Man, I am a nerd. This is one of those records I’ve wanted since I was 16 (and a rabid Alkaline Trio fan) and seeing it at the Euclid Records lot at the SXSW convention center made me eep. And for only $11! And I’m pretty sure it’s an original. I can’t be sure, but it looks like one and Nick verified that it probably is given that it was on black vinyl and the re-press had been on marble. Anyway, despite their recent sins (i.e. putting out two really really really terrible records) I still love this one. Sure, part of it is nostalgia, but the other part is that these are just amazing songs. Despite writing amazing love and longing songs like “Nose Over Tail” and “Clavicle,” Skiba also writes a bitter break-up song like nobody’s business. Granted, his masterpiece “Radio” is on Maybe I’ll Catch Fire, but tunes like “Cringe” and “As You Were” still bring the house down.
One of the more expensive records I’ve bought, but seeing it at Love Garden I knew I needed to have it. How can you have a record collection and not have London Calling? Seriously. This was one of the handful of records that saved my life in the middle ground of nu-metal and punk. One that I picked up from the public library and was instantly blown away by and here, now, in 2009 on my turntable it sounds as fresh as it did back then. It’s timeless. Blah blah blah, and everything else that’s ever been said about this album. It’s packed with monster jams. Anyway, I can’t even think about anything to write about this because, as I’m listening to it I’m rocking out too much. Other than the fact that “Lost in the Supermarket” runs through my head EVERY SINGLE TIME I go grocery shopping (playing over whatever sad music they are playing (it’s always sad music) or ABBA).
Now! Off to St. Louis and Austin after that for SXSW! AHH. Here's to hoping that my liver does not incur too much damage over the next week.
I should probably let it be known that I bought this album specifically for “The Unguarded Moment,” which, when I saw it was track 3 on this record, I freaked out. It’s easily one of the greatest songs of all time, unarguably good, and a song that has been in stuck in my head since freshman year. That, and the album art is gorgeous. It’s a record I like having, one I’d want to put in a frame or something, it’s beautiful. And on top of the art and “The Unguarded Moment,” the rest of the album is pretty stellar too. Ironically, the record’s first single “She Never Said” is the lamest song on this record, which I have decided has only one lame song, that one. The rest live in this world of burgeoning new wave influence and straight up post punk power-pop jams. Of course, the band is Australian, which I see as something like a seal of approval for power-pop and indie-pop/rock in the 80s. Closers, the upbeat listen-to-on-repeat jam “Fighter Pilot…Korean War” and the somber “Don’t Open the Door to Strangers” is amazing and absolutely makes me want to flip the record over and listen to it again.
Price: $1 (it came in a box of vinyl that cost $25)
One reason I always really liked the Chinkees was because when Mike Park sang songs loaded with political and anti-racist themes I knew that he meant them. I think he actually believed he could achieve peace through music, and honestly that sort of positivity and optimism is really wonderful. He always seemed like one of the most genuine guys in punk rock (emphasized by the fact that he ran Asian Man Records out of his parents garage). The Chinkees were an all asian ska-pop-punk band that really won my heart when I was getting really into ska-punk in late junior high. Listening to “X-Mas” I’m really reveling in this, the mass of instruments and voices coming together and forming a cohesive little unit of a pop song (I love the little organ! Fantastic!). Where other bands of the time were singing about socio-political stuff, you could tell that the Chinkees were having a blast making this music. Who says socio-political ska-punk can’t be fun? On top of that, the liner notes state that the bands name is intended to be “a direct look at racism and the reality of its presence.” Actually, this is written on the back of the record because I’m sure Mike Park thought people would misconstrue the band’s name and lump them in with the slew of Aryan-punk bands of the day, or thought that he was being racist through this, it’s the way I think. I’d have done something like that and I guess that’s why I identified with Mike Park so much. That and like me, he can’t sing like a real singer, but his voice is precious and I couldn’t imagine anyone else singing these songs. They’re off the cuff and honest and on top of that the music is FUN. It’s a record that I was kind of not wanting to listen to and when I put it on the turntable (for the sake of the project) I realized that I was dumb for thinking that because I loved this record years ago and of course I love it now. I’m glad I had this album in my life when I did, right at the point when I was getting into punk and started freely thinking. That must have been around 9th grade, I remember I didn’t really get into punk and politics until a few months after 9/11. Anyway, this came in a box filled with Asian Man Records vinyl that I got for $25 and yeah, I still think Mike Park is pretty fucking rad. Also, “Will I Have a Chance?” is his masterpiece. Amazing tune.
I’m pretty sure this is technically the Chills first full-length if I don’t include their magnificent singles compilation Kaleidoscope World, which I would immediately recommend anyone looking to get into the Chills, Flying Nun Records, or just good goddamned late-80s indie-pop. I remember I was buying this with the self-titled Kid Dynamite record and Kelly seemed surprised and said something along the lines of “I guess you’re just a Kid Dynamite dude living in a Chills world” which I thought was funny.
I had a copy of this and then I gave it to my sister for Christmas. Then I bought another copy of it. I think Moon Pix is the better record, but I don’t have that one and this is the one I’ve listened to the most and I’m really glad I’m listening to it now even though it’s typically an album reserved for really sad times. “Good Woman” would easily find its way onto a list of the 5 saddest songs I’ve ever heard. Despite the sadness, this is one of the most beautifully designed and packaged records I own. I love the mix of heartbreaking ballads and electric rock jams (most notably, “Free” to “Good Woman and“Fool” to “He War”). Anyway, this record is too sad right now. I’m going to listen to the Chills.
I’m pretty sure Annie gave me this record right before we dated or while we were dating because it has “Make Your Own Kind of Music” on it, and I openly freaked out about how much I loved that song when it was on an episode of “Lost” we were watching when we were maniacally watching “Lost” every day. Groggily rolling out of bed about ten minutes ago, I figured I should put some music on and was really gladdened to find that this was the next up, even though it’s slightly misfiled. Should it be under E for Elliott, probably. Maybe even M for Mama, but for some reason I thought it would be best, or I would be able to find it easier if I filed it under C for Cass. I also think I was drunk when I organized my records, but whatever. Anyway, morning, “Make Your Own Kind of Music” in the morning when I’m groggy reminds me of the scene where Desmond puts the record on in the hatch and goes about his morning routine before the record skips when the plane crashes. And given that Desmond is my absolute FAVORITE character on that fucking show, this song has garnered even more special meaning to me over the years. It’s one of those perfect songs, and for a kid raised on 60s pop, this is right up my alley. I always loved the Mamas and the Papas and I always thought it was strange because in the 90s when I was growing up it would be practically impossible for someone like Mama Cass to become a pop superstar despite how good her voice was just because she was fat. Which SUCKS because her voice is amazing and this record is amazing. It’s putting me in exactly the mood I want to be in, which is the mood to finish two songs I drunkenly and lucidly wrote at about three in the morning and need to hook up all the equipment and just record them. YES I WILL DO THAT I THINK. THANKS MAMA CASS. And “One Way Ticket” is an awesome song about getting the fuck out of some bullshit town. “I’d be happy anyplace but here,” she sings. Goddddd, my sentiments exactly, Mama. Exactly. LOVE YOU.
This is the best Casiotone for the Painfully Alone album and everybody knows that. “Scattered Pearls” is the only song I can properly dance to, and on this record Owen Ashworth’s songwriting reaches new peaks. It’s just a fucking outstanding record. It really never lets up, every song here is a jam and it closes with a cover of the best Parenthetical Girls song ever, so yeah. It reminds me of the summer of 2007. It takes music that should have always been lo-fi and puts a higher production value on it and I think that something really special about this album, because it works really, really, really, really, really, really well. Anyway, I don’t know what else to write about this. Listen to it right now. Some things are best left unsaid.
Australian indie-pop band that became affiliated with K Records in the 90s. Yes! While reading about the Cannanes on Wikipedia, trying to find the release date of this record I noticed that at some point in their history one of the band members was Annabel Bleach, who I can now assume provided the inspiration for one of my favorite songs/7”s of all time, “Annabel Bleach” by the Ampersands (another Australian indie-pop group). Yes! However, she left the group before this record was released. “Take me to the Hotel Johanna (and Let’s Trash the Joint)” is an awesome little song, as are all of the songs on this record for the most part. It’s making me really happy listening to this, knowing that I own it, and realizing that there was a reason I saw it at Love Garden last year and knew I needed to buy it. And then realizing it’s on white vinyl! I’m sorry, this is how I buy records. I just buy them and sometimes don’t listen to them immediately. This is most of the time. I have this habit of wanting to create a library of things that I want, and when I want them, whenever that happens, I have them. So for this project, of listening to all of my records, this is a wonderful little find. This is something that was just waiting to be dug up, a portrait of the late 80s/early 90s indie-pop/twee-pop scene full of little innovations, minimalist jams, drum machine handclaps on “Nuisance” which are totally awesome, switching between boy vocals and girl vocals from song to song, etc. Thus begins my love affair with the Cannanes.
Thanks to Tom K. for putting this record in the first batch of KJHK Essentials. I heard tracks from it all the time on the radio after that and got into the record. I bought it, or put it on the list of records I need to buy in my head, after hearing Will Sheff’s acoustic cover of “Antarctica Starts Here” and found a used copy when I was in Austin. I pry paid a little too much, but whatever, I wanted it, needed it. Now I have it and I’m listening to it and it’s so great! This is one of the records in my collection that I turn to more often than most. I don’t know why, it’s just nice to throw this on the record player and listen to it all the way through. There are just so many jams here. “Child’s Christmas in Wales,” “Hanky Panky Nohow,” “Paris 1919,” etc. Mmm. It sounds unlike any record I’ve ever heard.
