Another example of Dan Sarka's (Sparrows.) prowess as a writer and singer. It always seemed to me that the cartoon pop band premise of this band was at odds with the frequently sad nature of the songs, even the ones that sound upbeat. Can you imagine if all of the Archies' songs were about Betty's longing for Archie and the pain of observing his obsession with Veronica? (Betty was the genius behind the Archies, but you probably all knew that.) Best description I have ever heard of the Vandalias, from the Shindig newsgroup a few years back: "The bastard sons of Thin Lizzy and the Partridge Family."

I know I probably won't convince anybody, but really, Martin Phillipps is easily as gifted as Nick Drake, Syd Barrett, Alex Chilton or any of the other oddball/tragedy/visionaries whose career minutiae are obsessed over in the pages of MOJO. 1990's Submarine Bells (there's a great master's thesis to be written on the comparison of Submarine Bells to Pet Sounds if you can find the right advisor) is my favorite LP of that decade, and the Kaleidoscope World anthology of early singles and EP tracks is endlessly delightful and wonderfully odd, as well as frequently impossibly sad. Even Brave Words, which was faulted at the time for it's production, now sounds like a great collection of unique twisted-heart discoveries, hooked by the incredible "Night Of Chill Blue." All of the above contain perhaps the most moving pop music I have ever heard. In addition, they had a reputation as a great live act; I didn't catch them until the Submarine Bells tour, but they were just unbelievable, tight and confident and much noisier than the studio recordings, with occasional passages that crescendoed into a maelstrom of nearly Sonic Youth proportions. This remains probably my favorite show I've ever seen.

Tons of Chills oddities/B-sides/rarities were rounded up for the fan club 3-CD set Secret Box, which contains today's entry.

I used to go see these guys a lot, and I was always sort of amazed at how much I liked them because they seemed kind of enigmatic to me. Besides the fact that they looked more like rock musicians than most of the bands I knew personally and were from KC, which meant I didn't see them at the bar/laundromat/record store all the time, they were really LOUD and that wasn't really my thing. I mean, I liked Husker Du just fine, but I was never as smitten as most of the people I was hanging out with. Anyway, even with a wall of fuzzy guitar blare, Mike Allmayer's uncommon pop smarts and the band's arrangement acumen shone through on nearly every song; "Liking You" is the textbook example.

Midwestern folks maight not need much intorduction to this Springfield, MO band; they were a very popular club draw in the early 80s, and had they been from LA they almost certainly would have been allowed to sign a major label deal and make one or two LPs that shipped immediately to Camelot Music cut-out bins. They were slick and professional on record (3 LPs, 2 45s), and similarly disciplined live by all accounts, though I was just a couple of years too young to ever have seen them. They made a reunion CD in 2002 that was warmly recieved by the Not Lame/Audities community. Other details of the band's history are available here including the explanation of the "Fool's Tail," which lends an unfortunate Midwestern touch to the traditional skinny-tie power pop look.

This, like the Necessaries and Comsat Angels entries was a KJHK mystery until the early 90s when What Gives co-founder and former Springfield resident Mike Horan played this record for me at his house. I knew within the first few seconds what it was. It's still my favorite Fools Face song.

Hector Penelosa of punk legends the Zeros was a founding member of this SF's Flying Color, which no doubt caused some dyed-in-the-hair punk purists to wonder what went wrong. Although Flying Color made just this one LP, Penelosa continued in a heartfelt folky power pop vein with an endearing solo LP for Cryptovision and several years later, another fine album for Spain's Bam Balamm records entitled Music For Cats, which naturally gets a certain amount of kudos from the staff. Meanwhile guitarist/songwriter Dale Duncan works with Chris Von Sneidern and FC drummer John Stuart in Map of Wyoming. "Dear Friend" was released as a 45 a couple of years prior to this LP; we're not sure if it's the same version.

Our retro-garage mania continues, and Shammy is delighted. You don't hear so much about the Stepford Husbands, as their brand of garage doesn't have Thee Sound of Fuzz, but we're crazy about the $17 production and we do love that organ-driven sound. Great vocal, too. We also like their "Seems Like Years" 45, in which the basic sound heard here is applied to a heart-rending ballad with odd results.