New York, NY (Top40 Charts) In 1976, when American indie-rock was truly an underground phenomenon, a band called Sneakers emerged from Winston-Salem, N.C. with an EP of discordantly hooky songs with sly lyrics. Three of its members - Chris Stamey, Mitch Easter and Will
Rigby - would help lay the groundwork for later bands like
R.E.M. and Wilco.
Stamey and
Rigby went on to form the dB's with
Peter Holsapple and Gene Holder, recording two iconic import albums,
Stands for deciBels and RePercussion. Stamey left the band for two albums, while Holsapple kept the dB's alive with Like This and The Sound of Music. (The core quartet later reunited for 2012's acclaimed Falling Off the Sky.) The band's Christmas album is an indie-rock perennial, and Omnivore presents a significantly updated version, Christmas Time Again!, just in time for the holidays, on October 16, 2015.
Meanwhile, the Sneakers clear vinyl 10" EP that sold out on Record Store Day/Black Friday, re-emerges on CD/digital with two additional tracks on
September 25.
The dB's & Friends: Christmas Time Again!
The Christmas Time EP's appearance in 1986 was a joyous occasion; it was first reissued in an expanded version in 1993 and again in 2006, and has endured ever since.
The dB's & Friends' Christmas Time Again! enters its third decade of holiday fun with an incredible mix of what's been previously cherished and adds new tidings of comfort and joy.
Classic tracks by Stamey, The dB's, Whiskeytown (with Ryan Adams), Marshall Crenshaw and Alex Chilton are joined by new performances from
Yo La Tengo & Jeff Tweedy,
Brett Harris,
Robyn Hitchcock, and Big Star's Third (featuring Mike Mills of
R.E.M. taking lead vocals on Big Star's "Jesus Christ"), among many others.
This is the now the ultimate collection of Yuletide fare from an unprecedented amount of alt-rock superstars. It's not just Christmas time, it's Christmas Time Again!
The dB's: Christmas Time Again!
1. Christmas Time — The dB's
2. Holiday
Spirit — The dB's
3. (It's Going to Be a) Lonely Christmas — Marshall Crenshaw
4. The
Sounds of Christmas — Skylar Gudasz
#
5. Christmas Time Is Here — Thad Cockrell & Roman Candle
6. Home for the Holidays — The dB's
7.
Houses on the Hill — Whiskeytown
8. Christmas Is the Only Time — Wes Lachot
9. It's Christmas — Lydia Kavanagh #
10. Eight Day Weekend (LIVE) —
Yo La Tengo &
Jeff Tweedy #
11. I Saw Three Ships (LIVE) — Don Dixon
12. The Only Law That
Santa Claus Understood — Ted Lyons
13. In the Bleak Midwinter — Birds & Arrows #
14. The Christmas Song — Alex Chilton
15. Santa's Moonlight Sleighride — Ted Lyons
16. Jesus Christ (LIVE) — Big Star's Third (featuring Mike Mills) #
17. Christmas Light — Keegan DeWitt & The Sparrows
18. You're What I Want (for Christmas) — Chris Stamey & Cathy Harrington
19. Feliz Navidad — The dB's
20. The Day Before Boxing Day —
Robyn Hitchcock #
21. It's a Wonderful Life — Chris Stamey
22. Remember (Christmas) —
Brett Harris #
# New tracks since 2006 edition
Sneakers EP:
Chris Stamey and Mitch Easter, icons of indie pop, first began to explore recording techniques in Winston-Salem, NC, during their youth. In 1976, Stamey and his band, Sneakers (including drummer Rigby, with appearances from Easter), put out an eponymous EP on Stamey's own Carnivorous Records (later to morph into Car Records and release Chris Bell's "I Am the Cosmos"). The sessions were engineered by Don Dixon, who would eventually produce bands such as
R.E.M. (with Easter) and the Smithereens. Stamey and
Rigby would go on to form the dB's and Easter would reappear in Let's Active. The Sneakers EP — one of just a handful of self-released records that created the template for the modern indie avalanche — remains vital in not only independent-record history, but for pop music in general.
Omnivore Recordings will reissue this seminal 7" EP on CD/digital expanding on the sold-out, clear vinyl Record Store Day/Black Friday 10" release of last year. This new, definitive edition will add two more bonus tracks, keeping those added last year, including the cover of the Grass Roots' "Let's Live for Today."
Fans of the '80s indie scene will be beyond happy to add this historic piece to their collection, and to experience the birth of the music they love. Whether to run to the record store or just to dance, everyone needs Sneakers.
Sneakers
1. Ruby
2. Condition Red
3. Driving
4. Love's Like a Cuban Crisis
5. On the Brink
6. Let's Live for Today
7. Story of a Girl
8. Nonsequitur
9. S'il Vous Plaît
10. Be My Ambulance
11. Some Kinda Fool #
# new bonus tracks
