This should be post 13, but it's 12...

...because Field Trip have a song called "Thirteen" that, even though it's not one of their better songs, I have a special place in my heart for. The song s written from the perspective of a man looking back at himself at age 13, wondering "How I'd look to me right now..." Something I have wondered more than once...

Field Trip are a band that can start a new theme of posts here on "Bands that I like that I don't think anyone else does" While I know this is not necessarily true,it has always felt that way. My friend Matt does like them, but I honestly can't think of anyone else who even knows who they are.

Who they are is a group from Pleasanton, California that existed in the late 80s and early 90s. They played upbeat rock with a slight (VERY slight) country edge. I am not sure if this makes sense but they seem to be smiling though their records. Their playing is energetic, their subject matter is usually light and innocent and there is just something special about them that comes across as positive and fun.

Here is an example: All My Fault from their Headgear LP

So of course nobody liked them in the era of grunge and the punk explosion in the mid 90's.

But really all three of their records are thoroughly enjoyable, other people agree- here and here

Their demise seemed to be written in the cards for them by the time their last album came out (seemingly straight to the discount bins) but the band seemed indifferent to it. My favorite song by them is the very last track on their last album called "Ballad of Field Trip". Singer Jim Galbraith recounts the beginnings of the band and their elation at being signed to a tiny independent record label. The song takes you from the bands youth and you grow up with them and in a strange way resign yourself to their inevitable eternal obscurity.

It's poignant, and brilliant.

Ballad of Field Trip

Baby Goes To 11!

Quickly now people, I have a diaper to change and noses to wipe....

Superdrag were (are again now) a powerpop group from Tennessee. They had a minor hit in the mid 90's with this first track

Sucked Out

This is one of those "songs that reminds me of a place and time" songs. I was moving from Baltimore to Fremont, Ohio. My Friend Ken was driving and I had a drugged to a stupor cat (named Blurt) lying limp on a pillow on my lap and the stupid Ryder truck said we had a quarter tank of gas but ran out of gas anyway somewhere near Warren, Ohio.

A great song from a band I tend to rediscover from time to time and really enjoy. The Blogosphere was kind enough to find me their albums I have yet to purchase (but will). They are all good powerpop records... here is proof from their 2000 LP "In the Valley of Dying Stars"

Lighting The Way

Superdrag have reformed and their new record will be out on St. Patty's Day

First person to comment gets a free CDR of In the Valley of Dying Stars, get to it.

Elvis to the power of 10

That would be Elvis Costello to you. I am indirectly dedicating this post to Mr. Costello by bringing you two artists that were/are obviously influenced by the real Elvis.

The first one was a contemporary of his, even signed to the same label after Elvis went on to the major labels. England's Any Trouble were fronted by Clive Gregson a terrific songwriter in his own, but sounding so much like Elvis had to have taken it's toll on the bands acceptance. He even looks a bit like Elvis: see if you can guess which one is him-


Their debut Lp came out around 1980 although I've read that the band started up in the mid 70's but sped up a bit in response to the punk scene and acts like Elvis Costello. Good thing their music is so good. I really can't believe I never heard of this band until a couple years ago. Nothing wrong with being influenced by Elvis if you can do it this well.
Any Trouble "(Get You Off) The Hook"

The second artist is a current (sort of) artist that put out a criminally overlooked CD in 2004. Eugene Edwards' debut LP is an incredible mixture of possible influences - most noticeably Elvis Costello. I do hear other possible influences, like Squeeze or Marshall Crenshaw (any one remember him). In doing a bit of research for this post I am finding out that some of his music was sent out with Dell computers a few years ago so people may know him from that but that still doesn't make not having a Mac excusable.

Even a moderate Elvis Costello fan can hear the influence and will surely see the play on words at the beginning of this track as a nod to that influence:
Eugene Edwards: It Doesn't Get Better Than This"

Edwards has put out one song since 2004 and I can't imagine why, this album is so good and so solid all the way through I can't imagine he is out of good material. His website seems to never be updated and he doesn't seem to play shows...unless he only operates on myspace rather than his own website... if that is the case - shame on him.

To the Nines!

First post to be labeled "Songs the Blogosphere Taught Me"

My records are probably my prize possession in terms of material things, but I don't have the biggest collection in the world, somewhere between 1100 and 1200 records. In a better economy I could cash them in and put a down payment on a house. I know that there are others out there with bigger collections and the internet is a great place to discover those people.

I have expanded my musical taste greatly in the last few years by diving full on into the blogosphere. There have been more than a few musical gems discovered since i started. Some bands I never even heard of and some I just never listened to before.

The song for this post is from a 70's band called Granicus who were (as described by Wapedia):

"Granicus was a short-lived band from the early 1970s who played a style of hard rock similar to Led Zeppelin.

Granicus hailed from Cleveland, Ohio, and were signed to RCA in 1973. They released a single, self-titled album before calling it quits. There are rumors that the band recorded a second album that was never released."

Not really my cup of tea musically but entertaining enough to post for its local history here in Cleveland.
Granicus - Cleveland, Ohio

Eighth Wonder of the Blog.

"...and here's the new one from.. Rocket From The Crypt!!"

This was the announcement at the beginning of the first Rocket From The Crypt LP - Paint As A Fragrance. Unfortunately we will never hear anyone speak those words in truth again as RFTC disbanded in 2005.

Punk Rock with an emphasis on the Rock. RFTC were the one band I could handle with horns in their music, mostly because they never had a ska sound to their horn section, they always just beefed up the rhythm or bass lines of the music. RFTC brought attitude, fun and strong staccato guitar chords in a fun upbeat delivery that usually was not overly serious.

I once drove all the way from Cleveland to Philadelphia and back again in one day to see them, and would have gladly done it again.

One of the best parts of being a RFTC fan is the incredible amount of vinyl they put out. In between each album they usually released several singles and/or an EP or two. They kept you on your toes looking for limited releases and odd packaging...most notably the Cut Carefully And Play Loud EP which came as a 12" EP in a blank white jacket with a label sized hole (12" single style) on the outside of the jacket and over the the hole was placed a giant sticker which needed to be cut around the perimeter of the hole to free the record from the sleeve and provide the vinyl with a label. Yeah, I bought two just to leave one pristine. I am a collector.

I don't own every single one of their releases but I am pretty close. Unfortunately the ones I don't have may cost me.

On to the music...

It is very hard to pick a RFTC song, as they never had a hit single and don't have stand out tracks on their albums (they have stand out albums!)

So I'll try the method of posting a song that I feel represents them best and a song you might not be able to find of theirs.

here is the former: "Straight American Slave" from their "Group Sounds" LP



and here is the latter: "Tiger Feet Tonight" from their "When In Rome" picture disc.

Seven Means Seven!

Keeping on the theme from last post of bands I liked first, rather than stole from my sister...

And perhaps the greatest band of all time...(perhaps)

Nomeansno.

I first heard Nomeansno in high school when I bought their second LP "Sex Mad" purely on the basis of the review of it from Maximum Rock 'n' Roll magazine. This was a pretty common thing for me to do back then, as it was for lots of kids i would assume...there was no internet and magazines like MRR and Flipside were essential to finding new music.

If you don't know Nomeansno then please check out every single one of their releases right now...but start with the album "Wrong" from 1989. Considered to be their best work by many, including me. Not that their other releases have much wrong with them (no pun intended) you could do well to listen to anything in their career of over a dozen records, offshoot bands, EPs and singles.

Choosing a single track from Nomeansno is next to impossible so here are two. First a song from their LP "The Dance of the Headless Bourgeoisie" called "This Story Must Be Told". Chosen because of both its musical prowess and the dark, off putting subject matter. Lyricist Rob Wright often pens lyrics from the vantage point of someone disturbing or repentant or both. This song seems to be the story of an attempted rape with some kind of revenge by the victim in the form of strange psychological turmoil that may or may not be self inflicted. Or...I could totally have it wrong. That is the beauty of Nomeansno lyrics.

Masterful Bass and Drum work, a staple of Nomeansno.



Second, "Everyday I Start to Ooze", a song that I have no idea what they are singing about except maybe frustration with the general populace. The lyrics remind me of something the killer from the movie "Seven" would have written in one of his composition notebooks. (whoa this is post #7)



Here is their official website but don't take anything there seriously

My dad used to put on Steppenwolf's "Born To Be Wild" while vacuuming our house. While it doesn't have the ironic punch that tune surely did for my father, Nomeansno's "The River" is my vacuuming song of choice... go hide puppy.

Six posts in...

...and the first musician related death I would bother to write about has occurred. Lux Interior of The Cramps died yesterday. He was slightly younger than my parents..which makes him too young to be dying.

The Cramps were one of the first punk bands i had ever heard, from a tape that I borrowed and copied that belonged to the lady that cut my hair - her name was Chrissy (can't remember her last name) and she was married to the brother of one of the Dead Boys. Side a of the tape had The Cramps record "The Smell Of Female" and side b had The Dammed "Dammed Dammed Dammed" LP. A pretty good tape to borrow, I'd say. As a tip once, I went to a record exchange and bought her a Dictators LP and when I gave it to her she laughed because she knew the songs from "back in the day - seeing them play before they had a record out" She was a pretty cool lady.

To this day I think "The Smell Of Female" is one of the Cramps best records, mostly because it is short and a rare instance of a live recording being better than studio tracks. (very rare in my opinion) I do like the Cramps but their studio output doesn't hold my attention over a whole LP. I like the Cramps in short (preferably LOUD) bursts, they are great for that!



Here is my favorite Cramps song, the first track off "The Smell Of Female" Called "Thee Most Exalted Potentate Of Love"
I used to sign my notes to my girlfriend (now wife) with this title while we were in High School. What a dork.

Post five: "Only because they once were punk..."

All bands change their sound over the years. If a band is lucky enough to stay a unit for more than a decade their sound matures and gains complexity, for better or for worse, to a point where fans of the recent stuff don't like old stuff and vice versa. (example - Bad Brains, Black Flag, Husker Du, The Clash although its hard to find anyone who likes their last albums over their first couple)

Sometimes bands sound nothing like they did when they started and you may have their new music in your library only because they once were _________, (whatever sub genre of Rock and Roll you would like to insert here) Examples? for me...Lemonheads, Dismemberment Plan, Fugazi, Replacements, Genesis) It would be a stretch to say that you might ignore a new band putting out the same record as one of your old favorites reforming or putting out their tenth LP.

Shudder To Think are a band like this for me. This would include the singer Craig Wedren's solo material and new band Baby. There is really no way I would listen to a song like the one later in this post if it was anyone else.

Shudder To Think started off as a punky rock and roll band on Dischord records and evolved into an Indie Pop Almost Was. Wedren's post Shudder music flips between introspective pseudo folky - to slightly techno-y dance music.

This song, if I remember correctly, was given away on Wedren's website as an in progress demo. It is called "One Man's Heart"



I may do another post on singers who's voices polarize listeners - You either love it or you hate it - I think Wedren's voice falls into this category. I've always thought it was pretty cool.

This post is dedicated to my sister Faith, who has had the biggest influence on my musical taste, especially early in my life - I would always take her tapes when I was a kid and listen to anything that came into the house. Shudder to Think maybe one of the few bands that I knew about first and she also ended up liking (Nomenasno being another, much more about them later).

FOUR!!!!

Staying in Australia one last time (for now)...

The Aussie punk band X put out an album entitled "Aspirations" in 1979 after a couple years playing around Sydney. It took me about two decades to hear this record, probably due in no small part to existence of the band X that most people know from Los Angeles. Don't get me wrong here, but X (L.A.) are a fantastic band that may get their own post here someday but the album from the aussie X is much more compelling to me than anything their L.A. counterparts ever did. The album is spastic, anthemic, catchy and it rocks with a raw energy that X (L.A.) only achieved live.



I had a hard time picking which song to put up here, so many of them are worthy. So decided to put up "I Don't Wanna Go Out" because it was the first song i ever heard by them.




The album has been reissued but still hard to locate try here.

You will not be disappointed.