For Ivadell: September 2012

Tuesday, September 18, 2012

Vitreous Humor - Singles (1994-1996)

1994 - Harbor 7"

A Harbor
B1 Stay Tuned For The Holidays
B2 Bu-Dah

VBR V6

1994 - Boys Life / Vitreous Humor 7"

A Boys Life – Temporary
B Vitreous Humor – Why Are You So Mean To Me?

160kbps

1996 - My Midget / New Victoria Theater 7"

1. My Midget
2. New Victoria Theater

320kbps

Vitreous Humor ‎– Posthumous (1998)

The aptly titled posthumous release from indie-rock pioneers Vitreous Humor. A flagship band that still has it's hand in influencing new waves of rockers. If you haven't heard "Why Are You So Mean To Me?" yet, put on your seatbelt. This is the hit rock song that got away (even though Nada Surf made a fine attempt at turning it into a hit with their own personal version). Also, you've got to hear gems like "Sharin' Stone" and "Science Has No Soul". This band DEFINITELY knew how to write a song!

crank! a record company

For a posthumous odds-and-ends collection, Vitreous Humor's Posthumous is remarkably incomplete. It fails to include any of the three songs from the band's debut single, Harbor, as well as other studio recordings. But that's really the only complaint one could make about Posthumous — that there's not enough of it. While not particularly cohesive, almost all of the songs are striking. Particular mention should go to opening track "My Midget," a slow-burning, time-changing rocker, as well as the excellent "Science Has No Soul," which showcases lyricist Danny Pound's dark sense of humor. Also included is a bonus track by the Regrets ("Good Things Come to Those in Small Packages"), the band formed in the wake of Vitreous Humor, which had already broken up by the time Posthumous was released.

Josh Modell
allmusic.com

It's ironic that the best release of their careers comes after their band breaks up. Such is the case with Topeka's Vitreous Humor, a band that's been together since the late '80s but has never released a full-length, until now. Posthumous is a collection of unreleased tracks that blend pop, grunge and rock into a slacker's sonic paradise. Imagine a weary, Midwestern version of Nirvana that never sold out. Every hook-filled track has at least one ass-kick guitar break or Feelies-style rhythm-guitar line. Danny Pound's quiet, intense vocals are the perfect match for an in-your-face guitar that slowly creeps up on you like an old, angry friend. Songs like "Sharin' Stone," "Why Are You So Mean to Me?" and "Fashion Anyway" are just plain fun pop songs that try to do little more than soothe your (leftover) teen angst.

It's a swan song that rocks.

Tim McMahan

Vitreous Humor ‎– Posthumous (1998) 320kbps

Vitreous Humor ‎– The Vitreous Humor Self-Titled E.P. (1995)

Topeka, Kansas' Vitreous Humor was founded so long before anyone ever heard of them that it is almost embarrassing.

Danny, Dan, and Brad founded the band sometime in the late 1980s. They went through several bass players (Darren, Rob, Wally, Greg) until finally Brad decided to play the bass himself in 1993 and changed the group's lineup from a quartet to a trio. In the summer of 1994, Brooks joined the band and Vitreous Humor developed the new sounds that they wanted to make with a wonderful interplay and a more complex dynamic between the instruments. (Plus, they got a hell of a lot louder, too.)

It was at about that time that VH released the closest thing to a full-length record they would produce, a seven-song ep. They started playing shows with the likes of Urge Overkill, Everclear, and Archers of Loaf. Faster than you can say "South By South West", the majors came running at full speed.

Perhaps it was all of this industry attention that began the friction which ultimately destroyed the band. No one was having fun anymore and people started jumping ship. And then Danny punctured his lung. Twice. Nothing was good anymore.

Brooks left the band. Brad left the band. Months later the original trio (Danny, Dan and Brad) resurfaced in the form of The Regrets, holding a sound altogether different than their previous incarnation, if they really ever knew where that was in the first place.

This is the first release from KS' indie-rock legends & heroes, Vitreous Humor. Vitreous paved the way for a genre that loves to bite, but forgets to tip their hats to the predecessors that made it all possible. Recorded by Bob Weston in some drug-den-converted-to-a-studio in Lawrence, KS.

crank! a record company

Vitreous Humor ‎– The Vitreous Humor Self-Titled E.P. (1995) VBR V0