I rarely write about the old these days and my ventures into Power Pop are considerably lesser. However, I am still often asked to name my favourite Power Pop album and without any hesitation, I choose Tsar's self titled album from 2000.
It is a little rockier at times compared to other Power Pop gems, but those first four songs would turn any stranger on to the genre. The quality continues throughout and likewise, I would name The Girl Who Wouldn't Die as one of my Top 10 favourite songs of all time, no matter what the genre.
It must have been around 2011 when I picked this up and it is wonderful that Omnivore have brought it to the attention of the next generation, 25 years after that glorious album was released. There is even an extra track added in Holding On.
I didn't realise at the time, how well formed the songs were in 1998. The story of how they were recorded is great too. Jeff Whalen and Dan Kern sort of begged and borrowed the recording equipment to get these demos down.
A mixture of buying an 8 Track Tascam from a thrift store, gathering equipment from a Music shop, paid for by Whalen's step dad without his knowledge. Bought on his credit card with the intention of returning them in 30 days for a refund. They gave themselves that time to record the demos and here are the results.
Calling All Destroyers appears twice, firstly in its original demo form when it was called The Glower, then as a live version on KXLU by the full band on their first Live performance after Steve Coulter and Jeff Solomon had joined to become a quartet.
The demos were shopped around Hollywood and a bidding war began culminating in the Hollywood Records release. These are lo-fi, but enthralling. The resulting album is bursts out of the blocks, but here there is a lot in common with the lo-fi gems that have become so hip in recent years.
Omnivore have remastered the original release adding greater clarity. They are a testament to the joy of that debut album and how it was formed. Omnivore recently released the fully fledged album on White Vinyl and newbies would also be highly recommended to grab that too.
The Drugboy Tapes can be bought on CD or as a download from Omnivore here. The CD can also be bought at all good Record shops.
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