Honeybunch - "Count Your Blessings" 7"

Honeybunch – “Count Your Blessings” 7”

K Records, 1994

Acquired: K Record Mail Order, New, 2009
Price: $3

 

“Count Your Blessings” was one of my favorite songs from my indie rock era. I played it consistently on my radio show—“Pop Rocks”—and though the song isn’t as flashy as other pop hits, it has tremendous replay value. Lots of little subtleties worm their way into your brain. They’re not afraid to break out sweet guitar solos here and there, which puts them on the Teenage Fanclub side of the pop spectrum. The back cover notes that Dave Auchenbach recorded the songs. Why does that name sound so familiar? I thought to myself. That’s right! Dave Auchenbach was in Small Factory, who I have been thinking about a lot lately via recent write-ups of Small Factory offshoot the Godrays (which notably did not feature Auchenbach, presumably because he wanted to record other bands from his native Rhode Island and establish a classic “Rhode Island Sound”). Alas, I’m a sucker for members of bands I like working with other bands I like. 

I gave up on trying to find a way to upload and share "Count Your Blessings" so here's another one of their excellent singles, "Mine Your Own Business." Both tracks can be found on their terrific career retrospective Time Trials via Summershine. Honeybunch are one of those great little forgotten indie pop/twee bands from the 90s who never really got their due despite crafting subdued songs that could hang with the best of Sarah Records.


And while we're at it, I might as well add on "Hey Blue Sky." Because it's wonderful.

The Godrays - Bed Spins 7"

The Godrays – The Bed Spins 7”

Vernon Yard, 1996

Acquired: Love Garden Shotgun Room, Used, 2008

Price: $.25

 

The Godrays rose from the ashes of the excellent little Rhode Island based indie pop band Small Factory. Following the departure of guitarist Dave Auchenbach in 1995, bassist Alex Kemp and drummer Phoebe Summersquash formed the Godrays and continued paying tribute to the rich tradition New English alternative rock. Considering that Small Factory’s “The Last Time That We Spoke” is one of my favorite, most criminally unsung alt-pop songs of the mid 90s (a song I should note I only heard after acquiring the 7” in the Love Garden Shotgun Room) I was absolutely game to finally listen to the Godrays. Of course they’re great. Kemp and Summersquash harmonize in that way that really great indie-pop bands harmonize, which is to say that while they aren’t Singers with a big capital S, when they harmonize they create that perfect human sweetness you love. A-Side “Crummy” capitalizes on those harmonies, and threads an airy little unobtrusive synthesizer riff throughout. Though Kemp has an average-dude voice, it is more than capable enough to deliver the melodic goods on the track’s catchy chorus. The B-Side, “Northless,” provides a nice counterpoint to the upbeat niceness of “Crummy” by setting the mopefactor to 11. It’s a short, downtrodden little tune that bursts into a cathartic guitar solo at the very end. This is one of those perfect little 7”s where a band you’ve never heard manages to blow you away and you realize that there are hundreds of bands you’ve never heard of and will probably never hear that have songs that would knock your socks off if only you stumbled across them in the bargain basement section of a record store.   

"Crummy"