Game Theory - Together Now, Very Minor

The song that closes out their epic Lolita Nation LP, from 1987. It's kind of a nice way to end the album, after all the chaos that preceded it. Actually it's a lovely tune and musically quite unlike anything else Game Theory ever recorded. Same incomprehensible lyrics, though.

28th Day - I'm Only Asking

28th Day's first and only album, released in 1985, didn't get much attention at the time and isn't remembered by many now but it was a pretty nice collection of folk-tinged jangly guitar pop - the kind then being played on college radio stations across the US. One of their singers, Barbara Manning, went on to greater renown as a solo artist and collaborator with the likes of Stephen Merritt and Stuart Moxham.

This is a haunting little track from that album.

Kids on a Crime Spree - I Don't Want to Call You Baby, Baby

Oakland, California band. If you're into the whole Beach Boys-meet-the-Ramones-in-the-garage-with-Phil-Spector-producing thing you'll want to check them out.

It's from their 2011 debut EP, We Love You So Bad. On Slumberland, naturally.

Game Theory - We Love You Carol and Alison

Lolita Nation was Game Theory's attempt at a White Album - an ambitious double-length mishmash of songs and, erm, experiments. I've always thought the White Album could have stood a little editing and that's even more true for Lolita Nation - really, there's no need for about half of the material on it. But it does also include some of Game Theory's finest moments, including this, one of the catchiest songs they ever released.

From 1987.

Yo - Charm World

Now this one is really quite obscure. Yo were, as far as I can determine, a folk-influenced college rock band from the East Bay suburbs of San Francisco, and put out a few albums which were not particularly well-received, largely because no one could stand the singer's voice. To be honest I'm not sure what the big deal about it is. I've heard worse.

This was the title track from the second album, released in 1985. I think it's quite nice, with the mandolins and everything.

Allen Clapp and his Orchestra - She Grins and Waves Goodbye

Allen Clapp is sort of an American Martin Newell, though not quite as off-the-wall and far less prolific. (With regard to the latter point, I'd say "give him time", but he doesn't seem to have released anything for about five years.) By that, I mean he's someone who's put out a number of clever and charming twee/indiepop records that seem to have been put together largely in his bedroom; his "orchestra" may have included actual band members, but one suspects they were mostly in his head.

This is a track from his 1994 debut album, released on the marvelous Bus Stop label. It reminds me a bit of the Swirlies.

Game Theory - Wyoming

This was from Game Theory's final LP, Two Steps from the Middle Ages. It's one of the catchiest straightforward pop songs they ever released, with great dual male-female vocals. I never understood why it didn't make their best-of collection, instead of the dull "Leilani" from the same album.

Game Theory - 24

Here's an absolutely lovely piece of jangly guitar pop from Game Theory, a band whose ambition often overreached their ability but they certainly got it right on this particular track. Contrary to what the video indicates it's actually from their 1985 full-length debut, Real Nighttime.

The Softies - Goodbye

Here's a great tune from the Softies, one of a number of 1990s indiepop bands featuring the lovely voice of Rose Melberg. This was a b-side to their first release, 1994's Loveseat 7".

Go Sailor - Long Distance

Here is a fabulous track from a band which consisted of elements of three of the United States' best music scenes in the late 1980s and early 1990s - Slumberland Records, the Berkeley punk scene centred around Gilman Street, and the rather unfortunately-named "cuddlecore" genre. They had everything going for them, really, and they didn't disappoint (except perhaps by breaking up too soon). If you don't like this song, you don't like indiepop!

Game Theory - Erica's Word

I threatened to post this ages ago and never got around to it, so here it is now. You can read what I wrote about Game Theory previously here.

This is a wonderful track that should have been a much bigger hit than it was. But really, what was he thinking with that hair???

Sewer Trout - Sewer Trout For President

Of the punk subgenres, one of my favourites is that which emerged from the Berkeley, California area in the late 1980s and centred on 924 Gilman Street. Though the bands in this scene were indisputably punk, in ethos and attitude, the music was often as catchy as anything being put out on NME cassette compilations at the time. They were the successors to the great pop-punk bands of the 1970s like the Buzzcocks, Rezillos and Undertones, although a bit more DIY and hence less polished-sounding than those bands (or at least their recorded legacy).

Some of the Gilman bands were also a bit more political than their '70s predecessors, although you'd rarely get the kind of pure politicism of their anarcho-punk contemporaries. This is a good example: although more of a "fun" song than anything else, the opening verse is an amusing dig at the hypocrisy of the Reagan administration.

Green Day came out of this scene, by the way, and I still love them. So there.

Game Theory - The Red Baron

Like Felt, Game Theory put out a ton of material in the 1980s of vastly uneven quality, but in their best moments they produced some of the catchiest California pop you'll ever hear. Although I've seen them described as "influential", I'm not really sure on whom because I think in my life I've met maybe three or four people who actually owned anything by them. They had only one song that could vaguely be called a hit - "Erica's Word", which I at least heard on the radio a few times on its release. I might post that later, because it's really good.

But for now, here's an early track which marvelously showcases what Scott Miller often referred to as his "miserable whine", and what I used to think were the sweetest most romantic lyrics ever. When I was 15, mind.