Various Artists: This Can't Be Today - A Trip Through the US Psychedelic Underground 1977-1988

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Various Artists - This Can't Be Today - A Trip Through the US Psychedelic Underground 1977-1988

3 x CD: £26.99

Label: Cherry Red

Release date: 13.02.2026

Further Information

*3CD SET DOCUMENTING THE 1980s AMERICAN ‘PAISLEY UNDERGROUND’ SCENE.
*OVER 65 SCENE SETTING, TASTE MAKING TUNES INSPIRED BY ALL THINGS 60s, THRIFT STORE AND RICKENBACKER.
*FEATURING R.E.M., GREEN ON RED, THE BANGLES, THE RAIN PARADE, REDD KROSS, THE LAST, THE LONG RYDERS, THE DREAM SYNDICATE, R. STEVIE MOORE, HÜSKER DÜ, THE FLAMING LIPS, MEAT PUPPETS, THE THREE O’CLOCK AND MANY MORE.
*COMPLETE WITH INTRODUCTORY NOTE FROM ABSOLUTE GREY’S PAT THOMAS AND INSIGHTFUL BAND-BY-BAND BIOGRAPHIES.
*SCENE STAPLES, UNDERGROUND NUGGETS, LEFTFIELD GEMS AND EVERYTHING ELSE BETWEEN!
In 1977 punk gave American kids permission to explore music. Some had grown up in L.A., listening to the Sunset Strip bands in heavy rotation, others worked in record stores with old heads who taught them the secret history of the past, or educated themselves by digging through the vinyl library at their college radio stations. Thrift shops were full of paisley rags and fringed jackets, and young bands started dressing like it was 1966, dreaming of rewriting the history of rock, finding inspiration from songs that didn’t get played on the radio and discovering the forgotten weirdness of that decade. ‘This Can’t Be Today’ captures a snapshot of America’s second wave of psychedelia, a coast to coast phenomenon that saw bands as diverse as R.EM., The Dream Syndicate, Green On Red, Flaming Lips and Meat Puppets revisit a sound and aesthetic all but blown away by the pomp of 1970s heavy rock, AOR and disco. Knowingly backwards looking and infused with a pop sensibility, many of these bands became household names and legends in their own lifetime, whilst others produced one-off, scene defining classics or became a footnote in a later band’s origin story. Inspired by the seminal ‘Nuggets’ and ‘Pebbles’ compilations, often with one eye on “swinging London” and working to tight budgets with college radio listeners in mind, this was the polar opposite of Reaganomics, shiny movies and day- glo hair metal. Take a trip to an America the rest of the world rarely got to see. Resplendent in artwork by the inimitable Cally , and compiled by American A&R, production, promotion and artist management veteran James Barber, this is both a time capsule for those who were there and an invaluable entry point for those with an interest in America’s response to punk rock and the post-punk scene.

Track Listing

DISC ONE

1 The Last - She Don't Know Why I'm Here

2 Plasticland - Office Skills

3 The Bangs - Getting Out of Hand

4 Chris Bell - I Am The Cosmos

5 The Fans - True

6 The dB's - Nothing Is Wrong (Demo)

7 Green On Red - Death And Angels

8 The Unclaimed - Deposition Central (The Acid Song)

9 The Vertebrats - Left in the Dark

10 The Dream Syndicate - Sure Thing (Live at KPFK)

11 R.E.M. - Gardening At Night

12 Action Now – Try

13 Tommy Keene - Mr. Roland

14 Translator - Nothing Is Saving Me

15 R. Stevie Moore - I Go Into Your Mind

16 Al Bloch - Hangin' Around

17 The Long Ryders - And She Rides

18 Wednesday Week - Sad Little Dog

19 The Rain Parade - What She's Done To Your Mind (Album Version)

20 True West - Steps To The Door

21 The Point - Magic Circle

22 Wire Train – Everything’s Turning Up Down Again

23 Darius And The Magnets - Saturday At 3:00 P.M.

DISC TWO

1 The Rain Parade - This Can't Be Today

2 Plan 9 - White Women

3 Redd Kross - Citadel

4 Droogs - For These Remaining Days

5 Plasticland - Euphoric Trapdoor Shoes

6 The Dream Syndicate – Mr Soul (Live at KPFK)

7 Bangles - The Real World

8 The Long Ryders - Too Close To The Light

9 The Three O'Clock - Her Head's Revolving

10 The Pandoras - It's About Time

11 The Reverbs - Picture An Eye

12 The Twisted - Sheez Wycked

13 Naked Prey - The Story Never Ends

14 Meat Puppets - Plateau

15 The Eyes Of Mind - With You Again

16 The Tell-Tale Hearts - Come And Gone

17 Dreams So Real - Everywhere Girl

18 The Impossible Years - Flower Girl

19 Thee Fourgiven - Anything

20 The Prime Movers - True To Me

21 The Suburban Nightmare - Every Night

22 Yard Trauma - Must've Been Something I Took Last Night

23 The Romans - Vicki Seventy

DISC THREE

1 The United States of Existence - Welcome Tomorrow, Goodbye Today

2 28th Day - 25 Pills

3 Dumptruck - Back Where I Belong (2024 Mix)

4 Hüsker Dü - Hardly Getting Over It

5 The Flaming Lips - With You

6 Game Theory - Regenisraen

7 Thin White Rope - The Three Song

8 Camper Van Beethoven - Circles

9 Drivin' N Cryin' - Count The Flowers

10 The Things - You Can't Deliver

11 Flying Color - Dear Friend (Single Version)

12 Winter Hours - Hyacinth Girl

13 The Steppes - Sky Is Falling

14 The Green Pajamas - Kim The Waitress

15 Mod Fun - Hope It's Today

16 The Inn - What's It Like

17 Absolute Grey - For Some Reason

18 Dead Moon – Graveyard

19 The Cynics - Took Her Hand

20 The Sneetches - Home Again

21 Ultra Vivid Scene - Mercy Seat

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