Candy Machine - Tune International

The third and final full-length from Baltimore's Candy Machine, a leading light of the scene in the couple years before I moved to town, and one still dearly beloved in small, intense circles nearly 30 years after their breakup. This one came out on DeSoto after a pair of LPs on Skene!, one of which got major label distribution via EastWest Records.

The 90s were weird, man

Discogs

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Rain - La Vache Qui Rit + demo

When sadness comes, you can watch videos of dogs being obnoxious on YouTube, or you can listen to tight jams. Whatever floats your boat. I guess since you're here that you don't want to see a French bulldog sneak french fries off its owner's plate.

Rain was a short-lived DC band of the Revolution Summer vintage whose recorded output consisted of a 1990 12" on Guy Picciotto's impeccably curated Peterbilt Records and an appearance on 1989's "State Of The Union" comp on Dischord. The lineup is a Murderer's Row of DCHC/post-hardcore luminaries: Scott McCloud (Soulside, Girls Vs. Boys), Eli Janney (Girls Vs. Boys), Bert Queiroz (Double-O, Youth Brigade, Manifesto), and Jon Kirschten (The ChrisBald 96). And you get exactly what you'd expect: that heady mix of emotive hardcore that stood apart from much of the East Coast's dominant trend of youth crew and crossover from the same era.

Now, typically, I wouldn't share a record that you can readily acquire via an inexpensive Bandcamp download (which you should totally do). But I thought it'd be good to contextualize the real gold, which is a 4-song demo dating from 1986 of Rain, featuring a track ("In Rain") that didn't make it onto the EP. I think I might have gotten this from Stormy over at Blogged & Quartered before his hosting service went tits up; I do know I've had it for a long time.

Anyway, I figured it was a good time to share this one, it being that time of year, and all.

Thank you. I'll be here all week. Try the vegan pot roast; it's better than it sounds.

Discogs / Bandcamp

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Vile Cherubs - The Man Who Has No Eats Has No Sweats

A comprehensive look at Tim Green and Seth Lorinczi's bands from 1979 to 1989 (from the Thee Evolution Revolution 7")

When you've listened to the Dischord catalog as much as I have, you get real excited when you discover something like Vile Cherubs.

Vile Cherubs seems to have played out from mid-1986 to mid-1988, leaving behind two demos and an LP, "Post-Humorous Relief", that was co-released in 1989 by Dischord. If it sounds to you like it has something in common with Nation of Ulysses, it's because future NoU/Fucking Champs guitarist Tim Green played guitar here as well. It's his first recorded output, along with regular collaborator and future Circus Lupus/Antimony/Quails guitarist Seth Lorinczi & Jesse Quits, soon to play bass for Capitol City Dusters.

I feel like you can draw a direct line from the regional garage 45s that make up the "Pebbles" comps to the demos that make up "The Man Who Has No Eats Has No Sweats". Seeing that Geoff Turner recorded these tracks at WGNS makes a lot of sense; it has more in common with his contemporary band, Senator Flux, than it does with, say, Ignition or Soul Side. I wish I had more trenchant insights for you here. I like it for the same reasons I like New Bomb Turks; it's a big ol' punk rock 'n' roll racket that I wish I'd heard of a lot sooner.

Discogs

Click here to download.