#BackToTheOldHouse

[laiperoconi]

#girl #backtotheoldhouse #danzafolklorica #inscrivia

[nojarama]

Happy anniversary to The Smiths single, “What Difference Does It Make?”. Released this week in 1984. #thesmiths #morrissey #johnnymarr #whatdifferencedoesitmake #backtotheoldhouse #thesethingstaketime #hatfulofhollow

[screamingforyears]

BACK TO THE OLD HOUSE:

AN UNCOVERING OF DUSTY VINTAGE.....

CLAN OF XYMOX

“NO WORDS”

4AD (1985)

“NO WORDS” is simply one of my all time favorite tracks, ever.

Written by Dutch group CLAN OF XYMOX and released via the seminal post-punk label 4AD, “No Words” is that perfect slice of dark pop. It simply captures everything I love about 1980’s era Goth, plaintive and mired in darkness, poppy yet unmistakably intellectual.

While Clan of Xymox are a fine band, nothing they’ve done before or since “No Words” has personally resonated with me as much as those precise 4 mins and 20 seconds. So infectiously poppy, “No Words” captures a young band fresh & pale, before the heavy electro elements would hold firm. That light funk riff (skeletal & catchy) held up by a pounding back beat with just the precise amount of airy synths, coming together as an all functioning bed for those longing vocals.....

“No Words” was the second track off of Clan of Xymox’s self-titled debut LP via 4AD Records

[adamxanzio]

I often play songs by The Smiths, while noodling around at guitar shops (most of them requiring a capo). Johnny Marr is a brilliant guitarist, and I try emulate him nearly every time I pick up the instrument. • • • • • • #bigmouthstrikesagain #backtotheoldhouse #heavenknowsimmiserablenow #asleep #thischarmingman #johnnymarr #thesmiths

[static-static]

Back to the Old House:

An uncovering of dusty vintage…

I came to Josef K in the mid-aughts when the post-punk-boom was in full effect. It had started a few months earlier with my ever growing Orange Juice obsession, thanks to the Domino Records released ‘The Glasgow School’ comp. Groups like Franz Ferdinand begat Orange Juice, who then in turn lead to Josef K and their 1981 debut LP ‘The Only Fun in Town’ and more specifically the fantastic “It’s Kinda Funny.”

That slow opening of guitars and drums that lurch along, refusing to pick up even when Paul Haig’s sullen vocal enters the fray, was instantly a thing of beauty to my then miserablist ideology. There’s a steady and measured pace throughout the song, a downtrodden tempo with the ubiquitously cheerful line of “it’s kinda funny” anchoring the whole darn thing. The tones that guitarists Malcom Ross and the aforementioned Haig capture are so perfectly skeletal, yet impactful, while the locked down rhythm holds it all together. 

Everything I could ever want in a guitar-based pop song was there, while offering up a different kind of coldness than say Joy Division. One of the truly great things about “It’s Kinda Funny” is how well it holds up and how truly fresh it sounds today, proving that a great song is simply that, great.

Press play, and thank me later....

Josef K

“It’s Kinda Funny”

Postcard Records (1980)

[holysmokescrafts]

"In the Garden of Eden" #grow #growyourown #harvest #growcannabis #flower #plant #cultivation #growop #doneright #backtotheoldhouse #holysmokes #holysmokestimes #holysmokestv #oneman #solo #cannabis #reform #legalization #safeaccess #news #ismokecannabis #medicalcannabis #rawlife247 #losangeles #california #ca #la #clones #babies (at El Sereno, California) https://www.instagram.com/p/B-IpFxUBI4v/?igshid=1bs8s1sxmae34

[rachelhaight]

🎶I would love to go...back to the old house🎶 This was my house, where I was Rachel Beck, married to Chip, mother to twins Zach and Emily who I actually wanted to name Allister and Astrid. Drove by today and the house is gone. Just an empty field now... childhood home of my children. #sad #thesmiths #backtotheoldhouse #childhoodhome (at Tulsa, Oklahoma)

[garyalvarez]

Acton/University 🐻✊🏽 #bezerkeley #backtotheoldhouse (at Berkeley, California)

[ppm84]

#backtotheoldhouse #garden — view on Instagram https://ift.tt/2ICGwje

[nojarama]

Happy anniversary to The Smiths single, “What Difference Does It Make?”. Released this week in 1984. #thesmiths #morrissey #johnnymarr #whatdifferencedoesitmake #backtotheoldhouse #thesethingstaketime #hatfulofhollow

[screamingforyears]

BACK TO THE OLD HOUSE:

AN UNCOVERING OF DUSTY VINTAGE....

BRUCE COCKBURN

“LOVERS IN A DANGEROUS TIME”

TRUE NORTH (1984)

“LOVERS IN A DANGEROUS TIME” is a long forgotten guitar pop gem by Canadian artist BRUCE COCKBURN. Originally released as a 7″ Single from the 1984 LP ‘Stealing Fire.’

At times reminiscent of a cleaner sounding Replacements or one of Billy Bragg’s love songs only glossier. The (somewhat) dated production sounds remarkably fresh today which really helps the track stand on its own as a great guitar pop relic from the genres most fruitful time.

Opinions vary on the origins of the content, with some speculating that it had to do with the encroaching HIV/AIDS epidemic, while others believed it be influenced by the recent Guatemalan refugee crisis, in which Cockburn himself witnessed on a trip to Central America prior to the writing and recording of ‘Stealing Fire.’ Cockburn has kept mum for the most part, claiming the song was inspired by simple schoolyard love, but has encouraged all kinds of interpretations of the song’s meaning. Personally, I just think it’s a great guitar pop song with a timeless feel both lyrically and musically. Take for example this here lyrical snippet:  

“But nothing worth having comes without some sort of fight / Got to kick at the darkness / Till it bleeds daylight"

Fucking brilliant!

There’s nothing quite like discovering a long lost pop gem, enjoy!

“Lovers In A Dangerous Time” was an album single released in 1984 via True North Records

[oac-tree]

#backtotheoldhouse 🖤

[static-static]

Back to the Old(ish) House:

Long before Ariel Rechtshaid became the go-to producer/arranger for Pop artists looking for some indie-cred and vice-versa, he was a member/producer for the Los Angeles based indie rockers Foreign Born.

Back in the halcyon days of 2005, Foreign Born dropped their debut(ish) EP ‘In The Remote Woods’ via Star Time Intl/Vagrant Records. The early to mid-aughts was in the middle of the oft derided “post-punk boom” with groups like Interpol, Franz Ferdinand, and Bloc Party leading the way, while smaller groups such as The Stills, Film School, and Hail Social held a smaller court. The latter camp is where LA’s Foreign Born fit in upon the release of ‘In The Remote Woods.’ 

While most of the post-punk-boom acts drew from the Joy Division/Gang of Four well, ‘In The Remote Woods’ was an Echo & the Bunnymen and U2 influenced affair and created by a four-piece band (Lewis Pesacov, Garrett Ray, Ariel Rechtshaid, & Matt Poppieluch) who were more than adept at pulling it off.

Believe it or not, even Pitchfork loved this thing, giving it a 7.6!!

I’m choosing to focus on the three tracks that I listened to on an every-other-day basis back in ’05, which are coincidentally the three songs that open the album. That’s not to say the other two aren’t any good, it’s just that when you hear a song as good as “It Grew On You” and when that song peaks at number three on a track list of five, it makes the other two an afterthought (and I don’t need to explain myself to you!).

‘In The Remote Woods’ literally opens up with a commandeering bassline courtesy of “The Entryway” before diving headlong into a classic post-punk synth, guitar, and drum track as Matt Popieluch’s vocals make their first appearance. Speaking of vocals, Popieluch is an MVP throughout the album’s run as he ranges from solemn to grandiose (much like the musical arrangements underneath him) and he displays both of these here. The bass lead is pure Goth, the drumming is manic, guitars ring, synths synth, and the vocal is on some Bono-like levels; this is “The Entryway” and our entryway to what the band could do. To say I may have shed a tear or two during the track’s epic final third crescendo would be an understatement (hey, ‘05-06’ were trying times).

“We Had Pleasure” is where the Echo influence shines through, all jangly guitars and light synths, while a stutter beat propels Popieluch’s vocals to an almost Hot Hot Heat-ish chorus. Foreign Born toed the genre line, never going full post-punk, shoegaze, or indie rock, instead choosing to bring them all into the fold, as evidenced on “We Had Pleasure.”

Which brings us to the centerpiece of both the album and this write-up, the driving and fraught “It Grew On You.” The propulsive rhythm and caustic guitars recall one time label-mates The Walkmen, as the song is all power and raw emotion. Hitting an overwhelming note once the chorus and Popieluch’s voice goes full wail, “It Grew On You” pretty much took over my headphones there for a while and was the first song I went back to after dusting this CD off last weekend. Which funnily enough lead me to realize that after all these years “The Entryway” is probably my favorite Foreign Born song (my life is full of flip-flopping and contradictions).

Well there you have it, a mini-journey back to the year 2005 and my obsession with three songs on an all-but-forgotten EP, by a band who would go on to produce a few more albums (and a soon to be in vogue producer), none of which caught this author’s ear like those three fabled tracks. I hope you enjoyed it, and if not, then that’s OK too. 

[fppgrn]

Here began all my dreams The saddest thing I've ever seen And you never knew How much I really liked you Because I never even told you Oh, and I meant to Are you still there ?

The Smiths

[nataliacrios]

[zombieatemybrain]

#TheSmiths #Morrissey #Indierock #englishrock #backtotheoldhouse #nowplaying #beatsmusic #hitplay