Old Music Monthly #008: March 1994
Beastie Boys – Egg Raid On Mojo
It’s a shame that no one has ever heard of the Beastie Boys, they could’ve really been something. I remember seeing Some Old Bullshit littering the used CD bins back then, but never thought anything of it. Turns out, that it was a collection from Beastie Boys’ hardcore days, and featuring Lucious Jackson drummer Kate Schellenbach. I like it, it’s primitive, but it has a certain charm to it. For what it’s worth, as much as I’m just a casual fan of the group, I think they are one of the few acts that had the capacity to put out anything, and people would be pre-disposed to like it. (+)
Solsonics – Jazz In The Present Tense (Remix)
Solsonics formed in Los Angeles… I think. They are kind of hard to search, all roads lead back to the album, but it seems there’s no real info other than some people gushing over their lone album Jazz In the Present Tense.
It kind of starts out like a theme to a sexy, heist thriller film… but as it went on I got the sense it was more like an upscale 90’s boutique where a blonde woman in a plaid sportcoat would try to sell you an overpriced knick-knack made entirely of brass. Drummer Willie McNeil has been steadily performing for over 30 years, and it seems that he has settled into contracted club work all over LA, which is pretty cool. Isn’t that the dream, make a living as a musician and stay close to home? Jez Colin, I don’t know what he did here, but he now runs a company that makes music for movie trailers. (-)
Therapy? – Nowhere
Hey, Spab! Check it out!
OK, the question mark on the end of their name was kind of a mistake. When singer / guitarist Andy Cairns was placing the band name on the first record sleeve, he did it off center by accident and added the question mark to make it even. Then it stuck.
Cairns and drummer Fyfe Ewing formed in Northern Ireland in 1989, and on their first release Cairns played bass, but they soon completed the line up with bassist Michael McKeegan. Alternative rock is usually the best category for them to fit in, but “Nowhere” retains some of the early noise rock they were known for. Troublegum was released on Herb Alpert’s A&M Records. It’s a great track, I was already pre-disposed by another sampler. A friend had bought a VHS sampler called Molted – Hunt & Gather that had a video for “Nausea” from 1993’s Nurse. In the video, Ewing plays drums on a big Jello dessert.
Troublegum was the band’s big breakthrough, everything after was greeted with a lukewarm reception. This isn’t the last we’ll see of Therapy? in these write-ups. (+)
Failure – Moth
In 1990, Failure formed in Los Angeles, and by 1992 had traveled to Minnesota to record their debut album with noted crank Steve Albini. Generally unhappy with the first album, the band stayed in California and self-produced their second album, Magnified, which this track comes from. I hope they didn’t make the record cover themselves as well, because it’s terrible.
Failure is kind of underground famous. I know lots of people, people who do not pay attention to whatever is happening popular-wise, and every single one of them love Failure. Other than their 1998 cover of Depeche Mode’s “Enjoy the Silence” (which is great), I hadn’t heard them before. “Moth” is pretty great. It’s got a heavy rock sound, but it has some strong vocal hooks as well.
The band released Fantastic Planet in 1996, but the band was sidelined when their label Slash lost their distribution with Warner Bros., so singer / guitarist Ken Andrews and guitarist Greg Edwards joined up with bassist Paul D’Amour (Tool, future Ministry) and multi-instrumentalist Chris Pitman (future touring keyboardist for Tool and Guns N’ Roses) and formed Replicants, who put out one album of covers in 1995. By 1997, Failure disbanded, but as with all things, they reunited in 2013. (+)
Texas – Fade Away
Where is Texas from? Not Texas, but Scotland. The band was formed in 1986 by Johnny McElhone (formerly of Altered Images) and vocalist Sharleen Spiteri. The band was rounded out and by 1989, they had released their debut album, Southside.
“Fade Away” comes from their third album, Ricks Road. The song … is ok. Spiteri has a pleasant voice to listen to, but I think the electric piano and organ over the top is just too much. Then, when we get to the solo, it’s the most 90’s by the book guitar you’ve ever heard. It sounds like their aiming for the credits of a theatrical rom-com, but it sounds more like if belongs in a TV movie where your beloved sitcom goes to another country.
Texas is still going today, minus a roughly 2 year hiatus when guitarist Ally McErlaine had an aneurysm. The group released a single with Wu Tang Clan in 1997 (“Say What You Want”), and released their most recent album, Hi in 2021. The album’s title track was a single, also featuring Wu Tang Clan (they aren’t great, but they’re more interesting than this). (-)
Luna – Tiger Lily
New York City’s Luna was formed in 1991 by singer / guitarist Dean Wareham after the collapse of his prior band, Galaxie 500, with drummer Stanley Demeski (The Feelies) and bassist Justin Harwood (The Chills). Honestly, it’s not my favorite thing in the world, but the guitar sounds great.
Harwood left the band in 2000, and went on to join Tuatara with Peter Buck (R.E.M.) and Barrett Martin (Screaming Trees, Skin Yard). His replacement was Britta Phillips, who was the singing voice for the main character on the animated show Jem. Luna split in 2005, but reformed in 2015. (+)
Bruce Cockburn – Burden Of The Angel/Beast
This Canadian singer / songwriter / guitarist has been going since 1967. He started by joining The Esquires, then formed The Flying Circus (which became Olivus) who opened for The Jimi Hendrix Experience and Cream. After that ended, he joined 3’s a Crowd, but left by 1969 to pursue a solo career. “Burden of the Angel / Beast” is from 1994’s Dart to the Heart, Cockburn’s 18th album. Truthfully, it’s folk based and after you’ve been doing that for so long, you just turn into adult contemporary. It’s just a slog. Maybe it relates to emotions I have yet to experience, or I am incapable of feeling, or situations unknown to me, but it does nothing for me.
Cockburn’s most recent album was released in 2019. (-)
NRBQ – A Little Bit of Bad
The first, and only time I ever heard this band (or of this band) was during the closing credits to that Simpsons episode with John Goodman and Henry Winkler where they are bikers (“Take My Wife, Sleaze”). I thought, “who are these dudes with long sleeping gowns on?”
Turns out, they’ve been around since late 1965, and have played jazz, pop, and rockabilly. I don’t think this is very exciting, really. It just kind of plods along, but I’m left thinking, “is this necessary?”
NRBQ took a hiatus in 2004 when singer / keyboardist Terry Adams entered treatment for stage 4 throat cancer. In the meantime, other members worked on side projects, but the band resumed in 2011 after Adams’ was given a clean bill of health. (-)
The Grays – Very Best Years
In 1993, multi-instrumentalists Jon Brion (‘Til Tuesday) and Jason Falkner (Jellyfish) had got together. You may remember Jason Falkner from Volume 003 as a hired touring member of Fabulon. Anyway, Brion was working with Buddy Judge and Dan McCarroll when he invited Falkner to sit in. Soon, label scouts became aware of the meeting, and The Grays signed with Epic, much to the dismay of Falkner.
”Very Best Years” was the only single from their only album Ro Sham Bo. This is my first time hearing it, and I hate it. I absolutely hate it. I don’t even have a good reason, but looking at them, listening to it, I guess it just makes me feel like it is all so contrived. It exists to be marketed to “alternative” music tastes, but it’s more toothless than a Time-Life AM Gold collection.
The band split in 1994, Falkner was seeking a more democratic band after being just a side man in other outfits. Falkner becamse de-facto leader of the group by accident, when songs he had written were better than other ones from the group. It was a position he was not comfortable with. Falkner went solo as well as being a session musician for Beck, and Noel Gallagher. Meanwhile, Brion went to become a well renowned producer for acts such as Eels, Fiona Apple, and Kanye West, as well as scoring films including ParaNorman and Lady Bird. (-)
Th’ Faith Healers UK – Heart Fog
Formed in Hampstead, England, Th’ Faith Healers (the “e” was left off in a typo and they just left it that way) were setting out to make something out of their influences of The Stooges, The Fall, Hawkwind, Can, and 60’s garage rock compilations.
This is really good. This one, in the intro (and off and on), has a really good Krautrock influence, before they crank it up and punch you in the ears.
The band put out two albums, two compilations, and a number of singles before splitting in 1994. Guitarist and primary songwriter Tom Cullinan went on to form future CMJ alum Quickspace. Drummer Joe Dilworth spent some time in Stereolab from 1990-92, and after this band he played with PJ Harvey ad Cat Power, but it appears he is mostly a photographer these days. They reformed for a short tour in 2006, and then again in 2009 for the Breeders curated All Tomorrow’s Parties. (+)
Eat – Shame
English band Eat ran from 1986 to 1995, sort of. The group were known for their mixture of blues, hip-hop, and funk when they released 1989’s Sell Me a God. However, the group hated each other so much, they effectively were on hiatus from 1990-92. They returned with a new lineup and a new sound and issued psychedelic pop album Epicure in 1993. They toured with Medicine, but the band broke up again by 1995.
This song’s intro reminds me of the intro to The Cult’s “Fire Woman”, but that’s where the similarities end. This relies more on pop than psychedelia, it’s about as exciting as room temperature tap water. Maybe if I were deaf and this was the first music I ever heard, I’d be excited. I went back and listened to their earlier stuff, and truthfully, it wasn’t much better… not nearly as interesting as their Wikipedia page made them out to be.
The group reformed in 2014, and is still going today (apparently). They released an EP, She Cries Flowers in 2016, but nothing since. (-)
Loren Mazzacane – Moonyean
Avante-garde! Experimental! Folk! Eh. Loren Mazzacane (Conners) is a guitarist from Connecticut. I’m not going to spend a lot of time on this one. The CD sleeves touts that this is the only way to get this exclusive track on CD, however, there is an album called Moonyean with 13 tracks, and all of them are listed as “Untitled”. Since I don’t have the original disc, I have zero way to know what is on this, so I’m not going to be able to rate it. Pitchfork did a feature on him in 2013, so make of that what you will. (0)
Grifters – Bronze Cast
Memphis group Grifters began as A Band Called Bud… which is terrible, Grifters is much better. They played lo-fi indie / art rock.
“Bronze Cast” comes from their third album, Crappin’ You Negative, and this is a really fun track. It’s got a lot of rough edges, but the primitive sound is charming. They apparently had some backlash from their fan base when their next album on Sub Pop (Ain’t My Lookout) was considerably more polished.
The band members embarked on a number of side projects in 1997, but broke up for good in 2001. But guess what? They got back together in 2013 and have stayed together since. (+)
R.L. Burnside – .44 Pistol
You might know R.L. Burnside as the author of the Goosebumps series of scary books for kids. If that’s how you know him, you’re wrong. Burnside was one of the fabled Mississippi bluesmen. In the 1940’s, he moved to Chicago where his father lived to look for work. Within one year, his two brothers, two uncles, and his father were all murdered in the city. After that he bounced between Memphis, the Mississippi Delta, and Northern Mississippi. At some point in the 50’s, he was convicted of Murder for killing another man after a game of craps. Burnside’s first recordings were recorded by music historian George Mitchell who was a journalism grad student at the time, who was making field recordings of all the old bluesmen while on vacation in the area.
Burnside didn’t start releasing proper albums until 1981, though he did appear on some compilations in the late 60’s and throughout the 70’s. He did, however, play as a side man to Lightnin’ Hopkins and John Lee Hooker, and eventually played solo on three tours of Europe where he was met enthusiastically. Burnside was filmed in 1990 for the documentary Deep Blues, and signed with Fat Possum Records, whose sole purpose was to record and release music from the old Mississippi bluesmen. They released Bad Luck City in 1992 (as R.L. Burnside & The Sound Machine), and 1994’s Too Bad Jim in conjunction with Epitaph Records. Yes, that Epitaph.
Of course, this is excellent. It does exactly what it says on the tin.
After the release of the Deep Blues doc, he attracted the attention of John Spencer (survivor of the Blues Explosion tragedy) who took on tour as an opener and they recorded some albums together. While his profile was high, Burnside’s health was declining. Some labels released some remix albums, and Burnside occasionally did guest vocals but he lost the ability to play guitar after a series of heart attacks. Burnside died in 2005 (+)
Heavy Vegetable – Love American Style
The band name was chosen specifically because it seemed disposable. Singer / guitarist Rob Crow said, “No nerd would ever be punched in the face during recess by a jock wearing a Heavy Vegetable shirt.” The band seems to have existed from 1993 to 1995, but details are sketchy.
It’s that heavy kind of indie rock that was uncovered while the Grunge explosion was at its peak. This comes from their 1993 EP A Bunch of Stuff.
Crow is an incredibly prolific musician. His projects include Pinback, Thingy (with Heavy Vegetable member Elea Tenuta), Goblin Cock, Optiganally Yours, among many, many others. Three fourths of the band reformed in 2007 as Other Men and released the album Wake Up Swimming. (+)
Sone – Doubt
Another one at a loss, the only thing of Sone that exists on YouTube is an excerpt from their 1995 self titled album. You know what I can tell you? They were apparently from Portland, Oregon. (0)
Cub – Pretty Pictures
Vancouver’s Cub is a… sigh… cuddlecore trio. Maybe it’s “twee pop”. Anyway, the group started in 1992 and would often play in their pajamas and hand out presents to the crowd. This track comes from 1993’s Betti-Cola, and features one Neko Case on drums.
It’s ok, it’s like a less charming Shonen Knife.
Case would leave after this album and start her own cuddlecore trio, Maow. (-)
Magic Hour – The Last Mistake
Also, linking back to Galaxie 500 is Boston’s Magic Hour. But really, it starts with Connecticut’s Crystalized Movements, who reached out to see if Naomi Yang and Damon Krukowski wanted to replace the band’s recently departed rhythm section. Instead, they started a whole new group.
“The Last Mistake” comes from 1993’s No Excuse Is Absurd. But I can’t review it because it’s not on YouTube.
Magic Hour ran from 1993 to 1996, had a one-off reunion in 1997, and another in 2000. The band split into Major Stars and Damon & Naomi. (0)
Värttinä – Oi Dai
Other artists don’t exist on YouTube, but this on there at least 4 times.
Värttinä is a Finnish folk collective, three vocalists and six instrumentalists, I think. This is one thing I like about CMJ, the random world music that shows up from time to time. This group started as a children’s project in 1983 but evolved into an international success. They’ve been on Arthur, for crying out loud. Maybe it’s the juxtaposition of everything else on the disc, but this is one to keep. (+)
Liliput – Split
Stylized as LiLiPUT, but I’m not doing that. Hailing from Zürich, Switzerland, the all-female punk group was originally known as Kleenex. The group was founded in 1978 and drew comparisons to that other all-female group, The Slits. After our friends at multi-national conglomerate Kimberly-Clark threatened legal action, they changed their name to Liliput. The group ended in 1983 and the only constant member, Klaudia Schiff, is now a painter. In 1993, a self-titled collection was released with all of their recordings. The one on the CD is a studio recording, but I’m posting the live video because there is just too much to ignore. (+)
Beastie Boys – Holy Snappers
Well, you already know how this ends. (+)
Now It’s Time For Breakdown:
Worthy Tracks: 11 out of 18 tracks worth keeping, making it 61%. The entire series is 67.6%.
Maple Leaf Invasion: A whopping 10%! This brings the total Maple Syrup percent to 3.7% for the entire series.
YEEEEAAAHHH, Here Comes the Roster: There have been 135 different artists to this date. So far, Sarah McLachlan, Eve’s Plum, and Catherine Wheel are all part of the Two-Timer’s Club. I think Beastie Boys should be honorary members, but no full privileges because they rode in on the same CD. So, they have a pool membership but not full clubhouse.
Discogs Stats: The lowest this disc sold for was $9.00, while the highest was $9.09. Isn’t that thrilling?