A long-serving, but largely unsung power pop hero from Seattle, JIM BASNIGHT’S chequered, but fascinating recording career has spanned three decades and numerous line-up changes within his core group THE MOBERLYS. He has also moonlighted with solo recordings, been feted by REM’S Peter Buck (himself a sometime live Moberly), collaborated with further respected Seattle bands such as Criss Crass and The Rockinghams and currently tours with his jazz-pop inflected outfit The Jim Basnight Band. All of which adds up to a pretty impressive CV, even if the results haven’t always bothered the chart scorers as much as they should by right.
Most of the highlights are gathered under the one umbrella by this extensive 26-track anthology brought to us by this enthusiastic Japanese label. Although the Moberlys’ rock-addled tendencies generally shoehorn them into classic ‘garage punk’ or ‘power pop’ pigeonholes, Basnight’s canny knack with deliriously immediate tunes and hooks and an ear for potentially radio-friendly singles ensures that everything from country-tinged longing to sugar-coated bubblegum FM pop is covered along the way. But don’t take my word for it: simply skip to tracks like the wide-eyed chorus-heavy ‘Live In The Sun’ (amazingly, Basnight’s first single from early ’78), the Motown basslines of ‘Your Fool’ and both ‘You Know, I Know’ and ‘Summertime Again’ where the smoochy choruses and teen-inspired lyrics can’t fail to have you swooning like a lovesick puppy.
All well and good, though personally I prefer my Moberlys on the grittier side. No problem where ‘Return’ is concerned, however, as the saccharine is invariably soured by darker, punkier morsels like the B-movie inspired, Duane Eddy-meets-Pixies surf punkerama of ‘Blood Beach’, the amped-up attitood with side order of NYC irony served up by ‘She Don’t Rock’ or ‘Country Fair’ - from an early Moberlys’ live-to-air session from 1978 - which comes on like a Replacements blueprint, even down to the gleeful reference to “boners” in the lyric.
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All these tunes are nigh-on essential, but in the case of both ‘What I Wouldn’t Do’ and ‘Alone With Her’, Basnight penned songs that really ought to be regarded in the highest power-pop pantheon. ‘Alone With Her’ is truly tasty with generous splashes of The Ramones, Big Star and The Knack being beautifully amalgamated into The Moberlys sound, although ‘What I Wouldn’t Do’ probably still tops it. Indeed, if this gorgeous, bittersweet, country-tinged spangle had been recorded by the likes of The Long Ryders or REM back in the day we’d surely know it far better by now. Still, better late than never and all that, eh?
‘Return’ has the odd blemish or so (not least the occasional throwaway moment like the puerile ‘She Got Fucked’), but these are few and far between when compared with the meat of the dazzling garage-y pop/ punk unearthed by this extensive career overview. Indeed, if you want a sound bite, look no further than the front cover subtitle, describing the collection as a ‘retrospective power pop gem’. In conclusion that seems pretty astute to me.
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