Artist:     The Posies

Album:     2-CD set: Dear 23 and Frosting On The Beater

Label:     Omnivore Recordings

Release Date:     9.7. 2018

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The Posies helped establish the indie rock-power pop sound of the 1990s. With lush harmonies and catchy hooks, one hears a thread that begins with the Byrds and carries on through Big Star and R.E.M. However, the group’s ability to forge riffs as heavy as Nirvana and Soundgarden placed them firmly in the Pacific Northwest tradition. Sonically, The Posies also bring to mind Teenage Fanclub, with whom they toured Europe and where they still maintain an avid following today.

Omnivore Records has released a 2-CD pack featuring Dear 23 and Frosting On The Beater with enough outtakes to keep diehard fans happy. Frosting On The Beater was undoubtedly their most recognized album, with leadoff track “Dream All Day” enjoying success on MTV and their biggest hit at #4 on the Modern Rock Tracks chart. Other standout cuts include “Solar Sister” and “Flavor of The Month” which exemplify their heavy with harmony dynamic. Ringo Starr covered their tune “Golden Blunders” on his Takes Time album, which somehow makes sense.

The Posies would go through various lineup changes always with founding members Ken Stringfellow and Jon Auer at their core. With two guitars in play, they are able to rip gnarly leads tonally similar to the work of Jay Mascis of Dinosaur Jr., though a bit less indulgent and more focused resulting in a tighter pop song structure.

The band would label hop between Geffen, Pop Llama, Rykodisc, and others which resulted in some of their albums going out of print. The ever awesome Omnivore does a great job here of bringing their work together in one nice package. Even better is that the band is offering a feast of opportunities for fans so that the band can raise a significant advance fee to license other albums from Universal Music Group. Perks include personal items such as clothes worn in videos, spending quality time with Jon and/or Ken in their adopted home of Paris or a coffee date in Seattle. Also on offer are private shows, music lessons, and even guitars.

“We are basically putting a museum’s worth of items on this campaign…If you’ve ever wanted to an authentic artifact of our music, career, our lives, now is the time!”, says the band’s PledgeMusic page. The Posies are on tour throughout the USA and Europe with the Frosting On The Beater lineup.

—Mike Cobb