Darker Days (The Connells)

Used stores have been very good about helping me build a collection by The Connells. They account for 100% of the material of theirs in my collection. I've now picked up their 1986 album Darker Days thanks to such an establishment. At this point, after having positive experiences with their other albums, my expectation was that I would enjoy this one too, and that expectation was met. Another solid offering, particularly lead track "Hats Off."

Tracks:
1. Hats Off
2. Holding Pattern
3. Seven
4. Unspoken Words
5. Darker Days (version)
6. Much Easier
7. 1934
8. Brighter Words
9. Dial It

Boylan Heights (The Connells)

Released in 1987, The Connells' Boylan Heights hints at some of the great music that would come with their later albums. That is to say, it's a good work, but not their best. Still, with tracks like "Scotty's Lament" and "I Suppose," this R.EM.-influenced album is worth hearing. The more I hear, the more I wonder why The Connells generally failed to break through to the mainstream. They really had a good college rock sound going on, and none of their albums that I've heard has been a clunker by any stretch of the imagination.

Tracks:
1. Scotty's Lament
2. Choose a Side
3. Try
4. Just Like Us
5. If It Crumbles
6. Pawns
7. Over There
8. Elegance
9. Home Today
10. OT² (instrumental)
11. I Suppose

Still Life (The Connells)

Since I'd had such success with my first two Connells albums, I figured I'd give Still Life a try. It's another good album, but it doesn't stand out quite as much as the others did. There's no "Slackjawed" or "Stone Cold Yesterday" on here. Still, it's not bad. I can't really pick any tracks that stood out, though.

Track listing:
1. Dull, Brown and Gray
2. The Leper
3. Bruised
4. Curly's Train
5. Gauntlet
6. Glade
7. Soul Reactor
8. Still Life
9. Crown
10. Circlin'
11. Gonna Take a Lie
12. Queen of Charades
13. Pedro Says

One Simple Word (The Connells)

I was excited to see The Connells' One Simple Word sitting in the bargain bin during my CD hunt as I had such a positive experience with their Ring album earlier this year. (See that entry here.) One Simple Word is Ring's predecessor, released in 1990. It spawned the hit single "Stone Cold Yesterday," which is a great song. Other cool tracks include "Speak to Me," "Get a Gun," "What Do You Want?," "Set the Stage," and "Too Gone." One thing I noticed on some of these tracks that I had not picked up on while listening to Ring is a vocal similarity to Duran Duran, another band I love. Perhaps it's not really there, but either way, The Connells proved that they knew how to make more than one album's worth of solid college rock.

Tracks:
1. Stone Cold Yesterday
2. Speak to Me
3. All Sinks In
4. Get a Gun
5. What Do You Want?
6. Set the Stage
7. One Simple Word
8. Another Souvenir
9. Link
10. The Joke
11. Too Gone
12. Waiting My Turn
13. Take a Bow

Ring (The Connells)

The Connells are a "college rock" group from North Carolina. They managed some rock radio hit in the 1980s and 1990s, back when alternative radio knew how to play good music. I've actually seen a few of their albums around used before, but for whatever reason, I decided I would only put down the dough if I found the album containing the hit "Slackjawed." Well, Ring, their 1993 release, is that album.

Upon poking around for info online, this disc seems surprisingly hard to find now, at least at a decent price. I was lucky it was in the used shop. It's really quite a good disc. I'd love to find something insightful to say, but the Connells' legions of fans (I didn't realize they existed, either) have already said anything I could, so if you're interested in further commentary on the album, I would direct you to the reviews on its page at amazon.com.

If The Connells interest you and you don't want to shell out the cash for their catalogue, take heart. Wikipedia claims there is a compilation of their material in the works. Watch for it.

Tracks:
1. Slackjawed
2. Carry My Picture
3. '74-'75
4. Doin' You
5. Find Out
6. Eyes on the Ground
7. Spiral
8. Hey You
9. New Boy
10. Disappointed
11. Burden
12. Any Day Now
13. Running Mary