Another demo bought in Portland as the 80's came to an end. Well written and produced pop songs. The entire tape is pretty great but for me the standouts are Get What You Want and 25 Years Ago. The band eventually changed drummers, changed their music, and changed their name to Pond; these moves got them signed to Sub-Pop but it also led them far far away from the sound of this tape. I owned the first Pond cd back in the day and can't recall a single song off of it. I remember every song on this tape from pretty much the first chord. Also, becoming Pond made one of the guys in the band think it would be a good idea to wear a hat that looked like Jughead from the Archie comics. I heard that they were embarrassed about this tape after they became Pond. I wonder if today they listen to this, then Pond and think "oops!"
Demo tapes and singles from obscure melodic punk (sorry kids, no hardcore here), power pop and indie/alternative bands circa '77 - '95 or so. Should anyone want anything removed (because one persons buried treasure is another persons embarrassing past) please send an email to: moldy.old.tapes@sbcglobal.net and it will be removed promptly.
Monday, January 24, 2011
Mood Paint, Self-Titled cassette - Can you believe these guys became Pond?
Another demo bought in Portland as the 80's came to an end. Well written and produced pop songs. The entire tape is pretty great but for me the standouts are Get What You Want and 25 Years Ago. The band eventually changed drummers, changed their music, and changed their name to Pond; these moves got them signed to Sub-Pop but it also led them far far away from the sound of this tape. I owned the first Pond cd back in the day and can't recall a single song off of it. I remember every song on this tape from pretty much the first chord. Also, becoming Pond made one of the guys in the band think it would be a good idea to wear a hat that looked like Jughead from the Archie comics. I heard that they were embarrassed about this tape after they became Pond. I wonder if today they listen to this, then Pond and think "oops!"
Sunday, January 23, 2011
Evil Twin Brother, Self-Titled cassette, 1990
My personal favorite indie pop cassette ever. Purchased in Portland, Oregon in 1990. Perfect in every way. Imagine if a bunch of kids wrote great songs that were in the lyrical vein of Jonathan Richman but had never actually heard of Jonathan Richman. Later releases by the band would be more indie rockish, but this first release will always be my favorite. Hook oriented guitar pop, totally punk in it's simplicity. I don't think this left my cassette deck for the first 6 months I owned the tape. If you think I've overhyped it, you're wrong and I'm not. Lead singer/guitarist Bryan later went on to form Pep Squad and The Denominators.
- Hammer For Nail
- The Dark Side of Me
- Wicked Ways
- Skin & Bones
- Wood Eating Insects
- Dirt Claude
- First Time Groovy
- Your Confections
- The Talking Skull
- Bar Mitzvah Dance