Sunday, July 18, 2010

Red Herring - Stiffy (1989, Elixir)

I'm not really sure how a twenty year-old record by a Philadelphia indie band drifted it's way across the border and landed in a Toronto record store bin, but hey, stranger things have happened.  Nil is available regarding the history of Red Herring, at least via standard search engines and such.  Punchy, up-tempo guitar rock was the name of R/H's game and for a band who only made it as far as a homegrown local label, Stiffy stacks up fairly well.  Save for a few extraneous guitar solos and a couple rudimentary missteps, Red Herring's strongest moments, like "1611 Hayworth," "Time For Change," and "Monster" will satisfy palettes with an appreciation for Soul Asylum, early-Buck Pets, and perhaps even the Georgia Satellites.    

01. Guilt Cleanse
02. Monster
03. The Loser
04. Up Against the Wall
05. Time for Change
06. Tie Dye Stupid
07. Sinstru Talmen
08. Tryin' Too Hard
09. Surrealistic Futon
10. Mood Swing
11. 1611 Hayworth
12. Generic Conception
13. Whitie's Nouveau Dream

Hear

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