Daniel James was in one of my all-time favorite bands, Chinese Telephones (seriously, if the house was on fire/Russians tanks were coming/Jay Hinman was elected President, the clear-vinyl Chinese Telephones s/t LP is one of the first things i'd grab on my way out the door, after the Damien Pratt CD). Now Dan's released some solo-recorded demos as "Indonesian Junk" on Bandcamp, which I think show even more potential than the higher-than-moderate success rate achieved over two singles + by his post-'Phones glam/Dolls-type outfit, The Daniel James Gang. No doubt if this Indonesian Junk stuff came out as a four-song cassette it would be one of my favorite things all year, mostly because cassettes emphasize the tossed-off-on-a-whim aspect of home recordings, which lowers your expectations enough where even the glitchy parts sound cool. I'm guessing "Now That It's Over" is supposed to be the "hit" because it's the lead-off track, but my pick is probably "Shake It With You", partly because of the Crypt Kickers vibe in the vocals, although "You Messed Me Up" (a rip of the Damned's "So Messed Up" I guess) is pretty good too. Available as a pay-what-you-want download on Bandcamp, which means "free" to most people.
2 comments:
I kind of like how that cover looks in b+w. You mind if I steal it?
Sure - no such thing as theft! I stole it from you first, anyway.
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