I'll stay the babbling, momentarily, and just ask you to listen RIGHT NOW to the unusually-structured, "I Got It Right", through to the cascading climax of the song, one of my favourite finales of all time:
At seventeen songs, the San Francisco band's 1987 debut album on Rough Trade is over-long but guitarist/vocalist (and bike courier) Tom Pitts, as well as guitarist/singer Greg Foot (and now blogger) along with bassist/backing vocalist Carmela Thompson and drummer Joe Pethoud successfully navigated the narrow ground between hardcore and college rock deftly, despite those very well-founded comparisons to early Soul Asylum.
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| Carmela catches some air! |
Tracklist
A1 I Got It Right
A2 Egoist Twist
A3 Don Juan
A4 Grandstand Play
A5 Whistling Song
A6 Serum Hepatitis
A7 Field & Stream
A8 Let Go, Let God
A9 Fresh Clean Water
A10 Gladbag Blues
B1 Whirlwind
B2 No Beef Max
B3 Fortunate Son
B4 On Time & Wastage
B5 Rico's Blues
B6 Half The Time
B7 Doesn't Somebody Wanna Be Wanted Like Me
The rip and scans of this long-sought after rarity are courtesy of the amazing lubes17319 and if you'd like to hear what these Short Dogs sounded like when they grew up, go visit Willfully Obscure!
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http://www.mediafire.com/download.php?lfle2vr3o66ahg9
ReplyDeleteBest post of 2012.
ReplyDelete*All* of 2012.
I'd like to thank the academy and God..
DeleteWow! I'd totally forgotten about Short Dogs Grow. Now I'll spend the day wondering what the hell happened to my vinyl of this.
ReplyDeleteI sold mine, alas...
DeleteNow this was punk music was REALLY in the doldrums. Hardcore had burnt itself out, so bands were trying new things... but none were any good. (7 Seconds doing their U2 copy; just about everyone else going metal, etc...). Here's an example of that. Hadn't heard this since the day, now I can understand why I threw it out as soon as bought the LP. (In retrospect - dare I say it - NOFX weren't bad at the time, also GG Allin was still making the odd passable record - prior to his later, and final, decent moment with the Carnival of Excess' LP. I can't think of anyone else who was passable at the time, obscure or well known... in the punk genre). Thanks for posting though... I like your blog a lot, don't mean to start on the wrong foot. Cheers!!
ReplyDeleteHey thoughtful comments are always welcome. Any regular reader knows that I too believe that this time is pretty doldrum-y but there were bright moments (of which Seven Seconds 'Ourselves" was not one...)
Delete^ Anon letter writer to MaximumR&R circa-1987 checking in.
DeleteYeah, he was 15-years-old, so we expected his tastes to mature... but somehow they never did. We want to state that this implies no parallel to the rest of his higher cognitive functions. Necessarily.
*chuckles*
DeleteI have to say I'm not sure what you mean by "unusually structured" as far as "I Got It Right" goes. It just sounds like a non-stop barrage of aggressive hooks (a known Jeffen favorite). I dug it!
ReplyDeleteCallPastorJerkface
You say "non-stop barrage of aggressive hooks ", I say 'oddly-structured'. Either way, it rocks!
DeleteWhat BOat Tugga says is funny but it's probably right, those few of years immediately after hardcore's heyday were weird, and 7 Seconds trying to be U2 definitely sucked.
ReplyDeleteI had 'Ourselves' on cassette and I really tried to like it...
DeleteVery interested in checking this out. I've never heard of Short Dogs Grow, but it sounds like it's right in my wheelhouse.
ReplyDeletealways like re-stocking someone's wheelhouse!
DeleteIn 88 I was backpacking thru the states when I came across Short Dogs Grow. They had a release party in SF for their second album "Matt Dillon" and I was blown away by their gig. A couple of month later I was in NYC staying with friends and had picked up both albums and I was really disappointed in them. Then I noticed they were about to play at CBGB's so I went there but they weren't even close to the gig in SF but still better then the albums that imo suck. Thanks for posting anyway.
ReplyDeleteI have always heard that their live shows were their strength. Still love this song...
Deletethanks
ReplyDeleteAll right. I've listened to "I've Got it Right" five times. Today. Great fun song, and really makes the rest of the album at least worth checking out.
ReplyDeleteThanks again not only for letting us remember the great stuff from a while back, but also reminding us that there's still good stuff from "back in the day" to be found.
Yay
DeleteI got someone else to obsess over this song!