Ripples from the paisley underground. Three records purchased on the basis of
hearing one tune off of each on the radio, and in all cases, alas, it was the
band’s best song. Funny how often that happens. Love Circus were San Francisco
band who released only a single, a comp track, and this ep collection of pretty
unremarkable songs, except for the last track, which wonderfully captures the
whole Rain Parade/Dream Syndicate vibe—really take two of the Byrds/Velvet
Underground (poppier side) vibe. Great verse construction trick where the rhythm
guitar changes chords while the bass keeps on the same note. Nice not quite
rhythm, not quite lead guitar arpeggios. Summer of love love lyrics. Untucked
paisley shirts worn by underemployed mop-topped college grads—not too far
fetched a speculation, right? Please raise your hand if you’ve been there. Maybe
on the rest of the ep they were going for a Green on Red vibe. Not too much
info out there on them, except that guitarist Dale Duncan went on to form Flying
Color and later Map of Wyoming. Confusing things is the apparent existence of
another SF band in the 60’s of the same name.

“We like the Velvet Underground AND the Monkees” must have been the thinking
that went into the name. Featuring Don Fleming (Half Japanese, B.A.L.L) the
Washington, DC-based Velvet Monkeys offered mostly humorous, often more
punked-up lower-fi pop culture mash-ups remotely akin to those of the Young
Fresh Fellows. “It’s All the Same”, the best tune of their 1989 compilation,
uncharacteristically mines very similar Paisley Underground musical territory,
and is pleasingly close to being an actual Monkees song. More hyped and less
lazy/groovy than the Love Circus cut. Can’t you picture Peter or Mickey singing
it? Still, it’s got Rain Parade written all over it. Were all these bands doing
this kind of thing simultaneously? Surely there was some sort of feedback loop
going on.

Meanwhile, over in Sweden and Australia, there was a garage-rock revival going
on, and records by band such as the Nomads, the Playthings, Pushtwangers, the
Someloves, Lime Spiders, and the Watermelon Men began to find their way over to
college radio stations across the various ponds. This Watermelon Men track fits
nicely into the Paisley Underground mold, though they probably weren’t conscious
of the sonic connection. It sounds a bit like the Bangles, doesn’t it? Or the
Velvet Monkeys track. Extra points to all those Swedish bands like them
struggling with simple rhyme schemes and English grammar (pick up the Playmates
album for an extreme example). Maybe Swedish bands would’ve had more luck in the
States if they had kept some mystery about themselves by singing in Swedish,
much as Dungen do today. Or not. It is garage-rock we’re talking about, one of
the most conservative genres of retro out there.

-Andrew Chalfen