The Raymond Brake
New Wave Dream 7''
Simple Machines
1995
Rating: 10 big games out of 10
This isn't just my favorite Raymond Brake release, it's one of my very favorite seven inches I own. I don't think a DJ night ever existed when I didn't play one or both sides of this record. This band had the most perfect blend of pop and the discordant Polvo-style indie rock that was so popular in the mid-nineties. Both of these songs are incredibly catchy, but the b-side "Secret" is an all-time favorite song that has been stuck in my head for nearly twenty years. Andy Cabic, front man for this group, would go on to form Vetiver. He once told me there is an entire unreleased Raymond Brake album out there somewhere. You don't know how much I want this music into my earholes.
Vetiver
The Errant Charm
Sub Pop
2011
Rating: 5.5 Greensboronians out of 10
It's somewhat funny I would just get a copy of this new Vetiver record to listen to, as I was just listening to this CD of Vetiver demos from 2002 the other day. Man I love those demos - the early songs are so intimate and lo-fi, the band so stripped down and different from what they are today. I saw them many, many times around that period and they were easily one of my favorite bands working in SF at the time.
And then you have this new record "The Errant Charm"...it's by no means a bad record, but it just doesn't sound anything like the band I fell in love with. I though 2009's "Tight Knit" sounded too over-produced, but this release makes that one feel like it was recorded on an old boom box. It's very likable country-tinged, seventies-style soft rock, but it just ain't right. I do like the track "Ride Ride Ride" though, and album opener "It's Beyond Me" ain't half bad. Mostly though, it just makes me want to go back and listen to the old Vetiver releases, back when they really meant something to me.
