the finest kiss

My 7″ collection, vol.8

Air Miami - Airplane Rider b/w Stop Sign (Teenbeat 147)

From the ashes of Unrest came Mark Robinson and Bridget Cross sans Phil Krauth with a sound similar to their former band, maybe a bit more quirky and a bit more new wave. Airplane Rider was an excellent first single for the band, two minutes of catchy as hell pop, that could have been on the last Unrest album if it weren’t for the nonsensical lyrics. The b-side, Stop Sign is all Bridget, though not as immediate as the a-side, Bridget’s voice makes this song worth hearing.

This gold slab of vinyl came out on Teenbeat back in 1994 (my copy still has the Go! records price tag of $2.99 on it) after a couple songs on compilations. Neither of the the songs on the Airplane Rider 7″ appeared on the band’s only album Me, Me, Me. After Me, Me, Me the band put out a couple singles from the record with remixes and some b-sides. Air Miami seemed to kind of dissolve into thin air. Mark went off and formed Flin Flon and continues with his Teenbeat label. As for Bridget Cross, she put out a single with Kathi Wilcox on Teenbeat back in 1999, but has not released anything that I know of since.

Airplane Rider mp3

Stop Sign mp3

My 7″ collection, vol. 7

When you think of Kent, OH, you may think of Kent State and the National Guard shooting into a crowd of Vietnam War protesters in 1970, or you may draw a complete blank. I bet you don’t think of a band that brings to mind the Beach Boys, My Bloody Valentine or the High Llamas. Well that’s exactly what Kevin Coral’s Witch Hazel (now known as Witch Hazel Sound) do. Their first single was put out on Bubblegum Smile. The A-side was played to death by me, both in my bedroom and on the radio. It had a bit of the MBV thing going on mostly in the vocals and the drums (think Soon) as well as some heavey Swirlies influence. The B-side was a bit more sedate and reminds me a little of the Boo Radleys.

Here’s hoping that someone will collect this 7″ as well as their split with the Mommyheads and the Beeswax ep onto a handy-dandy cd.

Just Don’t Try mp3

Plain mp3

Math & Physics Club with Boat at Vera Project Fusion Cafe
18 November 2006

You would think that seeing a couple bands play their hometown would be a regular occurrence, not so with Boat and Math & Physics Club. Both bands call Seattle their home but play sporadically here. Saturday night they played together at the roaming Vera Project. It’s roaming because they’ve moved out of their old home in Belltown and are waiting for their new digs in the Seattle Center to be completed. This show happened to be at the Fusion Cafe. It’s not really a cafe, it’s the conference room at the downtown YMCA (of which I’m a member!).

The problem with the space was that it has no stage, so you had to get really close to see the band. You kind of felt like you were in a rehearsal space, it was laid back and there was a good vibe in the room. It was an all ages show, as all Vera shows are, with four bands that played (We missed Eux Autres and Matthew Shaw). My friend Mike and I were joking with one another about which one of us was the oldest in the room. I had him beat by a couple months, but I think a couple of other guys there had me beat, although as bored as they looked they could have been someone’s dad.

This was the first time I had seen Boat, and I was looking forward to it. I really like their record Songs that you Might Not Like. I think Magnet’s review called them spaz-rock. They’re definitely quirky, but they’ve got a pocket full of really catch songs. Their set was mostly from their latest record, a few new ones and a couple I didn’t recognize, like the song they opened with. They did Last Cans of Paint, I’ve Got Ninjas,Greasedip Hairclip, Free the Birds In the Stall, and I wish they would have done Remember the Romans and The Bar is to Low to Fail. But the set was short, maybe 30 minutes. They’ve got a great sound and energy that they really convey well live. Here’s looking forward to seeing them again with a bit more time to play.

The Math & Physics Club are a bit of throwback to the Sarah records days. Throw in a bit of the Lucksmiths, Belle & Sebastian and the Stone Roses (specifically Going Down) and you’ve got a pretty good idea of how they sound. Their new record on Matinee records is quite sublime and live they are understated cool. They opened with the peppy Weekends Away from their first ep, I missed organ a bit, but I’m a sucker for that warm old sound. The new songs sounded really good, especially LaLaLa Lisa where they had a guest trumpet player. This was a really good setting for them, a small room that they could fill up with their gentle sound. The brushed drums and violin all came through quite nicely in the mix, and this was the first time seeing them live, that I could actually hear the vocals in the mix (which is a good thing)!

One surprise last night was their choice of covers. They did Shaking Through, an old REM song off of Murmer. It was spot on and they even kinda looked like REM circa 1983 counting off to start that song.

It was a short set for them as well, but they hit the highlights of their new record and played a couple from their first two ep’s. In case you missed them they’ll be playing again in Seattle at the Town Hall Series on 17 February. You can bring your kids to that one for free! See ya there.

Ok, I finally did and they made me do it. I needed that 3 minute high that only it could provide.

I was perusing the music blogs that I sometimes go to and happened upon the Tacticians over at Indie mp3. They just put out their second single, so I jump over to the bands’s web page and download their first single which they’ve kindly posted for free. The A-side instantly sucks me in. London’s Alright is a song that will make you bounce around the room with a super huge smile on your face. It’s got a low-fi, indie thing going on that makes you just want to move. The b-side is a bit slower but no less catchy.

So I’ve been listening to this non-stop for the last couple of days, and am dying to hear their new single Girls Grow Up Faster Than Boys. I could order the 7″ from some shop online or I could download it from iTunes. So my impatience got the best of me and I did it. I paid 99 cents each for 3 tracks of less than cd quality sound(honestly, 128kbps, couldn’t they up it to at least 192). Anyway my fix has been satisfied with the new Tacticians songs. Man, what am I gonna do when my next craving hits?

You can check out their first single here:

London’s Alright mp3

Hardcore Porn mp3

My 7″ collection, vol. 6

Glaswegian jokesters, The Yummy Fur, could have been considered an art school band, but then they could have been called a garage band. It’s a fine line between the two, and the Yummy Fur walked it quite well. The Policeman single came out shortly after their first full length, Nightclub. It was basically the same formula they used on Nightclub but the song was both funnier and catchier than anything on the full length. To this day, every time I hear the line about spending the weekend sniffing cocain off the stomach of the policman’s girlfriend, I laugh. Yeah I’ve got a weird sense of humor, but the vocal by John McKeown is so off the cuff that it doesn’t sound scary only a bit absurd. Neither Policeman nor the b-side, 70′ Car Crash appeared on any album. Someone should collect all the those non-album singles onto a cd, Guided Missle, Cherry Red?

It seems to have been a big deal that both Alex Kapranos and Paul Thompson were both members of Yummy Fur back when Fanz Ferdinand was still only some guy that got assasinated and started WWI. Kapranos could barely be called a member, since he only ever played live with them. The real creative force and only constant member was McKeown who went on to form the 1990’s.

Policeman mp3

70’s Car Crash mp3

The Rosebuds are one of, what seems like, a whole bunch of guy-girl bands where the guy and the girl are either married or at least “together”. The Mates of State, Joy Zipper, Viva Voce all come to mind. If you haven’t heard the Rosebuds, I can’t stress enough that you should do yourself a favor and go pick up either of their two records(both on Merge). If you need a little kick, you can check out a new song they’ve made available. It’s called In the Backyard and it’s got bit more synth than anything they’ve done to date, but still with Ivan’s cool laid back vocals.

According to their site, they’ve finished recording their next record. So here’s to a new record in the new year!

Check out In the Backyard here (mp3). Courtesy of Her Jazz.

My 7″ Single Collection: Vol. 5

Back in the mid 90’s 7″ vinyl ruled. We played a ton of 7″ singles at my college radio station . A lot of the stuff I was into back then was usually influenced by My Bloody Valentine or some derivative of them. This split 7″ is no exception. Postal could have been Velocity Girl if you didn’t know any better. They recorded at least one other single, which I’ll get around to posting eventually. #Poundsign# were a bit more prolific, putting out a couple full length cd’s. This record was put out by the short lived No-Life label. No-Life was not only a label but a record store in LA.
I remember visiting the store on a trip out to LA in ‘96 or ‘97. I knew the owners, because they also did radio promotion not only for their stuff, but also for other indie and major labels. The store was right across the street from the very cool Fromosa. So on my visit, after I dropped a bunch of $$ on records and cd’s we went over to the Fromosa for some drinks.

Anyway this is one of the records that we played at WCDB and then I later bought from No-Life. Here are both songs in all of their snap, crackle and pop! excellence.

Postal - Dizzy mp3

#Poundsign# - Disaster mp3