OK, tell me all about Wussy

Hey Wussy fans, read what Robert Christgau has to say about them.

Their song Motorcycle is one of my favorites of last 5 years:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zdJuHzw5PFw

live version is great too:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XdR5NagZYSw

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PYMkVn9u8vU

And what a great song this was (with simple but indelible guitar riff!) (charming video too)

just one more link - Yellow Cotton Dress (live)

That Grisly Adams guy plays some great guitar in this clip!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X31p51zN19A

Normally my taste diverge that greatly from the ILX norm; but in this once case I can't recall a single other person expressing any kind of appreciation for what I consider one of best songs of the last decade: Mayflies https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PYMkVn9u8vU

I even got more of a favorably response when praising Northside a few years back..

I realize the grammar in that last post makes it sound like it was Google-translated from Russian

OK, my favorite album of 2013 has just come out, and it's free. Get your Wussy outtakes and live versions record at wussy.org. It's called Popular Favorites. Holy moley, so so so good.

I downloaded that the other day, but haven't had a chance to listen yet. "Pizza King" was high on my year-end list.

I don't pay any attention to Record Day, so I didn't realize there was a short one (seven songs) called Duo out there. No luck so far figuring out how to get hold of it.

I went through everything they've done and listened closely. (I've put songs of theirs on year-end lists, but I hadn't really taken time with each album.) If I made an introductory mix-CD, here's what I'd put on it.

1. "Airborne" (2005)
2. "Crooked" (2005)
3. "Bought It Again" (2005)
4. "Mayflies" (2007)
5. "Millie Christine" (2007)
6. "Tiny Spiders" (2007)
7. "Sun Giant Says Hey" (2007)
8. "Melody Ranch" (2007)
9. "Vivian Girls" (2007)
10. "Gone Missing" (2009)
11. "Happiness Bleeds" (2009)
12. "Muscle Cars" (2009)
13. "All the Bugs Are Growing" (2009)
14. "Airborne" (2011 acoustic version)
15. "Crooked" (2011 acoustic version)
16. "Magnolia" (2011)
17. "Pizza King" (2011)
18. "Little Miami" (2011)
19. "Runaway" (2013)
20. "North Sea Girls" (2013)

A title..."The Last Phase of Yours and Yours and Mine." They've been my favourite band for the past couple of years.

thank you this thread for reminding me of "earth to grandma."

But....but....how could you have a Wussy best-of without Rigor Mortis or Grand Champion Steer. or Maglite fer crying out loud!

Just not crazy about any of them. I don't know, past "Airborne," they seem like a blank slate where favorites could fall anywhere. (I love the Ass Ponys' "Astronaut," too.)

Fighter Pilot is another great Ass Ponys song. And Kung Fu Reference and Dried Up from the follow up.

You could make a strong argument for Chuck Cleaver being the best songwriter of the millennium with Ass Ponys and Wussy together.

How can I get North Sea Girls?

I got it through a well-known secret file sharer. (So well known that I feel silly doing the thing with the asterisks--but if I don't do it, I worry that I'll bring the whole operation to a ruinous end.) It's only seven short songs--if you're not particular about vinyl, I'm sure I could get it to you in a couple of e-mails. Or you could go through the well-known secret file sharer.

I would definitely add Maglite and the Funeral Dress II version of Conversation Lags. That chorus drives me insane:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=brgBSZReyH8

The new album is excellent so far.

I voted for "North Sea Girls" last year, so I already know that's good. Found a site where I was able to hear "Teenage Wasteland"--also very good, and I like how the beginning paraphrases what you'd expect. (I guess they were inspired by One Direction's "Best Song Ever.") The album cover's kind of ugly; with such a great title, I think they could have done better there. Still looking forward to it, of course.

http://wussy.bandcamp.com/album/attica-limited-edition-pre-release-cd-downloads
new wussy

Their best album.

Still don't have the album...I'm going to look around tomorrow and try to figure out a way to order it fairly cheaply. (I want something physical.)

Started skimming the Charles Taylor piece that's getting some notice and stopped on this:

It's the underlying edge of condescension used to address anyone who hasn't bought a house or had kids, as if we couldn’t possibly know what being an adult really meant.

I won't read the rest of it--hits too close. I've been going through that in a major way the past few years, and it's something I wanted to try writing about myself eventually. (I've got the house, not the kids.) Facebook makes this much, much worse.

I've been playing Attica in the car for the last few days. Through three songs the first time, I felt apprehensive--I already knew "Teenage Wasteland" was really good, but the next two were heavier and tuneless. The rest is fine, so I've just been skipping those two songs. I don't know if it's their best album or not. My favorite songs are scattered all over their LPs; the third one would probably still be my pick. Anyway, my favorites on Attica after "Teenage Wasteland" are "North Sea Girls," "To the Lightning," "Halloween," "Home," and "Beautiful." The last has a line that puzzles me: "I'm not the monster that I once was/Twenty years ago I was more beautiful than I am today." That seems contradictory...or not; I like mulling it over.

Really wish they had used a photo from the Attica riot for the cover. As is, it's quite an eyesore.

I agree that "Bug" is the worst thing.

Their album art is often atrocious. "Halloween" is great, though. I like the title track, too. Chuck's songs on this one, less so...

Chuck's such a great looking character, but I've definitely developed a preference for the songs Lisa sings. I'm sure "Teenage Wasteland" will be high on my year-end list.

Acetylene is a great song.

The new one is definitely dominated by Lisa songs, but Strawberry was all Chuck.

Square this up, and there's your CD cover:

http://bcdownload.gannett.edgesuite.net/rochester/36517057001/36517057001_1135879362001_retaking1.jpg

Really like that they mention Townshend and Moon by name on "Teenage Wasteland," even more the "Sugar Mountain" reference on "Halloween." Putting their music aside, I love that they're oldish people preoccupied with stuff that nobody (present company excepted) much cares about any more, which they often allude to--"so far away," "surrounded by the things accumulated here," "something you'd remember from a dream."

How do you rate the Wussy Duo stuff? Is it acoustic? There's been a copy collecting dust at the record store here and I always wonder about it.

You mean Duo and Funeral Dress II? I've saved stuff from both--"North Sea Girls" from the former (now redundant), "Airborne" and "Crooked" from the other. As long as they're not charging too much (I think Duo was a Record Store Day thing), I'm sure you'd like both.

Has anyone who's never read Robert Christgau ever been into Wussy?

The last has a line that puzzles me: "I'm not the monster that I once was/Twenty years ago I was more beautiful than I am today." That seems contradictory...or not; I like mulling it over.

That's my favorite line on the record, and one of my favorites they have written. Agreed that the album is a bit filler-prone ('Rainbows and Butterflies'?!), but 'Beautiful', 'Halloween', 'To The Lightning',
and the best fan-tribute since 'Alex Chilton' are so ridiculously good I don't even care.

Radio versions somebody posted on Facebook:

https://www.dropbox.com/s/qdu587me9w1sfuo/Wussy%20-%20Best%20Radio%20Sessions%202009-2014%20MP3.zip

The four Attica songs I play in the car all the time: "Teenage Wasteland," "Halloween," "Home," and "Beautiful."

Has anyone who's never read Robert Christgau ever been into Wussy?

I heard about this one guy who lives in North Dakota who fits this description. But that's it.

i'm into wussy because of chuck cleaver, and i'm into chuck cleaver because of the afghan whigs (covering the ass ponys)

not that the rest of them, particularly lisa walker, aren't awesome. anyway, christgau is not involved

I heard about them from a friend from Cleveland who put them on a mix CD.

Some of those radio versions I linked to are really good (and sufficiently different from the originals).

Chuck Cleaver had a record store back in the late 80s, maybe early 90s, and used to write some of the funniest Goldmine Magazine ad copy ever--I ordered a bunch of stuff from him (it helped that I was way into Ohio punk and indie). Later I heard that he and some of his employees had a band; checkout Ass Ponys' Electric Rock Music, really liked his boondocks tales(before Drive-By Truckers of The Hold Steady, or at least before I knew about 'em). Lo & Behold, "Little Bastard" was a hit of sorts< with a trailer park video on MTV.
Much later, got to cover some Wussy shows, which is pretty much when I started listening to them. Really like most of their album tracks, hoping for a live set. This just posted on Fecebook:
Hello...ANNOUNCEMENT TIME!!!

Okay...bad news first: due to some medical problems we won't be able to do any long distance traveling for the next four to six weeks so Wussy has cancelled the November 22nd CHICAGO show at Red Line Tap. We're very sorry but we have no choice in the matter.

Good news #1: since it's the long distance traveling that's the temporary problem the New Years Eve show at the The Woodward Theater is still on so that's cool.

Good news #2: the ATTICA! limited edition vinyl will be officially released on Tuesday, November 25th but can be pre-ordered from Shake It Records starting Tuesday, November 18th. There were supposed to be 1000 pressed but the number is actually closer to 900. They're on red vinyl with black swirls and there will be a download card included. Also, as of November 25th, it will also be available at selected indie record stores nationwide. And: it sounds AMAZING on vinyl.

So, there you have it. If you wouldn't mind sharing this, we'd really appreciate it, mostly to let our Chicago friends know that we aren't gonna be there on the 22nd.

There's another announcement on the way so hang tight. It's a good'un.

Thanks and take care...Wussy

Yeesh, sorry for typos.

also they're supposed to be on cbs this morning saturday the 29th

Here's the ltd. ed. vinyl:

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/B0mnj0XIcAAjeRP.jpg:large

http://cincymusic.s3.amazonaws.com/files/Wussy1.jpg

Yep, it's all happening at the zoo---here's the inside story and some of what 2 expect, 11/29/14 AM:

http://cincymusic.com/news/2014/11/behind-the-scenes-with-wussy

http://cincymusic.s3.amazonaws.com/files/Wussy2.jpg

Wussy ‏@wussymusic 2h2 hours ago

Thank you to everyone who tuned into CBS This Morning If you missed it, or want to watch again, enjoy! Songs... http://fb.me/378L8xZgI

On Facebook, they've been regularly posting thank-yous to people who give them year-end recognition: Pop Matters, Greg Kot, etc. A few weeks ago, I mentioned in passing on their page--it really wasn't meant to be as ostentatious as it sounds; it was just part of whatever the conversation was--that I'd voted for them in Pazz & Jop the past four years. I didn't even get a little thumb. If I get a ballot, I'll vote for them again this year, but only because I'm a good person who never holds grudges*.

*(That's a joke.)

No surprise, I guess, that Christgau gives Attica an A+. Half of it is, I agree. Overall, I think the third album Wussy is still the best.

I don't think this band has a single bad song.

Generally, I don't care for their heavier side--the second song on Attica is like that, or maybe the second and third songs. But there are a few exceptions to that. There's a song on Wussy that mentions punctuation that I like, and that one's a little heavier.

One thing I don't get is why they've gotten so much more critical attention this year than in the past. Is it a publicity push, dumb luck, or something else?

I don't like the slow heavy ones like Bug as much either.

I can't explain the upsurge in attention. But it is a great underdog story, and they're so talented. Plus Teenage Wasteland was a particularly strong single.

"Bug" is a failure of arrangement rather than song.

Tried to say it on Twitter last week:
Wussy, Attica!: luvly noise x melody ---> strata of time & space as boondocks, astute students of Neil Y, hot peers of Truckers, Hold Steady. Thinking of narrators, "characters" or not, with personal history incl musical influences: where the DBT & THS comparisons come in. The Beautiful Losers bit on every track, but no prob listening over and over, which I rarely do with other albums. Anyway, Lisa Walker thanked me, retweeted, and now Wussy and I are Following each other. They better not start sucking.

Does this band have a fan base outside of Christgau acolytes?

Must have.

I liked the first two or three albums but their output after 2014 is so, like, Fisher Price Yo La Tengo that their admittedly well-observed lyrics fail to rise out of the mild noise.

As far as I'm concerned everything they've released aside from What Heaven Is Like is on a spectrum from good to great with Attica a high water mark.
The new one is really also really good. I particularly like Inhaler and Winged. It will be in my top ten of albums released in 2024 when I get round to finishing that list

I've seen them live a couple of times and the first show of theirs I attended is in my personal top ten out of the hundreds of gigs in my life

I live in Scotland and I have never knowingly read any Christgau

record store clerks
Midwestern dads who read Pitchfork in their teens/early 20s
alt-country lifers
aging punks/college radio DJs in the Chicago/Cincy/St. Louis triangle

these are all larger groups than "Christgau acolytes"

i would say the size of their fanbase is something like "Being There-era Wilco"

How often do nursing homes take the remaining Christgau acolytes on shopping trips to the record store?

All right, rabbit, you've convinced me. I've only been listening to Wussy with enjoyment because of misguided tribal alliances. I'll be doing a Wussy Sucks bonfire auto-da-fé of all my Wussy recordings come the weekend.

Treefell: we're Wussy twins. Heaven's the only album I don't like (except for "Dropping Houses"), Attica is my favourite (or at least tied with their debut), and my two favourites on the new one are "Inhaler" and "The Great Divide."

They're able to make it to Scotland but not Canada? Ouch.

#2 on Christgau's year-end, right behind Louis Armstrong.

That Armstrong album is great.

This is fantastic

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8xsgu7mSIOk

Quite content with where I live, but I do wish I could go out on a Saturday morning to a Wussy garage sale.

https://i.postimg.cc/15rvT63C/wussy.jpg

A little too expensive from Canada, but hope to catch up this eventually:

https://wussyworld.com/music/factoryfloor

"with"

What a great tracklist!

Nice cover art tribute there.

I looked for the skull and dagger but didn't see one.

Heh. Me neither.

no doubt i'm the only one hung up on 'donny's death scene'

― mookieproof, Sunday, November 14, 2021 11:50 PM (four years ago)

still the greatest

imagine neil *not* doing cod jamaican on cortez; this is better