Grass Widow

Today my friend reminded me of the San Francisco band Grass Widow, who this spring released a record on the Make a Mess label (sorta the San Francisco version of What's Your Rupture?).

Some people might look at this band as overly trendy because their early Slumberland/Flying Nun sound is heavily favored by the trajectory of DIY underground pop music right now. But I think when you write pretty, fun songs like theirs (especially the irresistible "Lulu's Lips") you've earned your spot in the HOV lane of indie pop music. Check 'em out.

Oops

I forgot I had a blog. Be back soon...

Units

Community Library recently released a 21-song retrospective of the late 70s/early 80s San Francisco synth punk group Units. It's essential listening! Check it out!

Dave Berry

Absolutely yes, this is the same Dave Berry who sang the first version of "The Crying Game"! He was a strange guy and still is from the looks of it, but he sang some great blue eyed soul ballads with a very unadorned, straightforward delivery. Sometimes he sounds like he's just a guy singing in the grocery store. His hit version of "Little Things" is delightful (as is this televised performance).

Here is one of my favorite Dave Berry singles-- a propulsive, sassy one from '66 that never charted.

Dave Berry "Picture Me Gone"

Oppenheimer Analysis

The first release on New York label Minimal Wave was this set of reissues from UK new wave group Oppenheimer Analysis. Most of the songs come from a 1982 cassette release titled "New Mexico." All the tracks are straight out of the Human League songbook but a little darker and maybe even smarter (word is Andy Oppenheimer is now a nuclear weapons consultant).

As an added bonus, the Minimal Wave CD cover clearly features a shot of a Washington, DC Metro station interior. Gallery Place perhaps?

Oppenheimer Analysis "Radiance"
Oppenheimer Analysis "Behind the Shades"

Dalis Car

Bauhaus and Japan fans may fail to appreciate Dalis Car's "The Waking Hour."

Released in 1984, this LP is the surprising meeting point of Mick Karn (Japan) and Peter Murphy (Bauhaus). It has been a real heavy listen for me the past few months. At first I thought it was detrimentally unfocused and disjointed, but slip on some big headphones and it sounds vast and splendid. It's a real joy to listen closely to this album.

Dalis Car "Create and Melt"
Dalis Car "Moonlife"

Chrome

What did San Franciscans think of Chrome in the late 1970s? Did they dig the heavily fucked-with acid grooves? Did they think they were another Stooges impostor band? These are questions I do not have answers to.

Predictably the album is hay for the noise collectors out there, largely due to what I call the Helios Factor-- that is, the animal magneticism of Chrome guitarist Helios Creed. You put Helios Creed in a room with a bunch of pedals and wait for the disheveled white dudes to come scrambling.

Cynicism aside, there are some killer moments on the album. Its indiscernible proto-futuristic vibe can be a little alienating but it has moments of true slayfulness. I've done my best to curate the choice cuts here.

Chrome "TV As Eyes"
Chrome "Abstract Nympho"

Chris Craft

A while back, my buddy Dan Jan turned me onto this psychedelic Belgian lounge disco from '78. Chris Craft is for a hazy late night under a red lamp. When I listen to "Discosmic Dance" I see myself on an overstuffed velvet love seat surrounded by glistening plastic bead curtains. I can smell the ganja and raspberry flavored hookah tobacco. Nauseating, sleazy... entrancing.

Chris Craft "Image"
Chris Craft "Discosmic Dancer"

The Penetrators

In the late 70s, San Diego power pop band The Penetrators had what it took to "make it." Here's the big surprise ending: they never did.

They opened for the Ramones once and played some huge venues in SoCal. But it was their inability to grasp euphemism or metaphor that ended their career. (Come on people, it was a band called The Penetrators.)

I am posting a fun, sexually suggestive single they released in 1979, a precursor to the album cover that some think doomed them as a band-- the LP cover with pictures of 30 naked asses. (Why people were shocked by the naked asses album cover is beyond me. Seemed a perfectly natural progression for the band.)

As a bonus, The Penetrators made a few videos before they disbanded in the mid 80s. "Shopping Bag" is a good snotty one.

The Penetrators "Stimulation"

The Go-Betweens

They had dozens of fantastic songs but it really made sense that this was one of The Go-Betweens' most successful. There are two videos for "Streets Of Your Town," but this is the better one. (Here's the other one.)