Sunday, October 14, 2007

Hey Wow

The other day I visited a friend's house here in Portland and I was surprised to see a Connells poster. I associate the band with the 1980s Southern Alternative Rock scene that centered on IRS period REM, not so much in the Athens sense, but in the broader jangle guitar rock sound. Apparently they are still involved in said southern rock scene, as here they are playing my very own Norfolk's Town Point Park in 07. Equally strange, the drummer married one of childhood babysitters. Here is an actual video I missed for 74-75. Not my favorite, but reasonably representative.

Another band I associate with this scene is the dBs, and here is Amplifier which remains an excellent song and a decent video to boot. The very good Like This has been reissued which has Amplifier and my other fave Spy in the House of Love.

Ok, so I made up the category of southern alternative rock, but that is how it is organized in my head.

7 comments:

Anonymous said...

I vaguely recall seeing the Connells play in the parking lot out behind Village C at G-town. From what I remember, they were quite good. Nice find.
Sven

Tripp said...

the Connells rawked Village C? I had no idea I must confess.

Brack said...

A few more Southern Frat Rock nuggets from the 80/90s:

Straight to Hell by Drivin' N'Cryin' http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bmSLLlRqgxQ
Sparked a record 793 drunk sing-a-longs at UVA in 1989, nearly tying Freebird that year. Strange but true.


Space Wrangler by Widespread Panic.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tgo6qOgCnvo Speaking of sparking things . . .

Tripp said...

Oh man, Widespread, that summons visions of dancing hippies and the H.O.R.D.E. tour.

I forever associate them with Coconut
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CvEyMdj8d5A

Tripp said...

Re: Straight to Hell, I think the superior song Where the Devil Don't Stay is a descendant, with its focus on class and family. The addition of booze and more explicitly Southern context, the superior hook and the parent child solidarity make me prefer this one.

http://youtube.com/watch?v=kaF_-tirFeU

Brack said...

". . .class blah blah context blah blah solidarity . . ."

I smell grad student.

Tripp said...

Ho ho! Your cutting riposte would be more effective if you weren't given to disquisitions on Furst's explorations of cultural identity and making reference to semiotics.