Love for the Love In and Must-Have New Release

More than two weeks ago, I picked up 'Strum & Thrum: The American Jangle Underground 1983-1987' at the third and final drop of Record Store Day. It's a beautiful double-album box featuring orange vinyl and an 80-plus page 12"x12" book that's an oral history of the scene that bridges early '80s post-punk and early '90s indie rock as told by the band members that lived it. Until a few days ago, it was just sitting here unopened, taunting me, because life got in the way. Finally, the other night, after everyone in the household had gone to bed, I got comfy in the chaise lounge with my fancy headphones and listened and read simultaneously from beginning to end. What a delight!

Even though this is the kind of music that's the cornerstone of my collection, label Captured Tracks has dug deep (no dB's, Let's Active or other usual suspects), and there are only a handful of band names I recognize. Turns out, however, there are many personnel I know from other indie groups. Examples include Archer Prewitt, known for the Sea and Cake long before Bangtails. Donna Esposito is a name I recognize from the Cyclones (who appear on this comp), Cowboy & Spingirl and a couple of other bands, but I had no idea she was also in Riff Doctors. Lynn Blakey, who had a spell in Oh-OK appears here as part of Holiday and on and on. Even our hero Ric Menck, who you will find on my shelves as part of the Springfields (on this comp), Choo Choo Train, Bag-O-Shells and Velvet Crush, was also in the Reverbs around 1984, a band I never knew about until now. That statement can be said about many of the 28 bands featured, which is what makes this such an intriguing collection.

The opening words of the book are, "[w]hat if the U.S. had a compilation like C86?" NME's famous cassette is at least as revered today as it was when it came out 34 years ago. 'Strum & Thrum' is the best compilation of 2020. Like 'C86,' it's a collection fans of the genre will come back to again and again for decades to come. Perhaps we should all thank R.E.M. for releasing the "Chronic Town" EP, "Radio Free Europe" and 'Murmur' because many of the bands on 'Strum & Thrum' say they were inspired by these works... and it shows! 'Strum & Thrum' is set for wide release on Friday, and the only difference from the RSD version is standard black vinyl instead of that gorgeous orange wax. Grab a copy here. A note to Captured Tracks: When the dust settles on this release, how about a reissue of 'The Happy Forest' by the Reverbs?





One of the bands on 'Strum & Thrum is Los Angeles trio the Love In. They had one release, a self-titled six-song EP that came out in 1987. A few years ago while going down one of those YouTube rabbit holes I came across album opener "Late as Usual" and was hooked. Problem was, I couldn't find anything on the band. Just try searching the Love In on the Internet and see what you get. It drove me crazy. I did eventually find someone from the band to sell me the record. That's why I enjoyed this passage from band member Tom Sheppard in the book included with 'Strum & Thrum:'

"We printed, sold, and gave away maybe a couple of thousand copies of our EP, and we still get occasional requests from people asking for them. But sometimes it feels like it was all a paper dream, now crumpled and buried at the bottom of a junkyard. Try googling "Love In." You might find us on the 5,000th search page after every song with 'In Love' in the title, just below some archaic 1960s porn."

That's a lesson for you budding bands... he types as if there any kids reading this. Choose your name wisely, please. We didn't worry about such things in the 1980s. "Late as Usual" is the standout, and you can get that on 'Strum & Thrum.' Here are a couple of deeper cuts. Sorry about the surface noise and the pops. That's the way I got it. Again, lots of early R.E.M. influences. In the book, Mr. Sheppard tells a tale of meeting Peter Buck that's a great read but utterly heartbreaking.

Young Mr. Jones
On the Reds