Wasted Youth - Young And Bored - The Complete Wasted Youth

During their seven-year career from 1981 to 1988, LA’s Wasted Youth released two albums and an EP, which have now been compiled in the double CD Young And Bored - The Complete Wasted Youth.  Clocking in at just over thirteen minutes, the ten songs on their 1981 debut album Reagan’s In (here on disc two for some reason) are raw, short and fast-paced punk with lyrics that often deal with the ills of society, authority and the system (“Fuck Authority”, “Reagan’s In”, “Born Deprived”).  Having said that they do actually slow things down a little on a couple of tracks like “Punk For A Day” and “Problem Child,” the last of which is notable for its prominent bass and buzzsaw guitars.  The production is raw and could even be considered muddy, and honestly why shouldn’t it be?  Five years and multiple member changes later (guitarist Chett Lehrer was the only member left from their debut, and drummer Joey Castillo, later of bands like Danzig, Queens Of The Stone Age, Circle Jerks and Zakk Sabbath, was a notable addition) they released the Get Out Of My Yard! EP.  By now the band had shifted towards more of a punk and hardcore/metal crossover.  For the most part the songs were longer and more developed and less frantic.  The musicianship was also more developed and therefore not as raw and ragged as the debut, but still largely straight-ahead and aggressive.  My only complaint with the EP is the production, which is a little flat and muted and really lacking in dynamics.  With the addition of Rick Seccombe as second guitarist and Dave Kushner (later of Velvet Revolver) as their new bassist, their final release, 1988’s Black Daze, saw them shifting even further towards metal, most notably with the guitar solos and riffing that had for the most part been nonexistent before (they even cover Van Halen's "On Fire", a definite guitar players showcase), but still maintaining their hardcore and punk roots.  Unlike the short blasts of their debut, the eight songs here total forty minutes, including the almost nine-minute closing track “The Gift Of Death,” and are well-crafted and very dynamics.  Listening to the album today, it could be argued that they were a bit ahead of their time.  It is also by far their best produced release, sounding head and shoulders above the others.  All three of these releases make for a great listen in their own unique way and when collected together they display a fascinating, but short-lived career trajectory for the band.  In addition to the music, there is also a great booklet detailing the band history including interviews with Dave Kushner and vocalist Paul Rossi.

(Dissonance)

Zerrin - Talking to myself EP

Talking to myself is the latest EP from Glasgow-based Australian Zerrin.  She has mentioned artists like Kate Bush, Joni Mitchell and Weyes Blood as inspirations and you can hear elements of them all throughout the four cuts, yet she still makes it sound like her own.  The EP opens with the slow and moody “Maintenance Phase” with vocals that are whispery, and at times almost languid but occasionally juxtaposed against chipper keys and flute.  The quaint baroque and folk pop of “Spring Cleaning” has a swirling dreamlike Kate Bush vibe.  Most of these songs have wonderful little effects and sounds that give them so much texture and this cut is a perfect example.  The ethereal “Cloud Baby” is a gorgeous, very ethereal track that at its core is very simple with her fragile vocals accompanied by quiet piano and some very subdued effects.  “It's Happening Again” closes the EP and is while it’s slow and melancholy there is a taut energy that rears its head at times.  

(Zerrin)

  

Peter Godwin - The Polydor Years

Before embarking on a solo career, Peter Godwin was a member of the band Metro.  Over the course of four years from 1976 to 1980, they released three albums and were best known for their single “Criminal World,” which was later covered by David Bowie on his Let’s Dance album.  As that band was winding down, he wrote some songs that he demoed with Georg Kajanus (best known as singer and guitarist in Sailor).  While Metro was a guitar band, he wanted to experiment with a sound that was more synth based and possibly release a single that was different than Metro.  He played the demos to Midge Ure (pre–Rich Kids and Ultravox) and he really liked “Torch Songs For The Heroine” and wanted to produce it.  At that point they approached Polydor who signed him to a single deal.  During his time with the label, he released an EP and an album, as well as numerous singles and remixes that are now all included in the double CD The Polydor Years.  

Disc one contains his debut EP Dance Emotions and a variety of alternate versions and remixes of those tracks.  Along with the incredibly infectious upbeat synth pop of “Emotional Disguise”, “Images Of Heaven” and “Luxury,” the last of which also adds a bit of a funk undercurrent, there’s the slower, aforementioned Midge Ure produced “Torch Songs For The Heroine,” which has a bit of an Ultravox feel.  While the remainder of the tracks on disc one are variations of these songs, in addition to the standard single versions and instrumentals there are quite a few that are definitely worth mentioning.  “French Emotions” is an interesting take on “Emotional Disguise” with French lyrics and spoken word vocals that are at times bordering on rap, while “Spoken Images” is a similar spoken word take on “Images Of Heaven”, but in English (another remix of "Images..." is from Joseph Watt of Razormaid and includes elements of all the different versions of the song).  There are also a couple of versions of “Torch Songs For The Heroine” that stand out.  While the extended version on the EP had washes of synths on the single version they are jabbing pulses.  Lastly is the ballad version, which is a haunting, absolutely gorgeous, slower version with more stripped down Middle Eastern sounding instrumentation.   

Godwin’s debut full-length release Correspondence opens disc two and is quite an impressive release that largely continues his foray into synth pop with plenty of diversity.  Listening to it you can't help but wonder why he wasn’t more successful.  With a bit of a dance beat added to the mix, the it opens with “Baby’s In The Mountains.”  The album’s first single “The Art Of Love” is up next and it is a more midtempo track that is massively infectious.  “Window Shopping” is more of a new romantic tune that is actually at times a bit reminiscent of Culture Club,  while still maintaining that synth pop sound, “Soul To Soul” is a slow burning soulful song.  The soulful synth pop continues on the next track, “Young Pleasure,” followed up by the upbeat “The Dancer,” which has a really strong Roxy Music vibe.  On the title track, Godwin adds a strong funk groove and some very funk influenced synths.  Originally written by Kajanus for his band Data (and the only track not penned by Godwin), “Over Twenty” is a really pretty song that is not too different than their original recording, but unlike that version which is a little colder, the synths here are warmer and smoother.  “Soul Of Love” closes the album and has an almost ambient feel with a very emotional vocal performance (the song was actually originally written for The Drifters and recorded by Johnny Moore, at one time a singer for that band).  The bonus tracks on disc two consist of a remix for “Window Shopping”, five remixes of “The Art Of Love”, two for “Baby’s In The Mountains” (one of these hit number four on the Billboard Dance Charts and was his biggest dance hit in the US) and five for “The Art Of Love.”  Rounding out the collection is a fantastic booklet with Godwin providing the bio and track by track comments.  

(Strike Force Entertainment)

 

Treasure Pains - Charming

Durham, North Carolina's Treasure Pains was formed through a collaborative writing sessions with members of Youth League and WolvesxWolvesxWolvesxWolves, and Charming is their debut EP.  In just over sixteen minutes, the post-hardcore band blasts through six tracks that are aggressive with taut angular guitars, but dripping with a strong, hook-heavy sense of melody.  Openers “Blowout” and “Charming”, along with “Vines”, personify this perfectly.  “Not Opaque” moves in more of a melancholy direction, although is still not lacking in power.  They shift gears a little on the final two tracks, which are quite possibly my favorites. “Hands Up” kicks off with a Primus-like distorted bass that will throw you at first, but then moves into a mellower, very catchy rock song, while “Empty Paws” is a little less aggressive, but more high energy and will have you bouncing your head.  Hopefully this is just beginning of this collaboration.   

(Wiretap Records)

Eyes Of Blue - The Light We See - The Recordings 1969-1971

Before forming Eyes Of Blue, the five members of the band were in two different Swansea area bands. John “Pugwash” Weathers, Raymond “Taff” Williams and Wyndham Rees were in Chuck Stallion and The Mustangs and Phil Ryan and Gary Pickford-Hopkins were in The Smokestacks, before they eventually also joined The Mustangs.  After starting off playing rock, R&B and the blues, they slowly moved more in the direction of Tamla Motown Soul.  They also started writing their own songs and playing them live.  After winning the Melody Maker National Beat Contest in 1966, they were given a record deal with Deram, a new subsidiary of Decca, as part of their prize.  The label tried to make them a bubblegum band and told them what songs they would record and even had them use a session guitarist.  They ended up releasing two singles for the label, but the band didn’t like them (they are not included here) and when they didn’t sell much, the label let them out of their contract.  Following that they got a residency at the Speakeasy Club, where they met a lot of industry people.  Through these connections they met American record producer and label executive Lou Reizner, who started managing them and signed them to a licensing deal at Mercury Records.  In 1969 they released two albums and then in 1971 released a third, but under the band name Big Sleep.  Now all three albums, along with a couple bonus tracks, are available in the box set The Light We See - The Recordings 1969-1971.

With production handled by Reizner, their debut album Crossroads Of Time was a promising start.  It consisted of seven originals written by Francis, along with covers of tracks from The Beatles and Love, and two songs written for them by the now legendary Graham Bond, another person they connected with through Reizner.  The title track, written by Bond, opens the disc and is a really strong track that shows their prog influence.  It’s a rocker with some Bach influenced organ but also breaks out into some soulful sections (Bond later recorded a version that was a little faster and didn’t really have the prog element).  The next track, “Never Care”, jumps back and forth from bubblegum pop to circus like swirling psychedelia.  It's a bit disjointed and doesn’t work very well, but they turn things around quickly with the powerful “I’ll Be Your Friend”, which is slow and soulful with some great vocal harmonies.  With a little distortion on the vocals, their cover of Love’s “7 + 7 Is” sticks pretty close to the original.  “Prodigal Son” is one of the more interesting tracks here, starting off as a pretty straight-forward rock tune, but about halfway in it explodes into proggy psychedelia with a slight Middle Eastern vibe that then evolves into a West Coast sound that has a hint of The Grateful Dead.  Following the somewhat nondescript, slower psychedelia of “Largo” is Bond’s “Love Is The Law”, a slower, very soulfut song with some really nice organ fills.  With its layered vocals and organ, their quite unique cover of The Beatles’ “Yesterday” at times sounds more like a hymn being performed by a rock band.  Backed with some really nice jazz drumming, “I Wonder Why” is a slower soulful blues tune.  “World Of Emotion” is a catchy, upbeat, organ driven pop tune with an infectious beat, while album closer “Inspiration For A New Day” and instrumental “Q III” (a bonus track here taken from a 1969 single B-side) are a couple of strong bluesy rockers. 

Reizner once again produced album number two, In Fields Of Ardath, but there was a major change as Wyndham Rees was no longer in the band.  Also, unlike on their debut, the writing this time was more of a band effort, and they were more aware of what could be done in the studio and therefore provided alot more input into the production.  They were also more determined to be even more experimental this time, including things like sitar and backwards tapes.  The album opens with the nine-minute plus “Merry Go Round,” a dramatic, keyboard driven, ever-changing prog masterpiece, that is most likely their finest recorded moment.  Following “The Light We See,” a nice midtempo bluesy rock track highlighted by the guitar solo at the end, is “Souvenirs (Tribute To Django)”, the first of three covers on the album.  Originally composed by Django Reinhardt and Stephane Grappelli, their take on the instrumental is quite creative, starting out acoustically and then slowly transitioning throughout the song before ending as bluesy electric rock.  Following “Ardath”, a slower, largely acoustic track that’s kind of laid-back and dreamy, is “Spanish Blues”, another song written by Graham Bond, that had been previously recorded by the Graham Bond Organization on their debut album.  The midtempo cut is a really strong cover that’s blues rock with a jazzy funk groove that really lets the whole band spread their wings.  The experimental side of the band comes through again on “Door (The Child That Is Born On The Sabbath Day),” a seven-minute song with an early prog vibe with lots of shifting styles and a short, spoken word piece at the end.  Completely shifting gears, “Little Bird” is a super catchy, simple little pop tune with more strong vocal harmonies that has a bit of a Beatles feel.  The explosive, hard charging “After The War” is a powerhouse blues rocker that is another standout track.  The laid-back, kind of dreamy, instrumental “Extra Hour” sounds like it would be the perfect background movie music and “Chances” is a stripped down, acoustic tune with a very West Coast singer songwriter sound.  The final track is their cover of the instrumental “Apache” (their version was released as “Apache ‘69”), a song that was a hit for The Shadows.  Here it sounds more like a jam session and less like an actual song, and while it appears to have been an album cut, it’s listed here as a bonus track saying it was a single.  Interestingly, when it was release as a single, they released it under the band name The Imposters.  

When Fields Of Ardath didn't sell much, Mercury dropped them.  At this point Reizner got them a deal with the label Pegasus and with him as producer once again, they recorded a new album called Bluebell Wood.  He also suggested they release it under a different band name, so they became Big Sleep, but by the time the album was released in July 1971 the band was already over.  While it varies greatly stylewise, this is the album where all the pieces really seemed to come together.  The album opens with “Death Of Hope,” a laid-back, very theatrical song with gorgeous string arrangements and sparse instrumentation.  At first, “Odd Song” continues this laid-back pacing and has some beautiful harmonies, but then picks up the pace in its second half with rock guitar and an almost rockabilly / country beat.  “Free Life” kicks things into gear with six and a half minutes of psychedelic prog rock, full of great guitar work accompanied by organ and Weathers’ heavy drumming.  Equal parts prog (especially the organ and drum) and blissful Beatles-esque pop, “Aunty James” is a whimsical tune with massive hooks.  Probably the most full-fledged prog song on the album, “Saint and Sceptic” has lots of tempo shifts along with medieval flavored baroque string arrangements and big vocal choruses, while the eleven-and-a-half-minute title track continues down the prog path, ending with about four minutes of what sounds like the band jamming.  Moving in a completely different direction, “Watching Love Grow” is a pretty little soulful pop ballad.  That brings us to the album’s last track “When The Sun Was Out,” which is not necessarily a bad song, but really doesn’t fit here at all.  It harkens back to the high energy R&B singalongs of The Beatles in their early days and almost sounds like something they just threw down really quick to fill out the album at the last minute.  Rounded out with a very informational booklet, The Light We See is a solid box set that gives Eyes of Blue and Big Sleep some much deserved recognition. 

(Esoteric Recordings)