Pedaljets split the difference between Paisley Pop and Mats-style mayhem

Blogged this earlier...now the review, up yesterday at Blurt. I gave it four stars, which is about as high as I go...totally enjoyable, especially if you came up in the early MTV years.

What's In Between
Pedaljets
Electric Moth


JENNIFER KELLY

Pedaljets arose in the mid-1980s out of the same rough-housing Kansas indie scene that birthed The Embarrassment (whose Bill Goffrier came east to co-found the great Big Dipper). The band was, at one time, a raucous r ‘n r contender in the hunt for the next ‘Mats, Husker or Meat Puppets. They shared stages with all these bands. Yet Pedaljets made just two albums in its heyday, the grungy, rackety debut Today Today in 1988 and the rushed and less satisfying S-T in 1989. They split a year after the second record, worn out with touring and disappointed with their showing. The Pedaljets’ sophomore effort apparently rankled so much that the band actually reformed to re-record it in 2006.

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Pedaljets

So, I was definitely around during the Pedaljets first, late-1980s run, and definitely listening to music, but I do not remember a god-damned thing about this band. Now, I learn that they were from Lawrence Kansas and toured with all the bands i DID like a lot -- Mats, Husker, Meat Puppets -- and still I managed to miss the whole phenomenon.

Too, bad, cos I probably would have been a fan. I might even be a fan now, belatedly, on the occasion of the Pedaljets' first album in 24 years, which is called What's In Between.

Here's the second single. Pretty good, huh? What an ignoramus I was in 1989. (I was kinda busy with getting married and starting my business and figuring out a way to get out of NYC so I could have kids, but still, no excuses.)