UPDATE (3/30): These three previously reported expansions are now available to pre-order directly from Omnivore, with Amazon links coming soon!
ORIGINAL POST (1/3/2018): Power pop masterminds The Posies will celebrate their 30th anniversary this year by teaming up with Omnivore Recordings and PledgeMusic for reissues of three albums recorded for DGC Records in the mid-'90s.
Jon Auer and Ken Stringfellow, the core members of the group, released the first Posies album, Failure, in 1988. (That self-released title was reissued by Omnivore in 2014.) Signing to Geffen's rock subsidiary in 1990 (where they'd count Nirvana and Weezer as labelmates), the group's harmony-rich tunes earned critical plaudits and more than a few comparisons to Big Star (a fact not lost on Alex Chilton, who recruited Auer and Stringfellow to join him and Jody Stephens as part of a new lineup of the band that same decade.) "Golden Blunders" and "Dream All Day" became sizable modern rock hits, and albums Dear 23 (1990), Frosting on the Beater (1993) and Amazing Disgrace (1996) became, as the band themselves wrote, "our most popular, most often cited, most requested works," which keep the band's fan base hungry for new albums and tours to this day.
In that spirit, Auer, Stringfellow and Omnivore will join forces this year to reissue those three albums both on CD and LP! All three CD versions will be double-disc sets featuring rare and unreleased material on each disc alongside the remastered albums; the band promises bonuses beyond even At Least, At Last, their long out-of-print 2003 box set. The original albums, largely unavailable on vinyl since their original pressings (save for a 2012 reissue of Dear 23 from Music On Vinyl), will be repressed as double-vinyl editions, with Dear 23 and Frosting on the Beater mastered at 45 RPM and Amazing Disgrace mastered at 33 1/3 RPM.
Understanding the cost of licensing these titles from Universal Music Group and eager to do something special for their 30th anniversary year (beyond their two planned tours: a series of duo dates in January in February followed by a reunion of the Frosting-era lineup later this year), the group and the label are joining forces with PledgeMusic to offer fans these reissues as well as access to the creative process and one-of-a-kind additional items on sale. In addition to pre-orders of the albums, you can get anything from signed items and exclusive merch bundles to house concerts and music lessons via Skype - even the chance to spend a day with Jon and Ken in Paris!
Links to pre-order from Omnivore are available below, and check out the full track lists for the reissues! Amazon links will be added as soon as they all are active.
Dear 23: Deluxe Edition (Omnivore OV-277, 2018) (Amazon U.S.)
Disc 1: Original album (DGC Records 24305, 1990) and bonus tracks (previously unreleased)
- My Big Mouth
- Golden Blunders
- Apology
- Any Other Way
- You Avoid Parties
- Suddenly Mary
- Help Yourself
- Mrs. Green
- Everyone Moves Away
- Flood Of Sunshine
- My Big Mouth (Demo)
- Golden Blunders (Demo)
- Any Other Way (Demo)
- Suddenly Mary (Demo)
- Help Yourself (Demo)
- Mrs. Green (Demo)
- Flood Of Sunshine (Ken Edit)
Disc 2: More bonus tracks (* previously unreleased)
- Apology (Jon Demo)
- Golden Blunders (Jon Demo) *
- What Am I Supposed To Do? (Demo)
- I Don't Want To Talk To You (Jon Demo)
- Apology (Ken Demo)
- Thinking Outloud (Jon Demo) *
- Something That You've Never Done (Jon Demo) *
- Magnifying Mirror (Ken Demo) *
- Diary Of An Insecure Girl (Ken Demo)
- Now They Want Your Head (Jon Demo)
- Boy In The Plastic Bubble (Jon Demo) *
- Will You Ever Ease Your Mind? (Jon Demo)
- The Only Ones (Demo)
- This One's Taken (Demo) *
- Saying Sorry To Myself (Demo) *
- King Midas In Reverse (John Leckie Mix) *
- Keep Me Guessing (Demo)
- Feel
- Spite & Malice
- I Am The Cosmos
Disc 2, Tracks 1, 3-5, 9-10, 12 and 17 from At Least At Last - Not Lame Recordings NLA-006, 2000
Disc 2, Track 13 from Japanese pressing of Success - Bandai Music APCY-8433, 1998
Disc 2, Tracks 18-19 from "Suddenly Mary" CD single - DGC 21631, 1990
Disc 2, Track 20 from "Feel" 7" single - PopLLama PL7-46, 1992
Frosting On The Beater: Deluxe Edition (Omnivore OV-292, 2018)
Disc 1: Original album (DGC/Geffen 24522, 1993) and bonus tracks
- Dream All Day
- Solar Sister
- Flavor Of The Month
- Love Letter Boxes
- Definite Door
- Burn & Shine
- Earlier Than Expected
- 20 Questions
- When Mute Tongues Can Speak
- Lights Out
- How She Lied By Living
- Coming Right Along
- Looking Lost
- Flavor Of The Month (Jon Demo)
- Grow
- Open Every Window
- Solar Sister (Ken Demo)
- Ever Since I Was Alone (Ken Demo)
- Start a Life
- Burn & Shine (Jon Demo/Mix 3)
- Finally See It Right (Jon Demo)
- Earlier Than Expected (Ken Demo)
Disc 2: More bonus tracks
- This One's Taken
- 20 Questions (Jon Demo/Alternate Version)
- Fall Song
- Going Going Gone (Jon Demo/Mix 2)
- How She Lied By Living (Ken Demo/Alternate Version)
- When Mute Tongues Can Speak (Ken Demo)
- Ladies & Gentlemen (Jon Demo)
- Lights Out (Jon Demo)
- Farewell Typewriter (Ken/Mike Musberger Demo)
- Dream All Day (Jon Demo)
- Sullen Waistcoat (Jon Demo)
- 21
- Love Letter Boxes (Ken Demo)
- Watermarks (Jon Demo/Mix 3)
- Magnifying Mirror
- Depression Child (Jon Demo/Alternate Version/Mix 2)
- To Whom It May Concern (Jon Demo)
- Crossword (Jon Demo)
- Velvet Monkey Theme
- Fete Le Muzz
- Coming Right Along (Full Band Version)
Disc 1, Track 13 and 15 and Disc 2, Track 3 from Success - PopLLama PLCD-3232, 1998
Disc 1, Tracks 16 and 18 from "Dream All Day" U.K. CD single - Geffen GFSTD 50, 1993
Disc 1, Track 17 and 20-22 and Disc 2, Track 4-8, 10-12, 15-16 and 19-20 from At Least At Last - Not Lame Recordings NLA-006, 2000
Disc 1, Track 19 and Disc 2, Track 1 from "Flavor Of The Month" U.K. CD single - Geffen GFSTD 58, 1993
Disc 2, Track 9 from This Is Not The Posies EP - Elefant Records ER-121 (Spain), 1993
Amazing Disgrace: Deluxe Edition (Omnivore OV-307, 2018)
Disc 1: Original album (DGC 24829, 1996) and bonus tracks
- Daily Mutilation
- Ontario
- Throwaway
- Please Return It
- Hate Song
- Precious Moments
- Fight It (If You Want)
- Everybody Is a Fucking Liar
- World
- Grant Hart
- Broken Record
- The Certainty
- Song #1
- ¿Will You Ever Ease Your Mind?
- Terrorized
- Sad To Be Aware
- Daily Mutilation (Demo)
- World (Demo)
- Throwaway (Demo)
- Fight It (If You Want) (Demo)
- Hate Song (Demo)
- Broken Record (Demo)
Disc 2: More bonus tracks
- Sad To Be Aware (Alternate Version)
- Sad To Be Aware (Demo)
- Limitless Expressions
- The Certainty (Demo 1)
- Please Return It (Demo)
- Precious Moments (Demo)
- Song #1 (Demo)
- Terrorized (Demo)
- Grant Hart (Demo)
- Pay You Back In Time (Demo)
- Everybody Is a Fucking Liar (Demo)
- Oh Michael (Demo)
- Every Bitter Drop
- Please Return It (Original Drums)
- Hate Song (Animals Version)
Disc 1, Track 15 from European pressings of Amazing Disgrace - Geffen 24910, 1996
Disc 1, Track 16 from "Please Return It" U.K. CD single - Geffen GFSTD 22128, 1996
Disc 1, Track 17-22 and Disc 2, Tracks 2 and 10-12 from At Least At Last - Not Lame Recordings NLA-006, 2000
Disc 2, Track 3 from Home Alive: The Art of Self-Defense - Epic E2K 67486, 1996
Disc 2, Track 13 from "Ontario" U.K. CD single - Geffen GED 22168, 1996
Steve Bruun says
Lots of good stuff there! Completists will still need to seek out some rarities from the period, like the CD single of "Definite Door" which includes covers of "Ooh Child" and "Song of the Baker." I know the band had a walk a line between assembling rare-but-known recordings and releasing additional material that has never come out before.
Meanwhile, tickets just went on sale for a tour by the reunited "Frosting on the Beater" lineup with Mike Musburger on drums and Dave Fox on bass.