You want jangle-pop? You want it from a label that practically invented the American version of it? You got. Singles 1986-1991 collects seminal singles from The Springfields and it's out today on Slumberland Records. That this is an essential release is a given. That it's a wildly enjoyable one is also probably a given. But if you've got doubts, keep reading.
Ric Menck and Paul Chastain of Velvet Crush and Choo Choo Train are the two big names here and these tunes, like everything these guys have ever touched, still charm enormously. Opener "This Perfect Day" sounds like "Rain"-era Beatles tackling an early Jesus and Mary Chain number, while "Sunflower" is even better. Originally released on the Bus Stop and Sarah labels, the track is as good as anything from any Creation band in the same era. This chimes, and there's a joy here that reminds a listener just how much fun it was back then to discover new indie bands, especially those who weren't afraid to wear their fringes with pride.
"Wonder" sounds a lot like that kind of stuff I was referencing up above, of course, but it also suggests some other directions that were open for discovery. Sure, The Byrds seem to have been a point of inspiration for this one, but the tune itself feels heavier in spots than lots of what was also on Sarah Records at the time. In that way it serves, like the rougher "Tomorrow Ends Today", as an indication of the kind of stuff some of these guys would crank out in Velvet Crush not too long after this. Elsewhere, "Million Tears" throbs with the kind of percussive force one found in recordings from The Jazz Butcher or even The House of Love, though The Springfields keep things a tiny bit lighter throughout, while "Reachin' For the Stars" sounds like some of what The Monkees and Tommy Keene both offered up in disparate decades. The cut is fantastic, as is most of what's here on Singles 1986-1991, and one not only enjoys this music all over again, but feels part of a special club when the record's playing as the riffs and hooks jab with memories of the Swingin' Sixties and that era's influence on the C86 generation.
Singles 1986-1991 is out today on Slumberland Records
[Photo: The Springfields]