#wake ooloo

7/26/23.

Steve Wynn (Los Angeles, California) has been a lifer musician. I think he's mostly remembered for his time in The Dream Syndicate, but he has so many other projects (The Baseball Project with Peter Buck, Mike Mills and Scott McCaughey) that I forget he also has a huge solo catalogue. I'd heard Kerosene Man, but not "Sweetness and Light".

This is really everything you'd think it might be. There's definitely The Dream Syndicate here, but also some sounds of "Accelerate" by R.E.M.

Wake Ooloo, “Doin' It Again” (Live on WFMU, 1992)

Mercer, Weckerman and Gambino together in the band’s early days playing Feelies material. Starts off with almost a They Might Be Giants flavor.

6/24/23.

The Hazmats (London, England) "Skewed View" 7" cover really looks like it came from the 1980s. And really, the song "Skewed View" sounds like it could have been written and performed by Glenn Mercer in either The Feelies or Wake Ooloo.

The Bandcamp page states that The Hazmats (containing members from Powerplant, Big Cheese and Chain of Flowers) sound like a Sarah Records band. For "Skewed View",

"Think a mix of the Field Mice, Sea Urchins and the Mighty Lemon Drops. On the flip is Wondered which is a more uptempo and forceful song that will have you hooked from the first guitar riff. It has the same edge, production and hooks of early The Wedding Present and This Poison!

“Alive & Waiting” -- WAKE OOLOO

This song’s magic trick is to take a Who-worthy chorus (“SOME THEY WILL! / AND SOME THEY WON’T!”) and play it like they just woke up and haven’t had their coffee yet.

“Too Long Gone” -- WAKE OOLOO