Black Tambourine

VINYL FORMAT. The LP is in a gatefold sleeve and includes a free digital download! They released only a handful of songs their two-year lifetime, but Black Tambourine has been hugely influential in the world of indie music. Conceived as an explicitly pop band when pop bands were pretty rare in America, they wore their influences on their sleeves: The Jesus and Mary Chain, of course, but also folks like Phil Spector, Smokey Robinson, Love, The Ramones, Shop Assistants, Pastels, 14 Iced Bears, Orange Juice and the list goes on. The band's dark, dreamy sound was consonant with the shoegaze sounds of the day, but the classic '60s-influenced songwriting gives their tunes a timeless appeal. Formed in 1989 as a side project by members of Whorl and Velocity Girl, they soon recruited Pam Berry as vocalist. Two singles quickly followed, along with a few compilation contributions. Alas, other obligations became more pressing and the band called it a day in 1991. Though their recorded output was quite limited, the music continues to inspire indie, punk and indie-pop bands. As the band's 20th anniversary arrives, just about any review of or article about a noisy pop band drops their name, and their influence on bands as diverse as Vivian Girls, The Pains of Being Pure at Heart, A Sunny Day in Glasgow, Wavves and Jay Reatard (!) reaffirms Black Tambourine's legendary status in indie music. It appears that 2010 is the year for Black Tambourine!

Black Tambourine gathers all the songs released by the band, and handily trumps 1999's Complete Recordings reissue by including four unreleased tunes. Songs like "Black Car," "We Can't Be Friends" and "Throw Aggi Off the Bridge" are foundation documents of indie-pop and sound as fresh today as when they were recorded 20 years ago. And while classics like "Pack You Up" and "Drown" can stand on their own just fine, the band has taken the rather unexpected step o