Archive for the post-punk Category

Newer Entries »

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!

6 Comments »

Newer Entries »