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(00:00) Monuments in Ruin – Episode 228 Intro
(01:40) Wire - Ex Lion Tamer
(05:02) Dead Kennedys - Moon Over Marin
(09:30) The Soft Boys - I Wanna Destroy You
(12:20) The Feelies - The Boy With The Perpetual Nervousness
(17:17) Young Marble Giants - Brand New Life
(20:07) Television - See No Evil
(27:46) Buzzcocks - Everybody's Happy Nowadays
(30:54) Siouxsie and the Banshees - Icon
(36:18) The Vasalines - Son of a Gun
(39:57) Psychic Tv - Godstar
(43:27) The Monochrome Set - Eine Symphonies Des Graunes
(45:43) The Damned - Life Goes On
(49:44) The Pop Group - She Is Beyond Good and Evil
(53:03) Kleenex - Die Matrosen
(01:06:58) The Psychedelic Furs - Pulse
(01:09:38) Gaia - Tilblivelse (available on the web stream only)
(01:41:35) Monuments in Ruin – Episode 228 Outro
Bonus Questions: Do you like large album box sets? 5 or more LPs.
~ Yes! Give me all of the albums at once + outtakes and more!
~ No. I would prefer to buy a single album of bonus material. Most of the main albums are already in my library.
Name an artist you discovered because someone else wore the t-shirt or a band covered their song!
#Wire #DeadKennedys #TheSoftBoys #TheFeelies #YoungMarbleGiants #Television #Buzzcocks #SiouxsieandtheBanshees #TheVasalines #PsychicTv #TheMonochromeSet #TheDamned #ThePopGroup #Kleenex #ThePsychedelicFurs #Gaia
@Wire @DeadKennedys @TheSoftBoys @TheFeelies @YoungMarbleGiants @Television @Buzzcocks @SiouxsieandtheBanshees @TheVasalines @PsychicTv @TheMonochromeSet @TheDamned @ThePopGroup #Kleenex @ThePsychedelicFurs @Gaia
Show Notes:
~ Wire 1977- not sure how i missed this band. The album was released in 1977 and that track is killer. I had always thought Pink Flag was a band name. 45 years later i discover it's an album titled.
~ DK 1982 - the is a terrific pop song , imo. The songwrting fits the pop asthetic perfectly. The lyrics, well, they discusses all of the things that generally do not belong in a pop song. Pollution, military activity, things dying all around us, its a terrific contrast and another reason why i love the DK.
second full-length album, 1982 , black-and-white photograph "Hands" by photojournalist Michael Wells. emaciated forearm and hand of a malnourished Ugandan child . ive heard a lot of people assume this was an edited photo (pre photoshop of course) assuming its an aliens hand. imo, that adds even more to the shock of the imagery.
try to consider that the next time you are planing to throw something out that could still serve a purpose. Clothing, shoes, food, etc. maybe you can think of a better use for it than the trash.
~ Soft Boys 1980 - This is another one that fell under my radar but I’m so happy to have discovered it recently. This is such a cool song and it’ gets stuck in my head. Kinda reminds me a bit of cheap trick or something along those lines. This is where bands recording cover songs really pays off for the original artists. This is a Goo Goo Dolls cover. Someone I have not followed but was aware of. After researching this song I discovered they have been around since 1987 and I’ve totally written them off for the wrong reason. MTV. 1998, the song Iris was massive. I couldn’t stand it. Here we are talking about how much I dig their song now. Thank goodness we live in an age that allows us this opportunity to share. So check out the Soft Boys if you enjoyed that cover. Their album is solid and at times reminds me of some Beatles vocal harmonies. You’ll catch what I mean when you hear the album. It’s their take on it for sure but it’s in the DNA of the songs.
~ Feelies 1980 – I really enjoy the guitar tone on this tune. The vocal delivery kind reminds me of Violent Femmes too. This tune kind of sits in the area with the clean guitar and the bass drum / snare simplicity. Of course, this is electric, where they would stick to the acoustic format. Very cool stuff here. Really enjoyed that.
~ young marble giants – the vocals on this one really caught my attention. I could listen to that for hours. Clean guitar tone, smooth vocal and it sits right in the sweet spot between keeping my attention and building toward expectation. Truly enjoyable. Originally released in 1980. It’s kinda neat to consider this record being released as vocal, bass and guitar only amid a full-scale punk rock explosion and just before thrash starts to hit the scene also. I don’t remember any drum parts on the record anyway.
~ Television from the classic Marquee Moon album release in 1977. Want to give a shpout out to my friend Amelia who once referenced this album as containing her favorite guitar tone. This record is an absolute good time to listen to. One that flew under my radar for a very long time. I’m not afraid to admit it. There is a lot of music out in th world to discover. Especially in a pre-internet world where it was all magazines, shirts seen album covers and mixtapes passed hand to hand that directed traffic. In fact. I do see Monuments in Ruin as being the modern evolution of the mixtape. From day one that has been my desired result anyway. Now that we have a dialog incorporated it is considered a podcast. It’s still a mixtape in my heart though.
~ Buzzcocks 1979 – I have been loving these reissues. Punk rock essentials, imo. We are trying to keep them in stock at the shop and online at Monuments in Ruin dot com. Visit us there and grab a record, shirt or maybe snag a sticker. We also have a donate button or a fancy new “buy me a coffee” option those who wanna send financial support but not specifically through purchasing merchandise.
For a long time I had gotten the Revolting Cocks and the Buzzcocks confused. Granted, I like them both now but upon first discovery I was not so much digging into the Revolting Cocks. That’s kinda funny to me considering the past few episodes have had a heavy leaning on industrial or something that falls in a similar electronic area. The the sands of time erodes and reshapes us. This is audible proof.
~ Siouxsie 1979 – Of course this is punk rock royalty and an artist I wish someone would have forced me to listen to a lot more in my earlier days. Once again, better late than never. Thought they were always kinda lurking in the shadows, I didn’t really fall for Siousxie until I heard them featured in a skateboard video. I specifically watched the credit to see who the artists were and there it was. The power of video to influence and introduce us all to the pieces of the puzzle we tend to unknowingly ignore. I would like to credit that video but I have no memory of the title. Pretty sure it was a Thrasher Magazine clip though.
~ Vaselines – Here is another example of cover songs being the perfect vessel to introduce us to great artists. This is a place where Nirvana seemed to be diligent in sharing their fame. They were certainly good about the shirts represented, cover songs featured on albums and support for their fellow artist in the undercurrent. The song Son of a Gun was featured on their Insecticide album. There we are. Infinitely connected with Nirvana in a positive way. It’s impossible not to include in the discussion and I hope that no one feels discussing the connection to be more important than the artist who wrote the songs. The real take away here is how we discover other artists. Vasalines also scored another solid from Nirvana on the MTV unplugged set. The performance was a solid example of the world falling deeper in love with Bowie, discovering or rediscovering Leadbelly and for many to hear Jesus Wants Me For A Sunbeam for the first time. They did modify the title to follow the actual lyrics during that performance. Keep in mind, there are a lot of folks that have never been hyped to the Insecticide record so this was a second chance to get the bands songwriting heard by a global audience. Great stuff from The Vasalines. 1987 EP Son of a Gun.
~ Psychic TV 1988 This is a cool track shouting out the death of Brian Jones from the Rolling Stones. In a way this is their version of American Pie but instead of Buddy Holly we are discussing the stones as the day the music died. It even has a little stones vibe to the chorus. Reminds me of the song “start me up”. I really like the vocal style of that tune. Very pop driven but it still feels dark to me.
~ Monochrome Set: This was a cool tune to discover. I know nothing about this group which seems nearly impossible considering they have been releasing albums since the 80’s. It appears on the compilation titled Compendium 75-95A History 1979-95. I guess that track was a single before their full lengths started appearing on the scene.
~ Damned 1982: This track is very different from where the Damned started with the Damned Damned Damned record in the late 70’s. That record was full of rock and roll adrenaline where this album, Strawberries, has some of that but also begins to drift into some other areas. This track lands more in the post-punk real estate. They reissued this record as a Record Store Day release so hopefully they will have another standard version back on the market for us soon.
~ Pop Group Y 1979: When we think of reggae, we often picture Bob Marley or peter Tosh. Something that fits in the area but we could also consider The Clash , Police, The Slits and other punk rock bands like The Pop Group. It was certainly a part of the punk rock scene and a welcomed addition to all of our music libraries. The psychedelic aspects of it all really registered well with the listeners.
~ Kleenex Liiliput 1982 – If I understand this correctly, the band started out as Kleenex and their first album was Liliput. Later they changed their named to Liliput. Not sure why this occurred but I’m really enjoying this tune. Wish I could have found out more info but I play to dig around a bit more later down the road.
~ Psychedelic Furs 1980: Gotta admit, I was a fan of this band when I first heard their Talk Talk Talk album. It didn’t stick for me. That was the early 80’s though and tastes do change. Here we are listening to a track from their self titled record and I’m totally onboard. Time does change our taste so it’s good to revisit some things and give everything a second chance. I’ve come to find some of the great records are not always welcomed on the first pass. We kinda need to adjust our ear to the artists vision. Once it lands, well, the rest is history. Just like this episode.