Go Sailor / S/t

Slumberland

Go Sailor was a great but short-lived band from the mid-’90s that represents a key link in the US indie music chain. Featuring Rose Melberg (Tiger Trap, The Softies, Gaze, Brave Irene), Amy Linton (Henry’s Dress, The Aislers Set) and Paul Curran (Crimpshrine), they released three great singles and a few compilation tracks, then went their separate ways. But what records they are! Crafted with simple and lovely songwriting, they’re perfect snapshots of where underground pop was during that last burst of pre-internet indie activity. Touching on time-honored themes of friendship and love (lost and found), their songs resonate with honesty and purity of intention. While the themes might sound sensitive, the music is anything but. Melberg’s scrappy guitar was backed by Linton and Curran’s sparkplug rhythm section, each song vibrating with enthusiasm and punk rock energy. Tunes like “I’m Still Crying,” “Windy” and their ace cover of Nar’s “Blue Sky” are as rambunctious and infectious as pop comes, showing the band’s roots in the Bay Area punk scene. And the hits just keep on coming: “Ray of Sunshine” and “Long Distance” are total classics, while “Bigger Than the Ocean” slows the pace down for a couples dance. Curran takes the lead on “The Boy Who Sailed Around the World,” wrapping up this flawless record with one of the group’s live favorites. Go Sailor has recently reunited to play to enraptured crowds at the Slumberland 20th Anniversary shows, 2010’s Athens Popfest, and they will be featured at the 2011 NYC Popfest this May. This vinyl-only album compiles all three of their singles plus compilation tracks, mirroring (in slightly different order) a CD that remains available on Lookout. It’s the first entry in the Slumberland Archive Series, which will feature vinyl-only releases of great musical and historical interest.

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