Star Party - Something to Do

    

  Did anyone else buy UK music paper The New Musical Express (NME) on a regular basis back when they were younger? I think I probably read most issues for a decade or so from 1978 onwards and so it's no surprise I had the C86 cassette in my record collection. No doubt you'll remember it was compiled by a few of the NME writers and featured some of the best indie bands around at that time (The Wedding Present, Primal Scream, The Soup Dragons, Shop Assistants etc). It was almost as if a generation of kids with no budget were joining together in a movement directly opposing the stadium rocking Live Aid type mega bands. The title, C86, went on to be a tag used to describe many an indie band that wrote rough and ready pop songs, played jangly guitars or maybe drenched their sound in varying degrees of distortion or feedback. Including the one I'm featuring today... 

  Star Party are a trio from Washington State who feature Ian Corrigan (Vexx & Gen Pop), Carrie Brennan and Sophie Hendry (Firewalker & Leather Daddy). They recently introduced themselves with a 4 track demo which they describe as "saturated, misty coastal rock." It's inspired by both 80's Scottish punk and 90's American dream pop. It's like The Jesus And Mary Chain meeting up with Aislers Set. It's fuzzy pop goodness. It's both familiar and very fresh. 

  There's a couple of covers, a great version of The Shop Assistant's 1984 debut single Something To Do (recorded when they were still called Buba & The Shop Assistants) and a song which originally featured on the 1964 Bob Dylan album Another Side Of Bob Dylan and was also a hit for both The Byrds and Cher). The other 2 tracks are originals and, boding well for future releases, they don't suffer in comparison to the covers.  

  The cassette version is up for pre order and will ship next month from Feel It Records (https://www.feelitrecordshop.com/collections/preorders/products/star-party-demo-2020-cs-preorder) whilst the digital version is available as a name your price download :   https://starpartyrocks.bandcamp.com/album/demo-2020 

   I'll play the Dylan cover on Sunday's Just Some Punk Songs show but today you're getting Something To Do...  

I know it's just a feeling
I know it's just me
I never know what to say
I always get it wrong
Stomping around
Confused as usual
I need a piñata
or something will go wrong

 just can't seem to keep my head straight
I just can't seem to get it right

That's a thing that makes me feel sad
Tears in your eyes
Something to do with love
It has something to do with something called love