CLOSE LOBSTERS

I know they came out of the C-86 scene, but dammit, they’re better than that!

I was actually going to start whining about how they deserve a box set, but then I did some research and realized that I’d forgotten that they DO have a box set (Firestation Towers 1986-1989).  I already had everything on it, so I never bought a copy, which is why I guess it slipped my mind.

Their first album was pretty much standard jangle, but the Lobsters always seemed to have a little more bite in their music than their contemporaries.  A lot of good stuff here, including the delicate “A Prophecy” and the towering “Mother of God.”

 

For the second album, they seemed to discover distortion and heavier guitar firepower, and it really worked for them.  “Nature Thing” might be the high spot of their entire catalog.

All of their singles & b-sides (a lot of it non-album stuff) were gathered on Forever Until Victory about 20 years after the fact,  and all three of these long players are what makes up the box set, so there you have it.

There was an e.p. released between the 2 main albums, What is There to Smile About?, which seemed like a sampler aimed at the U.S. market -  a handful of singles and b-sides but, for whatever reason, it includes “Violently Pretty Smile” which, as far as I can tell, wasn’t released anywhere else.  So, if you’re an obsessive whackjob like myself, you gotta find the e.p. or maybe someplace to download this one tune off the internet.

 

The band recently reunited and has put out a few interesting singles.  Nothing earth-shattering except for the song “Now Time”, which is one of their all-time best.

And what the hell else do any of us have better to do, really, than waste our lives championing obscure bands?