Check Out: Control

Here's a cool new band from the UK that I just heard about. I was initially interested because I read a description of Sugar/Husker Du/Dag Nasty type guitars. There's that, but I also hear some 90's radio alternative in there. I'm reminded of the Goo Goo Dolls, the Gin Blossoms, that Sponge song, "Plowed" and the 3 Doors Down song, "Kryptonite" when listening to this ep. I apologize to the band if those are horrible comparisons and I hope that doesn't scare anyone off from giving this band a listen.

For a first ep, this is incredibly slick, professional and catchy. Apparently they have a demo as well that I'd love to hear. 

All - Scott Reynolds B-Sides

Except for a handful of songs, I can't say (har) that I listen to much All anymore. Those handful are great, but they're scattered throughout their albums alongside a lot of mediocre or weird proggy stuff. And although All laid the groundwork for a lot of pop punk that came soon after, I think the new crop of bands focused on songwriting more than musicianship, producing catchier albums than their mentor. Some heavily influenced bands like Gameface, Alligator Gun or Big Drill Car released much more solid albums than anything All ever did, in my opinion.

Not to dismiss All. I still own almost all of their albums and b-sides. They were definitely an important band to a lot of people like me who grew up on the Descendents and/or early pop punk. Ex Descendents AND Dag Nasty? Sign me up!

But the All era that I always enjoyed most was when Scott Reynolds sang. Although I loved Smalley in Dag Nasty, at the time I didn't think he suited the more sugary pop songs. And Chad is a fine singer, but after Breaking Things, I lost interest. Allroy's Revenge and Percolator remain my favorite All albums and seem the most representative of the band. There are the classic songs like "She's My Ex," "Scary Sad" and "Dot," the more melancholy stuff like "Mary" and "Breathe" and of course the weird instrumentals.

Scott's voice and style seemed to match All's brand of quirkiness the best. He could scat, hit the high notes or just speak the words and it sounded cool. And he made covers like "Boy Named Sue" sound like his own. He went onto Goodbye Harry after All and then the Pavers, which is where he perfected his style, I think. The Pavers discography contains such a wide mix of styles, but everything is so catchy and interesting.

So here I've collected all the Scott b-sides that don't appear on their albums. The TonyALL album was Descendents alumnus/friend Tony Lombardo adding his songs and bass playing to the Scott lineup of All. I've only included the songs that Scott sang on (and that's really all you need). Their "Christine 16" cover is from the Kiss covers album, made rare by the appearance of a young Nirvana. And "Can't Say" is my favorite All song. I've remastered the songs a bit to get them at a similar volume.

Enjoy.

She's My Ex ep (1989)
   01) Crazy?
VA - Hard To Believe - A Kiss Covers Compilation (1990)
   02) Christine 16 (Kiss)
TonyALL - New Girl, Old Story (1991)
   03) Telltale Signs
   04) This Is Not A Dream
   05) Casual Girl
   06) New Girl, Old Story
   07) At The Party
Dot ep (1992)
   08) Boy Named Sue (Johnny Cash)
   09) Can't Say

All - Scott (R) (vbr 0)