Skooch - Skooch EP (1999)

 

Posted by Request

 American 90s pop punk with a horn section. I don't know what state they're from or if they have ever released anything else. 

1 Come to Me

2 Synchronize Your Watches

3 The Tooth Fairy Song

4 Holiday

DOWNLOAD

...

Mike - Jamaica Inn (1985)

 

It's called Jamaica Inn but there is no ska or reggae at all on this one. Mike was a one-man band from Germany who played his own style of music. Not really experimental, just his own style that is not easy to define. 

It's about half instrumental and half songs with vocals. All but one song with vocals is in English.

It is what it is...because of course it is...what else could it be?

 

1 Warning

2 Jamaica Inn

3 Pay the Priest

4 Tension

5 Into Town

6 Albstadt-Rap

7 Dreams go in Opposites

8 Fresh Air

9 Beneath the Surface

10 You Better Run 

 

DOWNLOAD

 

...

Never Noooh No - NNN Demo Tape (1984)

 I first heard about this band on the incredible "In Depth Music" YouTube channel where the 7" was posted. Lots of really great things on that channel but this band really stood out to me. I went to Discogs to see what else they released and I found their demo tape for sale so I snatched it up immediately. 

The sound on the tape is quite different than the sound on the 7" but both are still really good. The only other thing it seems that they released besides the record and the tape is a live song called "Divine Comedy" from the 1983 cassette compilation "Hollandse Nieuwe (Melkweg Live)" and I have included that song in this download. I also included the 7" which I don't have a copy of but I respectively stole the music from In Depth Music and shared it in this download for the few of you who don't have it yet.

Never Noooh No - NNN Demo Tape (1984)

1 The Divert

2 Ich Baue Mit Blut

3 The Motion is Slow

4 Anything at All

5 The Fight

Never Noooh No - Never Noooh No 7" (1982)

1 Permanent Vacation

2 Philosophish

3 Eight-and-a-Half

4 Step by Step

*Divine Comedy

DOWNLOAD

 

...

The Most Mysterious Song on the Internet has been found

 FEX [Germany] - Subways of Your Mind (demo tape 1984)

 

Cum grano salis, of course.

 

Here's a live version from 1985.  

Plaid Cow - Sunshine of Your Love 12" (1988)

 Female-fronted new wave cover of the classic song. My record sucks as far as pops are concerned but it's not unlistenable.

I don't only collect music but I collect books as well. I know 'reading' is one of the most common and most boring of all hobbies but I aim for rare and forbidden books whose topics sometimes bleed into the mainstream. I don't see how the term "conspiracy theorist" is an insult in any way. 

That being said, I had a copy of "Weird Scenes Inside the Canyon" by David McGowan for years but I never got around to reading it. So recently I cracked it open. A bit more mainstream than what I normally read but it was good. I grew up around that area. I have stories to tell myself. 

 The Internet Archive is down and may be down for a while so I included a PDF copy of this book in this download. This record and the book go well together.

 Enjoy the music. Read the book. 

You'll laugh. You'll cry. It'll change your life.

 (Yes, this is a Dylan Moran quote from Black Books)

 

 

A1 - Sunshine of Your Love

A2 - Softly I Stand

B - Sunshine of Your Love (Tired Eyes Mix)

 

DOWNLOAD 

The False Friends - The False Friends (1994)

 This was a band from Poland who played harder alternative rock with the shadow of 80s heavy metal cast over them. They never really reached a true heavy metal sound and they had a horn section. The song "Love You to the Bones" is a ska song with hard rock vocals. 

The A-side is 6 studio tracks while the B-side is six live tracks.

 1 Parasite

2 Advantage of the Average

3 And B.Y.E.

4 Love You to the Bones

5 Eastern Cowboy

6 Never to Slow

7 Asses High

8 Hard Hop

9 Another Day

10 Ears of a Frog

11 Evil

12 CO 2  

DOWNLOAD

...

Chemicals Made From Dirt [Complete Recordings]

 Chemicals Made From Dirt 7'' (1981)

1 Oriental Television

2 Bachelor Party

3 Beatniks

4 Uh Oh'

 

Chemicals Made From Dirt Flexi (1982)

1 Rapula

2 Claus Von Bulow

 Chemicals Made From Dirt - Ike 

1 Manikin

2 M

3 Hard

4 Beatniks Looking for Tourists

5 Protein Pants

6 Another Dinner

7 Chemicals Made From Dirt

8 Panic - No Fusion

9 Girls My Age

10 17th Century

11 Communist Calendar Girls

12 Air Raid Drill

13 Medicated Elvis

14 Uh-Oh

15 Homeless Men

16 Fast Ocean Puppet

17 Fly to Work

18 Multiple Station Wagon

19 Claus Von Bulow

20 Dr. Shockley

21 Lost in the Cave of Flying Dogs

22 Barney

23 Hiding from Bozo

24 Show World

25 Rapula

The compilation is called "Ike" but there was one song that was not included. That song is called "Ike" and I have included it in this download.

DOWNLOAD

All She Wrote - All She Wrote EP (2004)

 This was a surprising thrift store find. This is a female fronted band from Riverside California who only ever released one album in 2005 called "Coshade".

There is no mention anywhere online about this EP but from what I have heard  from the vocalist's YouTube channel the song "Liar" from this CD is the same song that appeared on the album but I think it's a different mix. At least the tempo is different. 

This is for those 90s punk/post-punk fans who still longed for the female fronted grunge bands like Letters to Cleo. That's not an insult. I love Letters to Cleo and I love this band here. 

Incredible songwriting. Great lyrics. They edge on poppy without going over and I'm surprised they never had commercial success. They had it all figured out and were self sustaining. Any record label who knew of them and didn't sign them were foolish. 

1 Distracted

2 Rescue Me

3 Grass

4 Liar

 

DOWNLOAD

 

Kevin Zed [Vancouver] - Double Dutch EP (1985) [NEW LINK 10-06-2024]

 

1 Saigon Orders

2 UR

3 Dead Boots

4 Moral Support

5 Somewhere Else

 

DOWNLOAD

 

...

Zootcase - We Make it Happen (1996)

 How to describe this one? It's perched on the edge of those early 90s white funk bands but the vocalist and possible band leader is black so "WHITE-funk" doesn't work. They have a slight heavy metal vibe but all of their songs are mellow paced. They do have one blues song but they don't come across as a blues band despite what this eBay seller says. ($168.99? Come on now.)

They're a three-piece rock band with a familiar style that eludes description. 

The one band I can think of that they sound closest to is King's X. That might be a lazy description but that's all I got. 

1 We Make it Happen

2 The Moon is Full

3 Alice Don't Cry

4 Since You Left Me Baby

5 Where is My Heart?

6 Could This be True

7 Tell Me

8 Alicia

DOWNLOAD

...

va Commercial (2002)

  Hardcore punk compilation from the New York label Traffic Violation Records. 

DOWNLOAD

 

At the time I got this CD I was playing the Recess Records compilations Hot Curly Weenie volumes 1 and 2* and I was looking for something similar. This didn't live up to being what I wanted it to be but there are a couple noteworthy tracks.

 

The inlay was printed on, what we called back in the 20th century, "typewriter paper" which wasn't made for computer printer ink so the scans look like the inlay is water damaged. It's not. A lot of things from back in the days look like this. That's why it's important for them to be preserved.

* Hot Curly Weenie vol 2 is my favorite. How do you not love beautiful songs like this?: 

va Class of 81 [UK] (1981)

 I'm too lazy to type out the track listing so, here, have this. 

DOWNLOAD

The Donors - Take Whatcha Want (1992)

 This is one of those "white funk" bands from the early 90s. They were from New York and I don't know if they ever released anything else.

They were way more "alternative rock" than they were funky but the sound is still recognizable.

The high pitch yodeling vocals are hard to get used to.

1 Tearjerker

2 Positive People

3 My Brain

4 Not Gonna Worry

5 Half a Man

6 Perfect Thing

7 Get Down

8 Genie Says

9 Assistance

10 Temptation

11 Bulletproof

12 What I Do

DOWNLOAD

 

Les Chaplinns - demo tape (1992)

 Les Chaplinns was an alternative band from France who released one 7" in 1993. I was lucky enough to find a copy of their demo tape. I know these songs were available for download several years ago but this download is from my own rip of the original tape.

1 Mute

2 Wake Up

3 Sunny Day

4 Who's

5 Run, Turn, Sum

6 Lost

7 The Fool

8 Jesus 

 

DOWNLOAD

 

...

va STV Sessions Vol. 1 (1998)

 Punk / Hardcore / Ska compilation from the 90s. 

 There are lots of good songs and lots of shit songs (like most compilations). I won't say what I think are the shittiest songs on here because I try not to bad-mouth any band on my blog, but I will say that my two favorite songs are right next to each other - tracks 13 and 14. 

Backwash - "Pirates" has that great late 80s/early 90s So. Cal. hardcore punk sound when the hardcore band lightened up and played a quirky song.

This is a demo version. The version on the comp is different. 

...and Impossible 5 - "Anti" (I couldn't find a video for this one).

I have the Impossible 5 CD that this song came from. I'll post it if anybody gives a shit. Just ask. 

They have a second CD that I don't have. 

 

 

DOWNLOAD

Jump Vision [Australia] - Can't Get Used to You 7" (1981)

 

A - Can't Get Used to You

B - The Jump

DOWNLOAD

The Reign Makers - Reign Makers Demo (1986)

 This was a mod/power pop band from San Diego California and I believe this is their only release.

When I say mod/power pop that is just the core of their sound. There is a prominent saxophone in most of their songs and their overall sound has blurred lines that fade into blues rock and new wave and even into the paisley underground scene that was popular in California at that time.

For being a demo tape every song is incredibly well-written and the sound quality is extremely professional. There's not a filler song on this tape. One would think that these guys had experience in songwriting, performing, and recording in a studio. Personally I think this band is made up of members of the San Diego band N-E-1. 

The only foundation I have to propose that assumption is that they are from the same area, N-E-1 stopped recording around this time, they look like the same band, and the song "One Two Three" is a cover of N-E-1's song "1-2-3".

 

1 Willy the Elephant

2 Two People*

3 One Two Three

4 Precious Friend

5 Feed the Fire

6 The Possession 

DOWNLOAD from MEDIAFIRE

DOWNLOAD from Pixeldrain

 

*If you have ever written a song in your life you have an appreciation for great songwriting. Listen to this song. You can learn something from it. 

...

va Blind Herd of Sheep (1999)

 

DOWNLOAD

...

The Red Squares - Oh! Girlie Girl! (1999)

 Is this post-punk? Post-grunge? Power pop -inspired alternative rock? I don't know what to call it but it's decent guitar music.

The second song is a Violent Femmes cover and although the vocals are spot on they added their own flavor to the music and I applaud them for it. 

1 Oh! Girlie Girl!

2 I Held Her in My Arms

3 All Around the City

DOWNLOAD

 

...

Impact - Foodstamp (1996)

 

This was sold to me as a punk-ska CD but it's not punk at all and there is only one ska song that doesn't remain ska all the way through.

This is a funk rock CD.

 

Not my thing but it's very rare and expensive.

Let me save you a few dollars if you ever see this CD for sale. 

 

1 Introduction

2 Pickle Wagon

3 Elastica

4 Go Cornbread Go

5 Esclavo Del Sol

6 For the Love of Children 

 

DOWNLOAD