Monday, August 19, 2013

Superchunk Love Music!


I hate music, what is it worth?
Can't bring anyone back to this earth

Majesty Shredding offered a re-born, revived Superchunk but raised the question, what next? After all, the album-after-the-comeback-album is always met with cynicism. Well Mac & co. have taken that weary cynicism and driven a vinyl stake through its heart with this celebratory video for the joy-giving song, "Me & You & Jackie Mittoo". 






LEAVE US YOUR THOUGHTS ON THIS VIDEO IN THE COMMENTS SECTION!




Monday, August 5, 2013

Punk - Past, Present and Future... (1993)



As a quick thanks-you to all my great COMMENTERS, here's a l'il rarity, a compilation put together by Released Emotions, home of The Price (more HERE) in 1993.




As the title implies and label-man Vince spells out in the liner notes shown below, the idea here was to cram 16 years of punk history into 23 songs. It's a revisionist history of course, one that supposes that the English punk sound of '77-'78 never wavered. (How American straight edge satire band Crucial Youth ended up here is anyone's guess!)


 


Anyway it's fun version of history and there's lots of bands who never got what was coming to them here that you can enjoy and hope I'll be able to dig out some of THEIR obscurities some day...









Released Emotions licensed some great '77 vintage stuff here and while they weren't able to get any Clash they did end up with THREE Clash covers, including the Indestructible Beat (featuring Steve Drewett of The Neurotics) take on "Capitol Radio":





1 The Vibrators - No Heart 1:50
2 The Lurkers - Walk Like A Superstar (Talk Like A Zombie) 1:49
3 Chelsea - Come On 2:05
4 Maniacs - Chelsea '77 2:35
5 Sham 69 - Questions And Answers 3:18
6 UK Subs - Motivator 2:26
7 Stiff Little Fingers - Tin Soldiers 5:04
8 The Ruts - Babylon's Burning 2:16
9 Angelic Upstarts - When Will They Learn 2:56
10 Red London - This Is England 4:58
11 Resistance 77 - Chelsea Girl 2:38
12 Oi Polloi - Scum 1:59
13 Attila The Stockbroker - Washington Bullets 3:34
14 The Sect - The Whole World Gets Me Down 4:07
15 Red Letter Day - Last Night 2:44
16 Anhrefn - Rhywle Yn Moscow 2:11
17 Last Rough Cause - Hey Lady 3:53
18 Crucial Youth - Turn The Other Cheek 1:35
19 Exit Condition - Plan 9 Channel 7 4:00
20 The Price - Standing In Your Way 3:19
21 Leatherface - Melody Lee 2:09
22 The Blaggers ITA - Guns Of Brixton 3:21
23 The Indestructible Beat - Capital Radio 3:25





LEAVE US YOUR THOUGHTS ON THIS COMP. IN THE COMMENTS SECTION!




Sunday, August 4, 2013

The Price: The Table of Uncles (1989)



For their third and final release Uxbridge's The Price (more HERE) finally broke the 12'' barrier with their 1989 EP, Table of Uncles. As the self-mocking title indicates, their swan song shows the band maturing without surrendering. While there is a little bit of that 80's coldness in the sound here (see "On the Ice"), it's used to build a bit of space around the songs and not to diffuse them. As rocking originals like "Was it You?" and a purpose-defining cover of "You Say You Don't Love Me" from the Buzzcocks under-rated third album, "A Different Kind of Tension" prove, this is a kicking punk/pop record!





A1. Was It You
A2. Standing In Your Way
A3. Goodbye
B1. On The Ice
B2. Changing Places
B3. You Say You Don't Love Me





All rips, scans and info come courtesy of the man himself, Mr. Leigh Heggarty, please consider leaving him (and your friendly neighbourhood blogger) a COMMENT about this fantastic material!


Leigh's Mad World of Guitars




Friday, August 2, 2013

The Price: Between the Lies (1988)



On their second single Uxbridge's The Price's (more HERE) really drove up the ante. With The Ruts' Paul Fox producing, the band upped the ferocity without sacrificing the thoughtful lyrics or the pop hooks.











All rips, scans and info come courtesy of the man himself, Mr. Leigh Heggarty, please consider leaving him (and your friendly neighbourhood blogger) a COMMENT about this fantastic material!


Leigh's Mad World of Guitars


Thursday, August 1, 2013

The Price: The Price You Pay 7" (1988)



We've been covering the UK's political-punk underground of the eighties ('cause we're specific that way here at MRML), which allows me the honour of bringing to light the largely undervalued  Uxbridge band The Price.




The Price were led by guitarist Leigh Heggarty (his fascinating blog is here), who currently may have one of the best jobs of the 21st century - playing guitar with The Ruts, The Advert's TV Smith, Back to Zero and more besides! Heggarty's guitar word, so in demand these days, is what gave The Price's sound a fluent urgency and a melodic intensity in the same way Mick Jones did in The Clash.




Heggarty had previously led a studio-only band, Society (get it here) whose sole single came out in l980 and then another band The Others, who recorded a strong demo in the mid-80's.






The Price, also featuring Malcolm Andrews on vocals, Huggy Harewood on bass and Mick Francis on drums, did manage to tour and create a small, cogent discography in the late 80's and early 90's.



The band's debut single on So What Records (SW 001) has a propulsive reggae track, "The Price You Pay" as the AA side and a fast rocker, "The Man With the Plan as the A-side ("So What Records, the label with no B-sides", went the slogan). It's a powerful opening salvo but there was much more to come!






All rips, scans and info come courtesy of the man himself, Mr. Leigh Heggarty, please consider leaving him (and your friendly neighbourhood blogger) a COMMENT about this material!


Leigh's Mad World of Guitars