Galaxie 500 – Uncollected Noise New York ’88-’90 (2024)

Review by Fred Thomas:
Slow and deliberate but eruptive in terms of melody and emotion, Galaxie 500 undeniably altered the course of independent music by offering an alternative perspective to the loud and forceful sounds that dominated the late-'80s indie landscape from which they grew. The Boston trio existed from 1987 to 1991 and issued three proper studio records in that time, full of simple, straightforward songs that soared in their simplicity. Their sound was unique on every level -- spare drumming from Damon Krukowski slathered in reverb, Dean Wareham's lonely, high-pitched vocals swimming somewhere in the mix, and rudimentary guitar chords making space for Naomi Yang's fluid, countermelodic bass lines to lead the songs. As Galaxie 500's influence continued to be heard in generation after generation of artists that followed them, new waves of fans perennially discovered their scant studio discography. Uncollected Noise New York 88-90 offers a much-needed annex of unheard material, as the first rarities collection focused on the band since a bonus disc that was included on a box set in 1996. The 24-track collection chronologically traces the group's development as they found their sound at producer Kramer's Noise New York studio over the course of their all-too-brief run. For those completely unfamiliar with the band or their legacy, Uncollected is as good of a place to start as any, with songs from every session the group conducted while working on their three albums. Inclusions like an alternate mix of 1989 album On Fire cut "Blue Thunder," their New Order cover "Ceremony," and a different version of "Fourth of July" from their 1990 swan song This Is Our Music are all emblematic of Galaxie 500's singular sound. Completists already familiar with the studio albums can look forward to unlocking a formerly closed door to the band's story with eight previously unreleased outtakes, all restored from the original tapes. Some of these unreleased tracks diverge wildly from the sound the group would become known for. The 1988 tune "Shout You Down" is fast and choppy, with Wareham engaging in some post-Velvets lyrical vitriol as Galaxie 500 blast through a few punky chords. From the same 1988 session, "See Through Glasses" has hints of paisley-colored psychedelia that the group didn't explore much further, and other never-before-heard songs like 1989 original "Never Get to Heaven" and a Buffy Saint Marie cover "Moonshot" show the band experimenting with rougher angles than those of their dreamily flowing albums. Indie subgenres like dream pop, slowcore, shoegaze, and more owe a lot of their existence to Galaxie 500, and they remain one of the more influential bands to have come out of the quiet corners of the underground. Uncollected Noise New York 88-90 is a treasure for those who are already fans, and the new perspective the collection offers on the band just reaffirms how important and how essential they are. — allmusic

Track List:
01. Shout You Down
02. See Through Glasses
03. On the Floor (Noise NY version)
04. Can't Believe It's Me
05. Oblivious
06. King of Spain
07. Jerome
08. Song in 3
09. Crazy
10. I Wanna Live
11. I Will Walk
12. Cold Night
13. Ceremony
14. Never Get to Heaven
15. Maracas Song
16. Victory Garden
17. Blue Thunder (w-sax)
18. Cheese and Onions
19. Fourth of July (video mix)
20. Cactus
21. Moonshot
22. Them
23. Final Day
24. Here She Comes Now


Media Report:
Genre: dream-pop, indie-rock, shoegaze
Origin: Boston, Massachusetts, USA
Format: FLAC
Format/Info: Free Lossless Audio Codec
Bit rate mode: Variable
Channel(s): 2 channels
Sampling rate: 44.1 KHz
Bit depth: 16 bits
Compression mode: Lossless
Writing library: libFLAC 1.2.1 (UTC 2007-09-17)


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