A N D I F O R G O T A L O N G T I M E A G O H O W Y O U F E E L : ten now acts perform selections from the early recordings of Lilys, 1991-1995



[TL; DR: DOWNLOAD WAV, MP3, SOUNDCLOUD]

We suppose to begin at the beginning would be to report that in the summer of 1993 we were driving with the windows down one afternoon in Ardmore, PA, the radio was dialed to Princeton's WPRB, and then we first heard "Claire Hates Me" by Lilys. The tune is a rush of dense guitar and gently modulating melody with an impassioned vocal, so nice it was released twice: first as one side of a split 7" as part of Simple Machines Records terrific triple-7" box set Neapolitan Metropolitan, then as the closing track to Lilys' towering shoegaze classic, In The Presence Of Nothing, released in September 1992. The indelible lead guitar line of "Claire" was instantly mapped to our brain, and we remember literally singing it to our friend Justin later that same summer day, in an attempt to articulate just how inherently, objectively wonderful the song is. To our knowledge that day was our first exposure to Lilys, and the impression was deep and -- obviously -- lasting. "Claire Hates Me" remains our favorite song, and we write about In The Presence Of Nothing as often as we possibly can; we marked the record's 20th anniversary here.

So that would be the beginning for us as listeners and fans. And that is, we suppose, ultimately the first step on a path that leads us to this blog post, almost exactly 20 years later, that announces AND I FORGOT A LONG TIME AGO HOW YOU FEEL, the second digital comp to be issued by Clicky Clicky Music Blog in as many years. The collection features 10 now acts performing selections from the early recordings of Lilys, 1991-1995. Why parse off this first period of the legendarily mercurial band, the brainchild of itinerant musical savant Kurt Heasley, a band that is still a going concern today, that released a single just last fall, that is preparing perhaps as we speak for a highly anticipated, full-band performance at this year's Chickfactor 21 festival? Well, because we can, for starters, and a compilation needs to have a focal point, but also this is our favorite period of the band's work. Different web sites disagree as to whether Lilys sophomore full-length Eccsame The Photon Band was issued at the end of 1994 or the beginning of 1995, and at this point we suppose it doesn't matter. It is the album after that one, 1996's brilliant Better Can't Make Your Life Better, that presented the most stark transition of Lilys' twisting career, from shoegaze and space-pop to Monkees and Kinks-influenced mod-crazy guitar jams. So it is easy to draw a bright line at 1995. Which we did here for AND I FORGOT A LONG TIME AGO HOW YOU FEEL when we began canvassing bands to participate last year.

Oh right, the bands. We couldn't be more thrilled to include on this compilation some of our very favorite acts, Lilys fans all. One difference between last year's Ride tribute comp Nofuckingwhere and this Lilys comp is we did not limit our selection of acts to only those based in Boston. Boston, of course, is still represented by the mighty Soccer Mom, indie pop leading lights Cuffs, shoegaze phenoms Infinity Girl and indie punk giants Speedy Ortiz (who live in Northampton but feel like a Boston band, we think everyone will agree). But we're particularly proud of the non-Boston acts presented here on AND I FORGOT A LONG TIME AGO HOW YOU FEEL. There's old Clicky Clicky favorites Arc In Round (whose stunning version of "The Turtle Which Died Before Knowing" is the slowly swirling eye of the comp) and its Philly scenemates Pet Milk and The Weaks; Portland, OR-based indie pop heroes Lubec; Richmond dream pop titans White Laces; and one new act we're very excited about, Milk Pale, a collaboration between Clap Your Hands Say Yeah!'s Lee Sargent and Broken Social Scene's Justin Peroff. There's so much to say about the recordings these bands made that we'd have to double the length of this blog post to do it justice, and knowing how fickle blog readers can be, we'll skip that for now -- we'll be on WMBR's Pipeline! talking about the comp on May 28, so listen in for deeper analysis then. We would like to extend a special thanks (there are even more below) to Pet Milk for jumping in late in the game to ensure that Lilys' first single, "February Fourteenth," could take its rightful place at the top of the track listing.

All songs appear on the comp in the chronological (then numerical) order of their original release. Suffice it to say, the comp's line up is killer, the songs are all amazing, and we're endlessly grateful not just for the gift of the music that Kurt Heasley and Lilys have given to us all, but also for the time and energy all of the contributors gave to this project. There's more info about each contributing band and their recordings in the digital liner notes in the .zip file hyperlinked above and below, so giddyup. We've yakked long enough... Ladies and gentlemen, we are proud to present AND I FORGOT A LONG TIME AGO HOW YOU FEEL.

Click the appropriate link to download a .zip file that contains the 10 tracks as WAV, MP3, as well as a PDF containing the aforementioned digital liner notes created by friend-of-the-blog Matt Dressen. The comp is also on SOUNDCLOUD.

​​1. February Fourteenth -- Pet Milk *
2. Elizabeth Colour Wheel -- Cuffs +
3. Claire Hates Me -- Infinity Girl +
4. Ginger -- Soccer Mom #
5. YCJCYAQFTJ -- Lubec #
​6. Elsa -- The Weaks ^
​7. Day Of The Monkey -- Milkpale &
​8. The Turtle Which Died Before Knowing -- Arc In Round &
​9. The Hermit Crab -- Speedy Ortiz &
1​0​. Radiotricity -- White Laces &

* = released March 1991 as "February Fourteenth" b/w "Threw A Day" on Slumberland, DRYL-7
+ = released September 1992 on In The Presence Of Nothing, Slumberland SLR 20 / SpinART 2
# = released March 1994 on A Brief History Of Amazing Letdowns, SpinART 11
^ = recorded 1993 or 1994, released May 2000 on The Lilys / Aspera Ad Astra, Tiger Style TS-002
& = released January 1995 on Eccsame The Photon Band, SpinART 43

***

One final special thanks to the folks instrumental in helping Clicky Clicky pull all of this together, or offering support and encouragement of same: Eddie Charlton, William D. Scales, Matt Dressen, Jessica Thompson, Brad Searles, Michael Marotta, Joshua Pickering, Jeff Breeze and, of course, all of the bands. And a special shout out to Clicky Clicky Managing Editor Michael "Rock" Piantigini from Jay: I can't wait for you to hear this, man.

T H I S. 0 5. 20. 2 0 1 3. A N D I F O R G O T A L O N G T I M E A G O H O W Y O U F E E L.

Lemuria, The Young Leaves, Varsity Drag And Ex-Magicians | TT The Bear's Place | 21 May



As we quipped on the Facebooks a couple weeks ago, summer doesn't begin until you've seen Varsity Drag performing their monster jam "Summertime" live. So summer begins, for us anyway, Tuesday night at TT's when the Cambridge, Mass.-based indie punks support Buffalo's finest, indie pop heroes Lemuria. Also performing are Holliston, MA punks The Young Leaves and locals Ex-Magicians, making this Tuesday night most steadfastly alright for rocking. More details at this Facebook event page, we assume. Maybe?

Lemuria is touring ahead of the release of its third long-player The Distance Is So Big, which Wikipedia tells us was recorded at least in part with legend J. Robbins and which will be issued June 18 on Bridge 9. That title will sound familiar to fans who have already discovered the band's new tune "Oahu, Hawaii," which was premiered at NPR this past week. Spoiler alert: the album title is ripped right from the chorus of "Oahu, Hawaii." The nine-year-old trio's current spring tour terminates on the 31st in Pittsburgh, and Lemuria already has a UK tour booked for late July/early August, and plans for a west coast tour of the U.S. after that. No rest for the wicked, eh. If you can't be arsed to click through to the NPR link above, check out the embed below of "They Are Who I Say They Are," the slow-burning b-side to the 2010 single "Chautauqua County," which was also released by Bridge 9.

Clicky Clicky faves Varsity Drag's appearance will be its first in many moons, and perhaps the first since the band's cracking split single with Chestnut Rd. was released in mid-January. The Drag's side of that release -- also embedded below -- featured the new, Ben Deily-penned pogo-anthem "Mind Like A Sieve," which we are once again embedding for your aural entertainment. There are some exciting things afoot in the larger Varsity Drag ecosystem, and as soon as they can be made public we'll certainly let you know. In the meantime, keep your fingers crossed for a new record from the Cambridge, MA-based triumvirate. Also below for your listening pleasure is The Young Leaves' excellent "Alive And Well" single from 2012 and Ex-Magicians' single from January "Adirondack Bound."

Today's Hotness: Big Deal, Hex Map



>> We hear singles. Like Gary Coleman's character in the 1981 comedy "On The Right Track" could see winning racehorses. So we weren't too surprised when, just hours after we filed our copy with Vanyaland for our review of the new Big Deal record, which review pegged "Dream Machines" as an album highlight, it was announced that the song would be the second single from the new set. As we said here in our review of the London-based duo's June Gloom, which streets June 4 on Mute, the "[b]ig-beat album highlight 'Dream Machines' somewhat surprisingly pushes a message of cultural disengagement with the Leary-esque lyric 'what you wanted and what you chose, you can't have both... I've been dreaming of dropping out...'" The pair's words are set in a beautiful firmament of short tremeloed guitar snips refracting in a hazy reverb, but when the chorus kicks in thick chords buttress principals Kacey Underwood and Alice Costelloe's gentle voices and push the song straight into anthem territory. The composition wins with a simple, clattering rhythm track almost begs for a remix -- and we hate remixes. Anyway, it is a brilliant choice for a single, although perhaps a less conventional pick than the hook-ridden pop of "In Your Car," which got the nod as the first single from June Gloom. The record is available for pre-order now on vinyl, CD and digitally via this link, this link, or that link, respectively. There is also a limited edition of signed vinyl and CDs that ship with a t-shirt iron-on, which is pretty cool. Big Deal perform at this Saturday's The Great Escape festival in Brighton, England, plays three dates in France at the end of the month, and then spends the first half of June touring about the UK. No U.S. dates have been announced yet, but we're hopeful the band will plot a jaunt on our side of the ocean. In the meantime, stream the terrific second single "Dream Machines" via the Soundcloud embed below.



>> Boston-based post-rock concern Hex Map have been dormant for some time, but the band is poised for a big return with a live date Friday and a new, sophomore colection coming next month. The duo of Mike Gintz and Nick Burgess (a lineup that enlarges to a quartet for live shows) are preparing to release in June the moody and measured long-player Ruin Value. Hex Map packs the new collection with tense, industrial (and almost post-apocalyptic) assemblages of guitar and percussion. Opener "The Black River" boasts a bludgeoning attack and restrained but reverbed vocal as evocative as an early Black Sabbath number, despite the modern, architectural vibration. But that song's weight and force -- elements that return later in the record on the uneasy arcade game console rocker "Rat King" are just two of the ways Hex Map fabricates the rock. Elsewhere electronic flourishes spangle the stereo field, or a vocal is pushed hard toward Layne Staley-esque degrees of desperation. Album highlight "November 17" strikes a juxtaposition against "The Black River," as it touts a gentle vocal, a reliable 5/4 groove and a more fluidly articulated melody, resulting in a track that echoes Radiohead circa Amnesiac. The band was cool enough to allow us to post "November 17" via the embed below. Ruin Value is available for pre-order right now via Hex Map's Bandcamp wigwam right here; the eight-song collection is on offer as a vinyl LP (in a limited edition of 150 copies pressed to translucent media) or digital download. Hex Map is playing its first show in almost a year Friday at O'Brien's Pub in Allston Rock City with Leagues, Rozamov and Mooncusser; check out the deets via the Facebook event page right here. Ruin Value will be self-released by the band June 14.

Show Us Yours #15: Bent Shapes

To be sure, Boston has always been an indie-pop town, long before there was even the term "indie pop," see Exh. A, The Modern Lovers. But as the scene ebbs and flows and one paws through releases and cycles through shows, sometimes you can lose sight of the great indie pop resident within our oddly shaped metropolis. We're not trendspotting or calling for a renaissance, we're pretty sure it's there all the time, like hardcore bands and Pabst and that one tall guy at all the shows. But we are excited that some of the scene's heavy hitters are about to release some hotly anticipated new music, something we learned when we checked in with the good people of Bent Shapes. The trio are planning to release later this year their debut long-player Feels Weird, a title which longtime fans will recall (from Liz Pelly's Boston Phoenix piece a year ago) was almost the name the band chose to replace its original moniker, Girlfriends. With that in mind, we thought it was high time to check in with Bent Shapes to learn about where they make their magic, what that magic smells like, and what plans the band is forming around the release of Feels Weird. We put our usual battery of questions to fronter and guitarist Ben Potrykus, bassist Supriya Gunda and drummer Andy Sadoway, and they graciously responded. Although the ominous reference to a west coast label below makes us worry about a potential Tupac/Biggie thing on the horizon, maybe we're reading too much into it. We're grateful to the band for playing along; now let's read what they had to say, and have a listen back to the cracking "Panel Of Experts" single.

Clicky Clicky: So why do you use this space, or how did it come to pass that this was the one that you settled on?

Supriya: We are serial practice space monogamists, known around town for courting a space and dropping her like a hot potato once she gets too frigid or stuffy. Who knows though, this might be 'the one.'

CC: Is there an idiosyncrasy or quirk of the space that has affected one of your songs, or even your overall sound?

Supriya: There are few places to practice in Boston. We've been in and out of rooms in this building for the better part of the last decade in various former lives. The quirks are our own ghosts.

Andy: And a whiteboard drawing of Jeff Lynne talking to our friend Emeen from Spirit Kid (spiritkidmusic.com) about his album. It's a reminder that we need to work harder on our music OR ELSE...

CC: You walk into your space. What's the first thing that you smell? Why won't that smell go away?

Andy: The hallway outside of our room smells like what I remember Old Spice "Musk" scent to be. I was about to Google "Old Spice Musk" right now for a reminder of what it’s like, but then I realized that you can’t Google smells (yet). It's too bad that the hallway smells so dank, because I think the new scent is the management's attempt at making the space smell better. The hallway used to smell like stale beer and cigarettes, which I miss at this point. I tried to burn some Nag Champa to get rid of the "Musk," but that Old friend comes back each week to haunt us. You know what they say: another week, another bucket of "Musk" mopped on the floor.

CC: Off the top of our head, Bent Shapes is one of the few bands we can think of in Boston that underwent a name change, which happened almost exactly a year ago. "Mission Accomplished," or did that solve more problems than the original name created? You gonna change your name again the next time Mars goes into retrograde?

Ben: I think it worked out great. Way less confusion, given that we haven't found any other bands called Bent Shapes. No problems with other bands, press, or venues. We tried to play out a lot when the name changed and get some songs out fast, to make sure we were pretty visible. We'll change it the next time Halley's Comet comes around.

CC: What do the next six months look like for the band? You've got an album in the works -- what can you tell us about that? Do you plan to tour to support it?

Ben: It's called Feels Weird and it'll be out on a West Coast label in late summer. More details are going be announced really soon, but we are planning on touring soon after it comes out for a few weeks. There's talk of an US East Coast trip, but we may get into the Midwest or parts of Canada as well. Fingers crossed!

Bent Shapes: Internerds | Facebook | Soundcloud

Previous Show Us Yours episodes:
Shapes And Sizes | Dirty On Purpose | Relay | Mobius Band | Frightened Rabbit | Assembly Now | Meneguar | Okay Paddy | Charmparticles | Calories | Sun Airway | It Hugs Back | Lubec | A Giant Dog

YouTube Rodeo: Johnny Foreigner's All-Seeing "Le Sigh"

Earlier this week Birmingham, England-based noise pop titans Johnny Foreigner threw back the curtain on the video above, a "Timecode"-styled clip for a new song called "Le Sigh," a bracing rocker in the vein of some of the band's early work (the bit "of a copy of a copy of a copy..." reminds us of "Dressed Like Emily," a hot one collected up on the early demos set Every Day Is A Constant Battle). "Le Sigh" will feature on a forthcoming EP, according to this Facebook post. There had been talk of a single on Alcopop! coming this summer, and we're going to go ahead and assume -- whether facts bear it out, we shall see -- that the extraordinarily prolific band was thinking single in their collective brain, then went into the studio and walked out with an EP. The words to "Le Sigh" were posted to Johnny Foreigner's tumblr right here, so European fans should be ready to sing along when the band embarks of a continental tour early next month (study up, kids!). The dates for that sojourn are posted right here. The band kicks the tour off with a SHHHHH SECRET HOMETOWN SHOW at a presently undisclosed location June 5, and then hops across the ocean for a strand of dates including one in Zagreb, where we once spent a lovely half-hour in the police station at 5AM in 1997, because police with machine guns are very convincing, even despite the language barrier. As a rabid fan of Johnny Foreigner, we swoon at the prospect of a new release and a new album cycle. It's an exciting time to be a fan, and we're hopeful the band can be convinced that after Europe, a return trip to America would be a great way to spend the late fall. In the meantime, feel free to stream "Le Sigh" at will via the embed above. Johnny Foreigner's most recent collection was the digital-only EP Manhattan Projects, issued in March, which featured re-imagined and re-titled versions of a number of tunes from the quartet's catalog including "(Don't) Throw Us Your Slang" along with five other tunes. That EP is still on offer at Bandcamp (digital versions only) right here.

Johnny Foreigner: Internerds | Faceblerrrrrr | Bandcamp | Soundcloud

Today's Hotness: Mahogany, Snowden, Teardrop Factory



>> Like Tom Waits, art-pop concern Mahogany keep getting weirder while staying the same (to whit, Wikipedia describes the once-octet thusly: "an electric music-based multidisciplinary media ensemble currently working in Philadelphia, New York, Chicago, and other locations"). After only faint rumors and dead-ends in regards to the follow-up to their massive, brilliant and still misunderstood 2006 album Connectivity!, the band has finally released a new song. And it's a doozy, too. "Phase Break" is an eight-minute cycle of beats, choruses, and synths that incorporates elements of house music and disco into Mahogany's purposefully modernist, architectural dream-pop. As with "Leo Ryan (Our Pharoah's Slave)" by this blog's beloved Lilys, Mahogany synthesize myriad ideas and carefully constructed sounds into a full-blown mini-suite that plays as much as a mediation and art project regarding a beloved form as it does a coherent piece of music. That, however, is exactly what will likely please patient fans of the Mahogany cult; arguably anyone that fully understands where this band is coming from will appreciate the continued and pronounced proclivity for pop eccentricity. The group -- here just the duo of Jaclyn Slimm and founder Andrew Prinz -- fuses elements of Cocteau Twins bass-chord groove with every manner of analog drum patches, pristine cello work and Ms. Slimm's elegant vocals. At the two-minute mark, the song takes the first of many turns as a funk bass line enters; later, Mr. Prinz's familiar vocals announce the delightful "phase break" chorus. Additional playful twists ensue and exhaust in due course their saturated and crafty intentions, allowing "Phase Break" to meet the lofty expectations of fans who've been waiting on a sign from Mahogany. Incorporating elements of dance music will hopefully win Mahogany an even larger share of fans, although it is the complicated joys of its non-traditional compositions that should really wow admirers. We are eager to hear and see what magic the band conjures next. -- Edward Charlton



>> For many twenty-somethings, the post-punk and garage-rock renaissance in the early years of the new millennium served as an introduction to the wider world of indie music and its antecedents. Sure, those Interpol and Franz Ferdinand albums may have gotten less play once those early dorm parties were over and listeners found, say, PiL and This Heat, but one never forgets their first true loves. Another memorable band of the last decade for many was Atlanta's Snowden, fronted by Jordan Jeffares. The act hasn't released a new full length since 2006's potent debut Anti-Anti on Jade Tree. But come May 14 that all changes, when Serpents And Snakes releases No One In Control, the act's long-anticipated sophomore full-length. Much has changed in the musical landscape over the past seven years, but Snowden's vision remains pleasantly consistent. Indeed, the new collection is a fitting successor to Anti-Anti, and combines moody distorted synth and bass textures with spindly guitar riffs and clean, almost tribal drumming. While the grungy "Hiss" and new-wavey "The Beat Comes" keep the pace up like prior repertoire highlights "Anti-Anti" and "Kill The Power," much of No One In Control abides in a slower tempo that makes the band's dream pop all the dreamier. The synthetic 12-string acoustic atmosphere of "Anemone Arms" echoes '80s alt. acts like Crowded House or The Church; it's an unexpected but well-reasoned reach that works well for Snowden. The opening title track of the new collection even evokes the choral elements of a band like Ride, relying on singer Jordan Jeffares’ syrupy voice, which is glossy and tuneful throughout despite his monotone delivery. Snowden resoundingly delivers the goods on No One In Control, leading one to wonder why Jeffares waited seven years between long players (although, it should be noted there were EPs in 2007 and 2010). Regardless, like an old college friend, it's great to hear from him once again. Snowden embarks on a month-long U.S. tour May 30, and will play a Boston date at Great Scott June 26; full tour dates are posted right here. -- Edward Charlton



Stream all of No One In Control at Soundcloud right here.

>> England’s Faux Discx has been steadily inching up our list of 2013's record labels to watch, given that, as our executive editor so succinctly stated recentky, "it seems to be building a nice little universe of stuff." We first encountered the concern in 2012 when it issued Cold Pumas' excellent post-punk platter Persistent Malaise. On May 27 it will release Brighton, England lo-fi rockers Teardrop Factory's debut, the Topshop EP, in a limited edition of 300 vinyl 7" records. As with the other label signatories (including the brilliantly monikered Sauna Youth as well as Vision Fortune, among others), Teardrop Factory effortlessly combine messy, youthful energy with fully-realized songwriting and rich, analog (sounding) production. The band dares to keep their cards close, and so we're left with colorful intrigue and only one member's first name -- Andy. "Vanity Unfair," the preview track from the EP, is sadly not a cover of the classic single from The Ocean Blue. But it is nonetheless a brief, but gratifying, stormy two-chord rocker. Riding the groove, the singer (presumably Andy) offers a quick spoke-sung verse before his distaff counterpart steers the tune into a relaxed, brooding chorus. Distorted bass chug and reverbed drums (dig that massive wave of washed crash and ride cymbals), lend the tune the flavor of a frenzied live performance. The downcast energy recalls O.G. downer-pop Anglos like Eternal, Secret Shine or Jesus & Mary Chain. The production on "Vanity Unfair" touts a perfectly proportioned blend of hi-fi direction and the full-frequency onslaught of the best lo-fi (which, truly, makes us wish indie groups would ditch the fake "digi-studios" or completely lazy indifference and make stuff like this). The Topshop EP is another winner for Faux Discx, a label that is proving it knows where it's at when it comes to rich, analog guitar pop packaged with a little bit of mystery, a little brashness, and a whole lot of understated class. Pre-order here, and stream "Vanity Unfair" via the Bandcamp embed below. -- Edward Charlton