I thought Material Issue's post-International Pop Overthrow material was mostly pretty thin, with the exception of a few great tracks ("Goin' Through Your Purse" leaps immediately to mind), and that Jim Ellison was a bit of a jackass on stage most of the times I saw them. However, it's the good things about the band that really stand out in my memory: Putting off buying the "Renee Remains the Same" 45 for months because I thought it looked like a generic hardcore record (and the band name didn't help any), seeing them at SXSW on the verge of their signing with Mercury and remembering their songs for months afterward, a show at noon in front of the Kansas Union on a chilly early spring day where Ellison and company were having a great time and played a fantastic set to bemused passersby, and wishing International Pop Overthrow would come out so we could own all of those songs we'd only heard live a couple of times.

Almost nine years after the sad suicide of Jim Ellison, it seems that Material Issue's accomplishments, by Little Hits standards, are fairly significant. They were an excellent, tight live rock 'n' roll band, Ellison wrote more great songs than AC/DC or the Raspberries, he and his mates made one excellent LP, and a handful of tracks that were up to the level of the best material from that record. Here are a couple: "Echo Beach" was, I believe, their first effort, issued on a four-song various artists 7". "The Girl Who never Ever Falls In Love" was the B-side of "Renee...". I don't think either of these ever turned up on any of their albums, although re-recordings of some of the choice early material did ("Chance Of A Lifetime" and "A Very Good Thing" among others).

The Jasmine Minks were just about as good as any of the early Creation bands; so good in fact that it was difficult to choose which song to put up here. I thought maybe "What's Happening" or the LP track "Forces Network," or even the jangly "Cut Me Deep" but the boys voted for this, their first Creation 45. It's interesting to note how their interpretation of the Mod sound differs from the Jam-inspired bands like the Chords, The Jolt, etc.

There is a narcotic warmth to the fuzzy guitar and organ maelstrom of Snapper; while the rhythms may be fairly stomping and the melodies sinister, the overall effect is one of being cocooned in your very comfortable Velvet zone. Snapper (on this record) consists of mainstay Peter Gutteridge (very early clean member who turned up again in the Great Unwashed, as well as a contributor to many other FN discs) as well as David Kilgour (Clean, Stephen, etc.), Mike Dooley (Toy Love) and Christine Voice. Their entire output is mesmerizing, and there are times when nothing else will do.

By the way, Flying Nun Records has just released a Toy Love retrospective. Also, Tall Dwarfs are playing a few US dates this summer.

A recent flurry of CD-R comp trading with Brian Kirk reminded us how good this track is. This is from what we believe to be the only release from Kings of Wyoming, masterminded by former 10,000 Maniacs producer Albert Garzon. Cathy Crane's charming vocal recalls good stuff like the Revolving Paint Dream or the Hangman's Beautiful Daughters.

More modpsychfreakbeat in an attempt to catch up. Plasticland's entire career may have been based on the Geranium Pond track. Sweden's The Acts present one of our favorite English as Second Language cuts. Then we have great folkish pop from Germany's Improved Sound Ltd. and a great 45 from the Ways and Means, a UK outfit that reminds us of the Easybeats.

I'm sorry I haven't posted for awhile. We had an electrical storm over the holiday weekend that put my computer in the hospital, so I'm going to attempt to catch up over the next few days. Here are a few tracks that we would have placed on Rhino's Nuggets II box set. First, New Zealand's Cresendos (sic) with a lovely proto-Chills fuzzpop nugget. Then an unreleased popsong from Tropical Fish, typical of the gems to be found on the Syde Tryps series. We follow this with a great mod dancer from Holland's Zen, and brutal freakbeat from The Boys Blue, which comes to us from the very highly recommended Searching In the Wilderness comp. Next post: probably more of the same.