"Excellent CD! I have everything I could get my hands of the Vertebrats. The 45rpm record, Revert, the original version of A Thousand Day Dream (out of print now), Continuous Shows, the songbook for A Thousand Day Dream, and a button.....now A Thousand Day Dream is remastered! I'll pick that up next payday.
One of my favorite songs by them has been covered by Uncle Tupelo, The Replacements, Courtney Love, Screaming Tribesmen (Australia), DJ & the Shakes, and the Swales. Buy this CD, you can't go wrong!
Get the remaster at:
"
Dance and Dream to The Vertebrats
bookfan | 08/27/2005
(5 out of 5 stars)
"I was one of the lucky ones, I got to hear the Vertebrats perform live numerous times from 1979 to 1983 at Mabel's in their hometown of Champaign, Illinois. But thanks to Thousand Day Dream and the other VB CD, Continuous Shows, you can revisit this great Midwestern band and you'll swear they just recorded these fabulous tracks. I challenge anyone to listen to the songs on Thousand Day Dream and not 1) start dancing all over the place and 2) find themselves singing the songs for days afterwards and wanting to replay the cd 24/7! These songs are so full of energy and enthusiasm they would keep a long-haul trucker awake without No-doze from one coast to the other. The jangly guitar of Kenny Draznik and amazing electric guitar solos of Matt Brandabur, the cranking bass of Roy Axford (great name for a bass player!) and Jimmy Wald's irresistible drumming, the harmonizing of Draznik and Brandabur -it's all here. And the, witty, impassioned, and often moody lyrics stay with you. "Hear me out: any day is now!" "I know I can't see her everyday, I just want to see her every once in a while" The Vertebrats were fun because they didn't fit easily into a category. They weren't punk, they weren't new wave, they had more of a blue jeans and t-shirts look and attitude. And they had much, much more sensitivity to their songs and the emotion they put in them. Maybe that's why these songs are still so fresh, they don't sound dated at all. If I had to be on a desert island I'd want to take Thousand Day Dream and Continuous Shows with me over any other rock selection. My only question is: when are they going to issue another cd with more of their gems? You can also order their lyric book - a great investment!
1. Don't Think About It
2. How Come
3. Any Day Now
4. Johnny Avante
5. Hang on to Your Man
6. Psychedelia
7. Big Yellow Bus
8. Left in the Dark
9. Diamonds in the Rough
10. Jackie's Gone
11. Teen Seen
12. Robbery
13. Put Your Toys Away
14. Some Like It Hot
15. Turn on Your Face
16. Try Again
17. Every Once in Awhile
18. Up Till Then
19. Mystery of Love
20. Oklahoma
21. Honey Bee
22. This Before
"
Great Indie Rock (even if I'm partial!)
David Elliot | Chicago | 02/19/2006
(5 out of 5 stars)
"I happen to have a special affection for the Vertebrats, being the subject for the song "She's Diggin'" (about my g-friend Marcia and myself) as well as being the owner of the Red Fender Musicmaster ll that Matt plays on this album! (Plus I worked at Mabels).
Nothing can capture the sweaty enjoyment we had of dancing until 1am to these tunes but this cd comes close! Even though they're simple tunes, they're not simplistic. there are hooks and witty lyrics as well as gutsy guitar licks and rhythms."
This is just freaking great!
D. ONeill | Redmond WA | 09/03/2008
(5 out of 5 stars)
"What the heck is the deal? Why are these guys not a bigger deal?
I discovered this CD/band six months ago and it STILL gets me giddy listening to it. I smile every time.
If you like the Replacements, REM, Guadalcanal Diary, Meat Puppets, Fresh Young Fellows, The Lemon Heads, you WILL like, if not love, this CD. Takes me right back to hundreds of nights in downtown Missoula MT in the early eighties. Well, kinda. :)