With Strum & Thrum: The American Jangle Underground 1983-1987, Captured Tracks kicks off their Excavations compilation series with a 2LP deep dive into a scene, both regional and national, that’s long overdue for the retrospective treatment. 28 selections document Reagan-era US bands invigorating and extending an already well-established sound, with the results delightful and cohesive. Fans of melodic guitars will find much to love here, while heavy-duty record nuts can expect some true discoveries; it’s out on orange wax October 24 for Record Store Day, with CD, black vinyl and digital to follow November 13.
In the accompanying press release, Captured Tracks draws a distinction between this set’s chiming guitars and the roar of the 1980s Hardcore uprising. But this contrast can also be extended to the underground groups of the decade that progressed beyond HC and defined the loose movement which came to be known as the beginnings of Indie Rock. Specifically, those acts were detailed extensively in Michael Azerrad’s tome Our Band Could Be Your Life.
That book spanned from the emergence of Hardcore to the dawn of grunge and generally (but not entirely) covered bands that were breaking new stylistic ground, all while staying true to the spirit of punk by disdaining HC orthodoxy. The difference with Strum & Thrum is that the bands it compiles aren’t explicitly connected to punk’s disruptive impulse.
Instead, the contents shine a light on the legions of guitar pop outfits who represented one aspect of the ’80s College Radio sound, with the bands it collects rarely branching beyond the left of the dial in terms of popularity. One group that did, namely R.E.M., are described in the press release by Record Store Day founder Michael Kurtz as the sort of Big Bang of Strum & Thrum’s compendium of jangle, specifically through their 1981 Hib-Tone Records’ single “Radio Free Europe” b/w “Sitting Still.”
What the bands heard across Strum & Thrum’s four sides share with those covered in Our Band Could Be Your Life (and indeed, straight-up punk and HC) is the D.I.Y. impulse; if the records here weren’t self-released, they were at least created free of commercial pressures from the labels putting them out. This is especially worth noting, as Strum & Thrum is an engaging, accessible listen rather than abrasive, formidable or strident.
There’s no shortage of energy, however. Captured Tracks’ suggestion of a “reimagined C86 if it was made of US bands” is on target in regard to the inspired playing and solid songwriting, and also, that Strum & Thrum, like C86, is comprised entirely of bands. And yes, jangle, though there are enough power-pop moves and revamped Byrds-isms to lend most of these sides an undeniable Yankee flavor.
Furthermore, the retrospective nature of this album never really strays from the stylistic path, which differentiates it from C86, today largely remembered as a jangle pop scenario but with a few outliers in the mix. The primacy of the jangle isn’t a problem, as the selection-sequence by Captured Tracks’ owner Mike Sniper is designed to provide both short sweet side-long kicks and to stand up strong as a whole.
With this said, there are only so many ways to communicate the sound of productive jangling, so rather than a full descriptive rundown of the tracks, a few general observations are in order. Suffice it to say that if guitar pop is your thing, this collection is a must, as it’s pretty much guaranteed that Sniper’s picks will offer a few (or many) revelations; while I’d heard a little over two-thirds of the set, a handful of the bands were totally new to me, and those tunes cut significant mustard next to the high(er)-profile entries in Strum & Thrum’s scheme.
The bigger names here generally landed deals with a few of the sturdier independent labels of the time, primary amongst them Homestead Records, which released wax by six of the included bands: The Windbreakers (who also cut a bunch of LPs for DB Recs), Salem 66, The Outnumbered, Great Plains, One Plus Two, and The Reactions.
Amongst the other groups here who received national exposure are Sex Clark Five, Downy Mildew, Absolute Grey, and The Crippled Pilgrims, though all this is subjective to my personal experience, as “national exposure” for these bands, in the ’80s, really meant ads or reviews (or articles) in a fanzine or small press music mag (which was the case with the Homestead acts above).
As Captured Tracks points out, a few of these bands were the first step for musicians who achieved a higher level of subsequent prominence, as 28th Day featured Barbara Manning, the Bangtails had Archer Prewitt (of Sea & Cake), The Outnumbered included Jon Ginoli (of Pansy Division), and The Reverbs (who open the set with infectious confidence), and The Springfields were the handiwork of one Ric Menck, who carried Strum &Thrum’s style into the ’90s with panache via Velvet Crush, making his double inclusion fully deserved.
Also, the aforementioned Michael Kurtz was a member of Little Hits, who cut a 7-inch for Hib-Tone, while Pat Thomas of Absolute Grey went on to become a music writer and reissue producer of note. And speaking of Absolute Grey, they are one of a pleasingly high number of bands here with contributions by women, with Beth Brown that band’s vocalist.
Additionally, Manning in 28th Day, Donna Esposito in The Cyclones, and the Mitch Easter-produced Riff Doctors, Joy Johnson in Sex Clark Five, Sheila Valentine in Three Hits, Beth Kaplan, Judy Greenwald, and Susan Merriam comprising the early lineup of Salem 66, Nancy McCoy and Jenny Homer in Downy Mildew, Mary Clyde Bridgers and Susan Kent in One Plus One, and Linda Hopper and Lynn Blakey in Holiday, all substantiate that this scene was far from male dominated (which is a definite contrast with Hardcore).
Also, many of Strum & Thrum’s best moments are from some of the more obscure participants (at least to me, anyway) and arrive later in the sequence. Of particular note are The White Sisters with “Misery, Me & You” and Pop Art with “The Meeting,” the former decidedly Postcard Records-like and the latter just a verbose pop auteur move, the pair of tracks making obvious that ears were attuned to happenings across the pond (but without coming off as imitative).
Other cuts, like “She Was Unkind” by The Ferrets and the set-closing “Essential Things” by A New Personality (featuring Brent Rademaker, later of Beachwood Sparks) offer levels of quality and ambition that are comparable to Big Dipper and Game Theory, two of the bigger acts (not from Athens, GA or Hoboken, NJ, anyway) to emerge from this niche of the ’80s US underground.
I mentioned Azerrad’s book up top in part to draw the distinction that there were dozens (many dozens) of fine bands from the same era that are largely forgotten today, simply because they didn’t alter the dominant culture at large. Strum & Thrum: The American Jangle Underground 1983-1987 collects 28 of them, all honing one of popular music’s most enduring styles, the contents cohering into a consistent eye-opener and ear-pleaser. There’s nary a bum track in the bunch. Not even close.
GRADED ON A CURVE:
A
