Jennifer Eight (1997)

#8: Jennifer Eight 

                                                                                                                                                                      

Well, it's been a few months since I put something up on here. Been busy so kind of let doing blogposts fall to the wayside but hopefully I can start again putting some up irregularly. I uploaded this 7" and was like wow - I should put this up on the blog. So I have. Following the usual trend, I know very little about this band. Definitely from Germany, specifically Nurnberg. Same label that put out the 7" from Audrey's Dance which is a neat little tidbit. It seems they put out this 7" then ditched the name and the members formed another band, Sky Promises Rain. They had a split with Endwise and a few other releases. The sound here is great on this 7". The release is packed with loads of inserts which were all of course very fun to scan (sarcasm). Just solid emocore from a one 7" band, story as old as time.

*click on album names for download links, music is in .wav, images are in .jpg*

                                                                                                                                                                      

Spooky 7" (1997)

A1. Spookey

B1. Ikarus

B2. Tears Of A Monument

                                                                                                                                                                      

Alkaline (1993 - 1994)

#7: Alkaline

                                                                                                                                                                      

Finishing up a bigger post currently but wanted to put something up to keep my momentum going with these. I have not once seen this band mentioned. Not a singular time. I cold bought this 7" about a year or so ago and it's probably up there for most enjoyable cold purchases I've made. I recently, when digging through my 7", stumbled across this and had to pull it out again to spin. It's just a nice moody indie 7" with female lead vox. All from a band that as far as I know, put nothing else out. Simple as. The members on this seem to have more information on them then the band does. I know they were around from 1993 to 1994 since the 7" was definitely recorded in 1993 & put out in 1994. I'm like 99% sure too that they were from New York too since that's where most of the bands these folks played in were from. That being said, this kind of just seems like a one-off project that never went anywhere. Definitely a bit sad because the indie is really good! As for the members... Jason Asnes from Saturnine played on this as well as Connie Lovatt from The Pacific Ocean. There's one other guy too but I have no clue if he played in anything else (sorry Peer Hanson if you somehow end up reading this...). If you're into that whole 90's indie spinART type thing, you'll love this. Listen to "She Speaks", just amazingly chilling.

*click on album names for download links, music is in .wav, images are in .jpg*

                                                                                                                                                                      

Soon / She Speaks 7" (1994)

1. Soon

2. She Speaks

                                                                                                                                                                      

Friends Unseen (1997 - 1998)

 #6: Friends Unseen

                                                                                                                                                                      

I was so excited to finally get this release a few months ago when I traded for it. The price on this has REALLY gotten run up this last year or so. On the topic of music though, Friends Unseen is amazing. Female vox in the same vein as Eldritch Anisette & Everyone Asked About You. Just very mellow emo. I would consider this essential listening. Friends Unseen was out of Umea, Sweden but interestingly, their sole 7" was released on the UK label, Subjugation. They seemed to have had their run from around 1997 to 1998. I recall reading that they were playing shows as early as 97' and the fact that the 7" was recorded in February 1998 seems to back that up. Unfortunately, I haven't seen anything other than the two songs on this 7" surface. The fact they were playing shows means there's probably 100% other songs but these are likely doomed to rot forever on some practice tape or studio reel. Most of the members didn't do much after this, evident by the fact that more than half the band doesn't even have discogs pages for them. One exception was Lars who went on to form The International Noise Conspiracy (which is definitely worth noting). 

*click on album names for download links, music is in .wav, images are in .jpg*

                                                                                                                                                                      

 

The Usual Dilemma / Drowning Act 7" (1998)

A1. The Usual Dilemma

B1. Drowning Act

                                                                                                                                                                      

Abyss (1993 - 1995)

 #5: Abyss

                                                                                                                                                                      

More or less all of the European countries had their own intrinsic twists on the genre. Far Apart is distinctively Swedish, Bob Tilton is distinctively British, and Abyss is distinctively German. There's really two bands I've always earmarked as the progenitors of the German sound which are Abyss and Age. Both put out records on Bremen's own: Love Records, both were early 90's, and both were fiercely political. This post is on Abyss though, Age will eventually get its own. I can best compare Abyss to a German band attempting to emulate the Ebullition bands of the time. There's likely some truth in that comparison considering Abyss shared a split with Iconoclast (joint release with Old Glory & Love). Abyss only released two 7" and the two are actually a bit different. The 1993 S/T feels a bit faster paced compared to the lengthier, and at times, more melodic tracks of the split. Both are great but I do often find myself coming back to the 1993 S/T a bit more than the split. They also had one track on the compilation, The Vortex File, titled Lie. This track I believe was recorded during the session for the S/T. As for their run, it seems they were likely around from 1993 (possibly 1992?) until 1995. The inner sleeve of the Iconoclast split mentions that they were donzo so it's pretty safe to call it at 1995. As for what came after it seems that the members didn't do much. I wasn't able to find any post Abyss projects. That does differentiate it certainly from Age where the members continued on post demise in some other fantastic projects. Regardless, the 9 tracks left behind definitely pack a punch.

*click on album names for download links, music is in .wav, images are in .jpg*

                                                                                                                                                                      

Abyss S/T 7" (1993)

A1. In The End 

A2. Not 

B1. How

B2. Confession 

                                                                                                                                                                      

Soldaten Sind Mörder! 7" (1995, Abyss side of 2x7" with Iconoclast...)

C1. Untitled 1

C2. Untitled 2

D1. Untitled 3

D2. Untitled 4

*note: D side is plain black label, didn't bother scanning*

                                                                                                                                                                      

The Vortex File Comp 7" (1993)

B1. Lie

*note: for compilations, I only scan booklet pages / media sides relevant to the band*

                                                                                                                                                                      

Small Stars (1997 - 1998)

 #4: Small Stars 

                                                                                                                                                                      

Veering way off the track of heavier music, here's some "violin emo". That's at least what a comment I read described it as. Not exactly my assessment but to each their own. Small Stars was from Seattle Washington and played a nice calm vein of indie rock. The comment I mentioned did get one thing right - violins. Violin features pretty heavily on both releases from Small Stars. Members played in quite a number of bands. Carissa's Wierd, 764-Hero, and Kill Sybil to name a few. Is this what you call a supergroup of sorts? They had 4 tracks to their name and then called it quits to all continue pursuing a ton of other bands. They were around from 1997 to 1998 which I confirmed with Mike from the band. I guess all 4 songs were recorded at the same time too. They had another 5-6 songs that they just couldn't fit into the studio time which unfortunately seem to be lost to time. Fun fact too! The photo on the back of the It's Getting Late 7" is very well the only photo ever taken of the band. These guys are realllyyy unknown. Fans of Carissa's Wierd will love this, two of the members played on CW's first album "Ugly But Honest". 

*click on album names for download links, music is in .wav, images are in .jpg*

                                                                                                                                                                      

It's Getting Late / Santa Barbara 7" (1998)

A1. It's Getting Late

B1. Santa Barbara 

                                                                                                                                                                      

Mailorder Freak November 1998 (Kill Rock Stars Series) 7" (1998)

A1. One Verse

B1. Waste My Time