Tammy & The Amps- Maxwell's July 1, 1995

 

 

In 1995, after Kim Deal put her band, The Breeders on hiatus, she formed a new band, Tammy & The Amps. They played some shows and recorded and released an album, Pacer in October 1995. The band featured Kim on lead vocals and guitar, Luis Lerma on bass; Nate Farley on lead guitar; and Jim Macpherson of the Breeders on drums. The band was named when Kim began calling herself Kim Ampersand, so they became Tammy and the Amps, though the name was shortened to just The Amps. The band's sound wasn't dissimilar from the Breeders, with a more lo-fi, unpretentious, sloppy sound, a fun project to keep Deal busy and engaged in performing live that seemed to energize her. The Amps were a one-off side project that eventually evolved themselves to become the Breeders again a short time later in 1996. Their only album, Pacer is an underrated and sometimes brilliant record that fits nicely in the Kim Deal/The Breeders discography. Personally, it's one of my favourite Deal-related albums.

Despite only playing live shows for only about one calendar year, the Amps played well over 50 shows with dates in North America, Europe and Australia. The only live recording I have might be their first ever show at Maxwell's in Hoboken. A very nice sounding recording, it sounds like a lot of fun and the band has a punk energy that sounds great. I love audience recordings from small venues, there's a raw enthusiasm you don't hear in larger concert halls or theater's and it really gives you the feeling of "being there" in the audience. A rare opportunity to hear Kim Deal outside of the Breeders and the Pixies, definitely a must-hear!

Enjoy!

Please do NOT sell or profit from this recording!

Do NOT convert to lossy formats, except for personal use.

Please share!

 

Tammy & The Amps
Maxwell's

Hoboken, NJ (USA)
July 1, 1995

Equipment: Sony 909 mic > Sony D7 DAT
Lineage: Master DAT > First generation cassette > Tascam 202MKV > Edirol R09 (16/44) > Adobe Audition 5.5 (level boost/hiss reduction) > CD Wave Editor (track) > flac8
Taper: Stonecutter15: Stonecutter Archives
Transfer & Tracking: Smores
 
1. Pacer
2. Breaking The Split Screen Barrier
3. She's A Girl
4. Empty Glasses
5. Hoverin
6. Bragging Party
7. Full On Idle
8. Mom's Drunk
9. Tipp City
10. Just Like A Briar [The Tasties]

 

TAMMY & THE AMPS- 1995-07-01 Maxwell's, NJ FLAC. rar 

The Breeders- Last Splash Demos

Just got home from the Pixies concert at the Concert Hall! It was the second night of two and the sold-out crowd ate it up like crazy. Here's how the show went: b-sides, songs from the Doolittle album, long encore break, 2 more b-sides, extra long encore break, house lights come up and then they play a short set of "hits" (not on Doolittle), end of show.

I just read the review in the Winnipeg Sun from last night's first show and it probably a good thing I didn't read it before the show. Sun writer, Old Coot Sheridan didn't exactly think it was the concert of the year and he makes good points and I can't disagree totally with his critical review, but I think if I read it beforehand it might have ruined some of the experience. Granted, playing an entire album isn't always a crowd-pleaser, there are a lot of deep tracks they probably don't perform much live and the b-sides weren't anything special, but it was a different experience than a greatest hits show. (There was a more favourable review in the Free Press.)

I think I've been to enough concerts to judge a good/bad show and despite the criticisms, it was still an engaging show. I liked the band's music back in the mid/late 80's and I still listen to their music now. If they wrote and released new material, I'm not sure it would be my cup of tea now or if I would enjoy it as much. They were part of my musical soundtrack at that time of my life, but that was a long time ago and other bands/music have taken their place. But once in a while it's nice to relive those nice memories.

As I write this, I'm listening to my concert recording of the show and it sounds fantastic! I'll get around to posting it on Dime in the next day or so, and then I'll post it here, If anyone's interested. Please let me know.

I meant to post this earlier in anticipation of the concert, Kim Deal's other project, the Breeders. These are demos from the sessions for their best known album, Last Splash.
(The following taken from the notes about the sessions) The demos are sourced from two sessions both recorded at Cro-Magnon Studios in Dayton, Ohio. The first 8 tracks are from September 1992. This was apparently a very preliminary recording session, just to sketch out the songs, with most of the tracks being instrumental. The second batch (tracks 9-17) is from November 1992. The songs are a bit more together and include vocals for the most part. Still, there are some very noticeable differences to the finished album versions in songs such as "Divine Hammer" and "Saints". Perhaps the highlight of the tape is a completely unreleased song called "Go Man Go", previously known only to fans by one low-quality live recording. The vocals are very high in the mix for this 2nd set.
Enjoy!

THE BREEDERS Last Splash Demos
Cro-Magnon Studios,
Dayton, Ohio, USA
September and November 1992

01 No Aloha (instrumental, with Kelly's guitar)
02 No Aloha (instrumental, without Kelly's guitar)
03 Divine Hammer [Ding Ding] (instrumental)
04 Invisible Man (instrumental)
05 Cannonball [Grunge] (some vocals)
06 Saints (instrumental)
07 New Year (instrumental)
08 Invisible Man (with just backing vocals)
09 Saints
10 Cannonball [Grunge]
11 SOS [Figure 8]
12 I Just Wanna Get Along
13 Go Man Go
14 No Aloha
15 Divine Hammer
16 New Year (instrumental)
17 Roi

THE BREEDERS- Last Splash Demos. rar