A Pocketful of Posies!

I don't think I've ever done a show review here at Burn and Shine. Truth is, I don't go to many shows anymore. Lame, I know. There are a few reasons, mostly it's parenthood, but living in Chattanooga doesn't help. Since we got pregnant (our daughter turned two in August) I've seen a grand total of four shows: Superdrag twice, GBV last month and the Posies last weekend. This was my first time seeing the Posies, and I was inspired enough to slap together a little Posies-Primer. I would have posted this the day after the show, but having just posted the 1985 compilations earlier in the week, I felt it was a little too soon. I have a few spare minutes this Thanksgiving morning, while my better half goes grocery shopping, so here is a quickie show review (followed by the comp).

It was a great, if sparsely attended, triple bill last Saturday night at The Loft in Atlanta. A band I didn't care for, Aqueduct, opened the show right around 8:30pm and played for about a half hour. Brendon Benson, who I like, was next. Sidenote: I did not realize that Jon and Ken were in Brendan Benson's band on this tour. My wife and I both agreed that BB's songs were much better Posie-fied. I also did not realize that in some cities Benson headlined. That was not the case Saturday night in Atlanta-- thankfully, I was definitely there to see the Posies. Benson played a pretty good 45-minute set, then the Posies played for about an hour and a half.

They played nearly every song from the new record, Blood/Candy, and a smattering of their "greatest hits" over the course of about an hour and a half. There were also a couple of cool guest appearances, Linda Hopper (Oh-Ok, Magnapop) came on to sing Lisa Lobsinger's part on "Licenses to Hide" from the new record. She looked and sounded fantastic, even if she had to use a cheat sheet to remember the words. Mike Mills (R.E.M.) made an appearance at the end for an all hands on deck rendition of "September Gurls".

I knew it would be a fun night, but I had no idea just how much the Posies would flat out RAWK, Ken Stringfellow in particular-- he's got all the rock moves down pat. We were right in front of Jon Auer, and I certainly have a new found appreciation for his guitar chops-- I don't think he played a wrong note all night long.

As I mentioned earlier, the show was not packed. While I certainly enjoyed not being bumped into the whole night, it was kind of sad that a band that has been together for so long (Jon and Ken have been writing songs together since 1986, according to Wiki) and is this good can have such a small following-- at least in this part of the country.

Doing my small part to help rectify this wrong, I put together this 20 track compilation of the Posies. I took three songs from each of their proper albums (not including this year's Blood/Candy), plus two rarities. Hopefully this will introduce a few people to this fantastic band and their fairly deep discography. If you already know and love the Posies, then please feel free to point someone you know who has not been properly introduced to the Posies to this post. There was a Best of the Posies album released in 2000, but it only chronicles their time on Geffen and, I think, is currently out of print.

Happy listening and Happy Thanksgiving!

A Pocketful: An Introduction to the Posies, 1988-2005

01. I May Hate You Sometimes
02. Under Easy
03. Paint Me
04. My Big Mouth
05. Golden Blunders
06. Suddenly Mary
07. Saying Sorry to Myself
08. Dream All Day
09. Solar Sister
10. Flavor of the Month
11. Fight It (If You Want)
12. Grant Hart
13. Ontario
14. Every Bitter Drop
15. Somehow Everything
16. Looking Lost
17. Chainsmoking in the U.S.A.
18. I Guess You're Right
19. I Finally Found a Jungle
20. Conversations

Tracks 1-3 from Failure (1988)
Tracks 4-6 from Dear 23 (1990)
Track 7 from Yellow Pills Vol. 2: More of the Best of American Pop (1994, but it sounds more like a Dear 23 track so I stuck it before the FotB songs)
Tracks 8-10 from Frosting on the Beater (1993)
Tracks 11-13 from Amazing Disgrace (1996)
Tracks 14-16 from Sucess (1998)
Track 17 from Nice Cheekbones and a Ph.D. EP (2001)
Tracks 18-20 from Every Kind of Light (2005)

Total Time: 1:08:38

Download it here: A Pocketful of Posies!