All it takes is the smell of freshly mown grass and lawnmower gas to bring back the sounds of Negativland (Escape from Noise), Big Audio Dynamite (Tighten Up, Vol. 88)), Julian Cope (Saint Julian), and Firehose (fromOhio).
That was my very eclectic soundtrack for mowing my family’s yard while growing up. I didn’t mind mowing the lawn; it meant an hour or more of interrupting time to listen to music. And for whatever reason, lawnmowing time meant listening to the things on the fringes of my tape cassette collection.
Today—20 years later—was no different as I mowed my yard. Except instead of things from the late 80’s, I listened to This is Fancy, the new release from the Streets on Fire. It’s post-punk dance rock like !!! with some Pixies thrown in. It’s like the Czech band Sunshine. And there’s even hints of the Fall. It’s angular, odd, but banging along with a rough-and-ready dance rhythm. Although at times it’s just good for headbanging introspection.
