Gerard “Jerry” Smith is Carole’s first cousin. I’ve known him since he was a fucked up teenface and I was a fucked up twentyjerk. We’ve grown to be great friends. He is a superb bass player, as you will hear in tapes to come. I’ve been a fan of the great Dave Rick since the first of many times I caught the Tollbooth live. I have not seen Jon Coats in person in many years, but his precise, punishing drumming…
PERSONNEL: Tony Faske: Vocals Alec Cumming: Bass, backing vocals, teeth Paul Rose: Guitars Cynthia Harden: Keyboards Mike Bowman: Drums Produced by The Hungry Dutchmen Engineer: John Rosenberg Recorded & mixed at Water Music, Hoboken TRACK LISTING: Fancy Songbird Quiet Times Goin’ Crazee Give It To Me! Caught Unprepared Whenever We Reminisce The Hungry Dutchmen was the first band I ever reviewed; I need to check to see if this is the first tape. Let’s assume that’s true. What a great…
PERSONNEL: Perry Serpa: Vocals, all instruments For someone who’s been in The Sharp Things from the beginning, and indeed for any fan of the band, this recording is nothing short of extraordinary. Perry may not remember when this collection of home (and elsewhere?) recorded demos was assembled, but judging from the songs, I’m going to take a wild guess and say 1998. I’m basing this on the presence of “Mrs. Mesch,” which was a very early part of our repertoire,…
PERSONNEL: Tony Taylor: Guitar Perry Serpa: Vocals Ron Rossnick: Bass Steve Gonzalez: Drums Produced by Jim Sabella at Sabella Recording Studios Engineered by Chris Albert TRACK LISTING: Tempered And Tortured Goodbye, Superman Trevor Long before The Sharp Things strings and glockenspiels, Perry Serpa was a long-haired, leaping gnome, fronting a Queens-based melodic hard-rock band named Lifehouse. (The name was taken from an unfinished Pete Townshend rock opera; many years later another band would do much better with it.) Serpa’s powerful…
PERSONNEL: Deborah Schwartz: Vocals, guitar Jill Richmond: Guitar Claudine Troise: Bass Stephanie Seymour: Drums, back-up vocals TRACK LISTING: Black On Blonde Faults That Ain’t Right Connecting Line With their catchy, no-frills, Stones/Animals-influenced rock n’ roll, sassy stage presence and hippy-punk fashion sense, The Aquanettas were an “it” band on the late ’80s/early ’90s downtown scene, regularly packing them in at clubs like Nightingales and CBGB, touring nationally, and scoring a “major indie” deal with Vancouver-based Nettwerk Records to release their…
PERSONNEL F.M. Cornog: Vocals, all instruments TRACK LISTING Side 1 Shop An Attitude The Politician’s Crippled Helmet On Fatherland Side 2 40 Miles You Will Never Go Away Million, Trillion I believe this was the second tape I got from the great F.M. Cornog; hopefully the first one will turn up. Fred’s music is the defining sound of the ’90s for me, and I mean that in the best way. “Helmet On” is, of course, the main attraction here, appearing…
An informal “greatest hits” tape from a terrific band that never got its due.
PERSONNEL Eric Neher: Vocals, guitar Joe Mollura: Vocals, bass Phill D’Ancona: Drums No track listing Modern Pioneers were one of my favorite Long Island-based bands of the 1980s. The 1982 release of their vinyl debut EP, The Big Hookup, was among the first 12-inch indie releases by a local band; a watershed moment. Singer and songwriter Eric Neher was, and is, a compelling on-stage presence, able to convey strong emotion while always remaining firmly in control. His plaintive, soaring vocals, and twanging Mosrite…
On December 31, 2007, I closed Demo Universe for what I thought was the last time. After 20 years of reviewing unsigned and self-released recordings, I was worn out and ready to move on. I’ve not written a music review since. Flash-forward to 2016 and we’re preparing to renovate our basement. Of course, this means cleaning out a basement packed with 30+ years of crap and ephemera. Among the items dragged into the daylight were four cassette tape display boxes, each…