Back in the day, when I was still relatively new and fresh-faced to LA (aka the mid-Nineties), it was still common practice to go to so-called 'Record Stores' and buy not Vinyl, but CDs. The Compact Disc, it turns out, is one of my least favorite audio mediums. Yes, I said it. The marketing fairy tale was that CDs last forever and have superior 'digital audio' sound, and that's why they were on the verge of sending the Vinyl LP to virtual extinction. Sure, DJs were still buying vinyl at the time, but hardly anyone else was. And when I say CDs are one of my least favorite audio formats, they had one thing on their side: the directly preceding audio standard throughout the 80s was the lowly cassette. So, with cassettes having set the bar to the floor of audio quality, I guess the CD didn't have much in the way of competition. Never mind the fact that a CD is surely not forever: the buggers scratch so damn easily like a MoFo, and unlike Vinyl, will basically render scratched tracks virtually unplayable with just one swipe. Vinyl can handle all but the most brutal battle scars, and will still play through. Their durability vs. CD is unchallenged. And of course, any audiophile will confirm that Vinyl's sound superiority over digital audio is unchallenged, a major reason why the legions of Vinyl Junkies like me have multiplied exponentially in the last 10-15 years. And once again, I digress!
So in 1995, I was a regular disc shopper at LA institutions Aron's Records in Hollywood and Rockaway Records in Silverlake. As I was living in Burbank at the time, both were relatively close by (by LA standards). Aron's, which was on Melrose from the 1960s until it moved to Highland and Santa Monica Blvd in 1990, ended up closing for good in the early 2000s. Rockaway Records by some miracle (umm, thanks, eBay!) is still kicking on Glendale Blvd! Both stocked an impressive array of CDs by virtually unknown/underground indie bands that Tower and Virgin would never inventory. I can't tell you how many dozens of CDs of crappy one hit wonder indie bands I squirreled away in my Case Logic CD 'wallets.' After a few playings and after coming to the realization that 'this band sucked,' I'd stash them away, never to be heard from again. Having said that, I was fortunate to have picked up some diamonds in the rough, which have stayed in my audio collection to this day and made the format jumps from CD (back) to Vinyl, or on to digital audio files like mp3, wav, aif, etc etc...
Thankfully, the 'CD Years' ended for me in the early 2000s with the advent of digital audio file sharing and the mp3 revolution (once in a while, I'll still buy a CD online at Amazon if I can't find an obscure defunct band's discography on mp3's or vinyl, but it's a very rare occurrence). Sure, the sound quality of mp3's was initially inferior to that of a compact disc, but hey, at least I didn't need to worry about the darn thing scratching! And now that larger files can be easily shared over the internet, I tend to deal with more 'CD quality' digital audio sound in the form of higher bit rate mp3s, wav and aif files.
The subject of this post, The Innocence Mission's 1995 LP 'Glow,' was released at the height of my CD-trawling days. It's one of those diamonds in the rough that I bought back then that, while I rarely listen to, I still pull out from time to time when the mood serves. The disc takes me back to a time of pagers, answering machines, and dialup internet. Communication was still relatively of the pick up the land-line-phone-and-call-your-buddy variety, meaning, one could still remain relatively anonymous. Ironically, in a time of relatively languid communications, I still remember interacting face-to-face with more people, more often than I do today.
Lyrically and musically, the LP 'Glow' seems to reach further back to an even earlier time which is not easily quantifiable. The music and vocals are intertwined with lush, ethereal touches, framing a minimalist, sparse overall soundscape. Some of the songs are of the very quiet, acoustic guitar and a vocal variety, with virtually no groove, and sometimes, no audible percussion. I am less grabbed by these slow, melancholic, semi-depresso songs, and more interested in the tunes with more upbeat tempos, punctuated by soaring vocal leads and harmonies, and layered electric guitars that alternate between shimmering, reverby, bendy note-picking and jangly strumming. Occasional piano and keyboard flourishes provide an extra bit of flair. From an instrumental, vocal, and lyrical standpoint, these songs may still tilt towards the melancholic, introspective, and sentimental, but they are also exhilarating and hopeful in their sonic and lyrical scope. These particular songs are at times mildly groovy (of the swaying, headbobbing variety), and full of beauty. Overall, the songs remind me of late 19th century French Impressionist paintings. They bring pastoral and suburban life into focus, musing upon ephemeral, mundane 'small moments' and imagery, like sitting in a neighbor's kitchen, relaxing under a nearby tree, taking an excursion to a local beach, walking through snow-covered farmland, the mystery of an infrequent visit by a faraway visitor...you get the picture.
Hailing from the 'small-town' city of Lancaster, Pennsylvania (pop. 60,000), the husband/wife team of Don (lead guitar) and Karen Peris (guitar, lead vocals) form the core of The Innocence Mission, with Karen Peris as the principal lyricist. All 4 original members, including bassist Mike Bitts and drummer Steve Brown, met and formed the band at Lancaster Catholic High School in the 80s (they were then known as Masquerade). With these strong small-town bonds as a foundation, it's not unsurprising that there is a reverential celebration of community and connection which permeates their songs. One can certainly wax wistful in 2013 for the universal longing of such community and connection, whether you live in notoriously fractured Los Angeles, or are merely lamenting the ironic disconnectedness of the perpetually connected Social Media Age.
My four favorite songs on the album are 'That Was Another Country,' 'There,' 'Everything's Different Now,' and the one track which got the most exposure (through a music video and steady indie radio airplay) upon the LP's release, 'Bright As Yellow.' This, their 3rd album, was recorded in a large, old, wood house in New Orleans, which acutally serves as legendary producer and ambient/indie artist Daniel Lanois' studio. There, the Innocence Mission were able to perfect a balanced lush/minimalist indie pop sound which was clean, crisp, expansive, with nary an extra note wasted. I've attached a sequence of YouTube videos below that initially aired on local TV in 1995, that essentially serve as the equivalent of a modern EPK (Electronic Press Kit). The clips showcase the band's live hometown performances at Lancaster's Chameleon Club, and are interspersed with band interviews. As a heads up, be warned that the 3 clips seem to be recorded in Mono, so you may only get the audio in one ear should your headphones have stereo-only listening capabilities.
That Was Another Country
Everything's Different Now
There
As of this writing, the Innocence Mission has released 10 full-length LPs over a span of nearly 25 years, the last release being in 2010 (UPDATE!: Coincidentally, the Innocent Mission just posted today, Sept 21, aptly the first day of Autumn, that they're working on new material). While I don't dislike their other offerings, it's 'Glow' that I can most relate to and appreciate. Perhaps it's because it's largely due to my own sentimentality and the moment when 'Glow' happened to intersect my life in 1995. Or perhaps it's simply because the LP is so damn good, made up of calming, intimate, beautifully timeless tunes.
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