Idolator
Time for another installment of the Coulda-Shoulda-Woulda Files, where we raid our archives in search of a lost gem.
Artist: The Glands
Album: The Glands, 2000
What happened: The second album from this Athens, Ga. group was doomed from the start: Not only was it released on the ever-so-iffy Velocette Records, but it's full of the sort of shambling, casually crafted guitar-pop that radio directors and magazine editors didn't know what to do with at the time. If it were to have come out this year, The Glands would have topped the Hype Machine in about three weeks.
Why it should have been a hit: Fourteen songs, with nary a miss among them: "When I Laugh" is pure chugging bubblegum, while "Soul InspIration" sounds like a cough-medicine come-down:
The Glands - When I Laugh [MP3, link removed]
The Glands - Lovetown [MP3, link removed]
The Glands - Soul Inspiration [MP3, link removed]
Comments
You should've posted "Swim" too
great pick. too bad these dudes arent around anymore.
Oh! You made my heart jump! One of the great unsung albums of the decade.
Does anyone know just what happened to them? I remember a few post-album live dates, but that's it.
I bet Ross Shapiro, the lead singer, could tell you, Bri; he's the manager of Schoolkid's Records in Athens, GA:
http://www.schoolkidsrecords.com/athens.php
Great record. I remember when Velocette was jocking hard to sign Oneida, and fumbled on that Party of Helicopters record, too. Guess all that cash they got out of selling off Cake, 311, White Witch and Wet Willie (when they were Capricorn) got, like, stolen or something?
Totally agree. I tried to champion these guys back in the day but to no avail. Label was not really up to the task.
David Cross loves these guys as do I. This album was the very first one I reviewed.
"When I Laugh" is in the little NW independent film "We Go Way Back" (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0468580/), along with songs by Menomena, The Lights, The Decemberists, and lots of others. Best song of all time.
Very cool to see this while searching Hype machine... coincidentally, I just searched for the Glands on soundscan earlier this afternoon... this album did less than 5k, which i suppose isnt very surprising. I liked it enough to search out their other record Double Thriller. I bought a Glands T shirt at a show they played at the Mercury Lounge... their albums had this perfectly sloppy ramshackle vibe, but the live show that night was just ramshackle... always thought it was because they didnt tour enough to perfect it..
I still have yet to have one person recognize that my shirt has a band's name emblazoned on it...
totally underappreciated...
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