hearsay

Growing up on offerings from the D.C. indie & punk scene, I was a big fan of the Nation of Ulysses. Apparently, so was Teenage Gang Debs, apparently a zine that I knew nothing about except that they did a track for Teenbeat 50. I always thought the track, “On Tape,” was cute and witty, and was a nice companion to the compilation’s pornographic cover art. I didn’t realize until later that it was actually a cover, well, an interpreted cover, of The Pooh Sticks first recorded track.

The difference between the two, besides for the bands referenced, is in the inflection of each song. While the Teenage Gang Debs version is a nostalgic list of favorites, The Pooh Sticks original is more of a social mockery of the collector nerd indie elite. And despite the time passed, the characterization would probably still fit the small group of frumpy, shaggy hair dudes that I end up seeing at every local show I go to. I mean, Fanta isn’t even good enough for these assholes.

I think my favorite thing about the songs is the way that they are very much a time capsule of musical tastes. It is perhaps most telling of the 90’s D.C. scene’s influences that both tracks cite The Pastels. And since I started by talking about the N.O.U. reference, I should bring up the break in the Teenage Gang Debs version, that uses a riff from the beginning of “Atom Bomb” as a cool little tribute. The Pooh Sticks do the same thing in their version with the drum intro from the Ronettes’ “Be My Baby.” I wish I still had this stuff on tape instead of on mp3. Who’d ever brag about having anything ‘on mp3?’

: The Pooh Sticks – On Tape : (1988)
: The Ronettes – Be My Baby : (1963)
: Teenage Gang Debs – On Tape : (1993)
: Nation of Ulysses – Atom Bomb : (1991)