Galaxie 500 - On Fire (USA 1989, @320)
Track List
1 Blue Thunder
2 Tell Me
3 Snowstorm
4 Strange
5 When Will You Come Home
6 Decomposing Trees
7 Another Day
8 Leave The Planet
9 Plastic Bird
10 Isn't It A Pity
Bonus Tracks
11 Victory Garden
12 Ceremony
13 Cold Night
Galaxie 500 - Today (USA 1988, @320)
Another of my favourite albums from one of my favourite bands (I'll be saying that a lot!)
Galaxie 500's debut doesn't merely live up to the sweet promise of the band's debut single "Tugboat," Today's final song, but almost without trying becomes its own gently powerful touchstone. While the influences are clear -- third album Velvet Underground, early non-dance New Order, psychedelic haze and fuzz thanks to the reverb Kramer piled on as producer -- the resulting brew easily stands on its own. By never feeling the need to conventionally rock out, the Krukowski/Yang rhythm section comes up with its own brand of intensity. Sometimes the two are persistently skipping along without Krukowski having to bash the hell out of the drums (the downright delightful "Oblivious" is a good example), other times they simply play it soft and slow. Meanwhile, Wareham's low-key chiming and slightly lost, forlorn singing, at places wry and whimsical, often achingly sad, forms the perfect counterpoint to the songs' paces, feeling like a gauzy dream. When he comes up with his own brand of electric guitar heroics, it's very much in the Lou Reed and such descendants vein of less being more, setting the moods via strumming and understated but strong soloing. One particular Descendant gets honored with a cover version: Jonathan Richman, whose "Don't Let Our Youth Go to Waste" is turned into a deceptively calm epic, with marvelous playing by all three members. It's easier to lose oneself in the flow of the sound rather than worry about any deep meaning, making the stronger images that come to the fore all that more entertaining, like "watching all the people fall to pieces" in "Parking Lot." "Tugboat" itself, meanwhile, remains as wonderful as ever, a cascading confession of love at the expense of everything else, somehow mournful and triumphant all at once
Track List
1. "Flowers"
2. "Pictures"
3. "Parking Lot"
4. "Don't Let Our Youth Go to Waste"
5. "Temperature's Rising"
6. "Oblivious"
7. "It's Getting Late"
8. "Instrumental"
9. "Tugboat"
Luna - Lunapark (US 1992, 320kbps)
Luna's 1992 debut (originally released under the short-lived band name Luna 2 for contractual reasons) got most of its press due to Dean Wareham's former position as leader of the critically adored Galaxie 500, but his new cohorts Justin Harwood (bass) and Stanley Demeski (drums) were fresh from stints in the Chills and the Feelies, respectively. A rarity among albums by this type of alt-rock supergroup, Lunapark sounds like an appealing conglomeration of some of the best aspects of all three participants' former bands. Wareham's familiar bored whine and slow-motion guitar create an interesting tension when juxtaposed with Harwood's ultra-melodic bass and Demeski's hyperactive drums, as if each member is still playing with his old band. The album spawned two college radio hits, the deliciously depressive "Slide" (with its memorable opening line "You can never give the finger to the blind") and the jittery, propulsive "Slash Your Tires," but nearly all of the 12 songs have memorable guitar hooks, stick-in-your-head choruses, and a newfound sense of humor in Wareham's deadpan lyrics. Lesser-known gems include the surprisingly poppy "I Can't Wait" and the Television-like tension of the closing "We're Both Confused." Guests feature Wareham's old label head Kramer and Mercury Rev co-leader Grasshopper, who adds extra guitar to about a third of the album.
Track List
