Galaxie 500 - Victory Garden (1990)

Guitarist Dean Wareham, drummer Damon Krukowski and bassist Naomi Yang had met at the Dalton School in New York City in 1981, but began playing together during their time as students at Harvard University in 1987. Wareham and Krukowski had formed a series of punk-influenced student bands before Wareham went back to New York, and when he returned in 1987 he and Krukowski formed a new band with Yang on bass guitar, and called themselves Galaxie 500, after a friend's Ford Galaxie 500 car. The band began playing gigs in Boston and New York City, and recorded a demo which they sent to Shimmy Disc label boss and producer Mark Kramer, who agreed to produce the band. With Kramer at the controls, the band recorded the 'Tugboat' single in February 1988, and gave 'Oblivious' to a Chemical Imbalance flexi-disc, and then moved on to record their debut album' Today', which was released on the small Aurora label. The band toured the United Kingdom in late 1988/early 1989, signing to Rough Trade and releasing their second album 'On Fire' that year. 'On Fire' is considered the band's defining moment, reaching number 7 in the UK Indie Chart, and meeting with much critical acclaim, bizarrely more in the UK than in their native US. The band recorded two sessions for John Peel's BBC Radio 1 programme, and this is where they really indulged their passion for off the wall cover versions, in particular their take on Jonathan Richman's 'Don't Let Our Youth Go To Waste', which was voted number 41 in 1989's Festive 50 by listeners to the show. The band split up in the spring of 1991 after the release of their third album 'This Is Our Music', with Wareham later saying that it was just time for the band to be no more. In their short time together they released three of the very best indie records ever made, and even today, thirty years after they split, they are still spoken of in hushed tones by their legions of fans. After leaving Galaxie 500, Wareham tried his hand at production, working with Mercury Rev, and he also released a solo single 'Anesthesia' in February 1992, before forming a new band, Luna. Krukowski and Yang continued to record under the moniker Pierre Etoile (French for "Rock Star"), then Damon and Naomi (whose first two releases were also produced by Kramer), and finally as members of Magic Hour. Galaxie 500's music has been an influence on many later indie bands, such as Low, and their music has been covered and referenced by several well known artists. I wanted to post something here to introduce the band to people who might not know them, and I couldn't decide whether to post a b-sides compilation or a collection of their cover version, but it turned out that many of those covers were issued as b-sides to their singles, so this is actually both ideas in one post. As well as the b-sides, which include a couple of original compositions, there are four of the Peel session cover versions, and the 'Blue Thunder' single edit, which differs from the album version by including saxophone. If you don't know the band and like what you hear then do check out their three superb albums, and for current fans then don't miss out on the excellent 'Uncollected' release of rarities from 2004. The album is named after the Red Crayola song, referencing Victory Gardens, which were vegetable, fruit, and herb gardens planted at private residences and public parks during World War I and World War II, and the cover is an original poster.   

Track listing

01 King Of Spain (b-side of 'Tugboat' 1988)
02 Blue Thunder (w/sax) (single 1990)
03 Victory Garden [The Red Crayola] (b-side of 'Blue Thunder' 1990)
04 Ceremony [New Order] (b-side of 'Blue Thunder' 1990)
05 Cold Night (b-side of 'Blue Thunder' 1990)
06 Here She Comes Now [The Velvet Underground] (b-side of 'Fourth Of July' 1990)
07 Rain [The Beatles] (single 1989)
08 Don't Let Our Youth Go To Waste [Jonathan Richman] (John Peel session 1989)
09 Submission [The Sex Pistols] (John Peel session 1990)  
10 Final Day [Young Marble Giants] (John Peel session 1990)
11 Moonshot [Buffy Saint-Marie] (John Peel session 1990)