All about Green on Red. Like Kevn Kinney solo more than Drivin' and Cryin'. Maria McKee both ways.
― ok we are pals (Eazy), Saturday, 9 October 2010 16:16 (thirteen years ago) link
don't think i really need beat rodeo in my life.
really enjoyed that rank & file album a couple of weeks ago though. long gone dead still rules.
― scott seward, Friday, 29 April 2011 19:23 (thirteen years ago) link
listening now to the eieio album from 1986. *land of opportunity*. so far i dig it more than beat rodeo. some decent guitar action on the first track.
― scott seward, Friday, 29 April 2011 19:26 (thirteen years ago) link
plus, they've got guitars all over the place. over here. over there. everywhere. good solos. good country/southern twang. good riffs. sounds like they liked the byrds AND badfinger AND southern/country rock.
― scott seward, Friday, 29 April 2011 19:29 (thirteen years ago) link
sounds good to me!
― Trip Maker, Friday, 29 April 2011 19:30 (thirteen years ago) link
singing kinda sucks though. a commmon problem with a lot of the new wave cow bands.
― scott seward, Friday, 29 April 2011 19:46 (thirteen years ago) link
and the production isn't total don dixon blah (he didn't produce it), but its still got that 80's living in a box feel. but not TOO bad or anything. (not the band living in a box. just that canned 80's thing.)
― scott seward, Friday, 29 April 2011 19:48 (thirteen years ago) link
Yes. Those singers all tried way too hard. It's as if every line of every song ends with three exclamation points.
― kornrulez6969, Friday, 29 April 2011 19:56 (thirteen years ago) link
fly me!!!courageous!!!
drivin and cryin (the band name) used to crack me up in high schoolwho would admit to being in a band called DRIVIN AND CRYIN
― deez m'uts (La Lechera), Friday, 29 April 2011 20:02 (thirteen years ago) link
I like how the Flesheaters guy simultaneously screamed and crooned every line. But they were at the punky end, much more like Gun Club. Someone gave me a Tail Gators cassette of Tore Up that I quite liked, but never felt the need to replace it when it got smooshed. They seemed to be at the bar-band end of the scene.
This summarizes everything that was problematic about the bands in the thread title.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=88cewhasU74
― bendy, Friday, 29 April 2011 20:03 (thirteen years ago) link
maybe i should blame mitch easter as well as don dixon for that uptight box sound but i love mitch and i would feel horrible saying anything bad about him. all these bands should have recorded their albums wherever the hell hardcore punk bands recorded their albums. they needed more ragged liveliness. a more live feel. but they all loved the byrds and stacked harmonies and shit which was usually their week spot to begin with. they shoulda just spent all their time on the guitars.
― scott seward, Friday, 29 April 2011 20:14 (thirteen years ago) link
listened to some of an EP by a band called Lifeboat from 1985. not great. definite R.E.M./DBs thing going on with a dash of u.k. new wave a la echo and the bunnymen? or someone like that. boston band i think?
(so anyway they don't really belong here except for the jangle angle.)
― scott seward, Friday, 29 April 2011 20:17 (thirteen years ago) link
jeezus i totally forgot about the bongos song numbers with wings! its like a fuckin' proust cookie! swear i haven't heard it since 1983 or 1984 and i know every second of it.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SbzYn48qJxU
― scott seward, Friday, 29 April 2011 20:25 (thirteen years ago) link
Boston had a mess of bands doing this, like the Del Fuegos, a little more east coast, less cowboy. Neighborhoods, Rubber Rodeo, Dogmatics, Scruffy the Cat, Blackjacks. They'd get a bit local commercial radio airplay and they had videos on the short lived Boston UHF music video channel, in a way that the hardcore bands, or even Mission of Burma never did. There was a bit of spillover. I think I saw Dogmatics and the Queers play an all-ages show together.
― bendy, Friday, 29 April 2011 20:29 (thirteen years ago) link
wow barbarella! by the bongos. total memory lane. i really need a copy of the remix now. always loved that.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JhstSCfMyoE
― scott seward, Friday, 29 April 2011 20:33 (thirteen years ago) link
sorry i'm straying...
i get so much of that 80's boston indie stuff cuzza where i am.
― scott seward, Friday, 29 April 2011 20:34 (thirteen years ago) link
everyone should have just had richard gottehrer do their records. he gave everything a little i want candy punch.
― scott seward, Friday, 29 April 2011 20:37 (thirteen years ago) link
Scruffy The Cat got some MTV airplay for "My Baby" something something. I remember their distinguishing characteristic being a banjo player.
Were the Neats part of that same Boston scene?
― Funky Mustard (People It's Bad) (Tarfumes The Escape Goat), Friday, 29 April 2011 20:52 (thirteen years ago) link
yah, they were.
― scott seward, Friday, 29 April 2011 20:56 (thirteen years ago) link
OK, I thought so. I saw them open for R.E.M. in 1985, and wasn't into it, but I heard a record or two which was a lot better.
― Funky Mustard (People It's Bad) (Tarfumes The Escape Goat), Friday, 29 April 2011 20:57 (thirteen years ago) link
neats were on ace of hearts. boston label.
― scott seward, Friday, 29 April 2011 20:58 (thirteen years ago) link
the neats always make me think of the neighborhoods. same label. same kinda thing.
― scott seward, Friday, 29 April 2011 20:59 (thirteen years ago) link
I used to like the Neats' first EP, Monkey's Head In The Corner Of The Room (that had "Do The Things" on it, right?); just noticed yesterday that I mentioned them in the first review I ever got paid to write, of Bad Religion's Into the Unknown.
Rob Sheffield write a pretty hilarious thing in Radio On once about all the "next Cars" bands out of Boston in the early '80s; not sure if the Neats made that list or not.
I kind of hated this album when I bought it a couple years ago! Wrote why here:
Rolling Country 2009 Thread
Have had way more luck with the first two Jason & the Scorchers albums (well, the 12-inch EP Fervor and Lost And Found). Still on the fence about the Beat Farmers' Tales Of The New West, which I probably wouldn't have hung on to if it didn't at least have the courtesy to be really short. Totally swear by Danny & Dusty's Lost Weekend and the Long Ryders' State of Our Union, though.
― xhuxk, Friday, 29 April 2011 21:08 (thirteen years ago) link
"...Sheffield wrote..."
Think I got the Neats' first album, too, at the time (did that have "Six"? I'm not even sure how I remember these titles, haven't heard the records since the mid '80s), but I didn't like it as much. Maybe it was just too much of a neat thing.
― xhuxk, Friday, 29 April 2011 21:13 (thirteen years ago) link
I liked the Neats and saw them at the old 930 Club. I don't think of them alongside the 80s alt-country bands though. More pop but in a Hoboken way not a Cars new wave way.
― curmudgeon, Friday, 29 April 2011 21:38 (thirteen years ago) link
Just realized that in a more questionable music period in my life, I saw at least three of the thread title bands open for U2 ...
― BlackIronPrison, Friday, 29 April 2011 21:40 (thirteen years ago) link
Got the forthcoming Silos, but haven't made it that far in the promoyard. Apparently there's a film about the Vulgar Boatmen, according to Ann Powers' twitterfeed (she's in Tuscaloosa, but unscathed). A number of Mitch Easter's 80s productions (incl Murmur,I think) were done in his parents' attached garage, next to the Purina Dog Chow. But what was everybody else's excuse? Not that familiar with Green On Red, although some fun live stuff, and Chuck Prophet has that arguments over fun vs. "meaning" split the band. I'd say fun vs. "meaning" vs. actual meaning is a signif undertow in his solo albums, which can be slack and pretentious simultaneously (like he's trying to be Tom Petty trying to be Dylan)--but when he's on he's on. "She was unwanted in 17 states"! Go tell it, Mr Prophet. And if you can find Dreaming Waylon's Dream ,that's some kind of inspired country power pop. Good live set posted on NPR, too.
― dow, Friday, 29 April 2011 21:41 (thirteen years ago) link
Oh, and I drove by the Easters' house, back in the day--the garage was more like a barely walled-in carport!
― dow, Friday, 29 April 2011 21:42 (thirteen years ago) link
(In Winston-Salem, NC)
― dow, Friday, 29 April 2011 21:43 (thirteen years ago) link
Chuck Prophet has *said* arguments etc
― dow, Friday, 29 April 2011 21:51 (thirteen years ago) link
So, turns out the Neats were #19 on Sheffield's Next Cars list. (Defined as "the best New Wave haircut bands who emerged from Boston between 1978 and 1984": "All these bands had great fey local radio hits; none ever broke out except Til Tuesday....Some of them didn't even have keyboard players! But they all made their mark as the Next Cars.") As a public service (even though most were obviously not the sort of farmer bands this thread was originally created for) here is the list:
1. November Group2. Sex Execs3. Berlin Airlift4. Private Lightning5. 'Til Tuesday6. Adventure Set7. The Buddy System8. Boys Life9. The Atlantics10. (Dissplin) Ad-X11. Someone and the Somebodies12. Native Tongue13. The Models14. Mission of Burma15. Poland's Angry Workers16. Nervous Eaters17. The Outlets18. The Fools19. The Neats20. The Rings21. Chain Link Fence22. Men & Volts23. Human Sexual Response24. The Stompers25. Robert Ellis Orral26. Jon Buther Axis27. The New Models ("unless they're the same band as #13")28. The Proletariat29. The Rhythm Method30. Wild Kingdom31. Push Push32. The Schemers33. The Neighborhoods34. The Blackjacks35. The Lines36. Lou Miami and the Cosmetix37. Face to Face
----
I personally currently own albums by Native Tongue, Mission Of Burma (their debut EP and 45, on CD), the Fools (four by them I think!), and Human Sexual Response. In my distant past I wrote good things about Men & Volts and the Proletariat, so I must have liked them once too.
― xhuxk, Friday, 29 April 2011 22:06 (thirteen years ago) link
i LOVE this lou miami video. his records were cool.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nw_u6InmNmU
― scott seward, Friday, 29 April 2011 22:10 (thirteen years ago) link
love this song too:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pd6uUq4Tj0c
― scott seward, Friday, 29 April 2011 22:12 (thirteen years ago) link
Wasn't "cowpunk" coined by a Boston reviewer? Local examples including, maybe, The Last Roundup, or something like that ( with Amy McMahon, later Amy Rigby)? And the Lazy Cowgirls--? Isn't Robert Ellis Orral now a Nashville songwriter, and hasn't he been covered by Lady Antebellum or somebody similar, and don't two of his sons now record as JEFF (caps in orig) The (Something or other)? I could look it up.
― dow, Friday, 29 April 2011 22:15 (thirteen years ago) link
. November Group - i'm a fan2. Sex Execs - can't remember3. Berlin Airlift - album i have is pretty good4. Private Lightning - dunno5. 'Til Tuesday - fan6. Adventure Set - um...7. The Buddy System - um...8. Boys Life - not a fan9. The Atlantics - dig them. really like their album10. (Dissplin) Ad-X - um...11. Someone and the Somebodies - uh...12. Native Tongue - pretty good13. The Models - i'm a fan14. Mission of Burma - like the hits15. Poland's Angry Workers - uh...16. Nervous Eaters - fan, but not of their one big studio album17. The Outlets - uh...18. The Fools - awesome19. The Neats - okay20. The Rings - dunno21. Chain Link Fence - not my kinda thing22. Men & Volts - no thanks23. Human Sexual Response - love them24. The Stompers - okay, not great25. Robert Ellis Orral - some good tracks on his albums26. Jon Buther Axis - cool27. The New Models ("unless they're the same band as #13") - dug them a little28. The Proletariat - punk rock29. The Rhythm Method - not bad30. Wild Kingdom - dunno...31. Push Push - dunno...32. The Schemers - um...33. The Neighborhoods - okay34. The Blackjacks - probably better live35. The Lines - funny36. Lou Miami and the Cosmetix - cool37. Face to Face - couple songs i dig
-
― scott seward, Friday, 29 April 2011 22:16 (thirteen years ago) link
xp Lazy Cowgirls weren't cowpunk from Boston, though! They were (girl-less) garage/hard rock/metal punk from L.A., kind of Stoogey or at least quasi-Stoogey.
And yeah, I think Robert Ellis Orral has written hit country stuff, though I'm not seeing his byline on either Antebellum CD. (Surprised to see they write almost all of their own stuff.). Apparently Orral also had a Top 40 duet with Carlene Carter in 1983, called "I Couldn't Say No."
There's lots of bands on that Next Cars list that I've never even heard of, or ever seen a record by.
― xhuxk, Friday, 29 April 2011 22:23 (thirteen years ago) link
I get the Sex-Execs mixed up with Exude, who did the Lauper parody "Boys Just Want To Have Sex." (No idea where they were from.)
― xhuxk, Friday, 29 April 2011 22:25 (thirteen years ago) link
Proletariat were (if my old reviews are to believed) sort of prog punk actually. Rush-core.Men & Volts were theoretically Beefheartish, iirc. Or maybe Col. Bruce Hamptonish, at least.
― xhuxk, Friday, 29 April 2011 22:29 (thirteen years ago) link
that lou miami video is like if stiv bators and marc almond had a baby together and then that baby grew up and made a video.
― scott seward, Friday, 29 April 2011 22:32 (thirteen years ago) link
Proletariat did my favorite fake-British accent US/HC song
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e9aErrvpE9s
― bendy, Friday, 29 April 2011 22:32 (thirteen years ago) link
This Christgau review inspired me to pay $1 for Native Tongue's LP, and it was worth every penny, though I'm still not sure they really sound that much like Wire:
Yowl [Modern Method, 1983]What can it mean when all I'm sure of after playing an album a dozen times is that the band likes Wire a lot? But in the end I give them considerable credit for keeping their taut drone on my turntable long past the point when I've sent umpteen similar bands to the warehouse. Which reminds me that in today's permeable musical atmosphere it's conceivable they've never even heard Wire, just Wire's ideas. And actually, I'm also sure they feel "Hoodwinked," the lead cut that kept me coming back after six or seven spins. I bet I even know why they feel hoodwinked. But not because they helped me figure it out. Recommended to rabid formalists and rabid Pink Flag fans. B
― xhuxk, Friday, 29 April 2011 22:32 (thirteen years ago) link
i have soma holiday by the proletariat right over in the P section of my rock rack at the store here. i think i'll play it.
― scott seward, Friday, 29 April 2011 22:33 (thirteen years ago) link
new man were another one that should have made rob's list. but maybe they were actually a western mass band. i think they were.
Man, if "cowpunk" was a term that was created in Boston, that totally explains how when I started a band in a different city in 1988, and told the guys "Let's make this a cowpunk punk" they were totally o_O.
― bendy, Saturday, 30 April 2011 01:18 (thirteen years ago) link
Yeah, that early Jason & The Scorchers stuff, compiled on "Are You Ready For The Country - Essential Vol. 1", is frickin' fantastic. It pulls equally from punk and country and Jason's voice is really endearing. I'm with you on the Long Ryders as well, there's a great 2cd anthology that captures them in all their glory.
― Gerald McBoing-Boing, Saturday, 30 April 2011 03:07 (thirteen years ago) link
that proletariat album sure is cool. reminds me of wire and rudimentary peni at the same time. which is a recipe for success if you ask me.
― scott seward, Saturday, 30 April 2011 14:41 (thirteen years ago) link
From Green on Red, love Gas Food Lodging and a bootleg from Bochum, West Germany, with covers, conversation, and great playing. Love Prophet's The Hurting Business and a bunch of his other songs, too.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Br8n2JBc67o
― more horses after the main event (Eazy), Saturday, 30 April 2011 15:27 (thirteen years ago) link
Favorite couple of any: "The Dairy Queen where it all went down/Is a halfway house called Homeward Bound."
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3giNf6B-NIA
― more horses after the main event (Eazy), Saturday, 30 April 2011 15:39 (thirteen years ago) link
Really enjoying the Long Ryders anthology this afternoon. Anyone heard the live reunion show from 04?
― Gerald McBoing-Boing, Thursday, 5 April 2012 21:49 (twelve years ago) link