That early, noisier Slumberland sound I rhapsodized about on the label’s 20th anniversary — see Black Tambourine, the Ropers, Henry’s Dress, Swirlies, Lilys — pops up all over the place these days in subtle and not-so-subtle nods, so it’s good timing for a new Black Tambourine compilation, one that goes beyond the Complete Recordings released in 2002: The songs have been remastered this time and the expanded tracklist includes two previously unreleased early demos and four new songs. Literally “new”: The original members reunited to record two old songs they’d never put to tape and did covers of Suicide’s “Dream Baby Dream” and Buddy Holly’s “Heartbeat” while they were it. As far as the history: The band, which formed in the 1989 and called it quits by 1991, included (and, I guess, again includes) Velocity Girl’s Archie Moore, Pam Berry (who co-founded Chickfactor zine), Whorl’s Brian Nelson, and Mike Schulman, who played with Nelson in Whorl and founded Slumberland. So a super group of the One Last Kiss generation. Think J&MC, Pastels, Shop Assistants, 14 Iced Bears, etc. Or take a listen to the opener “For Ex-Lovers Only.”

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Which is kind of crazy. Just before my 18th birthday I put on a show at my Dad’s “farm” that featured some of the earlier Slumberland-related acts like Lilys, Swirlies, and Small Factory. (When the label was based in D.C.) It lasted two of the hottest days in July. Hundreds of people showed, but my father regretted his decision to let me try my hand at show promotion when someone almost burnt down a few trees with fireworks. I remember wanting to book Velocity Girl, but it hadn’t worked out. They were probably too big then: “My Forgotten Favorite” felt like a massive hit to the people writing and obsessively trading zines. It was kinda my Summer Of Love, where I found a path from the hardcore, thrash metal, NYC noise, and SST of early high school to the DIY K “love rock” (Some Velvet Sidewalk, Lync, Karp, Beat Happening, etc.) and the buzz and sweetness of Slumberland. (Check out the beginning of Swirlies’ “Sarah Sitting” to see what I mean.) Showing my roots, I liked the shoe-gaze best: The Ropers, Henry’s Dress, Black Tambourine, Swirlies, Lilys, etc. And, yeah, everyone loved My Bloody Valentine/Pavement. (I found a cassette copy of Slanted & Enchanted stuck beneath some bushes in the backyard a few days after the shows ended.) I say this anniversary’s crazy because founder Mike Schulman has so admirably stuck to a specific sound and aesthetic, while always founding a way to mine the best of it. That, and it’s hard to believe this little label we were supporting one 7″ at a time — a label that, okay, felt refined from its first release — is still here and bigger than ever.

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