Slumberland Records Is 20 Years Old
Which is kind of crazy. Just before my 18th birthday I put on a show at my Dad's "farm" that featured some of the earlier Slumberland-related acts like Lilys, Swirlies, and Small Factory. (When the label was based in D.C.) It lasted two of the hottest days in July. Hundreds of people showed, but my father regretted his decision to let me try my hand at show promotion when someone almost burnt down a few trees with fireworks. I remember wanting to book Velocity Girl, but it hadn't worked out. They were probably too big then: "My Forgotten Favorite" felt like a massive hit to the people writing and obsessively trading zines. It was kinda my Summer Of Love, where I found a path from the hardcore, thrash metal, NYC noise, and SST of early high school to the DIY K "love rock" (Some Velvet Sidewalk, Lync, Karp, Beat Happening, etc.) and the buzz and sweetness of Slumberland. (Check out the beginning of Swirlies' "Sarah Sitting" to see what I mean.) Showing my roots, I liked the shoe-gaze best: The Ropers, Henry's Dress, Black Tambourine, Swirlies, Lilys, etc. And, yeah, everyone loved My Bloody Valentine/Pavement. (I found a cassette copy of Slanted & Enchanted stuck beneath some bushes in the backyard a few days after the shows ended.) I say this anniversary's crazy because founder Mike Schulman has so admirably stuck to a specific sound and aesthetic, while always founding a way to mine the best of it. That, and it's hard to believe this little label we were supporting one 7" at a time -- a label that, okay, felt refined from its first release -- is still here and bigger than ever.
It was a smart move starting the label again after a hiatus in 2001. During Slumberland's existence, Schulman has released classic albums folks know well. There are also collections that hold a special spot for me personally. Like Sleepyhead's Punk Rock City USA from 1993. So twee, but so good. I think folks recognize the MBV-nodding brilliance of Lilys' In The Presence of Nothing and the scenery-stealing charisma of Kurt Heasley's live presence back then (even when he was going for it solo). What about Ropers' "Sunbathe" 7"? Once you start paging through the official discography gems pop out like crazy. Some of these old/new bands are playing together at the 20th Anniversary show in D.C. tonight and NYC tomorrow. I put together a few MP3s from some of my favorite earlier releases to get you in the mood.
Lilys - February Fourteenth" (MP3)
Black Tambourine - "Black Car" (MP3)
Swirlies - "Sarah Sitting" (MP3)
Sleepyhead - "Different Colored Letters" (MP3)
The Ropers - "Waiting" (MP3)
Small Factory - "Merry-Go-Round" (MP3)
Boyracer - "Sunshine And Violence" (MP3)
Honeybunch - "Mine You Own Business" (MP3)
Henry's Dress - "1620" (MP3)
Lorelei - "Today's Shrug" (MP3)
Velocity Girl - "My Forgotten Favorite" (MP3)
self-titled has a good feature that includes various Slumberland folks' favorites with some sounds. Velocity Girls' Kelly Young nails that noise/pop thing I was talking about:
While it might be cheating since it's a compilation, my pick for best Slumberland record is Black Tambourine's Complete Recordings. For me, it's a complete distillation of what the label was all about at the beginning: angry noise and sweet, sweet pop. As far as my take on the band and record as a fellow Slumberlander, I'm reminded of some notes from [R.E.M.'s] Peter Buck. I think they're from Dead Letter Office, referring to hearing Pylon's "Crazy" on the radio: "I remember hearing their version on the radio the day that 'Chronic Town' came out and being suddenly depressed by how much better it was than our record." That's how I felt on first hearing BT.
You'll find more of these gems as self-titled. The show info:
11/13 - Washington, DC @ Black Cat #
11/14 - Brooklyn, NY @ Bell House %
# w/ Crystal Stilts, Brown Recluse, Frankie Rose and The Outs, the Ropers, Nord Express, and Lorelei
% w/ Crystal Stilts, Brown Recluse, Frankie Rose and The Outs, the Ropers, Nord Express, Lorelei, and the Pains of Being Pure At Heart
Make sure to stop by Slumberland to catch/keep up on things. Bonus Lilys:
Lilys - "Claire Hates Me" (MP3)
Posted at 6:00 PM by brandon in MP3
Tags: Black Tambourine | Boyracer | Henry's Dress | Honeybunch | Lilys | Lorelei | Sleepyhead | Slumberland | Small Factory | Swirlies | The Ropers | Velocity Girl
Great write-up. The Slumberland bill should nicely complement tonight's Teenbeat show at the Knitting Factory. A bunch of great, largely overlooked bands on both of these labels.
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Damn, we're old. 20 years of Slumberland? Couldn't have happened to a better label!
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I wish Rocketship was playing. I'd lose my shit.
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The dudes in Velocity girl did NOT age well.
http://viewmorepics.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=viewImage&friendID=93084214&albumID=532379&imageID=9848383
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Unfortunately, I missed last night's show in DC. sigh.
I *DID* recently come across a flyer for the INDIE 500 when I was going through my stuff for WLFR's 25th Anniversary:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/bluflower/4005073883/
I did my best to block out the address & phone, just in case they were still in use!
-Lauree
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Whoa, flashbacks. Thanks for posting. I haven't seen that in a while, though I have copies somewhere in storage. (A friend of mine recently brought me one of the shirts we'd screen printed for the weekend. Somehow I didn't have one of those. I'm a bad archivist.)
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I was surprised myself when I found it. I have a lot of "stuff" from the early to mid 90s that I've saved. I think it was mixed in with all my flyers and memories from WLFR. Sometimes I keep such weird things. I may even have some photos too. Harder to find since it was before digital cameras!
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Great post! Thanks for the tracks, they're great
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This is an outstanding post! I would love to see more of this, celebrating the bands who kicked-ass but missed out on the Internet. Thanks again for the memories, and the mp3s!
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@ DJ Monster Jam.
God, I'd love for Rocketship to play.
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hey! I was at the 'Indie 500' weekend shows (still have the handmade flier too). what a great time and representation of that 'one last kiss' era. I think that the Small Factory set was my favourite
weird fact: I spent most of my time at this show on a picnic blanket with Buzzcocks bass player Steve Garvey. Steve had his family in the New Hope are and was producing a Phila based friend's band at the time
at that time it really felt like something special. especially when looked at the indie-pop movement with Simple Machines/spinArt, Slumberland etc and the Grifters/GBV/Sentridoh type of stuff
nice article to read
cheers!
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good one..."waiting" by the ropers is one of the best singles from the 90s...or any era. Such a perfect, wistful pop gem...
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