Cold Zone (1993) - Various Artists

Ah, promotional tie-in compilations for big brands... They're a bit of a niche for the collector, but it seems like every product aimed at a vaguely 'youth' demographic needed a freebie comp to go with the launch. Do businesses still do tie-in comps? Certainly not on CD in these days of streaming. Maybe an official Spotify playlist. Another thing that's died out in the past ten years...

So, here's this comp presumably released for the launch of Carlton Cold, which is an awful beer that I predict will make a bit of an ironic hipster comeback in the next couple of years. It made a bit of a splash in the 90s as it briefly captured the attentions of the 18-30 year old demographic away from Victoria Bitter and onto somewhat more streamlined product. In reality, it tastes like watered down VB. But this is a music blog, not a beer blog...

 

I'm not quite sure who this was aimed at. Maybe the Elwood-dwelling, cricket-watching poker players I mentioned in the Ice Cream Hands post. You've got the pre-Future Spa Fauves track next to a bouncy techno Boxcar track, with maudlin Dave Graney and then TISM of all people (the high point of the comp, I might add...) Top quality effort from the CUB marketing department. The whole thing is cynical beyond belief, but it a fun stupid way in the same way that Rowville is fun and stupid and has no clue. Please note that the year of release is only approximate (1993 was the year most of the tracks came out and Carlton Cold was released).

Can you get any more 90s than this lineup and Carlton Cold?

I actually like Carlton Cold. It tastes horrible, but I can't stop drinking it.

1. You Wanna Be Loved    5:02    Dave Graney with The Coral Snakes
2. Thin Body Thin Body    3:52    The Fauves
3. Ultrasonic    6:45    Boxcar
4. Singlette    3:39    Custard
5. Let's Form A Company    4:11    TISM
6. Who's Watching Who    3:34    Jackson Code
7. Go Go Go    3:32    The Fireballs
8. You Sleep I'll Drive    3:48    Tall Tales & True

Get Into The Cold Zone (1993) - Various Artists

An Empty Flight (1998) - Scared of Horses

Apparently a rarity (but it is on iTunes and Spotify now)... I found my copy at the Noble Park Salvos, along with about a dozen other CDs (some of which I may have featured on here this month...) Every so often, I think a former record company head honcho clears out his or her shelves in a fit of Kondo-inspired freshening and I happen to intercept the spoils. This happened that time at Narre Warren Savers, at Noble Park Salvos and most recently at Heatherton Savers, which is what inspired this grandiose spree in July.

Scared of Horses is basically a solo project of Something For Kate frontman Paul Dempsey. The funny thing is, he employed a different vocalist on each track. The tracks are pleasant post/math rock noodlings, a bit more laid back than SFK and maybe a bit more sophisticated. Kind of Tortoise/Sea and Cake/Slint/Polvo type stuff. Some of it (particularly 'If It's Chocolate') sounds a LOT like June of 44 if the lead singer of S:Bahn sung lead vocals (which he does).

Personally, I think that Sandpit achieved the sound to greater artistic (if not commercial) success, but that's my opinion (I'm on team Webb!) In fact, it was Sandpit bassist Steph Ashworth's appearance on this album as a guest vocalist that lead to her joining SFK full time

A weird quirk is that the inner sleeve lists the heights (I assume) of each of the featured vocalists. Paul Dempsey being 6'7"? Is that right?

On the old web, there's a SFK tripod page still up that has a page dedicated to this little project. There's also a page on the archived SFK website.

1. Intro        0:28
2. December (Ill at Ease)        6:46 [featuring Glenn Richards from Augie March]
3. In German        4:37 [featuring Heinz Reigler from Not From There. Interestingly, titled 'Obnoxious' on the archived SFK site above]
4. Fishes        2:19 [featuring Jamie Hutchings from Bluebottle Kiss]
5. Almost Too Perfect        6:48  [featuring Andria Prudente from Arrosa]
6. Monologue        3:53 [featuring Stephanie Ashworth from Sandpit]
7. If It's Chocolate        5:48 [featuring Dik from S:Bahn]
8. R and R        0:45 [instrumental - on the CD and the page above, says that Dik does vocals and that track 7 is instrumental]
9. Districts of Elvis        7:25 [featuring Laura Macfarlane from ninetynine]

https://www.mediafire.com/file/sju0rmd70e5p29l/An_Empty_Flight_%281998%29_-_Scared_of_Horses.zip/file
https://www.mediafire.com/file/sju0rmd70e5p29l/An_Empty_Flight_%281998%29_-_Scared_of_Horses.zip/file An Empty Flight (1998) - Scared of Horses

Know (1992) - Rootbeer

 

Not-too-melodic almost-pop punk from Glen Waverley, which is one of two reasons why I bought this CD. The other reason being that they supported Fugazi playing Wall St in 1993. They remind me in general theme of Dweebs, whom I covered earlier. Similarly, Rootbeer were regulars on the outer-south-eastern suburbs all-ages circuit in the early 90s. They broke up in 1995.

The artwork is rather good, but the vocals have that punky nasal twang. But! It gets better the further down the tracklist you get. There's a bit of evolution going on. It gets almost progressive on tracks like 'Private Beach'... Not quite the emo I was hoping for, but it's enjoyable.

Download in high-quality digital or CD formats at their bandcamp page.The band also released a posthumous compilation in 2004, with a bunch of tracks slated for a second LP that never happened, which I recommend you purchase and download.

1. Lost Inside        1:46
2. Way Too Far        1:38
3. Coming Down        2:01
4. Locked Up        2:33
5. Find        1:57
6. Leave Me Alone        2:24
7. Stand Tall        3:28
8. Who Cares        1:49
9. How Old Is Young        1:49
10. Private Beach        2:29
11. Broken        1:48
12. Million Dollar Mess        2:33
13. Dress Down        2:15

Know (1992) - Rootbeer

Now We Are Six (1994) - Various Artists

Cool comp of domestic and international artists distributed by Shock Records. The aMiniature track is awesome.

1. Shreen        2:38    All
2. Motorhead        2:26    Corduroy
3. Silver Train        4:12    East Village
4. Texas        4:03    Magnapop
5. Civilisation        3:20    Snout
6. Physical Climber        3:58    aMiniature
7. Glamorous        3:06    The Jesus Lizard
8. Your Ghost        3:17    Kristin Hersh
9. No No        5:10    Dub Syndicate
10. Pim Pom Pam        4:09    Fur
11. Still Life        3:40    Carl Orr
12. Maria Peripatetica        3:36    Ed Kuepper
13. Lip From Lip        3:33    Hoss    Now We Are Six
14. A Curse On You        3:31    The Blackeyed Susans
15. Borracho        5:40    Mark Lanegan
16. River Runs Red        1:54    Life Of Agony
17. Embers Fire        4:46    Paradise Lost
18. Masses Of Tiny Dots        2:14    Polyphemus
19. Wrong        3:41    Archers Of Loaf
20. Homeboy        4:29    Adorable
21. Will The Fetus Be Aborted        3:43    Jello Biafra & Mojo

Now We Are Six (1994) - Various Artists

Driven (1994) - Snuff

Debut EP from Snuff, who later changed their name to Moler and gained even greater fame. Moler recently reformed to play some shows I think. This EP was re-released on Spotify under the Moler title, but I've kept it under the band's original name here. See Moler's period-era webpage here, hosted on Melbourne.net (if you fancy diving down an Internet Archive rabbit hole for a few hours, browse around Melbourne.net and its parent, Warehouse.net...)

What a great little EP! Noisy, good for a sunny late afternoon drive. Reminds me of Deadstar much of the time, and a bit like the Clouds (but less musically complex) and Falling Joys (but less melodic). Recommended for fans of those bands, and if you want to see what Moler were like before they were Moler.

1. Bliss        3:44
2. Differently        4:03
3. Can't Remember        2:49
4. Like My Dog        3:54
5. A Word You Say        2:16

Driven (1994) - Snuff

You Get Nothing (1992) - Hoss

Joel Silbersher's band after GOD broke up. A bit too rocky for my tastes, but the album artwork is great and I'm sure there's some seminality to it. Released on Dog Meat Records, whose Home Is Where The Floor Is compilation from 1993 I posted a few days ago.

Also featuring an ex-GOD musician was Matty Whittle's band Sauce, also posted up a while ago.

1. It's Everywhere    3:31
2. I'm Not Here    2:39
3. Satan The Cleaning Lady    3:23
4. Too Much Sugar    6:00
5. Bile    3:01
6. Rock'N'Roll Worm    3:35
7. Magpie    5:26
8. Three In The Morning    3:27
9. Stag Party    3:05
10. Cranky Tonkin'    2:50
11. I Wanna Kill Your Boyfriend    5:49
12. Chuck    2:31

You Get Nothing (1992) - Hoss

Not From There (1997) - Not From There

Probably best known for that Recovery staple 'Sich Offnen', Brisbane band Not From There released this, their second EP, in 1997. They're kind of a noisy... well, they're pretty noisy, with some Regurgitator-esque production courtesy of Magoo on the first track. In fact, I'd describe them as sounding a bit like early Gurge, with less electronics and German lyrics at times. There are some great emo-ey guitar tones on the second and third tracks (to my ears anyway - like a more energetic Bubble and Scrape-era Sebadoh). In fact 'Chinchilla' sounds like a Slint ripoff! Good.

They also had a period Internet presence with a links page! Go take a look. Also, subject of fan pages.

Whilst I was there, I found the Australian Alternative Music page, run by 14 year old Jess from Brisbane, which should have some links to all your favourite pages and you can see what the nineties was like.

1. Let Me Out        2:47
2. No Answers        3:09
3. Chinchilla        3:33
4. Can't Shake Him        2:27
5. Cuando Estar De Vuelta        5:20


Not From There (1997) - Not From There

Moo Chewns - Milk This Catalogue (1999) - Various Artists

Hmm, that's funny... looks like I uploaded this one ages ago but never did a post on it. Anyway, here's a fairly standard comp, something to do with Half A Cow Records? Of course it has the Lemonheads on it. And spdfgh!

1. Into Your Arms        2:43    The Lemonheads
2. Here She Comes Again        3:39    Sidewinder
3. The Outdoor Type        2:31    The Lemonheads
4. Doctor Of Love        3:33    Sneeze
5. Pseudo Blues        3:25    Spdfgh
6. Day After Day        3:55    Sidewinder
7. Swollen Venus        2:31    Crow
8. Titanic Days        3:40    Sidewinder
9. Blue Angel        3:36    Spdfgh
10. Railhead        3:45    Crow
11. Kitchen        2:54    The Lemonheads
12. Give Me Time        2:45    Spdfgh
13. Going Home        4:17    Swirl
14. Shaky Ground        1:58    Sneeze
15. April Eight        3:46    Robyn St. Clare
16. Cheerleader        3:38    Plunderers
17. Don't Go Now        2:54    Ratcat
18. Christo        2:41    Plunderers
19. Six Years From Crying        1:29    Cowsuit
20. The Age Difference        3:04    Cashew
21. Divan        2:34    Smudge
22. Table For One        4:32    Godstar
23. Cardriver        3:38    The Daisygrinders
24. Miles To Go        2:26    The Hummingbirds
25. R        0:42    Sneeze

Moo Chewns - Milk This Catalogue (1999) - Various Artists

Adolescent Fantasy World (1994) - Front End Loader

Upbeat stuff! Kind of. Sydney band. A bit of a bitzer in terms of styles, you could call it indie rock, but with a few random funk and pop punk bits mixed in. Some of the riffing is Midnight Oil-esque. The whole affair is super short (we just listened to the whole thing driving up the road and back to get pizza), but good. The first track, and the vocals in general, remind me of Archers of Loaf. The best riff on the EP is probably that of track four ('Ballast'). They have a Wikipedia page.

Probably best known for 'Pulse', which isn't on this EP.

 
They also appeared on Recovery -

Featuring Peter Kostic, who I think later played drums in Regurgitator. Skate-y and fun, but not as poppy as Ratcat.

1. Speck        2:25
2. Gluefoot        2:39
3. Can't Stay Long        1:43
4. Ballast        3:23
5. Totalizator        2:14

Adolescent Fantasy World (1994) - Front End Loader

Icecream Hands (1992) - Icecream Hands

Sort of power poppy stuff probably enjoyed by people who lived in Elwood, Sandringham and Cheltenham in the mid-90s, dressed like a cricketer, drank lots of Carlton Draught, played poker in the back shed and listened to Paul Kelly and the Whitlams.

It's quite good. I'm sure I read somewhere about a band that I was envious of featuring the son of one of the members of Icecream Hands, but I can't remember which member it was (or what the band was called). Released on Rubber Records, distributed by Shock (as Screamfeeder once said, I can see a pattern forming...)

What's with the DX7 and Linndrum sound on track two? Geez. Also, the opening chord of 'Uncle Robert's Questionnaire' sounds EXACTLY like the opening chord of 'Lost Weekend' by Lloyd Cole and the Commotions. Plus the riff is very similar to that Paul Kelly song. You know the one I mean.

This is a probably an entirely unhelpful review. That's what you get when I put four five records up in one evening.

Icecream Hands (1992) - Icecream Hands

Horsehead (1993) - Horsehead

Early 90s cock rock. Featuring members of Uncanny X-Men and Boom Crash Opera. Says it all really.

Except to say sorry for the poor quality cover artwork. I stole it from discogs (again).

1. Slave        4:09
2. Liar        4:32
3. Oil And Water        3:26
4. Power 2        4:45
5. Miss Your Mind        4:32
6. Hazy Way        4:48
7. Other Side        4:00
8. Blood Memory        4:21
9. Sun        4:52
10. Fill Me        3:33
11. Sleeping Dog        4:46
12. Burn        5:50

Horsehead (1993) - Horsehead

New Hope For The Dead (1992) - Kiss My Poodles Donkey

Here's a bit of a bizarre one... what a title, and what cover artwork.

Not a lot of info on this band, but it's out there. Go Google. Featuring Chris Townend of Bigjesusburger Studios in Sydney. Sort of a groovy Ministry/Killing Joke/Jesus Lizard vibe at times. 'Bad Hair Day' even has a touch of TISM about it.

'A Hot Record' released on Hot, distributed by Shock. I think the last 20 CDs I bought must have come from a Shock distribution agent, because that seems to be the common thread...

1. Sacred Cow        3:44
2. Truck        3:49
3. Bad Hair Day        5:03
4. Psychoman        4:31
5. Moodb        4:37
6. Gett Off        4:37
7. See My Eye        5:11
8. The Lizard        3:45

New Hope For The Dead (1992) - Kiss My Poodles Donkey New Hope For The Dead (1992) - Kiss My Poodles Donkeyhttps://www.mediafire.com/file/1lclwri7v3bhkqn/New_Hope_For_The_Dead_%281992%29_-_Kiss_My_Poodles_Donkey.zip/file

Home Is Where The Floor Is (1993) - Various Artists

Compilation from Dog Meat Records (distributed by Shock) of Melbourne. Run by Dave Laing, who had earlier run a label called Grown Up Wrong. It has a Wikipedia page.

You'll find the likes of the Powder Monkeys and Hoss (featuring Joel Silbersher from GOD) on this compilation. Garagey punk seems to be the gist. I have a bunch of Powder Monkeys and Hoss stuff to put here too, in due course.
 
Extensive write up here, discography here.

How good is the name of this comp? Great!

Let me know if any of the tracks are dodgy, I had to pick up my laptop whilst the CD was ripping to let a cat out of the laundry (and that's not a euphemism).

1. Another Nite In Hell        5:32    Powder Monkeys
2. Atomic Resolution (live)        5:18    Powder Monkeys
3. Gentle Claws        4:24    Hoss
4. Ark (live)        2:11    Hoss
5. Give        3:05    The Phillisteins
6. Bermuda        2:47    The Phillisteins
7. Sooner Than You Think        4:03    The Sunset Strip
8. Mercy Killing        7:29    The Sunset Strip
9. Whiskey        3:55    Red Planet Rocketts
10. Love Is Strange        2:44    Red Planet Rocketts
11. Something For Nothing        4:26    The Freeloaders
12. Good Morning        3:14    The Freeloaders
13. Golden Eyelid        3:40    Splatterheads
14. Seven Runes        1:48    Splatterheads

Home Is Where The Floor Is (1993) - Various Artists

Open Up And Croon (1995) - Glide

Okay, back to blog... and I have lots and lots of stuff to upload! Including everything that I promised previously. Here's the debut album from Glide.

Lots of interesting guitar tones and incredibly tuneful in parts. A bit brit-poppy, but done well. In some ways they remind me of Ripe, but with less Jesus and Mary Chain and more James, but that might just be Will Arthur's vocals. I'm just trying to reacquaint myself with this album as I'm writing this. I remember driving through Prahran listening to it on a sunny morning on my way to buy coffee and thinking that it was good.

Sadly, lead singer Will Arthur passed away in 1999. There are plenty of retrospectives here, here, here and here. See a meditation here. Interview with Jason Kingshott here.

I encourage you to download the album and Glide's other offerings from Apple Music, where you can enjoy them in high quality.

I wasn't able to find any specific mentions of Glide in the Internet Archive, which is a little odd, you'd have thought thay'd have had an online presence. If I dredge anything up I'll link to it.

I stole the album art from discogs this time. I usually take pride in scanning my own high-res copies, but I'm far from my scanner and it's sitting beneath a pile of junk anyhow...

1. Open Up And Croon        3:32
2. Why You Asking?        3:41
3. Something        4:47
4. Line        2:54
5. Pitch And Sway        4:25
6. He Sees A Way        3:15
7. Dead Weight Beauty        2:20
8. Spin Doctor        3:46
9. Caterwaul        4:39
10. Spit You Up        2:49
11. Tripped Up And Stalled        3:16
12. Pricking At Your Paws        4:40

Open Up And Croon (1995) - Glide

Rock n Roll High School Volume 2 (1995) - Various Artists

At last, the set is complete...

See here for:

Vol. 1

Vol. 3

Vol. 4 with all the good goss.

I have some more material, I haven't yet run dry. Time is a rare commodity. Bloodloop Beautiful and Bluebottle Kiss will receive the exhumation treatment.

1. Bust        3:15    Bindi
2. Vic Vapo Dreads        1:47    Craw
3. Solvent        2:24    Sourpuss
4. By Myself        4:53    Hecate
5. Treatment        3:28    Spot The Beast
6. Scream Dream        1:51    Midget Stooges
7. Trigger Happy        1:45    Dead Cat By Max
9. Sweet Petroleum        1:56    Curmudgeon
10. Hang Around        3:40    Otis
11. Toad Woman        3:50    Awkward Squad
12. Don't Know        4:39    Gritty Kitty
13. Desert Bug        4:30    Janelle 7
14. Photosynthesis        3:11    Fernfluff
15. Want        5:44    Blinde Spectators
16. Illusion (Of Life In A Womb)        5:02    Leviathan

Rock n Roll High School Volume 2 (1995) - Various Artists