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Romeo Void

Posted in 1980s, post-punk, romeo void, san francisco, wave on September 27, 2007 by Frankie Teardrop

Another request to fulfill today, ladies and gentlemen. Today’s featured band is San Francisco based post-punk/new wave act Romeo Void.

Formed in 1979 by a group of college art school chums, Romeo Void would stir up a slice of controversy with their sex-fused lyrics and fiery performances. However, this controversy would not stop the band, led by Debora Iyall, from scoring a few independent hits for Columbia Records over the course of six years.

Romeo Void would record three full length records and one EP before officially disbanding in 1985 due to an apparent slew of lineup changes. Debora would release one solo record in 1986 before forming a handful of bands (including current outfit Knife In Water) while other remaining members would soon do the same. The band reunited in 1992 for a handful of benefit gigs for a friend and have since performed a one-off show on Vh1’s behalf in 2003. Though new material is rumoured to have been recorded since the band’s demise, no new tracks have appeared. Instead, the band’s legacy has sadly diminished to that unforgettable catchy chorus from the song ‘Never Say Never.’ The song features one of the most remembered lines of the 1980s- ‘I might like you better if we slept together’ and is to this date, a dancefloor favorite.

I’ve uploaded an extended (and far superior than the broadcasted version) mix of ‘Never Say Never’ plucked from the EP of the same name. The second featured tune is a personal favorite from their 1982 record Benefactor.

download Romeo Void- ‘Never Say Never (12” Single Version)’
download Romeo Void- ‘Chinatown’

And for your viewing pleasure, here’s a video for the song ‘Say No’ from their first record, 1981’s Instincts.

A few scattered links:
Debora Iyall’s website
Romeo Void on Amazon.com

6 Comments »

We’ve Got a Fuzzbox and We’re Going to Use It

Posted in 1980s, british, fuzzbox, post-punk, synth, we've got a fuzzbox and we're going to use it on September 24, 2007 by Frankie Teardrop

We’ve Got a Fuzzbox and We’re Going to Use It formed in Birmingham in 1985 as an incredibly raw, all female post-punk act with a knack for outrageous dress and catchy hooks. Their initial style, a devil-may-care attitude fostered on punk rock fury and a dose of playful sexuality, initially caused a controversial buzz upon their debut.

After a double-a side single for the songs ‘XX Sex’ and ‘Rules and Regulations’ reached number 41 in the British charts, the band took to the studio and recorded their first full length record. Released in 1986, their self-titled record hit the charts, airwaves, and dance floors in England, but failed to make much of an impact outside of Europe, where their name was truncated simply to ‘Fuzzbox’ and the album retitled to Bostin’ Steve Austin.

Their second record, 1989’s Big Bang! featured a revamp of style and sound, the band trading in their punk rock ethics for a sound more in line with slick dance pop. Despite an attempt to adapt to the times, the band split almost immediately after the album’s release, and lead singer Vickie Perks would form Vix And The Kix after a failed solo effort.

After a few listens, I’m not too keen on their second record, so with that being the case, I’ve instead uploaded two of the singles from their debut record, Bostin’ Steve Austin for your consumption.

download Fuzzbox- ‘Love is the Slug’
download Fuzzbox- ‘Rules and Regulations’

The video for ‘Love is the Slug’ may very well be one of the most amusing, fun, and strange videos I’ve ever seen, so approach below with caution and perhaps a love for sheer wackiness.

Most of their output is seemingly out of print, but available on LP via various auction and second-hand sites. If you like it, seek it out!

12 Comments »

Audra

Posted in 2000s, audra, glam, post-punk, projekt on September 19, 2007 by Frankie Teardrop

Today’s band, gloom guitar-oriented Audra’s origins are fuzzy at best. The brainchild of Helm brothers Bret (vocals) and Bart (guitars), Audra began writing and recording music as far back as 1993, soon after their relocation to Mesa, Arizona.

Alongside their trusty drum-machine (replaced by live drummer J. Dewolfe in 2002), the band would self-release a slew of cassette tapes and demos over the course of six years, eventually drawing the attention of Projekt’s Sam Rosenthal, who signed the band and released their self-titled debut in 2000, a driving record with glam rock hooks, dark meandering lyrics, and heavy backbeats.

Their sophomore effort, 2002’s Going to the Theatre improved upon this formula, adding more subtle and haunting beauty to their compositions. The record earned the band a series of favorable reviews and television spots on select MTv programs.

Though the band has yet to release their follow-up, it is said to be in the works. In the meanwhile, Audra has contributed Christmas tunes and cover songs to various compilations, and both Bret and Bart Helm have been regular members of neo-ambient act Black Tape for a Blue Girl since 2002.

For your listening pleasure, I’ve uploaded a track from both of their records, in reverse chronological order.

download Audra- ‘There Are No Snakes In Heaven’
download Audra- ‘In Hollywood Tonight’

Though it’s no handy embedded youtube file, for a video of the band’s cover of Joy Division’s ‘Walked In Line,’ please click the following link:

Walked In Line on IFC Media Lab

Otherwise, both of Audra’s recordings are available for purchase by visiting these links below:

Audra homepage
Audra on Projekt Records

Swell Maps

Posted in 1970s, art-punk, post-punk, swell maps, synth on September 11, 2007 by Frankie Teardrop

Swell Maps are among the most influential and chaotic bands of an early post-punk movement. The band originally formed in the early seventies by brothers Nikki Sudden and Epic Soundtracks (Nicholas and Kevin Godfrey respectively) but waited until the punk explosion to become a full-blown force.

The band would further bastardize and obliterate the three-chord boundaries of punk rock, experimenting with expansive Kraut rock sounds, utilizing tape loops, and practically destroying synthesizers on tape. Both of their full length records include ambient soundscapes and short segments of noise in between shrill yet catchy lo-fi punk songs.

Though their tenure on record barely lasted over a year and change, the band would leave a spectacular trail of songs and sonic experimentation before their demise in 1980. Both brothers would join other outfits and pursue solo ventures, and compilations of single tracks and unreleased material would soon find their way to the market in the wake of the band’s budding influence.

I’ve uploaded a duo of tracks, the first is a personal favorite, a sprawling, clanging instrumental piece featured on their second and final record, 1980’s The Swell Maps In…Jane From Occupied Europe.. The second is a straightforward art-punk tune featured on 1979’s A Trip To Marineville. Enjoy!

download Swell Maps- ‘Big Maz in the Desert’
download Swell Maps- ‘Blam!’

No real footage or videos of the band exist in full form, but I’ve come across a live version of ‘Let’s Build a Car From the Tyranny of the Beat’ backed with assorted live bits and bobs.

Fortunately (and most refreshingly), the majority of this band’s official (and unofficial) output is available for purchase by clicking the following link:

Swell Maps on Amazon.com

3 Comments »

Au Pairs

Posted in au pairs, british, death disco, post-punk on September 6, 2007 by Frankie Teardrop

Formed in 1979 in the UK, the Au Pairs attacked gender, sexuality, and politics with their funk-based blend of female fronted post-punk.

More in line with James Brown than with Bauhaus, Au Pairs would record two full length records, a series of singles, and a handful of BBC Sessions before breaking up in 1983, just before they were slated to record with legendary post-punk producer Steve Lillywhite. Despite their brief splash, the band’s gender-charged lyrics, scathing guitar hooks, and catchy dance rhythms would serve as a major influence for the Riot Grrrl movement in the 1990s.

After the band’s demise, lead singer Lesley Woods would form an all-girl band called the Darlings, who split quickly. Lesley would leave the music industry all together soon after, and now practices law. Other members of the band joined jazz and funk outfits after their Au Pairs tenure.

For your listening enjoyment, I’ve plucked a track each from the band’s two studio records. The first, ‘We’re So Cool’ kicks off their first record, 1981’s Playing With a Different Sex and the slower, more atmospheric dub track ‘Sex Without Stress’ hails from their sophomore effort, Sense and Sensuality, released in 1982.

download Au Pairs – ‘We’re So Cool’
download Au Pairs – ‘Sex Without Stress’

Though the band remained a cult-classic before and after their run, they enjoyed a bit of buzz from the post-punk/underground music documentary Urgh! A Music War, featuring a series of captivating live performances. Here’s their spot from the film, performing ‘Come Again’ live in London.

2 Comments »

The Snake Corps

Posted in 1980s, british, coldwave, dreampop, post-punk, sad lovers and giants, shoegaze, snake corps on August 28, 2007 by Frankie Teardrop

The Snake Corps formed in 1984 after the original demise of British psychedelic post-punk act Sad Lovers & Giants. In the wake of the band’s split, guitarist Tristan Garel-Funk formed a new five-piece unit, collecting a few more like minded-fellows, and set out under this new name.

The band was not unlike it’s predecessor, exploring a dreamy, atmospheric soundscape alongside a driving post-punk edge. The band would tour heavily outside of the UK, developing a slight cult following for their curious blend of dreamy effects and hard punk rhthyms. The band, though hard-working, had a very distanced approach to their affairs and had alienated the British record industry, rejecting potential superstardom as a new shoegaze movement was taking hold of Britain towards the end of the decade.

The band would take a hiatus around 1990 after recording a handful of poorly distributed records, never quite achieving the success or recognition as many of their contemporaries would shortly. In 1993, a long-since recorded final record hit the market alongside a career retrospective, but though a bit of buzz was finally on their side, members of the band had already parted for keeps and the band officially called it a day.

I’ve uploaded two tracks by the Snake Corps for your downloading pleasure. The first, ‘Animals All’ hails from their debut record, 1985’s Flesh on Flesh. The second song, ‘Seagull’s Eye’ is a more catchy number, featured as the opening track on 1990’s Smother Earth.

download Snake Corps- ‘Animals All’
download Snake Corps- ‘Seagull’s Eye’

for further information on the band:
Official Snake Corps website– for a full discography, images, videos, and more!

2 Comments »

Crime & the City Solution

Posted in 1980s, 1990s, biirthday party, crime + the city solution, Einstürzende Neubauten, post-punk, rowland s. howard on August 23, 2007 by Frankie Teardrop

I feel as if I’ve made a dozen allusions to this band in previous posts without any actual information on them, so for today, I shall be profiling Crime & the City Solution.

The band was one of several formed from the demise of the Birthday Party, 4AD’s premier scuzz-punk unit led by Nick Cave. The band existed previous to the Birthday Party, featuring an unknown cast of characters among mainstay singer Simon Bonney, but no recordings ever surfaced until the mid-80s, with a more infamous lineup. A strict comparison could be made between the bands, for distinctive guitar work and a similar blues-based drawl was also a basis for Crime & the City Solution’s repertoire.

Alongside Bonney, other prominent members of the group have included Birthday Party guitarist Rowland S. Howard, Mick Harvey of both BP and Badseeds fame, Swell Maps drummer Epic Soundtracks, and Einstürzende Neubauten’s Alexander Hacke (aka Von Borsig). Was this a supergroup? Perhaps by definition, but the band survived several lineup shifts and have released five full-lengths and a handful of EPs, each one different depending on contributors.

Though each Crime record is a unique and solid effort on their own, I’ve uploaded a duo of tracks which both appear on 1986’s Room of Lights, my favorite of their records. The first is their best known song, the epic and powerful ‘Six Bells Chime’ and the second, the closing track from the record.

download Crime & the City Solution- ‘Six Bells Chime’
download Crime & the City Solution- ‘Her Room of Lights (For Lisa)’

I first heard of this band from a sequence in Wim Wender’s 1987 film Der Himmel über Berlin (Wings of Desire). Here’s the very scene, a live shot of the band performing ‘Six Bells Chime’ in a small German venue. The volume’s a bit low, but I still love this scene so:

Other links:
Discography + other info
Amazon.com

3 Comments »

Bunnydrums

Posted in 1980s, 2000s, bunnydrums, philadelphia, post-punk, synth on August 21, 2007 by Frankie Teardrop

Please pardon the lack of updates over the past few days, my dears…but I have been indisposed and out of town. That said, I’ve dug up an old favorite for you folks today, one that were once on to something great before disbanding prematurely, but have since resurrected themselves and are a currently active and coherent unit.

Bunnydrums culminated with various members of the Philadelphia punk rock scene in 1980. Keen on expanding the punk aesthetic with a slew of dance rhythms, saxophones, and electronics, Bunnydrums would set up shop and focus most of their energy recording, but would occasionally gig out in support of such bands as R.E.M., Pere Ubu, Bauhaus, and the Cult.

The band released a handful of singles, a duo of EPs, and two full length, 1983’s PKD and 1984’s Holy Moly before their split on New Year’s Eve, 1986. Though the current lineup occasionally explored other musical avenues and managed a few one-off shows the year after they split, the band would remain dormant until the new millennium, when the band shockingly reunited. Though they have yet to release new tracks, they’ve been gigging steadily in the east coast, and after signing to Metropolis Records, they have since remastered and re-released most of their back catalog on the compilation PKD/Simulacra.

For your listening pleasure, I’ve uploaded two seminal Bunnydrums tracks, the driving synthetic drone of ‘Smithson’ and the funky dark groove of ‘Holy Moly.’
Enjoy!

download Bunnydrums- ‘Smithson’
download Bunnydrums- ‘Holy Moly’

and here’s a youtube video of the revamped band performing the song ‘Closed Eyes’ live at the Trocadero in July of this year.

Keep your eyes peeled for Bunnydrums live dates in the east coast, including a gig in NYC with our little band, Funeral Crashers in October! For interested purchasing parties, here’s a link to order PKD/Simulacra on CD:

Purchase PKD/Simulacra
Bunnydrums on myspace

(thanks to Marc for chiming in with a few corrections!)

1 Comment »

Modern English

Posted in 1980s, 4ad, british, modern english, post-punk, wave on August 15, 2007 by Frankie Teardrop

Today’s band is one that became a household name in the mid-1980s based on a one-off hit, but hasn’t made any commercial impact since, lost in the hearts of 80s nostalgia and easily dismissed as a one-hit wonder. Truth is that today’s band, Modern English, were more than capable of writing a myriad of other amazing songs, and a handful of seminal records in an emerging post-punk scene, even if they went mostly ignored by all but the impassioned.

This Essex-based band originally began in 1977, originally christened the Lepers. The band released a one-off single before changing their name to Modern English and signing to a budding 4AD records, the band being the first that Ivo Watts-Russel approached after creating the label. Both stylistically, and commercially, Modern English helped put the label on the map.

Musically, the band originally drew heavily from the doom and gloom of fellow contemporaries Joy Division and Bauhaus, a rude awakening for fans who stumbled across them after the perfect pop song ‘I Melt With You from their 1982 sophomore record, After the Snow.

Pressured after such a large success, the band fell apart after one more record, two of the original members departing for greener pastures, but instead of a side-project, the band revamped and kept pushing forward, occasionally releasing records into the 90s. Though they remained a college favorite, the band never again broke the US or UK charts. Despite sporadic output, Modern English remain together to this day, playing gigs from time to time. The band has a new recording contract with A.P.G. as of 2001, but there’s no clear word as to when to expect new material.

I’ve uploaded a handful of tracks from their debut record, 1981’s Mesh & Lace. The first was also their second single, while the second is a deeper cut and favorite from the record. Here they are, for your listening enjoyment:

download Modern English- ‘Gathering Dust’
download Modern English- ‘A Viable Commercial’

and for a nice dose of 80s nostalgia, here’s what seems to be the official video for ‘I Melt With You.’ Let’s hear it for the M&Ms theme song, ladies and gentlemen:

and if you want to toss some bucks around and pick up some of their records, here’s an Amazon link, which though some of their earlier material is out of print, still features a few used copies:

Purchase Modern English tunes on Amazon.com

7 Comments »

The Victims of Romance- Compilation Tracks

Posted in 1980s, post-punk, victims of romance on August 13, 2007 by Frankie Teardrop

To kickstart another week, I’ve uploaded some loose compilation tacks by rare and forgotten U.K. post-punk outfit The Victims of Romance. Naturally, as with any band that has but a handful of songs in their (reported) discography, there’s little information to be found through various internet sources, but I’ve come up with a small dollop.

Victims of Romance was conceived in Gainsborough, featuring a female singer with the drawl of a passionate and operatic Patti Smith (complete with the occasional spoken word rant). The band’s style was gloomy, sharp, and minimal, with easy comparisons to early era Siouxsie and the Banshees, with a splash of synthesizer tossed in for good measure. The band split quickly after recording a handful of tracks, each of the members defaulting to various other projects, none of which got any further off the ground than The Victims of Romance.

The band released one cassette tape, which is incredibly scarce and hasn’t been circulated yet to my knowledge. The three tracks I’ve managed to acquire all hail from various compilations, while there’s yet another loose track floating around on the Nuclear Terra cassette.

The Victims of Romance- Compilation Tracks
1. 9 a.m.
2. All There Is
3. Abigail’s Party

*download them here*

“9 a.m.” hails from the We Couldn’t Agree on a Title comp., 1981
“All There Is” hails from the No Platform For Heels comp., 1982
“Abigail’s Party” hails from the Giraffe In Flames comp., 1984.

Happy Monday, ladies and gentlemen!