The Reddmen - The Reddmen Anthology 1995-2010

Tracks

Disc 1

1. Had A Chance 03:11
2. Don't Want The Sun To Rise 02:33
3. Telephone Song 02:14
4. For A Boy 03:09
5. Just Another Girl Song 03:04
6. Going Out 03:05
7. Elysia Braun 03:25
8. Running Around 02:54
9. Every Night 02:22
10. Losing Interest 02:05
11. Rhumatic Room 02:16
12. Girl Crazy 01:38
13. Whoa Is Me 02:16
14. Soft Spot 02:32
15. You Don't Think About Me Anymore 01:59
16. Blowing Kisses 02:28
17. Nikkia 02:52
18. Teenaged 02:05
19. Missing Out 01:44
20. Coolest Girl 01:28
21. Manasas 04:50
22. Can't Afford To Lose You 02:40
23. #11 Kurt Rambis 02:18
24. 25-8 02:53
25. Unwelcome 03:10
26. Faded Glory Days 02:53
27. Columbus St. (No Left Turn) 03:06
28. My Frustration 05:27

Disc 2

29. Do You Think About Me Too? 02:48
30. Flash In The Pan 02:11
31. Lo-Fi Hi-Fi 02:06
32. Sad If I Lost You 02:27
33. Four Words, Fourteen Letters 02:32
34. Stalk You, Rock You 01:51
35. Vintage Libra 02:52
36. Kansas Kiss 02:49
37. Songs Don't Write Themselves 03:15
38. Theme For A Runaway Runway Model02:34
39. Legion Of Yes Men 02:01
40. One Time 02:36
41. (We Are The) Leopard Print Tigers02:24
42. Ramblin' Ways 02:53
43. No Exit 00:53
44. Brazilian Ballet Encore 01:09
45. Can't Stop The Blood 01:17
46. Up Your Sleeve 01:23
47. The Reddmen vs. Godzilla 01:17
48. Up Vs. Down 02:26
49. White After Labor Day 03:32
50. Is This All You Waited For? 01:10
51. Velvet Painter 01:11
52. And This Will Put Us On The Map 01:36
53. Home To Ms. Havisham 02:36
54. Running Around (Creamy Version) 03:47
55. Osuna 02:54
56. Hearts Torn Are Reborn In November 00:53
57. Led Zepplin Lullaby 02:43
58. Sleep Running 02:05

Disc 3

59. Psycho Cherokee Preacher Man #9 00:35
60. Champion Tears 02:09
61. Two For Flinching 02:50
62. Bang Machine 03:03
63. Four Alarm Fire 01:23
64. Pinky Swear 02:27
65. Russian Spider 02:53
66. Sister Tumbleweed 02:20
67. Good Girls Go 02:23
68. Yr Heart 01:51
69. The Chance You Never Had 02:14
70. Heaven Above 01:31
71. The Jealous Type 02:18
72. Song 22 02:40
73. Gemini Lipstick 01:56
74. Him Or Me 01:54
75. Elevation Fun Girl 02:38
76. Sassy Thunder 01:46
77. She Lifts 01:38
78. Venus Is Closed 01:51
79. The Truth About Us 02:03
80. Take It Greasy 01:12
81. Love (That's What I Want!) 01:43
82. Pillowcase 02:12
83. Passive Elixirs 03:07
84. The Continuing Saga Of Ms. Carefree, AZ 01:47
85. Stolen 01:45
86. Last Rights At The Knife Fight 02:01
87. Passive Elixirs (Reprise) 00:23
88. Never A Dull Omen (Live) 01:40

Liner Notes from The Reddmen Anthology 1995-2010

You're holding a history of what is arguably the longest running and most influential underground band to ever come out of Rapid City.

I've been fortunate to watch this band grow. One of their first shows was in my parent’s front yard in the mid 1990's. I remember being blown away by the talent The Reddmen exhibited even in their pre-teens. As young musicians they held nothing back, sacrificing all, full of power, energy and drive. What's even more impressive is that over the years this band never lost a bit of its youthful vigor and enthusiasm.

You can hear this unyielding force throughout the progression of this boxset. The first installment represents early years - some of them were recorded on a boom box in a basement in their famed Northside neighborhood of Lakota Homes, others on a four-track recorder with a single Sure SM58. Considering this the recording quality is quite impressive. But anyone who dismisses the early work based on the rough edges of these recordings would miss the point entirely. There is a beauty here in the sheer rawness of these songs. It's the unbridled sound of youth, the sound of a sweaty summer mosh pit, the sound of dancing your heart out, the sound of new love, and the angst of heartbreak.

The disc two begins with an explosion of sound. "Do You Think About Me Too?" an album outtake from 2006's 'Arsenic Ballads’ is an awesome example of how much fun The Reddmen can put into two minutes and forty-eight seconds. The first tracks on this CD require a decent sized stereo with the volume turned way up. They will make you get up and fucking dance. The first songs bring to mind spectacular sets that would end with J. Waylon smashing his guitar, One Arrow kicking over the drums, the trio walking off the stage with the crowd screaming, sweaty and spent. This CD is titled "Another Tale of Trippy Counterculture High End Prissy Designers," the name appears to be derived from the more acoustic tracks near the end. They are mellower and very fun. These tracks feature some cool experimentation with synthesizers and a relaxed reverb on the layered vocals over 60's guitar sounds. In the end this disc will leave you smiling and satisfied.

In the third installment The Reddmen come home again to their rock roots. The sound and recording quality is much more mature and refined on this CD titled "More Superstitious Sure Fire Tricks." The full potential of the band is achieved in these later recordings; they successfully integrate the slower sounds on some songs with with the pure rock power of others. Track twenty-six "The Continuing Saga of Ms. Carefree Arizona" has a solid country music influence and a fun story line. These are b-sides they several previously unreleased recordings. But they are not at all second rate or reject songs - There are some serious gems here - each worth a serious listen. In "Bang Machine" Trevor Leo, the longest running bassist of the band, has a cameo on the mic, his quieter stage presence does nothing to hide his sheer talent. This song is a personal favorite.

There are 88 songs on these three CDs. The volume of music here is a testament to how prolific The Reddmen have been over the years. Yet this is a not a case of quantity over quality, and this three CD box set is not a full discography, this set is not everything you need for the definitive collection there is much, much more. This collection is the sweet icing on the cake, some of the best songs over the career of this band. For me it brings out an ever greater love and respect for the talent of these local favorites. The Reddmen are talking about breaking up. Word is their last show will hit the stage Summer 2011. I'll be in the crowd, a bit sad to we loose such a powerful force, but with a hope of hearing a few of these songs.

-Charles Michael Ray, Autumn 2010

So you wanna know about the Reddmen, huh? Solid grooves, tasteful moves? How J. Waylon goes about constructing those shoulda‐been‐introduced‐by‐Kasey‐Kasem pop hits? How at the end of a song, Miyo can silence not just his cymbals, but awe the whole room into shocked quietude? How Trevor can simultaneously look like the Hebrew Hammer and Jason Schwartzman at the same time? (Yeah, I said “simultaneously” and “the same” simultaneously in the same sentence—back the hell off, jack, I’m just a writer, not a journalist.) You wanna know what the funk makes this boys club tick?? …Too bad suckers. As I learned as a 6‐month‐tenured touring member of said band, The Reddmen are a fraternity of many unspoken secrets. You always get the feeling there’s more to every story‐ hell, every conversation‐ than they are going to reveal. Hidden motives? Dark pasts? Plots + plans abound, but you won’t get the lowdown outta them‐ you just have to wait patiently and piece things together yourself. …And outta me? I’ve got a story too. There’s more than I might let on, but if you wait, and if you read between the lines, you might find a secret or two revealed.

I met the boys when they toured (as they often did) through my town in central Montana. An Eagles’ basement. The mic had a grounding issue and kept shocking Johnny. There was a mod target on the bass drum. They were as catchy as poprock, but rocked harder than any plain ol’ pop‐‐ windmills and scissor kicks a flyin’! Despite the fact that the vocals were nearly inaudible, it was evident that this was not your typical suck band from Whocareston, USA. We shot the shit and it turned out we had very similar musical taste and background (minus the 80s glam and 70s country/rock crossover). They gave me “Sons of the Morning Star” and “Another Tale of the Trippy Counterculture High‐End Prissy Designers”, which was a CD‐R of unreleased tracks (heard by the general public for the first time right now, as disc 2 of the set you just received). …Consider me blown away.

Over the next few months, we traded late night calls, set up shows for each others’ bands, ate pizza together, watched rock documentaries, got to be buds, and Johnny offered to record some songs for my group. We traveled back and forth to Rapid quite a bit, working on our stuff in increments, gradually understanding the recording process better, learning about the guys’ relationships with one another, and meeting the Reddfriends (not a poorly named team of super heroes, but the band’s large circle of pals who could essentially be considered extended family, since many of them had played in the band or one of the boys’ many side‐projects at one point or another (“Reddfriends”, by the way, is my term, not the bands’)). At one point, when I was down on my luck and had nothing happening for me in my city, I somehow landed an invitation to a rhythm guitar slot. Excited, and happy to leave my troubles behind, I packed and headed for The Star of the West. …And when I got there, it was shocking. These guys actually knew how to play their instruments! I’d been messing around in bands for 10 years, but none of the people I’d started groups with knew much more than the names of the strings (and of course, drummers didn’t even know that (though its worth noting no one is surprised when a drummer doesn’t know something)). And really, saying that they knew how to play their instruments is an understatement‐‐ the boys weren’t just great musicians, they fully understood writing and arrangement: the power of purposeful restraint, how to add complexity through texture, how to articulate lead notes with delicacy or ferocity, and they had an ear for tone…and then, of course, the vocals‐ one minute it’s a Smokey Robinson‐Diana Ross hybrid, the next a big‐lunged garage scream that could unwind your cochlea. Added to this, in the Reddquarters sub‐level (known to the layjerk as The Orchid Room), Johnny made terrific (be‐)lo‐fi recordings that would wow friends n’ followers. Maybe most importantly though, what the Reddmen had was vision. They were their own band with their own sound, who took a side against genre‐boxification; and even if you could pick apart some particular song to find its origins of inspiration and dilute it to some composite fragments, there’s no way that you could ever mistake a Reddmen song for someone else’s. Bits + pieces cut up and rearranged, laminated by true students of rock n roll.

Even though this impressed me to no end, it really only makes sense. Rapid City, SD is smack dab in the middle of nowheresville. …Not just isolated, but unbelievably isolated to anyone who’s never been familiarized with the dull yellow color of prairie grass in a dry August (and they are all dry Augusts). Nothing but hay fever and boredom…ample time to perfect your craft…what else are ya gonna do‐ taxidermy?

So for 6 months I did my best to keep up. Walked the walk and rocked the rock, roomed in Johnny’s velvet shrine, joked with their extended family (blood related and band related), rode shotgun in the wee hours in the Reddvan, drove Vanzig, wrecked Vanzig, drove Vanzig again, fell into amps, ate green chile breakfast burritos, partook of free Innes gear and lobster, thanks to friends and label honchos, slept on floors and in vehicles, took the blame for things that were my fault, took the blame for things that weren’t my fault (part of your job as the new guy), threw guitars, kicked high, got a taste for horchata, Listened to R. and GG, and inhaled my percent lifetime value of secondhand smoke; and three tours later, my time was up…had to hit the trail for an equally isolated burg in a neighboring state. …But not before catching onto some of those aforementioned secrets. You wanna find out about the deep shit? Not gonna happen, guy; but I’ll slide you some crumbs… Here’s some observations I picked up that have served me well:

· Nighttime driving is always preferable to daytime driving.

· Regional food and drink is one of the best parts of touring (see: Ale-8-one).

· When your feet are cold, take off your shoes and sit on them (your feet, not your shoes, dumbshit).

·Home recording is fairly affordable and more fun/challenging/convenient/better sounding than going to some bad local studio.

· Plotting your own tours is best done through friends…’cause you never have to shake down your buddies (see: Peoria IL).

· Buttons on a suit jacket, from top to bottom: sometimes, always, never.

‐Kelly La Croix/Kelly Ell/Our Kelly/Meatknife

Reddmember # ______ (fill in the blank here, Johnny…dunno what number I ended up being)