I Got Them!!

I'm sorry I haven't blogged more as of recently, but my wife has bronchitis, and it's been chaotic here in the Murphy household due to it. But between the last time I blogged and now, I just received two '90s CDs I've been longing to get forever, but always put off. Shame on me; both are really good, and one of the two is AWESOME!! Champaign-Urbana, IL (the two towns are never spoken one without the other) is not only a college town (U of I), but also home to a long bubbling-under music scene (I'm certain one has a lot to do with the other). ChampUrbana is home to Parasol / Mud Records, and the hometown of the group Hum. Hum was briefly famous for their hit "Stars" from the album You'd Prefer An Astronaut. That was the first of the two albums I just got, and I'm glad I did. While I want to go into a longer, more detailed review at some other time, suffice it to say the album maintained (or nearly maintained) the high standard that the song "Stars" set for me going into it.

The other one, the CD which is blowing me away right now as I am trawling my way through it, is Chicago's very own Triple Fast Action's swan song, Cattlemen Don't. Shame on me for waiting so long to get this one; it's GREAT!!! I have their Capitol Recs' debut CD Broadcaster (in both radio promo-altered and official release--the song "Aerosmith" has a subtle change on the radio promo), two 7"s of theirs (one being the ultra-rare final Limited Potential single, "Revved Up" b/w "Sally Tree"), a Q101 comp with a stray cut of theirs, an awesome T-shirt which spoofs the Tide laundry detergent logo with Tripl3FastAction written instead, and the rampaging-grannies poster advertising the record release party (which I was at) at Thurston's for Broadcaster. The most significant missing piece of their catalog for me was this CD, and man, it's so damn good!! Why do great bands like TFA get the shaft from the major label, release an excellent follow-up, then bust up when it becomes geographically untenable for them to remain together?? Life just isn't fair sometimes, but I am really really REALLY liking this TFA CD. Again, a more detailed review to follow. Also, remind me to tell you my two TFA stories some time.