Brightest Young Things

Catch the We Fought The Big One DJ's at the Black Cat tonight!  They're DJing the Comet Gain / Crystal Stilts / Cold Cave show, 8:30pm on the back stage for $12 -ed.

The “We Fought the Big One” post-punk dj night at the Marx Cafe recently celebrated its 5-year anniversary. Cale has encouraged me to post our latest mix (we curate a new comp each year), which highlights many of our recent (and long-time) favorite and most played post-punk/left-of-center independent gems. As an exclusive for BYT, I'm offering my own "on-the-fly" (read: lazy attempt at) liner notes. Enjoy!

Download the whole thing here: http://www.sendspace.com/file/ixm6lr 

The Homosexuals – “Hearts in Exile” (1978)

A slow-building, dubbed-out ode to isolation, loneliness and longing from this seminal U.K. outfit that have since reformed with all guns blazing. Vocals and guitar drift in and out of the murky fog until the track’s crushing, punk-fueled crescendo, which culminates in an irresistible 5-note vocal melody that gets me every time. One of the first (and very best!) examples of a post-punk band fully embracing dub studio techniques. A moody and emotive start to this year’s mix...

Polyrock – “Romantic Me” (1980)

I’m half joking when I tell people that Polyrock were “Phillip Glass gone new wave.” The minimalist auteur was not a formal member of this early 80s NYC-based, avant-leaning pop band, but he did co-produce this striking single (as well as their first two albums) and contributed keyboards. For me, this track strikes a perfect balance between off-kilter, droney strangeness and infectious pop beauty. One of my favorite singles from the post-No Wave era! Love the video too!

 

Frank Sumatra & the Mob – “The Story So Far” (1979)

A question I often ask myself is: How far can you take pop into the realm of the avant-garde while still being pop? This obscure post-punk single, by U.K. band Family Fodder—recorded under the nom de plume Frank Sumatra and the Mob, may provide the answer. We start off in friendly enough new wave territory: A spidery, 50s-style rock n’ roll riff accompanied by some quirky, nervy male vocals and keyboards that provide just a whiff of the psychedelic. A quick U-turn and the listener is blanketed by some truly sublime female vocals and even more psychedelic sounds. Before you know it, we find ourselves knee-deep in an outrageous middle-8 waltz (!!!), complete with strings, trumpet, and a mad-as-a-hatter guitar solo that would make Glenn Branca proud! It’s outrageous, it’s audacious and it’s tongue-firmly-wedged-in-cheek fun. Sadly, they don’t make them like this anymore…

La Dusseldorf – “La Dusseldorf” (1976)

Sex Pistols/PIL frontman John Lydon has never been shy about the fact that pioneering kraut legends Neu! were a huge influence on him (my suggestion: YouTube Neu!’s “Hero” and then follow that up with classic Sex Pistols––the vocal similarities are striking!). When Neu! dissolved in 1975, its two founders, Klaus Dinger and Michael Rother, went their separate ways with Dinger forming La Dusseldorf. Dinger’s new band was more melodic and atmospheric than his former group and this single shows the man’s increasingly sophisticated grasp of pop song structure. The song careens effortlessly from soccer-holligan punk to quirky stop-start tentativeness and then into these oddly moving, emotional moments. The band’s self-titled debut album was my most listened to album in 2008 (but don’t just take my recommendation––the album was a personal favorite of David Bowie and Brian Eno when they were working together in the late 70s). Thank the heavens the re-issue craze isn’t over!

New Order – “Turn the Heater On” (1982)

This is a classic, but seldom heard recording from New Order’s second Peel session, right before they made the “Power, Corruption and Lies” album––arguably the band’s creative peak. Members of the band were really into dub music and they let themselves fully embrace that love on this inspired cover of an old Keith Hudson song. It’s unforgivable that New Order’s Peel sessions are currently unavailable. Somebody needs to fix that now and not just because of this track! This is one of my favorite songs to play loudly on my car stereo—I lose myself inside those wonderful dub atmospherics everytime I hear it!

Medio Mutante – “Corre Corre” (2008)

The most danceable track on this year’s mix comes courtesy of an intriguing bi-coastal act with members in NYC and L.A., Medio Mutante (which translates to “Average Mutant”). The band has been garnering some nice underground buzz with their interesting blend of retro minimal synths, exotic vocals and forward-thinking, club-friendly beats. Without question, they are one of my favorite new bands at the moment and it’s only a matter of time until Pitchfork starts giving them some love. To underscore the band’s reinterpreting-the-old-as-something-new approach, the music video for “Corre Corre” was shot deliberately old school: in a garage with two security cameras, a fog machine, strobe light, and some charmingly iffy 80s effects. Love it!

 

Asja Auf Capri – “ABC’s Elan” (2004)

Presumably named after Asja Lacis, the woman who stole Walter Benjamin’s heart and gave it to Karl Marx, Asja Auf Capri is just one of several amazing acts on the Difficult Fun label in the U.K. The band clearly takes a deconstructionist approach to the classic Neu Deutsche Welle sound. The emphasis here is less on conventional pop melody and more on exploring the possibilities of rhythm and texture. Beats, pings, unexpected whirrs and surprisingly nasty synth burbles––this ain’t your daddy’s synth pop! Lead vocalist Anja Kirschner clearly relishes her “talk-sing” in German approach, which gives the track an even more interesting rhythmic layer. Icy cold, resolutely futuristic sounding stuff!

Suicide – “Cheree” (1977)

An absolute classic track from this legendary NYC avant-punk-electro duo that still sounds light years ahead of its time more than three decades after it was recorded. I’m currently reading David Nobakht’s “No Compromise” biography on Suicide and it’s a fascinating read. Apparently, Bono is convinced that this track was a key source of inspiration on “With or Without You.”

Catatonic Youth – “Control My Gun” (2008)

We go for the jugular with this one. There are a lot of bands exploiting the whole lo-fi noise pop craze to mask their inability to write decent tunes. With this track, Catatonic Youth shows you can have your cake and eat it too: a bloody drubbing of noise-heavy explosiveness laced with one of the best pop hooks I’ve heard in recent memory. There are countless bands that have continued to draw from the “Psychocandy” wellspring for inspiration but I have yet to hear one band that delivers a track as singularly monumental as this one. Devastating!

Wavves – “So Bored” (2009)

My pick for best single of 2009 (thus far) has to go to this one. I just can’t get the chorus out of my head and to be honest, that’s pretty okay with me. This is round two in our quest to clean out your ear lobes. Wavves are a band that has garnered some pretty impressive national attention and frankly I’m amazed considering how lo-fi and anti-commercial this music seems to me. The only question I have is: Since this is a one-man band, can Wavves pull it off live?

 

Black Tambourine – “For Ex-Lovers Only” (1993)

Seminal DC indie-noise pop that still blows away 99% of modern independent music. If you don’t own this band’s Complete Recordings cd, you need to! I think e-music has all their songs. Phenomenal band! You could choose any number of the band’s songs for a mix and be rest assured you’ve got a slice of gold on there, but we chose this one because A) it’s brilliant and B) it ties together very nicely with the two previous tracks. Love those nasty guitars! And the chorus is to die for–––smoking!

Crystal Stilts – “Converging in the Quiet” (2005)

I really dig this band’s debut album, “Alight of Night,” which came out on the Slumberland label late last year. But as much as I do, I still think their best work may be the material they recorded for Woodsist in 2004 and 2005. There’s been a lot of talk about how this is a band fully in love with Joy Division. There are similarities for sure, but the Stilts offer a sort of naïve indie jangle, 60s psychedelic side that the legendary Manchuians never possessed. A sublime song! It was re-recorded (and re-named) for their debut album but we prefer the song in its more embryonic form. Don’t miss their show at the Black Cat on Wed. April 8!

 

Comet Gain – “Love Without Lies” (2008)

Coincidentally enough, this U.K.-based indie band will also be playing the aforementioned Crystal Stilts Black Cat show on April 8! Comet Gain have been flying the DIY flag for years, all the while keeping a relatively low profile stateside. That’s all about to change with their new release “Broken Record Prayers” on the What’s Your Rupture? label, the same label that brought us Love Is All and caUSE co-MOTION! “Love Without Lies” is the stand-out single from the band’s new release and one of my favorite singles from 2008. The video was shot in Glasgow at one of the famed “Twee As Fuck” events. Those Glaswegian indie kids sure do like to take a puff, don’t they?

 

The Red Krayola – “An Old Man’s Dream” (1981)

Something of a one-of-a-kind, one-off post-punk “super-group” single here. The Red Krayola has always been the moniker of Mayo Thompson’s musical activities, tracing all the way back to his psychedelic days in the 60s. His music career had its share of ups and downs until the U.K. post-punk community embraced him in the late 70s/early 80s. For this stunning single, Thompson recruited Lora Logic (from post-punk band Essential Logic) on vocals, as well as Gina Birch from The Raincoats and Epic Soundtracks from Swell Maps. I have yet to hear a Red Krayola recording I like as much as this one. Seriously, 1981 is often cited as THE year for post-punk. Yet more evidence to support that argument!

Vivian Girls – “Where Do You Run To” (2008)

My favorite Vivs song from their debut album. I like their noisier tracks but here they offer a more restrained and introspective side, showcasing their talents well. I especially love the inspired three-part harmonies. Really lovely. Definitely an ear worm of a song!

Happy Refugees – “Warehouse Sound” (1984)

Quite possibly my favorite track on the new mix. I know very little about this obscure U.K. band other than they released this single and then a mini-album called “Last Chance Saloon.” There’s been some whispers of a reissue happening––I’m crossing my fingers!

The Lines – “The Landing” (1983)

Of course anyone who read my BYT feature on The Lines knows how much I love this band! A lot of record collector types I’ve bumped into only think of them as a singles band but there was a lot more to them. This lovely, slow-building atmospheric track is case in point. The track takes its time to reveal itself, reveling in its tribal percussion and haunting jungle sounds for several minutes before unveiling the kind of beautiful, wall-of-sound emotional payoff that would become part and parcel to the shoegaze scene nearly a decade later. Those guitar atmospherics take me to another world entirely. Awesome song!

Talking Heads – “The Overload” (1980)

We wrap things up with quite possibly the darkest, queasiest and experimental of Talking Heads’ tracks. “The Overload”, co-written by the band and Brian Eno, closed the band’s landmark “Remain in Light” album and shows the group’s infatuation with Eno’s brilliant tape-loop experiments and penchant for weird, off-kilter claustrophobic studio sounds. More of a mood piece than a pop song, it closes the mix on a droning, unsettling note.