![\"\"](\"http:\/\/musoscribe.com\/images\/scruffy_goodbye.jpg\")
<\/center>\nScruffy the Cat \u2013 <\/strong>The Good Goodbye<\/strong><\/em>
\n<\/strong>The music scene of the 1980s featured a handful of inventive, talented acts that bridged the gap between powerpop and what would come to be known as Americana (or \u201calt.\u201d). The Long Ryders<\/strong><\/a> were at the rocking end of that continuum; Scruffy the Cat worked at the gentler, more melodic end. This collection of previously-unreleased material covers sessions that bookended the band’s career: a set of demos and live-in-the-studio material from 1984-5, and an Ardent (Memphis) session from 1989. You’ll either dig the group’s raggedy vocals or you won’t, but there’s no denying that they fit the music. Good stuff.<\/p>\n
![\"\"](\"http:\/\/musoscribe.com\/images\/gametheory_blaze.jpg\")
<\/center>\nGame Theory \u2013 Blaze of Glory<\/em>
\n<\/strong>Apparently, I’m not alone in having completely missed Game Theory when they were around. Though the group’s off-kilter brand of 80s powerpop certainly appeals to me now, there’s a modest, aw-shucks feel to most of the songs on the ironically-titled 1982 Blaze of Glory<\/em>, crossing skinny-tie new wave aesthetics with quirky songs. Their debut album (like most of their subsequent output) has long been out of print; this Omnivore reissue adds a wealth of bonus material and the liner notes feature contributions from former members (leader Scott Miller<\/strong> passed away in 2013). Oh, and they remind me of Let’s Active<\/strong>.<\/p>\n
![\"\"](\"http:\/\/musoscribe.com\/images\/dream_academy.jpg\")
<\/center>\nThe Dream Academy \u2013 The Morning Lasted All Day<\/em>
\n<\/strong>Two CDs packed with 24 tracks might seem excessive for a retrospective on a group that scored a total of two hit singles (the lovely \u201cLife in a Northern Town\u201d from 1985, and a 1986 tune you probably don’t recall). They only released three albums. But their shimmering chamber-pop \u2013 championed by no less a light than Pink Floyd<\/strong>‘s David Gilmour<\/strong> \u2013 has worn quite well. The band’s original raison d’\u00eatre<\/em> was to create songs using unconventional (for rock) instrumentation. \u201cThe Edge of Forever\u201d may not have charted, but it’s the best thing the band did, arguably superior to \u201cLife.\u201d<\/p>\n
![\"\"](\"http:\/\/musoscribe.com\/images\/x_sun.jpg\")
<\/center>\nX \u2013 Under the Big Black Sun<\/em>
\n<\/strong>By 1983, X hadn’t yet achieved a level of success that would translate into record sales. So they signed with Elektra and enlisted the production skills of The Doors<\/strong>‘ keyboardist Ray Manzarek<\/a><\/strong>. Manzarek may have seemed an odd choice: he wasn\u2019t known as a producer, and his old band’s sound had little in common with the aesthetic of X. But it worked. Under the Big Black Sun<\/em> presented the Johnny-and-June<\/strong>-styled vocal harmonies of John Doe<\/strong> and Exene Cervenka<\/strong>, along with the insistent punk drumming of DJ Bonebrake<\/strong> and Billy Zoom<\/a><\/strong>‘s wild-eyed rockabilly guitar. This reissue features five bonus tracks.<\/p>\n
![\"\"](\"http:\/\/musoscribe.com\/images\/x_fun.jpg\")
<\/center>\nX \u2013 More Fun in the New World<\/em>
\n<\/strong>By the time (1983) of this, their fourth LP, X had achieved some fame. Again working with Manzarek behind the boards, the band crafted a set of songs that sought to capture the excitement of their live show (the package’s reliance on live concert shots makes that goal more explicit). Overall, More Fun<\/em> boasts a slightly more polished approach; the drums sound a bit \u201cbigger,\u201d and the whole affair feels a bit more radio-ready. Four demo tracks from the period (in remixed form) are appended to the original album’s thirteen songs. Still essential, as is Under the Big Black Sun<\/em>.<\/p>\n
15 more capsule reviews to come.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Once again, it’s time for a run of hundred-word reviews. My inbox has been overflowing of late, and even after removing the material that I deem not worth my time […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_exactmetrics_skip_tracking":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[21,39,51,59,62,64,65],"tags":[717,875,1622,1796,1925,2405],"class_list":["post-6579","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-cowpunk","category-indie","category-pop","category-punk","category-rawk","category-reissue","category-review","tag-dream-academy","tag-game-theory","tag-omnivore-recordings","tag-real-gone-music","tag-scruffy-the-cat","tag-x","cat-21-id","cat-39-id","cat-51-id","cat-59-id","cat-62-id","cat-64-id","cat-65-id"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6579","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6579"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6579\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":32098,"href":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6579\/revisions\/32098"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6579"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6579"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6579"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}