The Dream Syndicate : The Lost Tapes 1985 - 1988

The Dream Syndicate is an American alternative rock band from Los Angeles, California, originally active from 1981 to 1989, and reunited since 2012. The band is associated with neo-psychedelia and the Paisley Underground music movement; of the bands in that movement, according to the Los Angeles Times, the Dream Syndicate "rocked with the highest degree of unbridled passion and conviction."

150-gram vinyl in gatefold sleeve; limited to 500 copies. This is The Dream Syndicate's lost album, recorded in Los Angeles between their third and fourth official albums and featuring Chris Cacavas of Green on Red. This album is the missing link between their Americana sound and the Velvets spirit of The Days of Wine and Roses (1982). Studio recordings with excellent sound quality, remastered for vinyl. Includes inner sleeve liner notes by Steve Wynn and Dennis Duck. A mandatory record for all lovers of the Paisley Underground sound and Americana.

So-called because it mostly consists of sessions and takes recorded in between Out of the Grey and Ghost Stories, 3½ makes for an entertaining coda for the dedicated Dream Syndicate fan and has some points of interest for the general listener. While Precoda is understandably missed, Cutler was no slouch as a replacement guitarist, and the recordings here generally have a good, rootsy feeling to them. Most were recorded during mid-1987 with Vitus Matare manning the boards and Green on Red mainstay Chris Cacavas guesting on keyboards and vocals. Cutler throws in some okay feedback squeals and blasts, while Cacavas adds a further barrelhouse/bar band jam touch to the material, especially on the cover of Rodney Crowell's "I Ain't Living Long Like This.

Though never commercially successful, the band met with considerable acclaim, especially for its songwriting and guitar playing. Bandleader Steve Wynn reformed the band in 2012, and a fifth studio album was announced in February 2017.

These songs, many of which appear nowhere else in the DS catalog), are first-rate Steve Wynn compositions with momentum, hooks, and memorable lyrics equal to anything on Ghost Stories or Out of the Grey.
A couple did wind up on Wynn solo CDs (Killing Time, Here on Earth as Well) but if you are a DS devotee, there's enough new here to make this collection a stone cold treasure. The Best Years of My Life and It Hits You Again are especially juicy cuts, classic Syndicate sound.

The live version of When You Smile is great too, quite different from the feedback-drenched original - even slower at beginning and end, with the three-note riff played in a cheeky, defiant manner, typically approximate pitch from Steve on some notes, but overall very tight and raw at the same time.

In short, this is the sound of a hot band playing classic songs with juicy guitar work and lyrics of a quality seldom seen since the 1960s. What more do you need?

 TRACKS

01. Here On Earth As Well     2:56

02. I Ain't Living Long Like This

    Written-By – Rodney Crowell  4:24

03. Killing Time     4:06

04. Lucky

    Written-By – Dennis Duck, Mark Walton, Paul B. Cutler  6:31

05. Weathered And Torn     3:06

06. The Best Years Of My Life     5:43

07. Running From The Memory     3:18

08. When You Smile     4:05

09. It Hits You Again     3:28

10. Blood Money     5:40

Credits

Art Direction – Brigid Pearson

Bass, Vocals – Mark Walton

Drums – Dennis Duck

Guitar, Vocals – Paul B. Cutler, Steve Wynn

Mastered By – John Golden

Photography By – Karen Cantor

Piano, Organ, Vocals – Chris Cacavas (tracks: 2 to 7)

Producer – Elliot Mazer (tracks: 8), Paul B. Cutler (tracks: 1), The Dream Syndicate, Vitus Matare (tracks: 2 to 7)

Written-By – Steve Wynn (tracks: 1, 3 to 10)

Notes

Tracks 1, 10 recorded in Hollywood, April 1985

Tracks 2 through 7 recorded at Lyceum Studios (Mar Vista), August 1987

Track 8 recorded live at Raji's, January 1988

Track 9 recorded in Hollywood, August 1985

BLOOD MONEY LYRICS

Had to make a trade... wouldn't take it on faith

top of the line... beg, borrow, steal and a fast escape

something bout a house of bricks... solitude and a pint of gin

wait till the bricks are dry, and start all over again

played for a fool... what can I say? no regrets

something about finishing school... something that you ain't learned yet

blood! blood money!

blood! blood money!

Rich man drives a Lincoln... lives way uptown

says that he's been thinking... so he lays his money down

I got a big ol truck... tape deck, speakers in the back

take a walk after last call... and work it out on a sneak attack-tack yeah

MP3 Size: 101 MB

FLAC Size: 309 MB