Some FEATURED ARTISTS on this week’s Stronger Than Dirt (Saturday, 8-10pm) include Chicory Tip, The Fast, Swell Maps, Jane Aire & the Belvederes, Pandoras, Eastern Dark, Sixteen Deluxe (Austin), Spits, new music by Spread Joy (Chicago), Guardian Singles (New Zealand), Music on Hold (France), Waste Man (NOLA), Cripples (Seattle) and Smirk (LA), as well as the weekly Dusty Diamond.
PICTURE SLEEVE OF THE WEEK: The Pandoras were an all female band from Los Angeles that was fronted by the late Paula Pierce. They originally started out as a garage rock band, and were associated with the Paisley Undergound revival scene of the mid 80s. Later their line-up changed to include future Muffs Kim Shattuck and Melanie Vammen, and they adopted a more hard rock sound. In 1991 Pierce died of a brain aneurysm at the age of 31. Their first release was a 1984 EP on Moxie Records, and featured the artwork (see image) of Gywnne Kahn, the original keyboardist.
LAST WEEK’S DUSTY DIAMOND (a forgotten gem from the STD vaults): The Fall-Outs are a garage rock band from Seattle who had several releases from the late 80s through the mid 90s, as well as a later album in 2004. Their songs were typically short and often up-tempo with crisp economic guitar riffs and unlucky in love and life lyrics. One of my very favorite bands from the period, really. “Here I Come,” a frantically paced careening juggernaut, clocks in at just under two minutes and delivers a most delicious post relationship rant. It appeared in 1989 on the “Here I Come” EP on Regal Select Records. Listen to it here:
Promo art from a 1985 Eastern Dark single on Waterfront Records. Uncredited artwork based on a photo of the band by Mark Roxburgh.