Jamboree (1988), Dreamy (1991)

I guess it was pretty inevitable that I would eventually post some music by Beat Happening. Anyone who is friends with me on last.fm knows that I'm pretty obsessed with them, and that they're one of my favorite bands. It was hard to decided which of their albums to post. I thought about putting up all of them, but I decided that would be kind of excessive. I don't want to say that these two are my favorite albums by them, because they aren't. Beat Happening is one of the few bands whose discography (I think) is just consistently good. I can't really pick one favorite release by them, so I just decided to pick a couple that are good places to start with them.

A little info on the band first... Beat Happening was a lo-fi indie pop band from Olympia, Washington. The band formed around 1982 by members Calvin Johnson, Heather Lewis, and Brett Lunsford. Beat Happening was known for their amateurish sound. Calvin Johnson formed the indie label K Records, which became an important symbol for the DIY movement. K was an influential label who released albums by artists such as Bikini Kill, Shonen Knife, The Microphones, and Modest Mouse.

The first album featured (Jamboree) was the bands second album. The record has a dark, yet rather innocent sound to it. It features the bands most famous song, Indian Summer. The album has a lot of very understated twee songs which I think, become better with each listen.

The other album featured is their fourth album, Dreamy. This one features some of my all time favorite songs by the band like Hot Chocolate Boy and Cry For a Shadow.

If you like these two albums, go out and get everything else by them. If you're into these two, then you won't be disappointed by the rest of their discography.




Jamboree
1. Bewitched 3:06
2. In Between 2:21
3. Indian Summer 3:05
4. Hangman 2:31
5. Jamboree 1:03
6. Ask Me 0:58
7. Crashing Through 1:16
8. Cat Walk 1:58
9. Drive Car Girl 2:00
10. Midnight a Go-Go 2:18
11. The This Many Boyfriends Club 3:18

listen

Dreamy
1. Me Untamed 3:46
2. Left Behind 2:53
3. Hot Chocolate Boy 2:21
4. I've Lost You 2:48
5. Cry For a Shadow 2:27
6. Collide 3:29
7. Nancy Sin 2:40
8. Fortune Cookie Prize 3:46
9. Revolution Come and Gone 4:16
10. Red Head Walking 2:07

listen