The Artist Must Be Brave: Big Dipper Rediscovered
March 13th, 2008 | 9:00 am est |
When Merge announced they were doing a Big Dipper retrospective, the three-disc set Supercluster: The Big Dipper Anthology, the initial reaction here was “really?” And then, “why?” They aren’t that influential or even that well remembered of a band, so it seemed like an odd choice. When Matador gave Chavez the royal treatment a few years ago with Better Days Will Haunt You, at least they were dealing with a band who could claim a high degree of influence and cred. Big Dipper just seemed like an arbitrary choice. Here’s the thing, though. Big Dipper were surprisingly good. The albums (and EP) gathered here (1987’s Boo Boo EP, that same year’s Heavens and 1988’s Craps) are strong collections of impressively melodic and powerful guitar pop. Listening to the disc the first time brought a lot of “hey, I remember that song” moments and a slow realization that Big Dipper were one of the better bands of the college-rock era. It’s also quite clear that Big Dipper’s sound is pretty timeless. Even though it’s doubtful bands like Clap Your Hands or Wolf Parade ever heard the Dipper, they all share jittery guitar work, charmingly odd lyrics and a goofball braininess that has been appealing to indie-rock types ever since the heyday of the Talking Heads.
Here are few samples to jog your memory:
“She’s Fetching” 
“All Going Out Together”
“You’re Not Patsy”
Hats off to Merge for using some of the Arcade Fire and Spoon money to shine a light on the neglected corners of their dusty record collection and bring Big Dipper some recognition. Here’s a short, highly personal list of bands that some thoughtful label like Merge should lavish with the deluxe treatment:
Codeine: Their staggeringly slow, stark and bleak sound is not recommended for all occasions. Please steer clear if you’ve had a broken heart within 60 days of use. Between the crawling shards of guitar and the doomsday clock drumming, you have enough to ruin even the stoutest soul. Add Stephen Immerwahr’s wispy, totally wrecked vocals and it’s like you’re trapped under ice with no hope of escape. Codeine spawned a few imitators (most notably the also excellent Bedhead) but they are kind of a forgotten band these days, and that’s something that needs to be rectified soon.
“Realize”
Das Damen: In the heady days of the late ’80s when guitar strangling was back in vogue and bands were wanting to be the toughest, rawest biker rockers on the block, Das Damen stood out as dreamy 98-lb weaklings in paisley shirts who spread a hazy, murky web of guitars over happily melodic tunes. They were kind of like the Association to Dinosaur Jr.’s Move or maybe the Millennium to Sonic Youth’s Mothers of Invention. Okay, maybe not. but Triskaidekaphobe and Mousetrap are first-class noisy guitar pop albums that deserve a better fate than obscurity.
“Noon Daylight”
Small Factory: These guys were just so damn cute! Energetic, hooky, sweet and peppy like a walk in the park in springtime. Cute! The drummer was named Phoebe Summersqaush for twee’s sake! Any indie pop kid who hasn’t heard them should. That’s really all there is to it. Did you get that they were cute?
“Hey Lucille”
These Immortal Souls. The Grifters. Love Child. Guvner. There are a bunch of bands just itching to be re-discovered. You can probably think of a few too.
I too remember “Heavens” + “Boo Boo” with fondness. Several years ago I spent ‘way too much money retrieving them on EBay and have never been sorry.
We frequently play “All Going Out Together”, as my 9-year old resonates with the dark yet perky end-of-the-world motif. (As a wild guess it seems to have been inspired by the Larry Niven short sf story “Inconstant Moon”.)
Looking forward to the anthology, thanks for bringing it to my attention.
We can’t say Bedhead was an imitator of Codeine since they came up basically at the same time. In fact, Bedhead’s origins are earlier than Codeine’s.
The band deserves it. Good work Merge.
Big Dipper were good, but the Embarrassment (band Bill Goffrier was in before Dipper) were great. They were retrospected once on CD in the mid-90s, highly recommended.
You know what band from this era is shamefully neglected? The Feelies. That seems strange to say since they were so influential, but their name doesn’t come up as often as you’d think and the discs are not too common (”The Good Earth” is effectively out of print).
Another band that would benefit from Merge’s deluxe treatment is LOVE TRACTOR. They were, without a doubt, the most eclectic/original Athen’s (Georgia, that is) band of the ’80s. Their early recordings (from 1983 to 1989) have been out of print for quite some time, although you can find a few on Amazon. A retrospective is too long overdue. Let’s make it happen!
Thanks for the heads up, Really digged the sound.
Big Dipper like Scruffy the Cat, The Neighborhoods and even The Fools never really got their due. I guess that it’s just surprising that among those bands Big Dipper is the first to get a retrospective, and it probably has more to do with the ease of which the publishing could be cleared than with anything else. The song “Ron Klaus” might even have won a Boston Music award against the Pixies if I recall, so many North Shore kids probably have fond memories of catching them at Grovers in Beverly or at Bills off Revere Beach. They were certainly the little band that should’ve. The other bands of the day that caught some (if not much) attention like Buffalo Tom, Blake Babies and The Del Fuegos have all had greatest hits compilations, but never career spanning box sets. Maybe someday we’ll get the Lemonheads catalog all in one package, too, or better yet, the ultimate Juliana Hatfield collection including the label-buried “God’s Foot” record.