Stop the press! This is a brand new record released just yesterday!
All your eerie gothic ambient sound design flavours combined for a dark woozy 2025 anthem. Glitchy ethereal wave to witchy nightmare gaze, VIZ might just become your new favourite gloomy sonic sorcerer.
Angel's Throat - VÍZ
More woozy shenanigans as dream pop shifts into a gloomy electroacoustic nightmare. The Black Lodge relocated to rural Lost Highways of Transylvania.
The most orthodox and least talked about of all the Flying Nun janglers. Sneaky Feelings' 1984 LP Send You is still a pretty underrated low key triumph despite gaining some belated acclaim ten years ago when Captured Tracks did a reissue. These guys eschew the tense jangles and the post-punk bass lines of their contemporaries in the international jangle underground for a more traditional sound that could have been created in the 60s à la Bob Dylan and The Byrds. Throwing Stones istimeless goldwith itssparkling web of swirling jangles, splendid harmonies and sour lyrics.
Sneaky Feelings - Not To Take Sides [1984]
We even get some ace atmospheric reverbed twang here amongst the bursting melodies, lush harmonies and kaleidoscopic jangles. Pure pop goodness for people not made for these times or those times.
We interrupt the 80s jangling for a moment to present this folky/soft-rock classic from one hit wonder Brian Protheroe. I'd never heard this tune until it turned up on one of those Junk Shop compilations in the 00s so I'm guessing this wasn't a hit in Australia. The stream of consciousness lyrics which include a list of things that keep going wrong are pretty funny. He feels like he's in gaol because he's run out of pale ale and the cat's just finished off the bread. Nick Drake-esque folk transforms into Shuggie Otis style smooth mellow funk jam which also contains excellent saxophone solo. The kids would probably call this yacht rock now but I don't know if they've realised that this one should definitely be in the cannon.
More jangling from down south in the 80s, this time from Birmingham Alabama's Primitons. Seeing Is Believing from Primitons self-titled mini LP is somewhere between the menacing jangles of The Feelies and supreme pop melodicism of Shoes. Produced by Mitch Easter who even kindly provided the lead break.
Primitons - All My Friends [1985]
All My Friends is the crowning glory in Primitons small discography (of just 18 songs). Starts out the gate with that Feelies-esque nervy urgency then proceeds into almost shoegaze territory with a melodic almost psych-noise-pop chorus reminiscent of peak Pale Saints. The jittery to mellifluous song structure is a neat sonic trick analogous to the loud/quiet/loud method perfected by The Pixies a few years later.
One of the great non-hits of the 80s. I mean sure it was a hit in the indie ghetto but how did this not crossover to become a chartbuster? Anywho The Living Kind has aged like fine wine. At the time Ups & Downs couldn't avoid being compared to The Church with this jangling Rickenbacker monster featuring Ploog-y drummage. Vocally though they were different and this melodically rich power pop with blood harmonies from the Atkinson brothers is incredibly crafty and catchy. These guys could have had a career as songwriting hitmakers for commercial Aussie pop stars I reckon...
Dark swirly bass, swirly psych jangles and downbeat lost lyrics. The lines between post-punk, neo-psych and the jangly pop of the day get blurred once more. We get the usual Television and Byrds inspiration and I guess for all these jangly bands there's always a lurking Feelies influence too.
Has anyone ever written a book about this great 80s phenomena of jangling pop-rock? I mean it was so ubiquitous but all we ever hear about now is post punk, hardcore, blockbuster commercial pop, heavy metal and noise rock. Yet some of the biggest bands of the era employed a jangle strategy more often than not: The Smiths in the UK, REM in America, The Church in Australia, The Clean in in NZ etc. Plus all the fantastic second tier bands in each territory then the gazillion unknown groups in the jangly underground like Crippled Pilgrims. It makes zero sense that all those other aforementioned genres as well as goth, industrial, synth-pop are seen as more worthy than all our favourite jangly bands.
Then some bands were in a zone somewhere between REM and Husker Du. I Was In Your Life is hard edged power-pop, hooks and harmonies plus excellent backwards guitar solo. It's all done and dusted in a brisk two minutes. These guys missed out. Bleached Black had the electrifying tunes but sometimes notoriety just doesn't happen and their potential was never fulfilled. Forty years later this 7 inch single is going for sixty bucks on discogs.
Bleached Black - Morning Sun [1987]
This one's sorta somewhere between Died Pretty and Grant Hart. Morning Sun goes along splendidly in a harmonising, drumless and acoustic manner. The production on this is fantastic so it's no surprise producer Lou Giordano later went on to produce many Alternative bestsellers of the 90s like Bob Mould, Lemonheads, Julianna Hatfield, Belly, Sugar, Live, Goo Goo Dolls and many more.
There isn't a hell of a lot of info out there on New Haven, Connecticut's Bleached Black but it seems their self-titled LP from 1987 was dumped with little promotion, no singles and no videos, then they just drop off the face of the earth. It all seems very bizarre considering how promising they were but I guess there's an untold story that we just don't know. Anyway that's how the cookie crumbled...
Bleached Black - Let Me Take The Time [1987]
This time Bleached Black get dark and noisy. Let Me Take The Time is hard driving yet melodic post-punk with added feedback that's got a bit more of neo-psych flavour like Rain Parade crossed with mid tempo Husker Du.
Bleached Black - Crisis [1987]
More driving buzzsaw neo-psych with surreal guitar interludes, intense lead and top harmonising. The hard hitting twin vocals of Stevo and Greg Prior are pretty infectious, right up there with peak Stipe and Mills and future legends Staley and Cantrell.
More REM worship... well this not so much a rip off as a tribute. This is a pretty fantastic impersonation of an REM song too. Stipe and co were absolutely mythical in the 80s before they did terrible shit like Radio Song that destroyed all of that delicious mystique.
P - Michael Stipe [1995]
Even Gibby Haynes of Butthole Surfers was dazzled by the great man, so much so that he wrote an excellent song about meeting him. Others name checked in the song include River Phoenix, Sophie Coppolla, Martin Landau etc.
REM - 9-9 [1983]
You tend to forget that REM were pretty fucking peculiar on those early records. I mean what the fuck are they up to on this tune? This ain't no radio friendly schlock à la Everybody Hurts. These southern eccentrics were incredibly inspired and distinctive.
Heading further into obscure territory here with more long lost paisley jangling from down south. There's some uncommon lo-fi haunted psychedelic magic going on here. The strange tonal shifts of the insane bass passages on this create a pretty discombobulating sensation! This band from Tuscaloosa Alabama are right in an inspired zone on Another Place To Hide creating the perfect mid 80s one and done 7 inch single. Recorded by Tim Lee from Windbreakers (see previous post).
Now for some REM mimicry. If I'd heard this at the time I would have been irritated and thought this was just pale imitation but now I'm fascinated by it. It does have a nice boy/girl chorus which is pretty sweet and the whole thing is pretty darn catchy. I guess there's elements of other jangle and strummers too like The Feelies, The Bats and their ilk. The biggest surprise here is that Mitch Easter is not the producer, surely that can't be right.
Secret Question - One Plus Two [1985]
More REM worship from the terribly named One Plus Two from North Carolina. They did a single, this EP and an an LP and surprise surprise Homestead Records was their label.
Promise - One Plus Two [1985]
The Ivy Room EP would be a mere historic jangly curiosity if it wasn't for this fabulous track. Songs about leaving small country towns in your youth are close to my heart and Promise does not disappoint. The whole defiant optimism of leaving your town because of a relationship disaster is so darn infectious. This time honoured theme pops up in other classics like Pavement's Box Elder and Gene Clarke's I'll Feel A Whole Lot Better by The Byrds.
Some early 80s garage-psych complete with OTT intergalactic acid guitars from Milwaukee group Plasticland. I guess it's some kinda precursor to the paisley underground. I vaguely recall Matt Piucci saying, on a podcast, that Rain Parade were influenced by them and that perhaps he ripped off certain elements of this tune for I Look Around one of the great songs on Emergency Third Rail Power Trip.
Pretty choice slice of jangly power pop . Everything's in the right place. Right up there with The Someloves and The Plimsouls. A love song that's in that sweet spot of emotive yet restrained making it not too cheesy.
Nice.
Actually the more I think about it, the more I think it's one of the great lost guitar pop songs of the 80s that hardly anyone knows. This version is a re-recording of their ramshackle 1985 single for their one and only self-titled LP from 1987.
A southern more twangy take on the paisley underground sound. All these ingredients were becoming cliche by this point but somehow Mississippi's terminally underrated Windbreakers absolutely kill it here driving windswept lost highways with their ghostly melodies and reverbed to the hilt twin guitar trip-out.
These guys had previously been pretty new wave-y but by their third record, the minor triumph that was Translator (1985), they were laying on the dark jangles and psych tinges to their melodic power pop. I mean if someone told you that was Marty Wilson-Piper rockin' out in a blistering fashion from the 2:58 minute mark you'd believe them.
Despite crafty songwriting, fabulous musicianship and a great sounding production they just didn't have enough to get them over the line. They didn't have the strong cohesive identity or cool image of say your Dream Syndicate, Smiths, REM or XTC.
New Song - Translator [1985]
Here's the trippiest, most paisley moment on the record. All hallucinogenic and kaleidoscopic backwards guitars sounding a lot like a Rain Parade or Church tune from 1983.
Pretty cool.
Fall Forever - Translator [1985]
This fan favourite is catchy power pop with psycho bits.
After Rain Parade and Dream Syndicate and before Opal Kendra Smith and David Roback formed Clay Alison. On their one and only single they had Terry Graham from Gun Club on drums. Pretty cool psych-pop sound with Dave laying down some pretty hazy sweet lonesome fuzz.
Tripped out fuzz, jangles, cosmic bass, swirly sideshow alley organ, narcotic electro hand claps, Kendra Smith on backing vocals all reverb-ed to the hilt for a maximum daydream haze-y buzz.
Hallucinatory hypnotic neo-psych at its finest. Get mesmerized!
Every coupla years I put on Emergency Third Rail Power Trip and go hang on... isn't this one of the greatest records of all time? and not just in the dreamy jangly psych field? Why doesn't this show up in the retarded lists and cannons?
[1983]
1 Hour 1/2 Ago
All the cool influences: Syd Barrett, Yardbirds... wait for the 1:05 moment. That could be peak "the bottoms fallen out of the song" abstract shenanigans that The Church's Wilson-Piper/Koppes were so fond of. Fragments, interludes, playback slow downs, backwards tapes and volume shifts creating great 80s psychedelia.
[1983]
I look Around
Who's ever heard so many Byrdsian jangles then incredible backwards guitar stylings outside of a classic 80s Church tune? Here they were the contemporaneous Rain Parade before guitarist Dave Roback went on to form the sublime Opal and 90s legends Mazzy Star.
I posted a whole bunch of garage sides maybe 18 months ago but here's one I missed. It's one of the greatest singles ever to come out of Michigan which is the premier state for garage, psych and teen-beat innit. When I first heard this i went "Oh yeah this is ok but whatever" then 30 listens later it's in your all time garage top 20. Funny singing, driving guitar goodness, aah aahs and in the lead break they unexpectedly chuck in some fucking bells and you gotta love bells...
The heatwave continues so here's this supreme catchy power-pop tune featuring frantic driving surf guitars. Nothing says surf culture more than four patsy English blokes.
We're going through an insane heatwave here in the north-west of Victoria so here's a banger for your long hot summer. I'm dreaming of the cool sea I was swimming in just a coupla weeks ago as I listen to this slice of new wave surf power pop perfection. Every Last Summer is from their debut LP LA Explosion! which is one of these great lost records that a certain set of aficionados seem to know about while many seem oblivious to it ever existing.
An infectious lo-fi psych-pop gem. It's idyllic and euphoric yet slightly haunted. I mean that's the acid experience right there - elation with a slight possibility of everything going pear-shaped. In This Castle's from the acid fried teenage classic Summer Of Lust tape by the legendary yet terminally unknown and underrated Green Pajamas. I guess you'd say they were paisley underground adjacent as they weren't from California but Seattle.
Green Pajamas - Green Pajamas (1984)
Wrote the theme tune, sang the theme tune. Gotta love a band with a theme tune. This is their answer to tunes like All You Need Is Love except this a song about how cool your bird is in her green jarmies. They invited a bunch a girls to the jam to do a singalong crowd chorus with hand claps creating this great fun party atmosphere. You'll be singing "I Love her in her green pajamas" in no time.
Psych teens captured in all their four track in the bedroom glory!
Paisley underground latecomers 28th Day featured Barbara Manning and the still unknown legend Cole Marquis (Sunbirds/The Downsiders). The dark jangles conjure a hazy Californian twilight haunted by the ghosts of psychedelia and cosmic Americana.
Guitars, guitars, guitars. Beautifully crafted cosmic paisley underground goodness. The shadowy flow motion of the dual guitar interplay here is mesmerising.
*This bootleg demo is a hundred times better than the version on their excellent debut record D Is For Dumptruck.
When the indie janglers went epic with this rock-out to close their debut LP Foxheads Stalk This Land which is a jangle masterwork. Mother Of God though is a euphoric slab of neo-psych shogaze-y noise pop. A few years later many groups would incorporate a similar contagious upbeat swagger into their world dominating guitar pop aesthetic.
How the hell has this escaped me for over 30 years? It's obvious to say but this sounds a bit like a James Ferraro production circa 2007 but hey Jan was 14 years ahead of that hypnagogic chancer. This video has gained viral notoriety with over 6 million views since it was uploaded in the early days of youtube with the title "worst music video ever" We all know this was wrong as it's one of the greatest music videos ever. Jan's got a touch of the outsider pop magic. Rock'n'roll, Phil Spector, British beat, bubblegum, glam, punk, new wave, synthetic 80s pop: It's all in here swirling around in this classically crafted infectious pop tune.
Jan Terri - Baby Blues [1993]
Jan's pretty versatile. Here she goes country but in a purely Jan way of course. How this video isn't from 1983 is a mystery.
[1994]
Jan Terri - Journey To Mars
This one's a bit more rock. Jan with her gang of space age ladies. Futuristic.
More forgotten VHS gold from my teenage years. This might be the ultimate Rage cult classic. Me and my little sister thought this was the best back in 88/89. It's so funny, so Australian... so excellent.
Green Men might be the most important Australian short film in history. An intimate, insightful document of Strayan 20 something gen Xer's mindset and lifestyle.
He's in his undies, his Reg Grundy's, in his shizenhausen pigsty of a share house, he eats awful slop out of a can, his urine is turning green, his clothes are not too clean, he's desperate, his confidence has been undermined, he's not good enough for you, there's spew - look out cat and dog, VB cans, a George Michael poster, a trip to the milk bar and much much more.
Also contains the greatest verse in all of rock music history:
Here's an old school Rage classic I'd forgotten about. Roddy was a mysterious minor cult celebrity in my house at the time. Here was a guy who'd been in The Scientists, Hoodoo Gurus, The Johnnys, The James Baker Experience, The Dubrovniks etc. but he always seemed to leave these bands after their first single, just before they became successful. I never knew if he was just a loose cannon so they fired him or if he chickened out or he thought the bands had sold out or he was just unlucky. He was probably just a mercurial maverick, definitely a catalyst, a true rock'n'roll outlaw and a fucking deadset legend.
Dynamite Party takes the Aussie 80s garage rock sound towards an obnoxious almost glam metal junction with an insanely dodgy drum sound. The free good time rock'n'roll spirit shines through though.
*Video also features legendary Radio Birdman guitarist Chris Masuak.
Le Hoodoo Gurus - Leilani [1982]
Le Hoodoo Gurus were three guitarists and a drummer. This was their first single on the indie Phantom label. By the time of their second single they'd drop the "Le" and two of their guitarists Roddy & Kimble and become a conventional four piece rock group. Ready to become Aussie rock icons.
*The sound on this video is absolutely shite but worth watching for historical purposes. Roddy's up the back in a blue suit sporting a short hairdo.
Hoodoo Gurus - (Let's All) Turn On [1983]
Whilst Roddy didn't play on The Hoodoo Gurus debut album Stoneage Romeos, four of the tunes on the record were co-written by him including Arthur, Death Ship, Leilani and this the barnstorming classic that opens the LP (Let's All) Turn On.
The James Baker Experience - Born To Be Punched [1985]
Roddy co-wrote and played guitar on this, the B-side to Baker's one and only single I Can't Control Myself. This was a supergroup 80s Sydney style with Salamander Jim members Greg 'Tex' Perkins on bass and Stu Spasm on the other guitar and piano.
The Dubrovniks - Fireball Of Love [1988]
A driving dreamy pop tune with a sublime wall of sound. This is great stuff, almost shoegaze-y and unlike most things Roddy played on.
Haven't heard this since 1983 when I was in grade 6. My girlfriend had this exact haircut. How could you not be a spunk with that do.
In the best film clip of the 80s our spunk Shazza sings into a chicken, empties a garbage bag of rubbish, which includes a can fosters, onto her cheating boyfriend's waterbed, tries to garbage disposal his shoe and much much more. Sharon's acting prowess knows no bounds.
Losing You is a synth-rock pop anthem including some choice 80s saxophone and a singing synth robot at the end.
