The late seventies and, in particular, the eighties, were heady days for American college radio stations. While most could not broadcast beyond the confines of the campus, there were a healthy number with a broader reach. Even with this limited range, college radio was able to have a major impact on a key demographic – record-buying teens and twenty-somethings. The years covered in This Can’t Be Today: American Psychedelia and The Paisley Underground 1977 – 1988 saw the rise of alternative music that rarely garnered airplay on commercial radio, but gave birth to a lively touring scene centered around the college towns and adventurous smaller clubs around the larger urban areas. The music was often a mishmash of folk, rock, country and sixties psychedelia with additional influences added to the mix. Rickenbacker 12 strings, Farfisa organs, sitars and mellotrons were borrowed from the sixties, but somehow the sound was new. Fanzines thrived and spread the gospel. Still, as is often the case, only a lucky few ever made it to the big time, R.E.M. and The Bangles being the luckiest of the bunch. Nevertheless, bands like The dB’s, Dream Syndicate, Meat Puppets and Camper Van Beethoven briefly made appearances on commercial radio. However, just as many failed to cross over, consigned to independent labels with poor distribution.
As Cherry Red has a knack for doing, they have managed to pore through the archives and call in a few favours to present yet another incredibly detailed exposition of a scene, complete with hits, near misses, rarities and a keen ear for what makes these artists worth listening to. With some of the label’s finest liner notes (and that’s saying something) for company, you get to take a roughly chronological tour through a decade’s worth of music that might not have won many hearts, but was full of heart and dripping with the sort of passion that corporate rock could never conceive of.
If you paid any attention to the scene at the time, the appearance of artists like The Bangs (featuring Susanna Hoffs on Getting Out Of Hand) and Chris Bell (formerly of Big Star, performing I Am the Cosmos) are a welcome start to the compilation, setting the mood with jangly guitars and trippy melodies. Scene stalwarts Green On Red (Death And Angels) and the dB’s (Nothing Is Wrong) perfectly encapsulate the sixties influences without sounding like throwbacks. Another popular name from the time, The Dream Syndicate (Sure Thing), prove their live bona fides, and R.E.M. appear to arrive fully formed with Gardening At Night. The Long Ryders, who continue to this day, show what you can do with guitars, harmonies and joie de vivre on And She Rides. The Rain Parade update the Byrds’ sound on What She’s Done To Your Mind. Not to be outdone, lesser lights like True West are all head-bopping psychedelica on Steps To The Door and Wire Train take the trippiness into overdrive with Everything’s Turning Up Down Again.
Disc Two puts us firmly in the eighties where the scene expands. The Rain Parade make another appearance with the compilation’s title track, This Can’t Be Today, a song that could be the bastard child of the Beatles and Pink Floyd. Redd Kross add some welcome aggression with their cover of the Stones’ Citadel, The Bangles released sixties-influenced rocker The Real World on their debut EP, but it was The Long Ryders who showcased the sound of the sixties on Too Close To The Light. Her Head’s Revolving is a high energy offering from The Three O’Clock, Farfisas and feedback run wild on The Twisted’s Sheez Wycked, and sultry and sinister collide on Naked Prey’s mesmerizing The Story Never Ends. The Meat Puppets had a huge influence on plenty of other bands with their low-energy yet intriguing take on the music of the day with Plateau. Swirling keyboards and guitar effects are at the center of The Eyes Of Mind’s With You Again. The ghost of ? and the Mysterians haunts The Tell-Tale Hearts’ Come And Gone, and Thee Fourgiven’s Anything splits the difference between The Thirteenth Floor Elevators and Johnny Marr guitar stylings. Yard Trauma borrow the Just Dropped In vibe for a very cool Must’ve Been Something I Took Last Night, but Plasticland win the title of the compilation award with their own slice of mind-altering sounds on Euphoric Trapdoor Shoes.
Sitars have a starring role in The United States of Existence’s Welcome Tomorrow, Goodbye Today and The Green Pajamas’ Kim The Waitress. Dumptruck blended influences from the sixties, seventies and eighties for a guitar-centric Back Where I Belong. Hüsker Dü slot neatly into the psychedelic scene with Hardly Getting Over It, but the Flaming Lips With You just proves how their sound evolved over time, as this song is more about guitar madness than anything else. Game Theory’s Regenisraen ups the folkie quotient, Camper Van Beethoven mix equal parts Grateful Dead and Traffic for Circles, while Drivin’ N Cryin’ bring punk energy to Count The Flowers. The Winter Hours’ Hyacinth Girl touches a sweet spot in my memory as it was part of a local New Jersey radio station’s homegrown artists compilation, and it remains a beautiful, stately track. Mod Fun’s Hope It’s Today feels like a 1967 outtake in the best way. The Cynics’ Took Her Hand sounds like The Searchers fronted by a punk vocalist, The Sneetches channel John Sebastian in Home Again, and Ultra Vivid Scene round out the compilation with the remarkably engaging slice of reefer madness, Mercy Seat.
This Can’t Be Today is one of those records that worms its way into your brain over repeated listens. It provides ample evidence for why so many of the artists within deserved a kinder fate while at the same time proving that the Paisley Underground was never going to be more than a niche genre. This is another excellent project from Cherry Red, full of engaging music, geek-worthy factoids, and hours of rewarding listening.
TRACK LISTING
Disc One
01. The Last – She Don’t Know Why I’m Here (3:30)
02. Plasticland – Office Skills (1:46)
03. The Bangs – Getting Out Of Hand (2:16)
04. Chris Bell – I Am The Cosmos (3:42)
05. The Fans – True (3:20)
06. The dB’s – Nothing Is Wrong (Demo) (4:07)
07. Green On Red – Death And Angels (2:17)
08. The Unclaimed – Deposition Central (The Acid Song) (4:10)
09. The Vertebrats – Left In The Dark (3:25)
10. The Dream Syndicate – Sure Thing (Live at KPFK) (4:49)
11. R.E.M. – Gardening At Night (3:31)
12. Action Now – Try (2:52)
13. Tommy Keene – Mr. Rowland (5:43)
14. Translator – Nothing Is Saving Me (5:17)
15. R. Stevie Moore – I Go Into Your Mind (2:12)
16. Al Bloch – Hangin’ Around (3:41)
17. The Long Ryders – And She Rides (4:32)
18. Wednesday Week – Sad Little Dog (2:30)
19. The Rain Parade – What She’s Done To Your Mind (2:57)
20. True West – Steps To The Door (3:17)
21. The Point – Magic Circle (1:54)
22. Wire Train – Everything’s Turning Up Down Again (3:34)
23. Darius and the Magnets – Saturday At 3:00 PM (3:31)
Time – 78:53
Disc Two
01. The Rain Parade – This Can’t Be Today (4:38)
02. Plan 9 – White Women (3:00)
03. Redd Kross – Citadel (3:00)
04. Droogs – For These Remaining Days (2:25)
05. Plasticland – Euphoric Trapdoor Shoes (2:35)
06. The Dream Syndicate – Mr. Soul (Live at KPFK) (3:30)
07. Bangles – The Real World (2:36)
08. The Long Ryders – Too Close To The Light (4:13)
09. The Three O’Clock – Her Head’s Revolving (3:13)
10. The Pandoras – It’s About Time (2:24)
11. The Reverbs – Picture An Eye (4:31)
12. The Twisted – Sheez Wycked (2:06)
13. Naked Prey – The Story Never Ends (4:13)
14. Meat Puppets – Plateau (2:23)
15. The Eyes Of Mind – With You Again (3:54)
16. The Tell-Tale Hearts – Come And Gone (3:05)
17. Dreams So Real – Everywhere Girl (3:55)
18. The Impossible Years – Flower Girl (4:08)
19. Thee Fourgiven – Anything (4:32)
20. The Prime Movers – True To Me (3:53)
21. The Suburban Nightmare – Every Night (3:23)
22. Yard Trauma – Must’ve Been Something I Took Last Night (3:27)
23. The Romans – Vicki Seventy (2:37)
Time – 77:41
Disc Three
01. The United States Of Existence – Welcome Tomorrow, Goodbye Today (3:20)
02. 28th Day – 25 Pills (3:24)
03. Dumptruck – Back Where I Belong (2024 Mix) (4:02)
04. Hüsker Dü – Hardly Getting Over It (6:09)
05. The Flaming Lips – With You (3:40)
06. Game Theory – Regenisraen (3:31)
07. Thin White Rope – The Three Song (3:35)
08. Camper Van Beethoven – Circles (2:52)
09. Drivin’ N Cryin’ – Count The Flowers (2:58)
10. The Things – You Can’t Deliver (3:57)
11. Flying Color – Dear Friend (Single Version) (3:19)
12. Winter Hours – Hyacinth Girl (4:39)
13. The Steppes – Sky Is Falling (5:09)
14. The Green Pajamas – Kim The Waitress (6:07)
15. Mod Fun – Hope It’s Today (3:39)
16. The Inn – What’s It Like (3:46)
17. Absolute Grey – For Some Reason (3:06)
18. Dead Moon – Graveyard (2:32)
19. The Cynics – Took Her Hand (2:45)
20. The Sneetches – Home Again (2:40)
21. Ultra Vivid Scene – Mercy Seat (4:07)
Time – 79:17
Total Time – 3:55:51
ADDITIONAL INFO
Record Label: Cherry Red Records
Country of Origin: US
Date of Release: 13th February 2026
LINKS
Cherry Red Records – Boxset Info at Cherry Red
