Vintage Vinyl

Friday, August 3, 2012

Busy Signals, S/T

This weekend, Vintage Vinyl is having a buy 2, get 1 free sale on our $3.99 used compact discs.

To celebrate, we'll be skimming the bins and posting about some of the gems to be found.

Here's the 2007 self-titled release from the Busy Signals.

A review by Jen Cray in Ink 19 says:

Chicago's The Busy Signals torpedo the boundaries of modern music, and bring it all back down to its basics. Their self-titled Dirtnap Records release is 12 songs of fun, catchy, singable words and danceable music. It's got modern shades of punk rock and glam with hints of early R.E.M. mixed in, but in its soul is the powerest of pop.

Frontwoman Ana McGorty leads her boys with the ease of Debbie Harry (complete with the romance with a band member -- she and bassist Jeremy Thompson are dating/have dated), and it's her sexy, darker Belinda Carlisle voice that will be the first element of this band to grab you. Once hooked, "So Pointless," "Got It All Wrong" and "Look the Other Way" are sure to sink you.

Abandoned Pools, "Humanistic"

Vintage Vinyl is currently having a buy 2, get 1 free sale on our $3.99 used compact discs.

To celebrate, we'll be skimming the bins and posting about some of the gems to be found.

Here's Abandoned Pools' Humanistic, released in 2001.

John Murphy writes on the Music OHM blog:

Abandoned Pools is the brainchild of one Tommy Walter, who previously played bass in Eels. They were very much the pet project of Mark 'E' Everett however, and a band as bleak and intense as The Eels could be meant that Walters was soon on the lookout for a solo project. Abandoned Pools is that very solo project, and first impressions are that he could easily follow the success of his former cohorts.

It's easy to see why Walter may have felt frustrated in The Eels. As well as writing, singing and playing the vast majority of the instruments here, he also shares a co-producing credit. He also possesses a keen ear for a melody - this album has more hooks than your average fisherman's basket. The record swings from generic metal through Prince-like funk to midpaced ballads, yet never feels disjointed.