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Friday 8 June 2012

Happy Go Licky

To round off this trilogy, we've got Happy Go Licky, the third incarnation of Rites of Spring.

Happy Go Licky formed in 1987, a year after Rites of Spring broke up, and One Last Wish formed and then broke up. The original RoS line-up of Guy Picciotto, Eddie Janney, Mike Fellows, and Brendan Canty return to their respective instruments, but with a whole different agenda. I mentioned numerous times that Rites of Spring were doing some original. Well, Happy Go Licky went beyond original. There is literally nothing like them, before or after. They've got tape loops going, feedback-laden dissonant noodly riffs, pounding bass lines, and Canty's signature drum parts. Picciotto's spitting out stream of consciousness phrases while Fellows' backing vocals are prominently featured. And they always remain dynamic enough to keep it interesting, in addition to improvising most of their parts. This description does not even begin to properly describe what the hell they had going on. But it's good.

 They broke up New Year's Day, 1988. That same year, they put out a six-song 12" on Peterbilt Records (Picciotto's label). All songs were live tracks, since they never recorded anything properly. Not that that's a bad thing. Like I said, they were notorious for on-stage improv, which is certainly a testimony to what a tight group they were. In 1997, 21 live recordings (including the initial six) were compiled onto an album titled Will Play as a co-release between Dischord and Peterbilt. By the end of 1988, Guy and Brendan were both a part of Fugazi.

1. Ansol
2. Peterbilt
3. Brigham Young
4. White Lines
5. Torso Butter
6. Casing
7. Twist And Shout
8. Pastel Blues Eyes
9. Abandon Me
10. 13 Months Of Sunshine
11. Suzuki
12. Boca Raton
13. Born Like Steam
14. Battery
15. Don't Bone Me
16. Cutthroat Answer
17. Pastel Blue Eyes (Alternate Version)
18. Suzuki (Alternate Version)
19. Ansol (Alternate Version)
20. Casing (Alternate Version)
21. D.I.Y. Ansol 

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