I can no longer dependably relate how I first heard about the band Sarge. I could have sworn I was told about the Illinois indie band by one of my friends after they’d seen them as an opening act at a Madison, Wisconsin concert. Over the years, though, I’ve specifically attributed it to the individuals who were the most likely candidates and over and over again I’ve been told, “No, I’ve never heard of them.” Their single “Dear Josie, Love Robyn” was briefly a small sensation among the cool kid set, although I think it was a song I longed … Continue reading One for Friday: Sarge, “The First Morning”

There was a stretch during the mid-to-late-eighties when I gently transitioned myself from the sort of stuff played on album rock radio stations to the material that had a more comfortable home at the left end of the dial. It helped that I had a hometown radio station that was a weird hybrid of the two, embracing select college radio artists (R.E.M. chief among them, but also the occasional Camper Van Beethoven or Robyn Hitchcock song) even as it leaned most heavily on the rootsy classic rock likes of Bruce Springsteen, Little Feat, and the seventies output of the Kinks. … Continue reading One for Friday: Peter Wolf, “Can’t Get Started”

I have my prejudices when it comes to music. For one thing, I’ve long resisted any reunions of bands, even those who I once loved. I still stand by my aversion in many cases, especially in those instances when the reunion is basically in name only. I’m not quite sure why anyone musters up overt excitement about what is essentially a new Frank Black solo album just because he’s worked it out to stamp the name “Pixies” on the front. There are plenty of instances where bands have gotten back together for drab efforts after solo projects and spinoff bands … Continue reading One for Friday: The Go-Betweens, “Surfing Magazines”