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

Maude - The Birdhouse EP (1992) -and- Grace Beats Karma 7" (1996)

 Maude was a well-known punk band from Connecticut. They released one 7" in 1992 and immediately recorded a second 7" which wasn't released until after the band dissolved. 

 

Maude - The Birdhouse EP (1992)

1 Fault

2 We've Ignored

3 Nothing Left

4 Bully

5 The Sprag

6 Toilet Stall Wall

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Maude - Grace Beats Karma 7" (1996)

1 Wooden Nickels

2 Exercise in Futility

3 Lather, Rinse, Repeat *

4 Bitter Adolescent Love Song Rejection

5 Act of God

DOWNLOAD from Mediafire

DOWNLOAD from Pixeldrain

...

* Lather, Rinse, Repeat is a re-worked version of Toilet Stall Wall

Long Beach Unified - Bipolar Express (2005)

 If you like pop-punk, funk, acoustic white boy rap with reggae spread out gracefully and not all mashed together you might appreciate this very rare release from this California band.

If you were part of that 80s/90s Southern California skater scene you might find this band right up your alley. They were a bit late to the party but they brought the sounds you wanted. If the 90s had a scent this band would reek.  

 

1 Long Beach Unified

2 Money in the Bank

3 Shiva Shante

4 The Interlude

5 Another Strain

6 Up Near a Lake

7 Lying on the Floor

8 White Trash

9 Rent a Cop 1

10 Rent a Cop 2

11 Super Mex

12 S. O. G. 

 

DOWNLOAD from Mediafire

 

DOWNLOAD from Pixeldrain

 

...

Ameba - Ameba (2001)

 You know how there's goth music that's like guitar driven and teeters on the edge of punk or metal but then there's also goth music that's more electronic dance-oriented? This band is a bit of both. Not goth in its truest form but too much guitar (even acoustic guitar in one song) to be considered dance music but too much electronic dance beats and synth to be considered rock music. 

This band is from Huntington Beach, California and they put out this one CD in 2001. I don't know if they ever released anything else because they have no online presence. I can't even spell their name properly because I can't find a way of putting a tilde over an E. 

Anyway, there is no track listing anywhere on this CD. Not on the covers nor on the CD itself. There are seven songs and I couldn't tell you the titles of any of them.

If you like electronic dance music/distorted guitars/goth/post-punk/with female vocals you might appreciate this.

 

DOWNLOAD from Mediafire

 

DOWNLOAD from Pixeldrain

 

...

Bedroom Walls - Do the Buildings and Cops Make You Smile? 7" (2005)

 Anytime I go to an independent record store I have to buy something. It's very rare that I ever find anything that I'm actually looking for but I like to support the few remaining record stores so I make it a point to buy something whatever it may be. I never buy anything I'm familiar with so I aim for anything that seems obscure, independent, and little-known.

The last time I went to a record store I bought 5 records that I had never heard of before. This is one of them. I think I played it once and decided it wasn't for me and I never touched it again until today. It's on clear vinyl that looks brand new and in absolutely perfect condition like it was never touched by human hands but it sounds like complete shit. 

Surprisingly I really appreciated the A-side. It's standard dream-pop with twangy guitar but I thought it was really well-written and well-performed. The B-side isn't bad but I really like the A-side and I think the horrible vinyl crackling and popping somehow goes well with it. 

This band put out two albums and both songs from this single are on the albums and I don't know if they have been re-recorded or not but I'm guessing that no matter what I'll prefer to listen to my crackling version over the cleaner CD version. Of course I don't have their albums but they are now on my wantlist.

 

EDIT: This single and both albums are available on YOUTUBE. 

Oh well. I spent all that time doing the rips and scans so I'm posting it anyway. And I do like my crackly version better than the clean version. At least you get the full scans of the covers and the beautiful vinyl itself so there's that.

 

A - Do the Buildings and Cops Make You Smile?

B - Kathy in Her Bedroom 

DOWNLOAD from Pixeldrain

 

(It has already been blocked by Mediafire so that link is DOA)

 

...

X-IT - Wife Sentence 7" (1997)

 All-girl punk band from California. I think this is their only release. 

1 The Hole

2 Livin' it Up

3 What Happened to Mary

4 Heart Attack Man (Beastie Boys cover)

5 RAS

DOWNLOAD from Mediafire

DOWNLOAD from Pixeldrain

...

va Ståkkålmsjävlar 1978-1981

 

This CD compilation was released in 1989 and it is a compilation of Swedish punk/post-punk music from 1978 - 1981. 

The first song "Solglasögon" by Docent Död is probably the most well-known but my favorite song on this comp is "Sextiofem" by Grisen Skriker.  

DOWNLOAD from MediaFire

DOWNLOAD from Pixeldrain

...