Sinking Ships: Dream 7"

Here is the rare second 7" from Lincoln, England's Sinking Ships. The band released only a handful of recordings in their brief existence - two 7"s and a couple compilation tracks - so their songwriting never really had a chance to evolve. It's a shame, because each song touches upon a different style. Their first 7", Cinema Clock - which can be found over at Systems of Romance with a brand new, high-quality rip - featured a Wire-esque post punk banger and a more anthemic pub-punk song.

This record features a questionable choice for a B-side: a long live dirge that changes little over its six minutes and could have benefitted from a studio recording and could have been shortened by a few minutes. It renders the B-side rather low in sound quality since it's spread so thin - and it's already a rather cheap pressing.  The A side, Dream, is my favorite song of theirs along with Cinema Clock. It takes the arty atmospherics of early MOdern English, throws in sax a la Psychedelic Furs (perhaps a result of having opened for the Furs on their early tours); the result is a brief, dark DIY post-punk song that could have been a classic.

Sinking Ships: Dream 7"
1980, Recession Records
A: Dream
B: After the Rain (live)

Click here to listen!

Eleven Pond - Bas Relief LP

I think this one is going to make a lot of people happy. The band Eleven Pond was from New York, and they released this LP in 1986. I just love the ultra lo-fi, DIY feel of the entire thing: It was self-released (no label, even!) in one pressing of 500 copies and hand-numbered on the front. Both the front and back have silkscreened artwork. It was recorded live to a 2-track (hence the lo-fi nature) and self-produced.
Almost every song is killer dark post-punk or electronic wave. They seemed to take cues from Echo and the Bunnymen, Joy Division/early New Order, Fad Gadget, and Depeche Mode.
As far as I know, this was the only record they ever released (does anyone know for sure?). Songs like Watching Trees, Tears and Cinnamon, Portugal, Ignorant Father, and Temporal deserve to be heard. I can guarantee that nobody will be disappointed in this one.

Tracklist:
1. Tears and Cinnamon
2. Watching Trees
3. Days Hence
4. Tightrope
5. Portugal
6. Asterisk
7. Moving Nowhere
8. Changing Face
9. Temporal
10. Ignorant Father
11. Ask

Get it here:
Link removed because the record has been reissued!
1986, self-released, New York