Galaxie 500
Uncollected Noise New York ‘88-‘90
Silver Current Records and 20-20-20
Galaxie 500 were indie and twee before those terms had really been ingrained into the lexicon. Having recorded a three-album run from 1998 to 1990, they should have faded into the ether, but the argument can be made that Galaxie 500’s influence may be even stronger now than it has been over the past few decades. Bandmates Dean Wareham, Damon Krukowski, and Naomi Yang will most likely never resurrect the band’s signature dreamy pop (they do not get along!), but the commercial machine sees fit to introduce the band to the youth and remind us olds how utterly unique Galaxie was during their brief run.
I have a treasured original pressing radio sampler of On Fire that I have probably played at home more than the radio station it came from ever played it on air. “Tugboat” is so perfect of a song that I revisit it often. If you aren’t familiar with Galaxie 500 in the slightest, you may want to devote a few hours to their newest release, a re-packaged and re-branded collection of loose singles and unreleased demos entitled Uncollected Noise: New York ‘88-‘90. It’s a history lesson of lesser-known songs that stretches through the band’s career. Through the 24 tracks on the new compilation, you can hear their identity and sonic fingerprint evolve and stick the landing. Two never-released-in-any-format tracks from the collection, “Shout You Down” from the Today album sessions and “I Wanna Live” from the On Fire album sessions, are the first singles, and they are glorious, as are the remaining 22 tracks.
For a fan such as myself, it’s a chronologic nostalgia-trek through their discography on an intimate level. For the uninitiated, it may just be the perfect introduction to what makes Galaxie 500 endure. They pre-dated Britpop and were concurrent with the genesis of shoegaze, but through their Harvard University lens, Galaxie 500 crafted hauntingly beautiful, minimal but powerful songs. That timeline in the US was spewing grunge, heavy and dark. Galaxie were creating music that spoke to the quieter souls of the world, and many have taken notice over the years.
“I can see why we left some of these songs in the vaults, but there is pleasure in hearing them today; they sound very alive, like Galaxie 500 playing in the brick-walled room that was Noise New York,” states guitarist Dean Wareham. It’s a worthy collection, something that should be listened to by almost anyone. I mean that. Galaxie 500 is a band that you will fall deeply in love with, because their songs are just that damned good.
Uncollected Noise New York ’88-’90 releases September 20, 2024, on 2xLP, 2xCD and 2xTape on Silver Current Records and digital on Damon and Naomi’s own imprint, 20-20-20.
