Dinosaur Jr-BUG SST Records 1988
It's been a long weird month at Pencilneck Headquarters but the record collecting hasn't stopped. It still moves forward at a crackling pace finding rare things and cool finds and the odd healthy dose of WTF??
Lately I've spurned eBay and I 've been hitting the streets and spending a bit of time getting to know my local record stores. I left my house the other Saturday and went into Hobart City and decided to hit the crates and see what i could find.
First port of call was Tommy Gun Records. Hobart's Primo New Vinyl/CD/ Second Hand Vinyl store. They also sell the everpresent black band-logo hoodies so prevalent with the kids these days. As well as a few rock books thrown in the mix. It's a great little store.
They sell plastic record sleeves. The only place close enough that I know of where i can get them instead of the internet. So I made the mistake of "just-popping-in-to-grab-some-sleeves" where I made the perhaps unwise decision to just "have-a-look-while-I'm-here"
I walked out with the above gem; Dinosaur Jr's 1988 album Bug. 4 years before grunge hit big and 8 months before Nirvana's first effort "Bleach" this album is just fucking beautiful and is in my opinion an historical touchstone for the direction music was taking around this time. Four other bands were on everyones lips around this time; Ride, My Bloody Valentine, Swervedriver and Slowdive who were epitomizing the shoegaze band scene emerging from the UK and this album, although coming from a different place of the heart entirely, it is sometimes lumped in with them for it's wall of fuzzed out psych guitar sound. But as the shoegaze scene would evolve and be eclipsed by Britpop, D Jr would soon break from the pack and establish themselves in their own right. At the hard edge of what the kids were calling College Rock back in the day this album really put the band and its frontman J Mascis on the map. The real hit from this album was of course Freak Scene, the true meaning of which will elude everyone til the ends of time but to me the song will always be about accepting and overcoming the pain of unrequited love or a relationship that has all it needs but never really takes off. Being "friendzoned" has never sounded more upbeat.
Next up I went to Soldas Sound Centre, where i found a great amount of stuff for really cheap.
Lisa Sumner of Just Cool Records put me onto this album. The Soundtrack to the 1982 movie Star Struck. Weirdly enough you see this album allll the time in Soundtrack and Second Hand bins all throughout Australia. I was 10 when it came out. It's a cute film but with a lot of homegrown things from this era it has a lot of cultural cringe. If you've got three minutes and forty seconds you can live without, give this a go.
See what I mean? Even to this day the Aussie accent sticks out in cinema like dogs balls!! The actors voices in the recent Voltron-a-like film "Pacific Rim" is no different.
Next up this little beauty.......
This is definitely one of those "Just for the Cover Alone" type purchases. I have a few Halloween-y/ Horror-y type LPs (story book kiddy type one's as opposed to soundtracks) and this one has been on my radar for ages. To actually listen to it though is a bit of a disappointment. Its really more into the Stereo Dynamics and less on the Scaring Hell Out of Your Neighbors. It comprises of 7 tracks and most of those are classical pieces or string arrangements. Not even a mention of Blood, Terror or Gore anywhere in track on here. Put it into the great cover pile though.
Next up.....
More than a ffffeeEEEllllLLiiIInnnNNggg! Totally in love with that song. I've had a soft spot for lots of MOR classic rock lately so when I saw this up for $3 I leapt at the chance. Now all I need is Night Ranger's "Sister Christian" and Journey's "Don't Stop Dreaming" and I'll have a complete set. Or i could just buy the "Rock of Ages Soundtrack"
This is a pretty obscure choice for me. Normally I despise the Eagles (that might sound weird after that last pick) but nothing has said "boring-commericial-radio-friendly-dinosaur-rock-and-roll-bullshit" than The Eagles, or so I thought until I discovered that they wrote this track,
That's right! The theme from "Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy" . Its original title was Journey of the Sorcerer from the album "One of These Nights" its an amazing piece of near psych-folk- rock and just for self indulgence sake here is the full track
Next up is a total gem. A real WIN when it comes to finding a great steal. The band is Tyrnaround and its a four track EP called "Colour Your Mind"
But thats not all. The following week I went to the Glenorchy Showgrounds Market. I got up early and headed out. Well, early for a Sunday about 10am. I looked in a few stalls that had record crates and found a few "wins". Two Cheech and Chong albums. A Doors Album. A few new 80s singles which I've always wanted. So far, so ordinary until I came across this!!
I walked out with the above gem; Dinosaur Jr's 1988 album Bug. 4 years before grunge hit big and 8 months before Nirvana's first effort "Bleach" this album is just fucking beautiful and is in my opinion an historical touchstone for the direction music was taking around this time. Four other bands were on everyones lips around this time; Ride, My Bloody Valentine, Swervedriver and Slowdive who were epitomizing the shoegaze band scene emerging from the UK and this album, although coming from a different place of the heart entirely, it is sometimes lumped in with them for it's wall of fuzzed out psych guitar sound. But as the shoegaze scene would evolve and be eclipsed by Britpop, D Jr would soon break from the pack and establish themselves in their own right. At the hard edge of what the kids were calling College Rock back in the day this album really put the band and its frontman J Mascis on the map. The real hit from this album was of course Freak Scene, the true meaning of which will elude everyone til the ends of time but to me the song will always be about accepting and overcoming the pain of unrequited love or a relationship that has all it needs but never really takes off. Being "friendzoned" has never sounded more upbeat.
Next up I went to Soldas Sound Centre, where i found a great amount of stuff for really cheap.
See what I mean? Even to this day the Aussie accent sticks out in cinema like dogs balls!! The actors voices in the recent Voltron-a-like film "Pacific Rim" is no different.
Next up this little beauty.......
Next up.....
Next up is a total gem. A real WIN when it comes to finding a great steal. The band is Tyrnaround and its a four track EP called "Colour Your Mind"
It was recorded in 1986 in Melbourne. Tyrnaround were a part of the Neo Psychedelic scene. Fuzzed out guitar, swirling vocal harmonies in a minor key, mix the Beatles and the Grateful Dead with a healthy smidge of the Electric Prunes and stir.
This record was played a lot on my friend Sean's radio show which I mentioned before so my
16 year old self let out a gasp when I saw it on the racks.
These types of records form a very important part of history, not just for Australian music but for the psychedelic music scene in general. Tyrnaround have been sited as being at the forefront of the neo-psychedelic scene and their music and in particular the titular track from this EP has been covered by other psych bands the world over. This record is highly sort after and regularly sells on ebay for upwards of fifty bucks. . Today's price? Twelve Dollars!!
Soundtrack to the Metal Horror Movie "Trick or Treat" , just sitting there on top of some old James Last albums. So unbelievably stoked to find this record. Its a real treat, all tunes provided by the band FASTWAY, The film is a great 80s Slasher classic the story of devil worshiping satanic shock rocker Sammi Curr who dies in a mysterious hotel fire but when young fan Eddie Weinbauer starts to play Sammi's records backwards (can you see where this might be going?) Sammi starts talking to Eddie from beyond the grave. Like any good horror movie the trailer says it all, and yes that is "Skippy from Family Ties" and Doug Savant from Melrose Place, this also has two great cameos from Gene Simmons (as a Radio DJ) and Ozzy Osbourne (as a TV Preacher extolling the evils of Heavy Metal)
It's a hoot of a film with some great gory sequences and some great satirizing of the "Heavy Metal Hysteria" which gripped Christianity in the 80s
But yeh there are some of the things which Hobart has unearthed in my crate-digging adventures. While I continue to live here I'm sure there is more to come.
Thanks for reading again folks until next time
Luke Pencilneck
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