New York, NY (Top40 Charts) Independent Project Records (IPR) confirmed today that they will be reissuing a career-spanning 1985-1990 retrospective from San Francisco's incendiary band The Ophelias Bare Bodkin on February 25, 2022 via Darla Records.
Bare Bodkin collects 15 of the bands most beloved tracks (including 5 previously unreleased studio tracks), hand selected by frontman
Leslie Medford, all remixed and remastered for release via digital services, and (for the first-time ever) on compact disc, with a vinyl version due later this year. The retrospective includes extensive, new liner notes by
David Fricke in a 24 page booklet, as well as new art work and iconic die cut, letter-press packaging by label founder Bruce Licher.
"I approached Bare Bodkin as if it would be the last will and testament of The Ophelias, as if it alone was our legacy," said
Leslie Medford, frontman/singer/songwriter of The Ophelias. "... It's a kind of personal statement about my feelings as to the prime aesthetic thrust of The Ophelias."
Full track listing for Bare Bodkin:
Anywhere You Look
The Golden Calf Played Rock 'n' Roll
Sleepy Hamlet
Thanks For This Shade/div>
Holy Glow
Strange New Glasses
This Is My Advice To You
Overture To Anaconda
Glory Hog
Wicked Annabella
Pretty Green Ice-Box Eyes
Apron Strings
Mr. Rabbit (trad.)
Nocturnal Blonde
Shallows
The Ophelias burst out of the San Francisco indie rock scene in 1985 with their remarkable cover of the Southern folk song "Mister Rabbit" which immediately brought them to national attention in the underground, a photograph in Spin magazine and a reputation for engaging, truly psychedelic live performances. Ann Powers, then of the San Francisco Chronicle, said, "Collectors and critics will probably rediscover The Ophelias in fifteen years and write blathering essays about Medford's psychosis-tinged genius." That time is now!
The Ophelias self-titled debut appeared in 1987 and landed them a deal with Rough Trade (U.S.) who released their second album Oriental Head that charted in the Top 35 at radio stations.
National tours with Pere Ubu and Crime & the City Solution followed. As an outfit inspired by psilocybin should be, they were neither average nor predictable; indeed contradiction was the group's calling card. They released two more albums and an E.P. only to disband when Rough Trade folded in 1990. Lead guitarist
David Immergluck was recruited by Camper Van Beethoven and Counting Crows, and leader
Leslie Medford disappeared.
Additional IPR releases will be announced shortly and will feature both full-length IPR remastered, expanded and in some cases bring long out-of-print titles back in print as well as new music that fits the IPR aesthetic both musically and in design. By utilizing IPR's iconic custom hand letterpress printed artwork created at Independent Project Press, the label will continue to the design aesthetic that began in 1980 and has become the labels hallmark.
Founded in 1980 by musician and artist Bruce Licher, Independent Project Records has created more than sixty releases since its inception. IPR and its sister entity Independent Project Press are known for their instantly recognizable hand-printed record covers for bands including Camper Van Beethoven, For Against, Polvo, R.E.M.,
Savage Republic, Silversun Pickups, Stereolab and more. Aside from creating all artwork on his vintage two-ton hand-fed letterpress, Licher was nominated for a Grammy Award for his design work on the IPR released debut album from For Against. In 2020, the label relaunched by both Licher and Jeffrey Clark with new and archival releases with distribution via Darla Records. It is based in Bishop, California, at the base of the Eastern
Sierra Mountains.
