Needle In The Hay

Recently, I found a copy of a very classic, very rare EP that captured a transition period of a seminal band in the history of American underground rock. This album, which marked the end of an obscure chapter for the band and the beginning of a bright one, contains four great songs from one of America's greatest Lo-Fi Indie bands.

Based in Stockton, California, Pavement was one of the supreme highlights of the early 90s. Dozens of bands came to life as a result of their initial albums. This EP on Matador Records, Watery Domestic, is classic. It is immediate. It is rare. It is primitive. It is essential!

In the early 90s Pavement sounded like no one else around. They sounded, to me, like something that was meant to be listened to. Often, it took time to decipher the noise, but somehow that was the whole point! As soon as the droning feedback of "Texas Never Whispers" begins clawing at your eardrums you are aware that something big is coming. By the time Watery Domestic fades out you've been worked into such a frenzy that you have to start it over and listen again.

The two full-length albums from this era, Slanted & Enchanted and Crooked Rain, Crooked Rain still stand as Indie landmarks and should not be missed under any circumstances. That said, if you can find Watery Domestic... find it! It's the missing chapter from that era.

Rewind:

REWIND: To Toronto in the mid-80s. In 1986, Alan Anton and a group of siblings named Timmins got together and formed a group called Cowboy Junkies and released an album called Whites Off Earth Now!!

This was their first album and what a surreal feeling it gives the listener! It has a dreamlike quality that is absolutely captivating. Though eight of the nine songs are covers, they are covered on the Cowboy Junkies' terms. When I first heard it I wondered if Mazzy Star's first album may have been looking toward this when it was conceived. The second half gets a bit bluesier, but still maintains that faint floating touch.

Margo Timmins, the singer, has a wonderful voice. Her voice goes from delicate to haunting to sparkling to bluesy to slightly rockin'! A handful of the songs belong to the blues giants John Lee Hooker and Robert Johnson. There is one original, "Take Me" and one from Lightnin' Hopkins, "Shining Moon".

There is also a cover of Springsteen's song "State Trooper" from his 1982 album Nebraska. The original song is slow and always feels like it's gonna explode but never does. The Cowboy Junkies' version feels like half a bottle of pain killers creeping through your brain, stopping every once in a while to stab you. It's mostly bass and high-hat with a sweeping guitar in the background. Brilliant cover!

Generally, I prefer bands to do their own songs, however, when a band takes absolute standards and turns them into a creation that is completely theirs, I cannot argue.

The final song on the album is a cover of "Crossroads" by Robert Johnson. The first band I ever heard cover this song, that I remember, was Cream. That version is about as breakneck as a song can be with each of the three members essentially destroying their instruments in the process of laying the song down (though I think that version was edited in the studio as it was recorded live and originally around seven minutes). The Junkies' draw this simple song out past six minutes and by the time it's over you're just about asleep. In a good way!

Check this one out if you missed it!

Great interpretations of classic American blues!