290. LITTLE MRS. by Pennywhistle

So I guarantee that whoever happens to be reading this has never heard of this circa 1989 / 1990 record or the band that put it out. That is because this music only ever existed on a limited number of cassette tapes that were released back then and this band, comprised of singer Andrew Curry and instrumentalist Eric Garland, only got airplay (and live gigs) in the Texas cities of Houston and San Antonio.

So here's the story...Curry was my suitemate when we were freshmen at Trinity University in San Antonio back in 1988 / 1989. Aside from pursuing his normal studies at college, he had a passion for music - a passion that lead him to not only form this band but also run a Columbia House / BMG "business" out of his dorm room (Andrew, if you're reading this, that was brilliant). In fact, he never lost that passion for music as he is currently the head of a small Portland, Oregon-based indie record label, Curry Cuts.

Last week, I received an email from his record label notifying me of the digital release of this album. Although I had owned the cassette from our Trinity days I lost it many many years ago. Anyway, this email could not have arrived at a more opportune time - I've been ruminating about my past lately (probably because thinking about the future without my wife is too painful). The past when our kids were young, the past when we were newlyweds, the past when I was a child and the past when I was in college and then med school. When I jumped over to Pennywhistle's bandcamp page and started streaming this record I was overcome with emotion - I literally hadn't heard these songs in 35 years. So many memories came flooding into my mind. Nostalgia is a powerful beast.

So that's the story and here's the music: pure power pop gems. If you search through my site for the #power pop tag you'll see that I'm somewhat a fan of the genre. I don't think I'm exaggerating when I say that pretty much every track on little mrs. is an earworm. My favorites are: 'Tongue Tied,' 'The Wrong Time,' 'For Awhile,' 'Looking the Other Way' (who writes such an upbeat song about having an affair?) and 'Untold Story.'

A few notes to end on - (1) these songs were written and performed by like 18 or 19 year olds - think about that; (2) at least for now this album is only available on bandcamp so I won't be able to add the above tracks to my Apple Music or Spotify playlists; and, (3) I believe you can stream the album for free on bandcamp but I suggest that, if you like what you hear, throw these guys a bone and pay the $5 so you can get the digital downloads in the format of your choice.