The music is so good tonight let’s just get right into it.
Game Theory
Not Beacuse You Can
We Love You Carol And Alison
The Waist And The Knees
Mammoth Gardens
Chardonnay
I would say that approximately 20%-30% of my record purchases are random, meaning I know next to nothing about them when I decide to buy them. Why do I buy them? Maybe they have exceptionally awesome art; a great cover tune; or I recognize someone in the linear notes (like when I bought that Lisa Dalbello album because Mick Ronson produced it). It’s a habit that has given me a lot of clunkers, but for every 10 piles of forgettable wax, there’s at least one amazing discovery that made all the failures more than worth it. The Urgh! soundtrack (which I totally have to revisit here soon); that previously mentioned Lisa Dalbello album; that crazy Fireballet album – all of them were albums I wouldn’t have bought if I stuck solely to the safe stuff, artists I recognize or genres I’m comfortable with.
This weekend I made such a random purchase when I picked up Lolita Nation, a 1987 album by the now-defunct California band Game Theory. I bought it only because I recognized Mitch Easter as the producer, and it featured a guest appearance by someone from Paisley Park records, Prince’s label. That’s all I knew about the record when I dropped the needle on side one.
When I lifted the needle at the end of side four, my mind was freaking blown.
Since that first listen I’ve replayed the album about 10 times. I love it more each time I hear it. I love everything about it. I love Scott Miller’s vocals; I love the odd combination of art-rock and jangle-pop; I love the complexity of the lyrics. I LOVE IT ALL. If I had to make a list of my top 10 albums of the 80s right now, it would probably be on it. (For the record, I’m never going to even try to make that list.) It’s like some dream combination of early REM, mid-80s Sonic Youth, Big STar, and every album every power-pop band has ever wanted to make but failed. It’s perfect.
How the hell does something this amazing get lost in the shuffle?! I could see it not catching on like wildfire in 1987. That was the year that Bon Jovi ruled the airwaves after all, but how come it hasn’t caught on since then?
Well, it’s probably because it’s never been re-issued in any format since its original release in 1987. Enigma Records, the band’s label at the time, went belly up a few years after the album’s release, and none of Game Theory’s back catalog, Lolita Nation included, has seen the light of day since. A lot of blogs have tackled the topic, and Game Theory drummer Gil Ray even wrote something about the album’s (lack of) availability.
His sentiments are shared by me: Lolita Nation should be re-released, not because a reissue would make someone a lot of money, but because it would make a very small group of people very happy. I own the album on vinyl now, and was given a lossless CD rip by someone, but I would gladly buy a new copy of the album just to show my support. This album is so magnificent that I have no problem buying it multiple times over out of principle alone.
I think people should buy this album – but they can’t, and that’s a situation that has left me with quite the moral dilemma. Usually when I have a record that is out-of-print I have no problems posting it in it’s entirety here. But with Lolita Nation…I just can’t do that. I can’t allow myself to contribute to any lack of sales the album might suffer from me posting the record for free. So instead, I’m just putting up a few highlights, my favorite tracks from the record. Sorry to be such a tease about it, but I just can’t morally justify posting this one in its entirety, I hope you understand. I also hope you download the tracks I have posted, because they’re audio perfection personified.
Enjoy them, and expect something completely different for my next post.
Seriously, you have no idea.