I'm going to try not to include too many albums for which no video is available, but this one is a favorite and deserves a mention.
One night in the late '90s I fell asleep listening to local radio. I was woken up a short time later by a live-in-the-studio set of very impressive smart, quirky pop. My instinct is to compare them to The Cars, who they sounded nothing like, but are reminiscent of in terms of quirky, intelligent pop songwriting with catchy melodies and great hooks. I had to know who it was, and as soon as the set ended and something else came on I called the radio station to ask. The DJ answered, I told him I loved it and needed to know what the hell I had just woken up to, and he told the band—the end of the conversation I heard went like this: "Guys, you have a fan, someone called to say they loved the set." ... [inaudible background speech] ... "No, it's a guy."
Lead singer/songwriter Will Lerner got on the phone and we chatted for a moment. I asked if they had CDs and he said they were in the studio at the moment but not finished yet, and invited me to come to an upcoming show at a local club, which I went to and enjoyed thoroughly. I went up to him after the set and told him I'd loved it, but he was distracted, in that understandable sort of overwhelmed just-got-off-the-stage whir. I was cool with it, I've been there. Later on that night, still in the club, I got a tap on my shoulder, and when I turned around it was Will. He handed me a CDr and said, "This is a rough mix of our album, 'Poison Pen'. The CDr might have some glitches." I never forgot that. What a good guy.
I thanked him profusely, took it home and was thrilled with it. Despite the fact that it did have some glitches. I actually felt good about that, it gave me an excuse to go buy the album when it came out. Shortly after, the band broke up, Will moved to NYC and the album was shelved. I had a rare gem on my hands.
Eventually 'Poison Pen' did see a limited release on a tiny Portuguese label, and you can still find copies of it on used CD sites. Worth a listen if anything about this sounds remotely appealing.
