Children Of Nuggets

Children Of Nuggets - Original Artyfacts From The Second Psychedelic Era 1976-1995

Reviewer: Lydia Vanderloo, Amazon.com

Garage rock has occasionally bubbled up onto the pop charts -- from the Kingsmen's "Louie Louie" on through Nirvana and the White Stripes -- but the bulk of its creative output has always lurked below the surface. While Rhino's first two Nuggets box sets ably chronicled the subgenre's development in the mid- and late '60s, Children of Nuggets compiles the work of their creative offspring, likeminded groups from the '70s through the '90s (with an emphasis on the '80s). A few of the artists here were, at least briefly, household names -- the Bangles, the Hoodoo Gurus, the Smithereens, the Church -- but most trafficked in the seedy underground, receiving notice only from fanzines, record store regulars, and paisley-clad rock club denizens. Surprisingly, the 100 mix-tape favorites collected here represent a broad stylistic and geographic range. They include L.A.'s "paisley underground" (the Dream Syndicate's Neil Young–influenced "Tell Me When It's Over," the Rain Parade's kaleidoscopic "One Half Hour Ago"); the U.K.'s mid-'80s psych-rock heyday (Biff Bang Pow!'s Rickenbacker-fueled anthem "There Must Be a Better Life," the Dentists' sweetly melancholy "Strawberries Are Growing in My Garden," Primal Scream's lilting "Gentle Tuesday"); the Pacific Northwest (Screaming Trees' proto-grunge "Transfiguration," the Posies' angsty "I May Hate You Sometimes"); and the rich Australia/New Zealand axis (the Stems' downbeat power pop "Love Will Grow," the Chills' eerie, chiming "Pink Frost," Died Pretty's psychedelic, organ-propelled "Out of the Unknown"). Residing alongside are long-term garage enthusiasts, including the Dukes of Stratosphear (XTC's alter ego), Jeff Conolly's Lyres/DMZ, the Spongetones, Julian Cope, Billy Childish/Milkshakes, the Bevis Frond, and Teenage Fanclub. This passionately assembled four-disc set will give pause even to diehard garage fans; upon each listening, new nuggets are unearthed, whether the Nerves' effusive power-pop "One Way Ticket" or the Last's raw, swirling "She Don't Know Why I'm Here." The set's 100-page booklet includes essays by garage diehard Little Steven and Bucketful of Brains founder Nigel Cross, plus extensive liner notes from British scribe Kieron Tyler and an ode to the late Voxx/Bomp! mainman Greg Shaw, without whom, according to co-producer Gary Stewart, "the events covered in this set wouldn't have taken place." Amen.

Disc 1:

01. Vanishing Girl - The Dukes of Stratosphear
02. Help You Ann - The Lyres 3. The Real World - The Bangles
04. We're Living in Violent Times - The Barracudas
05. The Trains - Nashville Ramblers
06. Seven Years - Watermelon Men
07. Strangers When We Meet - The Smithereens
08. Wading Through a Ventilator - The Soft Boys
09. I Can't Hide - The Flamin' Groovies
10. The Girl from Baltimore - The Fleshtones
11. It's a Good Thing - That Petrol Emotion
12. She's Fine - Stems 13. All My Life - Point
14. Down at the Nightclub - The Creeps
15. (My Girl) Maryanne - The Spongetones
16. She Turns to Flowers - The Salvation Army
17. You Are My Friend - Rain Parade
18. Mr. Unreliable - Inmates
19. (I Thought) You Wanted to Know - Chris Stamey, The dB's
20. She Don't Know Why I'm Here [Single Version] - The Last
21. There Must Be a Better Life - Biff Bang Pow!
22. Slave Girl - Lime Spiders
23. I May Hate You Sometimes - The Posies
24. I Helped Patrick McGoohan Escape - Times
25. It's About Time - The Pandoras
26. I Live for Buzz - Swingin' Neckbreakers
27. I Want You Back - Hoodoo Gurus

Children Of Nuggets - Disc 1


Disc 2:

01. This Damn Nation - The Godfathers
02. Tell Me When It's Over - Dream Syndicate
03. Whenever I'm Gone - The Prisoners
04. New Kind of Kick - The Cramps
05. And She Rides - The Long Ryders
06. Motorbike Beat - Revillos
07. Tears (Only Dry) - The Vipers
08. 25 O'Clock - The Dukes of Stratosphear
09. Don't Give It Up Now - The Lyres
10. If and When - Chris Stamey, The dB's
11. Pabst Blue Ribbon - The Untamed Youth
12. There She Goes - The La's
13. Kingsley J - Vibrasonic
14. I Can Never Tell - The Crawdaddys
15. Make Me Stay - Green Telescope
16. Everyday Things - The Plimsouls
17. I Wanna Destroy You - The Soft Boys
18. It's You - Mickey & the Milkshakes
19. Apology - The Posies
20. Lights Are Changing - The Bevis Frond
21. Ahead of My Time - Droogs
22. Welcome to My Love - Funseekers
23. Flowers in the Sky - Revolving Paint Dream
24. Metal Baby - Teenage Fanclub

Children Of Nuggets - Disc 2


Disc 3:

01. The Unguarded Moment - The Church
02. I Can't Pretend - The Barracudas
03. Out of the Unknown - Died Pretty
04. L.A. Explosion - The Last
05. I'll Cry Alone - The Flamin' Groovies
06. Sunspots - Julian Cope
07. Hindu Gods of Love - Lipstick Killers
08. Death and Angels - Green on Red
09. Barbed Wire Heart - Sinners
10. Pink Frost - The Chills
11. She Told Me Lies - Chesterfield Kings
12. Beauty and Sadness - The Smithereens
13. Test Drive - The Mummies
14. Busy Man [EP Version] - DMZ
15. Love Will Grow - Stems
16. She Goes Out With Everybody - The Spongetones
17. Hypnotized - The Plimsouls
18. No Apology - The Unclaimed
19. God Knows It's True - Teenage Fanclub
20. You Keep on Lyin' - Hoods
21. Don't Break Down - The Sting Rays
22. The World Has Changed - The Fleshtones
23. Baby What's Wrong - Cynics
24. Psycko (Themes from Psycho and Vertigo) - Laika & the Cosmonauts
25. My Name Is Tom - The Jigsaw Seen
Children Of Nuggets - Disc 3


Disc 4:

01. Gentle Tuesday - Primal Scream
02. With a Cantaloupe Girlfriend - The Three O'Clock
03. Like Wow -- Wipeout! - Hoodoo Gurus
04. Bad News Travels Fast - The Fuzztones
05. Plains of Nazca [Single Edit] - Sun Dial
06. Getting Out of Hand - The Bangs
07. Please Don't Tell My Baby - Mickey & the Milkshakes
08. One Half Hour Ago - Rain Parade
09. You're My Loving Way - The Aardvarks
10. Transfiguration - Screaming Trees
11. A Scandal in Bohemia - United States of Existence
12. Where the Wolf Bane Blooms - The Nomads
13. Cheated and Lied - The Vipers
14. Strawberries Are Growing in My Garden (And It's Wintertime) - The Dentists
15. Won't Need Yours - Tell-Tale Hearts
16. Weakness - Inspiral Carpets
17. You'll Know Why - Miracle Workers
18. Not My Memory - The Unknowns
19. Far Away - The Prisoners
20. Ain't That a Man - The Optic Nerve
21. Mink Dress - Plasticland
22. Tight Turn - Raybeats
23. One Way Ticket - The Nerves
24. Tracy Hide [Cover Version] - The Wondermints

Children Of Nuggets - Disc 4