"Feeling you up and feeling disappointed" - Flin Flon

So I was hanging out at Record and Tape Exchange this afternoon because I knew when I got home I'd have to cut the grass and do stuff to make sure it doesn't die this winter. I was talking to some girl who was in there flipping through the Hip-Hop section. She looked like some weird amalgamation of Andrea and Kate, so that should have been a clue from above not to bother. Anyway, she was looking for some old-school rap that was mostly instrumental. I asked if she'd ever heard Afrika Bambataa. "Oh, yeah, I have," she said. "It's way too fast for me." I blinked at her a couple times and then made an excuse to head over to the Country section to look for Webb Pierce records. If "Planet Rock" was too fast for her, thank God I didn't try to push that Trouble Funk album on her. Yeesh. She was just giving off the vibe of "I have Coldplay CDs in my car," so maybe I dodged a bullet this time.

But yeah, decent outing. Found the Joy Division Peel Sessions EP, an Electronic single, and comps from Doc Watson, Woody Herman, and the Lewd. I also found a record apiece by Johnny Cohen and Blast Off Country Style, and I realized it's been a while since I've listened to any of my old TeenBeat Records albums.

For those not from DC, there are three big indie rock labels - Dischord, DeSoto, and Teenbeat. Dischord is the older cool kid, DeSoto is his charming kid brother, and TeenBeat is the crazy cousin that puts Elmer's on his hand so that he can wait for it to dry and pretend that he's peeling off his skin. Dischord and DeSoto have always had more of an intellectual edge, while TeenBeat is more sex, drugs, love, and the morning after. Started by perennial scenester Mark Robinson (Unrest, Air Miami) in 1985, it's been home to some of DC's weirder pop acts, like Eggs or Bossanova.

When I got home this afternoon, I logged onto the TeenBeat site to see what was new, and holy shit Flin Flon has a new record out! Why was I not informed? From the promo song posted, it sounds like it's gonna be more of the drums-and-bass heavy sound that I love about them. It's nice to hear an indie pop record where the guitars aren't mixed higher than everything else. Once I get the record, I'll let you know if it's worth picking up.

http://www.mysharefile.com/v/8871160/Flin_Flon_Floods.mp3.html