Airlines: S/T, 4 songs, 1992

Airlines: S/T, 4 songs, 1992

PERSONNEL:
Tom Kelley: Drums, bells
John Tanzer: Guitars, bass, vocals
John Neilson: Guitars, synth
Joe Arcidiacono: Guitars, bass, vocals

TRACK LISTING
Steady Goes
No.2
Talking About Talking
10,000 Days

Here we have a rare, possibly one-off, cassette double-single from New York’s Airlines. Not listed in the band’s official discography, this tape brings together the band’s first two singles for Quixotic: “Steady Goes” b/w “No.2” and “Talking About Talking” b/w “10,000 Days”, with colorful, surrealist-orientalist artwork on the j-card by Liisa McCloy-Kelley. This is “the relatively stable Airlines MkII” line-up — minus Dave Roby on bass.

I didn’t know these guys personally when I got this tape (possibly through association with Debby Schwartz from The Aquanettas) but I adored their sound: a swirly mix of Television-meets-Wire guitar heroism and blurry, alienated Eno-like vocals. (“10,000 Days” — in which airlines become warm jets — is my fave.) In time, through a gradual accumulation of connections to be detailed later, I stepped into Wharton Tiers Ensemble following the departure of Neilson (and earlier, Tanzer), where I’ve been since 2008. John and I became good friends, and most recently, musical partners in TORCHY.

Read more about Airlines on The Airlines Home Page.

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