this is the OBLIVIANS thread!

God they were a great live band.

Interesting trivia: Two of the three Oblivians own their own record shops in Memphis.

it's gonna be sick.

i loved the first reigning sound record, the sad gene clark-style one, but I wasn't too hot on the newer compulsive gamplers stuff (though there are a couple of great songs on "crystalgazing") or "timebomb highschool". looking forward to "too much guitar", it's supposed to be mind-blowing.

Mike, I know Greg (of the Oblivions, Compulsive Gamblers, and Reigning Sound) owns Legba records down on Cooper/Young, which other record store are you referring to?

also search the jack oblivion record where he covers '2000 man'

Around Christmas the Reigning Sound were pretty much calling it quits. I think a strong showing at SXSW and a slowly building rep as utter bad-asses might have made them rethink disbanding.

I really like Reigning Sound's Timebomb High School and Crystal Gazing... by the Compulsive Gamblers, but just because you like the Oblivians doesn't mean you'll like these albums, as aside from the band members, there's little similarity between them.

I love this album.

yes, they just played the last horizontal action blackout. It was announced as their last ever show but haven't they had one of those already?

i found some good rare shit this weekend:

'head shop' by greg oblivian and 'melissa's garage revisted' by walter daniels, oblivians, and monsieur jeffrey evans both on lp.

: D

where's the love for The Sore Losers?

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0120167/

that movie is kinda BLAH

are you in it or something?

^^^^ZING ZANG ZONG RING A DING DING DANG DONG

I love this band by the way. Melissa's Garage has that awesome version of Dearest Darlin, right?

I think my local shop may still have both of those records in stock.
They did years ago. Head Shop and Melissa's Garage Revisited, that is.
I don't even have a copy of Soul Food, though :(

Mel's Garage is around... and Tripsy, SOul Food is in print as well! Command your store do an order with Crypt and get his four new-ish comps too.

I've got NO MONEY FOR RECORDS right now. Need to get a handle on my habits. New Year, blah blah.

you can still order Head Shop at Eric O's Goner Records. I'm sure a lot of that stuff is still floating around.

re: Sore Losers - I gotta give props to JMM for his taste in music and his aesthetic (if not terribly inventive at this point), but I have a hard time sitting still through those movies. Even so, I could still totally see him knocking out something truly bizarre and expectation-stomping.

anyway, edd hurt to the thread.

oh wait, that's a cd

I've gotten a few emails asking about this and I figured it was only a matter of time before someone else posted about it so I'll let the cat outta the bag. The Gories and the Oblivians are currently working on booking some shows for next summer. One in Memphis, one in Detroit and two weeks in Europe. I'll post more when the dates become solid.

http://www.goner-records.com/board/index.php?action=vthread&forum=4&topic=40522

oblivs played at one of the recent goner fests, right? still like some of those records. soul food & popular faves are my jams. never got into the gories so much.

i jam 'do the milkshake' on my dj nights and the speakers are so fucked that you can't even hear the vocals, but the shit still gets the heads nodding

I wanna say the last time the oblivians played was the hozac farewell in chicago like 3 years ago.

never got into the gories so much.

― ian

outing myself as a garage rock dilettante.

the gories are a bit overrated in my humble, garage rock opinion

Oblivians = still so great. Top dogs at RL Towerd

Isn't there supposed to be new record this year?

From the new album:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f4idt-fmmyI

A cover of this:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b82Qt3STlIU

yessssss

Is that Quintron on the organ again? I LOVE that Oblivians/Quintron record, would be psyched if Quintron was involved again.

i jam 'do the milkshake' on my dj nights and the speakers are so fucked that you can't even hear the vocals, but the shit still gets the heads nodding

'bad man' and 'the leather' are my go-tos

this new stuff is ... not sounding that good to me? there's a few tracks from this up on youtube, not blowing me away. that's just for a cursory listen, obv. 'i'll be gone' is probably the best of em.

Felt the same on first listens, but it's growing on me - this one in particular - the more I listen to it.
Also pretty into Run For Cover, which builds on their Trio obsession:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dMCh0xsB12A

It does sound like middle-aged Oblivians, but I'm cool with that - kind of glad they didn't try to fully recreate the scrappiness of the really early stuff.

there's very few garage rock records that I'd put above Popular Favorites or Sing 9 Songs with Quintron so it's a pretty high bar

yeah, i hear you... I don't think they'll top 9 Songs but I'm happy with what I've heard so far.

I think that is Quintron on Call The Police, he's listed as a guest on the press release.

Full track listing:
1. I’ll Be Gone (Cartwright)
2. Loving Cup (Paul Butterfield)
3. Em (Cartwright)
4. Woke Up In A Police Car (Friedl)
5. Call The Police (Stephanie Sanders)
6. Pinball King (Cartwright)
7. Run For Cover (Yarber)
8. Come A Little Closer (Cartwright)
9. Little War Child (Yarber)
10. Fire Detector (Friedl)
11. Oblivion (Cartwright)
12. Back Street Hangout (Yarber)
13. Desperation (Cartwright)
14. Mama Guitar (Lee Remick)

Cool, thanks! My favorite song off of "... 9 Songs", just a joyous blast:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6d5QA7Oe1mw

anybody give the new one much of a listen yet? i haven't really being feeling the urge to listen to it after giving it a couple of spins.
still like call the police.

this is the one everybody seems to like.
supposedly about jay reatard.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n0LWKJ_XY78

My friend, who was once completely obsessed, called it "mostly unnecessary."

yep, i'm with yr friend i think

I'm liking it a little better but it doesn't have the same zip as the old ones

Call the Police is pretty awesome though

this Nine Songs...album is insane brilliance haha

It sure is. Quintron + Oblivians is a great pairing.

A huge album for me. As a teen I listened to a ton of punk/garage and a ton of old gospel, which never seemed like that far of a bridge to cross in my head, but my friends all thought I was nuts. Play Nine Songs was the first time I heard a record that combined those two in the same way I heard in my head.

god they were something live back then, just amazing

Agreed on both fronts here. Quintron also a really fun and amazing live performer in his own right.

can't believe this is from 1997 tbh

I think I found out about the Oblivians just after they broke up, typically. Would've been about 99-ish. I was into punk and hardcore but thought 90s punk was mostly shit because all I knew was the popular Epitaph/Fat/Lookout type bands, some of which I liked OK but I really liked all the old school 70s/80s stuff a lot more. I didn't like that much current music at that time (that I had heard, found lots of good things later on) so I was digging into garage rock, buying Pebbles comps, etc. I had just got a job where I could use the internet so I signed up to the Bomp! mailing list and one of the bands they were enthusing about was the Oblivians - then I saw Popular Favorites at a local 2nd hand record shop and bought it. at the time I was buying a lot of CDs 2nd hand online from the US (I must've bought hundreds of CDs from secondspin.com, which amazingly still exists, although I don't think I've been there for 15+ years) because I couldn't find any of them in the UK and they happened to have the Quintron one (which immediately became my favourite) and the Sympathy Sessions comp. anyway cool story bro but that is the tale of how I discovered that not all 90s punk sounded like NOFX/Bad Religion/Green Day clones

well, 'I Don't Wanna Live Alone' has raced to somewhere near the top of my <2min ballot in the space of 1 day or so - they clearly found something inspiring

Cartwright's oeuvre is worth checking out as well, Compulsive Gamblers and Reigning Sound.... maybe don't have the feral quality of the Oblivions but he's a great songwriter always

Cartwright rules.

Too Much Guitar by Reigning Sound is as good a rock n' roll record as you could make

^ that's the one to get if you're gonna get one, esp if you are into the Oblivians

TMG is probably my favorite rock record of the 2000s.

Too Much Guitar by Reigning Sound is as good a rock n' roll record as you could make

^^^^^^^^ YES YES YES

Compulsive Gamblers' Crystal Gazing Luck Amazing is probably my favorite Cartwright project. "Two Thieves" is arguably the best song ever written mourning drug casualties, which is a bold claim i'm willing to stand by even considering the competition.

their album Bluff City is a great one, too. But he's been so great whatever he's done. Don't sleep on the second Deadly Snakes LP either, I'm Not Your Soldier Anymore; he's a full-time member of the group for that one (he produced their first album, Love Undone).

all good tips!

just put Too Much Guitar on. fuck he gets the most amazing sound! combination of lo-fi pounding drums and his feedback-laden freight-train guitar. tbh it barely matters what tune you put with that, it'll sound amazing, but he appears to have a way with a tune as well

ah man the organ takes it to a new level on Drowning

Cartwright's the g.o.a.t. but don't miss Jack's post-Oblivians records (solo/TN Tearjerkers/& the Sheiks) either. some real growers and fun as hell live if you can catch him.

Compulsive Gamblers' Crystal Gazing Luck Amazing is probably my favorite Cartwright project

Yes. Incredible album.

personally i love Time Bomb High School

I need to know which song @NewYorker. "I'm Not A Sicko There's A Plate In My Head"?? "Guitar Shop Asshole"?? "Never Change"?? pic.twitter.com/KfY2UIVc3J

— Susan Elizabeth Shepard (@SusanElizabeth) March 28, 2023