When the Dancing Cigarettes appeared on the fringes of the Bloomington scene in 1980, they were doing music that still vibrated deeply with the naive/intellectual spirit that had informed much of underground rock since the mid-70s. The Cigarettes fused their high-school geek visions of dada and beat literature with punk energy, the Ralph Records catalog, an obvious love for pre-punk icons like Eno and Beefheart, and the fumes of earlier art-damaged Midwestern bands like MX-80, Pere Ubu, and Tin Huey. Their songs were tight, angular, ironic, and filled with obtuse lyrics. In 1981, the Dancing Cigarettes hooked up with Gulcher Records (who else!) to produce a quite wunnerful 4-song, self-titled EP: "Puppies In A Sack," "Mr. Morse," "Pop Doormat," and "Best Friend." Post-punk, Midwest-style (which means it's mostly pre-punk!). They also contributed to Gulcher's RED SNERTS compilation LP the same year. This new CD, 1980-1981: THE GULCHER RECORDINGS, collects their '81 EP, two outtakes from the EP sessions, "Broken Windows" from RED SNERTS, and 15 unreleased tracks recorded live at the Bluebird in Bloomington. The Bluebird material shows the live Dancing Cigarettes were just as fiery and capable of sonic trickery as in a studio setting, and adds a bit of noise to the mix. The band continued into 1983, and recorded a fair amount of excellent unreleased material, which was compiled in 1995 on their SCHOOL OF SECRET MUSIC CD. (Eddie Flowers, SLIPPY TOWN)

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