Monday, January 24, 2005

A Good Band is Easy to Kill

A lot of good bands brokeup in the last 6 months, and I've said my goodbyes this past week to just three of them separately (Guided By Voices, McLusky, The Beta Band.)

I regret not recognizing two more recent breakups, Beulah and Luna.

All five bands are now represented in this one big uber-breakup Rhapsody playlist (tracklisting here - note: more GBV because there's more to choose from.)

Beulah created masterpieces of orchestral 60s-style pop, and evolved from lo-fi (Handsome Western States, 1997) to lush studio recordings (The Coast is Never Clear, 2001) from their birth to death. Of course it's telling their breakup album is named Yoko (2003.) They have a DVD documenting their last tour, which concluded in August, that I've taken this blog headline from.

Luna was a bit of a supergroup, forming from the ashes of Galaxie 500 and former members of The Chills. They, like Yo La Tengo, wore their Velvet Underground patches prominently on their sleeves. From '92 to '04 they released 8 proper full lengths, highlighted by the classic Bewitched (1994.)

What other great bands broke up this past year?

1 comment:

Shawn Anderson said...

1. I Am a Scientist - Guided By Voices
2. She Will Only Bring You Happiness - McLusky
3. Squares - The Beta Band
4. California (All the Way) - Luna
5. Game of Pricks (live) - Guided By Voices
6. To Hell With Good Intentions - McLusky
7. Popular Mechanics for Lovers - Beulah
8. Shocker in Gloomtown - Guided By Voices
9. Bonnie and Clyde - Luna
10. Dry the Rain - The Beta Band
11. Echos Myron - Guided By Voices
12. Beautiful View - Luna
13. The World Loves Us and Is Our Bitch - McLusky
14. Round the Bend - The Beta Band
15. Teenage FBI - Guided By Voices
16. My Horoscope Said It Would Be a Bad Year - Beulah
17. Lightsabre Cocksucking Blues - McLusky
18. Slide - Luna
19. Tractor Rape Chain - Guided By Voices
20. Assessment - The Beta Band
21. That Man Will Not Hang - McLusky
22. Sweet Child O' Mine - Luna
23. Don't Stop Now - Guided By Voices