than my neighbor and I] with most of them sporting far more elaborate looks than I ever did, even at that age. I’d hoped that since the night was still young, we might have a larger turnout by showtime.

I’d managed to get a listen to the March Violets album on Bandcamp the morning of the show and I was quite impressed by the high caliber of the songs and performance throughout. This was material 40 + years later that compared favorably to the young upstarts who’d been releasing singles on Sisters Of Mercy’s label all those years ago. That Rosie Garland and guitarist Tom Ashton go all the way back to the debut single from 1982 was definitely impressive.

I’d had the new “From The Ashes” album by Rosegarden Funeral Party recommended to me by a commenter and I also had a listen to that on Bandcamp. It showed the trio weaving a tapestry with the threads of Post-Punk and something a little more confessional in the lyric stance. And Leah Lane was a strong vocalist who could embody those lyrics with conviction. I was disappointed that I wouldn’t be leaving the gig with an album in hand. It was shortly after 8:15 that the evening’s festivities began when Rosegarden Funeral Party took to the stage.

ROSEGARDEN FUNERAL PARTY

rosegarden funeral party live at The Grey Eagle
Leah Lane and Dean Adams of Rosegarden Funeral Party rock it out

The band on this evening was Ms. Lane on guitar and vocals and Dean Adams on drums. The third leg of the RFP tripod, bassist Wil Farrier, was not in attendance. This meant that RFP’s set was the two live musicians plus playback of synths, bass and sax. A little disappointing in that in this post-Dex Romweber age it’s been proven that the guitar/drums combo is robust enough to carry everything off.

Fortunately for us, the vital drums of Dean Adams that impressed on my listen to the new album on Bandcamp was onstage this evening, and his propulsive fills pushed the songs ever forward with inventive skill that belied its complexity in execution. A percussion balancing act that was expertly carried off.

Ms. Lane rocked lead guitar as well as her own fine voice. Her urgent songs of heartbreak and healing found her occupying a place not dissimilar to Pat Benatar and Neil Geraldo in one package. The reliance on playback to fill the sound unfortunately meant that her solos were few and far between, but one near the end of their set could have gone on for a few bars more in my estimation. I enjoyed their set at a crisp nine songs and it warmed my heart to see a trio of the group’s überfans right up front, obviously hanging on the band’s every move.

Their set complete, they headed towards the merch table to meet fans and I had intended to go there between sets and discuss the work she had done with Peter Godwin as Re/Generation and introduce myself but I ended up talking to my neighbor and the breakdown between sets was so rapid that it caught me by surprise. To my slight chagrin. But with March Violets famously using a drum machine, I guess that makes the stage swap amazingly fast.

THE MARCH VIOLETS

March Violets at The Grey Eagle
March Violets [L-R]: Tom Ashton, Rosie Garland, and Mat Thorpe

Seeing The March Violets walk onstage came so quickly I barely had time to re-insert my earplugs as they began their headlining set. It bears mentioning that the most wonderful aspect of this evening’s entertainment was that were I not already suffering from tinnitus, I probably wouldn’t have been wearing earplugs. The sound of the evening’s performances was some of the best live sound I’ve heard in ages. Kind volume levels with a lack of compression that made each element of the sound clear and distinct. And best of all, my whole body was not vibrating, which I dearly hate. No “bass fracking!”

march violets grooving in green
The house tech complied with the right lighting for “Grooving In Green”

Since I had never owned any March Violets apart from their songs on the “Some Kind Of Wonderful” soundtrack, with the end-of-life 80s lineup of the band, all of this was new and fresh to my ears. Tom Ashton’s guitars were right in the center of the Post-Punk zone for their slightly flanged tone. Vocalist Rosie Garland, being also a poet and novelist, was no “shrinking violet” and spoke generously with the crowd instead of just letting the music do the talking. I can’t say what prompted her to revisit the band of her youth that many years afterward, but I was glad she had. The last 17 years have had March Violets almost making up for lost time with various albums and collections of their legacy singles. I recognized a few songs of their set from my one listen that morning to their new album, but at least I’d be taking that one home with me this evening.

Following about an hour’s worth of tunes, with their set having ended, March Violets returned quickly for their encore and let us know that they would be reaching far back for their encore as they next proceeded to play “Fodder” from their debut “Religious As Hell” EP. Then, with this being the last show of this leg of the March Violets tour [it picks up again in October with a different opening act], they called up Rosegarden Funeral Party to join them onstage for “Snake Dance.”

march violets and rosegarden funeral party live at The Grey Eagle for encore of Snake Dance
Rosegarden Funeral Party joined March Violets onstage for the encore

After Ms. Garland announced the last encore, she was waiting for Tom to “hit the button,” forgetting that this would be the only song of their set without the drum machine running the show. Instead Dean Adams counted in and the eerie spectacle of March Violets with a live drummer and two singers brought the night to a suitably big finish. While I appreciate their devotion to the Leeds drum machine band ethos, the two bands dovetailed onstage like it was meant to be. And the big smiles on every musician’s faces made all the sense in the world. And then it was over and we walked out into the damp night air at a very kind hour.

Leah Land + Rosie Garland at The Grey Eagle
Leah and Rosie rocked out on “Snake Dance”

This had been a big surprise for me and I was glad that I could catch both of these bands in my little hamlet. The turnout was thinner that I would have hoped for up front. I’d heard that Asheville had something of a Goth scene but this city is all about the Jam Bands, so other cultures are further underground. Everyone attending was there by the time that Rosegarden Funeral Party began their set, but I’d been to shows at the Grey Eagle that were far more meagerly attended, so let’s be thankful for more than a dozen people. I’ve been party to those gigs. This had been a nice warm up for the next gig on the agenda: The Chameleons in October in Greenville, South Carolina…once more with my neighbor as company! Join us next month for that tale…be there…aloha!

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How In The Hell Did I Ever Own: Asia – “Asia”

Posted on September 12, 2024 by postpunkmonk
Geffen Records | US | LP | 1982 | GHS 2008

Hello, my name is Post-Punk Monk and I’m an ex-Prog fan. [group welcomes and acknowledges Post-Punk Monk] As a kid who grew up in the 70s listening to AM/Top 40 radio from 1971-1978, I went off Pop radio in that year owing to the overabundance of Disco getting me down. I switched to FM Rock/AOR/”Progressive Rock” for a couple of years as there was not a viable college radio option in Orlando…yet.

These years of album rock exposed me to a lot of new bands I had not heard on Top 40 growing up. As a liked synthesizers, it didn’t take long before Emerson, Lake + Palmer were my favorite band for what seemed much longer then, but was probably a year and a half ranging from 1979 to the summer of 1980. As I’d gotten burned by the Disco trend taking over our culture, I initially cast a wary eye on New Wave [!] as the next trend I’d get sick of and was initially cold to hit New Wave records like M’s “Pop Muzik.”

By 1980 I’d gotten over that notion as I began gravitating to this upstart sound and saw that bands like ELP, Yes, and Pink Floyd were of a piece and that I was moving elsewhere. And yet, there were residual lingering echoes of the Prog fan within me still resonating with some things. In 198o I actually started buying albums by the proto-Prog band The Nice from whence came Keith Emerson. And more to the point, I actually liked them then…and now!

So when I’d spent much of 1981 hearing the hype on a new band being signed to the “maverick” new label Geffen Records, I was curious as to that sort of “supergroup” that the band Asia would be. It was made up of members of bands I either had liked a few years back, or maybe I still liked them in 1982!

  • John Wetton – [ex-King Crimson] vocals, bass
  • Geoff Downes – [ex-Buggles, Yes – 1980] keys
  • Carl Palmer – [ex-ELP] drums
  • Steve Howe – [ex-Yes]

John Wetton’s brilliant middle period with King Crimson is a three album arc for the ages… still! I loved that first Buggles album as well as the 1980 Yes album where Trevor Horn and Goeff Downes joined Yes to replace an absent Rick Wakeman and Jon Anderson. The “Drama” album was divisive to many Yes fans, but I had no problem with it at all! In fact, I bought it on CD when it finally came out in 1987 and still love it to this day! I have the DLX RM CD with plenty of bonus tracks, as well. I wasn’t carrying much water for ELP in 1982, but the other players had possibilities. Or so I thought at the time!

In the summer of 1982 the album finally came out after talk about it for over a year. The US record industry was then in a slump period after Peak Disco coincided with the rise of video games to siphon money out of teenage pockets as the kids of the day abandoned Rock music as a way to entertain themselves. Sales were in the basement after albums of the late 70s had shipped “double platinum.”

I bought the disc which had a typically elaborate Roger Dean airbrush fantasy painting like so many Yes albums covers had done. And I should have known then by its coloration, that this was no longer in my wheelhouse. I’d moved on. So I put the record on the turntable and played it.

Once.

I was very offended not by these titans of Prog [and maybe New Wave, in Downes’ case] playing elaborate, baroque Prog Rock in fussy time-signatures. No, instead I was very offended by these players, who were all capable of such shenanigans, dumbing down their capabilities to aim directly for the meathead Rock music target that the worthless, yet inexplicably popular band Journey were then hitting full force in the marketplace.

In the late 70s, Journey had made a similar paradigm shift after starting out as an instrumental American Prog [almost an oxymoron] band that no one listened to, they added singer Steve Perry. Who for some reason wanted to sing like Ronnie Spector, even though he was a guy, And then they watched their records sell in gold and platinum numbers. Titans of Nerf Rock™! You’ll notice that both of the covers in this post are airbrushed fantasy art where spheres figure prominently! That wasn’t the only similarity between Asia and Journey.

When I look at the credits in Discogs, the reasons why Asia was no more than Prog in Journey drag… the worst band possible in 1982, becomes readily apparent, though back then I didn’t have a clue. Both Asia and High Journey albums were produced by Mike Stone; a name unknown to me until I just looked the info up in Discogs. So if Asia sounded like Journey, it was highly intentional. That’s why they bagged the same producer.

And by the time that Asia videos were plastered all over MTV, I had already bought the album, completely unheard, and have given it away in disgust to the first person I saw who I thought would like it. I watched in dismay as “Asia” became the top selling album of 1982 in America. So obviously my tastes were incongruent with the larger masses. What stymies me now was how I even given it a single chance in the late date of the summer of 1982! As I had already lived through the most transcendent year I’d ever experience in music, 1981. My world had been already rocked by the Kraftwerks, Ultravoxes, Human Leagues, ABCs★★★, and Peter Gabriels of the time.

What had I been thinking to even try this?!

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Posted in How In the Hell Did I Ever Own…, Records I Used To Own, Your Prog Roots Are Showing | Tagged , | 47 Comments