April 30, 2005 | Posted by david at 12:53 PM

Darkness comes and darkness goes away now

Yellow PillsBecause every Saturday needs a strong dose of sugar, I thought I'd post something from the new Yellow Pills: Prefill compilation.

In the early '90s, Jordan Oakes was the publisher of the power pop fanzine Yellow Pills, full of bands you've never heard of and a Beatles-like sound that you know very, very well. Reissue label Numero Group approached Oakes to come up with some tracks for a comp, and Prefill, just released on Numero Group, is what he came up with.

I'm gonna be honest with you - it's great. And not great in that "these are obscure gems from a bygone era" way, but great in that "I LOVE THESE SONGS!" way. The bands and songs are, however, pretty much obscure gems from a bygone era, but it's an era - kickstarted by bands like Big Star and Badfinger - that was bygone to begin with. Like Big Star's "September Gurls", all these songs sound like hits that never were.

Thanks to the people at Numero Group, who gave me permission to post a couple tracks. I had a hard time choosing from the 33 songs on the 2-CD set, but I settled on these:

The Toms - Sun

The Kids - There Goes My Heart Again

I'm especially partial to "Sun", which, to someone born in 1979, sounds like something off Wilco's Summer Teeth CD. How about that pre-chorus backbeat, and that Lennon-esque voice? And "There Goes My Heart Again" is just pure pop, and pure joy.

You can order Yellow Pills here, and I really recommend doing so. With two packed discs and an informative, 27-page booklet at $23, it's a great deal. And the joy, the joy!

Comments

Thanks for the recommendations. I'll bookmark your site. The Toms track is wonderful. Its what The Doves have been trying to sound like for years. Anyway, I discovered your site through my friend's page: http://www.the-train.blogspot.com/

I also have a humble, music themed blog: http://www.echo-and-fury.blogspot.com/

cheers

Posted by: Adrian at April 30, 2005 05:20 PM

These tracks are really great, I'm looking forward to checking out the rest of the comp. Thanks!

Posted by: Cameron at April 30, 2005 08:35 PM

The Toms had an amazing LP in the early '80s that Not Lame reissued some time back (think it's already out of print). Totally up there with the best of the Shoes, Rubinoos, etc. Check out some sound clips (it's the red and white checked one) at http://www.tommymarolda.com/media/media.htm

Posted by: mike at April 30, 2005 10:18 PM

wow, amazing stuff here dave!!!!

Posted by: robot blair at May 1, 2005 02:07 PM

Sorry, this is admittedly off-topic-- but, the 'Weekly' Pool in the sidebar hasn't been changed in, like, 8 weeks. I'm just sayin'.

Posted by: WH at May 1, 2005 09:36 PM

nice find

Posted by: andy at May 2, 2005 12:12 AM

um... "SUN" is not by THE TOMS, it is TOM MAROLDA, but it is his new band, HORIZONTAL LADIES CLUB, and it was released last year. the only reason i know this is because i just emailed marolda to find out what record it is on and he replied my email like 3 minutes later...

great song! i just bought the comp...

Posted by: simakos at May 3, 2005 03:40 AM
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