Day After Day #282: Vapour Trail

Day After Day is an ambitious attempt to write about a song every day in 2024 (starting on Jan. 4).

Vapour Trail (1990)

Sometimes you just miss things the first time around. I fully admit to being clueless about the greatness of English shoegaze greats Ride when they first emerged in the early '90s. I heard them on WFNX, but they just didn't click with me the way other bands like R.E.M., U2, Jane's Addiction and others did. 

It wasn't until the early 2000s that I really started paying attention to Ride; I downloaded a cool live bootleg of the band in its prime from an MP3 blog and really enjoyed it. Then in 2012, my good buddy Jay, proprietor of the late great Clicky Clicky Music Blog, wrangled a tribute compilation to Ride's debut album Nowhere in which Boston indie acts each covered a song. It was pretty goddamn great and stoked my interest in Ride even more; you can listen to it here.

Ride was formed in Oxford, England in 1988 by singer-guitarists Andy Bell and Mark Gardener, drummer Laurence "Loz" Colbert and bassist Steve Queralt. Bell cited seeing the Smiths play live as his inspiration for forming the band. The group made a demo tape that caught the ear of Jim Reid of the Jesus and Mary Chain, which then led to former JAMC manager Alan McGee taking an interest in Ride. After they opened for the Soup Dragons in 1989, McGee signed Ride to his label, Creation Records.

Ride released three EPs in 1990: Ride, Play and Fall, all of which making it into the top 75 of the U.K. charts. The first two EPs were combined as Smile and released in the U.S. in July 1990, while the four songs on Fall were incorporated into the CD version of the band's debut album, Nowhere, in October 1990. Ride's noisy guitar-driven sound was classified as shoegaze in the British press, although the band didn't like the label. 

The last track on Nowhere (although the CD versions added three songs from the Fall EP at the end), "Vapour Trail" was released as a single in the U.S. in April 1991. Written by Bell, the song featured a shimmering and distinctive guitar riff played on two Rickenbacker 12-string guitars while Colbert's powerful drumming propels the proceedings along. There are only two verses in "Vapour Trail" in the first half of the song; the last half is instrumental, closing with a string section.

"First you look so strong, then you fade away/The sun will blind my eyes, I love you anyway/Thirsty for your smile, I watch you for a while/You are a vapour trail in a deep blue sky/Tremble with a sight, glitter in your eye/You seem to come and go, I never seem to know/And all my time is yours as much as mine/We never have enough time to show our love."

The song is widely considered the band's best. Nowhere went to #11 on the U.K. Albums chart, although its popularity in the U.S. was restricted to college and alternative stations. 

Ride released its second album, Going Blank Again, in February 1992, and had a top 10 hit in the U.K. with "Leave Them All Behind." The followup single didn't fare as well and after a difficult American tour, the band took a break. The band's third album, Carnival of Light, came out in June 1994 but it was not well-received by critics. The recording of Ride's fourth album, Tarantula, found the group pursuing a different sound; Gardener and Bell had begun squabbling and Gardener walked out during mixing sessions for the album. The band announced its breakup right before Tarantula was released in March 1996.

After the breakup, Bell formed a new band called Hurricane No. 1 and released two albums before joining Oasis on bass. Gardener and Colbert formed a band called the Animalhouse that didn't last long before Gardener began a solo career. In the meantime, all four Ride members participated in a 2001 documentary about Sonic Youth and recorded a 30-minute improvised jam that was later released on CD. 

In 2014, Ride announced it was reuniting, playing festivals in Europe and North America. Eventually the band decided to record a new album, releasing Weather Diaries in 2017. The album was strong and Ride supported it with another tour. I saw them on the reunion tour and in 2017. Two more albums have followed, including Interplay this past March.

Better late than never, I say. Nowhere is an amazing album and "Vapour Trail" is an amazing song. (Check out Senor Breitling's tribute comp, Nofuckingwhere, which features a sharp version of the song by Eldridge Rodriguez.)

Day After Day #265: Stars

Day After Day is an ambitious attempt to write about a song every day in 2024 (starting on Jan. 4).

Stars (1995)

Every so often a song would come along that I got really into, whether on the radio or MTV or wherever, I would listen to it a ton, but then would sort of forget about it and the artist. That was the case with "Stars" by the Chicago band Hum, which was all over stations like WFNX in the summer of 1995. I dug the song a lot, but never bought the album or followed up in any way and lost track of the band for about 25 years or so.

The band was formed in 1989 by guitarists Andy Switzky and Matt Talbott, bassist Akis Boyatzis and drummer Jeff Kropp. They practiced in Boyatzis' basement for a few months, going through another drummer before adding Bryan St. Pere after hearing him playing along to a Rush album through his apartment window. Hum went through several lineup changes before recording a demo in Steve Albini's basement. 

Switzky was the primary singer, guitarist and songwriter on the group's first album, Fillet Show, which was released on a local indie 12 Inch Records in 1991, straddling the line between punk and metal. After another bassist left, Jeff Dimpsey joined on guitar and Talbott switched to bass. After some creative differences, Switzky quit and the band brought in Tim Lash on guitar. The band went into the studio to record their second album, 1993's Electra 2000, with producer Brad Wood, who had worked on Liz Phair's Exile in Guyville. Talbott and Dimpsey switched instruments and Talbott took over lead vocals. 

The album didn't have any singles, but it caught RCA's attention and Hum soon had a major label deal. The band's third album, You'd Prefer an Astronaut, came out in April 1995. Before it was even released, "Stars" was getting heavy airplay on Los Angeles radio station KROQ, causing RCA to release it as a single a month before planned. Soon other stations across the country followed suit.

"Stars" had the loud-quiet-loud dynamics popularized by bands like the Pixies and Nirvana, but it also bore a resemblance to the heavy riff-driven sound of acts like Helmet and Dinosaur Jr. Talbott's affectless vocals start the song almost quietly as the band holds an extended chord.

"She thinks she missed the train to Mars, she's out back counting stars/She thinks she missed the train to Mars, she's out back counting stars."

Suddenly the band kicks in, almost drowning Talbott out as it pounds out a monster riff.

"She's not at work, she's not at school/She's not in bed, I think I finally broke her/I bring her home everything I want, and nothing she needs/I thought she'd be there holding daisies, she always waits for me/She thinks she missed the train to Mars, she's out back counting stars."

Not to be overlooked in the guitar-driven fury is St. Pere's thunderous drumming.

"I found her out back sitting naked looking up and looking dead/A crumpled yellow piece of paper, with seven nines and tens/I thought she'd be there holding daisies, she always waits for me/She thinks she missed the train to Mars, she's out back counting stars."

The band even got the "Beavis and Butt-Head" treatment, although the boys grow impatient at the quiet intro and change the channel before the songs starts rocking, which they would have loved.

"Stars" ended up peaking at #11 on the Billboard Modern Rock Tracks chart and the album sold 250,000 copies as a result. 

The other singles from the album, "The Pod" and "I'd Like Your Hair Long," didn't produce the same buzz, but Hum toured behind the album into the next year. They released Downward is Heavenward in 1998, getting critical acclaim but failing to generate much interest. Hum was dropped from their contract in 2000 and broke up at the end of that year.

Talbott formed the band Centaur, which released one album. Dimpsey restarted an old side project called National Skyline, while Lash played in the bands Gifted and Balisong.

Hum reunited for a festival show in Alabama in 2003 and afterward played occasional club shows and festivals. In 2007, "Stars" showed up in a Cadillac commercial after Talbott received an email from advertising firm asking about it. The band continued to play sporadically in subsequent years before releasing their fifth album, Inlet, with no fanfare in June 2020. The album, which was strong, got some good notices. 

Sadly, St. Pere died in June 2021 at the age of 53. Hum hasn't officially called it quits, so hopefully they'll release more music someday.

Day After Day #263: I Don't Know Why I Love You

Day After Day is an ambitious attempt to write about a song every day in 2024 (starting on Jan. 4).

I Don't Know Why I Love You (1990)

Sometimes success is the worst thing that can happen to a band. Take the English alt-rock act The House of Love. They formed in London in 1986, had a few hit singles in the U.K., released their debut and signed to a major label. But by the time they released their second album, the band was already beset with infighting, substance abuse and general disarray. Within a few years, they would split up.

Singer-guitarist Guy Chadwick started the band after seeing the Jesus and Mary Chain in concert. He wanted a band that sounded like the Velvet Underground and soon had recruited drummer Pete Evans, guitarist Terry Bickers, German singer-guitarist Andrea Heukamp and bassist Chris Groothuizen. The band signed to Creation Records, released a debut single and began touring with Felt and Zodiac Mindwarp. Heukamp quit the band at the end of 1987 because she didn't enjoy touring, but she appeared on the cover of a Germany-only compilation of the band's early recordings informally called The German Album.

The band's debut found them having many disagreements with producer Pat Collier, but the lead single "Christine" went to #1 on the U.K. indie chart when it was released in May 1988. The group's drug use and internal problems had begun to increase during this time. After the indie success of the first album in Europe, the group signed with Fontana Records (and Polygram in the U.S.) and began recording a follow-up. The sessions were full of problems, with the band going through four different producers and multiple studios over the course of two years. Bickers was unhappy with the new record deal and was dealing with manic depression, while Chadwick's drug and alcohol use was on the rise. The two eventually stopped talking to each other.

The album, also called The House of Love (they didn't like naming albums, apparently), came out in February 1990. The first single, "Never," was released against the band's wishes but stalled at #41 on the U.K. Singles Chart.

The second single, "I Don't Know Why I Love You," met a similar fate when it was first released in November 1989, despite BBC's Radio 1 naming it Single of the Week. The song was released in the U.S. in 1990 and caught on with alternative radio (I remember hearing it on WFNX and WBCN in the Boston area), hitting #2 on the Billboard Modern Rock Tracks chart and got Buzz Bin play on MTV.

The chiming guitars of Bickers and Chadwick ring out as the latter's deadpan vocals remind one of the Church or Echo and the Bunnymen.

"I don't know why I love you, your face is a hammer in my head/I remember every word you said, I just don't know why I love you/I don't know why I care, I never even liked your hair/I feel like a seventh heir, but I don't know why I love you/Television turns me on/When the summer's hot and the spirit's long/How can I get close to you/When you got no mercy, no you got no mercy/No you got no."

Bickers' lead guitar work is really outstanding, providing little flourishes here and there but never overwhelming the song.

"I don't know why I love you, your face is a foreign food/I really don't know if I should, I just don't know why I love you/I don't know why I care, I duck and I weave and I fight/I work just to treat you right, God, I don't know why I love you."

By the time U.S. listeners were hearing the song, Bickers was already out of the band after getting fired in the midst of a 60-date U.K. tour in late '89. He was replaced by Simon Walker of My White Bedroom. The House of Love released a compilation album called A Spy in the House of Love in late 1990. But by the time the band released its next album, Babe Rainbow, in 1992, grunge was all-consuming in the U.S. and the Stone Roses were dominating in the U.K. The album failed to chart, despite getting good reviews. The band toured with Ocean Colour Scene and Catherine Wheel, but couldn't get any traction. By the end of '92, two lead guitarists had come and gone.

House of Love's next album was 1993's Audience with the Mind, but it also flopped commercially. Meanwhile, drummer Evans retired, leaving only Chadwick and Groothuizen. The group split later that year.

Chadwick and Bickers reconciled years later and reformed the House of Love in 2003, also bringing back Evans. In 2005, the band released Days Run Away and toured throughout Europe. Another album with that lineup (including bassist Matt Jury) was released in 2013, touring occasionally in the years that followed; they did a short tour in 2018 for the 30th anniversary of their debut album. 

Chadwick announced a completely new band lineup in 2020 with the intention of touring the U.S., although that was delayed a few years because of COVID. A new album was released in 2022. Also that year, original member Andrea Heukamp died at 57. 

Although they never lived up to their expectations, the House of Love left behind some memorable music and have been acknowledged as an influence by shoegaze acts like Ride and Slowdive. And songs like "I Don't Know Why I Love You" certainly capture that moment in time quite well.

Day After Day #206: Head On

Day After Day is an ambitious attempt to write about a song every day in 2024 (starting on Jan. 4). 

Head On (1989)

Some bands are just cool. They don't have to try to affect this image, they just are. The Jesus and Mary Chain are eminently cool, and they have one of the coolest songs of all time.

The post-punk band was formed in Scotland in 1983 by brother Jim (vocals, guitar) and William Reid (guitar). The initial lineup included Douglas Hart on bass and Murray Dalglish on drums, but Bobby Gillespie stepped in for Dalglish for the recording of the band's debut album, 1985's Psychocandy. The band developed a reputation for being difficult, playing short gigs (20 minutes) with their backs to the audience, refusing to talk to them. After some incidents of audience members throwing bottles at the band, the U.K. press tagged the band as "the new Sex Pistols" and the group was banned from playing in several communities.

The album was legitimately great, combining pop melodies with plenty of guitar noise, providing a blueprint for countless shoegaze bands to follow. After the album came out, Gillespie left to focus on his own band, Primal Scream. JAMC released Darklands in 1987, which went to #5 on the U.K. Albums Chart. The band's rowdy rep continued, with Jim Reid responding to some hecklers in Toronto by hitting one in the head with his microphone stand; he was arrested and spent a night in jail, but the charge was eventually dropped after he apologized and made a charitable donation.

The third JAMC studio album, 1989's Automatic, was credited to the Reid brothers, who performed along to a drum machine and synthesized bass (drummer Richard Thomas played on one song). The album got mostly poor reviews mainly because of the mechanized rhythm section, but in retrospect, Automatic was one of the group's stronger efforts. The first single, "Blues from a Gun," was JAMC's most successful song in the U.S. to that point (hitting #1 on the Billboard Modern Rock Tracks chart).

The second song, "Head On," is that cool song I mentioned earlier. It goes against type, with none of the band's usual feedback. The key is Jim Reid's low-key delivery, which sums up his and the band's coolness succinctly.

"As soon as I get my head 'round you/I come around catching sparks off you/I get an electric charge from you/That secondhand living, it just won't do/And the way I feel tonight/Oh, I could die and I wouldn't mind/And there's something going on inside/Makes you want to feel, makes you want to try/Makes you want to blow the stars from the sky/I can't stand up, I can't cool down/I can't get my head off the ground."

The Reids were no longer stirring up violent crowds, but they were calmly and efficiently delivering post-punk hotness.

"As soon as I get my head 'round you/I come around catching sparks off you/And all I ever got from you/Was all I ever took from you/And the world could die in pain/And I wouldn't feel no shame/And there's nothing holding me to blame/Makes you want to feel, makes you want to try/Makes you want to blow the stars from the sky/And I'm taking myself to the dirty part of town/Where all my troubles can't be found."

The song performed better in the U.S., where it hit #2 on the Modern Rock Tracks chart, than the U.K., where it got to #57 on the Singles Chart.

Just two years later, the Pixies covered "Head On" on their album Trompe le Monde and released it as a single. It's a little louder and done pretty well, but the original still wins out. A few others have covered it, including David Hasselhoff of all people (see below at your own risk).

After Automatic came out, JAMC released an EP called Rollercoaster and then headlined a tour with My Bloody Valentine, Dinosaur Jr. and Blur. In 1992, the band released Honey's Dead and joined the second lineup of the Lollapalooza tour (which I saw in Mansfield, Mass.). JAMC recorded with a full band for 1994's Stoned and Dethroned and scored a hit with "Sometimes Always," on which Jim Reid duetted with Hope Sandoval of Mazzy Star, who was dating William Reid at the time.

They released one more studio album, 1998's Munki, before breaking up. The split was announced in 1999, but the band wasn't getting along on the previous year's tour. On the final night of the tour in Providence, the promoter ran off with the band's money and the band reportedly got in a fight with the cast of the show Riverdance. William Reid began a solo career as Lazycame, while Jim Reid founded a band called Freeheat. 

JAMC reunited in 2007 to perform at Coachella and released a new song for the soundtrack of the NBC show Heroes. The band toured North America in 2012 and has toured several times since, releasing new albums in 2017 and this year, the strong collection Glasgow Eyes. But they'll never be cooler than on "Head On."