speed of dark

Following advice that we should include some sort of regular column in our blog, and inspired by the near-simultaneous events of reading the wonderful novel The Time Traveler's Wife (click here for review) and watching all three Back To the Future DVDs in one weekend, I present to you the first edition of Time Travel Tuesdays at Speed of Dark!

Although both Indie Mom and I enjoy introducing exciting new bands, we've been listening to music for a long time and have plenty of older stuff we'd like to write about. This will just give us a formal rather than random way to do it. Please let us know by your comments what you think!

Today I'm flipping the calendar years back to 1995--which I think will turn out to be a very popular time-travel year--when my only methods of finding the alternative and indie music I craved was to listen to and record on cassette the weekly Spin radio broadcasts on Sunday nights and prowl used CD stores with my portable player in my jacket pocket. I'd paw through shelves and boxes of CDs, playing whatever caught my fancy, either from the name of the group, the cover art, or the name of some song. After several hours, I'd bring a pile up to the front desk and figure out how many I could afford to buy.

I found Are You Going To Eat That by Hazel in one of those used CD stores. No, not Sister Hazel, just Hazel, the punk/pop band from Portland fronted by Pete Krebs (vocals, guitar), accompanied by Jody Bleyle (drums, vocals), Brady Smith (bass), and Fred Nemo (dance).

Formed on Valentine's Day, 1991, the band's blurb on their SubPop label's website cannot be paraphrased or improved upon: "Hazel blooms forth in a disorienting swirl of phosphorescent melody, preternatural power, cleve-the-scalp-of-the-shortstop line-drives of pure rhythm, and simple rabid tutu-shredding apoplexy." Yeah!

Most of the songs follow the punk guidelines of being less than 3 minutes long. They are bristling with tension but contain much better lyrics and melody than the usual punk fare. I was mesmerized on first play by the "backwards" chord progressions, the slightly off-kilter harmonies between Krebs and Bleyle, and the odd rhythms that sometimes gave the impression of a beat left out. What I did not learn until researching this post is that Krebs and Elliott Smith were friends and occasional collaborators (when Smith was in Heatmiser). Strangely, I did not come across Smith for many more years.


When I pulled this CD off the shelf recently, I was surprised that I still liked so many of the tracks. I ripped 7 of the 13 and had a hard time selecting 3 for this post. Believe it or not, this little gem of an album can still be purchased from Amazon vendors of used CDs. You might have to pay as much as 35 cents for it (not including shipping). That's a bargain. The insert contains all the lyrics scrawled in tiny handwritten print, plus cover art supposedly rejected by the label as "too ugly."

From Are You Going To Eat That (1995) Buy it

Hazel: Green Eyes - (My favorite and highly recommended)

This is for my dear departed

Now and forever - whatever!

I couldn't for the life of me prove to you

Though I'm wanting to tell you

I'm a mess without you

I lost the best friend I ever had

I'd give this world and all its answers

To be held in your eyes again

Green Eyes

Hazel: Ascension
Hazel: Sparkle Finish

Pete Krebs is still living in Portland and making music with the Gossamer Wings. Check his MySpace page to listen to new tunes. Music can be purchased on iTunes