After its excellent reissue that centered on non-LP and unreleased songs recorded between 1988 and 1990 at Noise New York studio, the
Silver Current label has unearthed another excellent treasure from
Galaxie 500. This time it's a live set recorded in December of 1988 at CBGB, where the band was appearing on the bill with
Sonic Youth,
B.A.L.L., and
Unsane. Taken from mixing desk recordings helmed by their longtime producer
Kramer and remixed for release, the set captures the group in stunning form that goes a fair way in belying their image as slowcore somnambulists. Ripping through an eight-song set made up of tracks from their first album,
Today,
Dean Wareham's guitars cut through the mix like jangling bells in the verses and rip the speakers to shreds during the inspired solos,
Damon Krukowski fairly pummels his drums with almost punk-level energy, and
Naomi Yang's bass has much more forward thrust than usual, forgoing some of its melodic grace for power. It's a little shocking to hear how energetic and exciting they were on-stage at this point in their career. The songs have more verve and fire than they did on
Today -- as excellent as those versions were -- and the band sound like maybe they were trying to blow the other groups off the stage. Certainly when
Wareham starts tearing his strings apart at the close of a drop-dead version pf "Parking Lot" or
Krukowski knocks the shine off his cymbals on a thundering "Don't Let Our Youth Go to Waste," it's hard not to imagine the other bands getting ready to up their energy level a notch in advance of their sets -- or if they already played, to shake their heads in defeat. It's not all a rock & roll blowout, though, as the band dial it down to a low rumble on a plaintive version of "Pictures" and sway gently through "It's Getting Late." Any fan who has done their research knows that
Galaxie 500 were much more than their oft-stereotyped image promised, with plenty of songs that weren't just head-in-the-clouds bedroom ballads. That being said, even the most hardcore devotee of the group might be thrown for a (gentle) loop by the powerful and fiery nature of this live set.
CBGB 12.13.88 is the best kind of archival release, giving people a revelatory new view on a much loved and studied band. ~ Tim Sendra
