Summer Fridays 2.3: Back in the Saddle

Yeehaw! There's nothing vaguely Country or Western about this mix!* But it's America, dammit, so it doesn't have to make sense. Frequent contributor Kate did another nice job with the art on this one. Summer Fridays 2.3 is a typical mix of mine, kind of all over the place with at least one sore thumb number. But it all kind of works in my mind at least. Ok, folks. Giddyup and download this sucker and enjoy.

DOWNLOAD SUMMER FRIDAYS 2.3

1.  Adorable - Sunshine Smile
2.  The Bicycles - Walk Away (from a Good thing)
3.  Ivy - No Guarantee
4.  Joy Zipper - Baby You Should Know
5.  DEASTRO - Toxic Crusaders
6.  Acrylics - Molly's Vertigo
7.  Summer Cats - Hey You
8.  Lotion - Rock Chick
9.  The Vitamen - The Best TV Watchers in the World
10. Metronomy - A Thing For Me (Breakbot's B-LIVE Miami Mix)
11. Box Elders - Atlantis
12. Big Star - O My Soul
13. Ty  Segall - In Your Car
14. Guided by Voices - Girls of Wild Strawberries
15. The Brian Jonestown Massacre - This is Why You Love Me
16. Cud - Not Exactly D.L.E.R.C.
17. The Pooh Sticks - Young People
18. Spacecamp - Puppy
19. The Verlaines - Death and the Maiden
20. Marty Robbins - The Story of My Life

Disclaimer: this is an actual mix, the songs segue together so don't go hitting shuffle blah blah blah.

If you'd like to contribute cover art to a future Summer Fridays, get in touch. Liner notes after the jump.

1.  Adorable - Sunshine Smile
Forgotten early 90s shoegazers who shot themselves in the foot a lot thanks to the big mouth of singer Piotr Fijalkowski. Their American label (remember SBK anyone?) actually made up promotional schwag tshirts that said "The Band You Love to Hate" which might be a good slogan for a fictional character, not a real band. Nonetheless, Adorable had some great singles. This was their first, and maybe my favorite.

2.  The Bicycles - Walk Away (from a Good thing)
Canadian rock has been hot for the last few years but not so much for Toronto's Bicycles, who are probably just a little too cutesy for mass blog love. They also don't really tour America, which doesn't help, as they are super fun in concert. And great songs, especially the candy psychedelic ones like this.

3.  Ivy - No Guarantee
The first couple Ivy albums are near perfect pop, informed by the '80s but not beholden to it. Big hooks, nice production and the breathy, French-accented vocals of Dominique Durande. What more do you need?

4.  Joy Zipper - Baby You Should Know
Long Island's best-ever (and best-looking) boy-girl semi-shoegaze pop band. This is from thier 2003 American Whip. Apart from contributing songs to a couple tribute albums, Joy Zipper (which is the name of the singer's mother) have been silent since 2005's The Heartlight Set, though Tabitha Tindale and Vincent Cafiso recent marriage was covered by the NY Times.

5.  DEASTRO - Toxic Crusaders
Detroit synth rockers who I like a lot despite their tendency to wear animal masks on stage. There's a lot going on in "Toxic Crusaders," dense and dynamic like the best Mew songs.

6.  Acrylics - Molly's Vertigo
Newish Brooklyn band who recently kind of floored me when I saw them at the Northside festival. These kids really have it together. "Molly's Vertigo" has a Rosebuds sort of feel with the twangy guitars and boy-girl vocals. The rest of their songs are a little more dancey, but no less infectious.

7.  Summer Cats - Hey You
I didn't even know this Australian band had even finished their album, so it was a nice surprise to find it in my mailbox earlier this week. (Songs for Sundays is out July 24 on Slumberland.) Maybe you know their singles "Let's Go" or "Lonely Planet" (Finest Kiss' Single of 2008). Not low fi, but not sparkling pop either. A little motorik in there too. Let's just call it very good.

8.  Lotion - Rock Chick
The syncopation of this song throws me every time, it's groovy but somewhat undanceble. Till the end at least. If ever there was a NYC band that needed to come back, it's Lotion. Vastly underappreciated at the time, this is from their second album, Nobody's Cool. They were.

9.  The Vitamen - The Best TV Watchers in the World
Another sadly-missed NYC band, who actually just reformed to play Black Betty's last week of existence. This is like the ultimate slacker apathy anthem, though main dude Jesse Blockton (who I've watched TV with, actually) might disagree. But probably not.

10. Metronomy - A Thing For Me (Breakbot's B-LIVE Miami Mix)
Metronomy made my favorite album of 2008, the original version of this song was on it, but this is a remix that turns it into some sort of '70s soft rock song, a la Rupert Holmes. Which is amazing. The band just reconfigured themselves into a four-piece with a drummer. It will be interesting to see where Joseph Mount takes Metronomy from here.

11. Box Elders - Atlantis
Omaha's best new band, is there any debate? This is from their debut album, Alice & Friends, due out this August. Sort of early '60s rock n' roll/r n' b filtered through a Leslie speakers and a garage rock mentality. Irresistible. 

12. Big Star - O My Soul
The guitar sound in the Box Elder's song immediately made me think of the opening track from Big Star's second album, Radio City, so here it is. Both of Big Star's first albums got reissued on vinyl this week (as did the combo CD), so... go get it.

13. Ty  Segall - In Your Car
I didn't fully clean out the garage last night, so here's Bay Area resident Ty Segal with a jam off his upcoming second album, Lemons, which is out on Goner (just like the Box Elders LP). It kind of sounds like lurid stripper music from some Ted V. Mikels or Russ Meyer movie. Which is a high compliment. Ty's on tour, go see him.

14. Guided by Voices - Girls of Wild Strawberries
This song came up on shuffle recently, reminding me how good it is. I'm no Robert Pollard worshiper, but there's no denying this one. And it's almost like this and..

15. The Brian Jonestown Massacre - This is Why You Love Me
...the Brian Jonestown Massacre song were joined at the hip. Same key at least. These days, Anton's antics get most of the attention, but he wrote some really really good songs too.

16. Cud - Not Exactly D.L.E.R.C.
I'm not sure why I put a Cud song on this mix -- they're definitely a guilty pleasure. A cult fave to some, a footnote to others, a "who?" to most. But we played them a lot on my college radio station and if you don't mind singer Carl Putnam's Tom Jones-ish delivery, there's a lot to like. I also like anythintg with the "Peggy Sue" beat. "D.L.E.R.C" is one of Carl's girlfriend's initials, if you were wondering.

17. The Pooh Sticks - Young People
The Pooh Sticks' 1991 album The Great White Wonder was the best album of it's kind until Urge Overkill released Saturation a couple years later: big dumb riffs, big dumb lyrics, all delivered with a wink and tongue firmly in cheek.

18. Spacecamp - Puppy
A song about drinking and about drinks. What does go in a hot toddy? Not that you'd want to drink one in June anyway, but this is definitely a Summer song.

19. The Verlaines - Death and the Maiden
Along with The Clean's "Tally Ho," this has to be the quintessential Flying Nun song. "You're just too obscure for me." I get that a lot.

20. Marty Robbins - The Story of My Life
*Finally a song that relates to the cover art. Marty Robbins, king on the gunfighter ballad. But he was a rock n' roll crooner before that -- he did "A White Sport Coat (and a Pink Carnation)" and this 1958 gem written by Burt Bacharach.

Comments

[Rob M]

Thanks for the summer mixes Bill. By the way, if Lotion do make a come back and play NYC, I am definitely there.

[liz]

Thanks for this Harvey! I haven't heard Sunshine Smile in ages... lovely mix this week.