Search - Galaxie 500 :: Today/Uncollected

You can buy me flowers...

Avalanche Lily | Jacksonville, FL | 02/25/2006

(5 out of 5 stars)

"I first heard On Fire at a place I used to work. Really sort of heard it in the background. Then I decided to buy the album later and was drawn in with Dean's awkward voice and that distinct sound of theirs- see other reviews for that explanation. Then after buying this album, its become one of my favorites.

I love that Galaxie 500 allowed themselves to not be "pretty." Yet, end up being pretty anyway. By that I mean, Dean's vocals aren't what you'd call "normal." But if you like "normal" music, you wouldn't be reading this review. Although I was pretty much listening to crap when Galaxie 500 were in their prime, I'm glad to discover them now and sad that they were virtually overlooked in their time. But now is the time to look into them! Favorites on this album are the first 2 tracks. "Flowers" being so sweet yet haunting at the same time. The lyrics in "Tugboat" are sensual and powerful: "I don't want to go to your party/ I don't want to talk with your friends/ I don't want to vote for your president/ I just want to be your tugboat captain/ It's a place I'd like to be..." I don't know what exactly he's talking about yet I understand it and am convinced he'd make a great tugboat captain.

This music is unusual, captivating, melodic, gorgeous and strange. If you love music like that, you'll love this."

This is their best.. 10 stars?

Douglas Schmitt | Fort Mitchell, KY USA | 10/29/2006

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Euprhoric aural melancholia. Beautiful stuff.

I saw G500 for the first time at the Rat in Boston opening for the Pixies. Not many G500 fans in that crowd.



I was there to see the Pixies whom I'd never heard, but who were said to be good. I'd not yet heard of G500. This album had only been just released according to Dean. I think I cried listening to them play. We left during the Pixies set as I started to get asthmatic from the smoke and the crowd started to bash around like crazy."

More than 4, almost 5 stars: their best record

John L Murphy | Los Angeles | 02/17/2009

(4 out of 5 stars)

"I bought "This Is Our Music," the band's third, after reading an article about its release in the indie magazine "Option." The clerk at the hip music store cautioned me, saying "Today" was much better. I told him about the review of "TIOM," and said I'd start with that and go backwards if I liked Galaxie 500 enough.



The Rykodisc boxed set convinced me that the clerk was correct. "On Fire" is stronger than "TIOM," and "Today" beats album number two. Unlike Dean Wareham's work with Luna, which with the Feelies' drummer and the Chills' bassist, edged towards more indie-pop, the earlier band tended to me more to the Velvet Underground, in mood more than sound. The song "Tugboat" may tip their hand: I read it as alluding to Stew Morrison's decision to work on that craft rather than continue with music after the VU.



You have to be in the right frame of mind for this record to work. Wareham's warbly voice can be as trebly as his guitar. Naomi Yang's bass (who needed more vocal appearances; look to her work with partner-drummer Damon Krukowski after Wareham ditched the pair for his solo career, as the liner notes in the Rykodisc box set sadly document by Damon & Naomi) backs up the guitar and percussion nimbly. Sort of like Kim Deal in the Pixies, she got upstaged instrumentally and vocally by the lead singer.



This album-- just before the CD took over-- fits into a now distant period, even if only two decades ago, when one could learn by a magazine, hear by word of mouth, or tune into a college station to find out about an intriguing band from across the country. There's a warmth to the production by Kramer to match the chilly emotions. The trio's love of simple structures that build up and then unravel in three minutes sinks in, after many playings. It fits a winter's morning or a summer's night."