Elephants - 'Music Machine'/'Jesus' (Paper)

The Elephants are an already-forgotten band from Kentucky that lived in the world of melodic guitar pop, though without much notable influence from the Elephant 6/Apples in Stereo gang that shared the stage with them. 'Music Machine' is a bouncing, bright song with lots of space, and a vocal melody that isn't easy to compare to. But it's the B-side, the somber 'Jesus', which is chilling - singer Jason Zavala's investigation of a personal relationship that is somehow fragile, tender and honest despite the subject matter and the 'ba ba ba ba' vocal bit. His voice has a complexity and dynamic that's deliberately underplayed, until the last movement comes along and it gets dangerously "emo" -- yet the overall aesthetic of the Elephants is so far from that, we're spared any clichés. The liner notes include a website address which seems to be for a music shop in California, so I'm impressed by the lack of Internet presence for a band this recent.

Chisel / The Van Pelt - split single (Air King Alliance)

Air King Alliance appears to be an in-house label for WMUC FM of Washington, DC, as these two bands (so closely associated with the Gern Blandsten scene of the mid-to-late 90s) both recorded their contributions live on the air.  Thus we get a 7" presumably pressed out of university budget money, with all the great non-production that student engineers give us.  The Van Pelt are the a-side, with 'Yamato (Where People Really Die)'.  It's made up of frantically strummed solid-state guitar over a clop-clop rhythm and those high-strung, yelped vocals that are the reason I never really liked the Van Pelt (who I have a vague memory of seeing in a moldy basement circa the time of this record - perhaps that's even where I got it!).  Yeah, it's the flipside I keep this for - an "electric" version of 'Towncrusher', the hot acoustic jam on Set You Free which is pretty much the only song I really remember from that album.  This is certainly a substandard version, kinda bashed through without much passion or purpose, but it's still good since I don't own a copy of the original.  The guitar solo here is lacking the fire and verve of anything from 8 Am All Day - it's a big step towards the indie-by-the-books efforts of the Ted Leo solo record.  I wonder if Air King ever released anything else?

Cannanes - 'Prototype' (Little Teddy)

This is the Cannanes 7" I pull out most frequently. 'Prototype' is the A-side, a rolling jam that mixes in some feeble horns, semi-heavy electric guitars, and is led by the confident croon of the male singer (I forget his name and no one is credited by name here). It's bouncy and catchy and falls only a few hairs short of 'classic' status - a true anthem of just being. The band still has a strong 80s Brit influence, and if you don't hear it, just close your eyes and imagine 'Prototype' being performed by the Housemartins. Far more amateur, though, without being inept - this is why I like this band. 'Bad Timing' is a Frances-sung tune that bends around a strong electric bassline with glass shard guitars commenting throughout. It's another beaut, simplistic, yeah, but open and honest. 'Der Fuhrender Sydney Rechtsanwalt' is the real departure - another horn driven song, but this time, a murky, melting lounge number. It reeks of 60's Euro-pop, but with the horns all bending out of shape, resulting in a strange trip that's nonetheless adorable. Little Teddy Records, judging from the typewriter-set catalogue inside the sleeve, was a real force in 1993. Remember the Bartlebees? The label still exists, which means they've been releasing music for almost 20 years, some of it surely pretty damn good. Keep on keepin' on -- as to the Cannanes, I guess they're still at it. I saw 'em twice - once when I was about 15 and once again a few years later where I'm pretty sure they stayed at my house. But I don't even remember really.